Yun Mi looked back. Chen Yiyang had left the classroom later than her and was two floors above with Xie Yue. The boy's figure was tall and slender, his aura cool and casual. He seemed to have said something unpleasant, as Xie Yue clicked his tongue, looking utterly speechless.
Yun Mi lowered her eyes, silently withdrawing her gaze, and said quietly, "Maybe he's afraid I'll leave Shanfu and make Aunt Wen sad."
The girl's soft dark hair rested on her shoulders.
Ding Yuan persuaded, "Don't think that way."
Ding Yuan had sworn to study for Class One with Yun Mi. They had stayed up so many nights. Ding Yuan knew too well how likely Yun Mi was to make it into Class One now.
Ding Yuan said, "You have a chance of getting into Class One too."
Yun Mi didn't speak.
Ding Yuan sighed and changed the subject. "You said before that if you got into Class One, Chen Yiyang would have an embarrassing nickname. What is it?"
Yun Mi saw Ding Yuan's smiling face and felt warmth in her heart. "Secret."
Ding Yuan couldn't stand it. "Still a secret?"
Yun Mi thought for a long time about whether to confess to Ding Yuan. She silently stepped down to the last stair, leaned close to her ear, and whispered something.
Ding Yuan's eyes widened. She stared at her. "You... you like... that someone?"
Yun Mi took a deep breath, a little bitter, a little lost. The vast starry sky spread over the huge campus of Shanfu. Her voice was hoarse. "Yeah. How could I have fallen for him?"
Heart flutters have no reason.
Liking has no reason.
Coming to Shanfu at sixteen, Yun Mi experienced for the first time the feeling of walking on thin ice.
And for the first time, she felt a wildfire-like throb in her heart.
It took Ding Yuan a moment to connect all the clues. She stared at Yun Mi, frowned, then after a silence, said, "Yun Mi."
"Huh?"
Ding Yuan said calmly, "Because of you, from now on, I won't hate Chen Yiyang anymore."
Yun Mi wanted to say, "Haven't you already stopped hating Chen Yiyang?" But she just smiled, dragged out her tone, and said, "Alright."
Ding Yuan followed Yun Mi's gaze to the starry sky. "Go home and review well. Get into Class One."
Before parting, the girl grabbed her friend's arm and leaned in close, her warm breath tickling. Ding Yuan whispered, "When you two are in the same class, I'll help you come up with a plan to set you up."
Set up? Such an intimate word. Yun Mi's eyelashes fluttered.
She pursed her lips uncomfortably.
...
The final exam results came out quickly, and the arts/science stream assignment list was posted that evening.
Yun Mi had performed exceptionally well on this final exam.
She had a good feeling after checking the answers.
On the evening when results were announced, Yun Mi asked for leave from self-study and dragged Ding Yuan to run on the track. Ding Yuan ran out of breath and couldn't help complaining, "You're crazy, Yun Mi! Who goes out to exercise when they're anxious!"
Yun Mi confidently lectured Ding Yuan, "Running drains your energy so you can't overthink."
After a few laps, Ding Yuan was completely worn out, leaning on her knees and gasping for air.
In the afternoon, Chen Yiyang and Zhou Shihui had already left school for a competition.
Yun Mi had sent him the message "Good luck," but it went unanswered.
She didn't dwell on it, holding onto hope in her heart—hope of being in the same class as him.
The girl took a deep breath, seeing the clock on the teaching building stop at eight. She calmed herself and said, "Let's go check the results."
A crowd had gathered in front of the grade rankings.
Jiang Miyan was on the phone. She had previously said she wanted to be in the same class as Chen Yiyang, and it wasn't just talk—her family had already contacted the school administration to help transfer her.
Hearing this, Yun Mi's expression flickered almost imperceptibly.
Ding Yuan said, "That's nothing. Our Mi can get in by relying on herself."
Yun Mi knew Ding Yuan was on her side. Ding Yuan told her to wait where she was and squeezed in to find her name.
There were twenty-three pages of class lists. Ding Yuan only looked at the first few pages.
She frowned slightly, as if there was something hard to say, but she still came back to Yun Mi. "Mimi, you've improved a lot. Next school year, we'll definitely be in the same class."
Yun Mi sensed there was more to her words. Her heart tightened. She didn't ask further and hurriedly squeezed in herself.
Several familiar Class One classmates saw her and came over with smiles to congratulate her.
From failing grades upon entering the school to now ranking among the top, Yun Mi's progress was evident to all.
But Yun Mi couldn't smile.
The girl's smile faded bit by bit, as if something was pressing on her chest, making it hard to breathe.
On the grade rankings, she was separated from Chen Yiyang by the distance of one sheet of paper, with eighty-eight people in between.
She had thought at most she wouldn't get into Class One.
She had worked desperately hard, getting up early and staying up late, studying for so long, setting the goal of studying hard for him, striving to get close to him and be worthy of him, believing that as long as she caught up in scores, they would be in the same circle.
But in the end, it turned out he had never considered studying sciences.
The "Good luck" she had sent on her phone went unanswered, seeming like something utterly ridiculous.
Yun Mi lowered her eyes, stepped back a few paces, and slowly crouched down.
She clenched her teeth, feeling dizzy.
She saw the cracks in the concrete floor, jagged and long silent, just like the old wounds in her heart that hadn't healed.
Unwilling to accept it, she looked up at the results again, and tears suddenly welled up in her eyes.
Yun Mi, grade rank 89, first place in Class 2 (Key Science Class 2), second year.
Chen Yiyang, grade rank 1, first place in Class 23 (Key Liberal Arts Class 1), second year.
So, he had chosen the liberal arts.
She didn't even know he had chosen liberal arts.
She had been overconfident, thinking she could get into Class One with him.
And the result?
Between them wasn't just a gap in grades.
The chasm had always been there. They were from two different worlds.
Her self-perceived closeness, at age sixteen, ended in failure."
Author's note: None