The next day.
When Ye Shuang woke up, he felt one arm tingling as if it had lost all sensation. Turning his head slowly, he saw the sleeping girl resting her head on his arm, her long eyelashes fluttering gently with each even breath. He wasn't sure how they'd ended up in this position—maybe he'd just grown accustomed to holding someone in his sleep at night.
After all, he'd once been told he had to sleep while holding someone… Recalling the past, Ye Shuang felt an indescribable heaviness in his chest. He patted his pocket, instinctively reaching for a cigarette, only to remember he'd thrown them in the trash the night before.
"Just one last puff."
As the craving hit, he felt as if ants were crawling all over his body. He reached for the trash can, but froze at the girl's muffled murmur in her sleep. Slowly retracting his hand, he gave a self-deprecating smile. "Forget it…"
It was always "just one last puff." Who was he really deceiving—others or himself?
Gently pulling his numb arm from beneath Bai Yuyou, Ye Shuang washed up and headed out. The morning air was chilly. After buying breakfast, he paused at a stationery store on the corner, as if remembering something. After a moment's hesitation, he went inside.
"Where are the notebooks?" The shop had just opened, and there were no other customers. Ye Shuang addressed the girl at the counter.
The girl, still hunched over the cash register, didn't look up. "Second aisle, far end."
He walked to the back of the second aisle—only to find a used laptop staring back at him.
Ye Shuang: "…"
"Not a laptop. A regular notebook," he clarified. Just then, the girl looked up. Their eyes met, and both blurted out simultaneously:
"It's you?"
"It's you."
"Aren't you the one selling phones and baozi? What are you doing here?!" Ye Shuang asked, startled. Was this girl running a multi-business empire?
"I guess I can't hide it anymore…" The girl with shoulder-length hair stood up solemnly. "I'm a trainee ninja with two and a half years of practice. Those other 'me's you saw were just shadow clones."
Ye Shuang stared at her deadpan expression, his brain short-circuiting for a few seconds before he scoffed, "Do I look like I'd believe that?"
"Hmph, you didn't fall for it?" An Shiyu crossed her arms and looked away, wearing an expression that screamed this was supposed to be foolproof.
"Your face is broadcasting your thoughts…"
"Tch."
Noticing her Yinshan Academy uniform, Ye Shuang asked, "You go to Yinshan Academy too?"
An Shiyu immediately tensed. "Oh? How did you know? Are you stalking me?" She eyed him up and down as if conducting a security check. After a moment, she shook her head. "We're not a match. You're too old, uncle."
"Who's stalking you?! You're literally wearing the uniform?!"
An Shiyu's expression stiffened. She sighed dramatically. "You've seen through my cover. Yes, I'm a high-level ninja undercover at Yinshan Academy."
"Do you even remember your own backstory?! And didn't you just say you were a trainee ninja?!"
Ye Shuang finished spitting and didn't want to dwell with this guy, but continued, "I need a notebook."
"Here, 5 yuan." She tossed one at him.
"Do you have a smaller one? Portable." Ye Shuang eyed a notebook the size of two palms.
She handed him a palm-sized notebook instead. After buying a few pens, he left the store. As he walked away, An Shiyu propped her chin in her hand, lost in thought.
Back home, Ye Shuang found Bai Yuyou still asleep, her slumber deep—her smooth, pale legs sticking out from under the quilt, the loose fabric of her nightgown revealing too much in the morning sunlight.
The quilt is so white.
He averted his gaze and went to the balcony to collect her laundry. That's when he noticed a tear in her school uniform.
[Item: Yinshan Academy Girls' Uniform
Clean, smells of sunshine. Seam coming undone.]
Ye Shuang fetched a needle and thread from a drawer and sat on a small stool by the balcony, stitching the tear. To the soundtrack of birds chirping outside, he slowly mended the fabric, realizing his mind had grown unusually calm—a feeling he hadn't experienced in ages.
Ever since graduating, he'd forgotten what it was like to be this carefree: no late-night work prep, no half-dozen alarms set a minute apart, no need to keep his phone on 24/7. He wasn't chasing time, nor was time pushing him forward.
"Maybe this isn't so bad?" he thought, admiring the newly mended uniform as the morning breeze brushed his face.
Just then, a soft rustle came from behind. He turned to see Bai Yuyou sitting up, bleary-eyed and disoriented.
"Up already?" Ye Shuang approached. "I bought five baozi for you. Go wash up and eat."
Bai Yuyou: "…"
He held up the mended uniform. "Here."
Still half-asleep, she began stripping off her pajamas. Ye Shuang's head throbbed at the sight. "Put your clothes on properly."
She tilted her head, but under his stare, she reluctantly pulled on the uniform. Once dressed, she settled into a kneeling "duck seat" and kept staring at him, as if hesitating to speak.
"What's wrong?" he asked, thinking she was still groggy.
She held out her hands, her voice unusually soft and pleading. "Want… hugs."
Sighing, Ye Shuang crouched down and pulled her soft frame into his arms. The warmth of her body and the floral scent of her hair gradually stilled his mind.
"So warm," she mumbled, nuzzling his shoulder.
He didn't reply, just stroked her hair. The softness in his arms gave him an unfamiliar sense of peace.
Maybe…
Hugs really could give people strength.
"Hey, why are you falling asleep again?!"