"I... I've liked you for so long. Ever since we met fifteen years ago, you've been etched into my heart—so... so please go out with me!"

Spurred by my friend's urging and Valentine's Day's massive buff, I recklessly confessed to Mengxiang, my childhood friend of fifteen years.

The girl I confessed to was Mengxiang. Shock flashed across her face; she hadn't expected this. Her cheeks flushed slightly, and she turned her head away flustered, as if deep in thought. After a long silence, she finally spoke—

"C-can... please... wait... wait a moment, Xiao Yuan... I thought we... weren't that kind of relationship—"

Whenever she got nervous, she'd stammer—that was one of Mengxiang's most endearing quirks to me, though she saw it as a huge flaw.

I'd heard childhood friends often couldn't get together because they were too familiar—was that "absence makes the heart grow fonder"? But I still couldn't believe it. Even if I failed, I wanted to try. At least I could break the "childhood friends always end up losers" trope—

"Can't we... stay like before?"

My petite childhood friend asked timidly.

"It's impossible... I really like you! From now on, I don't want to stay just childhood friends. I want you to be my girlfriend!"

I wasn't sure why I said such embarrassing things. I only saw Mengxiang look shocked. She took an unintentional step back—I took it as intentional. Her face flushed redder. Though this broke our agreement, I had to try. This wasn't my friend's urging or a lucky day buff—it was my, Bai Huiyuan's, serious thought!

"So I want you to be my girlfriend! This spot is yours alone! Without you..."

I almost blurted out "I'd die without you"—the most irresponsible line. Honestly, I didn't believe it; no one sacrifices themselves for another. But catching myself leaning that way made me feel fake and guilty.

Mengxiang's face was crimson to the ears. I could almost see steam rising slowly from her head. I felt strange too—normally, I wasn't this nervous even when in trouble. Why were my legs going weak now?

"This is troubling! What you're doing really troubles me! I thought we'd always be childhood friends, but you... you actually—"

The girl covered her burning face and jumped around erratically, like an ant on a hot pan. Amid her frantic hops, squeals escaped. Could I take that as excitement?

But I was stuck on "troubling"—so my actions troubled her? Did my confession embarrass her that much?

"You said it's troubling—were all those ambiguous things you did before not because you liked me? Was it all fake?"

I realized I was losing control—I practically shouted those words. Then my brain went blank and heavy; I wanted to collapse. Was I... just friend-zoned?

"Those things were real. Though mostly my fault, I kept boundaries. Some things shouldn't be done before the right time—and besides, didn't you read too much into it?"

Her voice rose; she argued fiercely. But did that mean she absolutely wouldn't be with me?

"Xiao Yuan... I liked the old you. I liked our relationship. If you want to go further, I'm not against it, but... I just can't accept it now..."

What? So she couldn't accept me? Was everything for nothing? My legs gave way, and I hit the ground—how weak I must look.

Then I heard a scream. By the time I reacted, Mengxiang's voice was gone... Did she not want to see me at all? I never thought I'd disappoint you this much—

I slowly got up, gazing up at the sky above the opposite building at a 45-degree angle. But then I noticed a girl on the second floor watching me—

Had she seen everything?

The worst thought flashed in my mind. I pulled myself up slowly, leaning on the wall, and shuffled out of school with heavy steps. What if I was spotted?

Because of this, I couldn't sleep all night—partly because of that black-haired girl, partly from shame. So the next day, I slept through almost the entire morning at school.

"Haa~"

I stretched. Stretching in class wasn't good, so I waited for the break. I was in a terrible mood. I didn't want to come to school, but I couldn't tell my parents I was skipping because I got dumped—that'd be unreasonable. So I came.

Mengxiang didn't seem to care much, but she stopped greeting me. She sat right next to me by the window, with an empty seat between us.

But her desk was piled with crumpled paper balls. What was that for?

"How'd it go yesterday? Did you succeed?"

The guy in front, Zhou Hao, turned sideways and whispered low in my ear.

"Do I look like I succeeded, Zhou Hao?! Can't you read the room?! If you hadn't pushed me yesterday—I wouldn't have ruined things!!"

Humans are good at shifting blame—I was no exception. Blaming him was easiest.

Also, I blamed that app that lied about it being a lucky day. If it hadn't claimed everything would succeed, I wouldn't have fallen for it. Though, believing it made me hopeless.

"So that's how it is. You really lost everything this time! You can't coo and cuddle with little Mengxiang anymore, huh?!"

His words carried clear mockery. If Mengxiang and I were on bad terms, did these guys think they had a chance?!

"By the way, you definitely didn't get any chocolate yesterday, right?"

Zhou Hao suddenly remembered. What's with the malicious teasing?! You messed me up, and it's not enough?!

"Do I look like I did?!" I replied, half-annoyed, half-amused. "Someone like me should be grateful just to get chocolate from Mengxiang on Valentine's Day—my own sister never gave me any! But from now on, no one will give me chocolate—"

But contrary to my expectations, a piece of chocolate suddenly appeared before me. The giver stood behind me, wrapping her arms around to place it in my lap. The soft touch from behind felt... nice?!

Wait, this was really bad?!

"Sorry—I was too shy to give it yesterday. I came to make it up today. Can you forgive me? De-ar~"

A clear, sweet voice whispered in my ear. I hadn't processed it yet. I stiffly turned my head. A cute, playful face smiled at me—

Shock! Wasn't this the girl I saw yesterday afternoon at the school building?!