He Ji's expression remained as cold as ever, watching the trembling girl before him cry.
After a long while, He Ji suddenly reached out and grabbed her arm, roughly pulling the red-eyed girl away.
He Ji's strength was considerable.
Reaching a dead end, He Ji finally released her. He forced himself to look away and spoke, his voice tinged with a desperate, suppressed rasp, "Why are you crying? Isn't this something you willingly chose?"
He Ji wanted to pull the girl away, to pull her out of the mire, but she had let go of her own hand. It was her own choice, her own unwillingness to be deeply mired in the filthy mud. Yet now, she was crying so pitifully.
It was as if he were the one who had done wrong.
Her slender, long eyelashes were adorned with crystal-clear tears. Her delicate and beautiful eyes darted sideways, her lips pressing together slightly as she managed a difficult, hoarse whisper, "I'm sorry..."
He Ji's chest heaved. He stared intently at Shen Yue, fiercely gripping her frail shoulders, his effort so great that the veins on his arms stood out tautly.
"I don't want your apology. I want the truth. Do you really have to be with Jiang Wei? You know full well what kind of person he is. Do you realize you're ruining yourself by doing this?"
His usually calm and indifferent voice rose with his agitation.
The girl's lips trembled. She suppressed a sob, gasping for breath as if unable to speak clearly, "...He Ji, I, I'm sorry, I'm sorry... Can we still be friends, right?"
Her eyes were filled with hope, her helplessness and insecurity absolute, her eyes red like a stray kitten abandoned on the street.
Whether out of disappointment or despair, He Ji released his grip, his face returning to its usual placidity. He looked at the girl's tear-streaked face and uttered a single, quiet sentence.
"I've been recommended to A University."
This statement struck the girl like a bolt from the blue, stunning her. In her panic, her beautiful, fair face registered a delayed confusion, "...Are you leaving?"
He Ji remained silent.
"Can you not leave?"
She made this request with a touch of wilfulness, knowing full well that He Ji could never agree, yet she spoke it as if clinging to a desperate hope.
He Ji clenched his fists tightly.
The silence seemed to convey everything.
The girl's tears streamed down her face, her emotions clearly on the verge of collapse. He gritted his teeth, doing his utmost to suppress a cry, his breathing growing rapid as if struggling for air.
Tears continued to spill from the corners of her eyes, tracing paths down her face and onto her chin.
He Ji had never expected the girl to cry so bitterly. It was as if...
Looking at the girl, He Ji felt as if an invisible hand were tightly clenching his heart, almost suffocating him.
He slowly uncurled his clenched fingers, then leaned down to wipe the tears from her face, his tone calm.
"Shen Yue, you chose someone else."
His hand stroked her back rhythmically. The dark-haired boy lowered his gaze, a flicker of anxiety in his eyes.
In truth, he had never intended to tell Shen Yue this. He felt it was unnecessary. The moment Shen Yue chose Jiang Wei, any nascent feelings he shouldn't have harbored were forcefully extinguished. 138 Reading Network
He Ji was an exceptionally rational person, almost to a pathological degree. He could easily kill nascent youthful affection in its cradle. Regarding Shen Yue, he could heartlessly disregard her.
Because this was Shen Yue's own choice.
But now...
The girl's body trembled with sorrow, a thin sheen of sweat breaking out on her forehead. Her fragile, slender frame caused his heart to pound violently, his breath catching. He felt so soft-hearted, wishing he could agree to anything.
Just as he was about to speak, the girl suddenly said, her voice thick with a nasal tone, "He Ji, then will you wait for me at A University?"
What was Shen Yue crying for?
He Ji was perhaps her only friend in life, the only one who treated her as an equal, as a normal person. Perhaps it was a morbid dependence, or perhaps she was returning to her former dark and solitary corner, which was why her emotions were so turbulent.
If she truly wanted to keep He Ji, there were indeed many ways. But Shen Yue could not bear it.
He Ji was very good.
He was a very good person.
Shen Yue's not-quite-dead conscience stirred. She didn't want He Ji to miss a crucial opportunity to change his life because of her.
If possible, she hoped to become outstanding and then find He Ji.
Rather than dragging him down with her.
With these thoughts, Shen Yue managed to stop her tears, revealing a smile like the warm sunshine after a spring shower, her eyes curving, her dimples shallow.
She spoke softly, cautiously.
"You won't forget me, will you?"
He Ji raised his hand, his curved fingers gently wiping away her tears.
He gazed down at Shen Yue's dark, moist eyes, stroking her soft hair. "No."
There was no way he could forget her, because these soft feelings truly made him want to stay.
To be with her.
However, Shen Yue slowly pushed him away. Her dark eyes were brighter than ever before, filled with a scattering of starlight, as if she had fallen into a sea of stars.
He Ji reached out, wanting to take her hand.
She took a deliberate step back.
The tall, upright boy pursed his lips, the fringe of his hair falling over his eyes, obscuring his expression.
"If you want me to, I can stay."
He Ji stared at her expressionlessly, the tips of his ears flushing, his thin lips involuntarily pressing tighter.
The girl wore a blue and white school uniform. She tilted her head, her black, butterfly-wing-like eyelashes casting two shadows beneath her lower eyelids. A few stray strands of hair gently brushed her porcelain-like cheeks. The pale golden sunlight filtered down hazily, making her seem like an angel fallen to earth.
She was smiling, her smile pure and unadulterated.
"No need, He Ji."
"You just need to wait for me."
Shen Yue was about to say something more when a strong force suddenly grabbed her arm. In a dizzying blur, she was pressed against a wall.
In the hidden corner, the leaves were withered and yellow, slowly drifting to the ground, covering it with a carpet of fallen leaves. The handsome boy leaned down, his ears bright red, his expression cold, and then...
He lightly pecked her lips.
The lips that had always been tense curved slightly upwards, a dark fire igniting in his eyes. Whether it was an illusion or not, she seemed to see a blush of shyness appear on the boy's face.
"Then I'll wait for you."
As soon as he finished speaking, before Shen Yue could react, the boy retracted his hand as if he had been burned and quickly turned away, his retreating figure conveying an unexpected haste, a hasty retreat.
The sky was blue, a corner of the boy's clean youth carried by the breeze, yet the shyness on his face could not be blown away.
But he did not know, this wait would last a lifetime.
This departure would mean never meeting again.