“Little Butterfly, ditg css again? Aren’t you worried about your teacher?” Zhuang Zi’ang and Su Yudiel ambled shoulder-to-shoulder down the snack street, each mung on a skewer of fish balls.

  When Su Yudiel ate, her cheeks puffed out like an adorable chipmunk. “Nope,” she mumbled, cheeks still bulging. “I've got a leave slip.”

  “Do I look like I was borerday?” Zhuang Zi’ang scoffed incredulously.

  Su Yudiel slipped off her shoulder bag, unzipped it, and pulled out a whole stack of leave slips. They bore the homeroom teacher's signature, but the date fields were spicuously bnk. This meant Su Yudiel could simply fill ie whenever she felt like cutting css.

  “Are you serious?” Zhuang Zi’ang's jaw dropped. He peered at the illegible scrawl that passed for a signature, uo make out a siter. So this is how other homeroom teachers operated?

  “Hold on a minute – if you’ve got leave slips, why bother sg the wall?”

  “'It's a shortcut,' she mumbled, her mouth full of fish ball, 'and it gives us easy access to all the best snacks.'”

  Zhuang Zi’ang was rendered speechless by Su Yudiel’s irrefutable foodie logic. He still couldn’t shake the feeling that there was an enigmatic aura, a certain inscrutability about this girl.

  ging the subject, he asked, “So, how did you know I was feeling down?”

  Su Yudiel raised her right hand, index finger extended, and poked Zhuang Zi’ang lightly on the chest. Rising onto her tiptoes, she whispered, as if sharing a secret, “We’re friends, remember? It’s called telepathy.”

  Her warm breath on his ear sent a shiver down his spielepathy? Seriously? That's a pretty flimsy expnation, even for you.

  “'e on,' Su Yudiel said, taking Zhuang Zi’ang’s hand and pulling him away from the snack street and down a long flight of stoeps.”

  The river, winding like a slumbering dragon, stretched out before them. Its waters flowed serenely eastward, the weeping willows on its banks swayily in the breeze.

  They traversed a wide expanse of verdant grass, finally reag the river's edge, where the bank was strewn with smooth pebbles. These seemingly unremarkable pebbles had, over millions of years, been sculpted and polished by the ceaseless flow of the river, their edges smoothed through tless collisions.

  pared to their endurience, a human lifespan of a mere hundred years seemed utterly insignifit. As the a proverb aptly put it, “Human life is like a white steed glimpsed through a cra the wall – fleeting and ephemeral.” In the vast tapestry of time, what real difference was there between three months and a hundred years? Both were but fleeting moments, vanishing in the blink of an eye.

  Drawing hey could hear the gentle murmur of the water as it pped against the riverbank. A refreshing breeze tousled their hair and rustled their clothes. Su Yudiel kicked off her shoes and socks, revealing delicate, por-white feet, and carefully stepped onto the smooth pebbles. The cool water swirled around her ainy droplets of water spshed upwards, dampening the hem of her azure skirt.

  “'Take off your shoes and join me!” Su Yudiel called out, being him with a wave.

  “Should we really be pying ier right now? During css hours?” Zhuang Zi’aated, a flicker of doubt in his eyes.

  “Have you always been such a stickler for the rules?” Su Yudiel asked, a teasing glint in her eyes.

  Her words struck a chord. You're right. Why should I always be so strained by rules?

  Without further ado, he shed his shoes and socks, rolled up his pant legs, and carefully navigated the smooth pebbles to join Su Yudiel. The cool river water, rushing around his ankles, sent a pleasant chill through him.

  Su Yudiel cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted towards the flowing river, “Zhuang Zi’ang is a big dummy!”

  Her voice echoed uhe nearby bridge arches. “Zhuang Zi’ang is a big dummy… big dummy… dummy…”

  Su Yudiel erupted in a fit of giggles, her ughter like the tinkling of silver bells, her smile as radiant as the sun.

  “Hey! Why are you pig on me again?” Zhuang Zi’ang grumbled, pretending to be annoyed.

  “'Cause you’re always so glum, t yourself! That's such a dummy thing to do!” Su Yudiel retorted, her cherry-red lips f a pyful pout.

  Not to be outdone, Zhuang Zi’ang cupped his own hands and shouted in the same dire, “Little Butterfly is a silly goose!”

  “Little Butterfly is a silly goose… silly goose… goose…” The echoes reverberated uhe bridge, multiplying and overpping.

  Su Yudiel’s grin only widened, her beautiful almond-shaped eyes kling at the ers, f crest moons. Then, with renewed vigor, she shouted once more, “Zhuang Zi’ang, you better be happy every single day!”

  Zhuang Zi’ang turo look at Little Butterfly, her perfect profile bathed in the soft sunlight, and a wave of profound sadness washed over him. He was undeniably, hopelessly falling for this girl. He k was wrong, k was futile, yet he owerless to stop the iable.

  How could he possibly bear the iable parting that awaited them in just three short months?

  Sensing Zhuang Zi’ang’s sudden silence, Su Yudiel looked up and noticed his eyes glistening with uears.

  “Zhuang Zi’ang,” she said softly, “if you're really hurting, I give you permission to cry.”

  Her words were the final straw. Something inside Zhuang Zi’ang finally gave way. All the pent-up sadness, the injustice, the despair – it all came crashing down on him at once. Large tears streamed down his cheeks, falling silently into the river below.

  Not wanting Little Butterfly to witness his breakdown, Zhuang Zi’ang hunched over. He tried to stifle his sobs, but they wracked his body, his shoulders shaking untrolbly.

  Su Yudiel reached out aly stroked his ba a f gesture. Unbeknownst to her, her own eyes had filled with tears.

  “Little Butterfly, why are y?” he asked, his voice thick with emotion.

  “Because we’re friends,” she sniffled, “and seeing you in so much pain makes my heart ache too.”

  He had thought he had nothio lose in this cruel, indifferent world. But in that moment, he felt an overwhelming sense of reluce to let go.

  Why? Why did fate have t you into my life now, when I'm starih in the face?

  Zhuang Zi’ang, regaining some sembnce of posure, reached out aly wiped away the glistening tears that streamed down Little Butterfly’s cheeks. They were like precious jewels, refleg the sunlight.

  “Little Butterfly,” he said, his voice hoarse, “I'm alright now. Please don't cry anymore, okay?”

  “Okay,” Su Yudiel sobbed. “Let the river wash away all your sadness. Be happy every day from now on, okay?”

  Zhuang Zi’ang k down and spshed cool river water on his face, letting the endless flow carry away his tears.

  Just then, a rger wave surged in, the water rising higher, reag Su Yudiel’s calves. With a little yelp, she hiked up her skirt with both hands, scrambling backwards.

  “Careful, the stones are slippery, don't wipe out,” Zhuang Zi’ang warned quickly.

  “Carry me up!” Su Yudiel said, looking a little flustered.

  Without a sed thought, Zhuang Zi’ang reached down and swept her up in a bridal carry. He was getting to be a pro at this by now, wasn’t he?

  Setting her down on the grass, Su Yudiel perched, resting her bare feet on Zhuang Zi’ang’s legs to dry. He wasn’t really a guy with a foot fetish, he told himself, but he still couldn't help but steal g her fair, delicate feet.

  “Zhuang Zi’ang,” Su Yudiel said, a blush creeping up her cheeks, “why do you keep staring at my feet?”

  “Huh? No I’m not! Looking at the grass!” Zhuang Zi’ang stubbornly denied.

  “Uh-huh. Seven times now.”

  “Nonsense! My gaze has to nd somewhere!”

  Busted, Zhuang Zi’ang turned his head away, staring up at the drifting clouds, his cheeks warming.

  “Alright, alright, I’m not mad,” Su Yudiel said, a hint of a smile in her voice. “Shoe service, please.”

  “Put ‘em on yourself. It’s not like you don’t have hands,” Zhuang Zi’ang teased back.

  “Hmph, stingy,” she pouted, but her eyes were sparkling.