Although the occasional sound of chattering and footsteps echoed from outside, this building was eerily quiet. Not a single person had entered.
Su Yun hid in a small corner out of sight, observing the scenery on this floor.
It was very clean here. The white ceramic tiles on the floor reflected a faint shine under the lights.
There was no trash around, and not even a cleaning tool was placed in the corners—there was nothing.
All that could be seen were a few tightly shut doors and a wall filled with display cabinets beside the staircase, giving the place a somewhat dreamy feel.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. Let’s go for a walk.”
Before long, a graceful figure appeared from the stairs.
She hurried over to Su Yun, carrying a faint breeze of fragrance with her.
Su Yun noticed a sheen of sweat on the girl’s forehead—most likely because she had rushed here for his sake.
Sure enough, things were just better in dreams.
Someone actually cared about me.
“Mm.”
Maybe because he believed this was a dream, Su Yun naturally began treating the beautiful girl before her as an acquaintance.
She stepped out first and saw several girls walking toward them.
They were neatly dressed, wearing identical skirts, and their chatting was a little noisy.
“Bye, Sister Xue~”
As they got closer, several of them greeted her with smiling faces.
“Bye-bye. You girls did great today.” Qin Xue waved to them.
Su Yun didn’t know them, so she just passed by naturally.
She thought it was just a simple goodbye between friends.
But when those girls walked past and behind her, she heard—
“Sister Xue got a new one again? This one looks cuter than the last, right?”
“Such a tiny thing, really adorable. I almost wanted to scoop her up just now.”
“Don’t even think about it. If you try, Sister Xue will kick you out for real.”
Their noisy chatter reached Su Yun in broken pieces.
What did they mean by “got a new one again”?
Su Yun didn’t understand. She simply kept walking on alone.
By now, the field had mostly cleared out. Only the regular runners remained.
She looked up at the dark sky—it felt like being held in someone’s arms. So warm.
“Looking for stars?”
Just as Su Yun was enjoying the moment, a voice beside him pulled his back to reality.
Oh, right. I hadn’t come alone this time.
“No, just looking at the sky.” Su Yun replied blandly.
“Oh, let me see… It’s all dark. There’s nothing up there?”
Qin Xue looked up with interest. She really hadn’t paid attention to this sky before.
“Mm.”
“Still in a bad mood? Tell me the scumbag’s name, and I’ll make sure he’s infamous. I’ll vent your anger for you, how about it?”
“…Huh?”
“I don’t have a boyfriend...”
“Oh, I thought… okay. Then why are you feeling down?”
“I’m not feeling down. Just out for a walk…”
“Ohh, I see.”
An awkward silence filled the air for a moment.
Su Yun wasn’t good at talking. In his previous life, he had only ever focused on studying, abandoning all unnecessary small talk.
In internet slang, he was a total bookworm. Studied himself stupid.
Even so, Su Yun still never got the results he wanted, and now he had completely become the kind of person he used to hate.
Qin Xue had been watching Su Yun’s face. Not long after speaking, she noticed Su Yun’s small lips slightly pouting.
Pfft...
“Um, little sister, what’s your name? I’m Qin Xue. You can call me Qin Xue, Xiao Xue, or Sister Xue, any is fine.”
“Hm?”
Su Yun thought for a moment.
“Su Xiaoyun.”
“Then can I call you Sister Xiaoyun?”
“…Sure.”
It was the first time Su Yun had been called “sister” with such warmth.
He didn’t dare look up now—afraid his disguise as a girl would be seen through.
“Sister Xiaoyun, do you always come here for walks when you’re not in class?”
“Mm.”
They continued chatting off and on like that until suddenly, Qin Xue said—
“Is there something you’ve never fulfilled or done? Something that’s been stuck in your heart?”
“?”
Su Yun looked at Qin Xue in surprise.
He felt like this stranger he’d just met had seen right through him.
“No.”
“Okay then.” Qin Xue sounded a little disappointed.
Time passed, and the field had completely emptied.
“It’s getting late. Sister Xiaoyun, could you give me your contact info? That way I can reach you later.”
“…Alright.”
Su Yun hesitated but still agreed.
His QQ and WeChat IDs is male identities, so he gave her phone number instead.
As for actually staying in touch...
The dream had to end eventually.
After saying goodbye to the school belle who was the envy of everyone in real life, Su Yun stayed put on the field.
He sat on the stone steps, looking at the sky.
It was time to end this.
Then, Su Yun raised his slender hand and pinched his own cheek.
“Ow, ah.”
He couldn’t help but cry out. He hadn’t expected it to hurt that much.
“Huh? I’m still here.”
He opened her eyes and saw the same dark sky. Su Yun pinched harder.
“Still here…”
So painful. Why haven’t I woken up yet?
Surely it didn’t take dying to wake up from a dream? That would be way too scary.
Su Yun then went on to pinch himself all over, and felt pain all over.
He even asked a stranger who was stretching nearby if he was dreaming.
Even though her question was weird, the person kindly replied he wasn’t dreaming and even asked if he felt dizzy and needed the infirmary.
It was the first time Su Yun felt such kindness from a stranger.
But then he realized something serious—
It really seemed like…
His dream had come true.
“???”
Shocked, Su Yun’s crimson eyes sparkled even brighter. He instinctively pulled out his phone and called his parents.
If this wasn’t a dream, their numbers should go through.
Ring…
“Baby, what’s wrong? Calling us at night—missing Mom and Dad?”
On the other end came his mother’s familiar, gentle voice.
Even though he was all grown up, his mom still called him “baby.”
“I… cough cough… yeah, I missed you. What are you and Dad doing right now?”
“Baby, what’s with your voice?”
“I’ve been coughing lately. My throat hurts.”
“Did you eat something too spicy again?”
His mom’s voice became noticeably anxious.
Then came a flood of reminders, her tone a little angry too.
His mother could ask the same question five times, even more.
Su Yun didn’t hang up until a long while later.
But he felt at ease now, he could still reach her parents.
Then he looked at her contacts list and the newly added number, feeling a bit conflicted.
If he’d known this was real, he’d never have had the nerve to talk so long with someone he’d just met.
“What the heck did I even do—ahhh...”
Su Yun clutched his head and let out a silent dragon’s roar on the steps.
Still, he had fulfilled half a dream. That girl really was beautiful—great figure, big chest, and spoke to him so gently.
The perfect school belle.
Even if he turned back into a guy later, just seeing that number would be a sweet memory.
“Wait no—what kind of weird thought is that...”
“...”
Su Yun’s expressions on the steps shifted nonstop.
Thankfully no one was around. Otherwise, someone would’ve definitely filmed him and posted it online.
But he didn’t have any other plans now.
Top priority: buy a mask, a hat, and colored contacts to cover my white hair and red eyes.
……
And so Su Yun actually went to buy them.
Having been at school for half a year, she knew where the stores were.
A round cap to tuck in her hair, the coat’s hood to cover her neck, black contacts to hide her red eyes…
The whole process was a pain, and she Googled things more than ten times along the way.
By the time she got back to her dorm, it was already 11 PM.
Click.
She pushed open the door and saw four roommates huddled together, seemingly looking at something.
“Send me the pics later.”
“Call me bro.”
“Bro.”
Su Yun didn’t bother being curious. Secretly pleased, she slipped over to her spot during the chaos.
She figured she’d be back to normal after sleeping.
“Su Yun, you really missed out not going to the field today. There were so many hotties!”
“Look at this pic—this one’s gotta be the school belle, right? She’s seriously pretty. And those legs.”
“Send me the pic, Dad!”
“Just join the gossip group chat and you’ll see it.”
“No one added me though.”
The dorm buzzed with excitement like they were splitting loot.
But aside from Su Yun, there was one guy who remained very calm.
He was lying motionless on the bed across from Su Yun.
Poor dude. From the start of the semester, he’d been crushing on a girl hard.
He thought they were in a mutual relationship, only to find out recently he was just one of her many simps.
The girl was from their class—looked pure and cute, about 150 cm tall.
She attracted a lot of lolicons, and her simps weren’t limited to just their class.
Really, people are not what they seem.
Su Yun sighed for him.
Then she noticed someone had sent pictures in the dorm’s WeChat group.
She opened it and saw several images.
The first few were of a row of girls in skirts standing on the podium, showing off their fair, slender legs with confident smiles.
Su Yun felt they looked familiar, yet also unfamiliar.
She scrolled down and saw a solo photo.
If the previous ones were vaguely familiar, this one was unmistakable.
With a high ponytail, tall figure, and a slightly cold gaze—
It was Qin Xue.
This photo looked like it had been taken secretly from offstage.
“Hey, who’s that in the last photo?”
“Oh, Su Yun, you don’t know? That’s our school’s belle. There’s an official ranking—she’s widely recognized.”
“But honestly, I prefer the one dancing in the middle—cuter.” Someone nearby stared at the screen and immediately countered.
“Young guys mistake lolis for treasures, but once you grow up, you’ll understand the appeal of a mature woman. You’ll regret it later. Look at those legs and that figure—you really don’t like that?”
“I don’t. Besides, I heard she already has a boyfriend. Stop fantasizing.”
“You @#”
And so began another heated debate.
“...”
Su Yun didn’t really care whether she liked lolis or mature women.
She just stared at the picture on her phone, feeling a bit unreal.
She… actually talked to the school belle?
And just now, she even kept responding coldly and awkwardly because she didn’t know what to say.
Hiss...
Just thinking about it made Su Yun’s calves ache.
A slight numbness too—she quickly climbed up to her bed.
“By the way, did you hear about the ghost rumor on campus?”
There was more chatter outside her bed curtain.
It seemed like today’s event really stirred things up.
Su Yun slowly took off her mask and hat, then pulled the curtain shut.
Ding-ling.
Not long after lying down, her phone lit up with a message.
She reached her slender fingers out from her coat and gently tapped in the password.
(Qin Xue: Do you have class at 5 p.m. tomorrow? Come to the field—there’s something I want to talk to you about.)
“Something?”
Su Yun wasn’t sure if she should reply.
She might turn back by morning, after all.
(Qin Xue: You have class tomorrow afternoon, right? I’ll come find you in your classroom. I’m free anyway.)
Soon, another message came.
Su Yun didn’t even have time to wonder how she knew her schedule.
Her mind just went blank.
Huh?
Don’t come, sis.
“Hey, Su Yun, your voice sounded kinda weird earlier.”
Just then, someone outside her bed curtain asked.
Ah… crap.
(End of Chapter)