Taking a slow breath, Gou Feng looked at Angela and offered her a polite smile.
It was gentle enough to soften the rejection he was about to give.
"I'm sorry."
Angela's hopeful expression faltered slightly, Gou Feng saw it but still he continued calmly.
"I don't attend events like prom."
The smile on her face became strained.
"My family already has plans a trip for that day, and I informed the principal a while ago that I wouldn't be attending."
For a brief moment, disappointment flashed across Angela's face.
She clearly had not expected that answer.
Still, she quickly composed herself.
The courage it took to stand here in front of so many people was admirable.
"Oh."
She forced a smile.
"That's okay."
Gou Feng nodded apologetically.
"I'm sorry."
"No, it's fine."
Angela shook her head.
"Thank you for answering me."
One of her friends immediately stepped forward and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.
Another gently squeezed her hand.
"Let's go, girls."
Angela smiled at them before looking back at Gou Feng one final time.
"Have a nice day, Gou Feng."
"You too."
As they disappeared into the crowd, the atmosphere around the table slowly returned to normal.
Gou Feng quietly released a breath.
Problem solved, or so he thought.
The moment Angela was out of earshot, Huan Zhan slammed both hands onto the table.
"YOU REJECTED HER?!"
Several nearby students immediately turned to look.
Gou Feng covered his face with one hand, feeling a headache already forming behind his eyes.
And somehow, he had a feeling it was about to get worse.
"No, more importantly..." Huan Zhan pointed his chopsticks at him.
"We have a family trip? How come I didn't know about it?"
Gou Feng looked at him.
"...What?"
"The family trip!" Huan Zhan repeated.
"You just told her our family already has plans on prom night."
Shen Jiu rolled his eyes so hard he nearly saw the back of his skull.
"That's what you focused on?"
"What else am I supposed to focus on?"
"The fact that he rejected one of the prettiest girls in our year."
"That too!" Huan Zhan turned back toward Gou Feng.
"Seriously though, you rejected Angela."
Gou Feng picked up his drink and took a sip.
"Yes."
"Just like that?"
"Just like that."
Huan Zhan looked personally offended.
"Do you know how many guys would willingly throw themselves off a building for a chance like that?"
"Then they can ask her out themselves." Gou Feng answered without hesitation.
"That's not the point!"
"That is exactly the point."
Shen Jiu snorted.
For once, he actually agreed with Gou Feng.
Huan Zhan looked between the two of them and groaned dramatically.
"You two are impossible."
Gou Feng simply continued eating.
To him, there was nothing worth discussing.
Angela seemed like a nice person.
That was precisely why he had rejected her immediately.
Giving false hope would only hurt her later.
He would rather disappoint someone for a few minutes than waste months of their feelings. That was simply unfair.
Shen Jiu observed his friend quietly.
Unlike Huan Zhan, he understood Gou Feng better.
In all the years they had known each other, he had never once seen Gou Feng seriously interested in anyone.
Not a girl.
Not a boy.
Not anyone.
Whenever someone confessed, Gou Feng would politely refuse.
Whenever people tried to get close, he maintained a respectful distance.
It was as though romance simply did not exist in his world.
"A-Feng."
"Hm?" Gou Feng looked straight at him.
"Have you ever liked anyone?"
The question made Huan Zhan immediately perk up.
"That's a good question."
Gou Feng shook his head.
"No."
His answer came so naturally that neither the cousins detected even a hint of hesitation from him.
"Never?" Huan Zhan asked.
"Never."
"What about a crush?"
"No," Gou Feng answered honestly.
"Someone you thought was attractive?"
Huan Zhan refused to back down. Unfortunately for him, his best friend's answer remained the same.
"No."
"A celebrity?"
Somehow, the relentless questioning was beginning to wear on Gou Feng's patience.
His brows furrowed.
"No."
"A fictional character?"
This time, Gou Feng fixed him with a long, unimpressed stare.
"...What kind of question is that?"
"A valid one," Huan Zhan replied without missing a beat.
"It's not."
"It absolutely is."
"No, it isn't."
"How would you know? You've never had a crush."
Gou Feng stared at him for several seconds.
Then he turned to Shen Jiu.
"Can I hit him?"
Shen Jiu immediately laughed.
Huan Zhan, however, looked genuinely troubled.
"A-Feng, that's not normal."
"Why?" Gou Feng frowned.
"Because you're twenty years old."
"And?"
"People your age usually think about relationships."
Gou Feng shrugged.
"I don't."
"Why not?"
The question made him pause for a moment.
Why not?
To be honest, he had never really thought about it.
His life had always revolved around moving forward, working hard, and improving himself.
Making sure he never disappointed the person who had given him a second life.
Everything else had simply become background noise.
Building a family.
Falling in love.
Getting married.
Having children.
None of those things had ever crossed his mind.
Not even once.
The future he imagined for himself was surprisingly simple.
Graduate.
Find stable work.
Continue helping Hei Bao whenever needed.
That was enough.
It had always been enough.
Perhaps that was why confessions made him uncomfortable.
"I'm not interested," Gou Feng finally said.
Huan Zhan stared at him.
"You sound like an eighty-year-old grandfather."
"I'll take that as a compliment."
"It wasn't."
That made Shen Jiu laugh again.
He glanced at the clock hanging on the cafeteria wall, and the smile on his face immediately disappeared.
"Oh no."
"What?" Huan Zhan turned to him.
Shen Jiu pointed at the time, and he froze.
A second later, they all jumped from their seats.
"We're late!"
"Why didn't you remind us?!" Huan Zhan eyes pointed at Gou Feng who calmly finished chewing his food.
"You were too busy interrogating me."
They immediately scrambled to gather their things.
Watching them panic, Gou Feng finally smiled.
At least the conversation had moved away from Angela.
Unfortunately, knowing Huan Zhan, the topic would probably return later.
And when it did, Gou Feng already knew exactly how it would end.
With Huan Zhan accusing him of wasting another perfectly good opportunity.
Not that it mattered.
At this point in his life, Gou Feng could not imagine himself loving anyone.
His heart simply had no room for such thoughts.
There was only gratitude, loyalty, and the quiet determination to repay the man who had given him a second life.
Everything else seemed unimportant in comparison.
Besides, Gou Feng had a far more pressing problem.
Those memories.
The strange fragments that kept appearing in his mind without warning.
A voice.
A place.
Faces he did not recognize.
Emotions that did not belong to him.
Sometimes they appeared while he was studying.
Sometimes during class, and in the middle of the night when he was trying to sleep.
No matter how hard he tried, he could not understand where they came from.
Or who they belonged to.
They felt real, as though he were peering into someone else's life through broken pieces of glass.
Gou Feng rubbed his temple. A dull ache had started to attack him again.
He had always possessed a high tolerance for pain.
Long hours of work never bothered him, and physical exhaustion rarely slowed him down.
Even injuries were something he had learned to endure.
Yet, somehow these memories were different.
They drained him in a way he couldn't explain.
Left him exhausted even after a full night's sleep, making it difficult to focus, and made him feel strangely restless.
And, if he was being honest, increasingly irritated.
Perhaps if he discovered who those memories belonged to, they would finally stop.
Perhaps there was a reason they kept appearing.
A reason he had yet to uncover.
Whatever the answer was, he wanted it gone.
The sooner, the better.
Gou Feng let out a sharp sigh, and looked up.
Several meters ahead, Huan Zhan and Shen Jiu had somehow started arguing again.
"...I told you that's not what the professor meant."
"Tell me what it is then."
"No."
"Wha–see? You're lying to me."
The two continued bickering as they walked down the hallway, attracting curious glances from passing students.
Such a scene immediately pulled Gou Feng away from his thoughts.
Shaking his head, he quickened his pace and followed after his two best friends, before they managed to embarrass themselves any further.
The afternoon arrived quietly.
The bustling university grounds had gradually become less crowded as most students headed home or returned to their dormitories after their classes ended.
Meanwhile, Gou Feng sat alone inside a café near the university gate, waiting for his two best friends as they had planned earlier.
The café catered mostly to wealthy students and visiting professionals. Because of its expensive menu, very few students came here regularly, making it one of the few peaceful places near campus.
In front of him sat a slice of caramel chiffon cake and a cup of bubble milk tea.
Both were only half-finished.
Gou Feng was not particularly fond of sweets. In fact, he rarely ate them at all.
Unfortunately, waiting inside a café for several hours without or
dering anything felt rude, so he had settled for the safest choices on the menu.
Four hours passed surprisingly quickly.
Most of that time was spent reading a web novel on his phone.
Occasionally he would take a sip of his drink or glance outside the window at the students coming and going.
At exactly (5:10 p.m.) his phone vibrated.