Double Lives

Morning classes three and four were oil painting techniques, held in the third-floor art studio of the Art Building.

When Lin Mo arrived, there were still ten minutes before class, and most of the students were already seated in the studio.

The air was thick with the scent of turpentine and paint, the easels were arranged somewhat haphazardly, and scrap paper used for wiping brushes was scattered on the floor.

"Lin Mo! Over here!" A male student waved at him.

It was Zhou Ming, the class clown and one of the few classmates Lin Mo could chat with in the department.

This was mainly because this guy was also quite lazy, belonging to the type who would "never stand if he could sit," echoing Lin Mo to a certain extent.

Lin Mo walked over and sat down at the empty easel next to him.

"You actually came to class today? Did the sun rise from the west?" Zhou Ming made a comical face.

"I'm here to experience the edification of knowledge." Lin Mo said with a straight face.

"Cut it out." Zhou Ming leaned forward, intentionally lowering his voice with a hint of covert excitement, "Hey, did you hear about that thing with Wang Zhenhai?"

"Glanced at it twice on the news."

"Don't you find it bizarre?" Zhou Ming's expression instantly turned mysterious. He glanced left and right before leaning in closer to continue:

"A relative of mine works at the downtown hospital and said that several patients were rushed in all at once last night, with symptoms exactly like those celebrities in the news.

They all suddenly lapsed into a coma in the early hours of the morning, their brainwaves flatlining on the spot, and were ultimately directly diagnosed as brain dead.

It's just that they were all ordinary people, so it didn't make the news."

Lin Mo's heart stirred, "How many in total?"

"My relative said their hospital alone took in six. Two died, and the other four woke up at the exact same time this morning.

Moreover, all their physical vitals are ridiculously good, making them sturdier than people who work out year-round." Zhou Ming clicked his tongue, his face full of utter disbelief, "Don't you find this weird?"

"What did the police say?" Lin Mo asked.

"What else could they say?" Zhou Ming sneered, mimicking official jargon word for word:

"'The specific reasons are currently under investigation.' 'We ask the general public to remain calm and refrain from panicking or spreading rumors.'

The same old rhetoric; my ears are almost growing calluses from hearing it."

Zhou Ming shrugged, "Still, I always feel this thing isn't simple. Do you think it could be... that kind of thing?"

"What kind of thing?"

"You know, supernatural..." Zhou Ming made a bizarre gesture, "Like being collectively abducted by aliens for experiments, or accidentally touching some wicked curse..."

Lin Mo smiled, "You watch too much sci-fi." In his heart, though, he thought it was even more absurd than that.

As they were talking, a slight commotion suddenly came from the doorway of the studio.

Lin Mo looked up.

A tall figure walked in.

A simple off-white knitted sweater paired with light blue jeans, wearing a pair of clean white canvas sneakers on her feet.

Her attire was very plain, but worn on her, it had an indescribable appeal.

Because that form-fitting knitted sweater perfectly outlined breathtaking curves.

The fullness of her chest was perky, swaying gently with her footsteps, stretching the fabric taut as if the buttons might pop open at any second.

Her waist, however, was drawn in extremely slender, easily encircled by a single hand.

Moving further down were the rounded and long, straight legs encased in jeans.

She stood at least one meter seventy-two, and with her exceptionally favorable body proportions, walking among the crowd was like a model who had mistakenly wandered onto a campus.

She wore light makeup, her facial features striking and bold, especially those eyes with the outer corners slightly upturned, always carrying a hint of lazy, half-smiling playfulness when looking at people.

Su Wanqing.

The Campus Belle of the Art Department, and also Lin Mo's "object of sexual fantasy during the dead of night."

He was quite open about this; she was attractive, so admiring her and fantasizing about her was only human nature.

He was no simp; he wouldn't buy her breakfast, save seats for her, send her gifts, or like and comment on her moments the split second she posted them.

He was simply... lustful.

"The great beauty Su is here." Zhou Ming nudged Lin Mo with his elbow, his tone ambiguous.

"Hey, didn't you say last time that the female lead in that 'study material' on your hard drive looked a bit like her?

Could it be that every night, while studying, you..."

"Get lost." Lin Mo cursed with a smile, "I was conducting human anatomical research from an artistic perspective."

"Researching until three in the morning?"

"That was for an in-depth understanding of light, shadow, and texture."

The two bickered in low voices, yet their gazes both involuntarily followed Su Wanqing as she moved.

She walked into the studio, and several male students immediately swarmed around her.

"Wan Qing, morning! Have you had breakfast? I bought an extra cup of soy milk."

"Wan Qing, that art book you said you wanted to borrow last time, I brought it!"

"Wan Qing, there's a newly opened art exhibition this weekend, want to go check it out together?"

Su Wanqing wore a perfectly calibrated smile on her face, her voice soft and gentle:

"Thanks, but I've already eaten. I'll take a look at the art book first, and as for the weekend... I might be a bit busy, we'll see."

She handled them with ease, just like a skilled angler with the bait dangling in the water and the fish swimming around in circles, yet she simply refused to pull the rod.

Lin Mo watched her walk over to an easel in the front row and sit down. That was her fixed spot, and within three meters around her, there were no other easels, as if she brought her own boundary field.

When she sat down, her jeans pulled taut, pressing the rounded curve against the wooden bench.

Lin Mo looked away and took a deep breath.

"Damn it, this is lethal." Zhou Ming muttered quietly beside him, "This figure, this face... Which bastard do you suppose she'll end up with in the future?"