The Unsettling Acquaintance and the School Belle’s Predicament

Su Yan’s head throbbed violently the moment he saw him, a torrent of original plot points flooding his mind, arousing an instinctive terror within him.

In the original novel, Lu Lin was an undeniable madman, willing to resort to any means to achieve his desires; stalking, drugging, and installing surveillance cameras were all commonplace for him.

He was exceptionally adept at controlling his prey, skillfully setting traps to lure them in before tightening the net.

The memories in his mind felt like sharp shards of glass, piercing his body repeatedly.

To prevent him from ever leaving, the Lu Lin of the original story would even go so far as to render him unable to walk.

Su Yan clutched his chest, gasping for fresh air, his usually beautiful and alluring lips now shockingly pale, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

‘He certainly didn’t want to die in this lifetime.’

Song Xingyu and Chen Xubai, who had just been preparing to exchange pleasantries with their new roommate, were now startled by Su Yan’s ashen complexion.

Lu Lin did not approach; he took a drag from the cigarette in his hand, then extinguished it, his clear, pleasant youthful voice starkly contrasting with his true personality.

He said, “Su Yan, I know you.”

The summer days in Hai City brought significant temperature fluctuations between day and night, and Lu Lin had opened the window, allowing a gentle breeze to ruffle his hair, leaving Su Yan to observe only his back.

Hearing those words, an inexplicable panic seized Su Yan; he mentally reviewed everything he had ever done in this life but found no instance of any interaction with Lu Lin.

His expression somewhat recovered as he waited for Lu Lin’s next words, yet Lu Lin remained silent, as if deliberately drawing out the suspense, unwilling to satisfy Su Yan’s curiosity.

After a long pause, Lu Lin finally turned around; the balcony light remained off, casting him entirely in shadow, yet his silver hair and the dazzling crushed-diamond earring on his ear shone brilliantly in the desolate night.

“Aren’t you Hai City Second High’s school belle?” A faint chuckle escaped Lu Lin’s lips.

This appellation abruptly brought back unpleasant, or rather, utterly speechless, memories for Su Yan.

Hai City Second High’s full name was St. Sakura Royal Academy, a name so ostentatious it could make one cringe inwardly.

Su Yan had originally enrolled in a high school other than First High simply to avoid Lu Lin.

At the time, he hadn’t even known the school’s full name, only that Second High was relatively well-known in Hai City, yet he had been utterly unaware it was famous for its sheer absurdity.

Three years at that aristocratic academy had cast a shadow so profound it could eclipse an entire city for just as long.

While the students at their school admittedly had good academic records, the sheer number of ludicrous aspects completely overshadowed any merits in teaching quality.

Each year, the academy hosted an endless array of events, with student-organized activities equally matching those organized by the school.

In the year he enrolled, Su Yan and another female student who started at the same time were designated “school hunk” and “school belle” respectively.

The kicker was that he was the ‘school belle,’ and the girl was the ‘school hunk’…

On enrollment day, he had merely thrown on some casual clothes, only to be openly “paparazzi-ed” by other students with cameras, his image then prominently featured in the ‘School Belle Fashion Daily.’

Such embarrassing incidents were commonplace throughout those three years.

His appearance was strikingly beautiful, his amber eyes exceptionally clear under the sun, and his delicate nose and pale pink lips were impossibly attractive.

In truth, he hadn’t initially known he had inexplicably become the school belle; it was a friend who had thrust a forum screenshot into his hands.

Su Yan had completely underestimated the idleness of the academy’s students, and he was unaware that there was even a fan-pairing thread dedicated to him and Lu Lin from the neighboring academy.

The students of St. Sakura Royal Academy had undergone rigorous screening before selecting Lu Lin, who hailed from a commoner school next door but stood at the pinnacle in terms of family background, looks, and academic achievements.

Otherwise, they would never have agreed to ‘marry off’ their school belle.

Nor did they care whether the two individuals actually knew each other.

They had also secretly complained numerous times, baffled as to why someone with Lu Lin’s background would attend such a low-tier school.

Chen Xubai quietly added, “That’s right, there are many fan-pairing shippers for you two on the forum.”

It was Su Yan’s turn to be speechless; his anxiety finally ceased, only to be replaced by his heart sinking directly to the pit of his stomach.

Just as Su Yan was about to speak, hoping to alleviate the strange atmosphere, Chen Xubai’s lips curled into a smile, and he uttered words that struck Su Yan like a bolt from the blue: “I even shipped you two.”

Su Yan: ‘…’

Chen Xubai’s invisible tail seemed to wag to the heavens; he was utterly brimming with pride, feeling as though he had pleased both men at once, for Chen Xubai only ever shipped pairings of exceptional men.

‘Did you hear that? It’s me, Chen Xubai, and I ship you two. You’d better treat me well from now on, alright?’

Su Yan could discern these unspoken words clearly from Chen Xubai’s expression.

“Thank you for your support.” After uttering these words, Su Yan wanted to slap himself; “thank you for your support,” as if he were selling something? But what could he do now that it was already said?

Lu Lin remarked nonchalantly, “Very sweet.”

Su Yan pondered for a long while, bewildered; what on earth could be so sweet? His earlier fear had considerably lessened, and he now dared to complain inwardly.

Su Yan, who never frequented forums and was solely devoted to his studies, naturally had no idea, but Chen Xubai, standing nearby, knew they were referring to their fanfiction on the forum, and the thought made his face flush with embarrassment.

‘Weren’t all their fanfictions explicit?’

Though Su Yan deeply resisted Lu Lin’s presence, once the surge of fear subsided, he began to calmly consider how to save his life, and, more importantly, how to protect his rear.

Lu Lin, at a glance, appeared to be a highly depraved individual.

Song Xingyu, not being from their school, remained utterly bewildered throughout, his expression steadily worsening.

Su Yan closed the dorm room door, swallowed hard, and forced a smile, saying, “What a coincidence, then we’re quite suited to be friends.”

Had Su Yan paused to reflect on his own words, he would have realized their profound hypocrisy.

He propped up his head, his innocent eyes intently awaiting a reply.

Lu Lin’s smile appeared and vanished so swiftly that Su Yan couldn’t discern his thoughts at all.

His face was devoid of expression, yet Su Yan perceived a distinct coldness.

Lu Lin: “Unsuited.”

“Also, that smile was quite fake.”

Su Yan was speechless; it was the first time he had seen someone so earnestly reject polite pleasantries. ‘Never mind,’ he thought, ‘he merely needed to protect his rear.’

The advantage of having two bathrooms in the dorm was that there was no long wait for showers. Since it was the beginning of the semester and they weren’t yet familiar with each other, conversation ceased after a few polite exchanges.

*Click*—

The light was extinguished, plunging the dorm into darkness, save for the faint glow emanating from a phone.

Su Yan disliked the feeling of his privacy being exposed, so he had already set up his bed curtains upon arriving at school; yet, at this moment, he couldn’t shake the sensation that someone was standing just beyond them.

A blurred silhouette was reflected on the bed curtain, then the figure drew closer and closer, stopping right before his bed; if he were to turn off his phone and listen carefully, he might even hear faint breaths.

Su Yan waited for a long while, realizing the person outside seemed to have nothing to say, so he too fell silent, refraining from speaking.

Footsteps sounded from outside, and with a soft creak, someone climbed into bed.

He glanced at the time; it was almost eleven o’clock. His biological clock dictated that from eleven at night until nine the next morning, he would fall into a deep sleep, as if he had taken a powerful sleeping pill.

Just as he was preparing to pull up his blanket and sleep, a message notification appeared on his phone.

Su Yan opened it to find a friend request. His eyes were heavy with fatigue, and without bothering to consider who might be adding him, his hand instinctively tapped “accept.”

[.: Lu Lin.]

Su Yan was utterly bewildered.

[.: Date me.]

[.: ^_^]

Su Yan was speechless; not everyone looked cute sending emoticons.

He could almost picture Lu Lin, his face cold and expressionless, randomly selecting an appropriate emoticon from his input method to send.

‘In the book, at least, love developed over time, right? Is this even rational?’

Su Yan didn’t dare delete this lunatic’s friend request, so he decided to state his intentions directly, yet, recalling the tragic consequences in the book, he opted for a more subtle approach.

[sy: I’m sorry, I like girls.]

Su Yan’s heart pounded rapidly, his hand gripping the phone turning white from the force; finally, he exhaled. ‘This is a society governed by law.’

‘Just kidding, this is a society from a trashy web novel, written by an illiterate author who doesn’t understand the law.’

‘But from his perspective, it was a tragic, angst-ridden story, senselessly cruel.’

His phone remained silent, no new message notifications appearing, though he did hear rustling sounds coming from the opposite bed, which were particularly noticeable in the quiet night.

[.: What type?]

Su Yan had barely closed his eyes when his phone vibrated beneath his pillow. ‘Oh, I forgot to turn on Do Not Disturb mode.’

The moment he saw the message, Su Yan simply assumed Lu Lin had given up; overcome by drowsiness, he casually typed two words and sent them.

[sy: Older sister type.]

After typing those two words, he drifted into a heavy sleep, only vaguely aware of the continuous rustling sounds from the opposite side before he succumbed to slumber, lacking the inclination to ponder the meaning behind Lu Lin’s question about types.

He had a strict biological clock, waking up promptly at nine; however, an early awakening didn’t necessarily mean he had to get out of bed. As it was the last day for registration, there was nothing pressing to do, so getting up served no purpose.

Su Yan lifted his eyes and once again saw a figure standing before his bed curtains. From their height, it was easy to tell who it was, but he couldn’t fathom why they would be standing in front of him so early in the morning. ‘Did they want to stab him to death?’

‘This was a world where the protagonist gong reigned supreme; even if he were stabbed to death in his bed, the academy would likely deem it an unfortunate fall onto a knife blade, resulting in a river of blood.’

At this thought, he felt the surrounding atmosphere turn chillingly cold.

It was then that an unbidden fear washed over Su Yan. ‘Had he, in his overwhelming drowsiness last night, accidentally rejected him?’

‘If only he had known, he would have tried to appease him first. He had been a little too eager to protect his backside.’

[.: You’re awake.]

Su Yan: ‘…’

Lu Lin’s words were a statement of fact.

Only then did Su Yan realize that Lu Lin had sent him a photo in the middle of the night. Upon seeing it, he choked, coughing several times, his beautiful pupils brimming with moisture as his fingertips rubbed the screen.

‘What is this?!’