After a brief exchange with An Jinchu, they’d gotten acquainted, and Luo Chen rested his head on the desk again.

He was a little sleepy. He hadn’t fallen asleep—he was just spacing out.

After coming back to life, he’d changed the course of the future… and An Jinchu had become his deskmate.

How interesting.

An Jinchu had always been a good friend of Luo Chen’s. Of course… their relationship had long since gone beyond just being good friends.

Luo Chen didn’t have many friends. There was An Jinchu, and his former college roommate… and a girl he’d somehow never seen during all three years of high school—and had no desire to see, either.

He probably wouldn’t see her in the future, either.

…………

This seemed pretty nice, Luo Chen thought.

There was once a question people debated: Could men and women ever have a purely platonic friendship?

Whoever came up with that question must’ve had way too much time on their hands.

There’s no need to discuss it. If you don’t like each other, be friends. If you do, get together. Wouldn’t it be great to skip the whole process of chasing after someone?

If one person likes the other and the other doesn’t know—or pretends not to—then as long as they both know where to draw the line, they can still get along just fine.

Friends are a necessity… People are social creatures. Through the long stretch of life, you need some company to keep loneliness at bay.

You can be alone, too. But it has to be your choice. If you choose it yourself, you won’t feel lonely.

Back then, he knew he had a girlfriend… but Luo Chen didn’t dare let her meet An Jinchu. He didn’t even dare show her a photo.

Because Lin Yuqi was mentally unstable at the time. If she found out he had another female friend he was close to… she’d probably lose it.

Then she’d hurt herself again… and Luo Chen would be driven out of his mind.

Love means giving to each other, not holding each other back.

Luo Chen remembered Lin Yuqi saying something like that to him once.

“Luo Chen, I want to apologize… I’ve been such a burden to you. I got trapped in the mud and still expected you to save me. I forgot… you get tired, too. If you’re tired, tell me… I’ll leave your side like a good girl. I won’t blame you.”

Luo Chen froze for several minutes, then held her tightly.

“I don’t expect anything in return for my love. I just want you to love me the same way. I’ll change you. I’ll do my best to save you and lead you out of this darkness. I’ll stay by your side all the way, until you change, until you’re no longer sad and can live on your own. And if you still want to stay with me then… let’s get married.”

He’d always been good at pretending, so Lin Yuqi held him and began to cry.

Lies don’t hurt people. The truth is the sharpest blade.

But he had no choice. He couldn’t just leave her alone… Back then, all he saw in her eyes was the desire to die.

That was why Luo Chen’s love for Lin Yuqi slowly faded. He hated pretending, but he had no choice except to act as if he loved her just as much and would always protect her.

He hated becoming that kind of person.

………………

Luo Chen shook his head, trying to drive those memories away.

He’d been given the chance to start over. He’d said he’d do everything he could to save her.

There was still plenty of time. Lin Yuqi had been perfectly normal throughout high school. The change had started during her first year of college.

He’d tried to find out what happened, but he hadn’t dared ask. His own attempts to investigate had come to nothing—he just didn’t have the means.

He had a terrible suspicion… but he didn’t dare believe it was true.

If nothing else worked, he could try harder this time and get into the same university as her.

…He didn’t realize that this way of thinking

was just him getting trapped all over again.

Sunlight spilled through the window. Luo Chen squinted as he watched Lin Yuqi listen obediently to the lesson.

She’d always been beautiful. He could look at her forever and never get tired of it.

While Luo Chen watched Lin Yuqi, An Jinchu watched him.

“Didn’t you say you didn’t like her?” she murmured very, very softly, her heart aching a little.

“Liar.”

She rested her head on the desk, too, and stopped looking at him.