I, who advocate giving up, feel like a disqualified person

“…”

I didn't respond, just quietly waiting. Then, the figure I'd been waiting for finally appeared. She glanced at the blackboard and hurriedly picked up the eraser to erase the writing. However, she was too short to wipe away the words written at the highest point.

"...I'll go help her."

"Eh? What? I already said..."

"...Never mind. Besides, I'm on duty today."

As I said that, I quickly ran to her side, found a spare eraser and helped her erase the writing.

扬舞

The night in the sky continued to deepen.

The dense darkness, upon contact with the neon light, dispersed, spreading haphazardly to places where the light could not reach. The church, now a place like this, was devoid of any light or decoration, as if cut off from the surrounding buildings, waiting alongside the quietly sleeping boy. This building had been waiting for an eternity, as if it had no concept of time, as if its mission was to wait here, awaiting the day it would be demolished after becoming too old.

In a sense, what he and it were waiting for was almost the same. They were both in the process of birth and death... but the time required for a building without life to pass was longer than that for a living being.

"...ah..."

In the darkness, the young man suddenly let out a groan that bordered on pain. His hot breath transformed into white mist and quickly vanished into the darkness. No one knew why he made such a sound, not even that he was there.

The city was gradually falling silent, and the temperature was dropping. Lacking any protection from the cold, the young man had curled up into a ball. He tried his best to regain consciousness, but he still wouldn't open his eyes.

It was as if something was pulling him away. In fact, it was.

Chapter 4: Yang Wu

I was wrong, I was really wrong.

I shouldn't have ordered that awful meal that looked like it was two nights old and burnt. Otherwise, why would I be lying alone on the railing of the school rooftop drinking free water to fill my stomach with nearly half an hour left before dinner time?

"..."

Maybe this is my fate... I have unknowingly become content with the status quo and don't really want to work hard to do anything.

"that..."

Just as I was looking at the abandoned building in the distance, wondering what I was thinking, a very small voice came from my ear. Out of curiosity, I turned around and saw the girl from before.

"What's matter?"

Although I was told not to get involved with her, it would be rude to ignore her when she found me herself.

"...You didn't eat lunch today, right? I accidentally saw it."

"...You saw me..." Today's luck is really...

"That one really wasn't very tasty. I thought your tablemate would tell you... When I saw you ordering, it was already too late, so I quickly finished my meal after you threw it away... Uh... well, I just saw it by chance, I didn't mean to follow you or anything..."

Her eyes were very uneasy.

And it's precisely because of this unease that I've confirmed she's not the person the rumors say she is. And the photos I saw this morning, I guess the photographer used some trick...

"...It's okay. I've never had much luck."

Something clicked in his mind, and he suppressed his anger and smiled at her. It wasn't her fault, it was those people.

"But I guess not eating is not an option... So, let me put it this way, although I don't have much money and can't treat you to another meal, I still ask you to accept this." She pulled out a cheap-looking loaf of bread from behind her back. "At least it's better than just drinking water."

"...Well, thank you."

I didn't refuse, but just reached out and took the bread.

"Then I'll be leaving." She waved goodbye to me. "...Be careful not to let the teacher find you on the rooftop."

"..."

I didn't respond, but quietly tore open the package and took a big bite of the bread inside.

“…It’s delicious.”

.............

There are still more than ten minutes left. Those people should still be in the cafeteria or somewhere else...

Speculating like this, I quickened my pace, searching for certain people. I needed to get to the bottom of this matter... No, there was no need to, I already knew it. Those were merely tactics of bullying, spreading rumors only to give those hypocritical people a way to ignore the truth.

"Every one of them is like this..."

I am unhappy about this.

It's not because I've received her help, nor is it because I have sympathy for those in distress... It's just that as an ordinary person, I completely, utterly cannot tolerate this kind of thing.

"...found you. The others don't seem to be around."

I am standing in front of the leader who scribbled on the blackboard today.

"What?...What are you doing here? Do you want to talk to us?"

"What do you think—" I looked at him, then flipped up his unfinished lunch plate and slammed it hard into his face. Before he could react, I grabbed a metal chair from the cafeteria and swung it at his head, but he reacted quickly and blocked it with his arm.

Before entering the restaurant, I took out a fork from the disinfection cabinet. I had hidden it in my sleeve, but now I took it out. When he exposed his arm, I stabbed him hard in the left hand where his clothes could not cover it.

“Gahhhh—”

Stimulated by the pain, he instinctively turned towards me. I had been waiting here for a long time and kicked him hard in the defenseless chest, knocking him to the ground.

Everyone present heard the dull thud as the back of his head hit the ground after he fell.

The students nearby dispersed immediately upon seeing this, but they didn't go far away, just watching from a distance where they wouldn't be hurt. Students in the distance also hurried over upon hearing the news, watching the fight from afar.

I knew the difference between me and him, so I didn't intend to give him a chance to fight back from the beginning. After knocking him to the ground, I used the leg of the stool to block his head, and then stepped on it with my feet to temporarily control him.

"Tell me, who is the copywriter behind you?"

"...you fucking..."

He looked like he really wanted to get up and beat me up, but he couldn't do it for the time being. His face was stained with vegetable soup, rice, and a little blood. He looked very embarrassed, but his expression was very fierce.

"You don't want to say it, right..."

"I'll count to three. If I don't hear someone's name... this fork will accidentally fall from my hand and stick into a soft part of your face."

I held the blood-stained fork over his eyes.

"Just do it if you have the guts!!"

"...one..."

I ignored his provocation and counted the numbers quietly.

"two...."

They were just a bunch of scum who only knew how to bully others with brute force. They were definitely not the ones who could come up with such a plan. If she wanted to save her, she had to find a way to find the person behind it.

"Holy crap! Are those bitches dead?! Come help me!"

No one should come to help him at this time. And I can't divert my attention to worry about what's behind me, otherwise he might break free.

"three..."

However, before I finished counting, I heard a gust of wind behind me. Before I could react, I felt the pain and darkness fell before my eyes.

“…”

. . . . . . . .

"..."

I'm in the cafeteria, right?

Surrounded by a bustling crowd, one feels the stuffy atmosphere and noisy sounds.

Looking at the empty plate in front of me, and the chopsticks and spoon I had just taken out of the sterilizer, my growling stomach confirmed my thoughts.

"It's your turn now, tell me what you want to order." The lady in the cafeteria tapped her soup spoon impatiently, causing the vegetable scraps to fly for a short time before falling to the ground. "Don't delay the next person."

"Oh... I'll take that one then."

Because I seemed to have ordered it several times and thought the taste wouldn’t be too bad, so I tried ordering one.

As I put it in my mouth, I suddenly realized I had misremembered. This three-day-old, burnt rice was actually being put into someone's mouth... no, it was actually worthy of being served on the table?! Was this a mistake?

"...Feel sorry."

For my own safety, I couldn't eat it. Although I felt guilty, I threw the almost untouched food into the trash can.

Now I only have enough money for dinner.

"...Why the hell!!!"

The food is expensive and of poor quality. What is the need for it to exist?

The regret persisted even as I washed the dishes. My unintentional complaints, which escaped my lips, drew puzzled looks from those around me.

"Forget it..."

I casually pulled out the candy I'd brought from home that morning, unwrapped it, and stuffed it into my mouth. Then I thought about how to soothe my still-groaning stomach.

...There is a solution.

.......

Anyway, I'm standing on the deserted school rooftop, leaning against the railing, gazing at the completely abandoned building not far away while pouring easy-to-drink warm water into my mouth. Tears are about to well up in my eyes.

"...Um, do you want to eat this?"

“…”

The girl in the class who seemed to have a bad reputation was holding a piece of bread and handing it to me. To be honest, my impression of her was not that bad - at least she was not as promiscuous as the rumors in the class said.

"...No."

Although I really wanted to accept it, I decided to maintain a cool image.

"...Although this isn't expensive...I don't have much money for lunch either, so I can only give you this." She smiled sheepishly, "The food there is really terrible. I thought your deskmate would tell you...but when he saw you, he had already thrown it away. Well, anyway, you still have to eat something for lunch, so don't refuse it anymore."

"...oh."

So I stopped refusing and said, "Thank you."

Using her remaining food money to buy things for a stranger. This is totally unlike the kind of girl the rumors said... Besides, I never intended to believe those rumors from the beginning.

"It's okay, it's okay." She took a few steps back. "Then I'll leave first. Also, if you eat here, be careful not to be discovered by the teacher."

"..."

I felt like I'd heard this conversation somewhere before. It felt strangely familiar.

However, when I was about to confirm, she had already run down the stairs.

"What..."

Is all this just my illusion?

轻浮

There are more and more things that make me feel that something is wrong.

“It shouldn’t be like this.”

I asked my question. To the guy I didn't particularly like. I knew he knew what was going on. He just wouldn't tell me, but I couldn't understand why... If I was interested in it, and it wouldn't be a problem for him to tell me, why wouldn't he tell me?

"What do you mean?"

He looked puzzled, but I thought he was just playing dumb.

"That girl is not what the rumors say. I can confirm that."

"What makes you so sure?" He still had that look of confusion. "Is it just because she looks pitiful?"

"It's more than that, but I don't deny it." I was eager to help her out of this situation. "Don't tell me not to be impulsive or anything like that."

"I really want to tell you not to be impulsive—why take risks for someone who has nothing to do with you?"