September 14th, Monday.
“Xiaoya.”
“Hmm…?”
“Did you not sleep well last night? You look really out of it.”
“Yeah.”
Li Xingya looked at her deskmate Meng Yiqiao and nodded. “I had a nightmare last night.”
She dreamed of a strange-looking creature that kept pulling her ears and wouldn’t let go.
‘What a hateful dream.’
During the break between the second and third period in the morning, Li Xingya lay sprawled on her desk, listlessly looking at her deskmate Meng Yiqiao.
“Sister… what’s the next class again?”
“It’s math.”
Meng Yiqiao propped her chin on one hand, her gaze wandering over Li Xingya in a seemingly casual manner.
‘Xiaoya looks so pretty in her school uniform too.’
Seeing Li Xingya’s half-closed eyes, Meng Yiqiao asked with concern,
“Do you want me to go to the cafeteria and buy you a cup of coffee?”
“No need…”
Li Xingya shook her head. “I don’t have a habit of drinking coffee, but thank you anyway, Sister.”
In her previous life, coffee was on par with milk tea in Li Xingya’s mind—both were unnecessary items that wasted money. Of course, now milk tea had become a necessity for Li Xingya.
At the moment, Li Xingya slumped over the desk, feeling dispirited.
“If I accidentally fall asleep during class later, Sister, you have to remember to wake me up.”
When it came to listening to class, Li Xingya definitely couldn’t understand a thing. But as a proper adult, she had to show the right attitude. Her motto was: couldn’t understand a single class, but had to stay awake for every single one. If you asked, it was all about companionship!
“I understand.”
Meng Yiqiao agreed.
Fortunately, Li Xingya managed not to fall asleep until class ended. It couldn’t be helped—because of her height, she was assigned to the front row, and Meng Yiqiao ended up sitting in the front row along with her. She had to admit that the pressure of being right under the teacher’s nose could indeed dispel drowsiness to some extent.
***
Noon.
The two went to the cafeteria as usual. Along the way, Li Xingya carefully kept an eye on her surroundings. More precisely, she was wary of the gazes around her. Logically, her time at the mall with Lin Jin’an should have made it onto the entertainment news by now. But to Li Xingya’s surprise, aside from the occasional student from the General Studies Department taking photos of her on the street, everything was the same as usual.
‘Did Lin Jin’an put pressure on the newspapers so the news couldn’t be released?’
When the two arrived at the second floor of the cafeteria, Li Xingya took out her phone. The first piece of news that came into view was about Lin Jin’an.
[National Idol Lin Jin’an Spotted at City Center Mall Arcade]
A very simple headline, but as long as it involved the name “Lin Jin’an,” it became very attractive.
So then…
‘Why is it so quiet inside Starseeing Academy?’
Li Xingya opened the news. And the series of photos inside only showed the backs of two people. Lin Jin’an’s hair was dyed white, so she was relatively easy to recognize—but her own black hair made it impossible to tell who she was from behind. Thus, the discussion trend of the entire news was split in two. Half of the people were amazed that Lin Jin’an had actually gone to an arcade. The other half were discussing who the person next to Lin Jin’an was.
‘It’s me.’
‘…Thank goodness my face wasn’t caught on camera.’
Li Xingya’s anxious heart relaxed. At the same time, she remembered that yesterday when they were running away, Lin Jin’an had made several very abrupt turns. So—was that to dodge the cameras of passersby? As a top-tier idol, long-term stage performances would definitely make Lin Jin’an sensitive to any camera. Sometimes, during close-up segments required for performances, idols also need to have the habit of actively looking for the camera and showing their charming smiles.
But…
‘That’s still too exaggerated.’
Relying only on instinctive reactions to cameras to avoid them, and ending up with only back shots in the newspaper—
‘Lin Jin’an is practically superhuman.’
“Xiaoya.”
“What’s wrong, Sister?”
Li Xingya put down her phone and looked at Meng Yiqiao beside her.
“Nothing, I was just worried you’d be low on energy this afternoon, so I bought you this cup.”
Meng Yiqiao pushed the coffee on the table toward Li Xingya.
“This afternoon’s vocal music class will have a trial singing session, so try to stay as awake as possible.”
Li Xingya took the coffee and showed Meng Yiqiao a practiced smile.
“Thank you, Sister.”
She lowered her head and brought her nose close to the coffee to sniff it.
‘It does smell quite fragrant.’
‘But… I’ve heard this stuff is really bitter.’
After mentally preparing herself, Li Xingya nervously took a small sip. When the bitter and sour taste spread across her tongue, her eyebrows furrowed into a tight knot at an incredible speed.
“Pfuuueegh—!”
Sticking out her tongue, Li Xingya made a strange noise.
‘As expected, really bitter.’
‘They’re both beans, but the difference is just too big.’
‘I’d rather drink the one-yuan-a-cup soy milk from the breakfast stall!’
“Sister… how much did this cup of coffee cost?”
“Not expensive, just twenty-one yuan.”
Meng Yiqiao said while eating chicken breast.
“Do you like it?”
“Y-yeah, it’s good.”
‘It actually costs a whole twenty-one yuan?’
‘Now I have to drink it no matter how much I hate it.’
‘What I’m drinking isn’t a beverage.’
‘It’s real, hard cash.’
And while Li Xingya was struggling with the coffee, Meng Yiqiao scrolled through StarJoy and saw a news article forwarded by someone else.
‘Lord Lin Jin’an went to an arcade?’
Looking at the news, Meng Yiqiao raised her eyebrows. Besides that, she also noticed the person next to Lin Jin’an. That back view… that slightly fluffy, gently curled black hair… why did it look so familiar?
Meng Yiqiao secretly glanced at Li Xingya, who had naturally wavy hair.
‘It should be… my imagination, right?’
‘Li Xingya actually knows Lin Jin’an.’
‘And they’re close enough to go out together and have fun and all that.’
‘I hope I’m overthinking this.’
The mere thought of such a possibility gave Meng Yiqiao a strange feeling of “displeasure” in her heart. She couldn’t pinpoint the source of this emotion—was it because Li Xingya actually knew Lin Jin’an? Or was it envy that Lin Jin’an could take Xiaoya to the mall in the city center on the weekend? Meng Yiqiao wanted to meet Li Xingya on the weekend.
‘I… am I jealous of Li Xingya, or jealous of Lin Jin’an?’
Through increasingly close interactions day by day, Li Xingya had unknowingly become quite important in Meng Yiqiao’s heart. After all, no one would dislike a sufficiently beautiful and likable little sister.
“Sister?”
Noticing Meng Yiqiao’s gaze, Li Xingya stopped drinking the coffee. Her lips, stained with a bit of coffee, looked more moist than usual. And this immediately caught Meng Yiqiao’s attention.
‘They look so soft.’
Meng Yiqiao remembered the day they stayed together, the mischievous kiss Li Xingya had planted on her cheek.
“Why are you staring at me? Do I have something on my face?”
Under Meng Yiqiao’s prolonged gaze, Li Xingya wiped her face uncomfortably.
“…No, I was just spacing out a bit.”
Meng Yiqiao stood up and picked up her tray.
“Let’s go, Xiaoya. We need to head to the vocal music classroom.”
‘Stop overthinking.’
‘It must be my imagination.’
‘How could Xiaoya possibly have a connection with Lin Jin’an…’