Chapter 100: “Don’t you only like me?”

That night, Qiao Zhen slept with an unusual warmth and an unusual sense of peace.

After a brief parting from Qin Yichi, she returned to the dormitory and immediately found three pairs of eyes lingering on her face.

They were appraising, even scrutinizing.

Qiao Zhen felt her scalp prickle under their gaze. She blinked and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Chen Meixiang leaned in to take a look, narrowing her eyes. “Ohhh—looks like you two were pretty intense last night.”

Qiao Zhen’s eyes widened. Guilt flashing across her face, she covered her mouth and whispered, “You can even tell that?”

Yun Yue, standing nearby, could not help but laugh. “Zhenzhen, she’s bluffing you.”

Chen Meixiang went back to her seat and crossed her legs. “Actually, you can’t tell. But your overflowing, lovestruck expression has already given everything away. Little Zhenzhen, you’ve fallen into the river of true love!”

Qiao Zhen: “...All right.”

Sheng Lulu was full of curiosity, with not a trace of malice, only sincere puzzlement. “So what is kissing really like? Is it good? Is it fun?!”

Qiao Zhen covered her slightly flushed cheeks and muttered, “It... it’s okay, I guess. Qin Yichi said he thought it was pretty good.”

At the side, Chen Meixiang ground her teeth in indignation. “Damn it! That smug bastard got his pleasure out in the open!”

Qiao Zhen lowered her hands from her face and leaned over her desk, recalling it carefully.

Every scene from the night before was still so vivid. Every movement Qin Yichi made, every word he said, had enough force to stir the calm waters of her heart.

Only then did she understand that a kiss like that really could draw two people closer. She had nearly melted under Qin Yichi’s searing body heat.

She had... liked it too.

Later, Qin Yichi had gone to take a cold shower because he had reacted to her. At their age, full of youthful blood, that was understandable enough.

But she could feel that her own body had reacted to Qin Yichi too, just a little...

For the next several days, Qin Yichi was busy preparing for some computer-related competitions and was practically swamped.

They saw each other slightly less often, but their video calls grew much more frequent. Every couple of days, there had to be another one.

Qin Yichi loved seeing her face and hearing her voice.

As long as he could see her, he was happy.

He even kept dreaming in the middle of the night that they were sleeping side by side, dreaming that Qiao Zhen had taken the initiative to sit on top of him, boldly touching his abs with one hand while blushing and timidly saying, “Qin Yichi, I want it~”

Yet when he woke, the sharp contrast with reality left him feeling empty.

Qin Yichi felt that ever since that night on the mountain, he had become some kind of pervert. All day long, the only thing in his head was kissing her. He could not focus on his problems, could not scroll through his phone, and even food had lost its flavor.

Every night he dreamed of holding his soft, fragrant girlfriend and sleeping beside her. Then he would wake up to an empty bed with nothing beside him.

And from the dormitory, the snores of the other shameless guys rose and fell around him.

They sounded almost musical. A triple ensemble, even.

He was thoroughly depressed.

He missed, desperately, desperately, hugging Zhenzhen and sleeping with her again.

But he was also afraid his girlfriend would think he was too much of a freak, so he had not said it aloud and planned to wait for the right moment...

At half past ten that night, he finally could not hold back any longer and made a video call from his dorm bed.

Qiao Zhen had just finished blow-drying her hair. She put on her wireless earbuds and accepted the call. The moment she answered, she heard Qin Yichi’s deeply seductive voice:

“I miss you.”

Only four words, and Qiao Zhen’s ears went weak. She nodded lightly and said obediently, “Me too.”

Half-reclining against a pillow, Qin Yichi let a smile spread across his lips. His love for her was laid bare, unguarded, fierce and blazing, as he said frankly:

“I think about you every moment.”

He wanted to pinch her, hold her, kiss her.

On his phone screen, Qiao Zhen filled the whole display. She had just showered, her face lightly pink, lashes damp, her beautiful eyes slightly curved with a sweet smile.

Qin Yichi’s throat moved. Silently, he added in his heart: He wanted to bully her too.

He was wearing wireless earbuds, but the things he said still drifted over to his roommates.

The lonely single men in the dorm grew jealous and resentful, and teased him one after another:

“A man in love is terrifying. Even his voice has gone soft. Bro, did your core get swapped out?”

“Yo—why is somebody glued to his girlfriend again? Aren’t you afraid she’ll get sick of you?”

Qin Yichi laughed and told them to get lost.

Qiao Zhen could also hear the fragments of his roommates’ voices. After a pause, she called his name.

“Qin Yichi.”

“Hm?” Qin Yichi looked at her through the screen with rare seriousness.

Qiao Zhen lay on her desk and smiled softly, her eyes bright with a sparkling light.

“I like it when you stick to me. I don’t find it annoying at all, because I want to cling to you too~”

The girl’s gentle, lovely voice reached his ears. Qin Yichi’s heartbeat quickened, and even his breathing turned rougher. It felt as though flames were burning in his chest.

His throat went even drier. Only when it was nearly eleven and lights-out was approaching did he reluctantly say good night...

In late March, spring deepened day by day.

Pink petals drifted through the campus on the wind, and the air was filled with the faint fragrance of fresh grass.

After Qiao Zhen gathered all the class papers for the competition and placed them on the teacher’s desk, it was already dinnertime. There was almost no one left in the teaching building.

Yet just as she had not gone far, footsteps suddenly sounded behind her, and someone seized her wrist hard.

She sucked in a sharp breath at the pain and turned around, only to meet a pair of cool, pale eyes.

Both familiar and unfamiliar.

The man wore a clean white shirt. His skin was cold and fair, loose strands of hair stirred across his forehead, and a shimmering light seemed to ripple in his eyes.

It was Ji Xian.

But the Ji Xian before her now was completely different from the one she remembered. In the past, he had always been impeccable, refined and aloof, always distant and untouchable. Now—

His eyes were ringed with red veins, dark shadows had spread thickly beneath them, and even his lips had lost their color.

He looked worn and haggard, as if he had suffered some devastating blow.

Ji Xian gripped her hand excitedly, his voice thick with expectation. “Qiao Zhen, I finally have a chance to talk to you alone!”

Qiao Zhen froze. She had not seen him in a very long time and had almost forgotten he existed.

Only after the illusion had peeled away did she realize abruptly that Ji Xian was not actually all that attractive, nor did he draw her the way he once had.

Her wrist was held so tightly that she frowned slightly and struggled to break free. “Let go of me.”

Her face was full of wariness and alertness. She immediately took out her phone, wanting to call Qin Yichi, but Ji Xian was faster; he seized both her hands and forcibly dragged her into a small classroom nearby.

With a bang, Ji Xian shut the door and drove her almost into the corner.

He stared fixedly at her, as though she filled his entire field of vision, his tone urgent. “Qiao Zhen, didn’t you like me before? I’ll agree to it, really.”

He locked both of her hands in his, breathing hard. Looking at Qiao Zhen with great seriousness, he seemed to have a faint flame burning in his eyes.

Yes. He had lowered himself this much to come find her. Qiao Zhen was so soft-hearted—she would surely agree, surely return to how things had been before...

But Qiao Zhen found it absurd and laughable.

Was this person really... not quite right in the head, blinded by his own confidence?

Glancing at the camera in the empty classroom, Qiao Zhen was certain Ji Xian would not dare actually do anything to her. She gradually calmed down.

“Ji Xian, I’ve said this many times. I stopped liking you a long time ago. Don’t keep bothering me. It’s really disgusting.”

Yet Ji Xian seemed determined to pretend he had not understood her words. His grip tightened, and with red-rimmed eyes he edged closer and closer.

“Don’t make a scene, Qiao Zhen. Be good. Be my girlfriend.”

He even tried to curve his lips into a smile, as though forcing himself to look a little sunnier and warmer, but it only made him seem more unsettling.

As his presence closed in on her, Qiao Zhen struggled all the more to get away, but he only held her tighter. In the end, she could only press herself against the cold wall and shake her head.

“I like Qin Yichi. I only like him. He’s my boyfriend now.”

Qiao Zhen looked into his eyes and enunciated each word with calm clarity. “Ji Xian, there’s no chance for us. Give up.”

If you no longer like someone, then you no longer like them. What has shattered will never return to the past.

A broken mirror is like that. So are human feelings.

Qiao Zhen’s voice was calm, yet powerful. Every word was like a sharp blade, stabbing deep into Ji Xian’s fragile heart and cutting it open until blood streamed freely, leaving him unable to breathe.

Ji Xian staggered back a step, his mind echoing with those words: I like Qin Yichi. I only like him.

Suddenly, he felt a pain so piercing it seemed to tear him apart.

It was as though the only warm ray of sunlight in his world had vanished, leaving behind nothing but cold and darkness.

“Why... why...”

Ji Xian lowered his head in disbelief and murmured to himself.

Hearing it from others was one thing. Hearing her admit in person that she liked another boy was something else entirely.

How could she possibly like someone else? She actually liked someone else...

Ji Xian’s entire body stiffened. All the expressions he had been forcing into place shattered in an instant. His eyes abruptly turned blood-red, and he hoarsely demanded, “Didn’t you only like me?”