Monday morning arrived with gray skies and a quiet classroom.
Zhao Yichen walked in as usual, ignoring the teachers, ignoring the buzz of students, and slouched into his seat.
Only this time—something felt off.
No shy voice beside him.
No sound of pages being flipped or pens being clicked.
No Liang Meiyu.
He glanced at the empty seat next to him. Still empty.
Ten minutes into class, he leaned over to the guy behind him. "Where's Meiyu?"
The boy shrugged. "Sick, I think. Stayed home."
Yichen blinked. Sick?
He frowned. Somehow, her absence felt louder than her presence.
---
During lunch, he couldn't focus. He stared at his untouched noodles while Wen Hao, his best friend, watched him with suspicion.
"You've been weird all day."
Yichen grunted. "No I haven't."
"You're looking at her empty seat like she owes you money."
Yichen stood up suddenly. "Gotta go."
"Where?"
"Library," he lied.
---
Instead, he stopped by the school office, casually leaned on the counter, and asked, "Hey… we keep emergency contact info for classmates, right?"
The receptionist raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
He shrugged. "Group project. She didn't message. Thought she bailed on me."
After a moment, the woman rattled off an address from Meiyu's student file.
Yichen jotted it down.
---
That evening, Liang Meiyu sat wrapped in a blanket, nose stuffy, throat sore. A hot water bottle rested against her stomach as she sipped ginger tea and stared miserably at her notes.
Her mom called from the hallway, "Meiyu! There's… a boy at the door?"
She froze. "A what?!"
She rushed to the door in slippers, hair a mess, hoodie two sizes too big. When she opened it—
Zhao Yichen stood there, holding a plastic bag.
"…You look like a soggy dumpling," he said.
She turned beet red. "W-what are you doing here?!"
"Don't get excited. I didn't come for you." He held up the bag. "Came to drop off your precious notes. And soup."
"…Soup?"
He looked uncomfortable. "My grandma made it. I figured you wouldn't eat anything unless it came with a side of guilt."
Meiyu stared at him, stunned.
"I also added some of your color-coded notes. And your pen." He placed the bag in her hands, then turned to leave.
"…Thank you," she said softly, the cold forgotten.
He paused at the gate. "Just don't stay sick too long, alright?"
"…Why?"
"Because," he said without turning back, "class is too quiet without your complaining."
And with that, he was gone.
Meiyu stood at the door, smiling to herself, even with a stuffy nose.
---