All along, Yu Guang had been like a shadow, hiding in the dark and secretly observing Ye Si’s brilliance under the moon.

But tonight was different…

Under the dim streetlights, the senior called out to him.

Although the senior awkwardly referred to him as “You,” Yu Guang always felt as if he was enveloped in a halo, bathed in a sense of illusion.

“Ye Si…” Yu Guang murmured this name on his lips, “such a nice name.”

Lost in thought, Yu Guang didn’t notice the dark shadow suddenly jumping out of the bushes, startling him.

His heart jumped, his breath caught in his throat, and he looked closely.

A jet-black cat was tilting its head, sizing him up. After a brief eye contact, the cat approached with cat-like steps.

Yu Guang didn’t like fluffy creatures.

Moreover, the cat’s timing was off, giving him a sense of shame as if his earlier peeping behavior had been exposed.

He furrowed his brows and took a step back.

Unexpectedly, the cat was bold enough to approach when Yu Guang retreated, meowing and rubbing against him.

Caught off guard, Yu Guang felt the sharp claws scratching his pants leg. He shook his leg to shake it off but only ended up with the cat’s claws piercing through the fabric of his sweatpants.

The sharp nails grazed his delicate skin, not piercing it, just causing a tingling sensation.

Yu Guang’s body broke out in a cold sweat, and his scalp felt numb.

Glaring at the smelly cat in the moonlight, he hissed, “Hiss!”

Yu Guang didn’t expect this thing to scratch him for real. He gasped as he pried open the black cat’s claws, but the crescent-shaped claws were tightly hooked onto his sweatpants. It took him a while to free his leg from the claws.

“Get lost!”

The cat raised its front paws, took three steps back, but didn’t go far, squatting in the middle of the road not far away, staring at him. Its amber eyes had a vertical slit in the middle, staring straight at him, and its tail swayed back and forth, curving in and out.

The dim light of the street lamp stretched the cat’s shadow long.

This scene was a bit eerie.

Yu Guang gritted his teeth, picked up a piece of rock, and glared at the cat. Unexpectedly, the cat wasn’t afraid of him. Instead, it lazily raised its front paws, and its narrow, red tongue with thorns licked the claws that had scratched him, still dripping with blood.

The posture and movements resembled those of a human, but they appeared on a black cat, giving off a sinister vibe. Yu Guang didn’t believe in ghosts and gods, but he couldn’t help but shiver all over.

When he lowered his eyes, he seemed somewhat gloomy. He clenched the rock tightly and threw it with force—

With a gust of wind—

The cat reacted swiftly and easily dodged the rock.

The rock landed in the middle of the road, rolling a few times before coming to a stop.

The black cat still stared at him, its vertical pupils dilating into all black, like an ink-soaked glass bead.

Yu Guang’s back broke out in a cold sweat, and just as he was about to take out his phone, he heard—

“Meow~” with an upward inflection, as if in a very good mood.

After a meow, the black shadow disappeared into the bushes again.

Fortunately, Yu Guang didn’t encounter any more strange cats on his way back to the dorm.

The throbbing pain in his right calf urged him to hurry back to his room.

The light in the dormitory corridor was harsh, and Yu Guang stood at the door of Room 407 for a long time before taking out his keys and inserting them into the lock.

His long bangs covered his beautiful peach blossom eyes, and he stiffly held the straps of his backpack, appearing weak and silent.

Click— the door opened.

The other three roommates were still awake, each doing their own thing. Gao Leilin was the loudest, smashing the keys of his game and cursing non-stop.

Hearing the sound of the door locking, Gao Leilin knew it was the good student returning and said sarcastically, “Did our scholarship winner go out to fool around and come back?”

Ignoring him, Yu Guang walked to his wardrobe, unlocked it, took out his pajamas, and locked the closet again.

“Don’t know what you’re locking the closet for, huh, is there really some treasure?” Gao Leilin sneered. Zheng Cheng and Liu Zhijie had long been accustomed to Gao Leilin’s bad behavior. Although Yu Guang had good grades, he was soft-hearted. Gao Leilin couldn’t stand it, and their intervention wouldn’t help, only redirecting Gao Leilin’s anger towards themselves.

It wasn’t worth it.

Yu Guang’s lowered eyelids hid the cold light that had quietly surfaced in his eyes, and he didn’t bother with Gao Leilin’s inexplicable hostility. He was nothing more than a clown, a locust after the autumn rain… incapable of causing a stir.

Yu Guang unzipped his jacket all the way down, revealing the stylish black T-shirt inside, with a deliberately distressed neckline, strands of black cotton thread hanging loosely, giving it a carefree and punk style.

Gao Leilin paused his game and glanced at him, staring fixedly at the white, shiny arms revealed by the boy’s short T-shirt for a few moments.

“Is your part-time job reliable?” Gao Leilin’s hand stopped, his eyes glanced at Yu Guang’s exposed arms, and he asked.

Yu Guang paused for a moment, then reacted—his excuse for going out late at night was that he had found a part-time job at a bar.

He pursed his lips, seeming a little afraid of Gao Leilin, and hesitated for a moment before replying, “Reliable…” His voice was not loud, and he seemed somewhat timid.

“Hmph—” Gao Leilin felt bored and turned back to resume playing his game.

Seeing Gao Leilin stop talking, Yu Guang breathed a sigh of relief and entered the bathroom holding his pajamas, quickly closing and locking the bathroom door.

Yu Guang liked taking hot baths. The steamy mist climbed up the white tiles and then helplessly fell due to gravity.

He shook his damp, short hair, tilted his head back, held his breath, and let the warm water wash over his face.

His mind felt empty at this moment.

The beautiful face of Ye Si seemed like a work of art right before his eyes.

His narrow, deep-set eyes were like a slightly rippled sea under the moonlight, and they also resembled the sky before dawn described by poets.

So good-looking.

The sensation of suffocation caused by the enclosed flow of water gradually engulfed him. His brain cells felt a bit chaotic due to lack of oxygen, but the figure in his mind became clearer.

Yu Guang liked this feeling.

The sound of his own pounding heartbeat echoed in his ears, and the sense of suffocation became stronger. White snowflake-like specks even appeared before his eyes.

The densely packed specks made Ye Si’s face somewhat blurry.

“Phew—”

He turned off the water with a blackened hand, leaned over with his palm on the cold tiles, and gasped for air. Water droplets fell from his damp hair onto his forehead, and a mischievous drop happened to roll into his eye.

A sharp sting.

Yu Guang blinked, changed into his pajamas, and pushed the door open.

Liu Zhijie, who was washing his face on the balcony, turned his head at the sound, glancing at the mist-filled bathroom. “Taking another hot bath?”

“Yeah.”

Having lived in the dorm for more than a year, Yu Guang always felt a strange sense of alienation. Despite appearing shy and obedient, he didn’t have many friends at school. Liu Zhijie didn’t know what to say either, just smiled awkwardly and turned back to wash his face.

With lowered eyelids, Yu Guang entered the room, quickly tidied up, and got into bed.

The dorm rooms at Nan University were all four-person rooms with bunk beds. Yu Guang had installed a bed curtain as soon as he moved in, black in color. With the curtain closed, no one would know what he was doing on the bed.

Yu Guang subtly smirked and lay down, feeling somewhat pleased.

Carefully, he retrieved a handkerchief from under his pillow.

A deep brown one.

It still faintly retained the scent of wood.

He gently rubbed it with his fingertips for a moment before bringing it to his nose for a light sniff.

It was Ye Si’s scent.