The cicadas’ sound orchestrated a symphony known as summer.
The shadow of the thick woods and the rustling of the leaves along with the breeze that occasionally swept the steel and concrete forest revealed a mysterious scent and coolness.
It belonged to a person.
The white dress billowed like a lily at dawn, resembling the bloom of first love. The quiet, serene face perpetually drawn to the paperback novel—sometimes delighted, at other times sorrowful.
[So jealous…
If only I were that book.]
“Yo, Jiang Chen, you’re drooling.” Zhao Peng approached Jiang Chen as he bumped into him with a smirk.
“Go away.” Jiang Chen glanced at him at and slightly shifted his body sideways, lying on the table to sleep.
As though he was inadvertently facing that direction.
“Ahem, if you like Yao Tingting then you should go ask her out. Wu—” Jiang Chen immediately jumped up and covered the mouth of his good friend.
“Do you want to die!” Jiang Chen twisted Zhao Peng’s neck as he growled at Zhao Peng in a hushed voice, his face red.
With a smirking face, Zhao Peng pretended to die while rolling his eyes.
The girls in front turned around and witness their boisterous play and started giggling. While the other boys near Jiang Chen and Zhao Peng surrounded them in a rowdy manner.
As though drawn by the commotion, the goddess stared in their direction.
And gave a look of mild confusion.
Jiang Chen felt his heart almost stopped.
His ear began to heat up.
Oh no, his skin was scorching.
Yao Tingting probably thought that her classmates were too rowdy, so she closed her book and left the classroom quietly.
“Ahhh! Fu*k, you used your teeth!” Jiang Chen painfully jerked away from Zhao Peng.
“You fu*king almost choked me to death!” Zhao Peng was breathing heavily while clutching his chest and gave Jiang Chen his nastiest look.
When the boys saw that the commotion had died down, they all left chuckling. The two girls in front started talking about the TV show last night, and the classroom regained its former peace.
Except for the window blinds which fluttered in the breeze.
The ordinary day felt fulfilling.
It felt like everything gave off a sense of nostalgia.
–
11 June 2171, summer.
High school’s first summer break was almost here, and it wouldn’t be long before the exams started.
Today I watched her secretly again.
I thought I already made up my mind to suppress my feeling for her in the bottom of my heart.
No, that’s not right, or maybe just like what Zhao Peng had said, I should probably ask her out.
No, no, no, that’s impossible…she is so beautiful, so smart, there must be plenty of people who like her. If I asked her out and she rejected me, we couldn’t even be friends anymore.
Eh? Maybe we are not even friends?
“Ahhh…” Jiang Chen slammed the journal on the bed behind him as he laid his head down on the table and covered his head.
[If I leave this diary behind, my embarrassment will go down in history in the future. It will kill me. No, fu*k! I’m a man so why am I so conflicted? If I like her, I can r*pe her. What does asking her out even do? If I can’t get her, I’ll force her. If that doesn’t work, I’ll just drug her. If we break up, then send her nud*s. If I can’t even bear the consequence of going to jail, how do I even have the audacity to say I like her! There’s no use of being conflicted.
Hm? Something weird might have gotten into him.]
…still feeling conflicted.
He stared at the cloud on his table mindlessly as his thoughts wandered off.
It was after a good while before he recollected his thoughts from the unnatural state.
“Is this how a adolescent trouble feels like?” After thinking for a moment, Jiang Chen let out a sigh while he savagely combed his messy hair.
[Eh? I thought I have a short hair?] Jiang Chen was baffled, his hand momentarily stopping.
[This is an illusion right? Who would get an ugly haircut like this?]
“When did I start writing this diary again? What’s the point of this thing, saving it so I would be embarrassed in the future?” Jiang Chen scanned the electronic clock beside him, sighing.
[It’s 8 already. Fine, I’ll stop thinking about her and will loosen up with a show.]
He thought about it as he stood up. He stretched his sore limbs and walked to the living room.
Because he went to school away from his hometown, his parents were not with him. When did this happen again?
The beginning of senior high, right.
The vivid memory suddenly resurfaced in his head as it filled the slightly odd memory gaps.
He headed to the kitchen, opened the refrigerator’s door and took a bottle of Coke before walking into the living room. He slumped down on the cushy sofa, grabbed a glass, and poured one for himself. He then pressed the TV remote in a leisurely manner.
The flashing lights and shadows reflected on the light blue screen. Just like a window, behind it were scenes after scenes of drama.
The TV show started airing…
–
“Gege, I won’t let you go easily until I’m done teasing you.” The girl switched the way her legs were crossed; the white color made Klein’s heart throbbed uncontrollably. One graceful hand lazily propped up her stunning face as she laid back serenely against the throne. The position exactly resembled a wicked but beautiful and mysterious noble.
“Do you want to know what’s happening to your right now?”
Klein felt a mischievous smile formed on the fuzzy but gorgeous face. His throat moved while he tried to make his vision clearer, but it was futile. There was a terrible feeling as if he was like a piece of meat on a chopping board.
“Then look underneath you.”
Klein consciously shifted his gaze downwards. He saw that both of his feet were submerged in shallow water with floating petals. “The fragrance is coming from below my feet?” he wondered dazedly.
Through the reflection from the pool, he vaguely saw his current form. He seemed to be tied to a cross, his lips tied with thin chains. Surprisingly however, was that his limbs did not feel sore at all.
“Don’t you think this is beautiful…”
–
“Dust Kingdom” appeared to be a popular TV show. The girls sitting in front of him were talking about this drama.
Jiang Chen thoughts wandered as he stared blankly at the screen.
A punk-style drama based on a novel that told the story of the ancient times. Surprisingly, these types of show were remarkably popular. Under the augmented reality effect, it felt as though he was at the scene itself.
In retrospect, the scenes were rather intense. Was it really okay to be broadcasted on public TV? For some reason, Jiang Chen did not appear to be interested at all. He merely zoned out mindlessly, and he even had the urge to yawn.
This Klein guy should be bitten by the vampire next. He probably wouldn’t die, because…wait, why does the plot look so familiar?
[Shameless plagiarist…] Jiang Chen cursed in his mind as he gulped down a sip of Coke, his eyebrows began to frown.
“Do I like to drink Coke?” He subconsciously grabbed a bottle from the fridge just like before.
As soon as the words left his mouth, he realized the question was dumb.
The plot continued on the screen.
Of course, Klein didn’t die; the vampire only sucked some blood from his body. Klein was taken away by the vampire’s maid, and the drama then began to show the post-credits.
That’s right, if the main character died, how would the story continue?
Jiang Chen turned the TV off and glanced at the clock.
[It’s this late already. Time to hit the sack], he thought as he walked to the bedroom.
With the journal on his bed, he hesitated for a moment before sighing.
“I should just rip this out. If other people see this embarrassing journal, I would be better off dead.” Jiang Chen smiled wryly and picked up the diary.
He ripped the pages off, crumpled them into a ball and tossed them into bin. From the binding of the diary, there were a lot of torn pages; it was not the first time he erased the embarrassing history.
He threw the diary on the table as he flung himself onto the bed. Jiang Chen shoved his muddled head on the pillow. He fluffed the pillow for a bit before he let out a long breath.
[That’s it for today.
Tomorrow…tomorrow, I’ll try asking her out.
Even if I get rejected, at least I won’t regret it.]
Just like this, the teen in puberty, anxious and full of hope drifted into sleep.
The cold letters silently jumped on the digital clock on the table.
11:59
12:00
The green light on the side of the clock flashed almost unobtrusively.
As though premeditated, the wind flipped the journal open on the table.