Tang Ya gently pushed open the dormitory door. Moonlight seeped through a gap in the curtains, drawing a silver line across the floor.
Steady breathing came from Jiang Nannan's bed, where the quilt rose in a small mound.
"Nannan?" Tang Ya called softly. Only a deeper silence answered her.
She felt her way to the bedside and made out Jiang Nannan's sleeping face in the moonlight-the girl's brows were tightly knitted, undried tears still clung to her lashes, and her right hand clutched something against her chest.
"Why did you... run away after kissing Tian Chen today?" Jiang Nannan's lashes suddenly trembled violently. Her breathing faltered for a moment, but her eyes remained tightly shut.
"Ah, forget it!" Tang Ya knew Jiang Nannan's temperament very well. No amount of coaxing or pestering would make her talk. She would have to secretly keep watch, just as Tian Chen had suggested!
Tang Ya sighed softly and tucked in Jiang Nannan's quilt. Her fingertips accidentally brushed the girl's icy fingers-that temperature was too low for a living person, more like a piece of frozen jade that could never be warmed.
She withdrew her hand and took one last look at the girl's curled-up back, moving even more quietly as she turned to leave.
After getting up the next morning,
Jiang Nannan still said nothing.
"Nannan," Tang Ya began tentatively, her voice softer than usual, "last night... did you sleep well?"
Jiang Nannan's back visibly stiffened for a moment before she continued folding her quilt as though nothing had happened. "Yes, pretty well."
Tang Ya stared at her whitening knuckles, her heart tightening. Remembering what she and Tian Chen had suspected earlier, she suddenly asked, "Is someone threatening you again?"
"No!" Jiang Nannan spun around, her voice so shrill that it hardly sounded