The first exam was ese. Even as the papers were being handed out, Zhuang Zi'ang's mind was still wandering. He quickly ghrough his copy to make sure there were no printing errors, then picked up his pen to write his name.

  He started the first stroke, then suddenly stopped.

  This might actually be the st exam I ever take, he thought. Alying by the rules is s. Why not cut loose for once?

  In the name bnk, he boldly wrote "Su Yudiel". For the grade, he wrote "Css 23". He didn't know her student ID, so he just used his own.

  The ese exam itself wasn't too hard, just a bit of a hand workout with all the writing. He reached the fill-in-the-bnk poetry question: "…The spring longing of Emperor Wang was entrusted to the cuckoo." What came before?

  Zhuang Zi'ang looked up and gazed out the window. From this angle, he could just make out the basketball court. The wind rustled the ginkgo tree, shaking loose a few green leaves, drifting down like butterflies in dance.

  The cherished memory of their first meeting repyed in his mind.

  After a long moment, Zhuang Zi'ang refocused on his paper and carefully wrote the answer: "Zhuangzi, in his m dream, was bewildered by the butterfly."

  The exam hall was pletely silent, the only sound ens scratg across paper. For Zhuang Zi'ang, this level of difficulty iece of cake. He answered each question almost instinctively, effortlessly.

  Reading prehension done. up: the essay. The essay prompt was simple: just oence, and students were required to write at least 800 words on it.

  "The greatest sorrow is the death of the heart; the death of the body is sedary."

  This quote is from Zhuangzi's 'Tian Zifang' chapter, and it expins that the most tragic thing is losing your freedom of thought; physical death is sedary. For most teenagers, this is a cept they may not fully grasp.

  But Zhuang Zi'ang, diagnosed with a terminal illness and fag his own mortality, uood death far better than his peers.

  After a brief mental outline, he began to write, and the words flowed from his pen.

  "Life between heaven ah is like a fleeting glimpse of a white horse through a crack, gone in an instant.""The mushroom of dawn knows not dusk; the cicada of summer knows not autumn.""You 't discuss the sea with a well frog, or ice with a summer bug."...

  As he wrote, tears filled his eyes. He wasn't some a philosopher, after all, and he didn't have that stoic view of life ah. The thought of never seeing his grandparents again, his teachers and cssmates, his adorable Little Butterfly, filled him with gut-wreng pain.

  Zhuang Zi'ang finished his essay, gave it a quick check, and didn't see anything missing. Around him, his fellow students were still hunched over their papers, writing away furiously.

  After waiting a bit, an annou came over the loudspeaker: "There are fifteen minutes remaining in the exam."

  Without hesitation, Zhuang Zi'ang snatched up his exam paper, ha in to the proctor, and then strode fidently out of the exam hall.

  The pr the name on the paper and frowned. He wondered what the parents were thinking, giving their son such a feminine ill, the student's handwriting was surprisingly beautiful.

  Zhuang Zi'ang pulled out his phone and dialed Su Yudiel's number.

  "Little Butterfly, where are you? I finished early."

  "Oh, wait for me by the flower bed."

  Zhuang Zi'ang hung up and headed towards their regur haunt, the flower bed overflowing with hyaths and wisteria.

  He sat down on the edge when suddenly, darkness. Warm hands covered his eyes.

  A gravelly voice, trying to sound deeper, whispered in his ear, "Guess who?"

  "Are you kidding me?" Zhuang Zi'ang pulled Little Butterfly's hands away.

  "Spoilsport! You didn't even py along," Su Yudiel pouted. She pulled out two s of Coke she'd bought and handed him one.

  He popped the tab with a hiss.

  They tapped their s together.

  "Zhuang Zi'ang, to ag this exam and knog it out of the park!" Su Yudiel decred, raising her in a mock toast.

  "You promised if I aced the test, you'd grant me a wish," Zhuang Zi'ang reminded her, wiggling his eyebrows.

  Su Yudiel dramatically crossed her arms. "Don't even think about getting any funny ideas, mister!"

  Zhuang Zi'ang ughed. "Please, you're ft-chested anyway!"

  "Zhuang Zi'ang, yon!"

  "Okay, okay, I take it back! Sorry, sorry! Spilling my Coke!"

  The hyaths and wisteria witheir ughter. But beh the surface, there was an undercurrent of sadness, a shared awareness of their fleeting time together.

  Even though Zhuang Zi'ang wrote Su Yudiel's name on the exam, this monthly test was just a school-wide practice exam, not a real official one. Even if he hadn't put his student ID, teachers would reize his handwriting instantly.

  First p the grade? He was a shoo-in for top spot.

  Lunchtime, they went to the cafeteria. Affordable a.

  "Little Butterfly, I'm heading back for a nap. Wanna e?" Zhuang Zi'ang asked hesitantly.

  "What about your 'best bro'?" Su Yudiel suddenly remembered Li Huangxuan.

  "Best bro? Who's that? We're not even that close," Zhuang Zi'ang said quickly. Li Huangxuan wasn't around to hear it, so no harm done. Guys are always gonna ditch their bros for their girl, right? It's just how we are.

  Su Yudiel smiled and agreed to go back for a nap.

  "Little Butterfly, I've noticed you're always on your own. You don't have any other friends?" Zhuang Zi'ang asked, finally voig the question that had been nagging him.

  "Aren't you my friend?" Su Yudiel tered.

  "Yeah, but you know, other than me!" Zhuang Zi'ang crified.

  "Guess nobody likes me then!" Su Yudiel shrugged.

  Zhuang Zi'ang didn't believe it for a sed. How could a like such a pretty and sweet girl? If she wanted friends, she'd have guys lined up around the block.

  Suddenly, Su Yudiel stopped, cocked her head, and looked him straight in the eye.

  "So… do you like me?"

  Zhuang Zi'ang's heart skipped a beat, then started hammering in his chest. His cheeks flushed crimson.

  After a moment, he finally blurted out, "I do!"

  Su Yudiel beamed. "Me too!"

  "Wait, what?" Zhuang Zi'ang's heart went into overdrive. You like me too? Is this… are we fessing to each other?

  "I said I like myself a lot, too!" Su Yudiel crified, her eyes kling into crests.

  Zhuang Zi'ang's heart, which had been s, promptly crashed and burned.

  Seriously? You're killing me!

  Back at his apartment building, they ran into the neighbor dy again.

  She greeted Su Yudiel warmly. "Little Butterfly, back for another visit with Xiao Zhuang?"

  Su Yudiel said politely, "Hi, sis."

  Zhuang Zi'ang added, "Yeah, sis, we're just heading back for a nap."

  "In the middle of the day? Keep it PG, you two! Don't want to disturb the neighbors," the neighbor dy winked, l her voice suggestively.

  "That's not what it is!" Zhuang Zi'ang protested, face flushed crimson.

  Su Yudiel looked up at the sky, pretending not to get it. But her dainty earlobes blushed pink, cute as a button.

  The neighbor dy, being no fool, kly what with these two. But guessing they were just a bit flustered, she decided not to push it ahem to it.

  Ihe apartment, Zhuang Zi'ang said, "You take the bed, I'll take the couch."

  Su Yudiel replied, "But I wao talk to you."

  Zhuang Zi'ang had an idea. He spread out a mat on the floor o the bed, making a makeshift bed for himself. This way they could be in the same room and chat.

  Su Yudiel took off her shoes and hopped into bed. She gnced down at the hard floor mat, then back at Zhuang Zi'ang, her big, i eyes with a mischievous glint.

  "It looks pretty hard down there. Do you want to join me up here?"