The wind on the rooftop was fierce, chilling one’s heart to the bone.
Having had ten points docked just because he used his tongue, Lu Yan was deeply sullen. He glared daggers at Xia Miao’s back, wishing he could tear her apart and swallow her whole. But then, second-guessing himself, he remembered he still wasn’t at a hundred points yet, so he couldn’t eat her.
He couldn’t hit her, and he couldn’t scold her. With the woman constantly threatening him with point deductions over the slightest thing, all he could do was nurse his resentment, squatting on the ground as his malevolent gaze tracked her every move.
Xia Miao stood on the rooftop of the comprehensive building. Looking out at the surroundings, she could take in a panoramic view of the entire campus. She raised her camera to snap a few photos of the scenery in the distance, only to feel that the views lacked anything special and probably wouldn’t meet Fang Ke’ai’s requirements.
Growing a bit irritated, she spun around just as her camera happened to aim right at the squatting boy.
Lu Yan was still throwing a tantrum. Seeing her face him, he pulled the gap in his bandages wider and bared his teeth at her with a snarl—those sharp teeth looked fierce enough to crush her bones to powder.
Xia Miao lowered her camera, stared at him for a moment, and walked over to squat down beside him. She reached out and patted his face.
Expecting to be pounded with a fist, Lu Yan had already braced himself to take a beating. After waiting forever, all he got was her gentle prodding and poking. The soft touch gave him goosebumps all over, making his scalp tingle.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
Xia Miao withdrew her hand and asked, > “Do you know of any iconic places around this school? I need to take photos for a club assignment.”
Lu Yan looked blank. > “What iconic places?”
“You know, places where the moment people see a photo of them, they instantly recognize it as Red Moon Campus!”
A spark of cleverness suddenly flashed in his eyes. > “I know a few places.”
Xia Miao said happily, > “Where? Take me there!”
He lifted his chin and let out a scoff, his arrogant demeanor bearing a striking resemblance to her own. > “And what’s in it for me if I take you?”
Xia Miao pouted unhappily. > “I’ll give you extra points.”
“Talk like I actually care about extra points.” Lu Yan stood up. His slender figure silhouetted against the light carried a rather wicked and unbridled aura. With his innate disposition of looking down on everyone in the world, he said leisurely, > “Extra points or whatever—I couldn’t care less.”
Xia Miao saw right through him. Standing up alongside him, she suddenly leaped forward. Out of pure instinct, his arms went around her waist to catch her, helping her hang right onto his body.
It was her first time being pressed this close to a member of the opposite sex; the curves of her body were practically mapped out against his frame. The boy went completely rigid, not daring to let out a single breath.
“Y-Y-You… what are you doing?!” Lu Yan yelped in a panic. > “Xia Miao, have you no shame?!”
With her arms wrapped around his neck, Xia Miao adopted a sticky, spoiled tone. > “Lu Yan, good Lu Yan, just take me there! Besides, you’re my favorite person in the whole wide world.”
Lu Yan’s body burned hot, and his palms against her back were practically breaking out in a sweat. > “D-Don’t talk to me in such an unseemly way!”
“Lu Yan, take me there, won’t you?”
Driven step by step into a corner, his arms wrapped around her seemed glued in place, unable to let go. When his back pressed against the safety railing and a cold gust of wind hit him, he shivered all over.
“Fine, I’ll take you, I’ll take you, happy now?!”
Xia Miao instantly dropped her mischievous, playful act. Noticing that he still didn’t dare look her in the eye, and driven by a mix of intuition and curiosity, she tentatively reached her hand inside his hood and touched his ear.
“So hot!”
Stubborn to the bitter end, Lu Yan defended himself, > “I’m just running a fever!”
Xia Miao glanced at him sideways, sliding her hand down to touch his chest. > “The thing inside is beating like a drum!”
“That’s just… just my left atrium and right atrium fighting each other!”
The more embarrassed he got, the stronger Xia Miao’s desire to investigate became. She caught a strange scent drifting through the air—a burnt smell that reminded her of the toasted aroma of baked cookies.
Following the scent, she slowly leaned her face closer to his neck, nudging his hood off. The boy’s messy, dark hair was exposed to the sunlight—unkept and a bit frizzy, especially the single cowlick swaying in the breeze, which was remarkably eye-catching.
Lu Yan tried his absolute best to pull his neck back, but he was no match for how fast Xia Miao moved in.
Burying her face right into the crook of his neck, she took a deep breath. “Lu Yan smells… so good.”
With a loud bang, Lu Yan felt an explosion go off inside his head. His ability to think completely vanished, leaving behind nothing more than an empty shell, completely at Xia Miao’s mercy.
Seeing the deep crimson spreading across his neck, and realizing just how painfully shy he was, Xia Miao suddenly felt a wave of embarrassment wash over her as well. Coming back to her senses, she tried to get off him.
Yet, the boy’s arms wrapped around her tightly, holding her fast.
Those long, slender hands were delicate and sharply defined at the joints. The dark veins on the back of his hands stood out from the strain, yet the strength he used was carefully measured, never once causing her any pain.
“M-My arm is numb, I can’t move right now.”
Burying her face deeper into the crook of his neck, her cheeks burning red as she looked at his blushing neck, she gave a dry, soft, “Oh.”
The boy’s voice was hoarse and strained. “Then… can we hug a little longer?”
She tightened her arms around his neck, not daring to lift her flushed face, and muffled into his shoulder, “Only for a little while longer.”
In the end, they spent half an hour letting the cold wind blow over them on the rooftop.
An hour later, Lu Yan led Xia Miao to the back kitchen of the cafeteria. “This is the conjoined twins’ absolute favorite place! They love to cook, and all these tools belong to them. The moment everyone sees these utensils, that sense of familiarity is bound to hit them hard!”
Neatly lined up against the wall were cooking tools of all shapes and sizes, large and small. There were over a dozen types of kitchen knives alone. Xia Miao snapped a few photos and reached out, trying to touch one of the gleaming, sharp tools, only for Lu Yan to quickly grab her hand.
“These things are razor-sharp! You’re not allowed to touch them!”
Pulling her along, he brought her behind the teaching building. A patch of flowers grew here—vibrant, multicolored blossoms blooming with an eerie brilliance, as though nourished by some unknown fertilizer.
“This is the old gardener’s favorite spot. He’s always burying fertilizer right here. The moment everyone sees these pretty flowers, they’ll instantly think of him.”
Xia Miao reached out to touch them again, though the harmless-looking blooms vaguely seemed on the verge of splitting open into bloody maws. Once more, Lu Yan intercepted her hand.
“Why can’t you keep your hands to yourself? No touching!”
Dragging her along again, he brought her to the school’s dump. The stench here was overwhelming, the smell of rot thick enough to practically knock someone out cold. To prevent her from accidentally stumbling in, he gripped her hand tightly.
“This is where the headless woman processes her garbage. The second everyone smells this stench, they’ll immediately think of her and can’t wait to scream and run for their lives.”
This time, Xia Miao had zero desire to touch anything. She huddled close to Lu Yan’s side, tightly covering her nose.
Like a brash young boy fishing for praise, Lu Yan wore a barely concealed look of smug triumph. “These are all their absolute favorite things, and they’re part of what makes Red Moon Campus unique—the very representative places you were talking about. Well? Not bad, right?”
“And what about you?”
Lu Yan blinked. “What?”
“What is your favorite thing?”
Meeting Xia Miao’s gaze, filled with eager curiosity, the boy couldn’t help but recall the moments she had looked at him with those sparkling eyes. Her reflection fell clearly into his distinct black-and-white pupils, and involuntarily, his Adam’s apple bobbed.
The next second, he averted his face and muttered proudly, “There’s nothing in this world worthy of my liking!”
Xia Miao: “Minus ten points.”
He completely cracked. “Fine, fine, I get it! I like you, alright, I like you! Stop deducting points—any more and it’s going into the negatives!”