When the dismissal bell finally rang, Lu Yu’s “prison sentence” came to an end.

He’d already filled two full pages of Lin Bei Xing’s scratch notebook with doodles.  
If he kept scribbling like that, not only would his hand ache—but Lin Bei Xing’s pen was nearly out of ink.

The moment the bell sounded, Lu Yu pushed off the desk to stand up.

Normally, he’d bolt out the door the second school ended, backpack slung over one shoulder.  
But now…

He looked down at his light-blue blouse and the subtle curve of his chest and hesitated.

He was the class monitor now—if he sprinted out first thing, that’d look bad.

So he sighed and sat back down.

Come to think of it, he hadn’t drunk much water today.  
Not once had he felt the need to go to the bathroom all afternoon.  
Kind of a shame, really.

He began aimlessly packing Lin Bei Xing’s schoolbag.  
He had no idea what she usually took home after school.

But considering she was a top student, she probably needed a lot of textbooks.  
So Lu Yu stuffed her white backpack to the brim and slung it onto his back.

*Vrrr—*

His phone buzzed. Lu Yu glanced back toward his own seat.

Lin Bei Xing held up her phone and pointed at the screen, signaling him to check the message.

> **North Star**: Meet me at the back gate.  
> **Yu**: Your bestie told me to find her after school.  
> **North Star**: You’re seriously going?! Come to the back gate first!!  
> **Yu**: Fine.

Lu Yu didn’t know what happened when girl besties canceled plans—but he had a vague sense that girls were a petty species, so he figured he’d better keep the appointment.

He was only doing this to maintain Lin Bei Xing’s image, after all.  
But if Lin Bei Xing herself didn’t care either way, then he wouldn’t go.

Backpack on, Lu Yu ambled lazily out of the classroom.

He’d never been energetic to begin with—and today, he hadn’t even taken a nap at lunch, forcing his eyelids open through the whole afternoon.  
He looked utterly drained.

“Bei Xing, why are you walking alone today?”  
“Bei Xing, wanna walk home together?”

As the class’s most popular figure, Lin Bei Xing rarely went home solo.  
Seeing her “all alone,” several girls clustered around her.

“Lin Bei Xing” shook her head while walking, flashing her standard polite smile.  
“No thanks—I’ve got something to do today…”

She gently turned them down, then quickened her pace, practically sprinting down the hallway to lose them.

By the time she reached the back school gate, she was panting, out of breath.

Lin Bei Xing’s physical stamina was genuinely terrible.  
Lu Yu wondered if she’d always been like this—or if this was just how girls were in general.

“You brought so many books?”  

Lin Bei Xing stood by the flower bed near the back gate, wearing Lu Yu’s backpack perfectly straight on both shoulders.

Lu Yu never wore his backpack properly—he’d carry it by hand if he could, or sling it over one shoulder at most.  
Seeing his own body wearing the bag so neatly felt weird.

“I wasn’t sure which subjects you’d need to review, so I brought everything,” Lu Yu said.

He took off the heavy, overstuffed bag and handed it over.

“You don’t actually need to bring textbooks—just the homework. I’ve got books at home,” Lin Bei Xing said.

“Oh. Got it.” Lu Yu nodded absently, then asked, “What do you usually do when you get home?”

After all, they hadn’t swapped back before dismissal.  
That meant they’d each have to go home in the other’s body—and interact with each other’s parents.

Just thinking about it made Lin Bei Xing anxious. She paced in place nervously.

“I get home, do homework, practice piano, eat dinner, then do more practice problems.”

“Piano?”

Lu Yu spotted something odd in Lin Bei Xing’s daily schedule.

A top-tier senior cramming for the Gaokao… still practicing piano?

Lin Bei Xing wasn’t even an arts-track student—she got into elite programs purely through academic scores.  
At this critical stage, adding piano practice seemed completely unnecessary.

“What kind of piano?” Lu Yu asked.

“Grand piano.”

“Uh… I have zero idea how to play.”

Without labeled keys, Lu Yu couldn’t even find middle C, let alone play a tune.

“You…”

Lin Bei Xing felt faint with despair.

The worst-case scenario had come true.

Having Lu Yu return home in her body was literally the worst possible outcome.

She worried he’d snap at her piano teacher or outright refuse her parents’ orders.

For eighteen years, Lin Bei Xing had followed every rule, perfectly fulfilling every task her parents assigned.  
She’d even stayed up all night just to smooth out a piano piece—anything to earn her mother’s smile.

But if it were Lu Yu… she didn’t even dare imagine how badly he’d slack off.

Lin Bei Xing took a deep, shaky breath—then resigned herself to reality.

“Just… try to fake it somehow…”

It was unreasonable to expect someone with zero musical talent—someone who’d never touched an instrument—to flawlessly impersonate a pianist.

Besides… Lu Yu *was* trying his best to uphold her image.

“Where do *you* live?” she asked.

Lu Yu pulled a set of keys from his pocket and handed them to her.

“Exit the school, turn right. Cross the street—you’ll see a run-down old residential complex on your right. Unit 2, Apartment 301.”

He stated the address clearly and pressed the keys into her hand.

“Oh… What do you usually do at home? How do I deal with your family?”

“Do whatever you want. Usually, I surf the internet. No one’s home, so you don’t need to ‘deal’ with anyone.”

“Huh…?”

Lin Bei Xing was stunned.

A senior student going home just to play on the computer?  
And—wait—Lu Yu lived alone?

“Are… are you an orphan?” she blurted out.

She didn’t mean it maliciously—it was just an automatic assumption, given how crucial parental support was during senior year.

But Lu Yu frowned. “My parents are alive.”

“…Right.”  
Lin Bei Xing realized she’d misspoken and quickly apologized. “Sorry.”

“No problem. Just remember to feed the cat.”

“You have a cat?!” Her eyes lit up.

She wanted to ask more about his home life—but held back.  
Instead, the mention of the cat completely captured her attention.

“How do I feed it?”

“Add cat food.”

“How much?”

“…”

Sometimes, Lin Bei Xing’s thinking was just too rigid.

Lu Yu gestured with his hand. “One bowl.”

She almost asked, *“What size bowl?”*—but decided not to.

“I understand,” she nodded seriously.

“Here—take this back.”

Lu Yu reached into the backpack and pulled out the math test papers from the front pocket.

“I didn’t do them.”

He said it shamelessly—because he genuinely couldn’t.

“At least fill in *something*…”

“I randomly marked A, B, C, D for the multiple choice. The rest? Impossible.”

“…”

Lin Bei Xing fell silent.

This guy was beyond saving.

“If you don’t turn it in, *you’ll* be the one Mr. Zhang drags into the office tomorrow. Don’t forget—you’re in *my* body right now.”

Lu Yu offered the “helpful” reminder with a smirk.

He was famously unresponsive to teachers’ demands—there was no way he’d ever willingly accept extra homework.  
Since Lin Bei Xing had agreed to it, she could deal with the consequences.

“Anyway, I can’t do it. Giving it to me is just a waste.”

“You…” Lin Bei Xing choked on her words.

He wasn’t wrong.

If the papers weren’t submitted, *she’d* be the one punished tomorrow.

“Our handwriting’s completely different. I can only do part of it…”

“Figure it out.”

Lu Yu checked the time on his phone. “Wanna leave together?”

Lin Bei Xing nodded and slowed her steps to follow behind him.