Main roles: Lu Jingyan (14 years old), Ye Liwei (13 years old)
February 24, 2025
Today was the first day of school. Jing Yan walked through the campus bathed in morning light as usual and found a few close friends at the corner of the teaching building. They were leaning against the hallway railing, chatting and laughing. Just as Jing Yan joined the conversation, his peripheral vision suddenly caught a familiar figure—the sight of that back in the dark blue school uniform made his breath hitch. When the person turned around, Jing Yan saw a face more angular than he remembered: Ye Liwei, a junior one year below him. The boy who used to follow him around calling him "Brother Jing Yan" during their sixth-grade summer camp separation had now grown half a finger taller than him.
During the break after morning exercises, they unexpectedly met under the phoenix tree. Liwei suddenly stopped in his tracks, his light brown pupils trembling slightly, as if he recognized something but wasn't sure. Jing Yan felt butterflies fluttering in his stomach. He hurriedly lowered his gaze, pretending to adjust his already neat sleeves. As they brushed past each other, their uniforms rustled faintly.
That night, Jing Yan buried his face in his pillow. In the darkness, he could hear his own heart pounding like thunder. "I think..." he mumbled into the cotton, "I like Liwei." The realization made his ears burn, as if someone had lit a lantern inside his chest.
In the days that followed, Jing Yan began unconsciously searching for that figure in crowds. Until one rainy day, he saw Liwei walking quickly down the hallway under an umbrella, only to suddenly turn away the moment their eyes met, disappearing around the stairwell. Jing Yan stared at the empty hallway as raindrops trickled down the windowpanes.
March 3, 2025
Today, out of habit, Jing Yan scanned the back of the classroom before morning self-study, but the familiar figure was nowhere to be seen. He comforted himself: maybe Liwei just had a cold and would be back tomorrow. But one day, two days, three days passed, and Liwei's seat remained empty, as if a piece had been forcibly carved out. Jing Yan stared blankly at the vacant desk, his heart feeling like it was stuffed with damp cotton, suffocatingly heavy.
During lunch break, he found himself inexplicably circling to Liwei's classroom door, peering inside through the window—the seat was still empty, even covered in a thin layer of dust. Jing Yan suddenly felt his chest tighten, as if someone had gripped his heart. He'd never worried about anyone like this before, but now, just the thought of possibly never seeing Liwei again made his throat ache too much to speak.
On the way home, the sunset stretched his shadow long. Jing Yan kicked a pebble, unable to suppress a bitter smile—was the heavens toying with him? The first time he'd ever felt this way about someone, and before he could even get close, the other had already vanished. He crouched by the roadside, burying his face in his arms, tasting the bitterness of "loss" for the first time—sour and astringent, like swallowing an unripe green plum whole.
March 7, 2025
Jing Yan had grown accustomed to Liwei's absence. He told himself that maybe it was for the best; time would slowly dilute those inappropriate stirrings. But just as he thought everything was about to turn a new page—the class bell rang, and as he walked through the noisy hallway after leaving the restroom, his peripheral vision abruptly caught a familiar figure.
Liwei.
He was wearing his dark blue uniform, his bag slung over one shoulder, head bowed as he rummaged for something. Jing Yan's steps unconsciously faltered, his chest feeling as if something had lightly bumped into it. The corners of his lips lifted uncontrollably before he forcibly pressed them back down.
After school, the sunset dyed half the sky red. Jing Yan slowly packed his bag, deliberately dawdling until the crowd dispersed. But when he reached the bus stop, his heart skipped a beat—Liwei was standing there, kicking a small pebble with his foot, as if waiting for the bus, or perhaps for someone.
Jing Yan pretended to pass by casually, but the moment their shoulders brushed, his eyes briefly met Liwei's. He immediately turned away, quickening his pace, but after a few steps, he couldn't help glancing back.
—Liwei was still looking at him.
In that instant, Jing Yan's heart felt squeezed and then released, sour joy and inexplicable loss intertwining until he didn't know what to do.
March 8, 2025
On the quiet weekend morning, sunlight spilled through the gaps in the curtains as Jing Yan lay on his bed staring at the ceiling. The room was eerily silent—no school bells, no hallway clamor, and no... figure that made his heart race.
He rolled over irritably, picking up his phone only to set it down again—the screen showed a blurry photo he'd secretly taken of Liwei's back yesterday, one he'd already stared at countless times. His fingers hovered over a chat window, typing a few words before deleting them. In the end, he buried his face in his pillow and let out a muffled sigh.
Time stretched endlessly, each second agonizing. Jing Yan paced his room like a caged animal before collapsing onto the sofa, watching the clock's hands crawl forward.
"I must be going crazy..." he muttered, closing his eyes, but his mind was filled with images of Liwei—the slight frown when he bent over his desk, the sunlight catching the light brown strands of his hair, and that day at the bus stop, the way his gaze had lingered on him, as if uncertain.
Only two days apart, yet it felt like an entire century.
March 10, 2025
The class bell rang. After eating, Jing Yan and his friends went to sit on the basketball court to chat. Midway through, Liwei approached with his own friends. Jing Yan watched him, wondering, "Does he like me too?"
In the following days, Liwei seemed to appear in front of Jing Yan constantly. Jing Yan didn't know if it was deliberate or just coincidence.
March 25, 2025
Exam week began, the entire class immersed in the rustling of flipped textbook pages and scribbled notes. Jing Yan stared at his open book, but his gaze pierced through the pages, landing on some distant point—Liwei's faint frown as he wrote, the black pen spinning between his fingers, these scenes replaying in his mind like a silent film.
The bell snapped him back to reality. Jing Yan closed his barely touched notebook and headed for the restroom, only to freeze mid-step at the corner—Liwei's back was just three steps ahead, pushing open the restroom door.
His heart suddenly pounded. As if possessed, Jing Yan followed.
The empty restroom echoed with the sound of running water and their footsteps on the tiles. Jing Yan stood at the urinal, his mind racing through potential conversation starters—"How's your exam prep?" Too stiff. "I've been seeing you a lot lately." Too deliberate...
He lingered at the sink, water rushing over his fingers. Ten seconds, twenty... Liwei's stall door remained shut. Jing Yan turned off the tap, staring at his flushed ears in the mirror under the drone of the hand dryer.
Finally, the stall door clicked open behind him. Jing Yan's breath caught, but like a coward, he hurried toward the exit. His fingers had just touched the door handle when Liwei's footsteps sounded—too close, close enough to smell the faint detergent on his uniform.
In the sliver of light from the doorway, their eyes met abruptly. Liwei's gaze in the shadows seemed especially deep, as if holding countless unspoken words. Three seconds stretched into an eternity, until Jing Yan flinched away and bolted out the door.
Cold hallway air hit his face. Jing Yan slowed his steps, glancing back to see Liwei lagging behind—walking unusually slowly, head bowed as if pondering some unsolvable problem.
Late that night, curled under his blankets, Jing Yan picked absently at his pillowcase seams. The restroom's dim light, Liwei's trembling lashes during their locked gaze, the door he'd fled through—every detail magnified in the dark. He punched his mattress, throat clogged with scalding regret.
March 31, 2025
School was on break. Jing Yan thought about Liwei every moment.
April 7, 2025
Classes resumed. Jing Yan could sense Liwei might like him too. During breaks, Liwei began sitting to Jing Yan's left, letting him steal glances openly. On their way back to class, Liwei kept turning to look at him, and Jing Yan noticed.
April 9, 2025
Today, Jing Yan had a table tennis competition and skipped school. During the match, thoughts of Liwei's handsome face distracted him, costing him the game. The next day at school, he discovered Liwei was absent—later learning he'd won a badminton doubles championship.
April 14, 2025
Lately, Jing Yan and Liwei kept locking eyes, whether in crowds or empty spaces, always finding each other effortlessly. This convinced Jing Yan further: Liwei liked him.
April 20, 2025
Weekend. Without seeing Liwei, Jing Yan felt strangely relaxed at home.
April 21, 2025
Amid their frequent eye contact, Jing Yan's interest in Liwei seemed to wane—though he insisted to himself he still loved him. Days later, he noticed Liwei also seemed disinterested, no longer glancing his way even when nearby. Maybe Jing Yan had imagined it all.
April 26, 2025
Today, Jing Yan lay alone on his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling. He kept turning the question over in his mind—why had his two-month-long crush on Li Wei faded away like a receding tide, leaving no trace behind? At the very beginning, just one glance from Li Wei would make his heart skip a beat and his cheeks burn. But now, even if Li Wei stood right in front of him, his heart remained utterly still, as calm as if he had never loved him at all.
April 27, 2025
Days without him—even the second hand hesitates.In those paused moments, the world falls silent like a mime show with no audience.