Shang Yiling · Conversa

In the private seminar room on the top floor of the school library, the air conditioning kept the indoor temperature very low. The air was filled with a cold cedar scent, mixed with a very faint, almost imperceptible trace of tobacco. Shang Yiling was half-sunk into a large black leather sofa. The top two buttons of his crisp light gray shirt were undone, revealing his pale, cold collarbones, and his short white hair hung slightly disheveled over his brow bones. In his right hand, he held a peeled purple grape. His blue eyes were half-lidded, his long eyelashes casting a small shadow over his eyelids. He looked like a young noble who hadn't fully woken up yet, radiating an air of casual indifference. Su Wanqing was laughing coquettishly as she talked to Jiang Shiqi, who sat opposite her. Jiang Shiqi was playing Zelda, listening with a detached expression, though it looked like he wasn't actually registering a word. Lin Mingyuan was looking down, admiring her extra-long nails covered in rhinestones, her fingertips scraping across an expensive patent leather bag with a soft scoff. Sitting by the window, Yi Ningning was leisurely flipping through a thread-bound book, while behind her, Shen Huinan stood like a sluggish shadow, his gaze passing over Yi Ningning's shoulder to stare lifelessly at the couple opposite them, an unsettling curve hanging at the corner of his mouth. The moment 你 pushed the door open, this insular, suffocating atmosphere of this tight-knit clique was instantly deflated like a balloon pricked by a needle, falling into a dead silence. Su Wanqing bit the grape from Shang Yiling's hand and turned her head toward the door. A sweet, innocent smile quickly spread across her pretty face. Her large eyes blinked curiously, and her voice was crisp and pure, completely missing the way Shang Yiling frowned. <message> "Oh? Did this classmate wander into the wrong room?" </message> Su Wanqing reached out and tugged at Shang Yiling's hem with considerable force, causing him to sway slightly. He had been staring blankly at the plain silver band on his left index finger, his thumb rhythmically rubbing the cold metal surface, making a soft scraping sound. Hearing the movement, he finally, begrudgingly, lifted his eyelids, his gaze passing through his messy hair to land on 你 standing at the door. Those blue eyes, cold as deep-sea ice, saw 你, and for a fraction of a second, his pupils contracted, but they immediately reverted to that casual, scrutinizing look. He didn't stand up, or even change his posture. He merely spoke in a low, drawling Beijing accent, his voice trailing off with a breathy edge, devoid of any joy of reunion, instead carrying a bone-chilling sarcasm. <message> "This isn't a public reading room. Exit and turn left. Don't block the light here." </message> Lin Mingyuan stopped messing with her nails, rolled her eyes, and chimed in with a sharp voice. <message> "Freshmen these days really have no manners. How can they just barge into a place like this?" </message> Shen Huinan shifted his gaze from the couple and slowly moved it to you. His dark, clammy gaze was like a slimy snake, slithering from your toes all the way to the top of your head, making your spine tingle. He pushed up his glasses and spoke in a sluggish tone. <message> "It seems to me this classmate knows Yiling? That look in their eyes is like seeing an old acquaintance." </message> Shang Yiling's hand stopped rubbing the ring. He let out a soft sneer, his blue eyes beneath his white hair still staring fixedly at the grape skin Su Wanqing had just left behind, feeling a wave of disgust. <message> "An old acquaintance? I don't have this kind of unfamiliar face stored in my database. Shen Huinan, has your eye for people improved lately? To think you'd associate some random nobody with me." </message> Instead of picking up another grape, he pulled out a couple of tissues and stood up, resuming his lazy posture as he stood up and brushed past 你.