I wish those cheers and shouts were meant for me someday.

Zhou Zhiyi thought helplessly, but the roaring crowd refused to fade from his ears. He really wanted to stuff cotton in them—but where would he find cotton here?

Forcing himself to ignore the noise, Zhou Zhiyi covered his ears and walked. He truly felt sick.

After what felt like forever, he finally reached the infirmary door. Sighing at the bold characters on the sign, he pushed it open.

"Lot of patients today?" the infirmary auntie remarked. "Weren’t you just here a while ago?"

"This time it’s my stomach," Zhou Zhiyi replied, clutching his abdomen like he’d eaten something bad.

Her words nagged at him. Had many fallen ill today?

He glanced at the nearby beds—and spotted Chu Hui and Mu Shiqi lying there.

"Fate keeps bringing us together," Chu Hui said with a smile that felt refreshingly genuine.

"Seems that way," Zhou Zhiyi returned a smile, but his couldn’t match Qin Huan’s pure, unblemished warmth. A hint of pretense lingered in his.

"Finish your medicine first, boy, then chat in bed," the auntie called. Zhou Zhiyi turned and obediently swallowed the pills.

He doubted medicine could fix this ache—but he took it anyway.

"Lie over there," the auntie pointed to the last empty bed, then put on her earphones. She was watching some funny video, but it wasn’t Zhou Zhiyi’s concern.

He’d never visited an infirmary before. He didn’t know if real ones had beds—but manga and novels always did, for plot reasons.

"Eating snacks while sick?" Zhou Zhiyi picked up a bag from her bedside.

"Can’t a girl have hobbies?"

"I’ve never met a beautiful girl whose hobby was snacking."

"B-b-beautiful girl…?" Chu Hui’s nerves were rabbit-quick. Her already flushed cheeks burned crimson.

"Did you see our class’s opening ceremony? Wasn’t it amazing?"

*Crap. I forgot because of that stupid Truth or Dare game.*

Worse, it hadn’t even yielded useful info.

Should he confess or dodge it? Could he even dodge it? What if Chu Hui pressed him?

Better to be honest.

"Sorry… I forgot to watch," Zhou Zhiyi murmured, his already downcast expression deepening.

"N-no big deal!" Chu Hui stammered, as if terrified he’d blame himself. "Someone must’ve recorded it. We’ll see the whole sports festival later—you don’t need to feel bad!"

Her words confirmed she’d missed her own class’s performance, collapsing straight into the infirmary.

She’d seemed fine earlier. What happened?

"Not sad, really," Zhou Zhiyi said softly, as if drained of all energy. "With a beautiful girl like you around."

"You’re such a smooth talker, Zhou Zhiyi," Chu Hui chided with a playful huff.

Hearing that, Zhou Zhiyi flashed back to Qin Huan calling him a smooth talker on the field. He stared at Chu Hui, lost for a moment.

"Seriously, how do you stay so thin eating all this?" He quickly changed the subject, realizing he’d been staring too long.

"I told you—I exercise regularly!" Chu Hui declared proudly. "Though Mu Shiqi says you’re even better at sports."

"Eh, can’t compare across genders," Zhou Zhiyi shrugged, popping a potato chip into his mouth.

"Fair point," Chu Hui laughed. "Oh! Congrats on your class sweeping first and last place."

The potato chip Zhou Zhiyi had just picked up slipped from his fingers and hit the floor.