“……”
The forty-five minutes of morning reading quickly slipped by.
Yin Xiaomeng sat at her desk, one hand propping up her chin while the other held a pen pressed against her lips.
The moment the bell rang, she shuddered as if abruptly awakened from a dream, then placed the pen back on the desk.
Shaking her head to clear the strange thoughts that were making her dizzy, the girl braced her hands on the desk and stood up in one swift motion.
Then, stepping as lightly as possible past the classmates still dozing in the front row, she climbed onto the podium.
“First period…”
“I think it’s Chinese?”
Forcing down the thoughts that were vaguely R-rated with the reminder ‘I’m at school, thinking too much won’t help,’ she deftly navigated the teaching all-in-one screen, exiting and closing the slides used for morning self-study.
Taking a deep breath, she picked up the schedule and chalk from the podium.
Maybe it was her imagination, but the chalk felt oddly slippery today…
Like someone had soaked it in water…
‘…Whatever, forget it.’
‘Probably just my imagination.’
“Let me see…”
She flipped through the schedule stand, double-checking that it was the tenth week of the second semester of sophomore year, then turned around, stood on tiptoe, and began writing today’s classes on the blackboard stroke by stroke.
“Chinese… Physics, English, Biology, Math…”
“Huh? I copied an extra period for the afternoon… How careless.”
The glasses on her nose pressed a little painfully.
Raising her head, she instinctively tried to wipe the white characters with the side of her palm, but quickly remembered that this new type of chalk only dissolved in water.
She looked for the whiteboard eraser hanging by the blackboard—
But unfortunately, there wasn’t one.
Letting out a long sigh, Yin Xiaomeng had no choice but to grit her teeth and continue writing.
“Math… then PE, Etiquette, Chinese, Chemistry…”
“Hmm…”
“Baking class tomorrow?”
“……”
She still couldn’t understand why the school—filled with nothing but rich heirs and heiresses—would specifically offer such a useless course.
Well, existence is reasonable, and baking class could be considered a break.
Why not?
More than that, she was concerned about where the whiteboard eraser, which should have been magnetically attached to the blackboard, had gone.
“Did the cleaning lady take them all over the weekend to wash and refill, then forget to bring them back?”
She put the schedule back on the podium, bent down, opened the middle drawer of the podium, and rummaged through the clutter for the eraser.
…
“……”
“Wake up…”
“You’ve got drool on the desk, dummy.”
When Situ Ling woke from her dream, the first thing she saw was the face she kept sketching in her dreams.
Slightly drooping eyes wrapped in a faint melancholy when her eyelids fell;
Even without any makeup, those long, thick, curling lashes fluttered like butterfly wings when she blinked…
Pale skin as luminous as porcelain;
The cherry-pink lips she’d lightly kissed countless times in her dreams now opened and closed, as if tempting her—
‘Xiaomeng is leaning over?’
The faint jasmine fragrance lingered at the tip of her nose.
The girl felt her heartbeat so intense it could rival a drum.
The other girl’s specially braided black hair fell over her shoulders as she moved, brushing lightly against her pen tip, tickling and yet intoxicating…
“Xiao…”
“…Class monitor?”
The blurry scene sharpened as her eyes squinted and opened again.
A faint regret spread through her heart.
Situ Ling regretted not stealing a kiss while she was still groggy, but she was also relieved she’d restrained her impulse during that dazed moment.
She hadn’t let this girl—who was finally getting close to her—realize the darkest thoughts buried deep in her heart.
The hand she’d instinctively reached out hesitated briefly, then retreated into her sleeve with a hint of loneliness.
The girl knew very well that she was never on the other’s list of potential partners.
Even a temporary closeness—like those fish in the pond—was impossible.
‘The only way I could ever have my wish granted would be to pull her down from her pedestal…’
She didn’t want to do that.
She didn’t dare.
Compared to seeing the disgust in those eyes, perhaps her overly cowardly self could better endure a lifetime of plain friendship.
“Still half asleep?”
The girl’s fingertips carried the same fragrance;
Her warm body temperature accidentally brushed against her cheek while tidying her hair by her temple, leaving a scorching heat.
“N-no…”
“You’re the one who’s daft! cough cough…”
She jerked up, dodging Yin Xiaomeng’s next move.
Shaking her head, she retorted instinctively.
The red tips of her ears were hidden by her hair.
Maybe Situ Ling’s movement was too abrupt?
Choked by her own saliva, she couldn’t stop coughing.
“……”
“?”
“Still foggy from sleep?”
The overly intense reaction made the girl unconsciously show a strange expression.
Finally coming to her senses, the girl patted her chest and tried to calm down.
“…N-no, nothing.”
“Has class ended already?”
Wiping the corner of her mouth, Situ Ling, now seated on the edge of the chair, finally reacted belatedly.
“……”
“Ling, want to go to the cafeteria together?”
Yin Xiaomeng waved her meal card.
The now-calming girl took a deep breath, hiding the oddity she’d accidentally revealed.
Even though she felt her face was probably burning, she remembered she was supposed to be playing a straight girl right now…
Still, she tried to make her tone sound less flustered.
“Cafeteria, today they’ll have good—”
“Hey, wait a second?”
“My cute little Ling’er~ Why is your face so red?”
During the lunch break, the classmates had already bolted to snatch spots in the cafeteria.
Situ Ling instinctively looked around and felt something bad might happen.
A classroom for just the two of them.
One was a girl pretending to be straight, cheeks flushed red, clearly in an “interactable” state.
The other was a seemingly innocent but secretly mischievous reverse-yuri girl with ulterior motives.
Sure enough, the moment Yin Xiaomeng realized that Situ Ling’s sudden blush might be related to the strange smiling sleep she’d had in class earlier, the girl—who’d been suppressing herself all morning—finally couldn’t resist the temptation of the little demon in her mind.
Her pale hand suddenly clamped around the girl’s slender wrist.
Even through the fabric of her clothes, she could feel the other’s temperature rising.
The frail girl was almost effortlessly pulled into the embrace.
Situ Ling felt the thick, almost suffocatingly sweet scent; her mind, which had just started to recover, began to steam up again in an instant.
“Hm?”
“What interesting thing did you dream about?”
“Little~ Ling’er~?”
“You wouldn’t have a crush on some boy, would you?”
An arm hooked around her slim waist.
Even though it was a scene that made her heart race and her head dizzy, Yin Xiaomeng, who had completely let her guard down around the girl, didn’t notice anything unusual.
She even stubbornly attributed this so-called excitement to some nameless male classmate—
Situ Ling was silent for a moment.
The excitement in her heart turned ice-cold the instant she heard the words “crush on some boy.”
The arc of her lips stiffened for a second, then quickly flattened.
“Mhm…”
“I did dream about someone I really like.”
The flush on her face gradually receded, and the girl’s tone cooled down.
She forced a smile she usually wore, poking the girl’s waist lightly with her finger as if in a casual joke.
Her voice hid an almost imperceptible tremor.
Bitterness buried deep in her eyes, as profound as a lake that could never be touched.
“R-really? Someone exists?”
“Which class? Got a photo? Let me see!”
“Heh heh, with me as your matchmaker, I guarantee we’ll snag them in three days flat!”
Since the classroom was empty, Yin Xiaomeng let down her disguise a little.
The girl tilted her head slightly, looking at the face so close to hers.
She could simply push herself up now and…
But that thought was dismissed the moment it appeared.
‘This is enough…’
‘Being able to see her like this…’
Burying her unwillingness deep, she made her smile a bit brighter.
“Nyah nyah, I’m not telling you, you big player~”
“Alright, didn’t you say we were going to eat?”
“If we don’t hurry, all the good food in the cafeteria will be gone!”
The girl took the lead and grabbed the other’s hand, but she insisted on hooking her pinky around Yin Xiaomeng’s ring finger as they held hands.
The arm around her waist let go, and the chill of the classroom instantly filled the spot where the warmth had been.
“As a thank-you for inviting me to eat, Miss Situ will foot the bill today!”
The girl laughed softly.
The other girl still hadn’t noticed the deep feelings hidden beneath that sweet smile.
She was just a little dazzled by Situ Ling’s sudden smile, but only for a moment before returning to her usual state.
Clearing her throat, she adjusted everything back into her usual “lady” role, then looked at the girl waiting for her to stand up, curled the corner of her mouth, and followed her out of the classroom.
The cicadas were noisy.
The marble tiles of the hallway cast mottled piano keys under the sunlight.
The crisp sound of indoor-shoe soles landing on them was like a piece of music slowly stepping into heartbreak.
‘If only this time could last a little longer…’
“I like you…”
“Huh? Did you say something?”
Turning her head slightly, she saw the other girl’s puzzled expression.
The one who’d been walking half a step ahead shook her head.
“Nothing.”
She said, “Do you think they’ll have fried fish at lunch? I’m craving those little fish that are crispy on the outside and sprinkled with salt and pepper.”