Unconsciously, the palms of the two girls had already pressed tightly together.
Feeling the warmth from the other’s skin, Bai Yan’er’s face gradually revealed a satisfied, intoxicated smile.
On the podium, Professor Xie had already started calling student numbers.
The student who was called stood up and stammered out their understanding.
The classroom was filled with a tense atmosphere.
Yan Yu tried hard to focus on the lecture, but the continuous tingling sensation on her hand kept scratching at her nerves.
‘It’s itchy, and there’s an indescribable strange feeling.’
‘Is this hand-holding posture a bit strange?’
‘And… why is she rubbing like this?’
‘I seem to be associating it with some weird images…’
She turned her head again and looked at Bai Yan’er.
Her younger sister was still looking down, her long lashes drooping, hiding the emotions in her eyes.
All Yan Yu could see was the slightly upturned corner of her mouth.
As if sensing Yan Yu’s gaze, she looked up, met her eyes, and then broke into a sweet smile.
She even tilted her head and mouthed silently, “Sister, pay attention to the lecture.”
😨’Is this the way you want me to pay attention?’
Even as she thought this, the subtle strange feeling in Yan Yu’s heart was somewhat dispelled by this smile.
She turned back somewhat abashedly, redirecting her gaze to the blackboard.
‘I must be overthinking it, right?’
‘Bai Yan’er is just cold-handed and wants to cling to someone. She’s been like this since she was a child, liking to hold my hand and lean on me.’
‘Doing that… probably doesn’t mean anything else.’
Yan Yu said this to herself, trying to suppress that trace of discomfort.
She refocused her attention on the podium.
Professor Xie had already finished the first round of roll call questions and began to formally explain the historical origins and core propositions of the theory.
He wrote several keywords on the blackboard.
Yan Yu quickly picked up her pen and frantically took notes in her notebook.
Before long, the second round of roll call began.
…
At the back of the classroom, near the corner by the back door.
“Hey, stop sleeping. They’re about to call on student numbers to answer questions again.”
Dai Feng gave A Yue, whose head was already nodding and about to collapse onto the desk, a not-too-light nudge with her elbow.
“Huh… Huh?” A Yue jolted awake.
She dazedly wiped her mouth, where there was no saliva, and her unfocused eyes took a few seconds to clear.
“What? Call on student numbers? Oh my god!”
She instantly sobered up a lot and frantically rummaged through her school bag for her notebook and printed materials.
“Oh no, oh no, I stayed up too late gaming last night and didn’t finish reading the materials! Old Man Xie, please don’t call on me, please don’t call on me. I vow not to eat midnight snacks for a month if I get through this safely…”
Dai Feng looked at her like she was facing a great enemy and wanted to laugh but held it in.
She lowered her voice and said, “You think saying no will stop it? Professor Xie’s random roll call system is known as the ‘Academy’s First Fair Poison Tool,’ specifically designed to cure skipping class and slacking off. Get up and cram now. Want to borrow my notes?”
A Yue grabbed them like a treasure and muttered while reading.
“Sister Feng, you’re really my goddess! But speaking of,” she said while quickly browsing Dai Feng’s well-organized notes, she couldn’t help but glance at Dai Feng with a suspicious look.
“I feel like… you’re listening even more attentively than I am. Did you really come because you ‘suddenly became interested in art’? Could it be that you’ve been possessed by something?”
Dai Feng felt an inexplicable pang of guilt under her gaze but didn’t show it on her face.
She casually picked up a bottle of mineral water from the table and took a sip, saying in a nonchalant tone, “I’m here anyway, so I might as well listen. It’s not like I have anything better to do. The old man is strict, but he does know how to teach.”
She pointed her chin toward the podium.
“Hurry up and study. You might be next.”
“Oh, oh, oh!”
A Yue’s attention was immediately diverted.
She buried her head in the notes, silently mouthing the convoluted terms.
Dai Feng secretly breathed a sigh of relief, but her gaze involuntarily drifted again toward the front of the classroom, to the seat by the window.
From her angle, she could clearly see Yan Yu’s silhouette, and… the stunningly beautiful girl sitting closely next to her.
‘Who was that girl? I feel like I’ve seen her before.’
‘Art department?’
‘Judging by her style and dress, she seems to be studying fine arts or design. She and Yan Yu… seem very close?’
Dai Feng saw the girl lean over and whisper something to Yan Yu.
She saw Yan Yu laugh at something she said.
She saw the girl almost leaning her entire body toward Yan Yu.
She saw her… under the desk, holding Yan Yu’s hand?
Then the two hands started rubbing.
‘Huh?’
‘Wait, what’s going on?’
It was a bit far away, so Dai Feng wasn’t sure if she had seen correctly.
But the two were extremely close, their posture intimate.
Anyone who saw them would think their relationship was no ordinary one.
An inexplicable feeling of discomfort quietly crept into Dai Feng’s heart.
It was like a small ball of waterlogged cotton had been stuffed into her chest—heavy, wet, and suffocating.
She hadn’t known Yan Yu for very long, but in her impression, even in front of Su Qinghan, Yan Yu mostly kept her head down and was submissive.
She rarely showed such a relaxed, natural smile tinged with helplessness and indulgence.
But now, she was smiling at that girl.
And they were holding hands.
Dai Feng’s brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.
She looked away, forcing herself to stare at the blackboard, at the densely packed jargon Professor Xie had written on it.
But only a few seconds later, her gaze slipped back as if it had a mind of its own.
That girl was holding Yan Yu’s hand, seemingly gently stroking and playing with it.
At first, Yan Yu seemed to want to pull it back, but in the end, she didn’t and let her hold it.
On the podium, Professor Xie was talking about “Dérive,” “Détournement,” “Society of the Spectacle”…
Those words entered her ears but failed to penetrate her somewhat chaotic mind.
She remembered yesterday at the bar, the message she had inexplicably sent to Yan Yu.
Yan Yu had replied later, very simply: “Okay, the notes have been sent to you.”
That distant attitude was completely different from how she was with this girl in front of her.
Dai Feng’s fingers unconsciously curled, and her fingertips gently tapped the cold desktop.
‘Why did I come here?’
‘Was it really just a sudden “interest in art”?’
‘No, it wasn’t.’
Dai Feng vaguely knew in her heart how untenable the excuse she used to fob off A Yue, and even herself, was.
‘Art? Maybe I don’t hate it, but I definitely didn’t suddenly love it.’
‘I came here because I wanted to see Yan Yu.’
‘I told myself it was just curiosity, definitely not because of anything else.’
‘But now that I see it, what is this strange, sour feeling in my heart?’
‘Is it because I saw Yan Yu being so close to someone else?’
‘Is it because that pretty girl occupied the position beside Yan Yu that might have originally… belonged to someone else?’
Dai Feng was startled by the thought that flashed through her mind.
‘Belongs to someone else? Belongs to who?’
‘Belongs… to Su Qinghan?’
‘No, that’s not it.’
‘Then… does it belong to me?’
This thought was even more absurd.
‘What are she and I, really?’
‘We don’t even have a solid enough relationship to be called friends.’
But the persistent gloom in her chest was so real.
“Hey, Sister Feng,” A Yue used her elbow to nudge her and lowered her voice.
“It’s over! They didn’t call on me! Thank heavens! Thank Professor Xie for sparing my life!”
Dai Feng snapped back to reality and realized it was almost time for class to end.
‘What’s all this about auditing a lecture? I’ve been staring at Yan Yu for almost the entire class.’