Ji Yu tidied up the room and sank into his beanbag chair, staring blankly at the thunderstorm outside.
Rain in Yudu always carried a kind of quiet loneliness. The heavy thunder rolling through the clouds seemed to hush the entire city; even the nearby markets had pulled back their usual noise and bustle, leaving the streets looking tired and listless.
He turned off the lights and simply watched the rain, listening to the muffled rumbles above. In the darkness, his phone suddenly lit up, chiming with a sound like a soft wind chime.
He didn't need to check—it was the tone he had set for his "special contacts." Whenever this tone played, it meant the same thing: his mother and older sister were too busy with work to come home tonight.
"Another day gone, and I didn't even do anything… I'm exhausted."
He went to his bedroom, let the rain and distant thunder lull him, and quickly drifted into sleep.
He dreamed—a dream so vivid he could almost feel pain.
He found himself standing barefoot on a vast expanse where there was only the blue of the sky and the turquoise of the water. When he looked down, the rippling surface mirrored a flock of birds flying overhead.
Curious, he stepped forward, each movement sending rings of ripples across the water's reflection. Each ripple passed over his mirrored face, and with every pass, his smile grew a little wider.
"Ding-ling-ling…"
A cheerful wind chime rang from somewhere ahead. Lifting his head, he saw a guitar floating in midair, a wind chime with two strands of pale-blue tassels hanging from it, swaying gently in a warm breeze that had come from nowhere.
He stepped forward, plucked the wind chime from the guitar, and set it down on the water's surface where it did not sink. Then he reached for the guitar itself, strumming the strings to test the sound.
Each pluck sent a ticklish shiver up through his soles, making him glance down. Beneath the crystal-clear surface swam a school of tiny white koi. Wherever his toes moved, the koi followed.
Blue sky. Turquoise water. A warm wind. And the guitar, waiting for its next note.
He had never traveled anywhere truly beautiful before. Even so, he knew this place wasn't real—just a world he had built inside his own mind.
Well then, why not let himself go?
In a dream, everything was possible. He closed his eyes, summoned a melody from deep inside, and began to play, moving across the water with the rhythm. The chaotic ripples spread until they covered the entire sea.
Maybe it was because he wasn't wearing his finger picks, but his fingertips began to hurt. He didn't care. He didn't question why pain existed in a dream; he just played on, even as the sharp pangs spread through his whole body.
"Baptized by time, the past has grown light and faint…"
Ripples brushed his cheek, altering the reflection…
"When we grow old, we'll savor the feast of memories…
His black hair reached his shoulders, brushing against his shoulder blades…
"Every loss is a gift, rich and full-bodied…"
The final ache surged through him, and his long hair danced lightly with the movement of his body.
When the song ended, the endless blue began to melt away. The water beneath his feet gave way, and he sank into the depths.
Ji Yu didn't struggle—he knew it was just a dream.
Things long yearned for always find a way back.
Perhaps he had always wanted a moment where he could forget about others' eyes and indulge in his own unpolished passions. Perhaps that was why he had built this fleeting, beautiful world inside his mind.
He awoke suddenly in bed, then turned his head toward the window.
Morning light streamed in, flooding his little desk with white brightness. A glance around confirmed he was in his own room. He got up and stretched.
"Big lecture on Mao Zedong Thought today—better not be late."
It was just another morning. But for this early in the day—barely past six—the sunlight was already blinding. Without hurry, he went into the bathroom, brushing his teeth and washing his face at the same time as usual—until his toothbrush slipped from his mouth into the sink.
"…Ah."
Maybe it was the hot water waking him up. Maybe it was the shock from the mirror.
He realized—he now had long hair.
"What the…?"
He pressed his face to the mirror, pinched his cheek, almost unwilling to believe that the girl in the reflection was him.
Who wouldn't be shocked?
There was a strange weight on his chest. He glanced down, touched it…
The girl in the mirror widened her pale-blue eyes, her lips parting into a silent gasp, repeated again and again—
"Ah."
"Ah."
"Ahhh—"
"AHHHH!!!"
The neighbors could understand the nature of such a scream, but none of them felt the need to investigate.
Though startled, the clear, bright tone of that voice confirmed the truth for Ji Yu.
The girl in the mirror stared back. Long hair tumbled over her shoulders, her bangs sticking up like playful strands that refused to be tamed, making her look half-awake. Her skin was fairer now, her eyes a rare pale blue.
She smiled for one breath—then froze, her gaze dropping between her legs. The absence there made the truth impossible to ignore.
She yanked down her waistband.
Fact confirmed: she had completed the most drastic transformation of her life—she was now a girl.
A cool morning breeze parted the curtains, brushing over her arms and pulling her mind back from its daze.
She zipped up, stepped back, and spun in place. No discomfort anywhere. Even the weight on her chest felt strangely natural.
After the initial shock, the bathroom fell into silence.
Anger? Confusion? Sorrow? Fear? She didn't know what expression to wear, what action could possibly resist a reality like this.
The curtain kept fluttering, and the room grew cold.
Right… she could call someone.
She picked up her phone, scrolled to "Mom" and "Sis," but stopped.
"…Better not trouble them. I'm still me, girl or boy—it doesn't change how I live."
With a muted sigh, she accepted it for now. She went on with her routine: washing up, making breakfast, checking her schedule, pulling the books she'd need for the day.
Then she froze. Something was wrong.
Her student records listed her as male. Her ID card said male. But right now? Nothing about her looked male at all.
She hurried back to her bedroom and rifled through her small wardrobe, settling on a white windbreaker zipped to her collarbone and loose white track pants. Then she raided her sister's room for a black baseball cap, tucking all her hair under it.
A few more seconds in front of the mirror. Good—no obvious feminine features showing. She dashed out to catch the bus.
She had wasted too much time; by the time she reached the stop, the bus was already pulling away. Being who she was, she didn't have the nerve to yell for the driver to stop. She just stood there, panting, watching it get smaller and smaller.
No bus. No time. Clutching her three thick textbooks, she broke into a run toward campus.
"Hey, beauty—you a Yuyang student?"
The voice came from just behind her. She turned instinctively.
A white Aurora motorcycle, a silver-haired young man holding his helmet, and a gaze fixed right on her.
"You… you're from Yuyang too? Or… are you a teacher?"
"Oh?" The sun glanced off his rearview mirror, hiding his features, but the spark of mischief and curiosity in his eyes was enough to rule out "teacher."
Besides, what teacher would show up to class on a motorcycle that sleek?
"Tell me, do you think you'll make it to class walking at that pace?"
"Uh… could you give me a ride, senior?"
The faint shift in her form of address made the smile in his eyes deepen.
"And how do you know I'm your senior, little junior?"
Caught off guard by his perceptiveness, Ji Yu stammered, "I… I'm a guy. Which eye of yours says I'm… a girl?"
Yu Yuan arched a brow, openly studying the barefaced "junior" with pale-blue eyes. His gaze drifted from her loose pants to her chest, then to the hair clearly tucked under the cap.
Feeling the weight of his stare—and perhaps guided by instinct—she hugged her books tighter to her chest, only to end up emphasizing her curves.
His eyes flickered with understanding, but his voice stayed casual. "Take off the cap, and I'll let you on."
Ji Yu knew exactly what he was trying to do and hesitated.
"First class is Mao Zedong Thought," he drawled. "If freshmen are already skipping that, I can only imagine what you'll do later on."
His gaze lingered meaningfully on the thick textbook in her hands.
She yanked off the cap, letting her glossy black hair spill free, shaking it out by habit before looking up at him with hopeful eyes. "That good enough, senior?"
Yu Yuan steadied himself against a sudden flutter in his chest. Meeting those pale-blue eyes for a heartbeat, he jerked his thumb behind him. "Hop on, little junior. I'll have you in the lecture hall in no time."