gap

When I reached the familiar alley near Jiang Yile's residential area, dusk had already fallen.

"I have arrived."

Jiang Yile stopped, his voice still holding a hint of shy sweetness.

"Yeah." Gu Nanxiao looked at her, his eyes especially gentle in the twilight. He raised his hand and gently stroked her still blushing cheek with his fingertips. "See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow."

She turned to leave, but he gently took her hand.

Under her puzzled gaze, he lowered his head and quickly but clearly placed a brief kiss on her lips.

It's like a feather passing through the tip of my heart, carrying with it the youthful sweetness and unquestionable possessiveness.

"Happy anniversary, my girlfriend."

He whispered in her ear, a hint of triumph and amusement in his voice.

At this moment, with a "swish" sound, an extremely bright, cold and dazzling white light suddenly tore through the haziness and warmth of the twilight like a sharp sword, and hit the two people accurately!

With the low and powerful roar of the car engine, a black car with smooth lines, low-key and luxurious colors but exuding an invisible sense of oppression, slid silently to their side like a ghost and stopped.

The tires rolled over the ground, making a slight but heart-pounding friction sound.

The glaring headlights, like two emotionless searchlights, enveloped the two of them in strong light, clearly illuminating the tenderness and throbbing on Gu Nanxiao's face that had not yet faded, and also illuminating the blush and momentary panic on Jiang Yile's face.

The fragile and beautiful pink bubble that had just risen was instantly shattered by the sudden and cold reality.

The back seat window slowly rolled down, revealing the face of a middle-aged man who was serious to the point of being rigid, and had the dignity of someone who had long been in a superior position.

His facial features were about 50% similar to Gu Nanxiao's, but he was even colder and harder, his eyes were as sharp as an eagle, and he first fixed his gaze on Gu Nanxiao with undisguised shock, anger and disappointment.

Then, that gaze slowly and oppressively moved to Jiang Yile's face.

The look was complex and difficult to discern, with scrutiny and inquiry, but more than that, it was a heavy, almost fateful, and compassionate meaning that Jiang Yile could not understand.

It was as if I was looking through her young face at a predetermined, unchangeable, and regrettable tragic ending.

There was no anger in his eyes like that of ordinary parents who caught their children in premature love. Instead, there was something deeper and chilling.

Gu Nanxiao's body completely froze the moment the car lights came on and the windows rolled down. The blood color on his face faded quickly at a speed visible to the naked eye under the strong light, turning pale.

His eyes were filled with extreme shock, panic, a deep, almost bone-deep fear, and... overwhelming despair.

"……dad?"

His voice was dry, trembling, and almost out of tune.

The man in the car—Gu Nanxiao's father—did not respond.

He didn't even look at Nan Xiao again, but his eyes, heavy and filled with that kind of heart-pounding complex emotions, stayed on Jiang Yile's face for a long, almost suffocating few seconds.

Then, Father Gu said nothing, but slowly raised the car window with an expressionless face.

The black car window glass isolates the outside world and seems to isolate all hope.

"Get in the car."

Through the tightly closed car window, the man's cold and unquestionable command came.

Gu Nanxiao stood in place, his fists clenched quietly at his sides, so tightly that his knuckles turned white and trembled slightly.

He looked at Jiang Yile deeply, almost greedily, with endless pain and despair. His eyes contained too many emotions that she couldn't fully understand at the moment - overwhelming pain, powerless struggle, bottomless guilt, and a despair that was almost a farewell...

"I……"

He hesitated for a long time, but ultimately did not say it.

Finally, he loosened his clenched fists, as if he had used up the last bit of strength in his life, opened the car door, bent down and sat in.

From beginning to end, he never looked at her again, nor did he leave a single word.

The car door slammed shut with a dull and decisive sound.

The black sedan slid silently into the deepening night and soon disappeared around the corner ahead.

Jiang Yile was left alone, standing there alone.

The slightly cool touch brought by the gentle kiss on the lips seemed not to have dissipated yet, but his heart was filled with huge, cold uneasiness and panic because of Gu Nanxiao's last desperate look and his father's all-knowing, heavy and suffocating glance.

The extreme heartbeat and sweetness that was like a dream just now disappeared under the cold gaze of reality, leaving only endless confusion and a strong, ominous premonition of impending storm.

what happened?

What does the unspoken “I…” mean?

And why did Father Gu's eyes carry such deep compassion and coldness, as if the ending had already been written?

The night is quietly closing in.

After that night, Gu Nanxiao was like a drop of water, completely disappearing from the daily life of Nancheng No. 1 Middle School for three whole days.

No text messages, no phone calls, not even a note of explanation.

The dust on his seat seemed to carry a deliberately abandoned, unsettling loneliness.

Jiang Yile sent him several messages, from the initial worried inquiry "Are you okay? That night...", to the later "What happened? Can you tell me?" with a hint of uneasiness and grievance, and finally only one "See you on Monday" was left, which fell on deaf ears, with faint expectation and self-comfort.

All the messages seemed to be thrown into a bottomless abyss, without even a trace of response. That complete silence was more frightening than any blame.

She repeatedly recalled the last moments of that night - her father's cold, scrutinizing gaze, Gu Nanxiao's suddenly pale face, those eyes filled with despair and fear, and that broken "Dad"...all of this was like a chaotic and depressing nightmare.

Is it because my father saw the kiss?

But even if his parents discovered his premature love, his reaction was too intense. No, it was more like too...desperate.

It was not just fear, it was more like a... omen of impending catastrophe.

That kind of despair didn't seem to be caused by the exposure of a simple love affair, but rather... it was like something heavier and more terrifying, the tip of the iceberg was suddenly revealed, and he was completely swallowed up by the shadow of the iceberg.

On Monday morning, when Gu Nanxiao finally appeared at the classroom door again, Jiang Yile almost didn't recognize him.

He seemed like a different person.

No, it was more like the soul was violently sucked away by some invisible thing, leaving behind only an even emptier, colder, corpse-like body.

He was still wearing a neat school uniform, but it couldn't hide the almost dead, heavy depression emanating from his body.

His originally fair skin now had a bloodless, sickly paleness, and under his eye sockets was a thick, indissoluble dark blue, like ink stains, as if he had not slept for several nights, or even if he closed his eyes, he could not sleep.

He walked in with his back slightly hunched, not looking at anyone. His gaze was fixed blankly on a point of nothingness in front of him. He walked straight to his seat, his movements as stiff as a puppet being manipulated, with invisible shackles on every step.

He was surrounded by a layer of icy shell that was thicker, more suffocating, and covered with spikes than the one he had encountered when he first transferred to school. The shell seemed to be silently screaming "stay away from me," mercilessly bouncing away and stabbing any concern and inquiries that tried to get close.

The moment Jiang Yile walked in, it felt like his heart was being tightly grasped by an invisible, cold hand, and it fell heavily and with sharp pain.

Cautiously, with an almost pious, humble expectation, she tilted her head as he sat down and asked softly, her voice trembling slightly, "Gu Nanxiao, are you... okay? Did something happen at home?"

She hoped for an explanation, even just a hint from the eyes.

His body stiffened almost imperceptibly, as if pricked by an invisible needle, but he did not turn around or answer.

He just took out the textbook from his schoolbag slowly, as if it were a movie in slow motion, spread it on the table, and stared at the blank title page with empty eyes, as if there was something on it that attracted all his attention and allowed him to escape from reality.

It was a complete, cold gesture that refused any communication, more resolute than any previous one.

During the break, Jiang Yile mustered up the courage and walked to his desk again, his heart beating violently in his chest.

"Gu Nanxiao, can we talk? About Friday night..."

She wanted to figure out what that night meant.

Why was his father's reaction so unusual?

Where will the budding feelings between them go?

Before she could finish her words, he stood up suddenly, and the chair legs made a sharp sound when they rubbed against the ground, rudely interrupting her.

"I'm going to the bathroom."

He said this in a hoarse, almost embarrassed voice, and then rushed out of the classroom as if he was escaping the plague.

Jiang Yile was left standing there alone, enduring the gazes of his classmates that were either curious, sympathetic, inquiring, or even a little gloating.

My cheeks felt hot, but my heart was filled with cold, desolate despair.

That kind of deliberate, cold, and obviously evasive alienation is more chilling and despairing than the most biting cold wind during the late spring in South City.

It silently and cruelly declared that the boy who lived quietly with her in the studio, made her heart beat in the light and shadow of the cafe, held up a sky for her on rainy nights, and who had the courage to kiss her under the banyan tree and who confessed his love gently, seemed to be just a beautiful and fragile illusion she had imagined.

Now the illusion is shattered, shattered by the cruel reality, leaving only this strange and cold body in front of me, as if the soul has been sucked out.

Why?

Was it because his father saw him?

But even if his parents discovered his premature love, his reaction was too intense, too...desperate.

That kind of despair didn't seem to be caused by the relationship being exposed, but rather like... something heavier and more terrifying, the tip of the iceberg of which was suddenly revealed.

What does his father's eyes, that heavy, compassionate look, mean?

On Friday afternoon, according to the school's unified arrangement, all senior high school students underwent their final comprehensive physical examination before graduation.

There are many items, from height and weight, vision and hearing, to internal medicine and surgery, blood routine, urine routine, and even electrocardiogram. Each class is like parts on an assembly line, and is arranged in an orderly manner at the door of different examination rooms waiting in line. The corridor is crowded with students wearing the same school uniforms but with different expressions.

The air was filled with the unique, cool, and slightly pungent smell of disinfectant, mixed with the restlessness and uneasiness unique to adolescent students and a hint of vague worry about unknown test results.

Jiang Yile and Zhou Xiaowei stood in a long queue outside the ECG room, moving forward slowly, inch by inch, with the flow of people.

All around me were classmates talking and joking in hushed voices, as well as complaints, longings, and tired sighs about the upcoming college entrance examination.

Jiang Yile was a little absent-minded, holding the blank physical examination form in her hand, her eyes unfocused on the back of the blue school uniform of the classmate in front of her. In her mind, she kept replaying Gu Nanxiao's empty and painful eyes, and his father's puzzling, heavy gaze that was like a huge rock pressing on her heart.

An inexplicable feeling of unease, like a damp vine, entwined around her heart.

"Hey, Lele, look over there," Zhou Xiaowei suddenly nudged her with her elbow, pointing to the other end of the corridor. Her voice was filled with surprise and a hint of confusion, as if she had discovered a new world. "It's Gu Nanxiao. Why is he there alone? He looks weird."

Jiang Yile suddenly came to his senses, as if he was pulled out of deep water, and his heart inexplicably tightened.

She followed the direction Zhou Xiaowei pointed and looked up with difficulty through the gaps in the crowd.