When I regained consciousness,
I found myself looking at this sight.
Meng Yiqiao, who should have been awake, had climbed into bed at some point.
She was curled up, forehead pressed against Li Xingya’s, the two of them enjoying the rest they’d earned by skipping class together.
Their fingers were loosely intertwined, and in that cramped space, the only sound was the other’s breathing.
Li Xingya stayed silent, simply watching Meng Yiqiao.
Watching the faint wrinkles at the corners of her eyes—wrinkles you’d never notice unless you looked closely.
‘Sister must work pretty hard in her daily life too.’
Li Xingya herself couldn’t care less about academic performance, but she could tell that Meng Yiqiao put real effort into every cultural class.
Holding onto the 41st spot on the Starlight Ranking must be no easy task.
Even now, Meng Yiqiao’s brows were slightly furrowed in her sleep. It probably wasn’t a nightmare—that was just how her face always looked.
Cold.
And fierce.
Only when she smiled did she have a hint of that soft, glutinous rice cake charm.
“Li… Li Xingya.”
“Yes…?”
Li Xingya answered softly.
‘She’s calling my name.’
‘What kind of dream is she having?’
‘Kind of curious.’
Meng Yiqiao’s brows twitched.
“Your hand… your hand. Your hand—”
“Hand?”
Li Xingya lifted the blanket slightly. Their hands were indeed tightly linked together.
“Don’t… don’t wander with your hand…!”
Li Xingya blinked.
‘???’
“You’re going to touch, touch somewhere weird.”
‘Whoa…’
‘What a scandalous dream.’
‘Just sleeping next to me and she dreams about something like this?’
“Sister’s such a pervert.”
Li Xingya stared intently at Meng Yiqiao with a very subtle look.
After a moment, she suddenly yawned.
“I’m getting sleepy again.”
Li Xingya muttered to herself.
“What time is it now… whatever, let’s sleep a bit more.”
With that, she scooted closer to Meng Yiqiao, closed her eyes, and drifted back to sleep.
‘Sleeping is the best thing in the world.’
***
‘I’m exhausted.’
During the lunch break, inside the single dormitory, Jiang Chiyue sat at her desk with heavy dark circles under her eyes.
‘What day is it now?’
‘Day six?’
‘No… wait, I think it’s day seven.’
On the seventh day of insomnia, Jiang Chiyue had to stare blankly for four or five seconds just to process the most basic thoughts of daily life.
Even if her consciousness suddenly cut out, she’d manage at most thirty minutes to an hour of sleep before being jolted awake by nightmares.
Ever since she parted ways with Li Xingya, Jiang Chiyue hadn’t had a single good night’s sleep.
At this point, the whites of her eyes were shot through with red blood vessels.
‘At this rate, I’m going to go insane.’
‘Li Xingya…’
‘I miss Li Xingya… I want to hear your voice, want to smell your scent, want to touch your body.’
As exhaustion relentlessly pounded her brain, Jiang Chiyue no longer had the energy to think about the matter of the two Li Xingyas, nor the strength to sort out what exactly she felt for Li Xingya.
Right now.
She simply wanted to see Li Xingya.
But the last shred of rationality forced Jiang Chiyue to stay rooted in her chair.
‘I can’t go see her.’
‘…Not until I figure out what I’m thinking. I absolutely can’t go see her.’
Jiang Chiyue pulled a white pill, split in half, from her pocket.
This was the sleeping pill she’d gotten from the hospital today.
Three pills total, half a pill per dose—six days’ worth.
Jiang Chiyue closed her eyes. When darkness fell before her, Li Xingya’s face began to surface in her mind again.
“Do you like me more?”
“Or do you like your Sister Li Xingya?”
Jiang Chiyue could almost hear Li Xingya’s voice.
She was right by her ear, breathing warm air as she asked questions too difficult to answer.
“I like Sister Li Xingya.”
Jiang Chiyue murmured.
“Liar. If you like Sister Li Xingya, why can’t you bring yourself to kill me?”
Jiang Chiyue opened her eyes.
She didn’t understand the answer to that question herself.
Jiang Chiyue took a deep breath.
“Let’s get some sleep first.”
She picked up her water cup and washed down the sleeping pill with cold water.
As she lay down in bed, before long, she heard a rustling sound from beside her.
“Sister.”
It was Li Xingya again.
Jiang Chiyue opened her eyes. The dormitory clearly only had her in it.
‘I’ll need to go to the hospital for another psychological evaluation in a few days.’
When Jiang Chiyue closed her eyes again, she could feel Li Xingya clinging to her.
“Sister, let’s sleep together?”
“…Mm.”
This time, Jiang Chiyue simply acknowledged it.
‘Let’s sleep together.’
***
‘We overslept.’
In the evening.
Li Xingya and Meng Yiqiao stared at each other.
They had slept all the way until school let out.
Meng Yiqiao felt like Li Xingya had some kind of magic—just breathing in her scent made her want to drift off without realizing it.
“Sister, the school rules… the punishment for this can’t be too severe, right?”
“It shouldn’t be.”
Meng Yiqiao shook her head.
“Besides, the school nurse can vouch for us—we weren’t feeling well…”
Before Meng Yiqiao could finish, a voice came from outside the curtains—the school nurse.
“I don’t know you two were hiding here.”
The school nurse washed her hands of the whole affair.
She was only responsible for providing the place to sleep; whatever happened after that had nothing to do with her.
Li Xingya and Meng Yiqiao exchanged another look, then finally nodded in acceptance of their fate.
“Let’s head out before the teaching building gets locked, shall we?”
Meng Yiqiao suggested.
“Okay.”
Li Xingya nodded.
As the two left the teaching building, Li Xingya was about to head out when Meng Yiqiao suddenly grabbed her.
“What’s wrong, sister?”
“Xiaoya, do you want to stay another night at my dorm?”
Meng Yiqiao bit her lip.
“Your underwear and such… I’ve already bought them.”
‘Xiaoya finally came back to school.’
‘And yet the whole day together was just lying next to each other sleeping.’
‘What a waste.’
‘I want to spend a little more time with Xiaoya.’
Faced with Meng Yiqiao’s invitation, Li Xingya didn’t budge an inch.
‘No way, I need to go home and play games.’
Of course, she couldn’t say that out loud.
Li Xingya put on a reluctant expression, pondering for a moment before speaking:
“If I could… I’d really love to be with you too, sister. Just being by your side makes me happy, really.”
A smile spread across Meng Yiqiao’s face.
“In that case…”
“It’s just that—”
Li Xingya suddenly cut in.
“It’s just that I have some things to take care of at home today. Next time, sister. I’ll definitely come when I get the chance.”
Li Xingya’s tone was filled with regret as she said this.
As if she too was reluctant to part with Meng Yiqiao.
“…I see.”
Meng Yiqiao’s smile froze on her face, but she quickly recovered.
“Mm, I’ll be waiting for you, Xiaoya. Let’s leave it at that for today. Bye.”
With Li Xingya’s nearly flawless acting, Meng Yiqiao bought it. She waved at Li Xingya.
“Goodbye, sister.”
Li Xingya replied in kind.
Though they’d said their goodbyes, Meng Yiqiao still personally walked Li Xingya to the school gate.
She watched until Li Xingya got into that new Mercedes.
‘Xiaoya…’
Meng Yiqiao couldn’t bring herself to look away.
Inside the car, behind the reflective glass that Meng Yiqiao couldn’t see through, the door closed and Li Xingya leaned slightly sideways, resting her head on Lin Jin’an’s shoulder.
“How was school?”
Lin Jin’an handed Li Xingya the milk tea she’d prepared in advance.
Taking the milk tea, Li Xingya smiled:
“Sister, I had a really great day at school today.”