A bad premonition in her heart had come true.
Catching her breath, Liu Yinuo gritted her teeth and lifted her head. What kind of scene was unfolding in the dust-laden changing room?
Chaos.
There were footprints all over the floor. The bag containing equipment on this side had been torn open, and the solid balls inside were scattered everywhere. In addition, not far away, near the iron lockers, several tawny balls were ominously strewn about.
As for the center… there were two girls, one tall and one short. Qin Haiyue, with golden hair, was gripping Ye Xingmian’s neck. Her clothes were neat, her expression proud and haughty. The girl in her grasp, due to her height disadvantage, was struggling on tiptoes just to touch the ground. Her clothes were covered in patches of dust, making her look filthy and disheveled.
Tear tracks ran messily across her face, her sickly pale features twisted in pain from suffocation.
“Qin,” Liu Yinuo called out.
Her right hand clenched into a fist unnaturally. Liu Yinuo spoke through gritted teeth:
“What are you doing? Let her go!”
Qin Haiyue tilted her head, the smile on her face growing deeper.
“Oh? Here to save your little sweetheart?”
She paid no heed to Liu Yinuo’s words; her hand did not let go.
Taking a deep breath, barely restraining the anger flaring in her chest, Liu Yinuo spoke coldly, “I’ve already called the teacher. They’ll be here any minute. If you don’t want to get expelled, let her go now!”
“……”
“Heh heh, fine.”
After a moment of silence, Qin Haiyue suddenly let out a cold laugh. Her grip loosened, and the girl who had been held up slumped powerlessly to the floor, covering her mouth as she coughed violently.
Once the coughing fit passed, she fell into silence, not making a sound as if withdrawn into herself.
After a brief standoff with Liu Yinuo, Qin Haiyue suddenly realized she’d been a little too hasty.
No matter what, it was no longer realistic to try and take the girl away now. Besides, she had already gotten what she wanted today.
With that thought, she found nothing left to agonize over—there would always be another chance.
Besides, that little bastard needed some time to recover her mental state anyway. Bringing her back now wouldn’t yield any interesting reactions.
Glancing at the unmoving Ye Xingmian lying on the ground, Qin Haiyue suddenly lowered her head and whispered softly in her ear.
“I’ll be waiting for you there again tomorrow morning, okay?”
After that, she no longer bothered with the unresponsive girl. She strode straight for the door, and as she passed by, said to the girl beside her, “Take care of your little sweetheart.”
Before Liu Yinuo could even react to her words, she watched as Qin Haiyue walked away.
“What the heck… is she even talking about…”
Gritting her teeth, Liu Yinuo knew now was not the time to be worrying about that. She snapped out of her daze, looked away from the blonde girl, and rushed into the room.
“Ye, are you alright?”
Rushing to Ye Xingmian’s side, Liu Yinuo didn’t mind the dirt as she helped prop up her upper body from the cold floor, gazing at her with concern.
However, the girl said nothing for a while, her eyes dull, staring blankly ahead.
“Class… rep…?”
Just as Liu Yinuo grew anxious, the girl finally turned her gaze, her voice hoarse but pleasant.
“Yes, it’s me. Ye… do you feel unwell anywhere? I’ll take you to the infirmary.”
Seeing that the girl wasn’t moving, Liu Yinuo tried to help her up on her own. She slid an arm under her armpit and supported her arm.
“Why… did you come…”
“Eh?”
The question caught Liu Yinuo off guard. Her mind stalled for a second, and after some thought, she figured the other girl must be wondering why she came so late.
“Sorry… I… I accidentally lost sight of you for a while. Later I went to find the teacher for a key and checked room by room. I only came here when I heard a sound.” She lowered her head, clearly feeling genuinely guilty for letting Ye Xingmian get so badly hurt.
However, what Ye Xingmian truly wanted to ask was something completely different from what she imagined.
Why… why did it have to be at that moment? Not earlier, not later—right when she’d finally gathered her courage, when she’d made up her mind to end it all.
For someone as cowardly as herself, to do something like that really took all the courage she could muster…
Why, at that exact moment, did someone have to bring her a sliver of hope?
The girl was dazed for a moment. She knew such things shouldn’t be said aloud—they should be quietly buried deep in her heart.
She raised her head and looked at the class rep who stood about the same height as her.
No matter what, still…
“Thank you, Class Rep.”
Her words were clear and precise. Other than her voice still being hoarse, she sounded almost the same as usual.
“Eh… eh?! No, it’s nothing, that’s what I should do. Uh, well. Ah! So hot!”
Hesitantly trying to say something, Liu Yinuo accidentally brushed Ye Xingmian’s neck with her cold fingers, and yelped in surprise at the heat.
“Ye… Ye, you have a fever?”
“Yeah.” The reply was muffled. Though she still had a fever and her vision was hazy, Ye Xingmian felt her mind had never been so clear.
“Um…” Sitting right beside Ye Xingmian, Liu Yinuo, who had rushed here in a panic, suddenly found herself at a loss for words. After a moment of silence, she could only stiffly say, “Uh… shall I take you to the infirmary?”
Yet Ye Xingmian just shook her head.
“No, I want to go home.”
She feebly pulled her hand free from Liu Yinuo’s grasp, and staggered to her feet.
But as soon as she managed to stand and take two steps, pain shot through her legs and her balance gave way—she nearly fell to the ground.
Liu Yinuo reacted swiftly, catching her just in time and saving her from a fall.
“Mm!”
Her palm seemed to land on something soft. Liu Yinuo didn’t notice at first, her attention caught by the girl’s muffled yelp.
“What’s wrong, Ye?”
Her voice was full of concern. Seeing the unnatural flush on the girl’s face, she thought for a moment it was just the fever.
“I’m fine…” Ye Xingmian straightened up and tried to push away the arm draped across her chest.
“Eh?”
Only then did Liu Yinuo realize where her hand had ended up. Feeling the unexpected softness, she furrowed her brow without thinking.
“Ye, you…”
“Let go!” The girl gritted her teeth.
“……”
Hearing the sharp, delicate voice that was nothing like a boy’s, Liu Yinuo fell silent. As she caught the fragrance wafting from the girl’s body, and as the back of her hand brushed over that soft chest again while moving away, she said nothing. She withdrew the hand that had been supporting Ye, but still kept the other hand holding her arm.
“Let go, I want to go home…” The girl’s tone had softened a lot, perhaps out of exhaustion.
“Can you really make it home on your own?”
Not giving a direct answer, Liu Yinuo just supported the girl, gazing at her intently.
“Ha… of course I can!”
She tried to break free, but soon discovered with frustration that she simply didn’t have the strength—her malnutrition left her at a disadvantage once again.
“Even if you could get home, do you really think your foster parents would take you to see a doctor?”
With a scrutinizing look, this time, Ye Xingmian stayed silent.
She hung her head in silence. Clearly, she had no confidence in that matter.
“Come with me, Ye. Don’t worry, not to the infirmary or any clinic or hospital where you might run into people. Just to my house, okay? My parents aren’t home—they won’t be back until late.”
Seemingly moved by her sincerity, the girl’s gaze started to waver. Her eyes dimmed, and only now did Liu Yinuo finally ask the crucial question.
“And also, maybe it’s presumptuous of me, but please believe me… I… just, could you tell me—”
Turning back, she looked into those beautiful pink eyes, and Liu Yinuo earnestly grasped both her hands.
“Why are you hiding that you’re a girl?”
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