"Just call me Luoyuan."
He didn't question the strange tension in her voice. He answered plainly, without hesitation.
"Then... Luoyuan, what should we do next?"
Chen Fengling asked out of habit.
"If you're free, I can show you the school."
Luoyuan didn't bother with small talk. He gave a straight answer.
The afternoon sun hung low. It cast long shadows across the stone carvings on the walls. People passed by in steady streams. Though the school was old, it buzzed with life.
Luoyuan and Fengling walked one after the other. Their destination was the campus library.
Oddly enough, despite asking him to guide her, she seemed to know the path well. She moved slowly, taking in the scenery with a sense of nostalgia.
Suddenly, she turned and looked back.
Luoyuan was watching her.
The sunset painted her silver hair with gold. Her eyes shimmered as if filled with tears. There was something in that gaze he couldn't quite name.
They stared at each other without speaking.
"Luoyuan, do you remember that one conversation we had online?"
She broke the silence.
"We talked about a tragic character. A girl who couldn't live without someone. But that person died protecting her. Before dying, he asked her to keep living. Do you think… she would actually go on living?"
Her eyes dimmed. She sounded like she was holding something back.
"I think… she would live. But the pain would stay. She'd carry it forever. Might even wish she'd died with him."
Luoyuan answered after a pause. He didn't hesitate much.
"I see… And would you say that person was cruel?"
She lowered her head. Her hair fell forward, hiding her face. One hand clutched the back hem of his shirt.
"It's cruel. Maybe the cruelest thing to do to someone like that."
Her voice trembled. She sounded close to tears.
"Then… do you think that person hated her?"
"No. He did it because she mattered. It hurts, but if she lives, there's still a future."
"I see… So he didn't hate her… Luoyuan didn't hate me… That's good. That's really good. Really… really good…"
Her voice got quieter. Her words looped like she was stuck in thought.
Luoyuan reached out, worried. But before he could touch her, she looked up and smiled.
"I'm fine. Let's keep going."
He caught the word "hate" in her whisper. He knew that word held a lot of weight for her.
Because of her strange and often timid personality, she'd always been isolated. Elementary school, middle school, high school—she never fit in. They met online by chance. Shared interests and a touch of adolescent angst brought them closer.
He knew how fragile she was. She always approached new groups carefully. At first, things went fine. But over time, people saw her as odd and distant. Eventually, they grew tired of her.
That fear of being hated never left her. Especially when it came to him. He was the one friend who had stayed the longest.
He remembered once going a week without replying. No phone. School trip. When he finally checked his messages, there were dozens of texts from her—"I'm sorry.""Please don't be mad.""Please answer."
After clearing things up, he told her:"Why would I hate you? Alone? What am I, invisible?"
From that day, she trusted him more. She started sharing things—game accounts, personal details, daily routines. But she still avoided showing her face or revealing her name.
He remembered one late night chat. She talked about how lonely she was at school and joked:
"I'm like a monster hiding in the crowd. Once people see my real self, they want to get rid of me."
Looking at her now, he understood. That monster wasn't scary. She was just scared.
"Did you read something that made you ask that? What kind of story was it? You looked like you were crying."
She didn't turn around. That way, he couldn't see her face. She kept her voice even.
"It was long. Too long. Reading it drained me. Honestly…"
"It was a terrible novel."
She said that just as they reached the library.
They picked a quiet spot and grabbed some books from the shelf.
Reading had always been their shared escape. Most of their online chats started in places like this.
She opened her book, but her eyes didn't stay on the page. She had read most of these before.
Instead, she watched Luoyuan.
Sunlight passed through the window, lighting the rising steam from his tea. It landed on his face, highlighting every detail.
He was focused on his book. His eyes scanned the lines. His hand flipped the pages one at a time. The sound of old paper filled the air.
Outside, the willow trees swayed in the breeze. The whole scene looked like a painting.
He was so strong.
He was quiet like her, but not in the same way. She was timid, awkward. He was distant—by choice. He stood tall, capable of facing the world. In their past life, he had shielded her from pain.
He didn't just survive. He led others. Even with power, he chose to save people.
She never understood him. She wasn't like him. But she had followed him anyway.
He once told her:
"Don't pity yourself. I have the brains. You have the strength. Together, nothing's impossible."
Even now, he shone.
If he was a god, she was his most faithful believer.
She didn't notice when he looked back at her.
When she did, she flinched and looked away, face turning red.
"This won't do," she mumbled. "Acting like this is weird. I'm not some lovesick girl."
She muttered to herself, but her thoughts spun toward a future she had never considered before.
Luoyuan smiled to himself. This so-called ugly little monster… was actually kind of cute.
Just as they settled into that rare peaceful moment, an unpleasant voice rose behind them.