“Resolve?”
Jiang Ling found these words strangely familiar yet odd, so she didn’t answer immediately. She just stared blankly as Shen Yue looked her up and down with a nearly playful, scrutinizing gaze.
“Perhaps ‘resolve’ isn’t quite the right word.”
The finger Shen Yue had hooked under Jiang Ling’s chin slowly pulled away. Amidst Jiang Ling’s confused stare, Shen Yue continued, “In the end, people are incapable of truly empathizing with others’ experiences.”
Hearing this, Jiang Ling’s heart skipped a beat, and her eyes wavered.
“The reason I refuse to agree to your proposal is that I was hurt once. But in your eyes, those reports and videos are undoubtedly things of the past, aren’t they?”
Shen Yue’s voice gradually turned cold, and her expression grew more mocking. Staring at the stunned, speechless Jiang Ling, she spat out bone-chilling words through a bright smile—
“You’re still just full of yourself, aren’t you?”
“Treading on someone else’s scars for the sake of your group’s success… is this how you treat a friend?”
Her words grew increasingly sharp. Jiang Ling felt her vision blur for a moment. Her fingers tightened until her recently grown nails dug into her palms, the sharp pain bringing her back to her senses.
“No, I didn’t…”
“You did.”
Shen Yue cut off Jiang Ling’s attempt to speak and withdrew her aggressive gaze.
“You only know that I went through those things, but you have no idea how much I suffered.”
“Those negative rumors are like sticky patches that you can never peel off; they cling to me relentlessly. For a long time, every app on my phone was filled with chaotic comments, many of them insulting—but in reality, I did nothing wrong.”
After saying this, she paused, appearing to have nothing left to say.
The prolonged silence turned Jiang Ling’s mind into a muddled mess.
She was forced to once again seriously consider the question she had been deliberately ignoring—
What exactly was Shen Yue thinking?
She still loved music, but she had become suspicious of collaborating with others. She was unwilling to trust easily, fearing she would be swept up in public outcry again.
Jiang Ling could naturally promise that NOVA would never do anything so excessive, but at the end of the day, those were just her own words.
When Shen Yue saw those things, could she really accept them as easily as Jiang Ling had fantasized?
So, Jiang Ling remained silent, not speaking for a long time.
She was silent so long that Shen Yue wiped away her critical expression. In a corner Jiang Ling couldn’t see, she gave a sly little smile. Then, returning to normal, she spoke slowly in a voice that was sweet but not cloying: “Having heard all that, have your thoughts changed?”
—
Jiang Ling found herself unable to speak.
There was no angry rebuttal, no shameful obedience—nothing.
She only felt a nameless sense of dread.
Mo Ran had once told her similar things, but at that time, Jiang Ling’s attitude had been exceptionally firm. She had used every trick up her sleeve to prevent the other girl from leaving.
But Shen Yue was different.
She didn’t belong to NOVA, and she didn’t share such a deep bond with Jiang Ling. Should she really keep persisting in the name of “it’s for her own good” just for the sake of a single song?
Seeing that Jiang Ling hadn’t spoken for a long while, Shen Yue lowered her eyelashes. she picked up a cherry tomato from the plate with her fork and popped it into her mouth. Because she bit down too hard, the juice splattered, staining the corner of her lips.
Just as she was about to reach for a tissue, she saw Jiang Ling beat her to it. With a gentle touch, Jiang Ling slowly wiped the corner of her mouth.
“I’m sorry.”
Jiang Ling stared into Shen Yue’s eyes, not missing the flash of startled confusion within them, and quickly withdrew her hand. “I didn’t consider things thoroughly enough. I’ve caused you trouble.”
The cheerful expression she’d had when she first walked through the door was long gone. She crumpled the tissue into a messy ball, left it on the table, and quietly stood up to leave.
As Shen Yue watched her lonely figure depart, her gaze shifted to the crumpled tissue on the table. She tapped her finger lightly on the tabletop and let out a sigh that seemed to carry a hint of regret.
“Ha… that was more boring than I imagined.”
***
After leaving the restaurant, Jiang Ling’s pace was sluggish. She boarded the car for the return trip like a marionette.
Everything that had just happened forced Jiang Ling into a state of self-doubt. She was so distracted that she nearly collided with someone after getting out of the car.
She mechanically lowered her head to apologize. “I’m sorry, I—”
“Why so downcast?”
Jiang Ling’s face was cupped by warm hands. Her slightly glazed eyes gradually came into focus, eventually settling on Song Meng’s face, which carried a faint smile.
Suddenly, she really wanted to cry.
And so, Song Meng watched as large tears rolled down Jiang Ling’s face before the girl lunged into her arms.
Song Meng raised her arms to steadily catch Jiang Ling’s petite body, her voice becoming a bit more urgent. “What’s wrong? Who bullied you?”
“No one… I just suddenly felt…”
Jiang Ling sobbed, unable to finish a full sentence.
Song Meng let out an almost imperceptible sigh, stroking Jiang Ling’s trembling back. “I originally wanted to ask you out to see a new movie, but you didn’t reply to my messages. Since I wasn’t far away, I figured I’d come look for you.”
“Waaaah, then let’s go see it.”
At those words, Jiang Ling buried her head even deeper until she could hear Song Meng’s steady, powerful heartbeat. Only then did she feel a bit more at ease.
Hearing her muffled, grumbling voice, Song Meng didn’t immediately agree. “You’re crying like this, what are you going to watch?”
“What kind of movie were you going to take me to?”
“Hmm, probably a youth campus romance.”
Jiang Ling remembered she hadn’t seen a movie in a long time. Even the most recent time could be traced back many years. She didn’t like those dull, monotonous idol-style movies, so she said in a voice thick with tears:
“But I want to watch a cartoon.”
“Boonie Bears?”
“…That works.”
Jiang Ling lifted her head and sniffled. Song Meng took out a tissue she carried with her and wiped the girl’s tear-stained face clean before quickly booking the tickets. “The seats aren’t great, though. Is that okay?”
Jiang Ling didn’t really mind. Since it was a last-minute purchase, it was good enough just to have tickets.
She desperately needed something to distract her. Otherwise, given her personality, she would certainly get stuck in a dead-end over this matter and end up in a spiral of mental exhaustion.
Song Meng naturally sensed that Jiang Ling’s mood wasn’t right, but she didn’t press her immediately. Instead, she acted as if nothing was wrong and boarded the car with her.
The cinema wasn’t far away. It wasn’t until they reached the entrance of the screening hall that Jiang Ling realized she was about to watch a movie with a crowd of children. Her head began to ache slightly.
“What’s wrong?”
Song Meng had bought some snacks and naturally popped a piece of popcorn into her mouth.
“It’s nothing. I just hope these little masters and misses won’t be too noisy.”
“Mmm.”
Jiang Ling chewed and bit down, clasping her hands together in prayer.
Without realizing it, her mood had actually improved a lot.
Since they bought the tickets right before the show started, advertisements were already playing when they entered. Jiang Ling hunched over as she walked to her seat and sat down quietly.
The movie began to play on the screen. Jiang Ling tried her best to let go of the chaotic emotions in her mind, but she couldn’t manage it. She could only clench the popcorn bucket in frustration.
Just as her hand was about to tighten, it was lifted by a gentle yet firm force, falling into a warm palm.
Inside the pitch-black theater, Song Meng’s fingers interlocked with hers amidst the crowd.
“Relax. I’m right here.”
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