The rumors reached a fever pitch during the lunch break.
Lin Mo went to the convenience store to buy some bread and overheard two girls from the adjacent class gossiping.
“I heard that Su Ran from Class One has a phone full of photos of boys?”
“It’s not just photos. She even records what kind of underwear they wear every day!”
“Oh my god, that’s so perverted…”
“I heard she even stalks them home and stakes out their apartment buildings.”
“Hiss… why don’t they call the police? A creep like that should be locked up!”
Lin Mo walked over and said coldly, “Spreading rumors is illegal, you know.”
The two girls jumped in surprise. When they saw it was him, their expressions shifted.
“We weren’t talking about anyone specific…” one girl muttered.
“Do I need to record what you’re saying and hand it over to the teacher?” Lin Mo pulled out his phone.
The girls’ faces paled, and they quickly scurried away.
After buying some water and returning to the classroom, he ran into Zhang Wei and her two lackeys in the hallway.
“Oh, the knight in shining armor is back?”
Lin Mo ignored them and walked straight past.
“Lin Mo, you are the company you keep.”
Zhang Wei spoke in a sarcastic tone, her voice louder than usual. “I suggest you don’t get too close to someone with psychological issues. Who knows what she might do? Don’t end up developing a mental illness yourself.”
Lin Mo stopped in his tracks and turned to look at her. “If I ever do go crazy, you’ll be the first person I kill.”
Zhang Wei was terrified by the look in his eyes and instinctively stepped back in a panic. “Wh— what are you talking about? I’m saying this for your own good.”
“I don’t need it. Mind your own business.”
Lin Mo didn’t bother saying another word and walked straight into the classroom.
For the first time ever, Su Ran wasn’t in her seat.
Her backpack was there, her things were there, but she was gone.
After a moment of thought, Lin Mo turned around and left the classroom, heading toward the music rooms.
He once thought he didn’t know her well — and in truth, he didn’t — but somehow, he always knew exactly where she would be.
In which corner she was hiding.
From where she was watching.
In what place she was following him like a ghost.
She was always alone. If he set aside the preconceived stereotypes from his past life, he reached a completely different conclusion. No matter the time or place, she was always enduring and suffering in solitude.
The music building was very quiet; few people came here at this time in the afternoon.
Lin Mo hurried up to the second floor. The door to the innermost piano room was closed, but as expected, the sound of a piano drifted from within.
It wasn’t an etude. It was a violent, intense sound, almost like a physical venting of emotion.
She was playing faster and with more force than usual.
The music, which was originally elegant and beautiful, had become a sound of near-agony, as if she were smashing all her rage into the notes.
Listening to the music, she truly sounded like a madwoman lashing out.
But in her world, besides him, there was only the piano.
It was perfectly reasonable for a musician whose only companion was a piano to use it to release her emotions.
Lin Mo stood outside the door and didn’t enter.
He simply listened.
He listened to the violent arpeggios.
He listened to the hurried, running notes.
He listened to the gasps for breath that almost broke in the middle.
Su Ran was likely crying.
The sound of the piano masked her sobs, but Lin Mo could still hear them.
That suppressed choking sound, welling up from the depths of her chest, was tucked into the gaps of the music.
He leaned against the wall with a heavy frown and closed his eyes.
‘Was she like this in my past life too?’
Misunderstood, isolated, and forced to vent alone in a piano room.
Playing until her fingers were red and swollen, playing until she was exhausted, and then wiping away her tears to continue being the perfect “Piano Girl.”
No one listened to her explanations, and no one stood by her side.
It wasn’t until the day he was about to die that she finally dared to hold him and cry.
The piano music stopped abruptly, and a long silence fell over the room.
Lin Mo waited patiently for five minutes, giving Su Ran time to compose herself.
He knocked.
There was no response from inside.
Lin Mo continued to knock regardless and said, “Su Ran, it’s me.”
Footsteps approached, and the door opened.
Su Ran stood in the doorway, her eyes red and swollen, tear tracks still visible on her face.
“Is something wrong?”
Her voice was a bit raspy, but her expression was as calm as a pool of stagnant water.
Lin Mo held out the mineral water and bread he had just bought. “These are the pineapple buns I like. The convenience store was having a promotion. I bought ten and ate nine, but I really can’t eat any more. Here, they’re yours.”
The convenience store… a promotion?
Su Ran had been in no mood for anything, but his excuse was so…
It was an indescribable, subtle feeling. In short, she was stunned and almost forgot the sadness in her heart.
“…Thank you.”
“Can I come in?”
Su Ran held the bread and water in her arms, hesitated for a moment, and then stepped aside to let Lin Mo in.
The piano room was the same as always: a piano, a music stand, and a green ivy plant.
Today, there was no sheet music on the stand. Instead, there was a photo — a photo of Lin Mo.
It was taken during the last basketball game, at the moment he went for a jump shot.
To be honest, it was a great shot. The sunlight had plated him with a golden border, making his focused expression look like a god descending to earth. He looked incredibly handsome.
Noticing Lin Mo’s gaze, Su Ran hurriedly walked over to hide the photo.
“I’m sorry, I— I shouldn’t have stolen…”
Before she could finish, Lin Mo suddenly interrupted, “That’s a really handsome shot. Can I have a copy?”
Su Ran nearly choked even without eating the bread. She looked up, dazed.
Lin Mo met her gaze and repeated with a smile, “Can I have one?”
Su Ran didn’t speak.
She continued to look at the boy in front of her, and her swollen eyes seemed to grow even redder.
As a mist began to blur her vision, she quickly crouched down and took out an album from under the piano bench with her head lowered.
She flipped it open. It was full of photos of him.
There were photos of him playing ball, walking, reading, and even sleeping facedown on his desk.
Every single one was captured with near-perfect beauty. The angles, lighting, and composition were all professional.
It was as if she were photographing a sacred, inviolable being; anything less than a perfect shot would have been a sin.
“Am I really this handsome? Did you take all of these?”
Lin Mo used a slightly exaggerated tone as he crouched down to scan them curiously.
Su Ran’s face was already flushed crimson. She didn’t dare look at Lin Mo, not even with a sidelong glance.
Fortunately, some level of trust had been built over this period, and since there wasn’t a hint of blame in Lin Mo’s tone, she remained panicked and afraid but still held the album open for him to see.
“I used a… telephoto lens to take them from a distance. It shouldn’t have bothered you.”
Su Ran tried to explain in a tiny voice.
Lin Mo ignored her explanation and took the album from her hands to look through it carefully.
From the start of tenth grade until now, there were at least nearly 1,000 photos.
They recorded his change from boyishness to maturity, from being carefree to occasionally frowning.
“Why did you take these?”
Lin Mo asked in a low voice, thinking to himself that he deserved the ache he felt.
“…Because I wanted to remember.”
Su Ran almost buried her head in her knees, her hands trembling as she spoke. “I wanted to remember every way you looked. When you were happy, sad, serious, relaxed… I was afraid that one day I would forget.”
Lin Mo was rendered speechless.
He even wondered if Su Ran was doing this on purpose. Saying so much at a time like this — every word and every sentence felt like a slow cut to his heart, making it ache with sorrow.
“You won’t forget. You’ll always be here, and I’ll always be here.”
Lin Mo didn’t know what else to say, so he simply reached out, placed his hand on Su Ran’s head, and ruffled her hair.
Su Ran’s eyes widened suddenly, her breath hitched, and tears immediately began to fall.
Lin Mo couldn’t see her expression, only the crystal droplets shattering on the floor.
He closed the album and handed it back to her, saying softly, “These photos are your precious memories. Don’t think they’re wrong just because of what others say.”
Su Ran finally lost control. She kept wiping her eyes with her hands, her voice sobbing. “But they all say… I— I’m a pervert, a stalker, a psycho…”
As it turned out, her behavior this morning had been an act.
She wasn’t just socially anxious, and she wasn’t that brave or strong.
“That’s because they don’t understand.”
Lin Mo hadn’t understood before either, but now he felt it deeply. “They don’t understand what it means to truly care. They don’t understand the desire to remember every aspect of a person. But… I think I understand you.”
Seeing that Su Ran was unmoved, he paused and changed the subject. “I’m just curious about one thing. How are you so good at everything you do? It’s not enough to be my exclusive analyst; you want to be my exclusive photographer too?”
“Are you an ancestor sent down to help me conquer the world?”
The last sentence caught her off guard and successfully made Su Ran burst into a small laugh through her tears.
Even though it was a very brief, stifled giggle, it was enough.
Su Ran turned her head away and whispered, “Thank you. Thank you for not hating me.”
“How could I hate it?”
Lin Mo sighed. “It’s an honor to have someone record my life so earnestly.”
Su Ran looked up at him. Her tears were still flowing, but the light had returned to her eyes.
“Lin Mo,” she said.
“Yeah?”
“If… if I really transfer schools, will you still remember me?”
“Of course.”
Lin Mo laughed without hesitation. “And I’ll come find you. Every week. Or maybe every day if it’s close enough. I’ll make you analyze for me, take photos for me, and play the piano for me until you’re sick of me.”
Su Ran smiled, though the tears fell even harder. “I’ll never get sick of you. Never.”
The piano room grew quiet, leaving only the sound of the wind blowing through the leaves outside the window.
After a while, Su Ran wiped her tears and kept glancing at the boy beside her.
Lin Mo asked with a hint of amusement, “What is it?”
“Actually… I have a way to deal with the rumors.”
“What way?”
Su Ran clutched the album in her arms and mustered her courage. “I’ll go public. The album, my records, everything. I’ll show everyone and let them know that I’m just… just…”
She trailed off, unable to finish the sentence.
Lin Mo was stunned. “Are you sure?”
Su Ran shook her head honestly. “If I’m really going to transfer, I want to be brave once before I go. Even if I’m mocked or criticized, at least… I’ll have ‘said’ it.”
Her hands were shaking as she spoke, but her gaze gradually became firm.
Lin Mo agreed without a second thought. “I’ll be with you.”
Just then, the bell rang for class, cutting off whatever Su Ran was about to say.
They walked out of the piano room together.
The sun was bright, lighting up the hallway.
When they reached the stairs, Su Ran suddenly said, “Lin Mo.”
“Yeah?”
“If… if everyone hates me after I go public, will you still…”
“I will.”
Lin Mo interrupted her firmly. He turned his head to look at her and said, “I’ll tell them that they hate you because they don’t know you and don’t want to know you. But I know you, and I want to know you more. So, I will always stand by your side.”
Su Ran stopped and looked at him. There was the shimmer of tears in her eyes, but also the shine of starlight.
She didn’t know what to say.
She only knew that Lin Mo was the first and only person in her life to ever say he would stand by her side.
***
During the first period of the afternoon, the homeroom teacher, Teacher Wang, entered the classroom early.
“Give me five minutes of your time.”
Teacher Wang scanned everyone with a serious expression, her voice low. “I’ve heard some unpleasant rumors going around the class. I want to emphasize that students should respect one another. Do not spread unverified information, and certainly do not maliciously slander others.”
Most of the students lowered their heads, not daring to meet the teacher’s eyes.
Zhang Wei’s expression shifted uncomfortably.
“If there are conflicts, you can come to me for mediation.”
Teacher Wang tapped the desk and said harshly, “Gossiping behind people’s backs and fabricating rumors is something the school absolutely does not allow. Once verified, it will be handled with the utmost seriousness.”
After finishing, she glanced at Zhang Wei.
Zhang Wei immediately looked down, her fingers twisting together.
After class, Teacher Wang called Lin Mo to the office.
“Lin Mo, you’ve been close to Su Ran lately. How has her mood been?”
“She’s fine, just under a bit of pressure.”
Teacher Wang sighed and shook her head. “I’ll handle this situation. Lin Mo, I have to remind you that this is your senior year. It’s the most critical time. Don’t let other things distract you.”
Lin Mo shook his head decisively. “I can’t just ignore a friend being bullied.”
“A friend, huh?”
Teacher Wang looked at him deeply and said earnestly, “I’m not against you two being friends, but for both of you, studying is the most important thing right now. And… that girl, Su Ran, is indeed a bit special. You need to keep a sense of boundaries.”
“I understand. Thank you for your concern, Teacher.”
***
By the time school let out, the rumors were still circulating.
Lin Mo followed instructions and didn’t directly confront anyone. Instead, he proactively found Su Ran. Ignoring the anxiety in her eyes, he walked side by side with her out of the classroom in front of everyone.
Zhang Wei watched them from behind, her gaze complex.
Once they stepped out of the school gates, Su Ran visibly relaxed, though she seemed a bit frustrated.
Lin Mo looked at her slightly puffed-out cheeks and wondered how there could be such a cute girl in the world. In his past life, he must have been truly blinded to have missed her.
He suddenly leaned in and said, “Maybe you shouldn’t go public. I don’t want other people to get to know you.”
Su Ran’s pupils shrank. Her brain seemed to lag for a moment before she looked down as if she had been electrocuted.
She wasn’t frustrated anymore. To be precise, she had forgotten about being frustrated.
“You always say things like that… I’ll take them seriously.”
“I mean them seriously.”
Ignoring Su Ran’s rapid breathing, Lin Mo said earnestly, “So, if you don’t want to transfer, I’ll help you. We’ll find a way together.”
As soon as he finished, a fragrant breeze drifted away.
Su Ran took off like her feet were greased, suddenly accelerating and running incredibly fast.
It was as if Lin Mo would turn into a hungry wolf and devour her the next second.
Although that was exactly what she wanted most, she couldn’t stay there a moment longer. She didn’t know how to face him.
Lin Mo stood in place as usual until Su Ran’s figure disappeared.
Soon, his phone vibrated with a familiar buzz.
It was a text from Su Ran:
‘Thank you for today.’
‘PS: You’re my hero.’
Lin Mo exhaled a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. A faint smile appeared on his lips as he quickly typed a reply: ‘You’re welcome. You’re my hero, too.’
As he hit send, he looked up at the sky.
Looking at the sky that was identical to the one in his past life, Lin Mo suddenly felt that the world of this rebirth was like a battlefield, and the fight had only just begun.
In this battle to start over, both he and she possessed a suit of armor called “each other.”
In his past life, he had died, but she hadn’t let him lose.
Now, it was his turn. He couldn’t let her lose either.