Chapter 30: Confession
Ling Yu only wanted to tease her a bit; she didn’t think she would get such a huge reaction out of her.
"No, it doesn’t matter! I must insist on proving my loyalty to you, Yu’er! Even if you told me to bring the moon from the sky and put it down on your feet, I’ll do it no matter how difficult it is! I---!" Ru Feifei’s confession was honest and resolute, but before she could draw more weird attention with her speech, Ling Yu muffled Ru Feifei’s mouth with her hand, dragging the girl out of the cafeteria as she quickly paid off the bill.
’Even if she is confessing her honesty and loyalty, it somehow feels weird with all those people staring at us!’ Honestly, it’s the first time Ling Yu has felt so embarrassed in public since her return.
As Ling Yu dragged Ru Feifei back outside, four pairs of eyes were staring at them with amused expressions.
"Hey, hey! Look over there, He Xun. Aren’t these two girls from the front row of the seminar you had earlier?" One of them called out to He Xun as he nudged the guy with his elbow.
The guy was tall, broad-shouldered, with slightly disheveled hair and a mischievous glint in his eye. Qiao Lin has been notorious within the entire University for his infamous Playboy character, making tons of girls cry and breaking hearts.
He Xun didn’t respond immediately. He simply turned his head and looked through the glass window of the cafeteria, his gaze lingering on the two retreating figures. The corner of his mouth twitched, ever so slightly. It wasn’t quite a smile.
"Mm," he hummed faintly, arms crossed, expression unreadable. His golden irises reflected the light for a second, like flickers of static energy dancing through calm waters.
"You saw that too, right?" said Qiao Lin as he was smirking shamelessly.
"The pink-haired one just declared eternal devotion in front of half the school. I swear if someone pulled that on me, I’d elope on the spot."
"Elope? You’d forget her name the next day," said Wei Zhi, who was leaning back in his chair with a milk carton half empty in his hand. His black beanie was pulled low over his forehead, but it couldn’t hide the amusement dancing in his eyes. "She was loud, though. Half the cafeteria was live-streaming it in their heads."
"By tomorrow, this confession is going to spread all over the internet. Tsk, tsk, poor girl."
"Feifei’s always been like that," Lu Mian adjusted the glasses on his nose with one hand, his voice light but measured. "Impulsive. She always acts before thinking. But the other one... where did we meet her before? Seems familiar?"
Indeed, they met each other before when Ling Yu was still in her senior year of college. But at that time, Ling Yu was just an insignificant passerby girl, someone not worth mentioning.
If this question were asked to Ling Yu, then she would say, they met a lot, in a future that these guys aren’t aware of.
"You mean the quiet one?" Qiao Lin asked, raising a brow. "She looked composed, but her face was flushed red when she dragged the other girl out. Cute."
"Her name is Ling Yu," He Xun said, finally breaking his silence. The way he said it wasn’t accidental.
"Oh?" Wei Zhi tilted his head toward He Xun, intrigued. "You already know her name?"
"Don’t you know about the dethroned princess of the Empire? Remember something now?" He Xun replied nonchalantly, but Lu Mian noticed the way his fingers tapped rhythmically against the edge of his tablet. He was focused on his thoughts.
"You mean the Former Princess Rui?"
"Are you serious? How come I didn’t recognize her? No way, it hurts my Playboy ego!" Qiao Lin put his hand on his chest,
"She didn’t seem like the type who’d get embarrassed easily," Lu Mian mused aloud, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Her reaction was... interesting."
"She’s not ordinary," He Xun agreed. His voice dropped just a bit lower. "Her energy signature isn’t clean."
The other three went silent for a second.
"You are saying she’s infected?" Wei Zhi asked, sitting up straighter.
There was a reason for Wei Zhi to suspect her, since the secret project they were working on included some top-secret information.
"No," He Xun said after a pause. "But she’s... like a person wearing a mask. Like a boundary that’s been sewn shut too neatly. No normal girl should have that level of resonance around her."
Qiao Lin gave a low whistle. "So she’s not just ’cute’ after all."
Wei Zhi snorted. "That girl just dragged her pink-haired loyal dog out of a cafeteria like she was kidnapping her. I wouldn’t call that ordinary either."
"I want to meet her again," Lu Mian murmured, more to himself than to the others. "There’s something about her that feels..."
"Familiar." He Xun finished for him, but then he shook his head. "No. Not familiar. Just...off-script."
The four of them sat in silence for a few beats, the ambient hum of the cafeteria washing around them. And then Qiao Lin leaned forward, grinning.
"Well, well. Looks like we’ve got a mystery transfer, boys. Should we dig?"
"No need." He Xun said as he stood up, his gaze still following the direction where Ling Yu had disappeared. "She’ll show up again soon. People like her don’t stay hidden for long."
As he left the table, the faint buzz of static flickered over the screen of his tablet before fading again—energy in motion.
***
The storm hadn’t started yet. But the clouds were gathering.
Ling Yu looked up at the sky, peeking through the window as she stared at the clear blue sky for a long time before retracting back. Taking a deep breath, she shook her head slowly, tapping her own cheeks lightly.
Soon, this familiar, beautiful blue sky will be no more.
Instead, it would be filled with the color of blood, and the ground would be filled with cries and screams of fear.