The Moon's Promise Lapsed at Summer's End

At our first class reunion after the college entrance exams, someone suggested we play a heart-rate challenge. Any man and woman whose heart rates went over 150 while holding eye contact would have to pretend to be a couple for two months. I was in the first pair, matched with my childhood friend. I was so nervous I couldn't look at him, and my heart rate shot up to 160. Zhou Yu stayed steady at 80 the whole time, his expression as calm as if he were looking at a stranger. When the countdown ended, the whole room burst out laughing. “Seriously? You've been childhood friends for over ten years, and Zhou Yu still doesn't like you?” “Girl, throwing yourself at him like this is just embarrassing.” I said nothing. They had no idea that Zhou Yu and I had been together for three years. I'd hoped to use this chance to make our relationship public. But he insisted on drawing a clear line between us. In the second round, Zhou Yu was paired with our class monitor, Lin Xi. The two were famous rivals, always picking fights whenever they met. Everyone waited for the show. But the moment they locked eyes, Lin Xi's heart rate hit 180, and Zhou Yu's reached 182. The room erupted. They glared furiously at each other and demanded a retest. In the end, their classmates coaxed and pushed them until they reluctantly agreed to be a couple for two months. My phone buzzed. Zhou Yu messaged me: [Baby, let's break up for now, just for two months. We'll get back together once we're at university. I absolutely can't lose to Lin Xi!] I froze for a moment, then replied, “Okay.” I'd spent the whole summer agonizing over whether to tell him I was going abroad to study. But now I didn't have to.