It was the only idea Ye Yubai could come up with—and the dumbest one, too.

Get her wet!

Though there wasn’t much water in the cup.

If he wanted to get her wet enough to make her take off her clothes, he’d have to aim a little more carefully.

But figuring out how to hit the target without making her suspicious or angry would take some skill.

In a situation like this...

Ye Yubai really was a little conflicted.

He could lie to girls and guys he didn’t know very well, but he couldn’t act around Gan Lan.

Especially lately. He kept feeling that Gan Lan’s gaze was sharp—like she knew the past and future, and could see right through him.

That feeling...

He couldn’t exactly say he liked it.

But it didn’t seem all that bad, either.

While Ye Yubai’s mind churned with all sorts of wicked thoughts, his guilty right hand was already reaching for the cup.

Gan Lan was still working through her math problems and checking her answers.

Great.

She hadn’t noticed him at all.

But the moment Ye Yubai’s hand touched the cup, Gan Lan looked up and fixed him with a quiet, piercing stare.

Feeling guilty, Ye Yubai quickly pulled his hand back.

His gaze darted around as he pretended to admire the view.

Gan Lan: “What are you doing?”

Ye Yubai: “Uh... I... I’m a little... a little hot!”

As he spoke, he took off his jacket, grabbed a book, and used it as a fan, fanning himself as hard as he could.

Gan Lan frowned. “Is it really that hot?”

Ye Yubai nodded, forcing an awkward smile. “Yeah, yeah! I mean, it’s this late in the year, so why is it still so hot? Heh, heh...”

Gan Lan stood up and walked over to the window.

She pulled back the curtains and opened the window, letting the fresh air outside pour in.

A chilly wind swept over them both.

It felt like it could pierce straight through to their souls.

Ye Yubai shivered, goose bumps rising across his skin.

Gan Lan glanced back at him. “Still hot?”

Ye Yubai shook his head. “Close the window. The air feels damp. It might rain.”

……

A little over ten minutes passed.

Sure enough, it started raining outside.

Ye Yubai sat still, but the longer he sat there, the colder he felt. In the end, he had to put his jacket back on.

He propped his chin on one hand.

His eyes rested on the math problems in his book.

The longer he looked, the sleepier he got.

His head drooped lower and lower.

He was just about to fall face-first into the book.

A small, warm hand pressed against his forehead, jolting him awake.

It was Gan Lan’s hand!

Her sleeve carried a faint scent of lavender.

It was enough to wake him right up.

“Did you just fall asleep?”

Gan Lan glared at him, sounding a little reproachful.

Honestly, this guy...

They’d agreed to do their homework together, but his test paper was still completely blank. He hadn’t written a single word.

How could such a lazy guy still come first in the joint exams?

It just wasn’t fair.

Ye Yubai took a deep breath, then gave an awkward little grin. “Sorry. I said I’d keep you company while you did your homework, but I got sleepy halfway through.”

Gan Lan handed him her math test.

“Can you show me how to do this one?”

“Sure, let me see.”

Ye Yubai took the test paper.

Seeing the neat, delicate handwriting on the page made his heart melt all over again.

That was Gan Lan for you. Her handwriting was so pretty!

Cute, girly handwriting!

Every character was written so clearly!

Compared to hers, his own handwriting was too painful to look at.

Suppressing the flutter in his chest, Ye Yubai said calmly, “I think there’s an example of this problem in the workbook.”

Gan Lan: “Really? Which workbook?”

Ye Yubai rummaged through his bag, trying to remember.

His fingers slid along the edges of one workbook after another until they stopped at a blue one.

“Here, this one.”

He tossed his workbook down in front of Gan Lan.

“It should be in the geometry chapter. Take a look—I don’t remember the page number.”

Gan Lan said, “Oh,” and began slowly searching through the pages.

As she flipped through them, she came to the chapter they’d covered in class that day.

Gan Lan paused.

Her gaze fell to the bottom of the page.

There was a simple drawing of a person’s head.

A profile.

Chin resting on one hand, eyes looking ahead.

Long eyelashes, big eyes, and short, curly hair.

It had an exaggerated manga style.

“This guy was doodling in class and decided to become an artist, too.”

Without giving anything away, Gan Lan kept turning the pages.

She found another simple drawing of a person’s head.

This one was wearing a girl’s school uniform, and it was more carefully drawn than the first.

The moment Gan Lan saw it, she froze.

Beneath the drawing, a few words were scrawled: If only he were her.

……

Who was “he”?

And who was “her”?

What was Ye Yubai hoping for?

A storm swept through Gan Lan’s mind.

But she quickly composed herself.

Whatever “he” and “her” meant, it had nothing to do with her.

Thinking that, she flipped through the book even faster.

At the loud rustling, Ye Yubai looked up at her.

“What’s wrong? Are you suddenly mad and taking it out on my book?”

“No!”

After flipping through the book for ages without finding the geometry chapter, Gan Lan simply tossed it back to him.

“You look. I can’t find it.”

The moment Ye Yubai took the book, he chuckled.

“You’re hopeless. Why not check the table of contents?”

In just a couple of flips, he found the page and shoved the workbook back into her arms.

“You’re still the same as when we were kids. You can’t even flip through a book properly.”

Gan Lan ignored him.

She just kept staring at the problem in the book.

But she’d been looking at it for ages and still hadn’t taken in a single word.

Just then, Ye Yubai suddenly cried out, “Look out!”

Gan Lan looked up in confusion, only to hear a loud crash behind her.

The glass window, which hadn’t been shut properly, was thrown open by a powerful gust of cold wind.

Wind and rain came pouring in from outside.

In an instant, Gan Lan’s clothes were soaked.

The books and notebooks on the desk were blown all over the floor, too.

Ye Yubai hurried to the window, forced it shut, and latched it.

Gan Lan hugged herself, shivering, and stood frozen in place for a long time.

She was clearly frightened.

Ye Yubai knew this wasn’t the time, but the thoughts in his head grew like weeds.

Gan Lan’s clothes were wet...

She’d have to change!

She might even take a shower!

Yeah.

His chance had come.

Talk about luck being on his side.

Ye Yubai held back his excitement and put on a concerned expression. “You’re soaked through. Hurry and take a shower, then change into some dry clothes!”

Gan Lan shivered and unsteadily got to her feet.

But as soon as she stood, her legs gave way and she sank back down.

Seeing how weak and helpless she looked, Ye Yubai’s heart fluttered again.

“Come on, don’t be so pathetic. Did that really scare you that much?”

As he spoke, he naturally slipped an arm around her waist to steady her.

“After more than ten years of friendship, the least I can do is walk you to the bathroom. No need to thank me.”