...There was indeed something she wanted to say to him.

Sunny Xu ran with his chest puffed out, rhythmically adjusting his breathing.

His gaze inadvertently drifted to the side.

Morning runs were a common school group activity, as noisy and bustling as any other student event.

Some sneaked around the track, hoping to cut their run short by even a little; others pretended to tie their shoelaces, resting on the spot before cutting across the meadow diagonally to catch up with their class's line.

Of course, if caught by a teacher, they'd face a scolding and lose discipline points.

Additionally, several groups of girls could be seen sitting on the lawn, resting and chatting leisurely, laughing—it was usually because of their period.

...

The fifteen middle school's morning exercise consisted of two laps, totaling eight hundred meters. Except for weather conditions and flag-raising ceremonies on Mondays, it was held promptly every morning, with mandatory participation from first and second-year high school students.

For high schoolers who rarely exercised and spent most of their time at their desks, running two laps around the four-hundred-meter track was enough to leave them gasping for air, especially some of the physically weaker girls.

Compared to them, those who chose to sit on the lawn and rest at such times seemed particularly irksome.

In the past, Sunny Xu felt this was somewhat unfair.

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Girls often got leave just by mentioning it to the teachers; boys, on the other hand, had to be limping to be excused. Minor illnesses or discomfort without a doctor's note would only get them pushed back into line by teachers, who'd say, "Someone as weak as you needs exercise even more!"

That was because the Sunny Xu of that time didn't understand these matters.

Now, after living under the same roof with Starry Lin for a while, he thought differently.

While he couldn't deny that a small number of people just liked to slack off, he finally understood the hardship women faced during their periods.

...And that wasn't the only change that had occurred in him.

Having spent a long time with Starry Lin, he slowly came to understand and change certain things.

Sunny Xu couldn't help but look at the girl beside him once again.

Every time, every time he saw Starry Lin running, he felt mesmerized.

Reflected in Sunny Xu's pupils was not just a person, but a sprightly sprite, imagining her running from the hills to the streams, from the rivers to the forests, crossing the forests to the vast, boundless grasslands—

Her jet-black hair floated like ink-colored clouds across the sky, her long, powerful legs brimming with agile vitality. In her running form, he could feel a surging life force pulsating, the free wind blowing in his face.

So, if he couldn't watch her like this, Sunny Xu could never imagine such a thing for the rest of his life.

"What are you daydreaming about?"

Starry Lin turned her head for what seemed like the umpteenth time, each time catching Sunny Xu staring at her face without blinking. Finally, she couldn't help but pat her good friend's shoulder.

"...Huh?"

Sunny Xu seemed to snap back to reality.

He lowered his voice so only the two of them could hear, his reply coming without hesitation:

"I just think you look really good when you run."

"..."

The long-haired girl pursed her lips, her cheeks suddenly flushing red.

"...You're so annoying," she said softly, "I've known that for a long time."

"Really?" Sunny Xu was a bit surprised, "Have you actually paid attention to how you look when you run?"

"No."

Starry Lin said, spreading her arms and taking a deep breath against the wind, squinting her eyes.

"But, every time I run, it feels like all my troubles are left behind. I love that feeling, and people immersed in what they love always look good to others."

"Is that so?"

Yes, Starry Lin thought to herself, just like when I see you studying seriously at your desk—

After pondering for a moment, she patted her cheeks, feeling them burn even hotter.

"I think I might have overexerted myself, I feel so hot."

Starry Lin fanned her cheek with her hand and stuck out her tongue.

"Yeah, it feels like summer is coming, even the mornings are so warm."

Sunny Xu casually replied.

Starry Lin took off her jacket and draped it over her arm.

Running alongside the girl with long black hair, Sunny Xu once again felt the gaze of those around him.

Not from the second-year class one's line, his classmates were probably used to it by now;

But in a group setting, it would be people from other classes. Some glanced over while whispering to each other, as if discussing rumors about him and Starry Lin.

This wasn't Sunny Xu being overly self-conscious. Because if you paid attention, the feeling of others' gazes on you was unmistakable.

Sunny Xu shook his head and asked again:

"What did you want to talk about just now?"

"..."

Starry Lin didn't answer, her eyes fixed forward, running without looking sideways.Maybe it was because of the evaporation of sweat, Sunny Xu smelled a faint familiar fragrance from the girl running beside him.

He suddenly thought of something:

Although there are distinct differences in the choice of daily necessities between boys and girls, for the sake of saving living expenses, both of them use the same bottle of shampoo...

Could other classmates smell it?

Sunny Xu suddenly felt a little guilty.

No, it shouldn't be. Who has the leisure to do that, right?

And the smell of shampoo is not something you can smell just by wanting to. At least no one would get close enough to smell Starry Lin's hair, and no one in school would dare to get close to her.

Unless it's someone who is very familiar with both of them, and also careful enough to notice the trickiness...

"What are you doing?"

Starry Lin's words interrupted Sunny Xu's random thoughts.

After noticing his gaze, she frowned, feeling a little unnatural as she touched her long hair that hung down from her shoulder.

"Staring at my face just now, and now staring at my hair... What's up with that?"

Could it have been messed up while running, with split ends? That's impossible.

The girl's fingers stroked her hair, and the touch of her fingertips felt as smooth as silk. Not to boast, even she felt that her hair felt very good, and that was due to her natural hair quality. Starry Lin didn't put much effort into maintaining it.

If this were to be said, it would probably cause a lot of girls to envy and be jealous.

"Um..."

Sunny Xu thought for a moment, feeling a little embarrassed to tell the other person about his groundless worries, and quickly thought of a new excuse.

"Starry, speaking of which, you don't look like a delinquent girl anymore."

Of course, in reality, apart from arguing with teachers and frequently skipping classes, Starry Lin was far from being an ordinary delinquent girl. The rest were basically rumors; as for the other students in the school treating her with respect and distance, that was another matter.

And, the girl's dressing was always very simple, no makeup, no dyed hair, no colored contact lenses, and no long nails.

Generally speaking, Starry Lin wore the school uniform of the season, mainly because she had no other clothes to change into at home.

After these two things were corrected, along with the improvement in her academic performance with his help, if she performed better in the upcoming monthly exams, Starry Lin would be able to completely get rid of this title.

Sunny Xu was confident about this. Starry Lin's mind was not bad to begin with, otherwise she wouldn't have been able to get into No. 15 High School. It was just that during high school, due to family problems, she had no intention of studying.

Her progress in her studies was not only felt by Sunny Xu, who had been watching her all along, but even Seigetsu Zhu had expressed surprise.

The first and second place grades in the grade were there for all to see. After showing off her skills in the final exam, people's evaluations of her would slowly change.

"Is that so? Well, it's not bad."

Starry Lin's attitude was a bit perfunctory, and it seemed that she didn't care about this matter.

"—Except for one thing."

Sunny Xu made a joke.

"Hmm?"

The girl raised her head in confusion.

Sunny Xu pointed to the long hair swaying behind her.

"Your hair, your hair is too long, it's against the school rules."

A hairstyle like Seigetsu Zhu's was more standard, either tied up in a braid. A girl who could walk around the school with a head of long, straight black hair, in Sunny Xu's impression, seemed to be only Starry Lin.

"Huh?"

Starry Lin glared at him.

"What, do you want me to cut it off?"

"I was just kidding, I was just kidding!"

Seeing the friend's somewhat fierce expression, Sunny Xu quickly raised his hands in surrender.

"I actually always thought that girls look better with longer hair—"

Just as he was halfway through his words, he suddenly felt a familiar figure running past them.

Sunny Xu took a closer look and found that it was Seigetsu Zhu.

The girl with short hair turned her face, her clear pupils filled with a bright smile. She waved to the two friends, then pointed behind them, and then followed her own class without looking back.

What does this mean?

Sunny Xu was a little puzzled.

"We've gone too far from our own class."

Starry Lin sighed softly, reminding him.

It wasn't until then that Sunny Xu noticed that the two of them had been chatting and running, and had long since left their class, and even unknowingly surpassed four classes, running into the fifth class...

No wonder people had been looking at them all along. Including the series of actions while chatting, they were indeed too conspicuous.

Unknowingly, two laps had already been completed.

The students who were sweating all over returned to their respective classes and left the playground through the gate in the middle of the wire mesh.

At this time, there were ten minutes left before the bell for the first class rang.

Sunny Xu and Starry Lin left the track and stopped by the wire mesh, walking to a relatively secluded place.

He stood under a magnolia tree, hands on his hips, calmed his rapid breathing, and then asked:"Starry, can you finally speak up now?"

"Hmm?"

Starry Lin stared at the flowerpot in front of her.

"Don't pretend. I can tell from a glance that you have something to say to me, right?"

"..."

Starry Lin fell silent for a moment, feeling a bit agitated as she ran her fingers through her hair.

"It's about Seigetsu Zhu."

"Is there something wrong with her?" Sunny Xu thought for a moment. "She seemed fine when she ran past us just now, didn't she?"

"That's the problem. She looks exactly the same as before."

Starry Lin grumbled discontentedly.

"The other day, Seigetsu Zhu spoke to us so seriously and made me nervous with all the things she said. She even had a determined look on her face... Could it be that she was just joking with us?"

With that, the girl with long hair glanced at him.

"During this time, has Seigetsu Zhu come to see you privately?"

"No."

Sunny Xu shook his head. He knew what Starry Lin wanted to say.

"She hasn't come to see me either."

Starry Lin looked puzzled.

"If it's because she's been too busy lately, I can understand. She's a good student and a student leader, and the teachers and students are all watching her. She might not have time to come see us... But just now, she greeted us as if nothing was wrong. Isn't that strange?"

—It turned out that what Starry Lin and he had been concerned about was the same thing.

But after she said it, Sunny Xu had a new idea.

"Well, I've said before that these things can't be forced." Sunny Xu rubbed his chin. "Just because we're friends doesn't mean we have to stick together all the time. That can easily become a burden. Seigetsu Zhu doesn't live with us like we do..."

As he spoke, a few girls who looked like good friends came from behind them, chatting and laughing. Both of them closed their mouths and watched as the girls passed them and went up the stairs.

"See, just like them, they walk together and chat when they're free, and they solve their own problems first. It's not possible to be together all the time."

Sunny Xu watched their backs and said.

"I think the three of us originally had more opportunities to get together than others. If we can naturally become closer, I wouldn't find it strange." Starry Lin sighed softly. "But now it's different. Seigetsu Zhu proposed the agreement herself, and I also agreed seriously. But if she didn't actually care about this... Wouldn't it just be me worrying about it meaninglessly?"

No, there's me too.

Sunny Xu thought.

But he had never realized that Starry Lin would also be concerned about Seigetsu Zhu.

He suddenly felt a little amused and shook his head.

"In that case, why don't the two of us go find her and ask?"

"Hmm?"

Starry Lin looked up, her shining black eyes looking at him, as if expecting something.

"Instead of speculating on our own, it's more reassuring to hear the answer from her, isn't it?"