Chapter 24: I Want to Become a Cute Girl! (Part 2)

At the same time, at the entrance of the Back Mountain.

Xiao Yan gripped her phone so hard her fingertips turned white. The screen showed her chat interface with me.

The last message was from half an hour ago, marked as “Read,” but there was no reply.

She dialed my number over and over, pressing the phone to her ear.

The only thing coming from the receiver was a cold, automated voice:

“The user you have dialed is currently powered off.”

Her thumb repeatedly pressed the call button, waiting a full ten seconds each time before she was willing to hang up.

“It’s off?”

Lin Yu held the Observation Device, her brow slightly furrowed as her glasses reflected the blue light from the screen.

“It’s been off this whole time.”

Xiao Yan’s voice trembled.

She switched the phone to her left hand and grabbed Lin Yu’s sleeve with her right.

“He never turns on airplane mode. Something must have happened.”

Her nails dug into the fabric of Lin Yu’s sleeve, her knuckles turning a pale, sickly blue.

Lin Yu looked down at the magnetic field curves on the screen, which were gradually smoothing out after a period of intense fluctuation.

She remained silent for a few seconds.

She tapped the side button of the Observation Device twice with her thumb to zoom in on the graph.

She studied it for a moment as if realizing something.

“He might have gone there on his own.”

Lin Yu’s tone remained flat, but her speech was slightly faster than usual.

She pursed her lips after speaking.

“But he definitely arrived. And…”

She paused, pushing up her glasses.

Her eyes narrowed behind the lenses.

“He likely chose to change back into a girl.”

Xiao Yan froze.

Her grip on Lin Yu’s sleeve loosened, then immediately tightened again.

“How do you know?”

Lin Yu didn’t answer immediately.

She looked up toward the distant Observatory, where a faint blue light flickered in the night sky.

Her lips moved as if she were organizing her words.

“My older brother, my older sister, and Lin Ming all made the same choice back then.”

Her voice was very soft, almost as if she were speaking to herself.

“I investigated for a long time. I read all her journals and checked all the data.”

“I could never understand why she would rather stay in her female form than stabilize back into a boy.”

She lowered her head.

The blue light from the screen cast the shadows of her eyelashes onto her cheekbones.

“Now I understand. It wasn’t an accident; it was her own choice. Just like him.”

After speaking, she hugged the Observation Device a little tighter, her thumb gently stroking the casing of the instrument.

Xiao Yan opened her mouth but couldn’t find the words.

Her eyes grew red, her lips trembled, and her throat moved as she swallowed hard.

“Let’s go.”

Lin Yu stepped forward, her shoes making soft crunching sounds on the gravel path.

“Any later and we’ll be too late.”

Xiao Yan followed her, her pace even faster, almost a run.

She still clutched her phone.

The screen was lit, stuck on the dialing interface.

She had called that number over a dozen times, but it still wouldn’t go through.

At 9:30 PM, the appointed time.

The door to the Observatory was slammed open, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The wooden door hit the wall, bounced, and swung back before Xiao Yan pushed it open with her palm.

The light from her flashlight poured through the open door like a silver-white silk ribbon spreading across the floor, illuminating a slender figure by the window.

I was wearing a clean Sailor Uniform, my long hair draped over my shoulders, turning back to look at the entrance.

The moonlight shone from behind me, stretching my shadow toward Xiao Yan’s feet.

The sleeves of the school uniform on my wrists were stained with wet blood, glinting a dark red under the moonlight.

The bag in Xiao Yan’s hand dropped to the floor with a thud.

Several pieces of Orange Candy rolled out of the canvas bag’s pocket, clattering toward my feet and stopping beside the hem of my skirt.

She froze.

Her pupils constricted.

Her mouth opened, closed, and opened again.

The next second, she lunged forward, her footsteps thudding loudly against the concrete floor.

She grabbed my shoulders, her fingers sinking into my shoulder blades with enough force to make me stumble back.

My back almost hit the windowsill, making the glass vibrate with a low hum.

She wrapped an arm around my waist to steady me, then looked down, staring directly into my eyes.

Her tears were nearly dripping onto my face.

“You—”

Her voice shook, and her eyes turned watery and red in an instant.

Tiny tears hung from her eyelashes.

“You came here alone? Do you have any idea what happens when the magnetic field goes out of control? Do you have a death wish? You came here to die just to protect me?”

Her fingers were shaking.

I could feel the tremors traveling from her fingertips into my shoulders and down into my bones.

I opened my mouth to explain, but she didn’t give me the chance.

Her voice suddenly rose, like a tightened string snapping, filled with long-suppressed grievance and panic.

It was almost hoarse.

“Do you know how many nights I couldn’t sleep, agonizing over your mess?”

“Every day I looked at your boy’s face, all I could think about was the cute version of you who could walk side-by-side with me!”

“I was so scared you wouldn’t change back, yet I was also scared that if you did, I’d never see that version of you again!”

Burning tears fell—one, two, three—landing on the collar of my Sailor Uniform, blooming into small, dark spots.

The fabric grew damp and clung to my collarbone, the heat making my skin feel cold.

“You kept it from me! You lied to me!”

She gripped my shoulders tightly, the veins on her knuckles bulging as her nails dug into the fabric.

“You’d rather climb through windows and get hurt alone than tell me ‘I want to change back’?”

“Do you trust me that little? Don’t you know I’d rather be the one hurt than have you carry this alone?”

By the end, she was practically screaming.

Her voice echoed through the hollow Observatory, causing the dome overhead to emit a faint resonance.

She couldn’t go on.

She broke down, sobbing uncontrollably.

She yanked me into her arms, hugging me with a death grip.

Her arms constricted my waist while her other hand pressed against the back of my head, burying my face into the crook of her neck.

I was held so tightly I could barely breathe.

My ribs ached from the pressure, and the wound on my wrist was pulled, causing blood to seep out again and trickle down my elbow.

But I didn’t dare move.

Her embrace was tight—so tight that I could feel her heart beating against her chest.

It was fast and chaotic, like a drum.

Her hand moved erratically over my back, sliding from my shoulder blades to my waist before returning to the back of my head, her fingers gently threading through my hair.

I could feel her tears streaming down my neck, hot and salty, soaking into my collar and sliding along the curve of my collarbone.

She smelled of familiar Orange Candy mixed with a hint of sweat.

The combination was comforting, and it made my nose sting with emotion.

She didn’t say anything; she just held me for a long time.

So long that I felt her heart rate slow from a frantic rhythm to a steady pulse.

So long that her fingers stopped clutching my hair and began to stroke it gently, sliding from the roots to the tips, over and over.

“You scared me to death.”

Her voice was muffled against my ear, incredibly hoarse and heavy with nasal congestion.

“Do you have any idea how scared I was?”

Buried in the crook of her neck, my nose brushing her collarbone, I let out a muffled “Mm.”

Her hand moved from my hair to my cheek, cupping it and gently lifting my face from her shoulder.

Her thumb brushed against my cheekbone, wiping away the tears that had somehow gathered on my face.

I couldn’t tell if they were hers or mine.

She rested her forehead against mine.

Our noses touched, and our breaths mingled—warm and ticklish.

“Never take risks alone again.”

Her voice was soft, as if she were speaking only to me.

“Do you hear me?”

I looked into her eyes, which were inches away.

Tears still clung to her lashes. When she blinked, one fell and landed on the bridge of my nose.

My own reflection was mirrored in her pupils:

Long hair, a Sailor Uniform, and red-rimmed eyes.

“I hear you,” I said.

My voice was softer than I thought possible.

Her thumb brushed my cheekbone again, then slowly slid to the corner of my mouth.

Her fingertip stopped there, pressing down gently.

“There’s blood on the corner of your mouth,” she said.

I hesitated and reached up to wipe it, but she didn’t move her hand.

She wiped it away herself with her thumb.

Her thumb brushed against my lower lip, sending a spark of numbness through me like an electric current spreading from my lips to my entire body.

My hands were still resting on her waist.

I could feel her body heat through her clothes, making my own fingertips burn.

Footsteps echoed from the doorway.

Lin Yu stood there holding the Observation Device, making no move to interrupt.

She leaned against the doorframe, one leg slightly bent with the toe of her shoe tapping the floor.

She glanced down at the data on the screen and pushed up her glasses.

“The Magnetic Field Stability Period has passed. Current Gender Locking complete.”

“Congratulations. You are a girl forever now.”

Her voice was devoid of emotion, but she spoke more slowly than usual.

She looked up at Xiao Yan and me, her gaze lingering on my Sailor Uniform for two seconds.

Her lips moved as if she were biting back a sentence.

“My sister made the same choice back then.”

Her voice was very quiet, as if she were afraid of disturbing something.

Her thumb gently stroked the casing of the Observation Device.

“I didn’t understand it before. Now I do.”

She turned and walked outside, leaning against the wall with her back to the Observatory, looking up at the night sky.

The screen of the Observation Device was still lit, casting a blue glow on the wall behind her.

“Next time, tell us in advance. Don’t try to carry it all yourself.”

The pressure in the embrace finally loosened.

Xiao Yan let go of me, though her hands remained on my shoulders.

Her eyes were bloodshot, the tip of her nose was a bright red, and tears still clung to her eyelashes.

Her gaze fell on the bloodstain on my wrist.

Her eyes filled with even more pain, her brow furrowed, and her lips thinned into a line.

The tips of my ears turned bright red.

I lowered my head and then looked up again, my voice soft and carrying a hint of aggrieved nasal tone.

“I read Lin Yu’s files. If you stand here when the magnetic field is unstable, your gender will switch. After an hour, it stabilizes and locks.”

“I came an hour early. It was too dark, so I tripped and ended up like this.”

I looked down and gripped the hem of my Sailor Uniform, my fingertips trembling slightly as I bunched the fabric into wrinkles.

My voice grew softer, but it was incredibly firm.

“I was a boy for seventeen years. Being a boy was fine, but as a girl, I can be with you. I really like this, and I can feel that you like me this way, too.”

I paused and took a deep breath.

“So I decided for myself. I didn’t want you to keep agonizing over it for me, and I didn’t want you to be secretly sad anymore.”

I looked up, my eyes bright, with the tears she had dropped still wet on my lashes.

The blood on my wrist shimmered faintly in the moonlight.

Some drops had already dried into dark red scabs.

Xiao Yan remained silent for a few seconds.

Her throat moved as she swallowed.

Her gaze moved from my wrist to my eyes, then to my hair, and finally settled on the collar of my Sailor Uniform.

She reached out and carefully straightened my collar.

When her fingertips touched the skin of my neck, we both shivered slightly.

Her fingers were cool, carrying the temperature of the night breeze.

Against my warm skin, they felt like a leaf falling onto the surface of a pond.

She folded back the corner of the collar and straightened the crooked bow, her movements slow and deliberate, as if she were performing a solemn ritual.

Then, she didn’t pull her hand away.

Her fingers slid up along my collar, her fingertips brushing my collarbone before stopping at my jawline.

She used her thumb to gently tilt my chin up, forcing me to look at her.

“From now on, you are not allowed to take risks alone, and you are not allowed to carry everything by yourself.”

Her voice was hoarse.

She pulled an Orange Candy from her pocket.

It was one of the ones that had rolled out of her bag; she must have picked it up.

Her fingertips peeled back the wrapper, and the orange candy glinted like a jewel under the moonlight.

She didn’t put it in my mouth.

Instead, she put the candy in her own mouth and leaned in.

The sweetness of the Orange Candy drifted from her lips to mine, mixed with the saltiness of her tears and a hint of her lip balm.

Her lips were very soft.

They brushed against mine briefly before pulling away.

I froze, my mind going completely blank.

Using her tongue, she expertly pushed the candy into my mouth.

The orange sweetness instantly dissolved on the tip of my tongue, tasting sweeter than ever before.

“That way, it won’t get on the corners of your mouth,” she whispered.

Her voice was very light, and her ears were bright red, but she stared directly at me without looking away.

I bit down on the candy and gave a muffled “Mm.”

The candy rolled in my mouth, the sweetness sliding down the back of my throat.

My face felt hot enough to fry an egg, and the tips of my ears were so red they looked like they might bleed, but my eyes crinkled into crescents.

Xiao Yan looked at me.

Her eyes were still red, but a smile finally curved her lips.

She reached out and gently ruffled my hair, her palm sliding from the top of my head to the ends, tucking the wind-blown strands behind my ear.

Her fingertip brushed my earlobe, making it itch.

Then she leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to my forehead.

Her lips stayed against my skin for two seconds before she pulled away.

“Dummy.”

Her voice was muffled against my forehead, laced with a smile.

From outside, Lin Yu’s voice drifted in—sharp and concise.

“Moving out.”

I nodded and reached out to take Xiao Yan’s hand.

Her palm was warm and dry.

She threaded her fingers through mine one by one, squeezing until our hands were perfectly interlaced.

Hand in hand, we walked out of the Observatory.

The moonlight spilled onto the path, stretching our shadows out long.

They overlapped on the ground, making it impossible to tell where one ended and the other began.

After walking for a bit, she suddenly stopped.

She lifted our joined hands to her lips and blew a gentle breath on them.

It was warm against the back of my hand.

She let go of my hand, circled to my left side, and firmly wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me completely into her embrace.

“Walk on this side,” she said.

“The cliff is on your right.”

I blinked.

There was a slope behind the bushes on the right, but it wasn’t exactly a cliff.

I didn’t call her out.

I just held her hand a little tighter.

Her thumb traced circles on my palm, one after another, very slowly.

I looked back at the observation window.

The blue light from the Star-mark Groove had completely died out.

Now, there was only darkness, without even a reflection on the glass.

In my pocket, the Resonance Badge was still pulsing with a faint heat.

Its vibration frequency perfectly matched the heartbeat of Xiao Yan beside me.

I could feel it because my hand was tucked in hers, pulse against pulse.

I didn’t know what this burning badge meant.

But at this moment, I only wanted to hold her hand and walk, step by step, through this moonlit night.

The wind blew from the Back Mountain, brushing her stray hairs against my face.

It tickled.

She didn’t reach out to brush them away, and I didn’t pull back.

Her shoulder brushed against mine, bumping slightly as we walked, just like before.

Our shadows remained overlapped, two figures merged into one.