“The Leonid Meteor Shower’s peak period will arrive tonight. It is recommended that…”
The Astronomy Club’s annual meteor shower observation had arrived.
I was woken up by the cold.
To be precise, I only realized I was nearly freezing to death after Mimi stepped on me.
I didn’t know when this fat cat had jumped onto the bed, but it was currently crouching on my chest.
Its paw pads were pressing down rhythmically against the quilt, and it was nudging my chin with its head.
Its orange-and-white fur glowed warmly in the morning light, looking as fluffy as a freshly baked loaf of bread.
“Mimi… get down…”
It remained unmoved and even shifted forward two steps.
Those amber eyes looked at me roundly, and its throat rumbled with a purr.
I reached out to scratch its chin, and it immediately squinted its eyes, rubbing against my palm.
I struggled to sit up, and only then did it reluctantly jump off the bed.
With its tail held high, it took two steps before looking back at me.
It was gray outside the window, and a layer of mist had condensed on the glass.
I reached out a finger to touch it, trying to draw a transparent heart.
In the last week of November, Beishi finally remembered it was a northern city.
I tucked my neck in while getting dressed.
School sports pants, drawstring tightened by two notches.
The waist was still too big.
I put on an ivory-white fine-spun sweater over my school T-shirt.
The collar was soft, and the moment it touched my cheek, I felt much warmer.
Finally, I pulled my dark green long trench coat off the hanger, wrapped myself in it, and zipped it up to my chin.
In the mirror, I looked like I was wrapped up in a ball.
These clothes used to fit perfectly.
Now, the trench coat hung loosely on my body, as if I had stolen someone else’s clothes.
When I arrived at the classroom, there was a notice posted next to the blackboard.
[Tonight’s mountain area observation. Temperature: -3°C to -8°C. Please dress warmly.]
I stared at that “-8°C” for three seconds, then looked down at my outfit.
Minus eight degrees.
The mountain area.
‘I’m going to freeze.’
“Han Hanhan, if you go to the mountains wearing so little today, you’ll freeze to death, won’t you?”
A classmate leaned over from the side, chewing on a bag of bread with her cheeks puffed out.
“… I’ll be fine.”
“What do you mean ‘fine’? It’s minus eight degrees.”
She broke off a piece of bread and handed it over.
“Want some?”
“No thanks.”
She didn’t mind and stuffed the bread into her own mouth, saying unclearly, “By the way, a Junior came looking for you earlier. She left a cup of soy milk on your desk.”
I looked down and finally noticed a cup of hot soy milk sitting at the corner of my desk.
Condensation had formed on the outside of the cup, and it was still hot to the touch.
“The tall one with the single ponytail and white glasses frames,” my deskmate added.
“She said the temperature is dropping today and told you to drink something hot.”
Xiao Yan.
I bit the straw and took a sip.
The soy milk was thick, and both the temperature and sweetness were just right.
It was exactly how I liked it—not too sweet, but with a bit more than sugar-free.
I never use a whole sugar packet for my soy milk; I only ever use half.
I had never told anyone about that.
I stared at the cup for two seconds.
‘Whatever. Some questions are pointless to ask.’
When the first class ended, a familiar set of footsteps echoed in the hallway.
I looked up.
Xiao Yan appeared at the classroom door.
As usual, she stayed outside instead of coming in.
Her hands were behind her back, her body leaning slightly forward, and her head tilted as she peered inside.
Her ponytail draped over her shoulder, the ends slightly curled, swaying gently in the draft of the hallway.
Behind the white glasses frames, her eyes were bright.
When she saw me look up, she smiled.
“President, do you want to go buy some thick clothes at noon? It will be very cold on the mountain.”
I was about to say “no thanks,” but my mouth had only opened halfway when a head suddenly popped out from behind Xiao Yan’s shoulder.
“Let’s go, let’s go!”
Song Tao.
She was a high school freshman and a new club member.
She wasn’t tall, only reaching about my shoulder.
Her high twin tails were tied with star-patterned hair ties that bounced along with her movements.
Her cheeks had a bit of baby fat and were flushed red from the cold wind in the hallway.
She was clinging to Xiao Yan’s shoulder, her torso leaning halfway out.
“The President will catch a cold if she wears so little! It’s super cold on the mountain at night! I checked the weather forecast, and the perceived temperature is -10°C!”
She counted on her fingers.
“It’s -10°C! The kind of cold that could kill a person!”
“It’s not quite at the level where it would kill someone…”
“It will! I sneezed downstairs just now and almost thought I was going to meet my end right there!”
“I want to go for a stroll too.”
Another voice came from Xiao Yan’s other side.
Li Li revealed half her face from behind Xiao Yan’s other shoulder.
Unlike Song Tao, she stood there very quietly.
Her shoulder-length short hair was tucked behind her ear, revealing a small section of her fair neck.
Her school uniform was perfectly neat, without a single wrinkle even on the collar.
Her gaze swept over me, and she pushed up her glasses expressionlessly.
“I happen to need a windbreaker.”
However, Song Tao didn’t seem afraid of her cold demeanor at all.
Not content with hanging off Xiao Yan, she reached out to tug on Li Li’s sleeve.
Li Li was pulled slightly off balance, her brow furrowing slightly, but she didn’t pull away.
I looked at Xiao Yan, then at Song Tao and Li Li.
“Alright.”
Song Tao gave a small cheer and pumped her fist against her chest in a “yes” gesture.
Xiao Yan smiled and turned to leave, her low ponytail swaying behind her.
After taking two steps, she looked back at me.
“President, I’ll come find you after class.”
“Okay.”
I watched her figure disappear at the stairwell.
Then I lowered my head to keep reading.
But I didn’t process a single word on the pages.
—
A banner for the “Winter Sale” hung at the mall entrance, red with white characters, flapping loudly in the wind.
When we pushed the door open, a wave of heat from the heater hit us.
Song Tao let out a long breath and spread her arms like a withered little plant that had just been watered.
“I’ve come back to life—”
Xiao Yan gave her a smiling glance, then turned to me.
“Outdoor gear is on the fourth floor. Let’s go up first.”
I stood next to Xiao Yan as the elevator ascended.
I wasn’t sure if it was my imagination, but it felt like the handrail was a bit higher than usual, and I even had to raise my hand to reach the buttons.
Just as I was wondering about it, I caught Xiao Yan in my peripheral vision—her shoulder was level with my line of sight.
‘That’s not right. I’ve gotten shorter.’
We used to be roughly the same height, but now she had to look down slightly to see my eyes.
I stared blankly at the numbers on the elevator buttons, suddenly feeling someone watching me.
When I turned my head, I met Xiao Yan’s gaze.
I didn’t know when she had turned around.
Her chin was slightly tucked, and she was looking at me from behind her white glasses with a faint smile.
I quickly turned my face back.
My ears felt a bit hot.
The fourth floor was the outdoor sports section.
Xiao Yan walked into the second store and stopped in the women’s section, reaching out to pick up a navy blue windbreaker.
“This one has a liner. Why don’t you try it, President?”
She handed the jacket over.
I was stunned for a moment when I took it; the fabric was very light but felt very sturdy, and the liner was down-filled.
“The President looks thin, but her shoulder width is actually just right. Size M should fit.”
Her tone was incredibly natural when she said this, as if she were just saying “the weather is nice today.”
I took the jacket into the fitting room and only realized what happened after closing the door.
‘Shoulder width. Size.’
‘She even knows that?’
Last time it was the sweetness of the soy milk, the time before that it was about me skipping breakfast, and now it was my shoulder width.
‘Just how many things has she observed about me?’
‘Whatever.’
‘It’s pointless to ask.’
Every time, she just smiles and steers the conversation somewhere else.
I took a deep breath and put on the jacket.
When I finished changing and came out, Song Tao was the first to react.
“Wow, the President looks so good!”
“Does it look okay?”
I looked down at myself.
It was just a navy blue windbreaker, nothing special.
“It looks great!”
Song Tao nodded vigorously, then turned to Xiao Yan.
“Senior Xiao Yan, look!”
Xiao Yan stood two steps away, her head tilted as she looked at me, a smile on her lips.
Her gaze moved from my shoulders to my waist, then back to my collar, unhurriedly, as if she were confirming something.
“Yes, it fits perfectly.”
Then she walked over and reached out to help me adjust my collar.
“This part wasn’t folded properly.”