Ran Into Camellya

"What are you staring at?"

Calcharo nudged Wuling, who was standing beside him, with his elbow and asked in confusion.

The nudge suddenly brought Wuling back to his senses.

"Did I space out again just now?"

"Sure did. You've spaced out four times since you got up. Twice you were staring at me, and once at the snow leopard. Damn, you're not gay, are you, bro?"

Calcharo shifted two steps away, looking a little scared, leaving Wuling with a dark expression.

"'Civilized Huanglong language.' You're the gay one. Your whole family's gay."

"I just had a dream last night and didn't sleep well, that's all. Stop letting your imagination run wild all day. If I were gay, you'd be the first person I'd come after."

Wuling admitted he was a little worked up, but any normal man would probably react much the same way to being called gay.

Far from getting angry, Calcharo let out a long sigh of relief and patted his chest, looking grateful.

"Good thing you're not gay. Good thing you're not gay. As long as you're not gay, everything else is negotiable."

"You *!"

Wuling was momentarily speechless at how punchable he looked. He raised a hand as if to smack him, and Calcharo grinned and dodged backward, circling the table in the cramped dorm room.

On the other side of the room, Lingyang put down the towel in his hands and glanced at the two of them fooling around. He shook his head helplessly and tapped the tabletop with his fingertips.

"Stop messing around so early in the morning. We'll be late for our eight o'clock class. Wuling, you really have seemed a little out of it lately. Are you exhausted from staying up late working?"

Wuling stopped and rubbed his aching temples. Images from last night's dream were still drifting through his mind in fragments, refusing to go away.

He suppressed the strange feeling in his heart and shook his head. "I'm fine. It was just a heavy dream. I'll be all right after a little while."

Calcharo came over and asked nosily, "What kind of dream has you so hung up on it? A wet dream? Or did you dream about some treasure-filled secret realm? Come on, tell your bro."

"Don't ask what you shouldn't."

Wuling gave him a flat glance and picked up the key from the corner of the table.

"Hurry up and pack your things so we can eat. If we keep dawdling, the counselor's going to call us out today."

Calcharo pursed his lips in disappointment but didn't dare ask any more questions. He hurriedly gathered his things.

Wuling stood by the window, his gaze casually sweeping over the campus path below. The shallows surfaced in his mind again, unbidden.

The feeling that closing and opening his eyes had taken him somewhere different left him feeling somewhat disconnected.

Seeing him drifting off again, Lingyang gently reminded him, "Let's go. If we don't leave now, we really won't make it."

Wuling came back to his senses and put his jumbled thoughts aside, then walked out of the dorm with the other two.

After breakfast, the three split up, and Wuling walked alone toward his classroom.

It was the height of the morning rush, and students hurrying to class streamed back and forth.

But the deeper Wuling went into the bustling crowd, the clearer that subtle sense of disconnection became.

On one side was a lively, flowing crowd; on the other was a world he knew nothing about.

The two entirely different scenes flashed alternately through his mind, leaving him feeling as though he were in two worlds at once, his attention gently split apart and unable to settle.

Wuling rubbed the spot between his brows, trying to suppress the jumbled images from his dream for the time being.

But because of that, he failed to notice the person walking toward him in time.

The person opposite him was looking down at her phone and didn't notice Wuling approaching either.

The two drew closer and closer.

Finally, when there was no distance left between them, they collided.

"Ow!"

A clear little cry suddenly rang out.

The system had enhanced Wuling, giving him several times the physical strength of an ordinary person, so his center of gravity didn't shift in the slightest.

The girl opposite him was quite another story. Caught completely off guard, she lost her balance and staggered back two steps before she could no longer stay upright and landed softly on her bottom on the campus road.

"Hm?"

The sudden contact and the clear cry finally forced the somewhat distracted Wuling back to reality.

He looked up to see the girl sitting on the ground, her brows slightly knitted, her eyes showing a little bewilderment and panic at being caught off guard. Her small hands were braced against the road behind her, and she was clearly a little dazed by the collision.

She wore a pale white dress, and her long silver hair was simply tied into twin tails, with a few black strands hanging down either side of her face.

Perhaps because she had been looking down at her phone, she still hadn't quite caught up with what had happened, and her face retained a dazed, vacant look.

Wuling didn't hesitate for a moment. He immediately stepped forward, bent down slightly, and held out his hand.

"Sorry, sorry. I was distracted and wasn't watching where I was going."

He apologized rapidly and reached out to gently help the girl up from the ground.

Once she was steady, he immediately bent down and picked up the things that had just fallen out of her pocket.

The girl steadied herself and gently rubbed her slightly numb lower back. Her earlier panic slowly subsided, and she looked up at the young man in front of her and shook her head.

"It's all right, junior. I was at fault too. After all, I wasn't watching where I was going either. That's why I bumped into someone."

Wuling handed the things he had picked up back to the girl. Only after seeing that she had a firm hold on them did he speak, sounding a little apologetic.

"But I'm responsible too, when it comes down to it. I'm really sorry. I was a little distracted just now."

Then he grew a little curious.

"By the way, senior, how did you know I was your junior? This seems to be the first time we've met, right?"

The senior standing beside him stretched a little and relaxed before introducing herself.

"Let's start with introductions. My name's Camellya, just Camellya. I'm in the dance program at the Labelle Department."

"As for your question just now~"

Camellya pressed a finger to her cheek, deliberately drawing out the last few words.

"Intuition."

Camellya's brows and eyes curved pleasantly, and her tone was a little playful.

Wuling was slightly taken aback. He pulled at the corner of his mouth, a little helpless.

It was such a hasty answer, yet somehow it made a bit of sense. After all, mysticism counted as a kind of reasoning too.

"Then your intuition's really accurate, Camellya."

Wuling smiled and readily gave her his name and department.

"I'm Wuling, from the artificial intelligence program at the Labelle Department."

"Wuling..."

Camellya softly repeated his name, her voice gentle and pleasant, and committed it to memory.

"That's a lovely name."

The early morning breeze gently stirred her tied-up silver-white hair, making the black strands beside her cheeks sway.

Watching her gently rub her lower back, Wuling still felt a little sorry for her.

Camellya looked slender and delicate, and she had just taken a solid fall onto the concrete road. It looked painful, and even if she said she was fine, she might not have escaped without a bump or bruise.

After considering it for a moment, Wuling looked up at her earnestly and spoke in a sincere tone.

"No matter what, what happened today was mainly my fault. I made you fall, and I'm really sorry."

"I was wondering if you're free on Saturday evening, senior. Could I add you on WeChat to make it up to you? I'll treat you to a meal afterward as a formal apology."

Camellya was slightly taken aback, clearly not expecting him to be so solemn.

She blinked at the sincere young man before her and couldn't help letting out a soft laugh.

"Since you're so insistent, junior, all right."

As she spoke, she took out her phone and opened her WeChat QR code.

"Go ahead."

Wuling immediately took out his own phone, quickly scanned the code, and sent a friend request.

Almost instantly, she accepted it.

"Added."

Camellya put away her phone, smiling gently. "Don't feel too bad about it. I'm really fine. I was just a little numb for a moment, and now I've completely recovered."

"Even if you're fine, I still have to make it up to you."

Wuling still wouldn't budge. "Where would you like to eat, senior? The cafeteria, the snack street outside campus, or a restaurant is fine. I'll arrange it."

Seeing how serious Wuling was, Camellya found the junior in front of her somewhat cute for some reason. He wasn't frivolous at all, completely unlike the many boys who were eager to strike up a conversation with her.

She thought for a moment and said softly, "I don't have any particular requests. Let's go to the snack street outside campus. But there's no need to pick somewhere expensive on purpose. A casual bite will be fine.

"But likewise."

Camellya paused briefly.

"I'll treat you to a meal too, as my apology. Don't refuse, or I'll be unhappy."

Camellya's words cut off whatever Wuling had been about to say, leaving him no choice but to nod and agree.

With the matter of their apologies settled, the atmosphere between them relaxed considerably.

"Then I'll be going, junior. The dance program's teaching building is right across from yours. You can just wait for me downstairs when the time comes."

Camellya smiled and waved at Wuling.

"Oh, right, a friendly reminder: there are only three minutes left before the eight o'clock class starts."

"Huh? Damn!"