After dropping out of school, I chose to join a girls' band.

After learning that Deng had an annual pass, Yue went to the ticket window alone and queued up to buy a ticket.

After buying their tickets, Yue and her partner mingled with a group of couples on dates and entered the aquarium.

You are greeted by a spacious and bright hall. Through the transparent glass walls, you can see the interior of the aquarium. In the center of the hall is a huge circular pool with all kinds of fish swimming in the clear water.

Yue pointed to one of the unidentified giant fish with black and white spots and asked.

"Light! Do you know what kind of fish this is?"

“This… should be a Nash’s Harrier Ray,” the lamp said.

"Oh, really? You know a lot, don't you?" Yue watched as the Nash Harrier swims gracefully through the tank.

"Did you get a monthly pass, Light? Do you come here often?" Light turned her gaze away from the water tank and asked Light.

“It’s very relaxing here,” Deng said. “And there are penguins to see.”

"Indeed, for some reason, I feel like I've relaxed a lot since I came here."

Looking at the various fish swimming in the water, Yue felt a real sense of relaxation.

"Are there any more penguins? Light, where are the penguins? Let's go see the penguins."

The two walked through the hall and came to a passageway. The passageway was completely covered by glass, and the outside of the glass was completely submerged in water.

In the dim light, Deng and Yue stood before the railing, watching the penguins swimming in the water. The faint light reflected off the water, illuminating the penguins' white silhouettes, making them appear to dance freely and gracefully.

"It's a penguin! How cute!"

Yue looked at the penguins in the water and sighed.

The lamp nodded. "Penguins are very cute."

The penguins swam gracefully in the water, their bodies appearing soft and supple, like a group of elegant gentlemen and ladies swimming freely.

"Penguins look so soft and fluffy, I really want to touch their bellies, they must feel amazing."

The moon gazed at one of the penguins, its belly protruding, as it swam around, and the penguin sighed.

"Sometimes I really wish I could be one of those penguins, where I wouldn't have to think about anything all day and wouldn't have any worries," Yue sighed.

"Is there anything troubling you, Moon?" Deng asked, turning his head after hearing Moon's self-talk.

"Light..." Yue also turned her head to look at Light, and seeing the worry in the other's eyes, all the words she wanted to say that it was nothing were stuck in her throat.

Oh well... I've already told Lixi, so I'm not afraid of Deng finding out.

With a "what's the use" attitude, Yue slowly began to speak.

"Lamp, you know I dropped out of Seisho High School before coming to Haneoka, right?"

“Yes, I know,” the lamp said.

"Although I claimed it was for my studies, I actually dropped out of school to escape someone."

"Her name is Momoko Kurosawa. She's someone as radiant as Shoko. Facing her, I was like a lamp, inevitably drawn to her... I almost became her fan..."

"After realizing this, I chose to run away... I ran away from him, I ran away from Seishang... and now I'm even afraid of the stage..."

"Am I really that bad...?"

Yue leaned against the railing, her expression somewhat somber.

Suddenly, the lamp grabbed her hand, warmth emanating from her palm, a soft power seeping into the depths of her soul.

This sudden action made Yue's body tremble slightly. She looked up at the lamp and then into the other person's amber eyes.

"No, Yue is amazing. I've seen Yue perform in Sweet Pleas. Yue is always dazzling on stage."

"Yue is just lost right now, standing at a crossroads, not knowing which way to go, or even which way she came from. She can't find her way back to the stage."

"I believe that the moon will make a choice, and even if it gets lost, it will move forward."

"Are you lost?" Yue laughed. "Sometimes, the lamp can say surprisingly touching things."

Before the Stage Opens: Chapter Twenty-Six - Attempting Change

Since the two went to the aquarium last weekend, Deng has begun to notice some subtle changes in Yue.

The lamp couldn't quite describe the specific changes, but she had a feeling that the moon was preparing for something big.

When school ends in the afternoon, he always disappears from the lamplight first, and then about half an hour later he reappears in the astronomy department with a big smile on his face.

At noon today, Yue and Deng sat quietly in the astronomy department's hut, enjoying their lunch in a harmonious and peaceful atmosphere.

Suddenly, a third-year student rushed into the small house. She stopped breathlessly at the door, knocked, and after receiving a response, anxiously asked...

"Excuse me, is Senior Yue here?"

Deng looked at Yue with a puzzled expression, not understanding why the other person would call Yue "senpai" (senior).

Yue covered her head with her hands and said helplessly, "Didn't I already tell you not to call me senior? I'm only a first-year student."

“That won’t do. Our minister has already said that Senior Yue’s experience and achievements in the entertainment industry are enough to make her our senior.”

Yue had clearly corrected their way of addressing her many times before, and gradually got used to it, so she stopped dwelling on it.

"Let's talk about why you came to see me. What's wrong with the drama department again?"

"The lead actor, who is also our president, injured his leg while going downstairs today, and we can't find anyone to fill the lead role for the time being."

Yue tilted her head, puzzled, and asked, "Shouldn't you all be scrambling for the lead role? How come no one is willing to take it now?"

The senior student scratched her hair shyly and said, "We are just amateurs. After seeing you, Senior Yue, and the president exchanging ideas and rehearsing your lines a few days ago, and after your guidance to us, we understand even more how far we are from being the main characters."

Yue bit the straw, drinking her milk while asking with a helpless expression.

"So, you're just giving up like that? There are still a few days left, aren't you going to try?"

"We know that our talent probably can't be improved that much in the next few days."

Yue gazed into the girl's eyes and sensed a hint of melancholy. Clearly, the girl wasn't uninterested in the lead role as she had claimed.

Instead, they believed in their hearts that someone else was better suited for the role, and therefore felt that the position should be relinquished.

"Give it a try, what if you can do it? If it really doesn't work, I'll help you."

Yue spoke gently, her tone conveying encouragement and understanding; this short sentence seemed to pierce through the other person's heart.

"But... no matter how hard I try, I can't compare to Senior Yue." The girl lowered her head, not daring to meet Yue's gaze. Her voice carried a hint of helplessness and inferiority.

Yue quietly looked at the girl in front of her, sensing her unease and self-doubt.

She sighed, put down the milk in her hand, walked to the girl's side, gently cupped her face in her hands, and lifted her up so that she could look into her eyes.

"Give it a try. This is your drama club's stage. Don't run away from it."

Looking into Yue's encouraging blue eyes, the girl finally made up her mind and nodded in reply.

"Ok!"

"Natsuki-senpai, see you during club activities later."

The girl ran off with a slightly carefree expression.

Yue turned to look at the lamp, which was full of questions but seemed too embarrassed to ask them out of consideration for her feelings.

"Light, do you have a lot of questions you want to ask me?"

"Yue...is she helping out in the drama club?"

After thinking for a while, the lamp asked the question.

"Hmm... Deng told me before that even if you get lost, you should still keep moving forward."

Yue said with a smile.

"So I want to give it a try, to get back on stage and move forward again, but right now I'm just doing some guidance work in their drama department and helping with scriptwriting."

"I'll be looking forward to Yue's performance."

The lamp looked at the moon with anticipation.

"Deng, didn't I just say that I'm only providing guidance? The actual performance still needs to be done by the members of the drama department. I've always been a member of the astronomy department, and I have no ulterior motives."

"After all, the Astronomy Club has such a lovely president, I don't want to betray her."

The moon chuckled as it turned towards the lamp.

"Moon..." Deng's face flushed slightly. "I'll be looking forward to the performance directed by Moon."

Yue withdrew her smile and replied earnestly to Deng, "I will give Deng a perfect stage."

----------

Afternoon classes always go by quickly.

"See you in half an hour, Light."

After a brief farewell to the lamp, Yue got up and went to the drama department.

The club members who were preparing props and polishing the script all crowded around Yue when they saw her come in, wanting her to check if there were any problems with their progress.

"Senior Yue, do you think the plot can develop like this?"

"Senior Yue, take a look at this prop..."

"Senior Yue, there's also this..."

"Alright, alright, everyone disperse. Can't you see how troubled Senior Yue is?"

Just as Yue was troubled, a capable female voice came over and dispersed the crowd surrounding Yue.

Following the sound, Yue looked up and saw a third-grade girl sitting in a chair. Her foot was bandaged, and although she looked tired, her face still revealed determination and confidence.

The girl had short, neat hair, and her smart hairstyle highlighted her heroic spirit and decisiveness. Even though she was feeling a little unwell, she maintained an upright posture, exuding a dashing and heroic aura.

"Senior Lihua, how's your leg? Is everything alright?" Yue asked with concern.

"It's alright, but the doctor said I need to rest for a few days, so I probably won't be able to make it to the performance before Golden Week," said Li Hua, the head of the drama department.

"Don't worry, I will work hard to train the members and I'm sure we can give you a successful performance," Yue promised.

"..." Li Hua glanced at Yue and sighed, "If possible, I would still prefer that you, Yue-senpai, could participate."

"That won't do. This is your stage. I made it clear from the beginning that I was only here to provide guidance and wouldn't be performing," Yue said with a smile.