Chapter 3

From afar, Jun Yi heard about the conflict from one of his classmates so he went there to check it out. Unfortunately, the crowd had long gone, leaving only a void howl of winds. He tried to spot everywhere but Mu Gu also was nowhere to be seen again.

He ought to have arrived sooner, but something obstructed him, leaving him no choice but to wait. By the time he arrived, whatever had been heated earlier had already slipped past him. In the end, he stopped at the doorway and fell silent for a brief moment. His gaze paused inside, reflecting a faint glimmer behind his eyes and his mind began reconstructing the remnants of something he had just missed.

At a slow pace, he dragged his feet forward, pondering the room before him, when his fingers grazed everything his thoughts could hold. From the first trace to the very end, every inch is imbued with some imaginary vision.

For a moment, everything seems to freeze.

This brazen thought hit him like lightning. He, himself, was stunned. Could this be wrong?

I can’t be like this, at least, this is the only thing he could think of but rather brushed it off his mind with a demanding work of his own — as an assistant of library monitor.

Whilst —

Having arrived at the art room, Mu Gu took a seat when both Li Shuina and Shu MengMeng voluntarily sat next to her with a glower of a pair of eyes that’s somewhat demanding. There's no doubt that those glares were very sharp, but still, for someone as innocent and listless as Mu Gu, it served no purpose. In the end, the message behind those eyes was cut off before it was even sent.

Shu MengMeng was quite unpredictable, acting as if nothing had occurred before; like nothing could restrain her from pestering Mu Gu.

The subject was given and Mu Gu just sat in her place, calmly smearing on the large canvas, detaching herself from the two. Today's topic was to paint the first things that appeared before their mind when they walked by the art room’s door. Mu Gu’s heart tightened. Whatever reason there is, the one that first appeared accumulated her mind with a thousand doubts and inquiry. It was ominous, strange, and quite shocking — yet she still went through it.

A few minutes passed by, after a few strokes almost finished up Mu Gu’s. “Woah, your drawing is so magnificent!”, Li Shuina’s head abruptly popped out of nowhere, intruding on Mu Gu's view. Her iris widened as it saw the very art in front of her, and in an instant she can’t help but to feel intrigue.

Shu MengMeng cut off her line of sight and also spoke, “It’s not your turn to flatter someone. I know it’s because something's not good.” Her finger moved to her chin as if scrutinising something when a low and long hmm of agreement murmured from her lips. “I wonder if you could teach me this?. Her head tilted in an adorable manner as if swaying Mu Gu’s heart into teaching her.

For a moment, Mu Gu suddenly glanced at her over her nose. A long air ran through her before her eyes closed and she nodded in acceptance.

“Tch". Witnessing such a sight naturally makes Li Shuina’s hair tremble and disgusted by Shu MengMeng’s act. Moving further away from, Li Shuina reached her work and continued hers.

Originally, Shu MengMeng thought that Mu Gu’s patience had been exhausted after being hit by the sudden, powerful force earlier, who could’ve believed she could be so tender and considerate when it comes to tutoring.

****

The class ended not long after. The teacher got out of the place. Most of the students also already walked away, leaving the artwork inside for a safe dry before taking it back again to the teacher.

“Bye Lil Mu Gu.”

Both Li Shuina and Shu MengMeng bid farewell at the same time and scowled at each other intensely as if the one with the most menacing stare would win. They have always moved nearby although they seem displeased with each other, and it truly makes people uncomfortable — They still carried on as they stepped out of the room.

The class reached end, but today, it was trailed by an announcement, stating, "Notice to all students! Tonight, we will have a game, so better y'all get prepared oh~"

'Game?'

Upon receiving, many of the students suddenly were overjoyed. Some were sharing happiness, constantly jumping together in place while some had a nice chat with each other, and more. Mu Gu was simply curious. Her whole face right now has been brimming in loss about anything, and that's precisely why Jun Yi cast a smile at her.

“You —. It’s you…”, Mu Gu ended up quite in a jolt when someone unexpectedly tapped her shoulder from behind and appeared with a smile on his face.

Mu Gu shifted her gaze through the room, trying to grasp whatever she heard about that night, but it was too much of a dilly-dally that she couldn't pay any attention to only one conversation. She might have not known, but the pouting face she didn't realize she’d made could bring a slight breath of amusement from Jun Yi’s lips. After all, it looks funny. He didn't mind telling her after all, so he casually opened his lips, "You should come tonight. You must or you might be crying in regret not to come". He even said this in such a playful tone.

Nevertheless, Mu Gu got the feeling that there was truth in his words so she simply nodded her head. “Eh!”, Mu Gu spoke again, realising what she had forgotten. There’s no one she could ask other than Jun Yi, hence, just before he’d gone far, Mu Gu grabbed the end of his shirt and inquired again, “It completely escaped my memory but…Is there a guest room here?”

"Guest room?", Jun Yi paused at her request and recalled something. “What year were you in?”

“Year?”, Mu Gu was perplexed when he asked something like that out of the blue. Though, she answered him briefly. “12th grade.”

“Oh…so you’re a jiejie (Sister)..”, a low murmur tumbled out. Then, he sighs spontaneously.

Mu Gu tilted her head in confusion, eyes on him the entire time, whether waiting for his answer or observing his mute behaviour.

“Oh yes”, Jun Yi finally realized he’d been dragging the time and replied, "Yes. This school didn’t have a guest room, but for a short stay, you can go to the infirmary. You can walk from here and straight to......and......."

After the detailed information, Mu Gu nodded in understanding and left the class to the infirmary.

The infirmary was small and quiet, tucked away near the admin block. Three narrow cots lined the wall, each with a neatly folded blanket. A long white curtain cut off the sight of the bed in between. A single desk held bottles of medicine and a thermometer. From the window, sunlight can clearly penetrate through, causing the whole space to be saturated in warm, golden light. Mu Gu walked by the doorway and immediately caught the faint smell of antiseptic. There, she chose the first bed that came into sight, packed her things and relaxed for a while until the evening came. Then, she freshened up a bit at the sink before she reached for her spare clothes inside her school bag as if they had been arranged beforehand.

Following what had been announced, Mu Gu went to the school’s field when night gradually came.

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