"Every seven years, a person dies once."

"The human body renews all its cells in a seven-year cycle. After seven years, every single cell in you will have been replaced."

"At that moment… do you still feel like *you*?"

Inside a classroom buzzing with chatter,

Lu Yu rested his head on the desk, feigning sleep while eavesdropping on his deskmate and the boy beside him debating bizarre life philosophies.

Midsummer heat turned the classroom into a giant steamer—sticky, suffocating.

This stingy school had no AC; even the ceiling fans ran on the lowest setting.

Above Lu Yu, the white fan whirred endlessly, yet its breeze couldn’t stir a single strand of his hair.

With a lazy shift, he buried his face in his elbow, ready to sleep straight through to noon.

"Lu Yu. Math homework."

Peace lasted half a second before a sharp rap on the desk jolted him awake.

He lifted his head. Clear, bright black eyes met his.

A faint floral scent drifted from her. A high ponytail tied neatly with a red ribbon.

Beneath a light-blue top, a crisp pleated skirt fell just so. Long legs, polished black shoes—every detail radiating youthful charm.

She stood firm before him, scanning his drowsy face. Tapped the desk again.

"Hand it in."

She was class monitor—and Jiangshui No.1 High’s undisputed campus beauty.

Fair-skinned, cheerful, effortlessly popular. Rumored to be from a wealthy family.

The kind whose looks and status alone made her forum gossip fodder.

Most guys would stutter if she spoke to them.

Lu Yu just glanced up lazily.

He had zero interest in girls. Or guys.

All he wanted was more sleep, then two chicken legs at lunch.

As for the "math homework"?

"Didn’t do it."

Lu Yu stated it plainly.

"Fine. I’ll report it to the teacher."

She didn’t flare up. Offered a faint, polite smile—maybe duty, maybe warning.

Lu Yu couldn’t be bothered. Just grunted, "Oh," and dropped his head back onto his arms.

"Whoa… damn, Brother Lu."

No sooner had she left than Ren Jie whispered beside him.

"Only you’d stand up to the school beauty like that. Me? I freeze just *looking* at her."

Ren Jie—skinny, short, glasses perpetually sliding down his nose, same white T-shirt for years—shrank his shoulders, eyes still wide with awe.

His parents named him hoping for greatness.

Too bad he’d been slacking since high school. Senior year, and still no spark.

"Wait—you’re *actually* sleeping?!"

Ren Jie finally realized Lu Yu was dead serious.

Panicked, he shook Lu Yu’s shoulder hard.

"Next class is homeroom teacher’s! Bro, can’t we tough it out one period?"

Shaken relentlessly, Lu Yu cracked an eye open.

"Don’t wake me. For anything."

"You’d skip *his* class too?"

"Too tired."

"Ugh… fine! I’ll wake you at noon, *gege*!"

Ren Jie gave up. He was used to his deskmate’s stubbornness.

It was Lu Yu’s fearless attitude that made Ren Jie call him "Brother" for three years.

Good-looking, bold, gaming god, top-tier stamina—Lu Yu had it all.

Except grades. And in school, that dimmed everything.

Still, girls noticed. Glances flew his way.

But in two years as deskmates, Ren Jie never saw Lu Yu hold a girl’s hand.

Some whispered about his orientation.

Ren Jie knew better—he was straight as an arrow. Just cold, detached.

That’s why someone like Lu Yu barely had friends by graduation.

Break time chaos erupted—students shouting from podium to back wall.

Annoyed, Lu Yu slapped a textbook over his head.

In this sweltering heat, sleep was the only escape.

Truth was, heat wasn’t the only reason he was always tired.

His street-facing apartment drowned nightly in traffic and late-night stall noise—a literal hell.

A light sleeper, he’d read novels all night, then crash at school.

Teachers’ lectures? Perfect lullabies.

Especially English class—he’d doze off instantly, sleep through Chinese, physics, chemistry.

He vaguely recalled chemistry being last period.

*Should be time to wake up.*

He waited for Ren Jie to shake him, whisper today’s cafeteria specials.

But… silence.

No chatter. No teacher’s voice. No bell.

Even stranger—the stingy fan now blasted a strong, cool breeze.

Refreshing. Soothing.

But he’d been face-down on his desk.

Lu Yu’s confidence in his internal clock wavered.

He lifted his head. Opened his eyes.

Sixth-floor rooftop. Twenty meters above ground.

He stood at the very edge.

Torn wire mesh behind him. A wobbly iron railing gripped tight in his hands.

One half-step forward…

And he’d fall.

Ice-cold terror shot through his skull. Panic seized him.

Instinctively, he shrieked—high, shrill, *girlish*.

"Ah—!!"

"AAAAH?!?!!!"

First scream: fear of heights.

Second scream: deeper dread.

His voice… thin. Sharp. *Feminine.*

And hauntingly familiar.

*That’s… the school beauty’s voice?!* The one who asked for homework!

Then—a scream rose from the classroom below.

Deep. Masculine. But strained, unnaturally pitched.

"AAAAH—!!"

Lu Yu recognized it instantly.

A cold wave of despair washed over him.

*That voice… is mine.*