◎Dizziness◎
When the hair dryer turned on, the sound of rain finally receded, and Chun Zao’s chaotic emotions seemed to find a temporary resting place.
Her hair wasn’t particularly long, but it was somewhat thick. Normally, it took at least twenty minutes to completely dry.
Perhaps due to the rainwater composition, today’s hair drying took longer than usual. When she finished the left side and switched to the right, her arm was already getting sore from holding it up.
Chun Zao turned off the hair dryer, lowered her head to move her arm, and bent her wrist in the opposite direction.
When she looked up at the mirror again, her fingertip on the hair dryer button paused.
Yuan Ye was standing at the doorway at some point.
The bathroom sink was very close to the door. So even though he hadn’t entered, just leaning against the inward-opening door panel, his face and upper body could still be reflected in the same mirror.
Their gazes met in this space.
Mirror lights were amazing things. The shadows created by normal human facial structure and those harmless minor flaws would all disappear completely under this special lighting.
Yuan Ye at this moment looked very much like a carefully polished glazed artwork—even one more glance was captivating.
To avoid eye contact, Chun Zao quickly turned her head and asked: “Is there something you need?”
Yuan Ye said, “I thought you had finished.”
Chun Zao half-lowered her eyelids, grabbing her right side hair: “…Just finished one side.”
“Do girls always need this long to dry their hair?”
“Short hair probably doesn’t need to.” Chun Zao didn’t turn the hair dryer back on: “I’ll be done soon, you don’t need to… worry about me.”
The boy’s tone was light: “I don’t have anything to do right now anyway.”
As if afraid she’d feel uncomfortable, he took out his phone from his pants pocket, but remained in the same spot.
Chun Zao gripped the hair dryer handle and turned it on, but was too embarrassed to use the highest setting, so she tilted her head and used the low setting to blow bit by bit.
Her lustrous black hair flowed like ink waves between her fingers.
During this time, she stole glances at Yuan Ye through the mirror several times. The boy was just playing with his phone, relaxed posture, unchanged expression, showing no sign of impatience whatsoever.
Was he… keeping her company?
Chun Zao couldn’t help but curve her lips upward, then immediately pressed them together to maintain composure. Would he find this boring? Thinking this, she initiated conversation: “Won’t you be bored staying here during National Day?”
Perhaps her volume was naturally low, and after being scattered by the wind, very little reached the air.
The boy lifted his eyelids: “What?”
“…” Chun Zao suddenly lost her voice. His starlike eyes were strangling her through the mirror again.
She shifted her gaze to a small water spot on the left and fixed it firmly there: “Will you be… bored staying here during National Day?”
Yuan Ye replied: “It’s alright.”
Chun Zao racked her brains: “Actually I’ve always been curious, where do you usually stay during holidays?”
“Internet cafes. For studying, usually the city library, paid study rooms, or coffee shops, and places like that.”
See, he also had to study. Chun Zao regained some balance and added some envy: “I’ve never studied in those places.”
“Do you want to go?” Unexpectedly, Yuan Ye extended a warm invitation: “If it’s convenient for you, I could take you.”
Chun Zao looked over in surprise. Although she wanted to agree immediately, thinking of her situation, she could only helplessly mumble: “There never seems to be such ‘convenient’ times.”
The boy in the mirror suddenly smiled.
That unexpected smile was like pure white flowers she’d once seen outside a flower shop window blooming before her eyes, displayed at super speed in time-lapse photography form, the dimension of time compressed to an instant at this moment—
Chun Zao was impacted to the point of slight dizziness.
Yuan Ye noticed the girl who had gone quiet and sought her eyes on the same plane.
She looked at him almost absent-mindedly, without blinking.
He also slowly flattened his lips.
Rain beat against the windowsill, wind clamored, other than that, there was no other sound, only the girl’s hair ends surging.
Like a calm lake surface in a clear mirror, they both involuntarily anchored at each other’s shores, isolated from the world.
“Hss.” Chun Zao’s soft gasp awakened both of them simultaneously.
Yuan Ye shifted his gaze out of the mirror frame: “What’s wrong?”
Chun Zao quickly said, “Nothing.”
The air outlet had stayed in the same place too long; a sudden burning sensation arose on her neck side, and she realized she had been staring at Yuan Ye in infatuation for quite a while.
Face red and ears burning, she turned off the hair dryer, then stiffly unplugged its power cord, coiled it up, and put it back on the nearby storage shelf.
When she turned back, she didn’t dare look directly at his face, only saying: “I have to go.”
Better to escape first. This place wasn’t suitable for lingering, or all her thoughts would be completely exposed.
—
Chun Zao went back to her bedroom to get an umbrella. When she came out, Yuan Ye was already waiting for her at the entrance, also holding a black folding umbrella, the intention to escort her obvious.