*Hiss—!*
“That hurts!”
As soon as the deliberately prolonged cry of pain escaped Liu Yao’s lips, she felt something was off—the bone-shattering pain she had anticipated never came.
“…?”
The cry of agony died halfway in her throat, turning into a short, confused syllable.
The young girl blinked in confusion, even instinctively shifting her weight.
‘Huh? What is this? Why does it feel so soft?’
She gave it a squeeze with her hand.
‘Why does it feel like fabric? Hmm… wait, there’s a nose and eyes here too.’
‘Wait?! Could it be…’
Terrified by her own guess, Liu Yao jumped up and spun around in a panic, staring at the mess behind her.
Bright moonlight filtered through the hole she had made in the roof, illuminating the spot where she had just been lying.
The wooden bed frame had snapped in half from the impact of her fall, and the dark roof tiles that had plummeted with her were scattered across the floor in pieces.
Amidst all the chaos, a person dressed only in a white shirt lay silently in the ruins, their body twisted into an almost distorted posture.
As the sole creator of this disaster, Liu Yao stared wide-eyed at the “masterpiece” she had produced with a single step. Internally, she was on the verge of tears.
‘Dammit, dammit, dammit!!! I messed up again!’
‘Two days! In just two short days! How many times is this now? How can one person be this unlucky!?’
Liu Yao swallowed hard, her fists clenched. She then tiptoed toward the “corpse” covered in broken tiles.
Her throat bobbed as she slowly exhaled. Steeling her heart, she reached out to clear away the debris.
Her slender fingertips trembled ever so slightly as she brushed away the last few shards and the coating of dust.
Her gaze fell upon the person, and she suddenly froze.
Then, the corner of her mouth twitched uncontrollably.
The reason was simple—the face in front of her, with eyes tightly shut and mouth slightly agew, was far too familiar.
Silence stretched across the ruins for two seconds.
The tension in Liu Yao’s mind snapped, replaced by a wave of pure absurdity.
She stared at the dust-covered face and blinked.
Finally, a short, helpless sound that was half-laugh and half-sob escaped her throat.
“The world… why is it so small…?”
Beneath the dust, Zhao Yi’an was slumped in a heap directly beneath the hole in the roof—his position was so precise it was enough to render anyone speechless.
Zhao Yi’an’s twisted, slumped form was glaringly clear in the moonlight. As Liu Yao watched, her mouth twitched again.
‘…Is this ever going to end?’
‘Why is it this guy again!?’
‘Is this man some kind of predestined sandbag? Everywhere I fall, I hit him! He gets caught in the crossfire every single time!’
Faced with the situation once more, Liu Yao had no choice but to pull the man out of the wreckage.
*Hiss—*
“This guy is still so heavy—argh!”
With great effort, the girl managed to hoist Zhao Yi’an up. After quite a struggle, she staggered and hauled him to the side.
“Phew… finally…”
To avoid hurting the unconscious Zhao Yi’an further, Liu Yao had to carefully control her strength, which kept her muscles strained the entire time.
Once she finally set him down, she flopped onto the floor.
Wiping away her sweat, she looked helplessly at the man she had taken down yet again and grumbled, “How can you be so unlucky? What time is this now?”
“Are you cursed by a baleful star or something?”
As she spoke, she reached out with a hint of resentment and lightly poked the tip of Zhao Yi’an’s nose.
She felt a steady, warm breath against her finger. Though faint, it was consistent.
Feeling his slight but present breathing, Liu Yao’s heart finally returned to its proper place, and her tense shoulders relaxed.
Staring at the unconscious youth, Liu Yao was momentarily dazed.
The moonlight from the roof seemed to shift slightly, stretching their shadows long and overlapping them amidst the surrounding mess.
‘At least nobody died this time. It’s all those stupid tiles’ fault! If they hadn’t been laid so poorly, would I have stepped through them and fallen like this!?’
‘If I ever find out who laid those tiles, I’ll give them a piece of my mind!’
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. Without thinking, her fingers unconsciously pinched Zhao Yi’an’s nose, and she applied a bit of pressure as if venting her frustration.
Suddenly, a muffled, nasal moan escaped from the boy’s closed lips.
Liu Yao jerked her hand away as if she had been burned. Her self-righteous anger vanished instantly, replaced by sheer panic.
She snapped her head around, staring unblinkingly at Zhao Yi’an’s face.
‘What?! He’s waking up so fast!’
‘…Don’t tell me I pinched him awake?’
Seeing Zhao Yi’an’s breathing become more fluid as he prepared to wake up, Liu Yao panicked. She instinctively leaned in and patted his cheek, lowering her voice.
“Hey… wake up. I—I didn’t hurt you by pinching you, did I? I really didn’t mean to…”
She choked on her own words before she could finish.
‘…Wait, doesn’t saying that make me sound even more guilty?’
The chaotic, long dream receded like the tide.
As his consciousness drifted, Zhao Yi’an first felt a dull, thudding headache, followed by a lingering soreness in his nose, as if it had been pinched and then suddenly released.
Through the haze, it felt like warm fingertips had touched his face, and there was a low, familiar-sounding voice muttering something nearby.
In the final scene of his dream, he only remembered kneeling at a cliffside and collapsing from exhaustion, only to fall into a soft cloud the moment he plummeted.
His eyelashes flickered as he struggled to open his eyes.
In his blurry vision, a face gradually came into focus—a girl’s face, leaning very close, filled with tension and guilt.
‘…What’s going on? Where am I? Why did I collapse again?’
Zhao Yi’an looked at the girl blankly. His gaze swept over the unfamiliar rafters above before falling back onto the face inches away from his own.
His memories were like a broken string on a kite; he couldn’t remember what had just happened no matter how hard he tried.
He wiggled his fingers and slightly turned his stiff neck, which only brought a clearer sense of dull pain.
“At least I can still move…” Zhao Yi’an clutched his forehead and spoke in a raspy, relieved voice.
As he spoke, he looked up and met the eyes of Liu Yao, who was crouching beside him and rubbing her hands together.
Her face was written with an awkwardness that made her look quite uncomfortable under his gaze.
Feeling uneasy under his scrutiny, Liu Yao forced a smile and asked tentatively, “Um, that… do you remember who I am?”
“…Are you joking?” A giant question mark seemed to be written all over Zhao Yi’an’s face.
“Ha, haha, it was just a little joke! Don’t take it seriously, really!”
Liu Yao waved her hands dismissively, her forced laughter echoing in the room.
The two of them stayed about an arm’s length apart—one crouching, one leaning—staring at each other.
The moonlight streaming through the hole clearly illuminated the confusion on Zhao Yi’an’s face, as well as the look in Liu Yao’s eyes that was almost tangible: pure regret.
Liu Yao held her hand-waving posture, her fingertips going slightly numb.
At that moment, only one thought swirled in her mind.
‘Just strike me dead with a bolt of lightning already!!’
“Xiao Zhao—!”
Suddenly, a coarse, loud voice boomed from outside, accompanied by the sound of hurried footsteps getting closer.
“I heard a huge crash coming from your room!”
The voice stopped outside the door, paused for a moment, and then rose with concern.
“Are you alright?!”
The shout instantly shattered the suffocating silence inside the room.