Song Meng looked at the scene before her in a daze, momentarily speechless. Quietly and blankly, her finger traced the spot on the photo album she had once mentioned—the spot she had hoped to fill with herself and Jiang Ling.
Perhaps because Jiang Ling had been in such a hurry to put the photo in, the corners weren’t quite aligned. Song Meng slowly adjusted it, and the photo instantly looked warm and lovely.
“Is this… for me?”
Song Meng heard a slight tremor in her own voice.
She rarely showed such emotion. Since childhood, Song Meng had always been the “model child”—quiet, polite, an excellent student who almost never lost her composure in front of others.
But now, Song Meng could feel her hand, resting naturally on the photo, trembling slightly.
“Yeah.”
Jiang Ling brushed back her hair, revealing a small, beet-red ear. Her tone was hesitant. “It’s just, well…”
She deliberated for a long time, trying her best not to look at Song Meng’s face as she began to express her inner thoughts:
“You’ve always been so good to me. No matter what happened to me or how I was treated, you always used your own way to guide me and told me not to let myself be consumed by internal friction.”
“You even prepared so many surprises for me—fireworks, the necklace… I wear this necklace often. Um, I really like it, because it’s beautiful and because you chose it so carefully for me.”
Jiang Ling pushed aside the slightly messy hair on her shoulder. Resting quietly against her pale, hollow collarbone was the necklace Song Meng had once given her as an apology.
Song Meng stared at it for a long time, her lips trembling, but no sound came out.
So Jiang Ling continued: “Even though I know you like me, I feel that your kindness toward me isn’t because you want something in return. It’s a sincere, honest, and passionate feeling. I don’t have any experience with romance, and at first, I thought you were so silly. Why would you go to such lengths for me?”
“I’m clearly just a person so ordinary I couldn’t be more ordinary. The kind of transparent, socially anxious person you couldn’t find even if they fell into a crowd. But you’re still good to me, just like always. I’m not very good at speaking, and I don’t really know how to categorize this kind of emotion.”
Jiang Ling reached out and cupped Song Meng’s face. Her body naturally leaned down a bit closer.
“But I know that every moment I’m with you, I’m happy. This happiness encourages me to move forward and keeps me from losing my way when I’m lost… Were you curious about why I cried like that while watching the cartoon?”
Jiang Ling pursed her lips shyly, a faint smile appearing.
“Because that was my ideal ending.”
Her gaze met Song Meng’s, and through those clear eyes, she glimpsed a confused and unknown future.
“NOVA has never been a group with smooth sailing. Each of us has our own secrets. These secrets bring pain and hinder our progress. But I always feel that those problems are nothing. As long as we believe in each other, no matter how difficult the predicament, we can easily overcome it.”
As Jiang Ling spoke, her lips curled, this time with a hint of disappointment.
“But at most, that’s just an idealized fantasy. Reality is far from that simple. We will experience one difficulty after another that we never even imagined. Like now, where we’re even stumbling just trying to find a melody for our title track…”
Song Meng listened to her rambling narration without the slightest hint of boredom, focusing intently on every word.
“It’s strange. I’ve never thought about failing. It’s as if in my subconscious, success is inevitable. And I’m certain that at least half of this belief, which could almost be called arrogance, is because of you.”
Jiang Ling traced Song Meng’s delicate features, which were as refined as a lotus flower in clear water. Her finger moved down inch by inch before she spoke again with a touch of bashfulness: “Is it strange to say it like this? But that’s truly what I think.”
“So, I wanted to give this photo to you, just like you hoped.”
“I want you to be happy.”
Having said all this, Jiang Ling let out a heavy sigh of relief, as if a great burden had been lifted from her shoulders.
While they were at the mall earlier, she had suddenly thought about the photo album.
Although at the very beginning Jiang Ling had felt a bit of trepidation regarding Song Meng’s unreserved kindness, as time passed, she gradually accepted the fact that the other girl would always be by her side.
But Jiang Ling certainly wouldn’t just accept everything with a clear conscience.
Even though it was all built on the premise that Song Meng had feelings for her, Jiang Ling still felt she couldn’t just stay in a daze like this. At the very least… she had to clearly express her true inner thoughts.
However, Jiang Ling wasn’t the type to be direct. So she could only take Song Meng on a detour to take a set of Polaroids, and then fill the blank album with these photos that condensed her feelings.
As she thought this, she prepared to withdraw her hand, only to feel it easily seized by Song Meng. Then she found herself unable to move, unable to advance or retreat.
Being so close made Jiang Ling’s heart race.
She realized once again the fact that Song Meng was an incredibly charming and beautiful girl. Jiang Ling swallowed unconsciously, her voice stammering: “What’s… what’s wrong?”
“You said you’re giving it to me, really?”
Song Meng glanced at the photo paper lying neatly there, still looking somewhat in disbelief.
Regarding this, Jiang Ling was a bit confused, but she still nodded obediently.
Looking at Jiang Ling’s slow, dazed nod, Song Meng’s voice turned husky: “Do you know what this represents?”
“Represent… what does it mean?”
Jiang Ling pondered, not quite understanding what Song Meng was talking about. She repeated the phrase several times in her mind, but ultimately shook her head honestly: “I don’t know, but I felt you would be happy if I did this, so I did it.”
She was telling the truth.
In truth, Jiang Ling was a very simple-minded person. Most of the things she did weren’t roundabout or possessed deep, hidden meanings. She simply followed her heart and her truest thoughts.
This caused Song Meng to let out a long sigh: “As I thought.”
“As you thought?”
Jiang Ling looked at Song Meng’s slightly off-looking expression with confusion. She shrunk back a bit, looking somewhat frightened: “Did I do something to make you unhappy? Don’t tell me you don’t like the photo…”
“No, I like it very much.”
Song Meng interrupted her.
“But it’s precisely because I like it that I’m so troubled.”
Jiang Ling watched blankly as Song Meng straightened her body. Then, with a bit of strength in her arm, Song Meng pulled Jiang Ling up from the chair and easily onto the bed.
Their bodies were pressed close together, and a scorching heat was transmitted between them.
“What are you troubled about?”
Jiang Ling didn’t hide. Instead, she looked at Song Meng’s complex expression with concern and voiced her small doubt.
Meeting her innocent and cute gaze, Song Meng remained silent for a long time. It was so long that Jiang Ling couldn’t stand the quiet atmosphere and let out an awkward cough. Only then did Song Meng let out a faint, almost imperceptible laugh: “Do you want to know?”
“Yeah.”
Jiang Ling nodded without hesitation.
About a second after she nodded, Jiang Ling felt Song Meng lift her arm, her palm pressing against the side of Jiang Ling’s neck, gently stroking it.
The strange sensation produced by the skin-to-skin contact made a shiver run down Jiang Ling’s spine. The temperature in the room was high, so she bit her lip and asked: “Should we… turn on the air conditioner…”
“Are you hot?”
Song Meng asked, staring at the clothes she was wearing.
Jiang Ling nodded without lying. Just as she was about to say something more, she felt the buttons on her chest being easily undone by Song Meng with one hand.
Before she could cry out in surprise, she was pressed heavily down onto the bed.
“Take them off, and you won’t be hot anymore—”