The classroom buzzed with chaotic noise. Someone roughhousing bumped her desk—again. The towering book stack teetered precariously. The page she was about to turn slipped free and hit the floor. She dusted it off, but a stubborn black smudge remained, marring the book’s pristine surface. Unsettling. Wrong.

No apology came. Not a single word.

As the clamor faded, Xia Qian’ge lowered her long lashes. She smoothed the crumpled page with gentle fingers, expression unreadable, and kept reading.

Reading was meant to offer a flicker of empathy, to calm a restless heart. But as she turned the page, her eyes locked onto a passage. Held there. A surge of emotion flooded her pounding heart, rippling through every limb, every vein.

The printed words read:

*"Without you, I drag my frail body through a soulless, sickly existence, refusing treatment. With you, I remain frail, still sickly—you mock me as a mere medicine bottle. I was utterly disappointed… never knowing you’d say: I am precisely the medicine that heals you."*

Xia Qian’ge murmured the lines softly… yet with unwavering conviction.

Whispers swirled around her. Most boys had vanished to watch the basketball game, leaving half the classroom empty. Freed from pretense, the girls laughed loudly, roughhoused, gossiped. Xia Qian’ge sat among them—strikingly out of place.

Exceptional souls walk alone. She smiled at everyone, kept perfect distance. But if you’re equally close to all… isn’t that the same as being close to none?

She didn’t care. She’d never join their giggly gossip about crushes—their shy, giddy tones laid bare every teenage fantasy.

…

“Ugh, why are boys so obsessed with basketball? Vanished the second the game started! Exams are *next week*—zero stress?”

“Boys love showing off. Waiting for girls to cheer. So childish. Wait—how many from our class are playing?”

“Chen Kai, Wang Mingle… oh, and Su Yu.”

“Tsk tsk—why’d you blush saying *Su Yu*? Suspicious!”

“I’ve always liked him. Duh?”

“Only ’cause he’s hot. Be real—you think you’ve got a shot?”

“Why not?”

“But isn’t Su Yu into—"

The voice cut off. Heavy implication hung in the air.

“Don’t spread rumors! He carried my homework before—so gentle. We chatted late on WeChat just days ago!” The girl dropped her voice, giddy. “None of you get that. Anyway… I’ll confess after graduation.” She raised her chin, voice ringing clear: “I’ve staked my claim! No one’s taking him!”

“Wow… so *that’s* why you turned down that confession!”

“Hehe…”

…

Xia Qian’ge closed her book. Her weary gaze trailed the sunset’s glow to the distant court. He was there. She could just make out the crowded stands.

Too many eyes on him… She hated it. A bad omen.

Her delicate brows furrowed. The louder the gossip, the fiercer the cheers from the court—the more her chest tightened. Beneath her bangs, her eyes glazed with ice. She deepened her breaths, forcing calm. *This lapse… unacceptable.*

*Xia Qian’ge… what are you doing? Showing weakness?*

It wasn’t just irritation. Something had begun slipping from her grasp. She’d etched herself slowly, deliberately, into his vision—waiting for the day he’d see *only her*.

But now… his clear eyes held other things. Glances shortened. Messages dwindled. He no longer searched for her silhouette. The boy whose naive, obsessive devotion once burned for her… had changed.

Why? Why stray from the path? Every shift demanded new plans. If the fish leaped from the pond into the endless ocean… she’d lose him forever.

A flicker of fear. The old him would never glance at those girls. But now? Uncertainty coiled inside her. *Time to act.*

*She would win. She must.*

Unseen by herself, wild ambition bloomed beneath her quiet shell—threatening to drown her.

Her sharp nail scored the page, leaving a deep groove. *Every speck of affection in his eyes—down to the tiniest grain of dust—belongs to me. Not a shred more. Not a whisper less.*

She rose abruptly. Her gaze swept the chattering girls—cold as a blade.

She turned toward the restroom… then froze.

…

“Su Yu’s game’s starting. Let’s go!”

“Tsk… *really*?”

“Don’t play dumb. I’m cheering for him!”

…

A faint, icy smile touched Xia Qian’ge’s lips. She dismissed the girls behind her—no rivalry, no interest. But *she* would act. Call it honey for a pet. His pupils would hold only *her* reflection.

She pivoted. Descended the stairs.

Beyond the skylight, clouds burned crimson. Fire swallowed the sky. The blood-stained sunset framed her silhouette in scarlet light.

Her retreating figure—solitary, obsessive—a starving wolf that sinks its teeth and *never* releases. Not until rivers run red. Not until she collapses. Only then… would she relent.