Chapter 45: Birthday

Sometimes, I wonder—after having such a wonderful dream, is there ever a chance of dreaming the same thing again?

During class, I paid attention for a bit, but the moment we had to start copying notes from the board, my mind began to wander, filled with all sorts of nonsense.

After enduring two painfully long days, it was finally Monday.

Unfortunately, Gu Fan and I aren’t in the same class, so if I want to see him, I’ll have to wait until lunch break or after school.

I honestly don’t know why I’m so eager to see Gu Fan.

But that dream from Saturday night—that spring dream—has been lurking in my subconscious ever since, teasing out these annoying impulses.

Wait… could it be that I’m in heat?

That terrifying thought made me secretly pull out my phone from the drawer and do a bit of searching.

After checking repeatedly, I confirmed that catgirls don’t actually go into heat.

Phew… though, weirdly, I felt a little disappointed.

I should be relieved, shouldn’t I?

I let out a long sigh, realizing that the problem lies with my self-control.

If I could just see Gu Fan—talk with him for a bit—I’m sure all these ridiculous urges would disappear.

I tugged my puffy coat tighter around me.

Starting today, the school no longer requires us to wear uniforms, which is a blessing for someone like me who can’t handle the cold.

Speaking of which… when Gu Fan pet me in the church that day, to the point I couldn’t even stop drooling, I didn’t have any indecent dreams afterward.

Yet days later, then I dreamed about it.

How does that even work?

I thought hard about whether anything unusual had happened that day, but honestly, not really—after all, I think about Gu Fan every single day.

Maybe that’s exactly why—since my head is so full of Gu Fan, when those desires creep in, the only possible ‘target’ for them ends up being him.

If I think about it that way, doesn’t that mean I don’t necessarily have inappropriate thoughts about Gu Fan?

It’s just that… no one else could take his place.

Riiing riiing riiing~

Ah, crap—I spaced out again and totally missed part of the lesson.

Watching the multimedia screen cycle through slide after slide of the PowerPoint, I realized I’d missed a whole bunch of board notes.

Oh well.

I’ll just look up the review materials online later.

It’s not like I have anything else to do at home other than lie in bed thinking about Gu Fan anyway.

Ever since I met Gu Fan, it feels like most of my time has been spent fantasizing about all kinds of imaginary scenarios between us.

I’ve been neglecting the actual experience of reality.

During the long break between classes, I went to the bathroom to take care of some needs, then sat back in my seat, spacing out while sipping water in tiny sips.

My classmates were chatting loudly about school gossip, swapping stories and rumors.

I heard Gu Fan’s name pop up more than once.

My cat ears instinctively perked up, trying to catch exactly what they were saying about him.

I’d actually collected quite a few rumors recently and tried asking Gu Fan about them in a roundabout way, but he always denied everything.

Guess there are a lot of false stories floating around about him, huh?

Because of what I went through back in elementary school—being ignored by the whole class—I knew better than to make an enemy out of someone like Shiratori, a social butterfly.

So I just nodded silently, agreeing to her request without showing any emotion.

Shiratori’s eyes narrowed into crescents as she smiled.

“Then come with me.”

She stepped out of the classroom first.

I kept my face cold as I followed behind, weaving through the crowd, pretending not to hear the whispers and gossip flitting around behind me.

We stepped into the hallway, where the icy wind cut through like blades.

My cat ears instinctively folded back from the cold, and I pulled the hood of my puffy coat over my head.

My freezing hands were jammed deep into my pockets as I trailed behind her.

Maybe because she was the picture-perfect model of a high school girl, Shiratori seemed to have a higher tolerance for the cold.

The high-neck coat she wore looked super thin—like something you’d wear in autumn, not winter.

But it definitely looked good on her.

Way better than my bulky down jacket, at least.

A sudden wave of petty jealousy welled up inside me.

Eventually, Shiratori stopped in front of an unused classroom—or rather, the only classroom in use on this entire floor.

Since no one else came this way, the area was basically deserted.

“What did you want to talk about?”

Class was about to start.

Not that I was dying to be there, but I still didn’t want to be scolded by the teacher for being late.

Shiratori glanced around, making sure no one was nearby, before finally turning to face me.

“Um… I wanted to ask you a favor. It’s nothing major, I promise.”

Being asked to do something wasn’t new for me—but usually it was out of obligation, never like this, where someone actually asked nicely.

“…What kind of favor?”

Would you like me to continue from here?

“His birthday’s coming up soon.”

Shiratori said.

“A few of us friends are planning to get him a gift, but we don’t really know what he likes or what he wants. Since you know him better, could you find out for us?”

Birthday?

I thought for a moment… yeah, it should be in December, just a few days before Christmas.

Shiratori sounded sincere, and honestly, I was curious about what kind of gift to give Gu Fan too, so I didn’t hesitate to agree.

After all…

I really want to know what Gu Fan likes now.

If I could surprise him with the perfect gift, I bet he’d be super happy.

After Shiratori eagerly exchanged contact info with me, I returned to class, my mind busy imagining what kind of present Gu Fan would like.

Daydreaming about this replaced the embarrassing dream from before, becoming my new focus.

Since that day at the church, Gu Fan and I had stayed normal—just friends, really—but I felt a comforting sense of progress beneath it all.

Maybe this birthday was the perfect chance to get closer to him.