A sudden summer rain.
At the freshman registration office of Nanfeng Drama Academy, countless new students were drenched, looking like drowned rats.
Song Qiuyu was no exception.
Soaked to the skin, she grabbed her dorm key and rushed to the corresponding boys’ dormitory building at top speed, bursting inside.
“Phew, good thing I’m the first one here.”
Following the room number on the key, she found her dorm and stepped inside, glancing around to confirm she was the first to arrive.
She let out a sigh of relief.
“What kind of garbage weather forecast? They said it’d be sunny all day!”
Closing the door behind her, she shrugged off her denim jacket in a few quick motions, grabbed her toiletries, and muttered to herself as she hurried to open the bathroom door.
Rushing into the bathroom, she flicked on the light, shut the door, and began unbuttoning her rain-soaked plaid shirt.
As she did, her gaze inadvertently lifted, meeting the life-sized mirror mounted on the white wall across from her.
Reflected in the mirror was a girl with shoulder-length jet-black hair.
Beneath thick, curled lashes, her bright eyes shimmered like pools of clear water, sparkling like a starry river.
Tiny raindrops dotted her delicate, high-bridged nose and rosy lips.
She radiated youthful vibrance, fresh and unpolished.
Like a figure from a painting, her beauty blurred the lines between male and female.
Of all Nuwa’s (Ancient Chinese Goddess) creations, she was undoubtedly the goddess’s most flawless masterpiece, bar none.
But Song Qiuyu couldn’t muster a smile.
Instead, she let out a weary sigh.
She lowered her eyes.
The slight curve of her chest was too glaring, stirring memories she wished to forget.
It was the first day after the college entrance exams, when she returned home and gleefully played Black Wukong all night, reclaiming the joy stolen by exams.
She didn’t know how she fell asleep, but that night she suddenly spiked a high fever that raged for days.
In the end, she survived—but lost “little Qiuyu.”
When she woke, the eighteen-year-old boy, poised for a bright university life, had inexplicably transformed into a delicate girl.
Clearly, she’d been targeted by the heavens.
She couldn’t fathom why, but if she had to guess, it was probably because—
She was just too handsome!
A perfectly good heartthrob, turned into a girl by some cosmic prank.
No matter how she thought about it, it was a loss for womankind everywhere!
Bitterly consoling herself, Song Qiuyu faced the mirror and shed her remaining clothes.
The mirror faithfully reflected the tender curves of a girl just coming into her own.
Her gaze skimmed past her flat chest, landing on her small, snow-white bare feet.
A bitter smile tugged at her lips.
She hadn’t dared tell anyone about becoming a girl.
If word got out, she’d surely be branded a freak, an anomaly in this world.
Evil scientists would snatch her up for experiments—slicing her open or caging her, forcing her into some twisted match-making scheme.
Her pride and dignity would be crushed.
Even her parents might look at her with strange, scornful, or fearful eyes.
Thankfully, her dad had vanished years ago, and her mom was always away working.
With no one at home and her androgynous appearance, no one had noticed anything amiss.
She’d never considered contacting her mom about this.
More than fear, she didn’t want to worry her.
“Forget it, stop thinking. Time to shower!”
Suppressing the sudden sting in her nose, she turned on the hot water.
On the first day of freshman orientation, the dorms didn’t require water cards, and hot water was available.
She reached out, her slender fingers testing the water’s temperature.
Satisfied with the warmth, she stepped under the showerhead with her long, pale, and slender legs, letting the warm water cascade over her.
Her shoulder-length black hair clung to her face like seaweed, curling against her porcelain cheeks.
Her delicate, white-rose skin gradually took on a faint pink flush from the heat.
Water droplets traced her elegant jawline, sliding down her pale neck and pausing at a tiny red mole just above her prominent collarbone, pooling there.
Having been a girl for two months, every shower was a monumental challenge for her.
She was terrified of accidentally touching places she shouldn’t, even though this was her own body.
After an especially cautious shower, she grabbed a dry towel and began wiping herself down.
Halfway through, her expression froze as a critical realization hit her.
Uh-oh… I forgot to bring clean clothes into the bathroom…
During the summer vacation, Song Qiuyu had gotten used to lounging around at home.
With no one else there, she could even wander around naked without a care.
Tilting her head, she thought hard for a moment.
She hadn’t heard anyone enter the dorm, and the building across from theirs only faced a garden.
Plus, they were on the sixth floor!
“OK, no problem. I’ve got this.”
She took a shallow breath, steeling herself, and yanked open the bathroom door.
But the moment her neck and head poked out, the dorm room door was slowly pulled open from the outside.
The spark of confidence and hope in her eyes shattered instantly.
Her face, flushed from the steam, paled several shades.
She scrambled back into the bathroom, slamming the door shut with a bang.
Outside, the sound of unhurried footsteps echoed, each one striking her heart with precision.
Song Qiuyu’s heart raced with dread.
Truth be told, she’d considered dropping out.
Having turned into a girl and being assigned to a boys’ dorm—any slip-up could turn her life into something straight out of an adult website…
But this drama academy was the culmination of her all-out effort!
From scraping the bottom of her class to clawing her way into the top three hundred, barely squeezing into a decent university!
Becoming an outstanding director had been her dream since childhood!
Torn between reality and her dreams, she wrestled with the decision.
Yet, Nanfeng Drama Academy had already accepted her and assigned her to the boys’ dorm.
So, she gritted her teeth and came.
“Ahem!”
Clearing her throat, Song Qiuyu steadied herself and tried to greet her roommate outside.
“Hello!”
No response.
They say university brings people from all corners of the world, maybe even international students.
Could her roommate be a foreigner?
One who wouldn’t even return a simple “hello”?
Song Qiuyu’s face twisted into an expression like an old man squinting at his phone on the subway.
“What’s up?”
At that moment, her roommate’s cool, detached voice finally responded.
Song Qiuyu: “…”
So, just a cold, aloof roommate, huh?
She cleared her throat again.
“Hey, bro, could you grab me some clean clothes? I forgot to bring them in… uh… and my underwear, too.”
Pausing, she added with a serious tone, “As a thank you, I’ll treat you to dinner later!”
Her roommate didn’t reply but silently walked toward her suitcase.
Naturally, Song Qiuyu’s suitcase contained no girly items—just men’s essentials.
Her body was only just beginning to develop, so flat that she didn’t even need a chest binder.
Seeing her roommate approach the bathroom with her clothes, Song Qiuyu clenched her steam-pinkened fists, her eyes resolute.
“Thanks so much, man!”
Hiding her body, she cracked open the bathroom door.
At that moment, a faint scent of cedar mixed with rainwater wafted in, carried by a breeze.
It hit her nose, and her delicate brows furrowed slightly.
It felt oddly familiar, though she couldn’t place why.
A small, pale pink hand reached through the door’s gap to grab the clothes, but her fingers accidentally brushed against her roommate’s.
Perhaps due to the weather, her roommate’s fingers were startlingly cold.
The sudden temperature difference made both of their fingers instinctively curl back.
Reacting quickly, she snatched the clothes, leaving her roommate’s long, slender hand hanging empty in the air.
Closing the bathroom door, Song Qiuyu pursed her lips.
Outer clothes were one thing, but this was the first time she’d ever asked someone else to grab her underwear.
What choice did she have? She couldn’t exactly go out commando, could she?
Shaking her head to clear the jumbled thoughts, she quickly slipped into the clothes, still carrying the cool trace of her roommate’s body heat.
She dried her wet hair with a towel, then opened the door again and stepped out, feeling a weight lift off her shoulders.
The rainy air outside was chilly, and the warmth clinging to her body dissipated as she left the bathroom.
Following the sound of someone making a bed, she turned her head and caught sight of a lean figure in a white shirt.
Huh?
She froze for a moment.
This person looked a lot like her junior high roommate.
What was his name again?
Oh no! Romantic tension already!?