PAIN - CHAPTER 12:
That day at the cinema, they left on uneasy terms.
Bai Xun Yin returned the workbook to Yu Luo Yin and spent the rest of her summer break
barely two weeks holed up at home. She didn’t go to the library again,
choosing silence as her clearest way of expressing where she stood.
She had no idea what Yu Luo Yin thought of it all,
but she didn’t want to play his ambiguous little games.
You’re students. Do what students should do.
That old cliché, so plain and ordinary, had never felt truer.
Bai Xun Yin forced herself to forget the long, quiet days spent with Yu Luo Yin.
Whatever she owed him, she had paid back in full.
But the heart is slow to obey reason. Even when she told herself she was fine,
loneliness always slipped through the cracks.
Even A Mo could tell something was off.
Yin Yin, school starts in two days. You really aren’t going out at all?
A Mo sat at Bai Xun Yin’s desk, spinning a keychain between her fingers,
her tone a mix of curiosity and concern. You’ve been home this whole time.
You look so down lately.
Am I? Bai Xun Yin’s lashes fluttered faintly. She didn’t answer.
Her fingers rested around her pen. The tip hovered above the blank page,
unmoving, as though even words had deserted her.
A Mo didn’t understand that she wasn’t unwilling to go out she was afraid.
Every time she left home, she passed the bus stop at the edge of the neighborhood.
And every time she did, she remembered those afternoons
when she’d taken that bus to meet Yu Luo Yin.
She remembered the warmth of the library sunlight,
the faint scent of wood and paper, the way they’d worked side by side in silence,
talking only through messages on their phones.
That summer had been unusually dry in Linlan, the days all golden and warm.
And yet, their last WeChat conversation had ended a week ago
his last message still sitting there like a splinter under her skin.
Bai Xun Yin, why are you avoiding me?
She hadn’t replied. She couldn’t.
Because she was.
Because his words were too teasing, his tone too casual, his gaze too dangerous.
Because she was afraid of what she might become if she let herself fall.
Yu Luo Yin was every girl’s dream the forbidden fruit of their Eden.
She wanted it. She feared it.
While she sat lost in thought, A Mo’s voice broke through again, light and curious.
By the way, Yin Yin, didn’t you say you met someone special? Who was it?
Bai Xun Yin frowned, pressing her palms over her ears like a stubborn child.
Not listening, not listening.
Ever since she was little, she had never dreaded going to school.
Not even when she’d been bullied after transferring to No. 3 High.
This was the first time.
After summer break, for the first time, Bai Xun Yin didn’t want to return to school.
She was afraid afraid of seeing Yu Luo Yin again.
That morning, she dawdled through everything getting dressed,
eating breakfast, tying her hair until A Mo was yelling from downstairs,
and even her mother’s patient voice turned sharp.
Yin Yin, hurry up! What’s taking you so long today?
A Mo dragged her onto the bus, chattering endlessly,
helping to ease the tightness in Bai Xun Yin’s chest.
She didn’t know why she was nervous. She hadn’t done anything wrong.
So why did her heart race like she had?
On their walk from the bus stop to school, A Mo dropped another surprise bomb.
Yin Yin, I heard we might get reassigned to new classes.
Bai Xun Yin looked up, startled. Her eyes silently asked if that was true.
Apparently so, A Mo said with mock mystery. They’re planning to form two advanced classes
the kind for top students aiming for the country’s best universities.
Elite senior classes weren’t uncommon, but No. 3 High had never done it before.
Bai Xun Yin frowned in thought, then shrugged it off. Maybe it was a good thing.
If they reshuffled classes, she wouldn’t have to share a room with Sheng Chu Ran anymore.
But then again… what if Yu Luo Yin was placed in the same class?
The thought slipped in uninvited. She bit her lip, irritated at herself for even caring.
Still, life has a cruel sense of timing. Just as Yu Luo Yin’s name crossed her mind,
A Mo suddenly brightened beside her.
Hey, isn’t that the guy from the amusement park? What a coincidence!
Bai Xun Yin froze.
She looked up and there he was.
Yu Luo Yin, standing beside Li Yuan at the school gate,
both wearing red armbands that marked them as student inspectors for the week.
Morning light streamed through the sycamores,
scattering across his figure like fragments of gold.
His black hair was a little shorter than before, his bangs still falling across his pale forehead.
His eyes, dark and deep, swept over her without expression.
He spoke softly, barely moving his lips. Student ID.
Her breath caught. She scrambled to unzip her bag, fingers fumbling as she searched.
It had been half a month since she’d last seen him, and suddenly, he was standing right here.
He glanced down at her bag as she searched books neatly stacked, a water bottle tucked to the side.
Simple. Clean. Just like her.
She finally found her ID and handed it to him.
Yu Luo Yin frowned slightly. The cover’s torn?
She blinked, confused. The corner was bent, yes, but barely noticeable.
Damaged means invalid, he said smoothly, plucking it from her fingertips.
I’ll keep this. I’ll get you a new one.
Li Yuan, standing off to the side, bit back a grin.
After inspecting her uniform like a self-appointed officer,
Yu Luo Yin nodded as if granting mercy. You can go.
Bai Xun Yin’s face burned. She turned and walked off quickly.
Something about the way his eyes lingered made her skin prickle
as if, under that calm gaze, her uniform’s zipper might come undone all on its own.
Even A Mo noticed the strange energy between them.
Yin Yin, that was the guy from the amusement park, right?
she whispered excitedly once they were inside.
The one who gave us five hundred yuan?
She gasped. He’s so handsome. Why’d he take your ID?
Wait does he like you?
For any high school girl, those six words does he like you were enough to make the world spin.
Bai Xun Yin’s ears went hot. She clamped her hand over A Mo’s mouth, silencing her completely.
Finally, peace.
Yu Luo Yin and Li Yuan walked back to their classroom after morning duty, armbands now off.
Li Yuan couldn’t hold it in. Bro, you can’t seriously think that’s how you chase a girl.
Confiscating her ID? That’s not charming, that’s terrifying.
That girl practically screams for protection, and you.
Yu Luo Yin shot him a look that froze the rest of his words midair.
What, was it a crime to think Bai Xun Yin was the kind of girl people wanted to protect?
Li Yuan scratched his head, muttering.
You even volunteered for morning inspection today.
Don’t tell me it wasn’t just to see the little mute.
Yu Luo Yin didn’t respond.
Instead, he slipped a hand into his pocket and pulled out the ID card he’d confiscated.
He flipped it open.
Her photo stared back at him an old enrollment picture,
taken when she was barely sixteen. She wore a school uniform one size too big,
the collar hanging loose against her slender neck.
Her face was small and pale, framed by a neat ponytail.
She was delicate, even in a blurry photo.
Her eyes clear, soft, with a faint mist of sadness looked straight ahead,
unaware that years later, someone would still be losing sleep over that very gaze.
Yu Luo Yin looked at the picture for a long moment.
Then he took out his phone and quietly took a photo of it.
He didn’t yet know that this small, simple picture would
one day keep him awake through countless nights.