Chapter 4: The Day She Got Confessed To, He Didn’t Smile

The rain stopped in the evening.

The air felt freshly washed, and the leaves of the plane trees by the playground were still dripping.

Gu Nian hugged her books and walked toward the teaching building. Just as she turned the corner by the stairs, someone called out.

“Gu Nian.”

She looked back.

It was Jiang Xu.

He stood by the corridor window, the sunset hitting him from the side, stretching his shadow long across the floor.

“Something you need?” she asked.

“Mm.”
He nodded, looking more serious than usual. “I… I want to tell you something.”

Gu Nian felt a vague sense of foreboding.

“You don’t need to be nervous.” Jiang Xu smiled. “I like you.”

So straightforward.

The corridor was nearly empty, and a breeze blew in through the window, carrying a touch of coolness.

Gu Nian froze.

She opened her mouth, but didn’t answer immediately.

“I know you’re really close to Lu Chen,” Jiang Xu continued, “but you’re not together, right?”

Gu Nian lowered her head.

“No.”

The words left her mouth, yet somehow her heart felt hollow.

“Then I want to try.”
Jiang Xu looked at her. “You don’t have to answer now. I can wait for you.”

Gu Nian looked up, about to speak—

“She doesn’t need to answer.”

A low voice came from the stairs.

Her heart skipped a beat.

Lu Chen was standing there.

She didn’t know how long he had been waiting.

His expression was cold, completely different from usual.

“Lu Chen…” Gu Nian called instinctively.

He didn’t look at her.

His gaze was fixed on Jiang Xu.

“She doesn’t like you,” he said.

His tone was calm, yet carried an unshakable certainty.

Jiang Xu frowned. “Who gave you the right to answer for her?”

Finally, Lu Chen turned to look at Gu Nian.

That single glance made her chest tighten.

“Do you like him?” he asked.

Gu Nian opened her mouth.

Every sound seemed to get stuck in her throat.

“I—”

“Enough.”
Lu Chen cut her off.

He looked back at Jiang Xu, his voice cold. “Stay away from her from now on.”

“Lu Chen!” Gu Nian panicked. “Don’t be like this!”

His hands clenched tightly.

Knuckles whitening.

“Gu Nian.”
For the first time, he called her name in that tone. “Come with me.”

He turned and walked.

Gu Nian hesitated for a second, then followed.

The stairwell was empty.

Outside, the sky slowly darkened.

She walked behind him, watching his back.

“You shouldn’t have acted like that,” she said.

Lu Chen didn’t turn back.

“Then what am I supposed to do when others confess to you?”

“That’s my business.”

“But I don’t want to.”
He finally faced her, his eyes heavy with emotion. “I don’t want to give you to anyone.”

Gu Nian’s breath caught.

“Who gave you the right?”
She looked up at him, her eyes prickling with heat.
“Didn’t you say before that we’re not that kind of relationship?”

Lu Chen was silent.

For a long time.

So long that Gu Nian thought he wouldn’t speak again.

“I regret it.”
His voice was hoarse.
“I shouldn’t have taken you for granted all this time.”

Gu Nian’s heart completely unraveled.

“Lu Chen, what exactly do you mean?”

He took a step closer.

They were so close that she could smell the faint scent of his laundry detergent.

“I mean—”
He looked down at her, eyes so serious it was almost unbearable. “I like you.”

The world seemed to stop in that moment.

Tears fell from Gu Nian’s eyes without warning.

“How can you…”
Her voice trembled. “Only say it now?”

Lu Chen reached out, then froze mid-air.

As if he didn’t dare touch her.

“I’m sorry,” he said.
“But I can’t hold it in anymore.”

Gu Nian looked up at him.

The person who had always stood in front of her since childhood.

“So now,” she choked out,
“are you still willing to protect me?”

Lu Chen didn’t hesitate.

He pulled her into his arms.

Holding her tightly.

“I always have.”