Where are you

This feeling of relief was wonderful.

His heart felt like it had sunk into a soft, big bed.

Completely relaxed.

As if his whole heart had turned into a soft pancake.

And then it just stopped beating completely...

...

What the hell?!

Staring at the intersection ahead—the magical spot where, between Monday and Friday, Gu Yue would appear like clockwork—Lin Yu felt as if he’d been struck by lightning.

Dude, not cool.

Where are you?

Where the hell did you go?

Not seeing the familiar figure at the familiar intersection made Lin Yu’s heart ache instantly.

It was the kind of ache you get when a nagging wife, who loves pinching ears, grabs a corner of your ear and twists it hard.

Come on.

The protagonist just realizes his feelings, and then the girl walks away?

Isn’t this cliché, dog-blood Mary Sue plot?

Did he stumble into the wrong script or what?

Lin Yu’s heart felt hollow.

He could hardly believe that Gu Yue really wasn’t there.

But up ahead, the intersection only had a few newly planted saplings, no thicker than a person.

There was no place to hide at all.

With one glance, if Gu Yue wasn’t visible, then she probably really wasn’t here...

...

Lin Yu stood frozen in place.

His gaze was fixed, dumbfounded, on that narrow intersection—a spot so small you could take in everything about it in one look.

As if he still couldn’t accept that Gu Yue wouldn’t be waiting for him there anymore.

After a long, silent stare,

Lin Yu blinked, a little dazed and dispirited, and shifted his gaze.

He looked toward the path that connected the intersection to the girls’ dormitory.

A small hope sprouted in his heart.

Maybe Gu Yue woke up late today, so she didn’t show up on time?

One glance.

Lin Yu discovered that, holy crap, it really was exactly that!

No, wait!

Gu Yue clearly didn’t look like she’d woken up late—she looked like she’d been freaking cornered!

On that little path leading to the girls’ dormitory,

Lin Yu spotted that familiar figure who had tormented him all night, keeping him from sleeping well.

But beside Gu Yue was another person.

This guy was tall and burly, with a muscular build.

A loose shirt stretched over his obviously trained torso, fitting him like it was nearly skin-tight.

But unlike the typical beefy gym-goer look,

this man’s face was actually decent-looking.

Clearly, he didn’t slack off on skincare and grooming either.

Right now, this man was blocking Gu Yue’s path.

A flustered smile was plastered awkwardly on his face, but his body showed no sign of stepping aside.

In front of him,

Gu Yue’s expression was terrible.

She furrowed her delicate, slender eyebrows, her eyes narrowing slightly as she looked at the man.

Lin Yu had almost never seen Gu Yue truly angry before.

But now he knew what it looked like.

Seeing that Gu Yue seemed to be pestered by some guy hitting on her,

Lin Yu rolled up his sleeves, ready to go over and serve that clueless bastard a big helping of slaps.

Damn it!

Who the hell does this guy think he’s messing with?

Lin Yu leaned forward slightly,

ready to sprint over and throw down,

when he saw Gu Yue speak.

Lin Yu was about forty to fifty meters away from Gu Yue.

At that distance,

there was no way he could hear what she was saying.

All he could make out was the shape of her mouth.

Lin Yu didn’t know lip-reading,

but at that moment, he could somehow, eerily, understand what Gu Yue was saying.

After all, the mouth shape for “Get lost!” was way too easy to recognize.

Including the simple, practical swear word that followed.

Maybe it was because a fresh, sweet-faced beauty suddenly dropping such a crude curse was just too shocking,

the guy hitting on her was stunned, standing there frozen.

Then, Gu Yue lightly brushed past him.

When Lin Yu saw that Gu Yue had managed to shake off the harassment on her own,

he stopped himself from rushing over.

After all, if he’d charged in and punched that guy,

it would have been basically the same as confessing his feelings.

And Lin Yu wasn’t ready to lay his cards on the table just yet!

Lin Yu and Gu Yue were only a few dozen meters apart.

After walking past the stunned guy, Gu Yue quickly spotted Lin Yu standing at the intersection.

Her eyes lit up with joy, and the corner of her mouth lifted into a bright, slightly goofy grin.

She stood on her tiptoes and waved at Lin Yu.

In the past,

Lin Yu would have responded to Gu Yue’s goofy smile based on his mood.

If he was in a good mood, he’d curl his lips and give a faint smile back.

If he was in a bad mood, he’d roll his eyes and act like he thought she was being silly.

When his mood was neither good nor bad, he’d just give a slight nod as a reply.

And when he was in a particularly great mood, he’d tell her she had a piece of cabbage leaf stuck in her teeth.

Then he’d watch her panic, and that would make him feel even better.

But this time,

facing Gu Yue’s bright smile,

Lin Yu was so nervous he didn’t even know where to put his hands.

After a brief, awkward fumble,

he finally figured it out.

He looked away, flustered by the dazzling brilliance of Gu Yue’s smile.

He lowered his head.

Then raised a hand and nervously rubbed his nose.

At least he’d finally found a job for his hands.

Gu Yue was easygoing and carefree.

Based on their interactions over the past year or so,

she had long given up hope that Lin Yu would ever catch a clue.

So she didn’t even consider that his unusual behavior might mean anything different.

She naturally walked up beside Lin Yu,

ready to head to class together.

The two of them slowly made their way toward the teaching building.

Gu Yue was, as always, chirpy and talkative.

She’d even share with Lin Yu if she saw an ugly toad on the roadside.

Lin Yu, on the other hand, was absentmindedly mumbling “uh-huh” responses.

His mind was occupied with something important.

He was struggling over how to broach the subject.

Naturally, he had no interest in keeping up with Gu Yue’s random chatter.