In the month leading up to the college entrance exams, Sakura High School carried a faint sense of relaxation and a touch of melancholy beneath its usual tension.

Today was graduation photo day.

Only now could the whole class gather while school leaders were available. Otherwise, after exams ended, some quieter students would vanish in a flash, leaders would disappear too—and the photo would never happen.

Leng Shuang, still innocent at heart, believed this was the only time everyone could genuinely smile. After exams? Faces would be etched with worry. No one would even want to pose.

"Class, hurry down! Our turn!"

Their slightly portly homeroom teacher, Teacher Zhang, called out.

Students trickled toward the field.

"Boys front row, girls behind—line up fast!"

On the wide playground, Teacher Zhang directed with unusual seriousness before the school leaders.

Some girls sighed in disappointment—they’d hoped to stand beside their crushes.

"This class… quite the *quality*," one leader murmured.

"Whoa, Principal! You haven’t seen their grades—how do you know?"

"Hahaha, Old Liu, you don’t get it. When the Principal says *quality*… hehehe~"

"Whoa, you guys… too much!"

Nearby, the leaders stood with celebrity poise—hands behind backs, arms akimbo—radiating authority. Yet their eyes lingered on the boys, especially approving the class’s visual appeal.

"Yu Mo! What are you doing?!"

As the line formed, a conspicuous figure appeared beside Leng Shuang—Yu Mo himself.

Lines usually went tallest to shortest. But Yu Mo, half a head shorter than Leng Shuang, stood fourth, creating a noticeable dip in the boys’ row.

"I’m lining up!"

Yu Mo showed zero shyness, answering Teacher Zhang with dead seriousness.

"You can line up—but why *next* to Leng Shuang?"

"Why *can’t* I stand here?"

"Your height’s not quite right."

"Hehehehaha!"

The whole class burst into laughter.

On this hot summer day, that laughter was pure youthful energy—a rare splash of joy in tense senior year.

"Quick, *here*! That’s your spot."

Teacher Zhang suppressed a smile, pointing midway in the boys’ line.

"Hmph. Bully."

Yu Mo pouted and trudged over.

"What a lively kid," the leaders chuckled.

After minor adjustments:

"Baihezi, with that hair, you’re the brightest girl here," Lin Mo joked to Nikawa Yuriko standing beside him directly behind Leng Shuang.

"I’ve *always* been the most stunning," Yuriko declared, chin lifted—but her eyes dipped for a fleeting moment.

Her gaze traced Leng Shuang’s flawless porcelain neck, then drifted greedily toward hidden curves beneath his collar, as if seeing through fabric. Her breath hitched.

Truly, only she dared stand so confidently behind him.

"Standing next to you is a disaster," the boy beside Leng Shuang sighed with a wry smile.

"Heh." Leng Shuang offered an awkward yet polite smile.

It *was* a disaster.

Leng Shuang’s beauty was overwhelming: jade-smooth skin, crimson lips, pearl-white teeth, eyes so bright and expressive they seemed to speak. In his uniform, he radiated quiet, docile charm—no makeup needed to overshadow every other guy.

Beside him, others felt like fireflies beside the moon, a plodding horse next to a mythical qilin.

Even the lightly made-up boy could only sigh.

"Hey, you’ve got a girlfriend. Leng Shuang doesn’t—ain’t that a win?" another teased.

The boy blushed; a girl in back scratched her head awkwardly.

"Ahem."

Teacher Zhang cleared his throat, turned to the leaders. "Lineup’s set. Your instructions?"

"Mm. Good."

Their eyes, however, kept drifting over the boys—lingering longest on Leng Shuang. The girls in back? Nearly invisible.

"Come on, Principal—sit *here*!" the vice principal joked, pointing to the spot before Leng Shuang.

Everyone tacitly shifted to reserve it.

"Alright, I suppose I must," the Principal said with feigned reluctance, smile unwavering.

*You’re only as old as you feel.*

"Three shots: first, no smiles. Second, big bright grins. Third—thirty seconds to brainstorm your own pose. Go wild!"

Before Teacher Zhang finished, Yu Mo yelled, "Teacher! What if I *can’t* smile?"

"*You!* Always causing trouble! Smile anyway!"

"Hahaha!"

Amid the laughter, the photographer *click*—capturing radiant grins.

"This one’s perfect," he said, showing the proof.

Teacher Zhang nodded, satisfied. *This* would be the smiling shot.

Next: solemn faces. Then free pose.

Leng Shuang hesitated, unsure what to do.

At the very last second—

"Leng Shuang!"

Amid the chatter, a voice behind him called. He turned—

Straight into two smiling faces.

Lin Mo, poised and radiant, arm around Nikawa Yuriko’s shoulders, gazing down with warmth.

Yuriko stood confident, one hand on hip. Sakura-pink hair caught the light; fox-like eyes crinkled with mischief, figure leaning gently against Lin Mo as she smiled at Leng Shuang.

Three pairs of eyes met.

Time froze.

---------

Photos done. Everyone scattered.

"Ugh, Teacher Zhang… calling me short! I’m *average* height for a guy…" Yu Mo grumbled nearby.

But Leng Shuang’s gaze remained distant.

He still didn’t know… whose voice had called his name.