Chapter 9

"Xuesong, isn't it scary that people will hurt other people without a reason?" Xuesong stayed silent. He stood there. Hehuan sat on the bed. Two others were in the room, but still fast asleep. It was five in the morning. The sun had slowly started to let light in the windows.

"Ah, Xuesong, why are you always so quiet?" Xuesong ignored his question.

"Aren't you going to tell me what happened?"

"Huh? But I already did." Xuesong stayed silent. Hehuan did too. They stared at each other in the silence.

Then, Hehuan sighed, breaking his stare first. "You're always so nonchalant about everything too."

"Are you trying to insult me?" Hehuan shooked his head, but Xuesong couldn't read his eyes. Hehuan changed topics.

"Ah, I'm planning on talking to Meihua about cutting ties. I'm afriad she might get more involved in this situation." That reminded Xuesong about something.

"She was holding a note," he said. "It seemed to be written to her. It said "Don't get too close," with her room number."

"Oh, really?" Hehuan frowned. "That doesn't seem to be something she would write to herself. And, we recently found some notes too, but she dismissed them easily." Xuesong stayed silent, letting Hehuan put together the pieces. "Do you think... she has a stalker?"

"Her stalker might be Yuxi." Hehuan nodded. "Yuxi is probably the most suspicious right now." He sighed again, plopping his body down on the bed, his legs still hanging over the bed. "Geez, this is such a mess."

"If only girls didn't find you so good-looking." Hehuan chuckled dryly.

"Well, I'll need to talk to Meihua anyway, so maybe we can help her with her stalker case."

"Didn't you say you were going to cut ties with her?"

"Oh. That's true." Hehuan sighed. "Life is so hard." Hehuan stood up, looking around the room. He checked his phone, 5:33. "I'm going to use the restroom." He left Xuesong alone, with one of the other boys faintly snoring.

The teachers had announced they would pack up and leave early since their families were probably worried. Xuesong wondered if his mom would be worried. Probably not. The only thing she was worried about was money. She probably didn't even know what happened. Maybe she was still in her office, working on the weekends for her paycheck.

Hehuan didn't seem too thrilled either. He probably didn't want to go home and study more.

Meihua met them by the buses, looking more fidgety than usual and glancing around. She seemed to loosen up after she saw Hehuan and Xuesong, hauling a big duffle bag towards them.

"Hi, you two!" She said with a smile. Hehuan smiled back.

"Hey, Meihua." He seemed to have forgotten that he was supposed to be cutting ties with her. "Are you okay?"

Meihua nodded. "Yeah. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm glad Yuxi wasn't attacking me." So Meihua saw them too?

"It's okay, Meihua. I'm glad you're safe. It must be pretty scary when one of your roommates suddenly attacks another roommate." Meihua blushed a little.

Wow, what an important detail that Hehuan left out. Meihua was in the room during the sudden Yuxi attack.

"Ah- speaking about that," Meihua lowered her voice. "Can I talk to you two about Yuxi?" Hehuan nodded.

"Sure. Is there anything that happened to you two?"

The teacher called the next row of students, which happened to be Meihua's group. She pointed to her phone as she hooked an arm onto her bag and dragged it to the bus. 'I'll text you.'

On the bus, Meihua texted them the situation.

"*** **** ***3 added you and Xiao Hehuan to a group chat.

*** **** ***3 - Hey there! I'm Meihua.

Hehuan - hiii

Hehuan - please explain your situation to us :3

*** **** ***3 - I've been getting really weird notes recently...

*** **** ***3 - I think you've seen some of them

Hehuan - hm? care to elaborate?

Meihua sent them a photo. A piece of cloth, as if ripped from a shirt. With the words "I'm going to kill you."

Xuesong glaced over Hehuan's shoulder to make sure it was real. Hehuan looked shocked.

Hehuan - did yuxi do this??

*** **** ***3 - I dunno... She's the most suspicious though-

Hehuan - you should report this

*** **** ***3 - What if she actually kills me??

*** **** ***3 - Oh, she also sent me more

*** **** ***3 - Most of them are the same, though.

*** **** ***3 - Just stuff warning me to stay away and keep my distance

Hehuan - from who??

*** **** ***3 - I don't know

*** **** ***3 - It never specified

Xuesong - obviously you

*** **** ***3 - Probably

*** **** ***3 - Anyway

*** **** ***3 - Please help mee

*** **** ***3 - I'm scared

During the restroom break, Meihua was quiet. She didn't talk to Xuesong or Hehuan, or even look at them. Hehuan stayed on the bus with Xuesong, who was looking at the photos. At one point, Xuesong fell asleep on his shoulder. None of them said a word to each other, not even when they got off the bus, or left to go home.

*** **** ***3 - Bye guys!

Hehuan - byee

"Ah, Xuesong-" Xuesong looked back at Hehuan. "Make sure to get your neck checked."

Xuesong didn't respond, turning to walk away.