The Boy’s Secret and Lingering Regret

There was always an inexplicable sense of unease, as if she had forgotten something incredibly important. As she walked, Ye Xingmian tapped her head, her mind adrift.

“What’s wrong with you?”

Lin Ziyan turned, her gaze fixed on Ye Xingmian with a strange intensity.

‘What *was* it?’

Her mind felt like a muddled mess; she couldn’t recall a single thing. The girl shook her head, feeling her fever worsen with each passing moment.

“I’m fine…”

Her throat ached terribly, her body alternating between scorching heat and icy chills. The winter sky was a dull gray, casting a cold, pale light onto the girl’s profile, which was flushed with an unnatural crimson.

“If you’re fine, then hurry up! What are you spacing out for?”

The somewhat caustic words reached her ears.

The girl could only shake her head. Clasping her sensitive chest, she lowered her gaze and hurried to catch up.

Watching the girl’s hurried movements, Lin Ziyan suddenly let out a laugh.

“Tell me, why are you always clutching your chest?”

“I’m cold…” The girl stiffened, her voice a whisper in response.

“If you’re cold, why don’t you wear more clothes?”

…

“Ah, could it be you’re trying to hide something unspeakable?”

The girl’s face grew even paler. Her cherry-pink eyes flickered up to meet Lin Ziyan’s gaze.

“No… no, I’m not…”

‘Why would she ask that? Did she truly know?’

‘No… that couldn’t be, could it?’

Fortunately, Lin Ziyan didn’t press the matter. She let out a cold huff, then turned and continued walking forward.

“If not, then hurry up and walk!”

“Oh…”

With Lin Ziyan’s schoolbag slung over her shoulder, Ye Xingmian looked exactly like a bullied errand girl for a young lady.

Yet, in a place Ye Xingmian couldn’t see, Lin Ziyan’s expression was one of pure exhilaration.

‘Excellent! Judging by her reaction, her suspicions were very likely true!’

‘Ah, even though she’d transformed into a frail little girl, was she still trying to maintain her daily routine, striving not to be discovered?’

The girl’s mischievous impulses seemed to surge forth endlessly. ‘How would she torment her in the future? After all, to keep her secret, she would surely try her utmost to conceal it, wouldn’t she?’ Lin Ziyan wasn’t in a hurry to expose her; watching her desperately perform, like a clown striving to guard a secret, was the most entertaining part.

‘Moreover, she felt that this secret, for now, seemed to be known only to her.’

At this thought, her smile deepened even further.

“Wait… wait for me…!”

A hoarse, pained cry came from behind. When Lin Ziyan turned, she saw the girl panting as she ran. Her small face, framed by beautiful black hair, was flushed with a sickly crimson. She leaned her hands on her knees, occasionally wracked by violent coughs, all while still carrying the schoolbag she had casually tossed to her.

Those cherry-pink eyes looked truly pitiable, glistening with tears from her intense coughing. Her fair cheeks appeared delicate and refined.

She looked utterly adorable.

These were details she had never noticed before.

‘How beautiful those eyes were. She wished she would only ever look at her, didn’t she?’

Twisted desires churned in her chest, yet her facial expression remained as cold and biting as ever. She spoke indifferently, “And to think you’re a boy. How can you be out of breath after just a few steps?”

A bitter expression crossed the boy’s face. He apologized with difficulty, “I… I’m sorry… Please… could we go a little slower…?”

“Dream on.”

Even as she spoke, Lin Ziyan maintained her nonchalant pace, even quickening her light steps. Behind her, Ye Xingmian could only grit his teeth, forcing his ailing body to keep up with her stride.

The smile at her lips deepened further.

‘Keep acting, then. Act until you can no longer bear it.’

‘I eagerly await that moment.’

****

By the time they reached the classroom door, Ye Xingmian was almost completely drained. His hands and feet trembled, his entire body felt intensely hot, and his head swam, threatening to send him into unconsciousness at any moment.

“Give me my schoolbag~”

This amount of exertion was nothing for the healthy and well-developed Lin Ziyan. Her face remained unflushed, her heart rate steady. Without even a glance at the boy, she extended her hand.

“…Mm.”

Too weak to speak, the boy used trembling arms to hand over the schoolbag.

Lin Ziyan gracefully took the schoolbag and leisurely made her way to her seat in the front row.

“Cough—cough—”

Clutching the doorframe, the boy covered his mouth and coughed violently, taking a long moment to recover.

When he finally stood upright again, his entire head spun, leaving him disoriented and unable to tell directions.

“Ugh…”

‘His fever seemed to… be getting worse…’

His head throbbed, his body felt as though it were falling apart, and his lungs burned fiercely. The boy lifted his head, his gaze sweeping over his surroundings with a bewildered expression. There weren’t many students in the classroom yet; they were among the first to arrive.

‘Strange…’

‘What exactly did I forget…?’

He tapped his head, but couldn’t recall anything, only feeling that it was something very important. Another wave of dizziness washed over him. The boy silently pulled on his hood, which obscured his face, and walked into the classroom, where the heating made it much warmer than outside.

He felt too miserable; all he wanted was to sleep for a while.

Slumping onto his desk, the boy soon lost consciousness.

****

As class monitor, Liu Yinuo was uncharacteristically late that day.

Her face bore a hint of fatigue; she hadn’t slept well the previous night.

‘For some reason, every time she closed her eyes, those pitiable pink eyes would appear before her. Whenever she recalled his helpless and flustered appearance when Qin Haiyue had exposed him, she felt an inexplicable pang in her heart, as if she were responsible for the unfair treatment Ye Xingmian had suffered.’

She found herself regretting her past actions.

While she had merely been performing her duties as class monitor, her approach had perhaps been too impersonal. Come to think of it, she seemed to have harbored significant prejudice against that person before. Was it simply because she, as the top student, discriminated against those with poor grades?

‘There seemed to be no other reason…’

‘How childish she had been.’

Reflecting on her conversation with Ye Xingmian and Lin Ziyan yesterday, perhaps what he had said wasn’t false. Given Lin Ziyan’s attitude, it wouldn’t be surprising if she hadn’t bothered to tell him about the homework. Liu Yinuo even considered it entirely possible that Lin Ziyan had deliberately withheld the homework information, simply to watch Ye Xingmian make a fool of himself.

At this thought, she once again began to regret her lack of empathy.

Climbing the stairs to her classroom, she inadvertently glanced towards the direction of the restrooms. The sight caused her footsteps to halt abruptly.

‘That was…’

She saw a tall, slender woman, whose height of nearly 1.8 meters would make her stand out even among boys. Even more striking was her appearance: iconic blonde hair and blue eyes, and exotic facial features that made her look like a foreign transfer student.

Her gaze was cold and sharp, causing anyone who met her eyes to shiver involuntarily.

Liu Yinuo remembered her: Qin Haiyue, the school’s notorious bully. Relying on her powerful family background, almost no one dared to provoke her. Yet, unlike other bullies, she didn’t gather a large entourage of followers; even when she sought to intimidate someone, she usually acted alone. Liu Yinuo knew her well because there was an “unlucky soul” in her class who frequently attracted Qin Haiyue’s “attention.”

‘Who was she waiting for here?’

Liu Yinuo stood momentarily stunned, then her pupils contracted. Considering Ye Xingmian’s encounter yesterday morning and his absence in the afternoon, she vaguely realized that Qin Haiyue might be waiting for him.

‘But what could she do, even with this realization? Qin Haiyue didn’t seem like someone she should provoke. Should she just ignore it? Allow Ye Xingmian to be bullied?’

Taking a deep breath, Liu Yinuo decided to walk towards the blonde girl nonetheless.

Compared to Ye Xingmian, she had no reason to be so afraid of Qin Haiyue. Her family was quite affluent, and her grades were among the best in the entire school. If anything were to happen, both her family and the school would do their utmost to protect her.