A Premonition Confirmed

My bad premonition came true.

Taking a breath, Liu Yinuo gritted her teeth and looked up.

What kind of scene awaited her in the dusty, long-sealed changing room?

Chaos.

Footprints marred the floor everywhere. Bags of sealed equipment lay torn open, their heavy medicine balls scattered across the ground.

Near the metal lockers, a few ominous brown-yellow balls were strewn about.

In the center, two girls, one taller, one shorter, stood locked in a disturbing tableau. The golden-haired Qin Haiyue, impeccably dressed and radiating arrogance, had her hand clamped around Ye Xingmian’s throat.

Due to her height disadvantage, the shorter girl struggled, barely touching the ground on her tiptoes. Her clothes were heavily soiled with dust, appearing dirty and disheveled.

Streaks of tears marred her face. Her small, sickly pale face was contorted by the agony of suffocation.

“Qin Haiyue.”

Her right hand clenched into an unnatural fist. Liu Yinuo gritted her teeth, her voice sharp with fury:

“What are you doing? Let them go!”

Qin Haiyue tilted her head, her smile deepening.

“Oh, look, come to rescue your little sweetheart?”

Ignoring Liu Yinuo’s words, her grip did not loosen.

Taking a deep breath, Liu Yinuo forced down the anger simmering in her chest. “I’ve already called the teachers,” she said coldly. “They’ll be here any minute. If you don’t want to be expelled, let them go!”

“…”

“Hehehe, fine.”

After a moment of silence, Qin Haiyue suddenly let out a cold laugh. Her grip slackened, and the girl, who had been suspended, collapsed weakly to the ground, clutching her throat and coughing violently.

After the coughing subsided, she became completely silent, as if retreating into herself.

Following the brief confrontation with Liu Yinuo, Qin Haiyue suddenly realized she had been too hasty.

Regardless, taking the girl away now was no longer feasible. Besides, she had already obtained what she desired for the day.

With that thought, there was nothing left to dwell on; after all, there would be plenty of opportunities in the future.

The little bastard’s mental state needed to recover anyway. Taking them back like this wouldn’t yield any interesting reactions.

Casting a glance at Ye Xingmian, who lay sprawled on the ground like a corpse, Qin Haiyue suddenly leaned down and whispered softly:

“I’ll be waiting for you there tomorrow morning, okay?”

Without another look at the unresponsive girl, she walked straight towards the door. As she passed the entrance, she addressed the girl standing nearby, “Take good care of your little sweetheart.”

Before Liu Yinuo could process what she had said, she watched Qin Haiyue walk away.

“That girl… what nonsense was she spouting?”

Gritting her teeth, Liu Yinuo knew this was not the time to dwell on such thoughts. Tearing her gaze away from the golden-haired girl, she rushed straight into the room.

“Ye Xingmian, are you alright?”

Rushing to Ye Xingmian’s side, Liu Yinuo didn’t mind the dirt. She gently helped Ye Xingmian’s upper body off the cold floor, her gaze filled with concern.

However, the girl remained silent for a moment, her eyes dull and her gaze fixed blankly ahead.

“Class… monitor…?”

Just as Liu Yinuo grew anxious, Ye Xingmian finally turned her gaze. A hoarse, yet pleasant, voice emerged from her lips.

“Yes, it’s me. Ye Xingmian… are… are you feeling unwell anywhere? I’ll take you to the infirmary.”

Seeing the girl still unmoving, Liu Yinuo began to help her up on her own. She slid one hand under Ye Xingmian’s armpit, supporting her arm.

“Why… did you… come?”

“Huh?”

The question caught Liu Yinuo completely off guard. Her mind paused for a moment, then she concluded that Ye Xingmian must be asking why she had come so late.

“I’m… I’m so sorry… I… I accidentally lost track of you earlier. Then I had to find a teacher for the keys and check room by room until I heard sounds from here.” Liu Yinuo lowered her head, genuinely blaming herself for the severe harm Ye Xingmian had suffered.

However, what Ye Xingmian truly wanted to ask was vastly different from Liu Yinuo’s assumption.

Why? Why at that precise moment, neither too early nor too late? It was the very instant she had finally gathered her courage, made up her mind, and resolved to end everything.

For her cowardly self, achieving such a thing truly required immense courage.

Why, at that exact moment, did someone have to bring her a sliver of hope?

The girl fell into a daze for a while. She knew such thoughts should remain unspoken, buried quietly in her heart.

The girl lifted her head, looking at the class monitor who stood beside her, roughly the same height.

Regardless, she still felt…

“Thank you, Class Monitor.”

The words were enunciated clearly. Aside from the persistent hoarseness, her voice sounded almost normal.

“Huh… huh?! No… no problem, it was my duty. Uh, wait. Ah! So hot!”

Liu Yinuo hesitated, trying to find the right words. But then, her cool fingers inadvertently brushed against Ye Xingmian’s neck, and she instantly yelped in surprise at the heat.

“Ye… Ye Xingmian, are you running a fever?”

“Mm,” came a muffled reply. Despite the fever and the persistent dizziness, Ye Xingmian felt her mind had never been clearer.

“Hmm…” Liu Yinuo stared at Ye Xingmian, who sat right beside her. Having rushed all this way, she found herself at a loss for words, unable to think of a topic of conversation.

After a moment of silence, she could only offer awkwardly, “Um… shall I take you to the infirmary?”

However, Ye Xingmian simply shook her head.

“No need. I want to go home.”

Weakly pulling away from Liu Yinuo’s hand, Ye Xingmian staggered to her feet.

Yet, no sooner had she stood than a sudden pain shot through her legs, and she instantly lost her balance, teetering on the verge of collapsing.

Liu Yinuo reacted swiftly, quickly catching her and preventing her fall.

“Ugh!”

Her palm seemed to have brushed against something soft. Liu Yinuo didn’t register it at first; what caught her attention was the girl’s muffled groan.

“What’s wrong, Ye Xingmian?”

Her words were laced with concern. Seeing Ye Xingmian’s unnaturally flushed face, she initially attributed it to the fever.

“I’m fine…” Ye Xingmian straightened up, trying to push away the arm resting on her chest.

“Huh?”

Only then did Liu Yinuo realize where her hand had landed on Ye Xingmian. Feeling the unexpected softness, she instinctively furrowed her brow.

“Ye Xingmian, you…”

“Let go!” The girl gritted her teeth.

“…”

Hearing the girl’s high-pitched, delicate voice, utterly unlike a boy’s, Liu Yinuo fell silent. As she inhaled the faint fragrance emanating from the girl, her hand brushed against the soft curve of her chest again while moving away.

She said nothing, retracting the hand that had rested on the girl’s chest, but the other arm, still supporting her, did not release its hold.

“Let go, I want to go home…” The girl’s tone softened considerably, seemingly from exhaustion.

“Can you really make it home by yourself?”

Without a direct answer, Liu Yinuo simply supported the girl, staring quietly at her.

“Ha… of course!”

She tried to break free from Liu Yinuo’s grasp, but quickly realized with frustration that her strength was completely insufficient. The disadvantage of her malnutrition was once again evident.

“Even if you could go back, would your adoptive parents truly take you to get medical treatment?”

Under Liu Yinuo’s scrutinizing gaze, Ye Xingmian remained silent this time.

She lowered her head in silence, clearly lacking confidence regarding the matter.

“Come with me, Ye Xingmian. Don’t worry, we won’t go to the infirmary, or a clinic, or any place where you might encounter people.

We’ll just go to my house, alright? My parents aren’t home; they won’t be back until very late.”

Seemingly moved by her sincere words, the girl’s gaze began to waver. Her eyes darkened, and it was only then that Liu Yinuo posed the crucial question.

“Also, this might be very intrusive, but please trust me… I… in short, could you tell me?”

Turning back, Liu Yinuo gazed into those beautiful pink eyes. She sincerely clasped Ye Xingmian’s hands.

“Why have you been hiding the fact that you’re a girl?”