Chapter 222 219. Farewell【11/17】
During the three days of exams, there were four written tests. These exams drained An Han both mentally and physically. Thankfully, Su Peng had excellent grades and was seated next to her every time.
She only accidentally glanced at his answers a couple of times.
With the end of the final exam, the vacation officially began.
One month and three days in total, from now until school resumed on the seventeenth day of the first lunar month.
“……”
The boy and the girl were both silent. After leaving the classroom, they quietly returned to the rented apartment, packed their suitcases, then quietly got into a car and arrived at the nearest North High-Speed Rail Station at dusk.
Su Peng pulled two suitcases, still wearing his usual gentle smile. But the moment he saw the massive glass walls of the waiting hall, his heart suddenly felt empty. He opened his mouth, yet didn’t know what to say.
Normally, he and An Han always had endless topics—games, daily life, teasing and complaining about each other. There were hardly any moments of awkward silence between them.
“Su Peng, I’m leaving, okay?”
An Han reached out and took her suitcase handle from Su Peng’s hand. Her smile was as playful and cute as ever, with faint dimples on her cheeks.
“How long until boarding?”
“About half an hour.”
“Then wait a bit longer…”
She froze for a moment, then set the suitcase upright beside her. With both hands in her pockets, she leaned against a large round pillar.
Her feet were crossed, her legs tilted about thirty degrees against the pillar. She tilted her head slightly, her beautiful eyes staring straight at Su Peng’s face.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’ll go buy you some snacks for the trip. You haven’t had dinner yet.”
“I still need to take a bus after the train. If I eat, I’ll get motion sickness and might throw up.”
Su Peng smiled. “Then I’ll buy you some olives. They’re good for motion sickness.”
Watching him jog away, An Han lowered her head, rubbing the ugly gloves with her fingertips. She raised her arm again and touched the fluffy earmuffs.
Her chest felt tight, heavy.
She should be happy. After all, when she first became a girl, she had sworn she would never like men.
“This is getting messier and messier…” she muttered, rubbing her hands together and breathing out. A long trail of white mist bloomed in her palms. “Why is it that the more I don’t want something, the less control I have over it?”
Her mood sank low—like childhood afternoons spent playing wildly with friends, only to part at dinner time, each going home to their own family.
“Sorry to keep you waiting!”
Su Peng ran back slightly out of breath and stuffed a bag of snacks into her hands.
“Eat some on the way. When you’re on the bus, suck on a sour olive and you won’t feel sick. Message me when you get home.”
“I don’t even have hands free to carry it.”
“I’ll put it in your suitcase.”
He glanced at the time again and hurriedly opened her suitcase.
“We’re running out of time. You should go in early—if you miss it, you’ll have to reschedule. I checked, the next train is two hours later.”
An Han just stood there, watching him fuss over everything.
“If you don’t want snacks, you can order food on the train. Eat more during winter break—you’re too thin, you need to gain some weight. And say hello to your mom and your sister for me.”
“Oh right, I bought you a scarf. The scarf…”
He looked around in panic. “I forgot to bring it… Anyway, keep warm. It’s almost freezing where you live—much colder than here.”
The corners of An Han’s eyes reddened. She replied lightly, “Got it~ You’re so naggy…”
“……”
After a brief silence, Su Peng zipped up the suitcase and looked up with a smile.
“Go on, you still need to go through ticket check.”
“I’m using my ID~”
An Han grabbed both suitcase handles and walked a few steps toward the waiting hall, then turned back hesitantly.
“It’s too late.”
She suddenly smiled brightly.
“Looks like I already missed it.”
“Huh?”
She put the suitcases down and sighed with a troubled look.
“You insisted on buying things, and now we’re late. It’s all your fault.”
“Didn’t you say half an hour…?”
“I remembered wrong! Anyway, it’s just a reschedule and a two-hour wait. It’s fine.”
She laughed softly. “Want to walk around the station? I’ve been here several times but never really explored it.”
“There’s nothing to see at a train station…” Su Peng scratched his head, then gave in with a smile. “You really can forget even boarding times.”
“My memory’s bad~ I’m dumb, my brain doesn’t work.”
“Who calls themselves dumb?”
It felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from Su Peng’s heart. He picked up An Han’s suitcase again.
“Perfect timing. Let’s go to the parking lot—I left your scarf in the car.”
“Okay~”
She followed closely behind him in small steps, as if afraid he might suddenly disappear.
An Han secretly glanced at the ticket app on her phone. It showed there were still nearly twenty minutes before boarding.
Noticing Su Peng turn around, she quickly slipped the phone into her pocket and looked up.
“There should be good food near the station, right?”
“This station is pretty remote. I’ll take you to look.”
Since universities had already entered winter break, the station was packed with people.
Following Su Peng, An Han walked into the underground parking garage and stopped in front of a Crown sedan.
“How much does this car cost?”
“A few hundred thousand when new. Now it’s probably worth a bit over a hundred thousand.”
Su Peng opened the car door and took out a white scarf from the driver’s seat. He raised it to hand it to An Han, but saw her lean forward and lower her head slightly.
“Well…”
After a brief hesitation, he spread the scarf open with both hands, draped it around her neck, and carefully tied a neat knot.
“You’re surprisingly good at this kind of thing.”
“Don’t tease me.” Su Peng stepped back with a smile. “It looks great. It really suits your vibe.”
An Han casually brushed the hair by her ear. “I have… what vibe do I even have?”
She had almost said something cruder, but swallowed it back.
Cars passed by in the garage. An Han lowered her head; her neck and earlobes slowly flushed red.
She felt impulsive, yet all sorts of reasons kept that impulse from turning into action.
Su Peng stepped closer and tentatively held her index finger.
“L-let’s… walk around,” he stammered, his heartbeat thudding loudly in his ears.
“Mhm~”
Seeing that An Han didn’t resist, his hand slowly climbed along her finger until he wrapped her entire finger in his palm.
An Han pressed her lips together, then decisively grabbed his hand instead.
“So hesitant… where did your confidence go?”
Su Peng jumped slightly, then smiled. “I was just afraid you wouldn’t like it.”
Some people say that when a man likes a girl, he’s crazed with desire for her body.
But Su Peng felt that liking her simply meant wanting to protect this beauty—unable to bear seeing her hurt, unable to bear seeing her sad.
Still, when it was time to be decisive, he really should be.
When they reached a shadowed corner of the garage, he suddenly bent down and kissed An Han on the cheek.
This time, she didn’t dodge—she just stood there, stunned and confused.
Why did you do exactly what I wanted to do?
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