Chapter 23: The Girl on a Date
A Changed Senior
Ai Xinglan was puzzled. Yesterday, Lan Yi had been so downcast, but today, she seemed like a completely different person.
Though Lan Yi appeared to be working, her focus was elsewhere. Every few moments, she checked her phone, flustered, as if afraid of missing something or eagerly anticipating it.
Ai Xinglan couldn’t figure out what had caused this change in her senior, but she didn’t ask. This lively Lan Yi was far better than the gloomy one from before.
And Lan Yi was indeed both nervous and expectant.
Since receiving Yu Li’s message yesterday, she had been on edge, completely unsure of what her junior wanted.
So she kept glancing at her phone, checking if Yu Li had sent anything new.
But there was nothing—just that single message. If it weren’t displayed on her screen, Lan Yi might have thought she was hallucinating.
Since the incident, Yu Li hadn’t contacted her, and Lan Yi hadn’t reached out either.
She was afraid—afraid that this new junior would look at her with the same disdainful eyes, that she would hate her too.
“Senior Lan Yi? Senior Lan Yi?”
Seeing no response, Ai Xinglan called out a few more times.
“Oh… Little Xinglan, what’s up?”
“Nothing, Senior. I just wanted to say I’m heading out. Will you be okay on your own?”
“Oh, is that so? Don’t worry about me, Little Xinglan.”
Lan Yi gave Ai Xinglan a gentle smile, signaling she was fine.
“Alright then, Senior. See you tomorrow.”
Ai Xinglan nodded and left.
Watching Ai Xinglan go, Lan Yi gave a bitter smile and shook her head.
“I’m such a failure… Making Little Xinglan worry because of my problems. Some senior I am…”
Knock, knock, knock—
Lost in thought, Lan Yi heard a knock at the door. Assuming it was Ai Xinglan returning, she got up to open it.
“What’s wrong, Little Xinglan? Forgot something?”
Lan Yi opened the door, but it wasn’t the blonde girl she expected. Instead, a black-haired girl with silver eyes stood there, smiling brightly at her.
“What’s with that surprised look, Senior? Not happy to see me?”
“Uh… no, it’s not that…”
“Then I’m coming in~”
Yu Li stepped into the student council room, heading straight for Lan Yi’s seat and sitting down.
“Wow~ So this is where Senior works.”
“Um… Junior Yu…”
“So, Senior, why didn’t you reply to my message?”
Yu Li’s expression shifted from a smile to seriousness, her eyes narrowing, putting slight pressure on Lan Yi.
Lan Yi fell silent, unsure how to respond to Yu Li’s message.
With her seat taken, Lan Yi stood in front of Yu Li, feeling like a scolded child too ashamed to meet the teacher’s eyes.
“Why won’t you look at me, Senior?”
Yu Li stood, grabbing Lan Yi’s face with both hands, forcing her to meet her gaze.
“Didn’t we agree you’d be there for me if I needed anything? I’m here now, so why aren’t you talking, Senior?”
Yu Li stared intently into Lan Yi’s eyes, as if trying to read something in her blue gaze. But all she saw was her own reflection.
“Fine, I’ll let you off this time, Senior. Let’s go—we’re going on a date!”
Yu Li smiled, releasing Lan Yi’s face and grabbing her hand, turning to leave. But Lan Yi stood rooted to the spot.
“Why…?”
“What do you mean, why? You didn’t reply, so I had to come find you.”
“That’s not what I meant…”
“None of that matters, Senior! Let’s go. It’s so hot today… let’s get something cool to eat~”
Yu Li laughed happily, tugging Lan Yi’s hand firmly and pulling her out of the student council room.
Facing the Crowd
Lan Yi was dragged out by Yu Li. It was peak student activity time, and the halls were crowded. She could feel the students’ gazes on her, their judgmental stares stinging painfully.
Fear crept into her heart, urging her to flee, but the warmth of Yu Li’s hand made her hesitate.
Yu Li acted as if nothing had happened, smiling轻松ly despite the scornful looks directed their way. She showed no intention of letting go of Lan Yi’s hand.
Lan Yi stared at the hand holding hers tightly, momentarily dazed.
“Senior?”
Yu Li’s light, questioning voice reached Lan Yi’s ears, prompting her to look up.
“Really, Senior, this isn’t like you. Spacing out on a date?”
Yu Li gave a helpless smile, then pointed to a shop ahead.
“Look, we’re here.”
Yu Li pulled Lan Yi into an ice cream shop.
“Boss, two ice creams! I’ll have mango. What about you, Senior?”
Yu Li turned to Lan Yi, who was staring at her, unmoving.
“Seriously, Senior, spacing out again? Guess I’ll order for you then.”
Lan Yi still didn’t respond, standing there like an overloaded mannequin.
“Hmph~ Fine, I’ll pick my favorite flavor for you. That way, I can try both.”
Seeing no reaction, Yu Li turned to the shop owner with a bored expression.
“Boss, make the other one blueberry!”
“Got it! One mango, one blueberry. Here you go, two lovely ladies.”
The owner quickly prepared the ice creams and handed them to Yu Li and Lan Yi.
Seeing Lan Yi’s robotic lack of response, Yu Li reached to take both ice creams, but Lan Yi didn’t let go of her hand.
“Se~nior~ I can’t take them if you’re holding my hand like that.”
Yu Li waved their joined hands in front of Lan Yi, giving a teasing smile.
The next moment, as if snapping out of a trance, Lan Yi finally reacted. Yu Li thought she’d let go in embarrassment, but she didn’t.
Perhaps the pain of recent days had thickened her skin. She showed no sign of releasing Yu Li’s hand, instead using her free hand to take the ice cream.
A Sweet Moment
Lan Yi stared at the blueberry ice cream, her expression distant. By chance, she actually liked blueberry flavor. She took a bite.
‘So sweet…’
The faint blueberry taste and cool texture seemed to lift Lan Yi’s mood, a small smile tugging at her lips.
“Looks delicious. You seem happy, Senior… I want to try it too.”
Before Lan Yi could react, Yu Li brushed her hair behind her ear, leaned in, and took a bite of Lan Yi’s ice cream.
“Huh?”
Lan Yi looked at Yu Li’s sudden move, caught completely off guard. She glanced at the bite mark Yu Li left on her ice cream, her cheeks flushing red.
The thought of Yu Li’s lips on it made her unsure how to take another bite.
“Why’s your face so red, Senior?”
Yu Li smiled mischievously, pretending not to understand as she asked.
“…N-Nothing… It’s just hot out…”
Lan Yi let out a shy whimper, losing all semblance of a senior’s composure, stammering her excuse.
Yet even so, she didn’t let go of Yu Li’s hand, and Yu Li showed no reluctance, only a gentle smile, her eyes free of judgment, looking at Lan Yi as if nothing had changed.
“Senior, let’s go~”
Yu Li gave a helpless smile.
“Normally, the senior who knows the school better would lead the date, but you’re acting weird today, so I’ll take charge~”
Yu Li said, pulling Lan Yi toward their next destination.
‘Junior Yu Li… she really doesn’t know about that incident, does she…’
Lan Yi, being led along, stared silently at Yu Li’s back, thinking to herself.
‘This… is enough…’
‘At least for today, we can be like this…’
Glancing at their joined hands, Lan Yi smiled and took another bite of the ice cream Yu Li had bitten.
‘Somehow… it tastes even sweeter now…’