Chapter 25: Do You Like It?
An Unexpected Gift
“I’ve prepared a gift for you here, Senior.”
The girl’s lips moved as she spoke, offering no explanation, seemingly oblivious to Lan Yi’s panic.
Lan Yi didn’t understand. Why had Yu Li brought her here? Why was she once again trapped by a crowd? Her water-blue eyes filled with alarm as she looked nervously at Yu Li.
“Junior Yu Li… what does this mean…?”
Before Lan Yi could finish, Yu Li raised a finger, gently pressing it to her own lips, smiling softly.
“Shh… it’s about to start…”
Yu Li’s expression shifted abruptly. Though her lips smiled, her eyes held an endless chill.
“What… does that mean…?”
Yu Li’s sudden change snapped Lan Yi out of her fantasy, back to reality. The students’ piercing gazes made it hard for her to breathe, but she still managed to ask, trembling.
She received no reply. Yu Li merely stood there, her smiling expression unchanged, as if waiting for something.
Lan Yi wanted to ask more, but her attention was drawn to a boy on a nearby tall building, holding a microphone. His voice echoed through the broadcast.
“I… I’m Lin Mu from Class 1-C…”
The boy’s voice was filled with pain, trembling with fear, gasping as if controlled by something, forced to continue despite his discomfort.
“I… did something unforgivable…”
Lan Yi’s focus was pulled to Lin Mu’s words. She knew him, but he was someone she could never understand.
“I took… Ye Sheng’s bribes, repeatedly asking Senior Lan Yi to meet him.”
His words sent the crowd into an uproar.
“To keep Senior Lan Yi from refusing, I lied, saying Ye Sheng threatened me and my family, that we’d be in danger if she didn’t go.”
Lin Mu gritted his teeth, confessing his actions.
“Lin Mu…”
Lan Yi frowned, her expression complex as she looked up at Lin Mu on the high platform.
“Hah… hah… ugh… I… I took Ye Sheng’s gifts… hah… hah… because… Ye Sheng didn’t care about them.”
Lin Mu’s voice grew more pained, sweat dripping from his forehead as he gasped heavily, yet he pressed on, as if stopping would bring unbearable consequences.
“Those gifts… they’re all here… all right here…”
Lin Mu pointed to a box behind him, filled with various treasures.
The crowd erupted even louder. No one had expected such a dramatic twist so soon.
“This thing has a plot twist? Some third party took all the gifts?”
“It’s like Ye Sheng totally framed Lan Yi. I thought it was weird she hasn’t even seen Ling Hao these past few days. Who avoids their supposed ‘boy toy’ like that?”
A boy in the crowd spoke up.
“Maybe Ye Sheng didn’t know either. Or what if this guy’s the real boy toy?”
A girl countered.
“Oh, shut up. Whether Ye Sheng knew or not, you think someone like Senior Lan Yi would fall for that guy? I’d believe she liked Ling Hao before this creep.”
The boy scoffed, pointing at Lin Mu on the platform.
The crowd’s chatter shifted, no longer unanimously condemning Lan Yi.
As the students continued their heated discussions, Lin Mu kept speaking.
“It was… me… I liked Senior Lan Yi… I thought if she wasn’t untouchable anymore, I’d have a chance. So not only did I not explain, I… deliberately slandered her, just to strip her of her lofty status, to make her approachable…”
Lin Mu’s condition worsened, gasping as if in increasing agony.
“Ugh, that’s disgusting. What a creepy pervert. Poor Senior Lan Yi, being targeted by someone like him.”
A girl in the crowd scratched her arm in distaste, as if covered in goosebumps.
Similar sentiments echoed through the crowd. Even from his high perch, Lin Mu could hear some of it, but he seemed desensitized, as if he’d already endured greater fears.
“I took pleasure in defaming Senior… I even enjoyed it…”
Lin Mu collapsed to his knees, sobbing and confessing, as if this would bring him redemption.
“I’ve… said everything… I know I was wrong… Please spare me…”
Lin Mu gasped heavily, pleading, hoping the hooded girl was in the crowd, ready to free him.
But in the next moment, fear—overwhelming fear—struck him. He had followed the girl’s instructions, confessing his actions on the broadcast at this exact time, but instead of relief, he felt even greater pain. She had no intention of letting him off so easily.
The intense fear conjured hallucinations. He was back in that nightmare, surrounded by strange, scornful eyes staring at him.
Bang—
“You, student! Get down here now!”
A teacher finally realized what was happening, breaking through the locked rooftop door to drag Lin Mu down.
Still gripped by fear, Lin Mu heard his name called and instinctively turned. The eyeless blue-haired girl appeared behind him, radiating murderous intent, as if coming to claim his life.
A Disturbing Truth
Lan Yi’s brows furrowed tightly. She didn’t understand why this was happening. Instinctively, she thought of Yu Li. It was Yu Li who brought her to Central Plaza, so she must know something.
Lan Yi looked at Yu Li, but the girl before her felt unfamiliar. Unlike her usual self, Yu Li wore a mocking smile, her right eye glowing gold, forming heterochromatic gold-and-silver pupils that looked eerily unsettling.
“Senior Lan Yi.”
Yu Li faced her, smiling, hands behind her back, slightly bowing in an innocent, cute manner. Yet it filled Lan Yi with unease, an instinctive resistance.
As if… the girl before her was incredibly dangerous.
“Huh?!”
Lan Yi cried out, trembling, as she saw the boy leap from the building in terror.
Lin Mu’s fearful screams rang clearly in her ears, but Yu Li didn’t turn around. She maintained her bright smile, as if she couldn’t hear his cries—or didn’t care that his life was slipping away, perhaps even believing it was deserved.
The terrified boy falling from the heights contrasted starkly with the elegant, smiling girl bowing before her, as if they existed in different worlds.
“Do you… like the gift I gave you?”