Chapter 8: Elevator Encounter, Concerns About Making Friends, Video

Chapter 8: An Elevator Encounter and Social Hesitations

On the podium, after tallying the students who needed Mimic initiation, the instructor began guiding the class through the textbook, introducing definitions and basics of Mimics.

The course was so elementary that Qi Heyin could half-listen while mentally sorting some research papers she'd recently read.

Having arrived late in the afternoon, she sat in a corner at the back of the classroom, yet still drew considerable attention. The freshmen, unfamiliar with each other, mistook her for a fellow first-year, marveling at her poise and looks while wondering why they hadn’t seen her at the morning orientation.

After class, history repeated itself—Qi Heyin added several enthusiastic underclassmen to her contacts.

She'd already met her socializing limit for the day.

Leaving the classroom, Qi Heyin still had some re-enrollment paperwork to handle at the administrative office, so she headed straight to Faro Academy’s main administration building.

The building was designed to be grand and luxurious, topping a hundred meters with thirty floors above ground and three below. Its interior was spacious, housing numerous offices and a labyrinth of hallways that often left first-time visitors lost.

Qi Heyin did a quick loop on the nineteenth floor before finding the door labeled "Administrative Office."

Everything went smoothly afterward. After a brief exchange, the clerk handled it efficiently. Thanking them, Qi Heyin exited into the corridor and made her way to the lobby elevators.

All six elevators were running. She stood quietly, waiting for one to arrive.

"Ding—"

The elevator to her left front chimed, signaling its arrival. Confirming its downward direction, Qi Heyin hurried toward it.

Her eyes landed on a vivid splash of red as the doors slid open.

A tall, red-haired man leaned casually against the elevator railing, dressed in black with eye-catching metallic accents. His punk aesthetic was bold and edgy. His sharp features were slightly knit as he focused intently on his communicator.

Qi Heyin paused, quickly recognizing him.

It was Ji Ningye.

Their fleeting parking lot meeting had stuck in her memory.

...But why was he here?

Qi Heyin recalled that this elevator had descended from the twenty-fifth floor. If she remembered correctly, floors twenty through twenty-five were student council territory.

In other words, the regular hangout spot for the Celestial Nobles—the male leads from the original novel.

With that realization, Qi Heyin kept her cool. Calmly, she stepped into the elevator and pressed her floor button.

Hearing the doors close, Ji Ningye looked up with detached interest at the newcomer, then froze slightly.

Noticing his gaze, Qi Heyin lifted her head and nodded politely before shifting aside, keeping polite stranger distance.

As she turned, her raven hair grazed his toned arm.

Her hair carried a faint, refreshing scent—like pine in the snow or mountain springs under silver moonlight, crisp and clean.

The fleeting touch vanished as Ji Ningye lowered his eyes, watching her willowy but poised frame.

His mind replayed that first glance: her neatly worn uniform, her fair face free of makeup, her posture as proper as her personality... His mouth tightened reflexively as he set down his communicator.

The rapidly descending elevator was silent, the atmosphere so still that even breathing seemed amplified.

Then, a rhythmic ringtone broke the quiet. Qi Heyin answered the call, her voice even. "Hello?"

"Hello, may I speak to Ms. Qi Heyin?" A warm and polite female voice came through. "This is the Velitas Research Institute."

"That's me," Qi Heyin replied. "Go ahead."

"So here's the thing," the voice paused briefly, accompanied by rustling sounds, as if flipping through documents. "We’d like to confirm your onboarding date this Sunday morning. Are you free to come by the institute?"

"This Sunday morning?" Qi Heyin thought for a moment. "Sure, that’s fine."

"Great," the voice responded. "I’ll email you the exact time and location shortly."

Ding—

Just then, the elevator arrived at the first floor. Qi Heyin murmured a quiet "Thank you" before hanging up and stepping out, her head slightly lowered as she walked away.

She turned the corner and vanished into the lobby.

After she left, the elevator doors closed and continued its descent to the underground parking lot on B1.

Ding—

Ji Ningye finally stepped out of the elevator, walking slowly toward his neon-colored supercar under the dim parking lot lights.

He placed a hand over his chest, his heart still racing as he replayed the earlier scene in his mind.

Opening the car door, he slumped into the reclined seat, his mind blank. Ji Ningye tugged at his lips, suddenly letting out a self-deprecating chuckle.

Another near miss. After all these years, she still didn’t recognize him.

...Pathetic, really.

That evening, on her way home after a day at school, Qi Heyin opened her phone and found numerous new messages.

Most were from new classmates, with a few from her parents.

After a moment, she replied to each classmate’s greetings one by one, ignoring the nosy questions altogether.

The chatterbox of the group was Jiang Yanche. Even Shang Wenze, whom Qi Heyin usually found a bit long-winded, wasn’t this bad.

Somehow, he’d already spammed her with dozens of messages.

"Hey Qi Heyin, what’s up?"

"Bored. Basketball now! [Photo][Photo] U into sports?"

"Academy basketball game soon. I’m pretty good—wanna come watch?"

"Off to race now. Peep my X972—it’s fire!"

......

"Bowling time. Lane’s kinda small though. [Photo]"

......

"At the arcade. [Photo][Photo]"

......

"Gonna bike 20 miles to the east suburbs with friends, then book a theater for a movie later. [Photo]"

......

Qi Heyin stared at her phone: '...'

How does he even have this much energy?

She silently lowered her head and kept scrolling through the messages.

"Jiang Yanche: Hey Qi Heyin, did you rarely go out before? Wanna be friends? I'll show you around ^_^"

"Jiang Yanche: Why aren't you replying... busy?"

"Jiang Yanche: ..."

"Jiang Yanche: Are you there, Qi Heyin? Help me with this problem [pic][pic]"

Her eyes stuck on the phrase "Wanna be friends." Qi Heyin paused for a moment.

Honestly, her first impression of Jiang Yanche wasn’t bad. But the original novel’s plot was stuck in her head, making her feel that these Celestial Nobles male leads... were better off avoided.

They could be ordinary classmates, but when it came to friendship, she needed to be careful.

After some thought, Qi Heyin decided to put off this friendship offer.

She didn’t reply to Jiang Yanche’s other messages, only sending the solution to the problem he had asked about earlier.

"Qi Heyin: There are three ways to solve this problem. [pic]"

"Qi Heyin: Make sense?"

Soon, Jiang Yanche replied with a string of ellipses. He seemed both happy and disappointed.

"Jiang Yanche: Thanks, crystal clear."

"Jiang Yanche: Of course you'd only reply about schoolwork..."

"Jiang Yanche: :("

Qi Heyin: "..."

Closing the chat with Jiang Yanche, she replied to her parents’ messages asking when she’d be home, then leaned back in her seat, exhausted, and began to doze off.

After returning home, Qi Heyin ate a simple meal and got ready. Changing her clothes, she glanced at the clock on the wall and hurriedly sat down at her desk.

Earlier, unable to resist Shang Wenze’s days of pestering, Qi Heyin had agreed to call him for a video chat after school today.

Before calling, she checked and realized that the time difference between the Western Continent’s Gru Port, where Shang Wenze was currently staying, and the Philos Empire was about six hours apart.

This meant that even though she had hurried home and changed quickly, it was already past midnight on his end.

Not wanting to keep Shang Wenze waiting too long, she sent him a message and called right away.

But unlike their usual video chats, this time it rang forever before the call was finally answered.

"Hello? He Yin?"

A deep voice answered. Qi Heyin lowered her eyes and saw that the screen was fogged up, as if water droplets had blurred the lens.

Drip, drip.

She heard water dripping.

Then, the camera wobbled as a slender hand reached out to wipe the lens before turning it around.

Under dim lighting, the tall young man had a towel draped over his head, his short, golden wolf-cut half-dried, with damp strands clinging to his forehead.

Water dripped from his hair, slowly trailing down his handsome brows. His amber eyes, still damp, gazed into the camera.

"Sorry, He Yin, I was just taking a shower," the young man said hoarsely.

As he spoke, he shifted closer and turned on the bedside lamp.

A pure white bathrobe draped over his shoulders, the soft light highlighting his broad, honey-toned chest and toned muscles. Beneath the slightly open collar of the robe, a glimpse of his abs appeared on screen.