Chapter 17: Threatened

However, that was something for the afternoon. For now, she still had no choice but to go to the sports field.

Even though she wasn’t feeling well, being with others was still safer than being alone.

Carrying her anxiety, the girl went downstairs by herself.

During break time in the third year of high school, the corridors were always empty. The feeling of being stared at oddly by others wasn’t pleasant, especially for Ye Xingmian, who was still running a high fever and whose chest felt empty.

Clutching her chest, the girl walked slowly with her head down, making her way to the sports field.

Every time she saw the scattered crowds all over the field, walking in groups of two or three, she always felt a painful sense of loneliness. The girl hugged her chest and sat in a corner, waiting for class to begin.

Even now, she still hadn’t gotten used to it. Every slight movement caused a sharp friction, a sensation that was both painful and strange, like being shocked by electricity—tingling and numb, something she really couldn’t get used to.

But up till now, other than holding her chest tightly, she truly couldn’t think of any other way to ease her predicament.

At last, the bell for class rang. In the distance, she saw her classmates gathering in formation under the sports committee member’s direction, and she hurried over.

The formation was girls in the front, boys in the back, from tallest on the left to shortest on the right. Because of her health, Ye Xingmian hadn’t attended PE class in a long time.

Naturally, the last row was all tall, robust boys. She wanted to squeeze through this wall of people to return to her previous spot as she remembered it.

“Hey, who are you?”

A boy, over 1.8 meters tall, wearing a thin jacket and with dark skin—obviously ready to play ball later—looked at the girl trying to squeeze past him, frowning.

“Uh… um… could I get through?”

Seeing that she couldn’t get in, Ye Xingmian got a little nervous. She held her chest, lowered her head, and asked cautiously.

“Hey, have you seen her before?”

He poked the boy next to him.

That boy only glanced at her before shaking his head.

“No impression.”

“Eh?”

It wasn’t surprising that they didn’t recognize her—Ye Xingmian was usually invisible at school—but their reactions still made her nervous.

“Are you from our class?”

“Y-yes… My name is Ye Xingmian…”

“Oh, you’re that short guy, huh? How come you look like a girl? The PE teacher rearranged the line-up earlier. Go ask the sports committee.”

“Oh… okay…”

In the end, she couldn’t find her place. All that was left for her was a choice: go ask the sports committee in front of the whole class. But she was shy, and she had a secret; this was a huge psychological test for her.

Summoning her courage, she walked to the front of the line. Before she could say anything, a voice suddenly came from beside her.

Someone was calling her name.

She turned her gaze toward the source of the voice, her eyes widening in surprise.

“Class… Class President…?”

A petite girl stood at the very front row, her calm eyes fixed on Ye Xingmian.

Then she waved her over.

After hesitating for a moment, Ye Xingmian walked over, albeit nervously.

“Is something wrong, Class President…?”

Liu Yinuo looked at the girl in front of her, thinking this was a good chance to approach her, so she said,

“Ye, you don’t have a spot to stand? Just stand next to me for now. When the teacher comes, I’ll tell him about your situation.”

“Eh… Is that okay?”

Her cherry blossom-pink eyes widened slightly, clear as crystal, causing Liu Yinuo to be momentarily dazed.

“It’s fine, just stand here.”

After a moment, Liu Yinuo snapped out of it, turned her head, and pointed beside her.

She was at the end of the first row, so right beside her, it formed a little bump outside the line, making it extra conspicuous.

“Thank you…”

Hugging her chest, Ye Xingmian thanked her softly. Next to her, Liu Yinuo smiled in response. She was happy to have helped.

She just didn’t notice that Ye Xingmian’s feverish, swaying body looked like a flag caught in a gale, as if she might faint at any moment.

Before the PE teacher arrived, Ye Xingmian, struggling with her dizziness, bit her lip to wake herself up with pain. Once she barely regained her senses, she looked ahead.

And suddenly saw someone she didn’t want to see…

Qin Haiyue, that blonde, blue-eyed girl, was standing in the distance, staring at her coldly. The moment she noticed her, Qin Haiyue’s lips curled into a cold smile. She made a throat-cutting gesture at her with one hand.

Instantly, Ye Xingmian felt like she had fallen into an ice cellar.

Her hands and feet turned cold unnaturally. Even though she was still feverish and her head hurt, fear made her whole body tremble. Without realizing, she let her arms fall from her chest.

“Ye, what’s wrong…?”

Noticing the strange look on Ye Xingmian’s face, Liu Yinuo frowned subconsciously. She followed the girl’s gaze but saw nothing—there was no one between the empty buildings.

“It’s… it’s nothing…”

When she turned her head back, the girl beside her had already lowered her head, hugging herself and saying nothing.

Still, this odd reaction put Liu Yinuo on alert.

Liu Yinuo said nothing more, and everyone quietly waited for the PE teacher to arrive.

The PE teacher for Class 14 was a tall man who seemed easy-going and easy to talk to. As soon as he arrived, Ye Xingmian rushed to intercept him.

Despite her timid nature and small stature—like a little sparrow in front of the towering teacher—she still spoke up in a trembling, hoarse voice.

“T-teacher… I’m not feeling well… I’d like to go back to the classroom and ask for leave…”

“Hmm? Go ahead. Do you need someone to go with you?”

Perhaps because the girl looked so obedient and few students asked for leave from PE, and hardly anyone lied, the tall teacher agreed right away. Only after Ye Xingmian walked away unsteadily did he feel a bit puzzled.

“Who was that girl? I don’t think I’ve seen her before?”

At once, the crowd erupted into laughter.

“Teacher, he’s a boy!”

“A boy?” He scratched the back of his head, troubled by the fact that he couldn’t even tell the students’ gender. “How is he a boy? Looks exactly like a girl!”

As he struggled to start class, a girl from the front row called out to him again.

“Teacher, the homeroom teacher needs to see me before class. I need to leave too.”

“Oh, you’re the class president, right? Go ahead, go ahead.”

After Ye Xingmian left, Liu Yinuo followed as well.

The PE teacher got the students ready to run laps. Amid the bustling crowd, a girl with a gloomy face looked distracted.

Lin Ziyan moved her wrists and ankles along with the group, but her eyes kept darting elsewhere.

She was looking in the direction where Liu Yinuo had just run toward Ye Xingmian.