Chapter 42: Unread

“……”

“How does it feel?”

“……”

“Pretty good.”

—

What should I do today?

Holed up in her room, Lin Qingya sat hugging her knees on the floor tiles near the corner, gently tapping her calf with the scissors in her hand…

After two straight all-nighters, she looked as lifeless as a rotten apple.

But it wasn’t without results.

Chin resting on her knees, the girl stared at the outfit near the balcony—

Already roughly shaped and accessorized, only needing further refinement to be completed—

And couldn’t help a silly smile curling at the corner of her lips.

“Hehe…”

‘Cute little Xiao Meng…’

Her heavy dark circles made her lecherous expression look like…

A deep-seated, obsessive shut-in.

“If I could secretly lock her up in the attic…”

“…Keep her all to myself.”

“…That’d be nice.”

Physical pain slammed against her nerves, which had become somewhat overexcited from sheer exhaustion.

Short, rushed breaths—

A violent heartbeat that didn’t need listening for to feel its rhythm—and a ringing in her ears that had appeared at some unknown time—

They formed a symphony played with her life.

Her slightly pale lips opened and closed, shallow inhales quickening just to take in enough oxygen to meet her body’s demands.

Her chest ached faintly.

The ringing in her ears had changed from a subtle static sound to a harsh noise like an old TV set.

The scissors that had been tapping her calf were released at some point, the metal blades falling onto the thick plush carpet without a sound.

Her body, which had been leaning forward, swayed for a moment before tilting to one side.

Her thin shoulder pressed against the wall…

The girl who had been letting her imagination run wild had closed her eyes at some point…

As time passed, her breathing gradually steadied.

“……”

“……”

…

Lunch break. Rooftop of the school building.

“Hiss…”

“Something’s off.”

“Why hasn’t Lin Qingya sent me a message that makes me feel like humanity is doomed just from one look today?”

Yin Xiaomeng refreshed her phone screen.

Staring at the still “unread” messages, she felt like she’d stepped into some strange space…

You mean that person—

Aside from that pervert she’d put on her blacklist forever—

Who was usually the most diligent in chatting with her…

Had gone an entire morning without seeing the messages she’d sent?

“After all, Lin Qingya replied instantly even when she sent a text while getting up to pee in the middle of the night…”

“Hasn’t touched her phone all morning…”

“She didn’t pass out, did she?”

She glanced at the time in the upper left corner.

The numbers “13:07” indicated it was already noon.

The girl scratched her chin, offering a guess she thought was reasonable.

Of course, the words she ended up saying were much more conservative than her initial guess.

After all, facing a longtime shut-in who spent every day either crying or busy drawing, cutting fabric, or pulling all-nighters for inspiration…

“……”

A gloomy girl.

Yin Xiaomeng felt that her initial thought—

“Did she kill herself from pulling an all-nighter?”

—Wasn’t too far off.

Even though she couldn’t rule out the possibility that a bit of resentment from earlier when she was being played for a fool was messing with her…

But she swore she had no intention of cursing the girl.

After all, if the fish she was keeping died from staying up too long and she couldn’t even get a bite…

Just thinking about it pissed her off.

“I wonder how things are going between her and her girlfriend now.”

“If they really broke up, what do we do…”

Staring at the “unread” on the screen, the girl let out a long sigh, feeling like everything she did lately was jinxed.

“……”

“CNM, damn Bai Ruoxi.”

“You’d better hope I never see you again, or I’ll beat you every time I see you!”

She clenched her fists.

Taking advantage of the fact that no one could hear her, she cursed smoothly and naturally—

The atmosphere demanded it.

A casual complaint or two was normal, wasn’t it?

Besides, so what if she cursed?

There was no one around—

No outsiders, no involved parties, no gossiping jerks who knew both sides.

Bai Ruoxi couldn’t have some telepathic superpower.

‘I curse her—can she just sprint eight hundred miles, pounce on me, and rub my face into the ground?’

That was obviously impossible!

So why feel guilty?

Funny.

‘If you’ve got the guts, then pin me down while I’m cursing you, grin, and say, “Damn [gutter curse] has been captured.”’

“……”

“Where was I going with that…”

“Tch, I’m supposed to be the center of everyone’s climactic scenes. Why do I have thoughts like some weakling who gets interrogated?”

“……”

“That Bai Ruoxi is really harmful.”

Yin Xiaomeng pressed the home button, locked her screen, and stretched.

Although noon’s air was a bit hot…

The warm, comfortable feeling of sunlight on her skin was something the freezing cold classroom could never offer.

Not that she meant to complain that her classmates looked like polar bears.

“But I don’t know why…”

“I feel like…”

“I forgot something really important?”

Leaning against the railing, she counted on her fingers, listing everything she had to do today and checking for gaps.

“…Nothing missed—”

“…Huh?”

“Where did Little Ling’er go?”

It suddenly hit her why the rooftop had been so quiet today.

…

Poke.

Poke.

In class.

The girl poked the girl sitting next to her, who was “listening” to the lesson, with the cap of her pen.

The other girl didn’t react.

Not even the slightest response to being poked…

Yin Xiaomeng carefully slid her butt closer, inching over without a sound.

“Hey…”

She weighed her words, lowering her voice—

But the girl, who had been abandoned in the cafeteria and not “found” for most of the lunch break, interrupted her.

“Pay attention.”

Short and succinct.

It was still that cute face, but for some reason it radiated a kind of “authority.”

Looking at her little Ling’er’s profile, Yin Xiaomeng shrank back a little under that brief intimidation.

Even the hand she had mustered the courage to poke with instinctively withdrew.

“……”

‘Damn it.’

‘She’s really mad…’

“……”

How to calm down an angry best friend, asking online.

Pretty urgent.

————————————

[What do you mean just treat her like a simp?]

[Best friends are best friends, they can’t become wives!]