Facing the gaze of the entire class once again, the girl’s cheeks burned hot, and her body trembled slightly. Pushing her lips together, her first instinct was still to settle things peacefully…
It would be better to end this quickly. Should she just reject everyone? Not agree to anyone? But would that make her look like she was putting on airs? Would someone come looking for trouble?
Then who should she choose? The class monitor? She really wanted to. Despite knowing logically that she should stay away from the class monitor, like was like; her body instinctively wanted to be close to her. But if she chose the class monitor, what would Lin Ziyuan do? Her secret was still in Lin Ziyuan’s hands, and she had already broken their agreement once. If it happened again, what would Lin Ziyuan do to her?
But if she chose Lin Ziyuan, what about the class monitor? She had already seen the consequences this morning—the way the class monitor had been so angry and frantic, she really didn’t want to see that again…
Still, the monitor had a good personality. If it was just a small matter like changing seats, it should be fine, right?
After all, the monitor was always so gentle and patient. She would surely understand her difficulties, wouldn’t she?
“…”
She gently clenched her hands, the eyes of the crowd still feeling like thorns against her back. There was curiosity, jealousy, resentment, and those simply looking for a laugh. She knew this was a dilemma; choosing either one would offend the other. All she could do was choose the lesser of two evils.
Besides, wasn’t her original plan to avoid the monitor anyway?
Biting her lip, she had made up her mind.
“Teacher… let my sister come… so we don’t have to trouble the class monitor…”
The moment the girl’s answer came out, many people looked away, suddenly finding the situation boring. The head teacher also nodded.
“Then Student Lin can pack up her things after class and move over there.”
“Okay, Teacher.”
There was no smile, yet anyone could tell that Lin Ziyuan was the winner of this brief confrontation. Although she didn’t show it, everyone could feel a sense of victor’s pride emanating from her.
In contrast, the light in Liu Yinuo’s eyes froze the instant she heard the girl’s words.
Her pupils constricted, then slowly dilated. She didn’t move for a long time, frozen there like a statue.
Wh… why…
What is disappointment? What is betrayal? Liu Yinuo felt that she was suffering an unprecedented betrayal right now.
All her consistent efforts were crudely snatched away; all her gentleness and patience vanished into the sea. This dealt an unprecedented blow to her spirit.
No matter what, she could never have imagined this. Everything she had meticulously planned, everything she had prepared with all her might, everything she had carefully nurtured, was worth less than a single threat from Lin Ziyuan, less than Qin Haiyue’s forceful removal. She had looked forward to this moment all night, spending so much time preparing what to say. She looked forward to becoming deskmates with the girl, fantasizing about the girl finally telling her the truth, about them reconciling, or even becoming closer and sweeter.
But why did it turn out like this? Why?
The highlights in her eyes were disappearing, swallowed by the expanding darkness.
Time passed minute by minute, and before she knew it, class was over. As the bell rang, the air finally seemed to begin flowing again. Her deskmate, Lin Ziyuan, walked to the back row carrying bags of belongings. The desk next to Liu Yinuo was now empty; Lin Ziyuan wouldn’t be coming back.
It wasn’t until the person behind her poked her back that she woke up from her daze like a dreamer.
“What is it?” Her tone was somewhat despondent, somewhat indifferent. There was also a hint of unignited anger.
Li Li leaned in close to her ear and whispered, “Hey, what do you think they mean by this? I think they colluded to target you on purpose, just to lead you on.”
Liu Yinuo couldn’t help but frown.
“What do you mean?”
“Look, you like Ye Xingmian, right? When you suggested changing seats, they must have known you liked her, so they colluded with Lin Ziyuan beforehand to pull a stunt like this.”
Hearing this, Liu Yinuo’s frown deepened.
“Xingmian isn’t that kind of person…”
“You say that, but do you really understand her?”
Liu Yinuo fell silent. She naturally believed she hadn’t misjudged her, but she simply couldn’t explain why Ye Xingmian’s behavior was so strange, why she was so determined to avoid her.
To be honest, she was a bit disappointed.
She was even rarely angry again.
She had been angry twice in one day, both because of Ye Xingmian, and she was truly frustrated. Closing her eyes, she simply stopped talking.
“If you ask me, she really doesn’t know what’s good for her, right? To actually do something like—”
The girl behind her was still prattling on, and Liu Yinuo frowned, saying irritably, “Shut up!”
As soon as she said it, she herself was slightly startled. She rarely used language to vent her emotions like this. For a moment, she inevitably felt a sense of guilt, but what was said was done, and she had no intention of apologizing. Turning back, she clenched her fists and lay her head on the desk, gritting her teeth.
So annoying! So annoying! So annoying!
Why reject me? Why choose her? Why!
Is it because I was too gentle with you that you think ignoring me is no big deal? I’m human too; if you do this, I’ll be sad, I’ll be hurt, I’ll be in pain!
After all, it seems I’ve already…
Liu Yinuo suddenly lost her energy.
Lying on the table, she felt a bit lost, not knowing what the right thing to do was anymore.
Did she really have to be more aggressive for that poor little thing to be willing to come home with her? If only she were more forceful, even if she had to force things to an irreversible point…
But she would definitely cry, right? She would make that pitiful expression again. Liu Yinuo really couldn’t stand that; it would make her heart feel as if it were being torn apart.
Ugh… so… let’s try one more time.
If it really doesn’t work, then I’ll use force!
***
Ye Xingmian sat stiffly in her seat, glancing out of the corner of her eye at Lin Ziyuan, who was organizing the desktop.
Gulp… so scary…
The entire area seemed to be shrouded in a low-pressure atmosphere that made one shiver. At the same time, Ye Xingmian remembered the agreement from yesterday. Even though she knew the other girl would be angry since she was late, she felt she could perhaps still try to salvage the situation. Yes, a little damage control—maybe the result would be much better?
“Um… Ziyuan…”
“What is it?” Lin Ziyuan turned her head immediately, those cold and biting black eyes staring straight at her, making the girl instinctively swallow.
“N-nothing…”
Shrinking her head back and lying on her desk, the girl no longer dared to look at her.
She always had a bad feeling…
She hoped it was just her imagination.
Just like that, both of them remained silent until class started. The supposed promise to help her study was indeed just empty talk. At least from Ye Xingmian’s observation, Lin Ziyuan was either doing practice papers or secretly playing on her phone under the desk, hardly listening to the lesson at all. This also made Ye Xingmian think of herself. She had a phone now too, but she didn’t dare pull it out as blatantly as Lin Ziyuan did.
Speaking of phones… could she try to add the class monitor’s contact information?
Ugh… better not…