If Ji Mingyue were to take the graduate entrance examinations for a performing arts major across disciplines, she would have no problem passing whatsoever.
"Senior, I..."
Seeing that the senior was somewhat startled, Zhang Chenxi hurriedly tried to talk his way out of it, but before he could finish, Ji Mingyue interrupted him.
"Were you taking pictures of me?"
The panic on Ji Mingyue's face vanished, replaced by an intense seriousness and coldness. She stared fixedly at Zhang Chenxi, as if trying to see right through him.
Zhang Chenxi was taken aback by this sudden interrogation; his face instantly turned pale, and a thin layer of sweat broke out on his forehead.
"Senior, I..."
He tried to explain something, but found that his throat felt as though it had been blocked by something, unable to make a sound.
Ji Mingyue gave him no chance to explain, speaking up once again:
"Why did you take my picture?" Her voice remained ice-cold, devoid of the slightest emotion.
Zhang Chenxi's lips moved, wanting to answer the question, but he had no idea where to begin.
He certainly couldn't tell Ji Mingyue that because an online gaming partner—whom he had never met even once and who was about to take the college entrance examination—had been curious about the senior she always complained about, she wanted to see what she looked like and thus made him take a photo of her, right?
Leaving aside whether the senior would believe such an outrageous explanation, even if she did, the fact that he had been gossiping about and complaining to others about her was surely enough to make her even angrier!
Just as Zhang Chenxi was hesitating, Ji Mingyue interrupted him once again.
"When you grabbed my hand earlier, could it be that you also...?"
At this point, Ji Mingyue paused, her eyes filled with suspicion and disappointment.
Zhang Chenxi finally realized the gravity of the situation and hurriedly waved his hands.
"No, Senior, you've misunderstood! I really didn't mean anything else by it, I was just..."
Before he could finish, however, Ji Mingyue turned around and walked out of the library.
Zhang Chenxi slapped his thigh hard. Chasing after Ji Mingyue, he secretly swore to himself that once the college entrance exams were over tomorrow, he was definitely going to teach Genie Girl a lesson first thing, and then block her.
"Senior, please listen to me, things really aren't like that. Just give me a chance, I'll explain everything clearly to you."
Ignoring him, Ji Mingyue continued walking toward the school gate.
"I'm sorry, Senior. I know I was wrong."
Zhang Chenxi followed right behind Ji Mingyue all the way with his head lowered.
He knew that if he didn't clear this misunderstanding up, his reputation would probably be completely ruined.
Besides, he didn't want the senior to misunderstand him and be left with a bad impression.
At that moment, a couple walked past the two of them, one leading and the other following.
"Look, that guy definitely pissed his girlfriend off."
"Look how proactive he is about apologizing. Walking behind his girlfriend with his head down like that looks so obedient, kind of cute actually."
"Babe, if I ever make you mad, I'll coax you just as well."
………
Zhang Chenxi naturally had no heart to listen to any of this; his mind was entirely consumed by the desire to explain himself to the senior.
Walking in front, Ji Mingyue glanced at the girl, then suddenly came to a halt.
Zhang Chenxi, who had been walking with his head down the entire time, crashed right into her without warning and almost tumbled to the ground.
He quickly steadied himself, and just as he raised his head to say something, he locked eyes with that cold yet captivating gaze.
"Go ahead. I'm listening—explain what's going on."
Ji Mingyue's voice was crisp and aloof, devoid of any emotion.
Naturally, Zhang Chenxi wasn't about to mention Genie Girl; after all, no sane person would ever believe such an excuse.
"Here's the thing, Senior: I signed up for a school photography contest that requires us to capture aesthetic moments from everyday life."
"When I came back from the restroom, I saw the sunlight shining on your hair, and the way your strands were gently blowing in the wind had such a poetic vibe. So, thinking it happened to fit the theme, I took a picture on my own accord. If you don't like it, Senior, I'll delete it. I'm sorry, I really should have asked for your permission first."
Looking at Ji Mingyue's expression—shifting from a downpour to overcast—Zhang Chenxi thought he was an absolute genius. Just as he thought he was about to succeed, Ji Mingyue spoke up:
"Let me see the photo you took."
"Huh?"
Zhang Chenxi hadn't expected Ji Mingyue to make such a request, but he still pulled out his phone, only to freeze in place a moment later.
Because Ji Mingyue happened to turn her head the exact millisecond Zhang Chenxi pressed the shutter, he had startled so badly that his hand shook, resulting in a motion-blurred double image of Ji Mingyue in the photo.
Coupled with the fact that Ji Mingyue was wearing a white dress today, the photo looked somewhat... terrifying...
Zhang Chenxi hadn't even looked at the picture himself; the moment Ji Mingyue left, he had chased after her to apologize, otherwise, he would rather have died than let Ji Mingyue see it.
"Is *this* the aesthetic, poetic photo you took?"
Ji Mingyue's voice dropped a few degrees colder, a flash of disappointment crossing her eyes.
"Senior, I..."
"You don't need to make up excuses to lie to me. While I don't like you secretly taking pictures of me, I think that lying is a sign of a boy lacking any sense of responsibility."
Zhang Chenxi lowered his head in shame, but it was clear that Ji Mingyue was still waiting for his explanation.
"It's like this, Senior..."
With his head bowed and a hardened resolve, Zhang Chenxi spilled the entire truth to Ji Mingyue, showing her the chat logs between himself and Genie Girl as proof.
Watching this boy—who was a whole head taller than her—keep his head down, not daring to look at her as he confessed everything honestly, Ji Mingyue found him utterly adorable.
If she weren't still maintaining her persona as an aloof senior, she would have loved to ruffle his hair.
(Purely demonic, through and through.)
After reviewing the chat logs, Ji Mingyue "finally believed" Zhang Chenxi's story.
"So you're saying... this Genie Girl is your online-dating girlfriend?"
Ji Mingyue asked after listening to Zhang Chenxi's explanation.
"No, it was back when I was playing Arena of Valor and there was a couple's duo mode that required two players to be paired as lovers. We just randomly teamed up, and we haven't had any contact since."
"But this little girl clearly likes you, calling you Big Brother Xizhao and all. By the way, why did you call yourself Zhang Xizhao?"
Ji Mingyue asked knowingly.
Zhang Chenxi was deeply troubled whenever this topic came up.
"I was afraid she'd actually transfer to Longcheng University, so I made up a fake name. I was planning to just block her tomorrow right after she finishes the college entrance exams," Zhang Chenxi said, explaining his game plan.
Now it was Ji Mingyue's turn to panic; without her identity as Genie Girl, how was she supposed to flirt with her junior?
Besides, she needed Genie Girl as a bridge to become good friends with her junior in real life.
Feigning helpfulness, Ji Mingyue began offering advice.
"Isn't that a bit too cruel? What if the poor girl does something rash out of despair... Why don't you check and see if she really is coming to Longcheng University? What if you two actually hit it off? Wouldn't that work out perfectly?"
Upon hearing this, Zhang Chenxi simply shook his head repeatedly. His gaze turned somewhat vacant and dazed, as if his entire being had been swallowed up by memories.
He didn't say another word, seemingly struggling to keep his emotions in check.
After a moment, Zhang Chenxi finally managed to collect himself.
He took a deep breath to steady his nerves, yet his eyes still retained an unmistakable trace of helplessness and pain.