During the lunch break, Lin Mo walked over to Su Ran’s desk. “Can I borrow your headphones again?”
Su Ran took a white cloth bag out of her drawer and handed it to him directly, without any hesitation.
Lin Mo took it, returned to his seat, and plugged them into his phone.
When he opened his music app, something magical happened again.
A moment ago, he had been looking at Su Ran’s playlist, but now it had reverted to his own.
Lin Mo felt like his brain was short-circuiting — she didn’t even have a computer right now, so how was she doing this?
Looking at his own playlist, he suddenly found it dull and tasteless.
Habitually, he tapped shuffle, but strangely enough, the song that began to play was still *Sheng Sheng Man*.
Lin Mo took off the headphones to check them. Everything seemed fine; it was his phone and his playlist.
When he put them back on, the next track was also a song from Su Ran’s list.
“Hey now,” Lin Mo muttered. Refusing to believe in ghosts, he exited the player and restarted his phone.
This time, things returned to normal. It was a popular song he had been listening to lately.
He glanced sideways at Su Ran.
She was looking down at a book, but there was a suspicious curve at the corner of her mouth.
Before the lunch break ended, Lin Mo went to return the headphones.
“Thanks.” He handed back the headphones along with the cloth bag.
As Su Ran took them, her fingers brushed against his.
This time, she paused for a moment, then gave his hand a very light, very quick squeeze.
This was likely the first time she had ever taken the initiative to initiate physical contact with him. Just as Lin Mo was about to say something, Su Ran beat him to it.
“Good afternoon!”
After saying that, she turned and walked away at a brisk pace.
Lin Mo stood in place, the warmth of her palm still lingering on his fingertips.
It was warmer than usual, probably because she had been holding them for a long time.
***
The first period of the afternoon was PE.
Because his knee “injury” hadn’t healed yet, Lin Mo asked for a leave of absence to rest in the classroom.
Based on his observations from his past life, Su Ran hated PE and often found excuses to skip it.
Sure enough, 5 minutes after the bell rang, Su Ran returned.
She held a note from the school clinic, which cited menstrual discomfort as the reason for her absence.
She froze for a moment when she saw Lin Mo in the classroom.
“You’re on leave too?” she asked.
“My knee hurts.” Lin Mo pointed to his leg.
Hurts?!
Su Ran’s pupils contracted slightly, but then she saw the teasing, half-smile on Lin Mo’s face. “…Oh.”
He walked back to his seat, took out his workbook, and began solving problems.
Only the 2 of them were in the classroom, which was so quiet that the sound of a pen gliding across paper was audible.
After writing for 10 minutes, Su Ran suddenly spoke up. “The forty-third song in your playlist has bad audio quality.”
Lin Mo looked up in shock. “What was that?”
“That song, *At Dusk*. The version you saved is a 128kbps MP3. It’s lossy compression.”
Su Ran also wore a faint, teasing smile. “I found a lossless version and put it in your Space.”
Lin Mo let out an “oh” of his own, then suddenly stiffened. “You went into my Space? No, wait, what do you mean you ‘put it’ there? You… holy crap, did you log into my QQ?”
Su Ran said with a touch of pride, “The password was just your birthday plus your initials. It was very simple.”
‘Mom, it’s confirmed.’
This wasn’t something that could be explained by mere observation; she truly possessed high-end technical skills.
Lin Mo put down his pen. “Su Ran, we need to talk.”
Su Ran’s body visibly stiffened. She turned around and sat up straight, looking like she was awaiting a verdict.
“I know you understand some… technology.”
Lin Mo chose his words carefully. “But breaking into someone else’s account is illegal, even if it’s just my social media Space.”
“I just wanted to help you change to a better audio source.” Su Ran lowered her head, her fingers tugging at her skirt.
“I understand.”
Lin Mo softened his tone as much as possible, trying to shield her from feeling attacked. “First off, I don’t actually mind you logging into my account. I just want to tell you… you can just tell me directly. Tell me you found a lossless version and ask if I want it.”
“If you do that… we’ll have more things to talk about, won’t we?”
Su Ran remained silent, her head still bowed.
Lin Mo believed she wanted to talk to him. If she didn’t speak, it was simply because she couldn’t find the words.
He had no choice but to drop it, turning instead to a joking tone. “Alright, we’ll discuss this matter later. Let me ask you a question that concerns the birth and death of the universe—if I change my password, will you crack it again?”
“Yes!”
Su Ran answered instantly, being honest to a fault.
Lin Mo’s lip twitched. ‘You little yandere. It’s best if you only target me. Whatever you do, don’t hack into a bank or something. I won’t be able to settle a high-stakes situation like that.’
“Tell me why?”
“Because…”
Su Ran looked up, her eyes shining with a stubborn light. “I want to know what songs you listen to, what books you read, what movies you like… I want to know everything about you.”
“You can just ask me.”
“Will you tell me?”
“Of course.”
Lin Mo said with certainty, “In order to prevent you from discovering my great document regarding the birth and death of the universe, from today on, I’ll answer whatever you ask. Total honesty.”
Su Ran stared at Lin Mo for a long time, as if trying to judge if he was telling the truth.
Besides, she had already seen that document.
She asked tentatively, “What is your favorite movie?”
“*The Shawshank Redemption*.”
“Why?”
“Because hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things.”
Su Ran pulled out a small notebook again and began recording his answer seriously right in front of him.
“And your second favorite?”
“*The Legend of 1900*.”
“Because of the music?”
“Because a person can live a very complete life within their own world, even if that world is very small.”
As Lin Mo spoke, a complex look suddenly flashed in his eyes.
He looked at the Su Ran of both his past and present lives, thought of himself in this life, and added, “The only prerequisite is that those must be our own choices.”
Su Ran’s pen stopped on the paper. She looked up at Lin Mo, her gaze flickering.
“Do… do you think my world is very small?”
Her voice was soft, but the question revealed her sharp intuition.
Lin Mo nodded. “A little.”
“But if you feel it’s enough, then that’s fine. If you feel it’s not…”
“If I feel it’s not enough?”
“I can take you to see my world.”
Lin Mo laughed, looking like sunlight suddenly breaking through a window. “You can also take me to see yours. Our 2 small worlds can be neighbors. Although they’ll still be small, there will be more to see.”
Su Ran’s pupils shrank, and her breathing grew slightly ragged.
She wrote quickly in her notebook, tore out the page, and pushed it onto Lin Mo’s desk.
Lin Mo looked at it curiously. There was only 1 line of text:
‘My world: The piano, you, and everything about you.’
‘What kind of legendary declaration is this?’
Even though Lin Mo had expected something like this, seeing Su Ran summarize her entire life so easily in a single sentence was still shocking.
After all, he had lived through it. The Su Ran from 10 years later was just like the one today; she had never changed.
‘If I could have gotten her to write this in my past life, I would have known she just liked me. Maybe I wouldn’t have been so afraid of her… Really, she’s so well-behaved.’
Looking at the note, Lin Mo felt as if his heart were soaking in warm water, turning completely soft.
He folded the note carefully and put it in his pocket.
“Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For letting me into your world.”
‘Thank you for letting me like you,’ Lin Mo added in his heart.
Su Ran’s face turned red.
She turned back around to continue her homework, the corners of her mouth pressed into a faint, lingering smile.
***
At the end of the school day, Lin Mo waited for Su Ran at the bike shed.
She pushed her bike out and paused when she saw him, but said nothing.
Lin Mo didn’t say anything either. He just followed, staying half a step behind her as usual.
They pushed their bikes out of the school gates and walked slowly along the sidewalk.
The autumn evening breeze was cool. The leaves of the plane trees were beginning to turn yellow, fluttering down 1 by 1.
Su Ran suddenly spoke. “Was my apology this afternoon okay?”
Lin Mo watched a stray lock of hair fluttering by her ear. “It was great. Concise, sincere, and no nonsense.”
Su Ran breathed a sigh of relief. “…Did I go too far?”
“It doesn’t matter. That chapter is closed.”
Lin Mo reached out and rested his hand on the back seat of her bicycle, rubbing it. “Of course, if we’re being honest, the part where you stopped Zhang Wei from harassing me wasn’t too much. The part where you peeked at a phone… as long as it’s only mine from now on, it’s not too much.”
Su Ran was silent for a while before asking that question again.
“Why are you standing on my side?”
“Because in this matter, as far as I’m concerned, you are right.”
“Is that all?”
Lin Mo looked up.
The setting sun painted Su Ran’s profile in gold, her eyelashes casting long shadows under her eyes.
He said, “It’s also because… I want you to know that I don’t mind.”
Su Ran’s lips moved, but no sound came out. However, a glimmer of tears appeared in her eyes.
“Lin Mo.” It was the first time she had called him by his full name.
“Yeah?”
“Can I… ask you a question?”
“Ask away.”
“If… if I’m always like this, always doing strange things, will you still help me?”
Lin Mo didn’t answer immediately.
He thought about the question seriously, as if solving a complex math problem.
“If you’re willing to learn better ways to express yourself, I can teach you. If you make an occasional mistake, I’m willing to remind you. If you make progress, I’ll be happy for you.”
“I can say with full responsibility that you won’t hurt me. I believe in you, so I won’t be hurt by you. But other people are different. If you ever hurt an innocent person, I might get angry and won’t be able to indulge you anymore.”
Su Ran listened intently, as if listening to a divine decree.
“So, what’s the answer?” she asked obstinately.
Lin Mo knew it wouldn’t be easy to turn her into a “normal” person. He smiled and said, “The answer is… yes. As long as you need me, I will always be by your side.”
Su Ran’s tears fell uncontrollably.
This time she noticed them, quickly wiped them away with her hand, then turned around with a sob. “Pinky swear?”
Lin Mo reached out, his pinky finger curved.
Su Ran also reached out. This time, she hooked his finger tightly, her fingertips slightly cool.
“Liars have to be lonely for a lifetime,” she said.
“Deal,” Lin Mo nodded.
As their fingers separated, Su Ran pulled something out of her school bag and pressed it into his hand.
It was a small USB drive, silver and without any markings.
“What’s this?” Lin Mo asked.
“My world.”
Su Ran felt like she could hear her own heart beating like thunder. She tried her best to restrain herself, but she couldn’t hide the tension in her voice. “Inside… it’s me. All my playlists, my reading notes, and… and records about you… from the ninth grade until now.”
Lin Mo gripped the USB drive, the metal casing pressing painfully into his palm.
He didn’t know what to say.
In all likelihood, this was her greatest secret.
And she had just handed it over.
“You can look at it, or you can choose not to. I just wanted to give it to you.”
Su Ran didn’t know what she was saying either.
This was the greatest expression of trust she was capable of.
Handing her deepest secrets over to him.
“I’ll look at it, and I’ll keep it safe.”
Lin Mo didn’t put the USB drive in his backpack. Instead, he clutched it in his palm and stuffed it into his pants pocket, rubbing it over and over as if it were a precious treasure. His heart raced with expectation.
As it turned out, if he looked at it from a different perspective, he realized that having a girl whose heart was entirely filled with him was a very lucky thing.
In his past life, he had been a fool who didn’t know his own luck. It was bad enough that he had missed out, but he had also made her wait in misery for 10 years, only for her to eventually watch him die a miserable death.
Lin Mo felt a sudden pang of guilt. He couldn’t bear to think about how much despair Su Ran must have felt seeing him die.
But at this moment, Su Ran smiled.
It wasn’t a small, subtle smile anymore; it was a genuine smile that made her eyes crinkle.
“See you tomorrow,” she said.
“See you tomorrow.”
Su Ran got on her bike and disappeared at the end of the street.
Lin Mo held the now-warm USB drive and waited in place for a moment.
He knew that what was inside wasn’t just records.
It was 3 years of a girl’s youth.
All the gazes, all the expectations, and all the love she had never dared to voice.
This time, no matter what, he wouldn’t miss out again. Never.
His phone vibrated. It was a text from Su Ran:
‘The password for the USB drive is 0917. There’s a gift for you inside.’
Lin Mo was already excited, but now he was even more impatient. He broke into a run and hurried home.
Back in his room, he turned on his computer and inserted the drive.
His hand even shook a little as he typed in the password.
The first file was a text document titled: *The First Letter to Lin Mo*.
Lin Mo didn’t click it immediately. Instead, he let go of the mouse and turned around, muttering to himself, “I’m over 40-something combined across 2 lives, and I’m this excited over a girl’s love letter… is this really right?”
“Well, at least she’s an adult now…”
Lin Mo found a reasonable excuse for himself and clicked on the text.
‘If you clicked this, it means you’re willing to enter my world. Thank you.’
‘The song in the second folder is one I wrote.’
He had thought there would be a screen full of obsessive declarations, but there were only 2 sentences.
What kind of love letter was this?
Confused, Lin Mo pulled out his headphones and opened the second folder.
Sure enough, there was a single audio file titled: *An Etude for Lin Mo*.
He clicked play, and the sound of a piano filled the room.
It was a simple melody, a bit unpolished, but it was so sincere it made his heart ache.
The middle section was clearly imitating the post-rock style he liked, adding some drum beats that drowned out the sound of the piano. The piano—the only thing in her world that truly belonged to her—had been covered up by her, all for him.
The entire track was 3 minutes and 17 seconds long.
After listening, Lin Mo stood in place for a long time without moving.
He felt like he might be becoming “ill” too. The piece wasn’t a masterpiece, but it touched him so deeply that his nose felt stingy. Various “chance encounters” from his past life flashed before his eyes, along with the disgust and avoidance he had felt at the time.
After a long while.
Lin Mo took out his phone and quickly sent a text to Su Ran:
‘The song is beautiful. Starting tomorrow, will you teach me how to play?’
Su Ran replied instantly: ‘Okay. But you’re not allowed to laugh at me if I play poorly.’
Lin Mo laughed out loud. He looked up at the sky, where the sunset glow was burning brilliantly.
He knew he had fallen for her, and he didn’t regret it 1 bit.