"Waiting for me? Aren't you tired?"
Lin Jiayu smiled. The dim, warm glow of the streetlamp illuminated her delicate profile, making her look somewhat nonchalant. "Not at all."
"So, did you have fun tonight?" She tilted her head slightly, looking at Lu Huai'an with a fluid, captivating gaze.
"Yeah, it was pretty fun. I had rice noodles and walked around the snack street."
"With the girl you like?"
Lu Huai'an gave an affirmative hum, his face flushing slightly. "Sister Nianchu is really nice."
"Oh?" Lin Jiayu drew out the last syllable, looking at him with keen interest. "How nice is she?"
Lu Huai'an felt a bit self-conscious under her gaze. "She's very kind, very gentle, and also very interesting."
"You two should get along well. I'll introduce you sometime if I get the chance."
Lin Jiayu gave a soft hum and didn't pick up the thread.
"Right, isn't there a military training review coming up in a few days? Right after the review is the freshman orientation party." Lu Huai'an remembered and spoke up.
Lin Jiayu nodded. "Yeah, what about it?"
"Do you want to come along?" Lu Huai'an asked, a hint of anticipation in his eyes.
"Why would I go join in that commotion? I'm not a freshman." Lin Jiayu pouted.
"Just come to see it, soak in the atmosphere. Besides..." Lu Huai'an paused, his voice dropping a bit. "I have a performance in it this time..."
"Is that so?" Lin Jiayu raised an eyebrow, looking him up and down. "You know how to perform?"
"I wouldn't call it performing." Lu Huai'an smiled. "I just sing passably well."
Lin Jiayu let out a light laugh. "I wouldn't have guessed. You're quite something."
"No... Sister Nianchu said they were short on people, so I agreed..."
Lin Jiayu looked at him for a few seconds, then looked away. "Alright, I'll come cheer you on."
"Really?"
"Of course really." Lin Jiayu smiled. "Just make sure you sing well."
"Well, I'm heading back. You should get to sleep early too."
"Oh, okay." Lu Huai'an stood up with her.
When Lu Huai'an got back to the apartment, Jiang Chuan and Hu Yishu were already fast asleep, probably exhausted from today's military training.
After finishing his wash-up, Lu Huai'an went back to his room, lay in bed unable to sleep no matter what, and tossed and turned until the middle of the night before finally drifting off into a hazy sleep.
"Damn, old Lu, did you go out thieving last night? Your dark circles are so heavy!"
The next morning, Jiang Chuan looked at Lu Huai'an sporting a pair of panda eyes and couldn't help laughing.
"It's fine, didn't sleep well last night." Lu Huai'an yawned.
He walked over to the bathroom and splashed his face with cold water, trying to wake himself up.
"Didn't you go out with Lin Jiayu last night? How come you still slept so late?" Hu Yishu walked over as well, asking with curiosity.
"Chatted with her outside for a bit," Lu Huai'an answered vaguely. He didn't want them to know he had insomnia because he was stressing over the freshman orientation party.
"Oh..." Hu Yishu nodded and dropped the subject.
...
Military training time passed quickly. As soon as the review ended, the freshman orientation party was put on the agenda.
A few days ago, Lu Huai'an and Su Nianchu picked out a song together, and Su Nianchu suggested he sing "Growl".
The song was quite popular with a very strong rhythm, making it well-suited for an event like this to get the crowd going.
Lu Huai'an didn't have much concept of song selection, but since Su Nianchu said it was good, it definitely wasn't a problem.
For the next few days, apart from classes and meals, Lu Huai'an spent his time with earphones in, listening to that song over and over.
"Growl" wasn't a particularly difficult song, but singing it well required emotional investment. Plus, he was singing the Chinese version; trying to learn Korean in this short amount of time would have been genuinely difficult.
The rehearsal date he agreed on with Su Nianchu arrived soon enough.
The rehearsal room was on the second floor of the activity center, and Lu Huai'an arrived ten minutes early.
When Lu Huai'an arrived, Su Nianchu was already there. She was sitting by the window playing the piano, the sunlight outlining her profile, looking exceptionally beautiful.
Lu Huai'an's heartbeat sped up.
"Sister Nianchu," he called out softly.
Su Nianchu looked up and smiled at him. "You're here. How's the song coming along?"
"Pretty good. Should be fine." Lu Huai'an walked over to her side. "It's just... a bit nervous."
"What is there to be nervous about?" Su Nianchu smiled and poured him a glass of water. "It's not the official performance yet. Let's just run through it and get a feel for it."
Lu Huai'an took the glass, holding it in his hands without drinking.
He looked at Su Nianchu, wanting to say something, but not knowing how to start.
"Are you familiar with all the lyrics? Do you want to go through them once first?" Su Nianchu picked up the lyric booklet on the table.
"Yeah, okay." Lu Huai'an nodded, put his water glass aside, and picked up his own lyric booklet.
Lu Huai'an's voice was a bit tight, but overall it was pretty good. Just as Su Nianchu had said, his vocal timbre suited the song very well.
"Not bad at all. You're singing better than I expected," Su Nianchu said with a smile.
Lu Huai'an smiled somewhat self-consciously. "I still need to practice more."
Just then, the door to the rehearsal room was pushed open.
A boy wearing a black hoodie walked in. When he saw Su Nianchu, his eyes lit up and he greeted her with a smile, "Nianchu, you're here too."
Su Nianchu smiled as well. "Yeah, came to check things out."
Li Mingzhe walked up to Su Nianchu and said with a smile, "It has to be Director Su, personally coaching a performance. That's not your everyday treatment, huh."
Su Nianchu chuckled and retorted, "Look who's talking, aren't you doing the same thing, Director Li?"
Li Mingzhe laughed heartily. "Director Su is an academic genius who cruises through finals with A-pluses. A slacker like me barely avoids having to retake classes after finishing club work."
Su Nianchu shot him a playful glare. "Stop running your mouth."
Standing to the side, Lu Huai'an watched Su Nianchu and Li Mingzhe chatting and laughing, and suddenly felt a heavy tightness in his chest.
His mind was in complete chaos. If Su Nianchu started dating, would he have to watch her be this happy with someone else every day...
Su Nianchu was smiling so brightly—a smile he rarely got to see.
Usually when she was with him, although Su Nianchu smiled, it always felt like there was a bit of distance between them, nothing like this unreserved joy.
"Right, do you want to grab lunch together later?" Su Nianchu asked Li Mingzhe.
"Lunch? Aren't you going with your boyfriend?" Li Mingzhe gestured toward Lu Huai'an standing nearby.
"He's not my boyfriend, he's a very good younger brother." Su Nianchu waved her hand in explanation, then looked at Lu Huai'an. "Is that okay, Huai'an?"
Lu Huai'an looked at Su Nianchu, his gaze dimming. "Do you really want to avoid being with me that badly?"
"I have something to do, I'm leaving." Lu Huai'an didn't say anything more and turned to leave the rehearsal room.
Behind him, Su Nianchu seemed to call out his name, "Huai'an?"
But he didn't stop walking; if anything, he sped up.
He just wanted to get away from here, fearing that if he stayed any longer, he wouldn't be able to hold back.
He might blurt out something he would regret...