In front of everyone, Ouyang Ning held Xu Bilin's hand and whispered softly to her. The affection in his eyes was enough to make any girl fall for him.
"Linlin[1], ever since the moment I saw you on the basketball court more than a month ago, your image has been deeply etched in my heart... Will you be my girlfriend?"
No one expected such a romantic scene to unfold at Xu Bilin's birthday party. Coupled with the fact that Xu Bilin and Ouyang Ning were such a perfect pair—one lively and beautiful, the other handsome and gentle—the moment of surprise passed, and almost everyone was quick to shower them with applause, encouraging them.
"Tch! Can he get any more nauseating? These are the lines from a third-rate romance drama from the '90s..." He Shanggrowled as he stuffed cake into his mouth, occasionally sneaking glances at Xu Mo beside him.
Watching Xu Bilin shyly nod, allowing Ouyang Ning to put a delicate platinum bracelet on her wrist, and then the two embracing and kissing, Xu Mo's chest felt like it was crushed by a thousand-pound boulder, making it hard to breathe. His nails dug deep into his palm without him even realizing it.
The surrounding voices and figures gradually blurred in his vision, as if the entire world had been reduced to just the two people in the room, locked in an embrace, while he himself seemed to be drifting farther away from them.
"Hey! Xu Mo, are you alright?" Seeing that Xu Mo was acting strangely, He Shang quickly placed his hand on Xu Mo's shoulder, forcing him to turn his attention elsewhere. "Calm down. You should know that you can't force feelings. There are plenty of fish in the sea. As long as the mountains are green, you'll always have firewood to burn. You understand?"
"I'm fine... I'm not as fragile as you think," Xu Mo replied with a deep breath. He patted He Shang's hand on his shoulder and quietly walked out of the room.
"Wait a minute..."
"What?" Xu Mo's steps faltered slightly, but he didn't turn around.
"Better not try to kill yourself—insurance companies don't pay for that."
...
The cold tap water splashed on his face, slowly trickling down his nose and cheeks before gathering at his chin and forming a glistening line of water, flowing into the sink.
Turning off the faucet, Xu Mo opened the bathroom window, letting the dry, cold northern wind blow in like sharp knives, scraping the water droplets from his face. But it couldn't blow away the scene from earlier that still lingered in his mind.
Was this heartbreak?
Xu Mo gave a forced, unnatural smile at his reflection in the mirror... But had it even begun? How could he call this "heartbreak"?
Yet why did his heart ache so much? Was it simply because Xu Bilin had become someone else's girlfriend, something he couldn't accept?
After spending so much time with Xu Bilin, Xu Mo knew better than anyone that she had always seen him as a close friend, someone with whom she shared common interests—a good buddy, perhaps—but not someone she was romantically interested in. No matter how long they had known each other, their relationship would never go beyond that, and Xu Mo had never seriously considered confessing to her.
After all, friendship wasn't something you could force.
But what confused him was that Xu Bilin's relationship with Ouyang Ning had progressed so quickly. Less than a month ago, they were just acquaintances, and only a week ago they had barely exchanged a few words. So why had their relationship suddenly accelerated?
Xu Mo felt an urge to call Xu Bilin and ask her what had happened, but after dialing just two digits, his hand froze in mid-air. With a deep sigh, he let his arm drop limply by his side.
Everyone had their own choices. Since Xu Bilin had chosen Ouyang Ning, he had to respect her decision. What was the point in calling to ask about something that had already happened?
Realizing how much time had passed, Xu Mo decided to leave the bathroom so as not to raise any suspicions from Xu Bilin. Just as he was about to close the window and leave, two girls' voices from the bathroom's inner room caught his attention.
"Wow! Xu Bilin is really lucky. She found such a handsome and rich boyfriend. When will I ever find my true love? Even if he's half as good as her boyfriend, I'd be satisfied..."
"Instead of wasting time looking for your true love, why not lose some weight and get under 110 pounds first? Get real, girl!"
"You're putting me down again! It's genetic! My family has this body type where we gain weight just by drinking water. I can forget about getting below 110 pounds. If I can stay under 130 pounds, I'll be grateful... But, Cat, don't you find it strange? Xu Bilin never accepted anyone's confession back in our class, not even the school's heartthrob. How come she's changed her mind after transferring schools? This guy is great, but he's still not as handsome as our school's heartthrob, right?"
"Hehe, you have no idea, do you? If you treat me to Haagen-Dazs, I'll tell you..."
"You're such a sly one! Fine, I'll go along with it! Tell me!"
Despite trying to keep their voices down, Xu Mo, with his keen hearing, could easily overhear the conversation through the door. While he hadn't planned to ask Xu Bilin directly about this matter, now that the information was being delivered to him, he wasn't going to pretend to be a saint.
"I heard it from Xu Bilin's best friend, Xiaomei... About six days ago, Xu Bilin went shopping alone. On her way back, she was accosted by two thugs. There were people around, but no one dared help. Just as the thugs were about to do something, her true love showed up, beat them up in a few moves, and rescued her. It was a perfect hero-rescuing-the-damsel-in-distress scenario, and that's when he won Xu Bilin's heart..."
"Wait, that's so dramatic! It sounds like something out of a cheesy old movie."
"Are you jealous? I didn't see you acting like this when you were drooling over Xu Bilin's boyfriend earlier."
"Ah! Stop talking! Are you trying to get me killed?"
So it was like that—a hero saving the damsel. A cliché, but effective.
Xu Mo's facial muscles twitched involuntarily, as though he was laughing bitterly or perhaps lamenting. Six days ago, he had just barely escaped the apocalypse in his mind, and who would have thought that, on the same day, the girl he liked would fall for Ouyang Ning in such a simple, accidental way?
His life truly was a tragedy.
Xu Mo gave a self-deprecating smile at his reflection, wiped his face with his sleeve, and walked out of the bathroom.
Just as he was about to leave the bathroom and walk a few steps down the hall, a sudden commotion broke out near the room. At first, Xu Mo thought it was just some drunk customer causing trouble, which was quite common in a restaurant. But then he heard the sound of glass shattering and several girls screaming in panic. Realizing something was wrong, he quickly quickened his pace toward the source of the noise.
As he arrived at the hallway near the private room, Xu Mo was hit by a strong, metallic smell mixed with alcohol. His heart skipped a beat. Pushing through a trembling waitress, he finally saw two groups of people facing off.
One group consisted of Xu Bilin's friends from her previous school and some of their classmates, while the other group was made up of about eight or nine burly young men.
Although they were outnumbered, it was clear that Xu Bilin's side was vastly outmatched in both strength and confidence. The only person injured was a male student from Xu Bilin's side.
"I've only been gone for less than ten minutes—what happened here? What's going on?" Xu Mo furrowed his brow as he walked over to He Shang.
He Shang nodded toward a bloody student on the floor and whispered, "What do you think happened? It's obvious, right? Someone provoked, someone couldn't stand it and intervened, but their skills were lacking..."
"You make it sound like a martial arts movie..."
He Shang's explanation was vague, but it cleared up the basic situation. At least one thing was clear: it was the other group who started the confrontation, and they were the ones who hurt someone—there was no fault on Xu Bilin's side.
[1] an affectionate way of addressing Xu Bilin