Chereads / Without Peace / Chapter 15 - I feel like I remember you

Chapter 15 - I feel like I remember you

"Sorry?" Lei Nuwa blurted out before she could stop herself. After the shock wore off, she quickly became suspicious.

"I don't respect guys who beat up girls. Ahem. It's not because it's you, of course." Lin Cheng kicked at the grass below his feet.

"I fell." She figured that she should go to the grave with the excuse now that she was committed to it.

"I'm not stupid." Lei Nuwa suddenly flashed back to the first time she met Zhang Fengge in the kitchen. Unknowingly, her heart softened at her reminiscing. The small smile on her face did not go unnoticed by the man in front of her.

"I didn't call you stupid. Nosy, you're nosy." She said the last part under her breath, but Lin Cheng still heard her and laughed. He walked closer to her. This time, he made sure to make slow and small movements, but with enough subtlety to not embarrass Nuwa.

He touched the swollen area and turned her head. Nuwa quickly stepped back and lightly slapped his arm. He didn't take offense but instead seemed to ponder something in his mind.

"I think I remember how to break into the infirmary. I can get you some cream for the bruising." Nuwa shook her head.

In her first life, Lin Cheng had quickly befriended Liu Yichen, and thus participated in his abuse. In one instance, Lin Cheng had recorded her naked and spread the pictures around on the internet. Lei Nuwa would not put up with him in this life.

"I will be fine without it. Now leave me alone." She walked away from him, a bit faster than she did before. He walked beside her, no matter how much she sped up. Eventually the two were running side by side, until Nuwa had to stop and breathe.

"Miss, have I done something to offend you? I did not mean for you to see that scene earlier, and in my defense you were technically in my spot, and I was there first, and you were–" Lei Nuwa put a finger to his lips in a 'shushing' motion.

"You didn't do anything. I'm just not here to make friends." Lei Nuwa knew very well that this life was different, and that she could not always hold previous lives against the current one. She knew that he hadn't met Liu Yichen yet, and when he did, things would be back to the way they were. She shook her head and became resolute: she could not accept him or his help.

"If I didn't do anything, that means I have a chance to change your mind, right?" Lei Nuwa imagined him with a wagging tail and dog ears from the way he perked up.

"No–"

"Violet, I will be your friend. You're welcome!" Nuwa could not help but give him a blank look.

"Are you maybe hard of hearing?" Her question was sincere.

"No, I heard you. I just have to prove to you I'm good company." He looked proud and resolved, and Lei Nuwa could not help but admire him for a millisecond.

'Am I in a novel? Why is everyone so attractive??'

She didn't want to indulge Lin Cheng, but she had to ask him.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you so determined to be my friend? I am not interested in you, I cannot help you in any way, so what is the point? Did someone put you up to this?" She wondered if he had already met Liu Yichen, and if this was part of a harmful plan.

"You're pretty." Lei Nuwa felt like she could cough up blood. Lin Cheng was oblivious to her reaction, staring at the clouds. "You have magic eyes. And I feel like we've met before. Before the first time."

Lei Nuwa did not know what to address first.

"I…" She could not find the words to speak.

"Anyways, I'll sneak into your dorm later and give you the cream. You're on the second floor, right? I saw you from the window– I wasn't spying on you, I was trying to peep at another girl and found you instead. Crazy, right?" He smiled, threw her a thumbs up, and ran off.

Lei Nuwa did not move for a moment, trying to process the whirlwind of things that had happened. Could Lin Cheng have remembered some of their past lives? Why was this life so different? She had never questioned her eyes before– they had always been there, and she had always accepted them as a part of herself. However, now she began to wonder if it had to do with her strange mutation.

Nuwa's head spun and she fell to the ground, leaning against one of the empty stalls. She wondered if this was purgatory– in between heaven and hell, an eternity of confusion and misery that held tight and didn't let go. She gave herself a few moments to let her emotions out, to pity herself, before she got up and walked towards the orientation crowd.

Lei Nuwa did not know what was real or not real, but it made no difference. If this was all a dream, Nuwa would play a new part.