“Chu Hang? Why are you here?”

Chu Hang set down his bag and glanced at Tan Yin. “Did you rent out this whole classroom?” He cleared his throat and added, “The studio lost power. Xu Yu told me there were lots of empty classrooms in the old campus for drafting.”

Ah, so that was it.

Still, Tan Yin was genuinely glad Chu Hang had shown up — at the very least, his presence bolstered her courage. “Then let’s study together!”

Chu Hang, naturally, didn’t respond. He simply spread out his drafting paper and began drawing.

Tan Yin didn’t say anything further either, burying herself in her own work. Once she truly focused on drawing, time flew by, and by the time she next looked up, it was already nearly ten o’clock.

Though the old campus classrooms were mostly empty, they weren’t actually part of the school’s official 24-hour study spaces, so the lights had to go off by nine. But Tan Yin felt like she was in a great flow state, and since there didn’t seem to be any strict enforcement of a power cutoff here, she simply stayed hunched over her desk, continuing to draw.

Once Chu Hang was in the zone, he too seemed completely unaware of his surroundings, quietly drawing at another desk the whole time, only getting up once, just a moment ago, to fetch water from the hot water room with his cup.

This time, Tan Yin was truly absorbed in her work. Knowledge really could all come together — she’d properly caught up on all the material she’d fallen behind on, read through the works of numerous renowned designers from home and abroad, and made a habit of observing design in everyday life. Through constant learning and accumulation, she now found ideas flowing endlessly as she drew.

Truly immersing yourself in something makes you forget everything around you. Tan Yin kept drawing, completely oblivious to the fact that outside the classroom, a fierce storm had already picked up, several bolts of lightning already splitting open the night sky…

By the time she finally noticed, thunder was already rumbling, and the rain was pouring down in torrents outside.

Tan Yin, right in the middle of an exciting stretch of drawing, felt a wave of frustration and put down her pen in resignation. The one silver lining was that Chu Hang happened to be out of the room at that moment, so at least her little slip-up had gone unnoticed.

Before long, Chu Hang, having finished getting his water, came back into the room. Tan Yin looked toward him, and though she knew he couldn’t see or hear her, she couldn’t help wanting to ask for his help — she’d gone invisible now, so how was she supposed to get her drawings back with her?

But before Tan Yin could even open her mouth, a loud, forceful voice startled her into silence —

“This isn’t a 24-hour study room! No more studying in here! Go back and sleep!”

The security guard doing rounds of the classrooms had finally tracked down this room with its lights still on, and had come to chase everyone out.

“The school’s doing an energy conservation review lately — lights in non-24-hour classrooms have to go off after nine. Hurry up, I need to lock the door once the lights are off.” The guard urged them along, shaking his head. “Didn’t expect anyone would actually be studying in these old campus classrooms. Kid, don’t work yourself too hard — it’s this late, go get some sleep.”

Since it was pouring rain and thunderous outside, the guard naturally couldn’t see Tan Yin. Hearing his words, she panicked. She was invisible right now — she couldn’t exactly go parading around town carrying her drawings and drafting tools. But leaving behind drawings that represented so much of her hard work, just abandoned in an empty classroom — Tan Yin absolutely couldn’t accept that. Things could always go wrong overnight — what if something happened to her drawings while they weren’t under her watch? Wouldn’t an entire week’s worth of work go to waste?

Chu Hang had already started packing up his own drawings and tools. Tan Yin watched, seeing his desk about to be cleared, ready for him to leave.

The guard kept urging him along, while Tan Yin pleaded desperately: “Chu Hang… Chu Hang, hang in there, put up a fight! Don’t leave! If you leave, what am I supposed to do! My drawings are still here!!!”

But Chu Hang simply continued packing up his things at an unhurried pace. Once done, he showed no sign of resistance at all, simply walking straight toward the door.

Tan Yin was nearly in tears. Even knowing Chu Hang couldn’t hear her, she couldn’t help pouring out wave after wave of flattery, calling him the most handsome, telling him he was a real man among men so he’d better put up a fight, calling him her idol, begging him to save her — an endless stream of it…

Of course, Chu Hang shouldn’t have been able to hear any of it. Tan Yin’s efforts were nothing but a desperate last stand — except, as she kept talking, she suddenly noticed that Chu Hang’s usually calm, composed face seemed to show a flicker of amusement. The look was so faint, so fleeting, that Tan Yin thought she must have imagined it.

But after that flicker, Chu Hang turned back from the doorway and walked over to Tan Yin’s desk, gathering up her drawings for her.

Facing the guard’s puzzled look, Chu Hang answered with perfect calm, “Oh, this belongs to a classmate of mine. She might have stepped out — I’ll just grab it for her.”

The guard yawned. “Alright, hurry up and get it, I’m about to lock up. It’s this late already — once I lock this room, I’m heading home to sleep.”

“Bless you, Chu Hang! You’re the best!”

Tan Yin was overjoyed, thinking that Chu Hang thinking to grab her things was already more than enough — but soon she found herself unable to smile again.

Since the guard was about to lock up, he stood waiting right at the classroom doorway, and being on the heavier side, he didn’t bother moving much, blocking most of the entrance. He only grudgingly stepped aside a little when Chu Hang reached the door, and the moment Chu Hang stepped out, the guard resumed his position, standing there like a solid iron tower, pulling the door shut with one hand while fishing out his staff keys with the other, ready to lock up.

This was it — the drawings had made it out, but Tan Yin herself hadn’t…

Tan Yin had absolutely no way to do anything about it. She could only watch, helpless and on the verge of tears, as the door closed right in front of her. People always say when God closes a door he opens a window, but in this situation, not only was the door closed in front of Tan Yin, there wasn’t even a window open!

Tan Yin was nearly frantic. The lights in the classroom were already off, everything pitch black, and now with the door closed too, was she supposed to spend the whole night trapped in this darkness?!

Just as Tan Yin was being driven to the edge of madness — unsure whether it would be worse to stay quietly locked in, or to bang on the door and risk causing some kind of “ghost knocking” incident, since even if invisible her, banged on the door, whoever was outside probably wouldn’t dare open it out of fear —

Just as Tan Yin’s despair reached its peak, Chu Hang’s voice came from outside the door: “Sorry, could you open the door again? I think I left my phone in the classroom.”

The guard grumbled a complaint but still pulled out his keys and opened the door. Though the door was open, his massive frame still blocked the entrance. Tan Yin measured the gap between his body and the doorway and figured she probably still couldn’t squeeze through…

The moment Chu Hang stepped back in, he immediately flipped on the light. But the desk he’d been working at was completely bare — nothing there at all — and yet he didn’t immediately start looking for his phone. Instead, he turned back to the guard with a smile. “Sorry about this, it might take a little while to find it. Why don’t you go have a smoke out in the hallway while you wait?”

The mention of smoking seemed to hit exactly the right note with the guard, who chuckled, pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket along with a lighter, and stepped out into the hallway to light up.

Though Tan Yin had caught a faint whiff of cigarette smoke when the guard first appeared, she’d been far too careless to think much of it, let alone display the kind of composure Chu Hang had, calmly getting someone to happily wait outside for a smoke.

Regardless, thanks to Chu Hang, the classroom door was now wide open, and Tan Yin wasted no time — she slipped out of the room in an instant. Chu Hang, having claimed to have lost his phone, followed shortly after her, stepping out of the classroom too.

“Sir, I found my phone. Thanks a lot — I’ll be heading out now.”

Puffing away on his cigarette, the guard casually asked, “Where’d you find it?”

Chu Hang smiled. “In my desk drawer.”

Free at last, Tan Yin patted her chest in relief and quickly ducked under Chu Hang’s oversized black umbrella. Normally, the shortest route from the old campus would lead first to the boys’ dormitory, but Chu Hang, apparently unfamiliar with the layout, ended up taking a roundabout path that led first to the girls’ dormitory instead. Which turned out to be a good thing, Tan Yin thought happily, since it meant she wouldn’t have to get rained on. As soon as they reached the girls’ dorm entrance, she slipped out from under Chu Hang’s umbrella and dashed off quickly back to her room.

She had to admit, all her good luck today was thanks to Chu Hang’s phone, in the end…

Wait a second…

A moment ago, things had been too urgent for Tan Yin to think it through, but now that she’d calmed down, something felt off.

Chu Hang’s phone — she’d clearly seen out of the corner of her eye that he’d packed it away with his drafting tools earlier… so how had it ended up back in the desk drawer???

Amid the chaos, Tan Yin felt like she was grasping at the edge of some enormous thread — and once a person starts doubting something, everything starts to look suspicious, just like a wife who starts suspecting her husband of cheating will suddenly see every one of his movements as evidence of a lie…

The oversized umbrella, so conveniently carried on a rainy day; sending the guard off to search for a phone he hadn’t even started looking for yet; being trapped in a corner of the library, unable to move; the umbrella handle catching her when she nearly fell; the deliberate stalling to keep Xu Yu from opening the bathroom door when she needed to use it; that smooth, evasive maneuvering in the elevator when she’d groped Zhu Kangmei…

The more she thought about it, the more anxious and uneasy Tan Yin became, her mind spiraling further and further out of control…

A bold and terrifying thought flashed through her mind — could it be… could it be that Chu Hang could actually see her while she was invisible?

But she quickly dismissed the idea — that didn’t add up either. Hadn’t she groped him in the elevator that one time, and he’d genuinely mistaken Zhu Kangmei for the pervert? That was clear proof he couldn’t see her…

Or… or maybe Chu Hang genuinely hadn’t been able to see her at first, but at some point, somehow, he’d suddenly started being able to?

The thought was absurd, sure, but then again, being struck by lightning and gaining invisibility was even more absurd, and that had happened. At this point, was there anything this world couldn’t produce?

And once she followed that line of reasoning…

Tan Yin felt a chill creep over her the more she thought about it, her face flushing red then pale by turns. If this were true, then… then did that mean, ever since he’d been able to see her, Chu Hang had just been silently, calmly watching her make a fool of herself this whole time? And what exactly had she done in front of him while invisible?

Tan Yin racked her brain, and the memories alone made her want to bury her head and flee. She shook her head frantically, telling herself she couldn’t keep thinking down this path — maybe things weren’t as bad as she imagined, maybe it was all just a coincidence. Maybe Chu Hang really had just gotten so absorbed in his drawing tonight that he forgot he’d already packed his phone away, and when answering the guard he’d been too embarrassed to explain properly, so he just grabbed the first excuse that came to mind.

But once certain thoughts take root, there’s no going back to not having thought them. Once this seed of doubt had been planted in Tan Yin’s mind, she couldn’t rest until she got to the bottom of it.

At the moment, the storm had passed, and Tan Yin returned to normal. She pushed open the dorm door from the hallway and walked in. Forget it — sleep first. This whole matter could wait for tomorrow, when she could think it through properly.

While Tan Yin slept soundly that night, Chu Hang, on the other hand, tossed and turned. Unlike most girls’ dorms, where everyone loved their beauty sleep, in his own dorm room — aside from the skincare devotee Zhang Chen, who was already asleep — Chen Ziqiang was in the middle of an intense gaming session, while He Ming looked like he’d been out drinking and was now sitting slumped and silent at his desk, thoroughly drunk.

Chu Hang normally kept regular, healthy sleeping habits, but tonight, no matter what, he simply couldn’t fall asleep. Thinking back over recent events, his mood had grown increasingly tangled.

That little pest Tan Yin — the one who’d written him love letters for half a year, jumped off a building for him, then somehow acquired the superpower of invisibility during a thunderstorm and had been sticking to him like glue ever since, practically her own personal soundtrack — had finally found a boyfriend and completely turned the page on him.

This should have been a moment of pure celebration. He’d never again have to endure Tan Yin’s incessant chatter — it was practically cause for hanging up banners in celebration. And yet, now that this once-fervently-wished-for outcome had finally come true, Chu Hang found he wasn’t happy about it at all. He only felt lost, even a little abnormal for himself — especially since he, normally so meticulous and careful about everything, had clearly packed his phone away along with his drafting tools, yet in his muddled state had ended up using such a clumsy excuse as forgetting his phone. If Tan Yin hadn’t been too distracted to notice, she would have seen right through him.

Chu Hang thought, good thing she’s clueless.

Except…

Had Tan Yin really given up chasing him just like that?

Had Tan Yin really stopped following him around invisibly?

Did Tan Yin really think she and that Zhou Ming fellow were well-suited?

…

Chu Hang found himself bothered by it. Of course, only a little.

Xu Yu had been claiming lately that he was in a relationship, and Chu Hang had scoffed at the idea outright. How could that possibly be true?

Him, in a relationship — with whom? Did he like Tan Yin? That was practically a fairy tale, wasn’t it — was that even possible? The odds of something like that happening were probably about the same as Mars colliding with Earth.

Just as Chu Hang was about to try talking himself into sleep, He Ming, who’d been sitting there silent this whole time, suddenly spoke up. He was clearly drunk, his voice thick with unwilling frustration: “I got dumped today.”

Nothing perked people up faster than late-night gossip like this. Chen Ziqiang immediately dropped his keyboard. “Xiao Ming, since when have you even been dating anyone? Didn’t you say you didn’t have anyone you liked?”

“I didn’t, originally. But now that she’s found someone else, I’ve realized I did.”

Though He Ming’s account came out disjointed due to the alcohol, the gist of it eventually became clear.

“So there was this girl from my high school, she’s at the sister university next door. She’d liked me since high school, chased after me all the way through college. She wasn’t the type — not exactly a beauty, not the kind of lively, easy-to-get-along-with girl either, so I never gave her a chance.”

“But she didn’t care. She was incredibly patient and thoughtful trying to win me over. Last year during finals, when I was pulling all-nighters in the studio working on models, she basically became my personal delivery service, going to her relative’s place every day specially to cook meals and bring them to me. Sometimes I appreciated it, sure, but sometimes it also got a little annoying, honestly. Anyway, this went on for years, and I just kind of got used to it… but starting last week, she stopped showing up. Three days went by with no word from her, and when I finally asked, I found out she’s got a boyfriend now…”

Chen Ziqiang shook his head, adopting the air of a seasoned relationship counselor. “Xiao Ming, that’s where you’re wrong — this isn’t love, it’s just a temporary sense of loss. It’s like, you had something you never particularly cared about, but now that it’s gone, now that it belongs to someone else, you feel a bit of a letdown, that’s all. Trust me, bro, it’ll pass.”

He Ming sighed miserably. “I hope you’re right, but the thing is, every time I imagine her being just as good to her new boyfriend — cooking for him, sending him texts to bundle up when it’s cold, holding hands, doing all the things couples in the honeymoon phase do — I feel like I can barely breathe…”

…

Like every heartbroken guy who’s had a few too many, He Ming grew increasingly talkative, lamenting his regrets. But Chu Hang could no longer follow along — his thoughts had already been swept away by what He Ming had just said.

Someday, Tan Yin would hold hands with Zhou Ming too, go shopping with him, get all cuddly with him, ride around on that scooter she’d bought to all the couple-must-visit spots around the city with him, kiss him, maybe even…

Chu Hang felt like he couldn’t stay in bed anymore. He sat bolt upright.

Chen Ziqiang jumped, startled by the sudden movement. “Chu Hang, what’s wrong with you? Why’s your face so dark — you look like you’re about to go murder someone…”

Chu Hang pressed his lips together. “Nothing.”

He Ming was still spilling his heart out. “I know it’s my own fault. I didn’t cherish her while she still liked me, and now that I’ve lost her, I finally understand what I had. But I’d never dated anyone before — I didn’t realize that was what liking someone felt like! And now… now that I’ve finally figured it out, it’s too late! She’s already with someone else!”

Chen Ziqiang, while trying to comfort him, also looked a bit exasperated. “What’s the use of moping around like this?”

Baffled, He Ming asked reflexively, “Then what else can I do?”

“If you like her, go after her.”

“But she already has a boyfriend…”

Chen Ziqiang took a sip of water. “Right, she’s got a boyfriend — but not a husband. It’s not like they’re married, where there’d need to be a real reason to separate. A relationship can end in a breakup!” Chen Ziqiang looked thoroughly disappointed in him. “First of all, she might have given up on you out of exhaustion, settling for someone just to get off the market out of despair. Second, she chased you for years, which clearly means she’s got deep feelings for you — if you go after her now, your chances of winning her back are actually pretty good.”

Still, He Ming hesitated. Just as he opened his mouth to say something, Chu Hang beat him to voicing the thought on his mind: “But wouldn’t that make him the other guy — a homewrecker?”

Chen Ziqiang looked at his two roommates, utterly exasperated. “At a time like this, you’re still worrying about who came first, propriety, all that? There’s no morality in matters of the heart. If you truly love someone, no matter what obstacles stand in the way, you fight through them. It’s just a boyfriend she’s had for a little while — break them up, that’s all! Go steal her back!”

He Ming’s expression was clearly still conflicted. “But if I did something like that, stealing someone away, even if we ended up together, people might talk behind our backs…”

Chen Ziqiang cleared his throat and delivered the killing blow: “So which do you think is worse — being with her and having people talk behind your back, or having no one to blame but yourself, just watching helplessly as she falls in love with someone else?”

Hearing this, He Ming’s expression grew even more torn.

Chen Ziqiang shook his head. “Everyone looks out for themselves in the end — love is inherently selfish. And besides, a man’s got to fight for what he wants if he wants to win!”

…

He Ming mumbled something else back to Chen Ziqiang afterward, but Chu Hang no longer had the mind to listen.

Right now, his own inner turmoil mirrored He Ming’s exactly. Beneath his calm, composed exterior, a storm was raging.

He Ming’s words had cut into Chu Hang like a knife, over and over. His feelings were a tangled mess, and it was only now that he was forced to confront reality — he wasn’t just a little bothered by Tan Yin. He was, in fact, deeply, thoroughly bothered by her — so much so that he’d already developed a fierce hostility toward the entirely innocent Zhou Ming.

The odds of Mars colliding with Earth were vanishingly small — but once such a collision actually happened, it truly would be…

Catastrophic.