Clouds, Clouds, Go Away

Roommates / Unrequited love becomes mutual / Both are inexperienced

When Pu Xu went looking for Lou Panxing, he was in the middle of being confessed to.

Beneath a magnolia tree, a pretty girl blushed and held out a pink envelope.

It was all as lovely as a romantic movie.

Only the male lead showed no joy at being confessed to.

He had pale skin and a sharp jawline. Wearing a black baseball cap, he leaned against the tree with his arms crossed, his expression cool and bored.

Pu Xu recognized the shoes on his feet as the new pair her younger brother had been raving about for a month. They cost more than her family's monthly income.

A crowd of boys and girls had gathered nearby to watch. They all knew that Young Master Lou would reject the girl without mercy, just as he always did.

Sure enough, Lou Panxing finally gave a quiet “Ah,” then said coolly, “Sorry, I have someone I like.”

Everyone erupted. Tears filled the girl's eyes, but she still pressed on. “Who is it? Do I know her?”

Lou Panxing's gaze fell on Pu Xu, who was trying to sneak away.

He casually tipped up his chin, cocky and insolent. “There she is.”

The glamorous boys and girls all relaxed and laughed when they saw Pu Xu, knowing Lou Panxing was only joking to turn down the confession.

After all,

Young Master Lou could get by on his looks alone, not to mention his family background, which was enough to make the entire No. 1 High School tremble. He was always surrounded by scions of influential families who followed his every lead.

He and Pu Xu, a transfer student on a reduced-fee program who wore discount-store skirts, were worlds apart, like heaven and earth.

They weren't just unlikely to date. Even standing together, they looked so out of place that it made people uncomfortable.

Lou Panxing rarely let a faint smile show. He seemed to think his joke was pretty amusing too.

Only Pu Xu saw the intense interest written in his cool eyes.

She met his gaze, fixed on her like she was his prey, and slowly took two steps back.

*

Pu Xu had lived by the rules for eighteen years. She had always been the very definition of a good girl.

Then, when she turned eighteen, she suddenly received a will from a benefactor she had lost contact with long ago.

According to the will, she inherited a small house.

Penniless and destitute, Pu Xu thought her luck had finally turned and moved in that very night.

But that evening, just as Pu Xu stepped out of the bathroom, she looked up...

A boy in a black down jacket stood in the doorway, wrapped in cold air, his eyes red as he stared straight at her.

She stared at him in a daze, recognizing him as her classmate and the male lead in her secret-crush diary.

She instinctively raised a hand to greet him. “Lou...”

But the boy walked right past her to the refrigerator, opened a can of ice-cold cola with one hand, and asked nonchalantly, “Do we know each other?”

Pu Xu blinked, then shook her head, half stunned and half embarrassed.

Looking at the pale collarbones peeking out from beneath her oversized T-shirt, the boy gave a scornful laugh, then turned and went upstairs without a second thought.

*

At the New Year's party, the boys and girls gathered to play truth or dare.

Xu Qian, the school-recognized “official girlfriend” of Young Master Lou, was chosen.

Her lovely profile was still captivating in the candlelight. “I'll choose truth.”

Someone immediately seized the chance to ask, “Goddess Xu, who do you like?”

In an instant, everyone burst into laughter, yet they all turned to look at the same person.

Lou Panxing sat in the brightest patch of candlelight, handsome features clear, his every movement radiating an intimidating distance.

Facing all those eyes, he raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

Xu Qian tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled, radiant and shy. “You guys are so annoying!”

Pu Xu sat by the back door, quietly peeling a tangerine. No one noticed her from beginning to end.

The classroom was full of laughter and conversation. Only she knew that while everyone crowded around Miss Xu and teased her, she was wearing Lou Panxing's school jacket.

He had put it on her himself before the party started, and it still carried his pleasant citrus scent.

They are each other's first love. They don't start dating before graduation.

Theme: The song of humanity is a song of courage