Chapter 1 An Encounter on the Roof
Chapter 1 An Encounter on the Roof At dusk, a scene unfolded on the roof of the international student dorm at Yinghua Academy. Who is he? Teng Yue hesitated as she watched the guy who had just come onto the roof; she couldn’t place him no matter how hard she tried to remember. “Who are you?” “It doesn’t matter who I am. Your voice is beautiful. Can you teach me?” The guy smiled at her as he walked closer to the stairs near the pool. “. . .” Yue looked the guy over from head to toe; he wore designer clothes, and his face was handsome and clean-cut. He didn’t look like the pool cleaner—more like a rich boy. It was getting dark already, so what was he doing here? She had her doubts as she shook her head. “Don’t come over! Who are you? I don’t know you!” “Teach me to sing.” The guy didn’t back away at her warning, only getting closer to the staircase. “Your voice is stunning. Why don’t you teach me?” “Don’t come over!” Yue shouted at him. No one else was on the roof. Who knew what he could be planning. She'd already had a rotten day. She had lost her job, and while looking for peace on the roof, she had to be harassed, too. His smile made her nervous. If he was another student, she could report him for breaking school rules; but if he was a bad guy, what could she do? She was by herself, and even if she yelled, would anyone help her? The guy stopped walking, seeing her nervous face. He watched her closely. “You really can’t teach me? Can you come down first?” “Go away!” Yue’s emotions were all over the place. “Can you please go away? Who are you? Can you mind your own business?” “Of course not.” The guy raised his eyebrow, his expression serious. “I’ve followed you for a while. I was worried about you. You’re still young, so why are you doing this?” Doing what? Yue was shocked. Did he think she came to the roof to kill herself? Now that she thought about it, it did seem as if someone was following her as she came up here. She was so distracted that she didn’t pay attention. Winters in Yinghua City were lonely, not because of the cold, but the endless wait. They'd made a date for Christmas at this restaurant, but he hadn't shown up. Days passed. She'd gone from customer to employee, a change she made not for the salary, but to see him. Now she didn’t even have this opportunity to wait for him anymore. She walked on the street aimlessly, letting people pass by her. School was starting soon; there was no point to wait. He wouldn’t be there anyway. She had to study for the upcoming tests or she would disappoint her mom, whose hopes and dreams all rested with her. Her heart ached as she thought of her mom. It had been six months since she last went home. Was her mom all right? When she got off the elevator, she hadn't walked toward her dorm but the roof. The school didn’t allow people to go up to the roof, but Yue liked to go there when it was quiet. When she stood on the pool cover, she could look at her hometown across the sea. “Come down! It’s windy up there.” The guy’s voice turned gentle, and he reached out his hand toward her. “We can talk about anything you want. I can be your friend.” It was indeed windy. In the dusk of early Spring, Yue had pushed open the door to the roof and crawled on top of the pool cover via the service stairs. She looked toward her hometown. How much longer until she could go home? She remembered being held inside her parents’ arms. She was so happy and carefree back then. Now, she was alone in a new city, and her only friend was gone, too. What should she do now? She was lost. She started humming a tune from her hometown. “Get down from there! It’s too windy!” The man moved slowly. “If you fell from this tall building, it’d be horrible!” He was very insistent. Yue didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at this guy who wouldn’t mind his own business. She looked out a bit. She was really high up from the ground. If she fell from here, she’d perish. The guy used the opportunity to grab her like an eagle snatching a rabbit. He grabbed her in his arms and took her off the pool cover. Yue panicked; no one, not her friend, nor her dad, had hugged her like this for years. And he . . . Yue struggled and yelled, “Let me go! Let me go!” The more she resisted, the tighter he held her. In a few steps, he moved her off the pool completely. “Why do you want to kill yourself? You’re too young. There’s another way! If you gave up, how would your parents feel?” His lecture seemed smooth, but Yue’s body ached allover from his grip. What did he want anyway? He grabbed her so hard her bones felt ready to break, the pain radiating from his strong hands. “Let me go!” Yue yelled. “Who are you anyway? I never wanted to kill myself! What are you doing?” The guy paused at her words, but resumed dragging her into the building. “You think I’m stupid? That I’d let you go just 'cause you asked? Don’t even think about jumping off the roof again, okay?” Ugh, a bully and a busybody. Why was he insisting she was suicidal? Her body was falling apart from him dragging her so hard. She watched the clouds disappear from view and thought they were mocking her. Finally, he loosened his grip, and Yue fell on the ground. Who is this annoying guy? Even though she was unlucky, was she really doomed? He panted as he wiped sweat off his brow and also slid to the ground. “Can you please listen to me?” The guy was stubborn. “Why would someone young and beautiful like you want to jump off a roof?” "Jump off a roof?" As soon as Yue spoke, he frowned and interrupted her. "Good thing I saw you, otherwise this could be serious." “. . .” What an idiot. He had no idea what was going on, didn’t give her a chance to explain, and had dragged her all over. She may be injured even now. She rolled her eyes at him. Had anyone held her like this—other than her father when she was younger—in her sixteen years of life? “You’re too young to die. There are so many things you haven’t seen yet.” “I wasn’t trying to die!” Yue interrupted. Was she not making sense? Why didn’t he understand her? “Don’t bother denying it.” His face became serious, as if he was lecturing his younger sister. Yue didn’t feel like explaining more, so she got up and dusted herself off. Fishing out her key, she moved to get away as far as possible from this annoying guy. Who knew what he wanted to do next? The man stared at her, surprise in his eyes. She lived here? Wait, even though he stopped her from jumping off the roof just now, she might commit suicide another way. The building didn’t seem to lock the door to the roof, as he was able to easily follow her up. “Wait!” He quickly moved and pushed open her apartment door. His sudden motion alarmed her. She kept asking herself, Is he a bad guy? He seemed clean-cut, but who knew what he was thinking. They were in a foreign land and on a quiet top floor. Would anyone know if something happened to her? The guy was surprised by her terrified expression. He knew it was rude to stop her from leaving, but seeing her emotional state, he couldn’t just let her leave. He first noticed her at the restaurant, and her smile was especially enchanting, both beautiful and sad. He felt as if his heart was stung, so he couldn’t just let her go, which was why he had followed her to the roof and saw she was planning to jump. “Don’t be scared, I’m not going to hurt you!” It was good she didn’t scream, but her pretty eyes showed fright. “Get out!” Yue shouted as she picked up a fruit knife from a table to point at him. “Okay!” Seeing how out of control she looked, he was more anxious than ever. He tried appeasing her and asked her to drop the knife. “Get out!” Yue felt as if she was having a breakdown. Why was he acting like this? She rarely lost her cool, but she couldn’t calm down with him. “Okay, okay!” The guy backed away to the door. “Don’t panic. I really mean no harm. I just want to help you. Put down the knife and we’ll talk, all right?” “Get out!” Tears gushed from her eyes, not because she missed home, or her friend who didn’t show up at the restaurant, but because of this stranger. When he finally left the room, she locked the door, but the tears didn’t stop. She hadn’t cried like this for ages, and it felt wonderful. Maybe she should thank him.