Though she was back to the apartment safely, all the things that happened today were hanging around in her mind and bothered her a lot. The guy called Sun Yi was so brazen, and the teacher, always with strange thoughts. Plus the missing brother. . . What chaos!
She settled onto the sofa and closed her eyes, letting herself relax for a while. The continuous knocking at her door and his incessant calling irritated her ears, but she did not want to stand up to open the door. She used a bolster pillow to cover her head and waited. Finally, the sound of knocking became quieter. Maybe, he’d gotten tired of her.
Then, the sound disappeared, and Yue was walking on the old street under the sakura trees with the brother. The sun was shining on them, giving them warmth as cherry blossoms fell around them like rain. Though they said nothing, they knew each others’ thoughts. The road looked endless.
But all of a sudden, all the sakura trees and the brother disappeared; the shower of petals turned to a heavy snow and buried the beautiful street. The snow became heavier and heavier and all the world before her faded away. She panicked and searched everywhere to find the brother, but found no hint of his whereabouts, as if he had never existed in the world at all, from the very beginning.
She was frightened when she woke up. With a headache from the nightmare, she took a deep breath, holding the bolster tightly, only to find that the world had become real again. The phone was ringing on the tea table, its screen flashing as it tried to catch her attention.
She picked up the phone and answered. The voice of Lin said, “Hello, dear, why don’t you answer my phone call? I have been calling for a long time. Is there a handsome boy sleeping beside you?”
“Oh . . . would you shut it already?!” She became happy again.
“Really? I just learned that you prefer the light off.”
“No one’s with me.” She sighed.
“Yue, I would like to tell you something—not a story—but about something that really happened. . . ”
Yue didn’t notice Lin’s crafty tone and listened carefully to her. It was another ghost story and Yue became worried again, finding she couldn’t breathe or move a bit after only several minutes.
“It’s true, baby, don’t dismiss it as just another story.” Lin was so excited with this game that she didn’t notice how badly it was working up her friend this time. Yue could not bear any more, and though she knew everything Lin told her was fiction, she was already scared out of her wits about staying alone at midnight.
“Yue, open the door.” Suddenly the knocking started again. “What happened to you? Let me in.” He was so worried about her.
Yue was frightened and now he’d become her savior. She went to the door, ignoring all the effort she’d put into keeping her distance from him, and opened the door and ran into his embrace.
“It’s okay, it’s okay, Yue. I’m here. Don’t be scared.”
“Teacher Shao. . . ” She cried even more. Go to Hell, Lin, Hell. . . she cursed. Lin knew she was afraid of ghost stories and still she kept on telling her one after another.
Shao Xun did not know what had happened to her, but he patted her slightly on the shoulder nevertheless. Anyway, this was a great beginning—when she felt unsafe, the first one she thought of was him. How he enjoyed the feeling of holding her. What a strange feeling; he dared not let himself enjoy the feel of her soft body against his, but her fragrance made him tremble, and he subconsciously held her tighter.
Yue did not noticed his strangeness, and she tried her best to hide herself in him. His cotton pajamas were damp with her tears.
“Yue, relax. I’m here; nobody will hurt you.”
She looked up at him and said, “Teacher Shao, I am so scared. . .”
“Scared of what?” He smiled and wiped away her tears, saying, “I am here.” In the darkness, his beautiful eyes looked softer than usual. Her phone suddenly fell to the ground and scared Yue again; she caught his pajamas and yelled, “Ghost! A ghost . . . here. . .”
“Ghost?” Shao Xun was surprised by this answer. He picked up the phone to find the call was still on; he immediately understood. He had heard that the girls liked to talk at night in the dorm about handsome boys and ghosts. He even heard some different versions of the ghost stories. Though obviously fabricated, they could make the girls cry in fear.
“Yue, there are no ghosts at all in the world.” He said, “You should go to bed and have a good night’s sleep. You have many classes tomorrow.” He was touching her long smooth hair, thanking the one who told her the ghost story, which contributed a lot to the relationship between them. But her performance showed him that she was really scared by those stories and he was a little unhappy about this. He allowed her to cry in his arms, and his heart was filled with honey.
“Yup. . .” she agreed, still trembling. Ghosts were the most horrible thing to her; she could not let go of her fear just based on his one sentence of reassurance. But she realized that it was not good to let the teacher hold her, especially since he had expressed his feelings toward her. But to get away from him was difficult; she was so scared and had cried so hard that her whole body was left weak.
He also realized her awkwardness of not being able to leave easily. He did not want her to leave, so he held her still, and said, “Yue, I have a very important issue to tell you about. Would you listen to me?”
“What?” She nodded; any topic that could distract her from ghosts was fine.
“Great!” Shao Xun was so happy to get this answer. He held her up with his arms and this action frightened her again. “What are you doing, Teacher Shao?”
“What? Are you thinking that I will use this advantage to tease you?”
“No . . . but . . . ”
“Yue, since you don’t like those kind of stories, it would be better if you never listen to them again.” He walked her into her room and tenderly put her on the sofa. Then he turned on the light, which made her feel much better. And he checked her phone to see if it was broken.
“I . . . I don’t seek out those stories on my own, but Lin . . . ” She did not know how to mention their relationship to him. Lin was her best friend; she did not want him to say anything bad about her.
“Wait a minute.” Shao Xun stood up and left her room. Instantly, Yue was disappointed by his decision to leave her here alone. She hated to be abandoned by guys—first the brother, now him. But soon he was back with his overcoat. She felt at ease again, knowing he’d only left to grab the piece of clothing.
Shao Xun closed the door and sat beside her. “Still afraid? Would you like me to stay with you?”
She nodded; she had no courage to face the whole night by herself. He put his overcoat on her shoulders and said, “Yue, I want to let you know . . .”
“Teacher Shao, I know you are a good person,” Yue said. “But you are my teacher.”
“Since I am a teacher, I will not allow you to attempt to commit any more wrongdoings. It is my responsibility.” He suddenly held her shoulders tightly, and looked at her with fervor, saying, “I couldn’t wait to see you make more mistakes, so I would like to admit to you, I like you. But I won’t force you or hurt you. But I beg you not to do that again. You are so precious to me. At least, take me as a friend.”
She was confused. Was he confessing to her? Were all the boys insane today? But how she wanted to accept and rely on him. She was so tired, and a moment ago, she’d felt the loss so clearly when she’d thought he was leaving. Though her mind was planning the excuse to reject him, her body could not help but come to rest upon his shoulder.