Light Music Club

Time passed quickly, and it was almost time for school to end in the afternoon.

Bai Yuyou and Luo Che pushed a small cart full of equipment toward the storage room, a task assigned by their gym teacher. It was probably just a random pairing of a boy and a girl—coincidentally, Luo Che and Bai Yuyou.

Luo Che stole glances at Bai Yuyou from the corner of his eye. She wore a clean, neatly fitted sports T-shirt and shorts, her long ponytail revealing her snow-white neck. No matter how you looked at her, she was flawlessly beautiful—Luo Che didn’t know why, but Bai Yuyou seemed to have grown even more stunning, nothing like how she used to be.

And yet, she also seemed increasingly distant. Her cool demeanor constantly radiated an aura that kept others at arm’s length.

Luo Che’s throat unconsciously tightened, his heartbeat racing, but he forced himself to appear composed, pretending to be just as aloof.

Teenage boys always tried to stand out to catch the attention of the girls they liked, and Luo Che was no exception. He deliberately acted cold, secretly hoping Bai Yuyou would take the initiative to talk to him or notice how different he was from the other boys.

But he was disappointed. Bai Yuyou didn’t say a word the entire time. Her waist-length ponytail swayed gently as she firmly gripped the cart’s handle, heading straight for the storage room.

“B-Bai Yuyou,” Luo Che finally couldn’t resist speaking up. “Um…”

Bai Yuyou’s beautiful eyes flicked toward him, but she remained silent, tilting her head slightly as if wondering what he wanted to say.

Luo Che coughed awkwardly. Meeting those mesmerizing, obsidian-like eyes, the words he’d planned to say evaporated, leaving his mind blank. He stammered, “Do you know where the storage room is?”

Bai Yuyou nodded.

“Oh.”

Silence settled between them, making Luo Che feel as if ants were crawling under his skin. Seizing this rare chance to be alone with her, he thought for a moment before asking, “By the way, that ‘husband’ you mentioned… is that your boyfriend?”

Bai Yuyou shook her head. “No… not husband.”

Her voice was ethereal and pleasant. Luo Che scratched his head, feeling as if a weight had lifted from his chest. Encouraged, he continued, “Hey, Bai Yuyou, do you live close to Tang Keke? I always see you two walking home together.”

“Mhm.”

“Where do you live? Maybe I’m nearby too. We could walk to school together or something.” Luo Che grinned, trying to sound casual.

“Aoyuan.”

“Oh, that area? I go shopping there a lot. Actually, we’re not that far apart…”

Bai Yuyou glanced at him but didn’t respond.

Ye Shuang had told her not to talk too much to strange men.

Three sentences were the limit.

Luo Che froze, suddenly realizing Bai Yuyou had stopped speaking. He wondered if he’d said something wrong, but after replaying the conversation in his head, he couldn’t pinpoint any missteps.

Was he being too pushy?

As Luo Che pondered this, they arrived at the storage room. Places like this were usually tucked away in remote corners of the school. As a boy well-versed in romance manga, Luo Che knew the storage room was a classic setting for love stories—like two students getting accidentally locked inside, forced to spend time together in the dim light until their feelings deepened.

But just as Luo Che’s imagination ran wild, the teacher sitting at the storage room entrance spoke up, “Sign here. Anything missing?”

“No,” Bai Yuyou replied softly, signing her name under Class A on the form.

“Alright, you’re free to go.”

Luo Che had overthought things. At Yinshan Academy, the storage room was always supervised by a teacher. Watching Bai Yuyou’s figure grow smaller in the distance, he felt as if he’d lost his last chance to get closer to her.

Maybe someday, he’d look back and regret not reaching out to her sooner.

He hated that he couldn’t find the right words.

……

After showering in the locker room and drying her hair, Bai Yuyou quickened her pace toward the infirmary.

She wanted to see Ye Shuang.

But as she passed a classroom in one of the corridors, her footsteps halted. A familiar sound reached her ears—music, the strumming of a guitar.

Perhaps remembering Tang Keke’s approach, Bai Yuyou tentatively pushed the door open a crack and peeked inside. A girl with long hair sat inside, skillfully playing the guitar, her gaze focused. A beam of sunlight draped over her shoulders like golden silk.

The girl’s fingers danced across the strings, producing a lively, flowing melody that captivated Bai Yuyou.

“You are—” A touch on her shoulder made Bai Yuyou turn slowly. A petite girl stood behind her, hands clasped behind her back, her ponytail tied with a cute cherry hairband and a warm smile on her face.

Bai Yuyou didn’t respond, only taking a silent step back.

“What’s up, classmate? Looking for someone from our Light Music Club?” the girl asked, her smile unwavering.

Bai Yuyou murmured, “Guitar… sounds nice…”

“Oh, you were drawn in by the music? Heh, we’re preparing for the academy’s 70th-anniversary performance,” the girl said, her eyes flicking to the emblem on Bai Yuyou’s uniform—Yinshan Academy’s badges varied by grade, with the gemstone color indicating the year.

“You’re a third-year, right? Interested in music?” The girl flashed a bright smile. “Our club’s always open to visitors. Do you have a club already?”

Bai Yuyou shook her head.

The girl’s eyes lit up. “No club? Then—do you like the guitar? Wanna join us and give it a try?”

Overwhelmed by the girl’s enthusiasm, Bai Yuyou lowered her gaze, then quickly sidestepped her and scurried away in small, hurried steps.

“W-Wait, classmate—” The girl reached out, but Bai Yuyou had already vanished down the stairwell in the blink of an eye.

“She’s gone…”

Just then, the classroom door opened, and the girl who had been playing the guitar stepped out. She glanced toward the stairs, then asked, “Zhixia, who were you talking to?”

“There was this really pretty girl just now. She seemed interested in the guitar, so I asked if she wanted to join the club,” Zhixia said with a shrug. “Then she ran off.”

“Oh? How pretty?”

“Like a porcelain doll.”

“Wow, that’s high praise. Well, if she’s genuinely interested, maybe we’ll see her again.”

“Yeah, maybe.”