Su Tong hated crowds.

They were noisy and chaotic. A bunch of people crowded together, shouting each other’s names and talking about last night’s TV dramas, the latest games, the new bubble tea shop by the school gate… There was so much to talk about, which only made the noise worse.

Like a swarm of flies.

Annoying.

So he curled up in the very back corner of the classroom, fumbled around in his desk, pulled out a pair of headphones, and shoved them on. He plugged them into his MP4 player and cranked up the volume, then pulled out a novel and found his place with the bookmark. Little by little, he sank into his own world.

Until someone gently slapped him awake.

His body jolted. Su Tong nearly sprang right off his chair, but managed to fight the urge. Only when an unfamiliar yet familiar voice finally came from behind him did he let out a relieved breath.

It wasn’t the homeroom teacher.

But when he took off his headphones and turned around to see who it was, he froze all over again.

“What’re you reading?”

The girl who’d appeared in front of his desk at some point asked him.

She wore white wedge-sole sneakers and matching ankle socks, along with the same tacky sports-style school uniform as Su Tong. And yet she seemed bright and fresh, smiling sweetly, her ponytail bouncing cutely. Just looking at her was like taking in a beautiful view.

“...A novel.”

Su Tong could only answer honestly, like a clumsy dog.

He was never very good at dealing with girls, and this was no ordinary girl. She was the kind of pretty girl in class who had everyone gathered around her… She excelled at school, had a great personality, and was pretty well-known throughout the whole school.

For a nobody like him in class, having such a radiant beauty approach him and start a conversation was more than enough to leave him flattered and overwhelmed.

So his thoughts got even more jumbled, and he blurted out whatever came to mind.

The girl seemed amused. She smiled kindly and teased him:

“I know you’re reading a novel, Su Tong… I’m curious about what kind of novel it is.”

Su Tong was mortified.

Getting too nervous was bound to lead to this sort of thing… But how was he supposed to fix it?

Unfortunately, he had no idea.

Su Tong had been single his whole life, and he was a completely innocent virgin. A girl holding his hand would be enough to make him blush from head to toe, let alone having a face-to-face conversation with someone this pretty.

So he instinctively looked away, scratched his head, and tried to act calm.

“I-it’s… um… a young-adult fantasy novel. It’s about a dragon slayer… I think.”

His usually smooth tongue had all but given up on him, and his words came out in a muddle.

But the girl didn’t seem to mind.

She was probably used to the Silly Dog look boys like Su Tong got whenever they faced her, so she paid his awkwardness little attention. With her hands behind her back, she leaned in to inspect the book’s cover and casually said:

“Dragon slayers, huh… That’s such an old-fashioned premise. Is it any good?”

“It’s… pretty good.”

“So what’s it about?”

The girl leaned even closer. Her bright, limpid eyes blinked, framed by thick black lashes with a lovely curve.

Her whole face said, “I’m really curious.”

Su Tong could never handle girls who were so forward and didn’t know how to keep their distance, so he grew even more nervous.

His grip on reason was about to snap.

So he secretly pinched his thigh, using the pain to drive every improper thought from his mind. At last, he managed an awkward smile and began:

“The main character’s this miserable kid… He’s had a rough life from the start, and right when everything’s at its worst, when he’s at his lowest and most miserable, an angel suddenly appears. Then he learns he’s the legendary dragon slayer, and he follows the angel to a dragon-slaying academy to learn how to slay dragons—the story’s more or less like that.”

“Hmm.” The girl pressed a finger to her lips and nodded, but the curiosity on her face didn’t fade at all. “The way you tell it, the plot still sounds pretty old-fashioned. And if it’s a story about a dragon slayer, then the academy part should be the main focus, right? Why’d you skip over it completely?”

Her big eyes kept blinking.

“Because… I think the story before the dragon-slaying academy is way more interesting than what comes after.”

Su Tong said it, but guilt kept him from looking her in the eye.

Something deep inside him suddenly caved in, leaving an empty hollow, as if he’d lost something. He fell silent and gripped his headphones tight.

His palms were sweating.

But the girl didn’t seem to notice.

She simply shifted her gaze, smiled again, and said:

“Oh—let me guess. That angel you mentioned is a girl, right?”

“...Yeah.”

“I knew it. So a girl suddenly appears beside the male lead when his life is at its darkest, when he’s at his lowest and most miserable. She saves him and takes him away from the painful life he used to have, bringing him to the dragon-slaying academy. Am I right?”

“That’s right.”

Su Tong nodded, thinking that, as expected of a top student, she could guess most of the details from such a general summary.

But before he could finish marveling, the girl in front of him let out a soft giggle.

“What? We’re already in our senior year, almost graduating, and you still think up stuff like this, Su Tong? Angels don’t just suddenly show up out of nowhere. You’re practically an adult and you still believe in that kind of thing. That’s pretty cu—”

Su Tong didn’t catch the last two words.

A roar had filled his ears.

His thoughts sank, as if he’d plunged into the depths of the sea. Somehow, his senses shut down. All he could feel was darkness and cold. His nerves seemed frozen, leaving him unable to think.

He’d been rejected.

Maybe she hadn’t meant anything by it.

But…

The last light he could hold on to went out, and a bone-deep chill wrapped around him. Maybe he’d never believed in angels himself. He’d only clung to that idea as a false hope.

Now even that false hope—the one he’d used to hypnotize himself—had been snatched away by the girl in front of him, without her even meaning to.

He couldn’t make out what the girl was saying anymore. He could only vaguely hear someone calling her name.

“Tang Yanhua…”

Then the girl, bright as fireworks, waved apologetically.

“Sorry! The teacher’s calling me… I’ll come find you to chat when I have time~”

She turned and left.

Left behind, Su Tong closed his book and grabbed his hair, watching the broken strands fall onto the desk. He gave a weak twitch of his lips.

But then someone else patted his shoulder.

It was a boy.

He wore designer shoes and had a real wannabe-tough-guy haircut. His eyes were full of menace and impatience.

“The boss wants you.”

He said.

Su Tong froze. His pupils narrowed, his shoulders drooped, and his head sank.

Then, stiff as a puppet, he followed the boy out of the classroom, through the corridor, and finally stopped at a stairwell landing on the top floor of the school building.

An unused old classroom stood right beside it. There were security cameras in the corridor, but the landing itself was a blind spot.

As soon as they stopped, three or four rough-looking students closed in around them. The fat one in front put an insincere arm around Su Tong’s shoulder and held out his hand.

“Little bro, your big brother here’s a little short on cash lately… You get me?”

Su Tong just kept his head bowed.

So it really was…?

Where would there ever be…

an angel?

[To be continued]