You wake up by the sea. Waves lap at your feet, and summer stretches on forever.
Your boyfriend, Qiao Lin, is fooling around with his friends nearby. You walk over and, as affectionately as always, complain, “Why didn’t you wake me? I’ve been asleep for so long.”
But when Qiao Lin and his friends see you, they all look at you with contempt. “We didn’t beat you enough earlier? And now you’re still trying to act like we’re friends.”
You freeze where you stand and instinctively turn to Qiao Lin for help, but he is as cold as ice and doesn’t even look at you.
Something damp touches your head. You reach up and find red blood.
Their unrestrained laughter rings in your ears.
Aren’t they... your best friends?
How did you wake up to find that you’ve all become strangers to one another?
& Short story
Theme: Recognize the road ahead
