“Ahem, my throat’s been sore lately, my voice is a little hoarse.” Su Yun faked a raspy tone, trying to act the part.
The sound was right on the verge of cracking—pitiful, honestly.
“Take care of your health, and y'know, have some self-control,” a roommate joked from outside.
“But I swear, Su Yun, your voice didn’t sound like that just now,” another roommate, who’d just heard her voice, clearly felt something was off.
Because what he heard earlier… sounded like a girl’s voice. A soft and pleasant one, even better than Chen Tingting’s. (The one that roommate simps for.)
Then he looked around and spotted someone watching pretty-girl videos. In the video, a girl in a short skirt was twisting her waist suggestively, the space behind her also warping along with the movement.
Got it—must’ve come from the video.
Su Yun didn’t reply after that, afraid they’d notice anything strange.
She turned her attention back to her phone.
Qin Xue coming to her class to find her would be way too obvious. Even if she didn’t turn back, the moment that girl showed up, people would take notice.
The roommates called her a campus belle. She was definitely famous. If she showed up and someone from class snapped a picture and posted it in some gossip group saying:
“Shocking! Su Yun from Class 2 chopped off his own little bro just to get close to the campus belle.”
Forget staying in the class—she might even get expelled.
Besides, she didn’t want to be a simp.
(Me: Sister Xue, let’s meet at the track instead. I’ve got three periods of advanced calculus and won’t be out until six. If you wait in the classroom, it’ll take a while.)
Su Yun typed out the message and stared at the screen after sending it, her eyes falling to her small hands.
Compared to before, her fingers were shorter by a few centimeters, thinner too. Her palm had shrunk a lot. She used to be able to grip her phone with one hand, but now she had to hold it with both hands like a little kid.
“…”
That wasn’t the issue though. The big issue was—it was gone.
She’d thought it was just a dream, so she hadn’t paid much attention. But now it was really gone.
Did this mean she’d have to find some guy in the future to carry on the family line?
Ugh. Just the thought made her nauseous.
Mom, Dad, please forgive your unfilial… daughter.
At least Su Yun could promise to take care of her parents for life.
As for herself, she’d just live alone. Like she said before—stare at her reflection in the mirror every day, and that’d be enough. No need for anyone else.
“Ding.”
(Qin Xue: Little Sister Yun, are you trying to avoid me?)
The message popped up. Su Yun stared blankly for a second, her little mouth falling open.
Busted.
(Qin Xue: You’re so shy, so cute. Fine, I’ll wait for you at the track then. Just message me when you’re coming.)
(Me: Okay.)
She called her cute again.
But she was a guy! What was cute about this…
Su Yun glared at the screen like she was ready to bite someone’s head off.
Whatever. At least she wasn’t coming to the classroom.
Speaking of which, after walking around the track a few laps earlier, her legs were still a bit sore.
Kinda sleepy too. Time to sleep.
Didn’t sweat, so no need to shower.
Su Yun looked at the bed curtain, then zipped it up all the way to the top.
With a loft bed and desk below, once zipped all the way, no one could pull the curtain open from outside.
She took off her clothes and pants, then removed the colored contacts.
This was the real her now.
It was dim inside the curtain. She pulled out her phone, turned the camera to herself, and saw those glowing crimson eyes in the dark.
If she went out at night looking like this, she’d definitely scare someone to death.
Su Yun opened her mouth and saw those now-sharp teeth.
Suddenly thinking of something, she shifted her sitting posture.
Just like in those anime scenes—Su Yun raised a clawed hand in front of her chest, bared her fangs, and made a fierce face.
“…”
Ah.
She immediately threw her phone aside and covered her face, unable to look at the camera again.
So embarrassing!
Wow, how could I do something so childish? What was wrong with me?
Her face turned bright red in an instant, a stark contrast to her snow-white skin.
She felt like she was gonna explode.
Sleep!
……
12:30 AM. Girls’ Dorm 5A216.
No one had gone to sleep yet. They were still gossiping.
“Did you guys hear? Li Yun and Jiang Ning are dating. They left after class holding hands.”
A girl sat at the edge of her bed, whispering like she was afraid someone would overhear.
“It’s only been a few weeks since school started, that fast? But hey, if we’re talking about impressive… our Tingting’s still the best.”
“Of course. Our Tingting’s so pretty—anyone who wants to chase her would have to wait in line.”
“It’s not a big deal, hehe.” Chen Tingting smiled sweetly, her youthful face showing no flaws.
To the others in the dorm, it looked like Chen Tingting got herself a boyfriend right at the start of the semester. She was in a sweet, honeymoon-phase romance, always going out and then coming back to sprinkle love everywhere. The boyfriend even bought her gifts. It made the others crazy jealous.
Even the boys in class would sneak peeks at Chen Tingting.
Envy. Curiosity. Attention.
That’s what she wanted.
But she didn’t want attention just from her class. She wanted more. From the whole school.
That’s why she purposely picked a boyfriend (a simp) from another class to expand her reach. But the effect wasn’t as great as she hoped.
Chen Tingting looked down at her phone.
The screen showed a ranking board. It looked pretty childish.
She didn’t know who made it, but this mini-program was really popular among freshmen. No—among the whole school, even.
Right now, Chen Tingting was looking at the freshman “Campus Goddess” leaderboard.
The pictures showed beautiful girls from different departments. Out of the top ten, five were from the arts department.
Chen Tingting thought, If I could just reach number one, I’d definitely get tons of attention. People from other classes would notice me too.
But she was only ranked 16th right now. Reaching first would take some connections.
Seeing that made her angry, and kind of wronged.
If only the dance club had accepted her back at the start of the semester, she wouldn’t have to go through all this.
That club was super famous. Every event they held got hundreds of attendees—sometimes even thousands. This afternoon’s crowd at the track was proof enough.
She had told them she’d trained in dance for a few years and had talent. But they still didn’t accept her.
She was so outstanding. What right did they have to reject her?
……
Time flew by, and faint morning light slowly crept up from the ground, replacing the night’s darkness.
Su Yun was the first in her dorm to wake up.
Once up, she immediately started her morning routine—washing up, putting in the colored contacts, mask on—going through the entire ritual until she was back to being a dumpling-like bundle.
Wrapped up tight.
Since she couldn’t wear hooded clothes in class, she used a high-collared shirt to cover her neck and a round cap to tuck in her hair. In short, she’d brainstormed every possible method to avoid being discovered as “Su Yun.”
She’d thought it through.
What would happen if she were found out?
Pretty much—expulsion. She also couldn’t skip class. If “Su Yun” didn’t show up for several days, she’d be marked absent. Dead either way.
So the best move now was to continue being “Su Yun,” go to class, and wait until the day she turned back into a guy.
Honestly, she still had no clue how she ended up like this.
Just taking things one step at a time.
Once her bag was packed, Su Yun left way ahead of everyone else.
The dorm door required facial recognition, so she waited for someone to walk out together. It wasn’t hard—these two dorm buildings housed at least two thousand people.
Everything went smoothly—until she stepped out into the sunlight beyond the building’s shade.
“My head… feels dizzy…”
The moment the morning sun hit her, Su Yun felt like her whole body was about to catch fire.
What the hell…
Her legs trembled. Just walking out of the dorm made her feel like she lost half her life.
Her hands were turning red.
Su Yun looked down at her reddening hands and suddenly remembered something. Then, using every bit of strength, she staggered back to the building’s shadow.
“…It doesn’t hurt anymore?”
Su Yun stared at her gradually whitening hands, mind on the brink of collapse.
No way. I was only joking yesterday about being a vampire.
And now it was real?
Then how was she supposed to survive in daylight?
Also—vampires needed to suck blood, right…?
Su Yun stood frozen for a long time, overwhelmed by all this insane new information.
After a long pause, she finally pulled a black umbrella from her bag and opened it over her head.
(End of Chapter)