The barbecue restaurant was on the fourth floor of the mall, and the window-side seats offered a clear view of the street below.
The November sky was a murky gray, with clouds hanging low and heavy.
Xiao Yan had booked a round table.
When I sat down, she naturally took the seat beside me, her shoulder pressing against mine.
Song Tao sat opposite us with Li Li beside her, leaving one empty seat.
“Where is Huang You?” I asked.
“She said she’s stuck in traffic, but she’ll be here any second.”
Song Tao was looking down at her phone, her fingers sliding across the screen while the corners of her mouth curled upward into a wide grin.
I caught a glimpse of her screen.
It was an orange interface titled “Taozibao Light Novel.”
In the center was an illustration of two girls huddled together watching the stars, drawn in a soft, ethereal art style.
She flipped a page, her lips pursing as her eyes sparkled.
She flipped another, suddenly took a sharp breath, pressed the phone against her chest, and muttered under her breath.
“Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god…”
“What’s wrong?” Li Li asked her.
“Nothing, nothing!” Song Tao hurriedly turned her phone over, her ears turning a bright red.
“It’s, well, it’s just really good.”
Li Li glanced at her but didn’t press further.
Song Tao turned her phone back over and resumed reading even more intently.
Her lips were slightly pressed together, and she curled into her chair, leaving only her bright, shining eyes visible.
When she reached a certain page, she hissed under her breath and lifted the phone a little higher before slowly lowering it, letting out a long, slow exhale.
“They’re so ship-worthy…” she whispered to herself.
“What was that?” I hadn’t heard her clearly.
“Nothing, nothing at all!” She waved her hands frantically and stuffed her phone into her pocket.
“Why hasn’t Huang You arrived yet?”
Just as the words left her mouth, the restaurant door was pushed open.
A gust of cold air rushed in, and a tall figure appeared at the entrance.
It was Huang You.
She, Xiao Yan, Song Tao, and Li Li were all tenth-grade students and members of the Astronomy Club.
She was slightly taller than Xiao Yan, standing at about 175 centimeters, which was quite tall for a girl.
Her shoulder-length hair was tucked behind one ear on one side, revealing a sharp, clean jawline.
Her black motorcycle jacket was zipped halfway up over a simple white T-shirt, and her jeans accentuated her long, straight legs.
She stood there quietly, yet it was impossible to look away from her.
Her gaze swept over the table and paused for a moment on Li Li.
Then, she walked over and sat down beside her.
“You’re late,” Li Li said.
Her tone was flat, but I noticed her eyes followed Huang You’s every move.
“Sorry,” Huang You replied.
She pulled a hand warmer out of her pocket and placed it in front of Li Li.
Li Li looked down at the hand warmer, then back at Huang You.
She didn’t say anything, but she picked it up and tucked it into her pocket.
Seeing this, Song Tao’s eyes lit up.
She stealthily pulled her phone back out, checked it, and then looked back across the table, her grin widening even further.
She whispered something to Li Li that I couldn’t catch, but I thought I saw Li Li’s ears turn a shade redder.
“What do you like to eat, President?”
Xiao Yan took the menu, flipped through a few pages, and brought the conversation back to the task at hand.
“Anything is fine.”
“I’ll do the ordering, then.”
She quickly checked off several items and handed the menu to the waiter.
I caught a glimpse: beef short ribs, pork jowl, chicken wings, king oyster mushrooms, and corn.
They were all my favorites.
‘Forget it,’ I thought, ‘it was pointless to even ask.’
“President, what kind of dipping sauce do you want?”
Xiao Yan had already stood up to head toward the condiment station.
“I’ll go with you.”
“No need. Just stay seated.”
She turned back with a smile and pressed a hand lightly on my shoulder.
“I’ll mix it for you.”
Song Tao watched this scene unfold, her phone lifted just enough to show her curved, smiling eyes.
Her gaze darted between Xiao Yan and me a few times before she ducked her head to tap out a line of text on her phone, her smile growing even more pronounced.
“What are you laughing at?”
Li Li asked her.
“Nothing, nothing.”
Song Tao turned her phone over, but her eyes remained crinkled.
“I just… I just think everything is really nice.”
Xiao Yan returned shortly, carrying two small dishes.
She placed one in front of me.
“Give it a try, President.”
I picked up a piece of meat with my chopsticks, dipped it in the sauce, and took a bite.
Seafood soy sauce, a hint of vinegar, a bit of minced garlic, and just a touch of spice.
It was exactly the flavor profile I was used to.
“How is it?”
She sat down and tilted her head to look at me, scooting her chair a bit closer until our distance narrowed further.
“Um… it’s good.”
“That’s a relief.”
She smiled and began to grill the meat.
The tongs were nimble in her hands.
Unlike me—who had tried a moment ago only to fail at picking up the meat and nearly dropping it on the table—she was an expert.
She placed the first piece of cooked meat into my bowl.
“Your only job is to eat, President.”
“I can do it myself—”
“It’s fine,” she said naturally, adding another piece.
“The President’s hands are so small; it’s inconvenient for you to use the tongs.”
I looked down at my hands.
My fingers were slender, and my nails were trimmed neatly.
They did seem a lot smaller than they used to be.
A movement caught my eye from the side.
Huang You had picked up her tongs and was placing grilled meat into Li Li’s bowl.
Her movements were crisp and efficient, and she didn’t say a single word.
Li Li looked down at the meat in her bowl, then up at Huang You.
“You should eat too.”
“Mm.”
Huang You grunted in affirmation and gave her another piece.
Song Tao’s chopsticks hovered in mid-air as she watched them, then glanced at Xiao Yan and me.
She secretly pulled out her phone, checked the screen, and took a deep breath, pressing the device against her chest as if she were trying to suppress some overwhelming joy.
“Song Tao, your meat is burning,” Li Li reminded her.
“Ah!” She scrambled to flip the meat, flustered.
“No, no, no…”
Huang You reached out and helped her move the charred meat to her own plate.
Li Li glanced at her and gave one of her own pieces to Song Tao.
“Thanks, Li Li!”
Song Tao was instantly revitalized, though her eyes still couldn’t help but stray toward her phone.
Xiao Yan continued to grill.
She put the second piece in my bowl, the third for Song Tao, and the fourth for Li Li.
“President, you’re out of sauce,” Xiao Yan noted.
“Huh?”
I looked at my dish; it was indeed empty.
“I’ll get you some more.”
She reached out for my dish.
As her fingers touched the rim, they brushed against mine.
It was only for a split second.
But she didn’t pull away immediately.
She paused for a beat, her pinky lightly hooking against mine before she finally took the dish away.
“The same as before, right?”
“Yeah.”
She stood up and walked toward the condiment station.
Song Tao watched her retreat, then looked at me.
She typed furiously on her phone, stuffed it back into her pocket, and leaned against the back of her chair with a long sigh, a look of utter satisfaction on her face.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“Nothing.”
She shook her head, unable to suppress her smile.
“I just feel like this meal was totally worth it.”
“Eh? Worth what?”
I asked curiously.
“Nothing, nothing!”
She quickly stuffed a piece of meat into her mouth and said muffledly, “Eat, President! Eat!”
Xiao Yan returned with the dish and placed it before me.
“Try it and see if the flavor is right.”
“It’s right.”
“Good.”
She sat down, and this time her chair was even closer to mine.
Our shoulders were touching; I could even feel the fabric of her sleeve rubbing against my arm.
I hesitated for a moment but didn’t pull away.
Neither did she.
Song Tao watched us from across the table, her chopsticks poking at her bowl.
Her expression was like someone watching a gripping drama.
Her phone lay on the table, and the screen lit up momentarily.
I caught a glimpse of a single line:
“Novel Draft: When she put the meat in her bowl, my heart felt like it was going to leap out of my chest…”
Then the screen went dark.
“Song Tao, your phone lit up,” I said.
“Ah!”
She scrambled to flip it over. “It’s nothing, nothing at all!”
Li Li ate her meat in silence.
Huang You placed the last piece into Li Li’s bowl and casually pushed her drink closer to the center of the table so it wouldn’t fall.
Watching the interaction between the three of them, I suddenly felt that the club was much more lively than it had been when I was running things.
“What are you thinking about, President?”
Xiao Yan’s voice drifted over.
“Nothing.”
I lowered my head to eat.
“Just thinking about how well you all get along.”
“Mm,” Xiao Yan hummed, offering no further explanation.
After a while, she spoke up again.
“President, what do you think the relationship between Huang You and Li Li is?”
I blinked, startled.
“Um, friends?”
Xiao Yan looked at me, her lips curving slightly.
“Right. Friends.”
She said it with a tone I couldn’t quite place.
Then she lowered her head to continue grilling, her eyelashes casting small shadows on her cheeks.
I stared at her profile for two seconds before quickly looking away.
Across the table, Song Tao mouthed something to Li Li that I couldn’t read.
But I could have sworn I saw the corner of Li Li’s mouth twitch.
—
At four o’clock in the afternoon, the school’s chartered bus was waiting at the gate.
It was a white medium-sized bus.
When I boarded, Xiao Yan had already claimed a window seat.
“Sit here, President.”
She patted the seat beside her and pulled two gray, neatly folded blankets from her bag.
“It’s cold in the mountains; I brought an extra one.”
“Oh… okay.”
I sat down, and she handed me one of the blankets.
It was incredibly soft.
It carried a faint scent of lavender, the same scent I had noticed back in the club room.
“When did you prepare this?”
I asked.
She just smiled and didn’t answer.
As the bus started moving, Song Tao was chattering away in the back while Li Li occasionally offered a brief response.
I leaned against the seat back and watched the gray sky outside the window, then suddenly felt something leaning against my shoulder.
It was Xiao Yan’s head.
She tilted her head to look at me, her eyes bright behind her white-framed glasses.
“Are you sleepy, President?”
“Not really.”
“Hehe.”
She didn’t pull away.
She just kept her head tilted, looking at me with a smile on her face.
“You look really good in that windbreaker today, President.”
“…Really?”
“Yeah.”
She reached out and tugged at my cuff.
“The sleeves are a bit long, though. Your hands are just too small.”
I looked down at my hands.
They were half-hidden by the sleeves, with only my fingertips showing.
“It’s fine.”
She pushed the blanket a bit closer to me.
“Cover yourself up well so you don’t catch a cold.”
I draped the blanket over my shoulders.
Only then did she pull her head back and lean against her own headrest, watching me from the side.
Her gaze made me feel a little flustered, so I turned my face toward the window.
In the reflection of the glass, I could see her shadow; she was still watching me.
By the time the bus left the city, it was starting to get dark.
Streetlights flickered on one by one, trailing orange bands of light across the window.
“President.”
“Yeah?”
“Have you ever been to the mountains to see the stars before?”
“A few times.”
“Is it cold?”
“Quite cold.”
“Then you should cover up more.”
She draped her own blanket over my legs as well.
“I’m wearing a lot of layers, so I’m not cold.”
“You don’t have to—”
“I’m really not cold.”
She tucked the blanket in, patted my knees twice, and then withdrew her hands.
The spots on my knees where she had patted felt warm.
When the bus reached a midway rest stop, the driver announced a ten-minute break.
I looked out the window and saw two figures getting off another bus.
One was very tall.
She wore a long black trench coat that billowed in the wind.
Her tight jeans highlighted her long, straight legs, and her Dr. Martens boots made a sharp clicking sound on the concrete.
Her hair was cut into a shoulder-length, slightly wavy wolf cut that swayed in the breeze.
Behind her rimless glasses, her eyes scanned the parking lot before she turned her head slightly to say something to the person beside her.
It was Senior Lin Ming.
The person beside her, Senior Bai Lu, was nearly a head shorter.
She was wrapped tightly in a white cashmere coat, her thick black tights tapering at the ankles and disappearing into a pair of round-toed leather shoes.
Her hair was tied in a low bun, and as a few stray strands blew across her face, she tucked them behind her ear, her eyes crinkling behind round gold-rimmed glasses.
Senior Bai Lu looked up and said something to Lin Ming.
Lin Ming lowered her head to listen, nodded, and then reached out to help straighten Bai Lu’s collar.
The movement was so natural, as if they had done it thousands of times.
“It’s Senior Lin Ming and Senior Bai Lu!”
Song Tao pressed herself against the bus window, her voice buzzing with excitement.
“The legendary couple of the Astronomy Club!”
“What legendary couple?”
I asked.
“Well…”
Song Tao was about to explain when Li Li tugged at her sleeve.
“You talk too much,” Li Li said.
“Oh.”
Song Tao shut her mouth obediently, but her eyes were still gleaming.
I knew Senior Lin Ming. When I joined the Astronomy Club as a tenth grader, she was the President.
Back then, my impression of the club was simply: there was a scary-looking Senior and another very gentle Senior named Bai Lu.
It wasn’t until I got to know them better that I realized Senior Lin Ming wasn’t actually scary.
She was just a woman of few words and had a cold expression. But if you actually asked her a question, she would answer seriously and never seemed annoyed.
Once, I sent her a message in the middle of the night asking about a star chart. She replied instantly with a voice message, saying in a very flat tone, “You misunderstood this part,” and then explained it for a solid half hour. After she finished, she simply said, “Go to sleep early,” and hung up.
At the time, I thought, ‘This person is so cool.’
Senior Bai Lu was a different story. Every time someone was stunned by Senior Lin Ming’s bluntness, she would be there with a smile to smooth things over.
Once, I asked her, “Does Senior Lin Ming not like talking?”
She thought about it and said, “It’s not that she doesn’t like it; she just thinks it’s unnecessary. But once you’re close to her, she actually talks quite a bit.”
“About what?” I asked.
Senior Bai Lu laughed. “For example, when she’s arguing with me.”
I didn’t understand what she meant at the time. Later, after a club activity ended, I went back to the club room to pick up something I’d forgotten and saw Senior Lin Ming and Senior Bai Lu standing in the hallway. Senior Bai Lu was saying something, and Senior Lin Ming had her head down, listening, her ears completely red.
When Senior Bai Lu finished talking, she reached out and pinched Senior Lin Ming’s cheek.
“Do you know what you did wrong?”
“…Yes.”
“Will you do it again?”
“…No.”
Her tone was completely different from her usual self.
I had hidden around the corner, too embarrassed to come out, and didn’t slip inside until they had gone.
So, I figured that “arguing” must have meant something like that.
Lin Ming and Bai Lu boarded our bus.
Lin Ming walked in front, her coat fluttering behind her.
She lowered her head slightly as she stepped up, her shoulders creating a sharp silhouette under her collar.
Her gaze swept the cabin, paused on me for a second, and then she turned her head to wait for Bai Lu.
Bai Lu followed, holding onto the doorframe as her leather shoes stepped onto the stairs.
Once she was steady, she naturally linked her arm with Lin Ming’s.
“Where should we sit?” Bai Lu asked.
“In the back,” Lin Ming said, glancing toward the rear of the bus.
The two of them walked down the aisle together.
Lin Ming walked on the outside, her hand slightly raised as if to shield Bai Lu from bumping into anyone.
Bai Lu held her arm, her head resting slightly against Lin Ming’s shoulder as she took small steps.
“Han Hanhan?”
Lin Ming stopped as she passed my seat.
“Hello, Senior Lin Ming. Hello, Senior Bai Lu.”
I stood up quickly.
“Mm.”
Lin Ming acknowledged me, her gaze lingering on me for an extra second.
“You’ve lost a lot of weight.”
“It seems that way.”
Bai Lu added from the side, tilting her head to look at me.
“Have you not been eating well?”
“I have been eating…”
“The President has been suffering from insomnia lately,” Xiao Yan chimed in from the side.
Bai Lu glanced at Xiao Yan, then back at me, and smiled.
“You aren’t allowed to let Han Hanhan get too tired.”
“Wait, what?” I didn’t understand.
“It’s nothing.”
Bai Lu shook her head with a laugh and pulled Lin Ming into the seat in front of mine.
When Lin Ming sat down, she habitually crossed her legs and leaned back with her hand on her knee.
Bai Lu sat beside her and pulled a thermos from her bag, handing it over.
“Drink some warm water. You were standing outside for so long; your hands are cold.”
“They aren’t.”
“Let me feel.”
Bai Lu reached out and took Lin Ming’s hand, giving it a squeeze.
“Liar, they’re clearly cold.”
Lin Ming didn’t say anything, but she didn’t pull her hand away either.
Bai Lu held her hand and shoved the thermos into her other one before letting go.
“Drink.”
Lin Ming took a sip and handed the thermos back.
Bai Lu took it, had a sip herself, screwed the cap back on, and put it away.
Then she pulled a scarf from her bag.
“Your neck is exposed.”
“I’m not cold.”
Bai Lu was already positioned behind her.
She stood on her tiptoes, wrapped the scarf around Lin Ming’s neck, and tied a knot in the front.
“There.”
Bai Lu patted her shoulder and leaned down to plant a kiss on the top of her head.
It was a very light kiss, almost like an accidental brush.
But I saw it.
Lin Ming’s ears turned red.
“A lot of people are watching,” she said, her voice much softer than usual.
“It’s not like they’re strangers.”
Bai Lu sat back down with a smile and brushed the stray hairs from Lin Ming’s forehead behind her ear, her fingers lingering on her cheek for a moment.
Behind us, Song Tao let out a very soft “Ahhh.”
I turned around to see her covering her mouth, her eyes shining like lightbulbs, while her other hand frantically poked Li Li’s arm.
“Calm down,” Li Li said.
“I can’t calm down!”
Song Tao hissed back.
Xiao Yan laughed softly beside me and whispered, “They have such a good relationship.”
“Yeah…”
I stared at the backs of the two in the front row.
Bai Lu was leaning on Lin Ming’s shoulder, and Lin Ming’s hand was resting on the back of Bai Lu’s, the two of them leaning against each other in peaceful silence.
It was really nice.
“What is the President thinking about?”
Xiao Yan’s voice drifted over from the side.
“Nothing.”
I quickly pulled my gaze back.
“Does the President think they’re a good match?”
“…Yeah.”
“That’s good then.”
She smiled, her tone carrying that same unidentifiable quality.
The bus continued its journey.
The sky had turned pitch black, and the world outside the window was swallowed by darkness, save for the occasional flash of headlights.
Bai Lu leaned back from the front row and handed me a bag of snacks.
“Hanhan, have something to eat. It’ll be cold once we get to the mountains.”
“Thank you, Senior Bai Lu.”
“You’re welcome.”
She smiled and handed another bag to Xiao Yan.
“You have some too.”
“Thank you, Senior.” Xiao Yan took it.
Bai Lu sat back, opened a bag of potato chips, and fed one to Lin Ming.
Lin Ming opened her mouth and ate it.
Bai Lu then took one for herself, and the two of them finished the entire bag that way, one chip at a time.
“Senior Bai Lu is so good at taking care of people,” Song Tao whispered from the back.
Li Li didn’t say anything, silently watching the scenery outside.
“President, I’ll wake you when we arrive,” Xiao Yan’s voice whispered in my ear.
“I’m not asleep.”
“Even if you aren’t, close your eyes for a bit. We’re going to be staying up all night once we get there.”
She had a point.
I closed my eyes and leaned back against the headrest.
The blanket was warm, the seat was soft, and the bus swayed gently.
The scent of lavender. It was so fragrant.
As I drifted off, I felt something brush against my hair.
It was light, like someone was gently playing with it.
Then, a very soft voice came from beside me, almost like someone talking to themselves.
“The President looks so precious when she sleeps…”
‘Who’s talking?’
I thought.
I wanted to open my eyes, but my eyelids felt incredibly heavy.
Then, something was gently draped over my shoulders, providing more warmth.
‘Whatever,’ I thought.
I didn’t want to think about it anymore.
I just wanted to keep sleeping.