Gu Chuan wrapped an arm around the girl's waist.

More than once.

That was why he was even more amazed. Wen Tinghan's waist was so slender, it didn't lose in the slightest even to An Qianmeng, whose waist, legs, and hips were close to perfection.

If Qiu Muzhe was the king of the upper body, then An Qianmeng possessed a pair of legs worthy of being called art.

And Tinghan had already surpassed the vast majority of girls, let alone completely crushed a whole crowd of boys.

Only at this moment did Gu Chuan finally become willing to believe it.

Some boys, once dressed as girls, could bloom with a beauty no less than any real girl. They could even stand above a field of flowers and make the rest jealous.

But his praise and amazement never reached Wen Tinghan's heart.

Her mind was in complete chaos. Sorrow tangled inside her like drifting smoke, like catkins filling a city, like the endless drizzle in plum-ripening season.

But she was keeping her head lowered, so Gu Chuan had no way to read her expression or understand her mood.

Only after a long while did Wen Tinghan finally come back to herself, lost and heartsore.

What greeted her was Gu Chuan's concern.

"Tinghan? Why aren't you saying anything... Are you okay?"

"Sorry... Maybe you didn't want your secret to be known. This is all my—"

After Wen Tinghan's brief silence, Gu Chuan started to feel somewhat guilty.

But the kind of secret he had in mind was just the sort ordinary high school boys had. Hidden manga, game consoles, things like that...

Who would've known Wen Tinghan didn't play by the usual rules at all.

So her hobby was actually crossdressing!

Still, in Gu Chuan's mind, Wen Tinghan was probably the only "boy" who, even in girls' clothes, gave off no sense of mismatch at all. If anything, she only made people want to get closer.

He wasn't going to judge Wen Tinghan's personal interests.

He had eyes that knew how to appreciate beauty.

And Wen Tinghan was beauty itself.

"N-no, it's not like that... Gu Chuan, would you hate... someone like me?"

Wen Tinghan gently set Zaizai down, her voice wavering.

Even though she had been deeply shaken inside, this was, after all, the first time since she could remember that she had bravely faced her true gender.

In the past, troubled by gender identity disorder, she had always seen herself as a boy, and lived and studied that way.

Even the school had been handled in advance by her parents. They made arrangements so Wen Tinghan could study as a boy, rather than be treated as a girl and collapse because of it.

Even though on her student file, under gender, it was written clearly: female.

Still, under the kind lie woven together by her teachers, she had been able to spend her school years with the identity of a boy.

Until she met Gu Chuan.

For the first time, the girl began to think—

If only I were a girl.

How wonderful would that be.

The barrier in her heart stood like a mountain range. Crossing it was harder than reaching the heavens.

No one could understand Wen Tinghan. Every day, she sank into inner struggle, wearing herself down bit by bit.

But her feelings for him were like dripping water boring through stone. Little by little, they carved through the deep mountains and crossed the countless waters between them.

They gave Wen Tinghan, for the first time, the courage to face her true gender.

Her family gradually came to understand her emotions as well. The first was her doting mother.

Her excitement spilled all over her face. It was as if she'd become decades younger, like she was her daughter's peer, gossiping with her about that boy and acting as her love consultant.

Wen Tinghan always talked about how wonderful Gu Chuan was, though she also worried about the endless romantic attention surrounding him.

So her mother taught her baking, taught her cooking, and helped her become the kind of woman who could care for a home.

Men, after all—especially an outstanding man like Gu Chuan—being surrounded by girls and getting lost in a dazzling world of romance, that was perfectly normal.

The key was making him find his way back in the end.

Making him understand who the woman was that could truly walk through life with him.

Then there was her father. When he learned that his daughter had fallen for someone in high school—

and that person was a boy—

the middle-aged man burst into tears. He stood on the balcony for half the night, letting the wind hit him, smoking for hours, all because he was happy.

When other people's kids got into puppy love, their parents wanted to break their legs.

When his own daughter did, he practically wanted to kidnap Gu Chuan over, make them bow as husband and wife on the spot, and send them straight into the bridal chamber!

There was probably no other family so delighted by their child's early romance.

Under treatment from both within and without, Wen Tinghan's condition also grew lighter and lighter.

At last, she understood women. She no longer felt lost. She was willing to accept herself as a girl, to pursue a relationship, and to be brave.

She had even lied for that sake, claiming her Zaizai was a kitten that could do backflips.

And invited Gu Chuan to her home...

Sure, it was an old, very old trick.

But for Wen Tinghan, after accepting her identity as a girl, everything felt so new.

She was innocent to the core. She thought that as long as two people understood each other's hearts, they could stay together for a lifetime.

She was gentle. Her gaze was like the soft wind over spring fields, brushing across Gu Chuan's face every day.

And when he occasionally looked back and smiled, it was like brilliant fireworks burning through Tinghan's entire summer.

Back then, Gu Chuan hadn't noticed Wen Tinghan's true feelings. He only put her off with a next time, leaving her to feel down for a long while on her own.

But today, just as she had hoped—

he had accepted her invitation and come to her home.

Whether Zaizai could do backflips or not... what did that even matter?

The gift her mother had bought for her was a beautiful long dress that the old her would absolutely never have accepted.

But now, it was the honest heart Wen Tinghan was baring in all her nervousness.

People said that if you never stopped thinking of something, eventually it would answer you back.

But Gu Chuan's answer seemed to have taken a different path.

A path Wen Tinghan had never imagined.

"Of course I wouldn't hate you, Tinghan. Whether it's you in boys' clothes, or you in girls' clothes."

"You're still you. My deskmate. My friend."

It was your soul that drew me in, and it was your soul I approached. It had nothing to do with clothes, surroundings, or the world's opinions.

Wen Tinghan naturally understood Gu Chuan's gentleness, but she still felt a little hurt.

Clearly... clearly, I'd already decided to tell you everything.

I wanted to show you all of my beauty. I even wanted to let you... touch it as you pleased... and yet you...

"Idiot..."

At last, she understood what it meant to be a girl, and why, when girls faced a boy's total lack of romantic sense,

they often had nothing to say except one thing—

"Idiot."

And also the occasional willfulness girls were allowed.

"Hold me..."

"Huh?"

Gu Chuan froze for a moment. But in that brief instant of distraction,

Wen Tinghan had already lifted his other arm and guided it around her waist as if no one else in the world existed.

She only felt her body go soft. His fingers tightened instinctively, and something fragile inside her, something longing to lean on someone, trembled.

The first time he hugged her, and she was the one who had taken the initiative.

Should she call it shameful?

Or should she say... even if it was shameful, she still refused to let go?

She wouldn't let go.

So when Wen Tinghan followed her body's instinct and fell backward, Gu Chuan was pulled along with her, stumbling toward the bed.

"Tinghan!"

In the end, they landed in a position that was almost like he had pushed her down, with Gu Chuan on top and Wen Tinghan beneath him.

Their eyes met.

For some reason, Gu Chuan's heartbeat sped up. Even though Wen Tinghan was his deskmate, a boy...

That moment of blankness made both of them ignore the sound outside the door.

"Tinghan, Gu Chuan, I'm back from buying groceries~"

As she spoke, Wen Tinghan's mother pushed open the door to her daughter's bedroom.