Sang Wan set the roster down on the electronic lectern. She twirled a pen between her slender fingers as she scanned the room, then asked in a formal tone, “Is everyone present?”
“All accounted for,” Yue Bai replied clearly.
The Academic Department members standing nearby counted heads diligently. Once they confirmed everyone was there, they nodded to Sang Wan.
Sang Wan made a quick mark on the roster with her pen. Her other hand hung down naturally at her side. Using the podium for cover, she swiftly clasped Yue Bai’s palm.
Yue Bai’s heart jolted. She whipped her gaze to Sang Wan. Something hard pressed into the center of her hand. She glanced instinctively down at her classmates, saw they were all absorbed in their own tasks with no one watching, and looked back.
Sang Wan gazed at her tenderly. Her hand moved on instinct to ruffle Yue Bai’s hair, but she remembered they were in a classroom and settled for squeezing their joined hands instead.
The Academic Department members had already filed out of the room. Sang Wan released Yue Bai’s hand and straightened up. In a voice just soft enough for the two of them, she murmured against Yue Bai’s ear, “Chocolate. Not too sweet.”
She knew Yue Bai didn’t care for things that were overly sugary.
Once outside the classroom, Sang Wan led the Academic Department group to check attendance in the other classes. She couldn’t keep leaving right after Yue Bai’s class or people would get suspicious.
Yue Bai clutched the chocolate as she descended from the podium. The anime was still playing on her tablet.
Back at her seat, she unfolded her palm, her eyes shining with delight at the glimpse of plastic wrapping.
She tore open the outer layer and lifted the bar of pure dark chocolate, holding it before her eyes for several seconds before slipping it into her mouth.
A gentle sweetness mingled with bitterness across her tongue, soaking into her heart as well.
As the chocolate melted slowly in her mouth, Yue Bai discovered for the first time just how delicious sweets could be.
For several nights of evening self-study in a row, Sang Wan joined the Academic Department members on their attendance rounds. Each time, when no one was looking, she slipped Yue Bai a little snack.
After Sang Wan departed that evening, Yue Bai was happily sucking on the lollipop she’d just received when Xu Nuo leaned over, peering curiously.
Yue Bai was in the middle of sketching some lines and paid her no mind.
“Little Bai, is the Student Council short on people right now?” Xu Nuo propped her elbows on the desk.
“Hm?” Yue Bai paused her pen and mumbled around the lollipop.
Xu Nuo barreled on regardless. “I mean, Senior Sister Sang’s been personally leading the checks for days straight. Usually, it’s just the Academic Department rotating through, right? Did a bunch of people quit or something, leaving them understaffed?”
Yue Bai lifted her eyes thoughtfully. She was right—the faces from the Academic Department had all been different before.
“Eh, whatever. It’s not like I’m in the Student Council. No use worrying about it.” Xu Nuo waved it off and turned to chat with the classmate seated behind her.
That classmate had clearly overheard and chimed in from the back row. “The Student Council’s not short-staffed. I’m in the Academic Department myself, and I have no idea why Senior Sister Sang’s been tagging along every time lately. We figured maybe she was bored and wanted to check out the freshmen faces. But she hardly even glances around the rooms—just asks her questions routinely and leaves.”
Yue Bai’s ears twitched. Something about that didn’t sit right. She stared at the candy wrapper on her desk for a long moment. Then an idea took root in her mind. Swallowing her excitement, she pulled out her phone to test it.
“Senior Sister, how come it’s always you checking attendance lately?” Yue Bai typed.
The reply came almost immediately.
“Just felt like keeping busy,” Sang Wan responded.
“Ohhh~” Yue Bai drew out the syllable, clearly skeptical.
“Fine.” Sang Wan sent a conceding emoji. “I wanted to see what my little junior does during evening study. Make sure you’re actually studying.”
Heat flooded Yue Bai’s eyes as she stared at the words. A massive wave of elation crashed over her, solidifying her suspicions. Her fingers jabbed blindly at the screen for a bit. Once she’d calmed down, she solemnly tapped out her reply.
“I want to see you too, Senior Sister.” —Yue Bai
Back in the Student Council Office, Sang Wan suppressed a smile. When Yue Bai’s message popped up, she let out a soft chuckle and rested her knuckles against her forehead.
“Oh man, get a load of Sang Wan—she’s grinning like an idiot.” Zhou Qingyan, seated across from her, glanced up at the sound. She leaned over to whisper to Wen Mo, “Like a damn flower in bloom. Anyone’d think she’d already reeled in Little Bai.”
Wen Mo shot Sang Wan a quick look before returning to her work. “File those documents I sent you and forward them to the Propaganda Department. I’m about ready to head out.”
“Oh.”
Sang Wan forwarded the completed spreadsheet to Wen Mo, then shut her laptop. “Table’s sent. I’m heading out. Can you two handle that thing for me tonight, ahead of schedule?”
Wen Mo nodded without looking up.
Zhou Qingyan blinked in surprise. “Tonight?”
“Yeah. I can’t wait any longer. Dinner’s on me once it’s done.”
Sang Wan slipped out the door and leaned against the hallway wall, firing off a message to Yue Bai.
“Evening study wrapping up soon?”
“Yeah, about half an hour left.” Yue Bai checked the time before replying.
“Want me to wait for you at the sports field?”
“Yeah! I’ll come right after.”
Sang Wan smiled just as she’d anticipated and ambled leisurely toward the sports field.
Now that she’d set a time with Sang Wan, Yue Bai found herself glued to the clock.
What normally flew by in the time it took to finish a painting felt interminable this time—half an hour might as well have been an eternity.
Two minutes before the bell, she handed her tablet to Xu Nuo. “Take this back to the dorm for me?”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk—off on another adventure?” Xu Nuo asked with a grimace.
“Going to see Senior Sister Sang.” Yue Bai’s voice bubbled with cheer.
Xu Nuo made a face. “Every single day? Aren’t classes exhausting enough? Go crash early for once.”
“Not even a little.” Yue Bai let out a happy “Hee hee.” The thought of seeing her senior sister gave her boundless energy.
The bell rang to end self-study. Yue Bai bolted from the classroom first.
In an instant, the entire Teaching Building erupted in noise. Yue Bai darted nimbly through the throng, hurrying toward the sports field.
She’d just reached the entrance when she overheard passersby chattering excitedly.
“You hear? Someone’s confessing their love out on the sports field. Let’s go check it out!”
“Yeah, no clue who, but confessing there? Super cheesy. Still kinda thrilling, though.”
“Such an old-school move, but they say the one getting confessed to is total goddess material. Now I’m curious.”
“Hahaha, you know what they say—more chaos, the better. Hurry, or we’ll miss the front-row seats!”
Yue Bai’s heart rate spiked. A dark premonition gripped her. She jogged along with the crowd toward the commotion.
At the center of the gathering, Hua Yun stood blushing furiously, clutching a bouquet of flowers as he murmured something. Yue Bai was too far back, and her angle was wrong—she could only make out the girl’s slender back.
That graceful silhouette matched the one etched in her memory. Yue Bai stared, and before she knew it, her eyes had rimmed red. She took two defeated steps backward, blinking hard to fight it off.
Was that Senior Sister?
Heart sinking, she turned to slip away. Then someone lightly patted her shoulder. A warm, faintly exasperated voice reached her ears. “Knew I’d find you here. Sent you a message and no reply—turns out you’re watching the show.”
Sang Wan tugged her closer. “Enjoying the spectacle?”
Yue Bai’s eyes grew even redder. She pouted. “Senior Sister.”
“What’s wrong?” Sang Wan frowned, her thumb gently brushing under Yue Bai’s eye. “You look so mistreated. Did someone bully you?”
“No.” Yue Bai’s nose twitched.
“Hm?” Sang Wan glanced puzzledly at the center of the crowd, then seemed to understand something and chuckled lightly. “Your Senior Sister Zhou isn’t even crying, so why are you?”
“Ah?” Yue Bai held back her emotions. Led by Sang Wan, she turned around. The girl who had previously been facing away from her now turned slightly. Once Yue Bai could see her face clearly, she exclaimed in surprise, “It’s Senior Sister Wen?”
“Mhm.” Sang Wan smiled as she loosely held Yue Bai in her arms, shielding her from the people crowding around them.
Wen Mo glanced indifferently at the person holding the bouquet of flowers and spoke flatly. “Sorry, I already have a girlfriend.”
Yue Bai watched as Zhou Qingyan—who usually minded her own business and stayed above the fray—glared ferociously with wide eyes. The sight successfully made her burst out laughing. “Senior Sister Zhou must be really pissed right now.”
Sang Wan let out an ambiguous hum, her lips curving in a half-smile.
Of course Zhou Qingyan was furious. The three of them had been put on display like monkeys in front of all these people. If she couldn’t fool Little Bai this time, Zhou Qingyan might actually explode from anger.
Sang Wan gazed deeply at Little Bai. She needed to instill a bit of crisis awareness in her.
“Hey, does Senior Hua like Senior Sister Wen?” Yue Bai asked, puzzled. Logically speaking, Hua Yun should have known that Zhou Qingyan was Wen Mo’s girlfriend, so why would he confess to her?
“Alright, stop looking.” Sang Wan wasn’t pleased that Yue Bai had been focused on others ever since she arrived. She forcibly pulled her out of the encirclement.
“Senior Sister.” Yue Bai called out weakly.
Once they were a safe distance from the crowd, Sang Wan finally released Yue Bai’s wrist. “At first, did you think someone was confessing to me?”
“Mhm…” Yue Bai nodded.
Sang Wan and Wen Mo were about the same height and build. Plus, with someone calling her a goddess-level beauty, Yue Bai’s mind had jumped to conclusions, subconsciously assuming it was Sang Wan.
“Are you unhappy now?” Sang Wan asked again.
“Mhm.” Yue Bai nodded once more.
“But… there are really so many people confessing to me. What should I do?” Sang Wan teased the girl in front of her, whose eyes were starting to redden again.
“Senior Sister, you promised me you wouldn’t start dating anyone before I do.” Yue Bai’s eyes brimmed with tears as she invoked Sang Wan’s words from not long ago.
“Mhm, not before you.” Sang Wan gently pinched the soft flesh of Yue Bai’s cheek and coaxed her softly. “So, Little Junior Sister, when do you plan to start dating?”
“Senior Sister is preparing in advance, so Little Junior Sister won’t feel sad,” Sang Wan added, her tone light and gentle, as if afraid of startling the girl before her.
“No dating.” Yue Bai’s voice was tiny. “I want to stay single forever.”
“Silly.” Sang Wan chuckled softly. She gazed into the distance at the dispersing crowd. It looked like treating them to a meal wouldn’t cut it anymore.
Sang Wan’s voice dropped even lower as she step by step seduced the innocent girl before her. “Then, can you bear to watch Senior Sister stay single forever?”
“I can’t bear it.” Yue Bai ducked her head even lower, refusing to look at Sang Wan.
That dejected tone deepened the amusement in Sang Wan’s eyes. She gently lifted Yue Bai’s chin. “Then why haven’t you found someone to date sooner?”
A thin mist clouded Yue Bai’s eyes. “I can’t find anyone.”
“Do you have someone you like?” Sang Wan tenderly brushed away the tear that was about to fall.
“Mhm…” Yue Bai carefully met Sang Wan’s gaze for a moment before quickly looking away, as if trying to cover it up.
“Can you tell Senior Sister who it is?” Sang Wan coaxed patiently.
