Chapter 5

That night, I sat at my desk and took out the sleeping pills I had bought, lining them up on the surface.

Bailu stared at me, looking like she wanted to say something but hesitated. “Did you… go see Professor Xu today?”

“How did you know?”

“No reason.” Her eyes dimmed as she handed me a glass of sweet-tasting water. “By the way, Xianxian, I think Senior Duan is a pretty good guy. What do you think?”

Is he?

Maybe.

Using the water Bailu gave me, I swallowed a sleeping pill.

The effects kicked in quickly, and I drifted into a hazy chaos.

I thought I would finally get a peaceful night’s sleep.

But-

The dreams returned.

It was those two men again.

A cold voice drifted over. “…She’s not in a good mental state today. Show some restraint.”

My vision was bright and blurry. I thought of Duan Yan.

But I didn’t have the strength to call out his name.

Suddenly, the low chuckle of another, more mature man reached my ears, sounding soothing:

“Be good. It’s just a routine check-up. It won’t hurt you.”

I gave a muddled response, struggling aimlessly, but I couldn’t wake up no matter what I did.

Three scents floated in the air.

Galbanum mixed with citrus and disinfectant.

It was the scent of the two of them blended together.

Help… even in my dreams, they were still forcing me to review for my exams.

The other man whispered beside me, “So cute.”

With that, he leaned down and kissed me.

I grew frantic, resisting with all my might.

Suddenly, a sharp pain hit my lips. The taste of blood spread through my mouth, and I let out a muffled groan, nearly choking to death.

I felt like I couldn’t breathe, like a fish out of water, gasping repeatedly.

A man’s hand cradled the back of my head, and he patted my cheek.

“Xianxian, breathe. You’re going to suffocate yourself-”

Duan Yan let out a helpless, soft laugh. “I told you to lower the dosage. It’s been too long; she can’t handle it.”

…

Thud-

Accompanied by a loud noise, the dream came to an abrupt halt.

I woke up to find myself sitting on the dormitory floor.

I had knocked over the water basin I kept by my bed.

Bailu’s groggy voice came from above. “It’s the weekend, Xianxian… why aren’t you sleeping in? What’s all the racket…”

“Sorry…”

I mumbled an apology, realizing my entire body felt weak, as if I had just run a marathon.

Only then did the realization hit me.

I had that dream again last night…

The symptoms hadn’t eased; if anything, the dream had lasted even longer.

I gripped the bed rail, my whole body trembling.

A sense of exhaustion stemming from the depths of my soul made even standing up feel like a monumental effort.

After resting for a few minutes, I forced myself to get up and poured a glass of water.

The moment the water touched my lips, a stinging pain made me frown.

It hurt…

I walked into the bathroom.

There, in the mirror, was a girl wearing simple cotton print camisole pajamas, her hair a mess and her cheeks flushed.

And on her lip, there was a tiny wound.

A bite mark?

The skin was broken?!

I reached up with a trembling hand to look at my wrist…

On the delicate skin of my inner wrist, faint red marks were beginning to surface…

In the mirror, my eyes widened in disbelief, and my face instantly turned deathly pale.

Was all of this… really just a dream?