Sunday night, Ninghai University held its annual freshman welcome gala, and the central gym swelled like a tide pool as nearly four thousand students and staff flowed in.
Backstage, performers preened like birds before dawn, powder and hairspray hanging in the air like mist. Tang Coco sat on a chair to the side, thumbing her phone like skimming stones across a pond.
Irritation rose first, hot as noon sun. Only then did she tug at her outfit, a look like a drawn blade in her eyes. With “help” from Ye Yiyi and Li Muyan, she’d shed her tracksuit. She wore black bodycon shorts, a blue jacket, and a white cropped tee that flashed like a sliver of moon. Li Muyan swore the look would boost the show’s vibe, and he’d breezed past her glare like wind past reeds.
“Tang Coco, you’re all set for your program, right?” A voice drifted over like a paper note on the breeze.
She lowered her phone and looked up. It was Xu Yinuo.
“Hm? Why are you here?” Her tone was cool as shade under bamboo.
“Why wouldn’t I be? I’m the head of the Arts Committee,” she said, smile neat as a ribbon, “and I’m the one running this gala.”
“Oh. Then that’s a lot of work, Madam Minister.” Her words were flat as still water, the old grudge from last time coiled like a knot in her chest.
“Make sure you perform well,” Xu Yinuo sang, voice sweet and sour like unripe fruit, “or there’ll be consequences~”
Tang Coco rolled her eyes like a tossed marble, stood, and went to wait by the door. Soon Tian Yue and a few young guys came in, carrying gear like ants hauling grain.
“Coco, have you waited long?” Tian Yue’s smile was soft as morning light.
“No. Right on time.” Her reply was crisp as a bell.
She stepped in to help, fingers quick and light as swallows, tweaking knobs and cables. The young guys stiffened, nerves fluttering like moths near a lamp. Up this close to the campus goddess, they caught her faint scent, like osmanthus on a night breeze.
“Coco, what about your costume?” Tian Yue squeezed her hand, curious eyes bright as dew.
“My costume? Isn’t this fine? Honestly, I didn’t even want to wear this…” Resignation pooled in her voice like rain in a basin.
Hearing that, a small disappointment wilted in Tian Yue’s heart like a petal losing its edge; she’d hoped to glimpse Coco in something fire-hot.
In the stands, more students settled, their chatter rolling like a field of crickets. Front and center sat the campus notables. Ye Yiyi and Li Muyan were there, and so were Lu Kai and Qun Shaohua.
“Young Master Qun, I heard Tang Coco’s performing,” a follower murmured, voice low as a drumbeat.
“Oh? Then I’ve got to watch.” Interest flickered in Qun Shaohua’s eyes like flint. He hadn’t planned to come. Last year, as a freshman, he’d had no choice. This year he’d only come to net a few beauties like a fisherman casting wide. But after he’d met Tang Coco, every other face went dull as ash. At his lackey’s words, his spirits rose like a kite in wind.
“Muyan, Coco will be fine, right?” Worry rippled first through Ye Yiyi, a chill like fog over water.
“Relax,” Li Muyan said, steady as a stone. “If she had nothing, she wouldn’t pick this act. Let’s just watch.”
“Dear students, teachers, and leaders, good evening!” At seven, the gala bloomed open like lanterns lit at dusk. The hosts delivered the opener, and the gear at Ninghai University shone—lights sharp as stars, sound rolling like thunder—everything crisp.
Most programs were dance and song, with a few skits like comic gusts. A peacock dance came on—performed by a girl with a willow-slim waist and steel in her bones, likely trained since childhood. In a long green dress, she unfurled center stage, grace flowing like a river. A veil hid her face like morning mist, a pity and a hook.
“Look into who she is,” Qun Shaohua said, voice cool as a shaded spring.
“Got it,” his man answered, quick as a nodding reed.
The peacock dance ended to applause like rain on eaves. The two hosts walked back out, and the female host turned out to be Xu Yinuo.
“Thank you to our last performer for that stunning show,” she said, smile bright as a lantern. “I can feel the heat in the room. While the iron’s hot, let’s welcome our next act—DJ performance by our new campus goddess.”
“Whoaaa!” The crowd roared, sound rising like a bonfire. DJ acts were rare prey at this age, and curiosity about the campus goddess sparked like dry tinder.
The house lights dropped, darkness pooling like ink. Onstage, a few shadows moved like fishing boats at night—staff setting the rigs.
A breath later, an electronic swell rose—Faded’s intro, cool as moonlight on water. The lights slowly brightened. Tang Coco stood in a blue dress, blue headphones with mic cupping her head like a seashell. Her fingers danced over the controller, precise as starlings in formation. After the intro, a clear voice poured from her lips, English clean as a mountain spring. She wasn’t only mixing. She was singing.
“You were the shadow to my light”
“Did you feel us
Another start
You fade away”
Her airy tone drew the audience like a current pulling leaves; ears tipped toward her like sunflowers to the sun.
“Afraid our aim is out of sight
Wanna see us
Alive
Where are you now
Where are you now
Where are you now
Was it all in my fantasy
Where are you now
Were you only imaginary”
The drop hit, a steel-edged surge that lifted the room like a wave lifting a boat.
“Where are you now
Atlantis
Under the sea
Under the sea”
The whole gym rose, hands swinging like a forest of reeds in wind, bodies riding the beat like surf.
“Where are you now
Another dream
The monsters running wild inside of me
I'm faded”
Immersion came first for Tang Coco, deep as a plunge into cold water. She’d chosen this song with a reason. Right now she was as the lyrics said—lost, like a boat in fog. After her change, she fended off troubles like swatting hornets. She hid the truth from new friends like a secret folded under a sleeve. She didn’t dare face old friends or her lover, their names bristling like thorns. The thought tightened her chest, and she poured more of herself in, voice burning like a blue flame.
“Where are you now
Atlantis
Under the sea
Under the sea”
In the sea of waving arms, Ye Yiyi stood apart like a still pond amid rapids. She watched Coco onstage while others bounced, and she listened hard, eyes soft as dusk. She heard the confusion and loneliness inside, a small frame bearing heavy sorrow like a sparrow carrying winter.
“unning wild inside of me
I'm faded
I'm faded
So lost I'm faded
I'm faded
So lost I'm faded”
At last the song ended. The cheer that rose was a thunderclap, rolling through the rafters like a storm.
“Goddess! Goddess!”
“Tang Coco! Tang Coco! Tang Coco!”
The chant beat like drums, and heat rushed to her face like a sudden dawn. She bowed, a blade-lean line against the light, and slipped backstage like a fish into deeper water. Ye Yiyi sprang up too, and ran for backstage, feet quick as rain.
