A cool breeze stirred the girl’s hair.
In the dim light, Jiang Wan spotted a familiar silhouette.
Still that flamboyant red hair and cold expression, though now topped with a baseball cap.
Her face was pale, still shaken, but the moment she saw who it was, most of her fear melted away.
“Bei… Bei Huai.” She grabbed Bei Huai’s arm and pressed close to her, as if that simple contact could make her feel safer.
“Why are you here?”
Jiang Wan had mostly recovered by now. She asked the question with a puzzled frown while carefully scanning their surroundings.
“None of your business?” came the familiar mocking tone.
Bei Huai noticed the girl’s face was still tense, lingering fear in her eyes as she kept glancing around. Lowering her dark lashes, Bei Huai pulled Jiang Wan into her arm and half-forcibly turned her to face forward.
She yanked off her hat and plopped it on Jiang Wan’s head, tugging the brim down to block her view.
“Just walk. Why look around? Keep going straight.”
“Classmate Bei Huai…” Jiang Wan was left a bit dazed by the sudden handling and murmured her name.
“Um, I think someone was following me just now.” Unease still lingered in her voice.
“With me here, what do you have to be afraid of?” Bei Huai arched a brow and snorted.
That arrogant tone actually eased the tension in Jiang Wan’s chest.
She didn’t suspect for a second that Bei Huai might be the one who’d been tailing her—Bei Huai had no reason to scare her, and with her personality, she wouldn’t deny it if she had.
“Quit dawdling. Let’s go.” Bei Huai half-shoved her forward. The moment Jiang Wan wasn’t looking, she glanced back casually, her gaze landing on a shadowed corner as a cold glint flashed in her eyes.
By the time they reached the bus stop, there was no sign of anyone else.
Jiang Wan glanced sideways at Bei Huai, who was leaning against the signpost, and asked curiously, “Classmate Bei Huai, are you waiting for the bus too?”
“What’s it to you? Can’t I?” Bei Huai tilted her head, narrowing her eyes in irritation as she shot back.
“Of course you can. It just feels a little out of character, that’s all.” She couldn’t help curving her lips in a smile, the earlier shadow of being stalked already forgotten.
Classmate Bei Huai’s vibe just didn’t mesh with quietly waiting for public transit.
Seeing that smile bloom on the girl’s face, the sarcastic remark Bei Huai had ready twisted away and got swallowed back down.
“Idiot.” She muttered the word expressionlessly and looked away.
Wasn’t she just that? If Jiang Wan had a lick of sense, Bei Huai wouldn’t have spent the whole evening shadowing her, terrified she’d get cornered by Qin Xiang’s subordinates.
While Jiang Wan had been in the office, Bei Huai had crouched outside feeding the mosquitoes for half an hour.
She never wanted to endure that again.
Unsure what she’d said to offend Bei Huai this time, Jiang Wan pouted and fell silent, stealing glances at the girl beside her every so often.
Soon enough, Bus Route 316 pulled up.
Jiang Wan’s eyes lit up. “Classmate Bei Huai, my bus is here. I’m off—see you later!”
She hopped on happily and had just steadied herself when she saw Bei Huai’s cold-faced figure following right behind.
Jiang Wan: “???”
Under that blatantly puzzled stare, Bei Huai kept her face stiff and deadpanned, “Just on my way.”
“Oh.” Jiang Wan nodded, only half convinced.
It was late, so the bus was nearly empty.
Jiang Wan claimed a window seat in the middle. She watched with eager eyes as Bei Huai approached step by step, only for her to…
Sit in the row ahead.
Jiang Wan paused, then fished her earbuds from her bag. She queued up a soothing song on her phone, stood, and plopped down beside Bei Huai instead, beaming. “Classmate Bei Huai, want to listen to some music?”
She dangled the spare earbud invitingly.
“No.” Arms crossed, eyes fixed ahead, Bei Huai rejected her with cool indifference.
She’d seen plenty of couples huddled together sharing a single pair of earbuds, all clingy and saccharine.
Way too uncool for her.
Undeterred, Jiang Wan shrugged it off without much disappointment. In high spirits, she popped in her earbuds, closed her eyes, and let the music wash over her.
A short twenty-minute ride was more than enough to knock out a student who’d been run ragged all day.
Under normal circumstances, Jiang Wan would never let herself doze off alone on a bus, but something about having Bei Huai right there beside her filled her with a sense of security. She relaxed without thinking and slipped into sleep before she knew it.
Bei Huai appeared to stare straight ahead, but her peripheral vision never left Jiang Wan. Seeing the girl nodding off, her little head bobbing with each jolt, Bei Huai felt her lips twitch upward despite herself.
She shook her head and gently shifted Jiang Wan’s head to rest on her shoulder.
As soon as the girl leaned closer, she caught a faint whiff of lemon—fresh and utterly pleasant.
With just a slight dip of her head, she could see the girl’s skin, smooth and translucent like fine porcelain, while those clear, limpid eyes were now peacefully closed, framed by thick, curling lashes.
Her nose was petite, her lips equally so. Bei Huai could even picture what she might look like smiling.
She was truly beautiful.
Bei Huai’s fingers twitched. She wanted to reach out and brush the little red mole on Jiang Wan’s right ear. It was right there within reach, yet some invisible barrier held her back, no matter how she tried.
Bei Huai lowered her gaze. She lifted her finger, but when it came down, it paused on the earbuds dangling from the girl’s ears. She gently slipped them out and slipped them onto her own ears, perfectly at ease.
The music was lovely, but she couldn’t focus on it at all. Her mind was entirely occupied by the annoying pest resting on her shoulder.
Outside the window stretched inky blackness; inside the bus reigned profound silence, broken only by the steady hum of the tires on the road.
And in that moment, Bei Huai felt a rare tranquility settle over her heart.
She suddenly wished the bus would slow down—just a little more.
Let this moment stretch on forever.
But all journeys must end. The station announcement jolted Jiang Wan awake. She blinked her eyes open in a sleepy haze.
In a flash, Bei Huai yanked off the earbuds, straightened her posture, and feigned complete innocence.
The girl rubbed her eyes, awareness slowly returning. Then she realized she was leaning against someone’s shoulder.
“Sorry about that.” She touched her head and gave Bei Huai an apologetic smile, assuming she’d simply nodded off and toppled over.
“Who knew your head weighed so much,” Bei Huai shot her a glance and said with exaggerated complaint.
Her shoulder really did ache, though.
Jiang Wan looked even more remorseful.
“I’m really sorry. But Classmate Bei Huai, why didn’t you wake me?”
Bei Huai: “…”
A few minutes passed. Jiang Wan had reached her stop. She stood, waved to Bei Huai, and flashed her adorable little tiger teeth. “Classmate Bei Huai, I’m off. Be careful heading home alone, okay?”
Bei Huai peered out the window. She watched the girl, backpack bouncing, trot lightly away. She seemed to spot a familiar face nearby and broke into a run, her ponytail swinging jauntily behind her.
The bus lurched forward, and Jiang Wan’s figure faded from view.
Bei Huai turned away, her eyes dropping. An inexplicable feeling stirred in her chest.
For the first time, someone had told her to be careful going home alone.
But…
She didn’t even have a home.
