The cicadas' song was summer's background music. Without it, the season felt incomplete.

The old electric fan beside Yue Feather creaked as it spun, threatening to fall apart any second.

He sat alone at his desk, facing a laptop. Words appeared on the blank Word document with each tap of his fingers.

The ancient air conditioner roared loudly, harmonizing with the fan into a uniquely rhythmic tune.

It was so outdated that only with the fan's help did it feel cool.

In that blank document, he built his own story: his future self traveling back in time, becoming a girl, and falling in love with his past male self.

The story was sweet, but his heart felt sour and bitter.

Stories were just stories; such things never happened in reality.

No matter how beautifully written, he remained alone in the real world.

Only the poster of a smiling anime girl on the wall brought a trace of comfort to his heart.

As he typed the final period, he sighed deeply. He actually envied his own protagonist—something he had created.

Yue Feather rubbed his swollen eyelids. It felt like tears might spill, yet none came, leaving him uneasy.

Growing up probably made tears harder to shed—even when his heart ached far more than he showed.

He lived alone, without parents. The only difference from his story was the era: he set his tale over a decade ago, while he lived in 2017's fast-paced tech world.

Outside, skyscrapers or half-demolished buildings filled the view. Each sight chilled him with loneliness.

A sparrow perched on the windowsill. As Yue Feather stepped closer, it flapped away swiftly, leaving his raised arm to drop gently.

Gazing at the city lights, he wondered how many others in those bright rooms were alone like him.

Yue Feather didn't truly hate solitude; it just made him more sentimental over time.

"If only 'she' existed in reality too," he murmured, turning his head to imagine a shy young girl in his mind.

He merged his fantasy with reality like a 3D projection.

He'd tried this countless times, but reality and imagination never blended. Perhaps that was the barrier between 2D and 3D worlds.

The 'her' trapped in his mind couldn't step into reality.

Bored, he adjusted the fan. Its breeze gently lifted the silver bell hanging on the doorknob.

"Jingle~" A crisp, distant sound, as if echoing across time or from another world.

The chime made Yue Feather dizzy. In that haze, his peripheral vision caught a glimpse of a rising white dress hem and a delicate foot.

Startled, he whipped his head around—but saw nothing.

Upon reflection, the girl in white resembled the smiling anime poster.

Perhaps it was just a hallucination from dizziness.

But Yue Feather didn't resist. He sat down, trying to recapture that hazy feeling.

He longed to see his imagined girl in reality, even as an illusion...

Yet that state wasn't easy to enter. His focus sharpened instead, bringing no girl—only weariness.

Unnoticed, lights in homes had gone out. Night had deepened; it was late.

Yue Feather gently touched the poster, chuckled self-deprecatingly, and turned off the light.

The dream was hazy. He vaguely felt someone holding him—her body small, her breath warm, her embrace tender...

He didn't want to wake from such a dream.

But he knew it was just a dream.

The longer it lasted, the more he worried the alarm would shatter this beauty.

Unexpectedly, it wasn't the alarm that woke him—it was the crisp bell chime.

Yue Feather opened his eyes groggily to clear, stream-like eyes staring intently. Following his gaze, he saw a delicate face and falling strands of hair.

He widened his eyes, then controlled his consciousness, refusing to wake fully. He stayed deliberately drowsy.

They gazed at each other until the alarm rang—and she vanished as if she'd never existed.

Yue Feather sighed regretfully. He knew it was just a hallucination.

Yet how he craved a girl's companionship—even if illusory...

After morning wash-up, he slowly left the house.

He looked back countless times, hoping to see her, but each glance revealed nothing.

Yue Feather pondered how to bring her back. Subconsciously, the bell chimed in his mind.

And she actually appeared.

Standing right beside him.

Yue Feather looked at her; she looked back. They gazed silently.

People bustled past, but in his eyes, her figure grew clearer.

He grabbed her small hand. Though gripping only air, it felt like holding something warm and soft.

Part of his mind stayed clear.

He knew it was an illusion. He knew the girl had no true personality; if she did, it was his own thought pattern—or another facet of himself.

But he willingly sank into this beauty. Unwilling to break it, he held her hand and entered the subway.

Passersby glanced sideways, puzzled by his gesture of gripping empty air.

Not a word was spoken past security, as if by unspoken understanding.

Finally, Yue Feather tried introducing himself.

"Hello... I'm Yue Feather."

He only moved his lips symbolically; the words echoed in his mind.

She moved her lips too, as if speaking, but her voice sounded only in his head.

"I'm Silver Bell. I appear when the bell rings~" She smiled sweetly, sweeter than any candy he'd tasted.

"Your hand... is so soft."

"Yours is strong and gives security," she said with a light laugh.

Yue Feather instinctively tightened his grip.

"Ouch," she whispered softly, tender like a coquette's plea, yet utterly genuine.

"Hey! Yue Feather, spacing out at air again?" A hand slapped his shoulder hard. Ji Fan's hearty laugh boomed. "No homework done? No need to be this absent-minded!"

Silver Bell vanished the moment Yue Feather was startled awake.

Annoyed, he swatted Ji Fan's hand away. "Don't scare me like that, okay."

"Haha, seriously? That scared you?"

"I was thinking about something important," Yue Feather said earnestly, stressing "important."

"Pfft, what important thing could you have?" Ji Fan laughed, shoving him. "Hurry up, the subway's here."

Normally used to solo subway rides, meeting Ji Fan should've sped time. But Yue Feather felt distracted, this ride ten times longer than usual.

Finally in class, he sat at his corner seat—rarely disturbed.

There, he could quietly slip back into that hazy state.

The classroom noise faded away.

The crisp chime of Silver Bell rang in his mind again. She reappeared before him.

She stood beside him, not in white but in his high school uniform, looking like a classmate.

The plain uniform couldn't hide her beauty.

The only oddity: though summer, she wore the autumn version, hands tucked in sleeves, only half her fingers showing.

Leaning on the windowsill, she watched teachers and students exercising below. "They're so energetic," she said to Yue Feather.

"Mm, yeah..."

"Aren't you going down to run?" She blinked her big eyes at him.

"Uh... I'm not good at sports..."

"Just think of it as exercise."

"But... it's not that early anymore, is it?"

"There should still be about ten minutes before morning reading. Why not go for a run? Youth is all about sweating it out! I'll cheer you on from the sidelines!"

"Okay... I... I'll head down right now!"

Wei Xiaoxin sat beside Yue Feather, rushing through his homework. He watched Yue Feather suddenly spring up and dash out of the classroom. Puzzled, he muttered, "What was he talking to himself about?"