I think… I like the Class Monitor a little…
In that instant, the girl felt a sense of confusion like never before.
What should I do?
Her heart was being wrenched, and tears fell like a kite with a broken string. Why… why did it have to be like this… and why did it have to be the Class Monitor…
She couldn’t face this budding emotion, just as she struggled to face her own life.
She pulled a tissue from her pocket and wiped her tears. It took a long time before she stood up unsteadily.
Class was about to start; she couldn’t be late… otherwise, Liu Yinuo would surely worry…
Struggling to steady her emotions, she realized that she couldn’t go on like this.
She couldn’t continue to blindly accept the Class Monitor’s kindness, nor could she keep owing her for her goodwill.
With her abilities, the only solution she could think of…
Was to run away.
***
The girl, who had been absent from class for a long time, didn’t attract anyone’s attention when she returned to the classroom, except for two people.
Liu Yinuo cast a worried look over, while Lin Ziyan glanced coldly before looking away.
Sitting in her seat, the girl looked at her desk. Fortunately, it hadn’t been touched; her books, pens, and paper were all in their original places. However, it was unfortunately piled high with a thick stack of test papers, a sight that would leave anyone feeling lost.
As usual, she wore her hat to cover her long hair. The girl kept her eyes downcast, maintaining a low presence to avoid being noticed by anyone.
She waited until the teacher arrived to start class. Following the instructions, she took out a blank test paper and listened to a lecture she couldn’t understand at all.
Dizziness, pain, and conflict. She felt miserable, yet she couldn’t even look forward to the end of class. Life felt like a perpetual ordeal, endless and infinite.
How was Liu Yinuo, sitting in the front row, any different? Her head was filled with the image of the girl running away earlier. Now that she had calmed down, she recalled many details she had previously overlooked—the slight trembling of the girl’s hand and those red eyes brimmed with tears. She felt a bit of self-reproach. Had she been too impatient? Had she scared the girl?
She didn’t know; she only knew that her heart felt as if it had been cracked open, aching terribly.
Seeing the girl’s situation in the Lin family, she felt both sympathy and heartache. That was why she had been so eager to persuade the girl to stay at her house, but it seemed to have had the opposite effect. She was beginning to lose track of what she should do.
In the end, why did she care so much about this girl? She felt strange. She had never cared for anyone like this, never minded someone so much that her mind was entirely filled with her figure, her crying, and her bitterness.
Emotions she couldn’t quite read surged in her heart, so foreign yet so fervent. It made her feel as though she wasn’t even herself anymore.
Why… are you so afraid of me?
Why… are you avoiding me like this?
Am I really that scary?
Sigh… as expected, I can’t let it go. I’ll find a chance to ask her.
She didn’t have to wait long. Near the end of class, their subject teacher, who was also the homeroom teacher, casually mentioned, “Ye Xingmian, come to my office after class.”
These words didn’t attract anyone else’s attention, but they were very important to Liu Yinuo. It meant a reasonable opportunity to get close to the girl. She stole a glance back, seeing only the girl’s newly donned hood and the soft, white jaw hidden beneath it.
***
When class ended, the girl stood up to leave, and Liu Yinuo immediately rushed after her.
Running through the hallway and ignoring the strange looks from people around her, she called out to the girl, “Student Ye!”
The girl stopped and turned around.
“Class Monitor…?”
Seeing the girl’s pink eyes, which seemed to be clouded by a layer of haze, Liu Yinuo’s breath hitched. She froze for a moment, and once she regained her senses, she forced a smile.
“Aren’t you going to the homeroom teacher’s office? I’ll go with you.”
However, the girl only shook her head gently.
“There’s no need, Class Monitor. I can go by myself.”
Without waiting for Liu Yinuo to say more, she turned and walked away on her own.
“Eh?”
Surprised by the girl’s reaction, Liu Yinuo was momentarily stunned. Without thinking, she immediately followed.
“Student Ye, if I’m there, I can help explain things to the teacher for you.”
Everyone knew that the teacher had called Ye Xingmian to the office because of her frequent absences lately. Liu Yinuo knew even better that the girl had a habit of becoming speechless whenever she was nervous, so having her along was actually the most appropriate thing.
The girl kept her head lowered and didn’t speak.
Liu Yinuo wanted to say more, but seeing this reaction, the words eventually got stuck in her throat. After a moment of silence, she let out a soft sigh.
Even though the girl hadn’t agreed, she still followed.
Standing before the homeroom teacher’s office, Ye Xingmian silently pushed open the door. The teacher immediately looked up and glanced at her.
“Stand over here first,” she said, pointing to the open space in front of her desk.
“Mm…” The girl nodded and obediently stood where she was told. After that, the teacher intended to continue with her work, but another person followed in behind the girl, which surprised her.
“Liu Yinuo? Why are you here?”
Liu Yinuo entered after the girl and closed the door.
“Teacher, I helped her request leave yesterday. She had a high fever.”
The teacher frowned, realizing that Liu Yinuo was defending Ye Xingmian.
“Even so, you can’t take leave like this. How many days has it been in a row now? School rules state that you can’t take leave more than twice a week. How many times have you done it? Does someone get sick every single day?”
“Yes, teacher,” Liu Yinuo said firmly.
The teacher was almost amused by her stubbornness. She pointed at Ye Xingmian, who had stood silently from start to finish.
“You’ve learned to contradict me just to speak up for him?”
“No, teacher. She really was sick. I was afraid she would be too clumsy with her words to explain clearly, so I came specifically to help explain it to you.”
“Fine, fine, you’re the one with the silver tongue. Forget it, take him away. Pay attention to the distance you keep when hanging out, and also, look after his studies more.”
After a few simple words, the reprimand that was supposed to fall on the girl was easily resolved by Liu Yinuo.
As a homeroom teacher, she was obviously more patient and lenient with students who had good grades. It was an easy logic to understand. Liu Yinuo tried to take the hand of the girl, who had zoned out again at some point, and said softly, “Let’s go.”
Only then did the girl seem to snap back to her senses. Her lost eyes looked toward Liu Yinuo, containing an indescribable complexity—it was both gratitude and pain.
It was just that the usually brilliant Liu Yinuo couldn’t read them. She simply took it as the girl’s daze from escaping trouble, and with a triumphant smile, she led the girl away.