On the rooftop of the abandoned school building at Taogu High School, Zhong Siji was locked in a staring contest with a girl who was looking at him in complete disbelief.
After the world changed, most girls preferred short to medium-length hair, yet this person had deliberately kept her hair nearly waist-length.
She had a soft oval face, gentle enough that anyone who glanced at her would be captivated by her tenderness.
Her eyebrows were a straight, firm line that added a touch of spirited heroic air to her gentleness, while her deep eyes, like a secluded pool, further lent her an air of mystery.
This witness to Zhong Siji’s embarrassing moment was none other than the Big Sister of the boys in the class, the first-year idol prince who had repeatedly rejected confessions from upperclassmen—Yan Yanyan.
Of course, she was also Zhong Siji’s classmate.
At this moment, Yan Yanyan was staring at him with her mouth open.
“Um… Si… Classmate Siji?”
Zhong Siji took a deep breath. “I’m not Zhong Siji. My name is Zhong Xinya.”
“But I didn’t say your surname was Zhong…”
“…Fine. I am Zhong Siji, but I’m not the Zhong Siji from Class 5. I’m the Zhong Siji from Class 4.”
“No no no. The surname Zhong is pretty rare, right? How could there possibly be two students with the same surname Zhong and the exact same given name in two neighboring classes?”
No, I’m clearly just denying it! As a gentle, kind lady, shouldn’t you notice my difficulty and gently cover for me?
Everyone really misjudged you, Classmate Yan Yan!
But no matter how much he grumbled inside, the current situation couldn’t be denied.
Zhong Siji could only take another deep breath, let it out, then lower his noble head and lean in to whisper, “Can you keep this a secret for me?”
“Oh? …Oh! Okay.”
……
……
……
“Um, Classmate Yan Yan?”
“Mm?”
“Nothing much. You haven’t eaten yet, right? Aren’t you hungry?”
In a small corner of the rooftop, Zhong Siji said a bit uncomfortably to Yan Yanyan, who was sitting beside him and staring straight at him.
For some reason, after he asked her to keep the secret, this girl had just kept staring at him the whole time.
Come on, the world is different now, okay?
You’re a girl staring at a boy nonstop.
Watch out or I’ll report you for sexual harassment?
If it weren’t for the fact that she had something on him.
“Mm… Not hungry. Probably because I ate a lot for breakfast today.”
“That won’t do. No matter what, you have to eat all three meals, or your stomach might get sick.”
“That’s true. Then I’ll go eat later.” She still didn’t move an inch.
“…Classmate Yan Yan, do you have something you want to say to me?”
“Yes. Classmate Siji, what was that just now? Why were you praying to Jesus, Buddha, the Virgin Mary, the Jade Emperor, and Guanyin Bodhisattva for help?”
So you really wanted to ask? Then just ask already. If I don’t ask first, you won’t say anything? What’s with this girl!
“Ahem, nothing much. Just treat it as me recently running into some very, very bad people and encountering some very, very bad things.”
“…Is it that incident? I’ve heard about it too, but I thought it was just a rumor.”
Holy crap, so there really is something. Whatever it is, first cover up the reason for my crazy behavior.
“Yeah, yeah. It really broke my heart. I was so grief-stricken that I ended up doing something like that…”
“Classmate Siji, so it really was like that. But don’t keep dwelling on it. After all, things will eventually pass. I’ll keep the secret for you too.”
Yeah, yeah. Zhong Siji’s head nodded like a chick pecking rice.
“After all, being unilaterally dumped by a girlfriend you’ve been dating for three years must feel really terrible.”
“Pfft~~~” Zhong Siji nearly choked to death on his own old blood.
“Who got dumped by a girlfriend of three years?”
“Isn’t it Classmate Siji?”
“Of course not! I’m a perfectly proper, never-been-in-a-relationship virgin boy.”
“Then why on earth were you praying to Jesus, Buddha, the Virgin Mary, the Jade Emperor, and Guanyin Bodhisattva for help?”
“……….Because I can’t make any friends in high school.”
This time it wasn’t really a lie. After all, ever since school started he had always been alone. This couldn’t be picked apart, right?
“Is that so…”
Phew, should have fooled her.
“Mm, same as me.”
“Huh?”
Zhong Siji felt his temple twitch.
What is taking things too far?
This is taking things too far! You’re a campus idol and I’m a school fringe character—how are we the same?
“Classmate Yan Yan is joking. Someone as popular as you couldn’t possibly be unable to make friends like an eccentric person like me.”
“Everyone is only making friends with the me in their imagination.”
Zhong Siji suddenly turned his head and looked at Yan Yanyan, who already seemed a little lonely.
“I don’t know when it started. Maybe to attract attention, or maybe because the praise went to my head a little, but I always feel that the me in front of everyone is different from the real me.”
“…Sorry, Classmate Yan Yan.”
“Why is Classmate Siji apologizing?”
“Well, because when you said you were the same as me just now, I was badmouthing you in my heart.”
Yan Yanyan tilted her head. “Then you just don’t say it out loud and I wouldn’t know.”
“Hiss, how to put it… I feel a bit guilty if I don’t apologize.”
“Eh, is that so… Hehe.”
“What’s so funny?”
“No, nothing. I just feel that Classmate Siji is completely different from what I imagined.”
“So in Classmate Yan Yan’s usual eyes, I was also just the Zhong Siji you imagined?”
“……….Yes. So actually I’m the same too.”
“Classmate Siji?”
“Mm?”
“Why don’t you talk more with the classmates in the class? You’re not actually like what they say, thinking you’re superior and looking down on everyone, right?”
Holy crap, so that’s how they see me?
Of course. Someone who rejects the crowd will always get all sorts of evaluations, and Zhong Siji wasn’t unable to understand it.
After all, people had reached out to him; it was just that he himself had refused.
“…I don’t look down on everyone in the class at all. On the contrary, I was the one who pushed away the hands everyone extended to me. Getting that kind of evaluation is only natural.”
“Then why…”
“I can’t really say clearly. It should just be that there are some things I can’t let go of.”
“Is that so… Mm, I suddenly feel a little hungry. I’ll take my leave first, Classmate Siji.”
“Oh oh, um, have a safe trip?”
How unexpected. She left so cleanly, and she was finally leaving. He was already so hungry his stomach was sticking to his back.
“As for the secret, I’ll keep it.”
“Please make sure of that one thing.”
“Then goodbye.”
Watching Yan Yanyan disappear into the stairwell of the rooftop, Zhong Siji finally relaxed.
“Really a girl who’s a bit weird in every sense.”
Gurgle…
“Whatever, time to eat first.”
Zhong Siji opened his bento and started shoveling rice into his mouth in big mouthfuls. Only he didn’t know that…
“Really a boy who’s a bit weird in every sense.”
Yan Yanyan hadn’t left. She had only stopped a few steps down the stairwell.
Recently she had suddenly started paying a bit of attention to him.
At first she just felt attracted by his uniqueness, but looking at it now, was that really all?
“Is this also a kind of fate, Classmate Siji?”