Chapter 7

"Huh? Why is she here?" Baihua asked, setting down his food tray. Meihua smiled at him, waving awkwardly. Baixiang glared at her from behind.

"She's part of my master plan," Hehuan replied casually. "Oh, and if you asked, Baixiang, she apologized to me. To be fair, I was kinda rude too." Meihua was wedged between Xuesong and Hehuan, picking stiffly at her food.

"Your master plan?" Baihua looked puzzled, going back to the topic at hand. Hehuan nodded.

"That's correct. My master plan to destroy Yuxi once and for all."

"And..." Baixiang rubbed the bridge of his nose. "If I'm understanding you, part of it is getting together with Meihua?" Hehuan gasped.

"Woah! How did you know?"

"That's a dumbass plan, Hehuan. It's just gonna make Yuxi madder."

"Well, my plan is to draw out Yuxi's bad side, since that two-faced bitch is now going around making herself the victim." Xuesong agreed that it wasn't one of Hehuan's best ideas.

"So, how are you gonna do this?" Baihua asked. "I heard your psychology class is going on a field trip. Are you two going to act all lovey-dovey with each other?" Meihua turned slightly red. Their soon-to-be fake relationship was pretty one-sided, after all.

"Oh, maybe. I've never dated anybody before." Baihua and Baixiang stared at Hehuan in shock.

"Baixiang, are you going?" Baixiang was taking psychology as well. Baixiang shook his head.

"Baihua would probably sob and piss his pants if I was gone." Baihua laughed nervously.

"Anyways, now that we are officially technically a couple, we're gonna be all lovely dovey and piss off Yuxi, right, Meihua?" Meihua blushed.

"R-right." Baihua whispered to Baixiang something about the fake dating trope.

When they were in class, Hehuan and Meihua performed their first scene. Xuesong sat down to watch. Meihua sat down at her desk, brushing her hair back softly. She sat next to the window like a main character, her hair looking brown in the sunlight.

Hehuan entered, smiling at her. He set down a strawberry milk on her desk. Five girls perished when he smiled.

"Did you have a good lunch, Meihua?" He asked, ignoring the fact that they ate together. Meihua slowly turned around, her hair flowing delecately in the breeze.

Hehuan-senpai is so charming, she seemed to think. She smiled back.

"Thank you, Hehuan. Every day is good when you are around." The class seemed confused by their sudden change of tone. Meihua looked down at the chocolate milk. "Oh! Is this for me?"

"Of course. It's sweet, just like you."

Vast amounts of viewers dropped after hearing that line. Some classmates cringed.

"Oh, thank you! I'll cherish it very much," Meihua replied, holding it close to her chest.

Hehuan returned to his seat. The first act of their performance was over. Xuesong clapped in his head. Meihua was a good actor.

The second act was in a few days. During the bus break on their field trip, said to last the full weekend. Meihua sniffed, putting her hand on her cheek.

"Oh, I get rather sick on this bus usually," Meihua sighed, leaning against the window of the bus. Hehuan looked at her in concern.

"My dear Meihua. Please tell me if anything is troubling you. Perhaps, you would like some fresh air." Meihua smiled at him.

"Hehe, if only it's with you, Hehuan."

Xuesong didn't hear the rest until Hehuan came back. But, when he did, he was unusually quiet, rubbing his arm again. Xuesong asked Meihua what had happened.

"Yuxi stalked us," Meihua said after some time. "There were notes." That was all she said.

Later, at night, Xuesong heard the full story. A note had been taped on a tree that Meihua and Hehuan had walked past. It said, "Remember to look behind you."

Meihua had grabbed the note and tore it up. She then turned to Hehuan with a smile. "Let's go back, Hehuan. We've walked quiet far."

Then another note. "Five feet away." It seemed to be torn from a newspaper. It was taped on a wall. They returned.

Hehuan was quiet while they set up in their rooms. There were two bunks per room, so two "desk clusters" shared each half of the room. At one point, Xuesong saw him text Meihua "are you really okay with this?"

At night, Xuesong heard him mutter in his sleep. "Please, Mom. I'll try harder. Don't hit me. I'll do everything I can. Mom. Stop it. Help me."

The next day, somehow, their one-week relationship seemed already at the brink of falling. Something strange was going on. Meihua seemed half-hearted when she talked. Hehuan seemed genuinely worried.

Later that day, they entered the haunted house. It lift the mood a little. Xuesong learned that Hehuan was scared of many things. He was jumpy the whole time. Meihua seemed to enjoy watching the horror on Hehuan's face when he saw a fake dead man sitting on a chair. Xuesong was stone-faced the entire time.

Some places celebrated Halloween in mid-autumn. The place the teacher had offered was open all year long, but only on Sundays. It didn't have the most realistic scares, but it was better than nothing. Really helped him learn about how a person's body registers fear. Hehuan was an especially big help.

When they headed back, Xuesong saw a note Meihua was holding. "Don't get too close. Your room is 406."

At night, Hehuan was sitting on his bottom bunk, eyes staring dully at nowhere. He didn't seem to notice as Xuesong got down to go use the restroom.

Sometimes, Hehuan seemed out of it. Not particularly looking at anything. His eyes void of any light.

They both flinched when they heard a muffled scream from above them.