The sun set.
The evening glow painted the sky red, and the grass on the basketball court was bathed in a rosy hue. The campus loudspeakers began to play soothing music.
In the twilight.
Students of Elm Academy leisurely walked past the basketball court, not noticing the frail figure on the track.
Seventeenth lap...
Emily's lungs felt like they were on fire, her throat tasted metallic, and she couldn't breathe despite her desperate efforts. Darkness clouded her vision, stars danced in her head, and she couldn't see the track, couldn't see if anyone was ahead. She couldn't feel her legs or arms; she only felt—
She might die at any moment!
The empty track.
The teachers had left, and the students had long gone. The few who remained to watch had gotten bored and gone to the cafeteria.
No one was counting Emily's laps.
In fact, Emily herself couldn't keep track of whether this was the seventeenth or eighteenth lap. She decided to count it as the lesser one; even if she collapsed and vomited blood, she would complete the full 10,000 meters!
Blood pounded in her head.
The veins at her temples throbbed painfully.
Emily's consciousness was engulfed by darkness, except for the pounding of her heart and the wind roaring in her ears.
The sun continued to set.
Streetlights flickered on.
The long red track.
Emily's figure blended into the night, only visible under the streetlights, revealing her pale face, white lips, and sweat like raindrops.
Night enveloped the earth.
The camphor trees rustled in the night wind.
Her body felt like it was tearing apart!
The overwhelming pain surged through her body!
Finally finishing her run, Emily clung to the trunk of a camphor tree, bent over, and began to vomit violently.
She felt terrible...
Sliding down the tree trunk, she sat on the ground, not caring about the unpleasant smell of the vomit beside her. Hugging her legs, she buried her head in her knees, her nose tingling as tears streamed down her face.
"Young,
Today I exercised, you know, I ran for a very long time.
Are you laughing?
I'm not lying, I really did run! But it was so exhausting... For a while, I thought I was going to pass out. You used to say I was too lazy and didn't know how to exercise. Back then, I would argue that even though I didn't run often, I was a natural athlete when I did. Haha, what a big lie.
I'm not an athlete.
I nearly ran myself to death.
Young, what are you doing? Can you show up for a moment? Just for a moment..."
The dim yellow light of the streetlamp filtered through the trees.
A shadow appeared in front of Emily's legs.
She gasped and looked up abruptly!
"You don't seem to be much of a runner either."
The voice was cold. The owner of the voice stood with arms crossed, his long legs lazily positioned under the dense camphor tree. In the dim light of the forest, his silhouette appeared sculpturally beautiful.
Emily quickly wiped away her tears and smiled:
"I'm fine, not tired at all."
Ryan frowned impatiently. "Who cares about you! I just happened to pass by."
"Oh."
Emily awkwardly scratched her head.
"Why did you run for me?" Ryan coldly scrutinized her.
Emily struggled to stand up from the ground, leaning against the tree trunk. Her breathing was weak and intermittent, her lungs still painfully uncomfortable:
"Why... didn't you tell them you can't do strenuous exercise?"
Ryan was shocked!
He grabbed her shoulders, his voice harsh: "You—!"
"You have a heart condition, don't you?" Emily winced, feeling as if he was going to crush her shoulders. "People with heart conditions shouldn't do strenuous exercise. Why didn't you tell the teachers and classmates?"
"How do you know?!"
"Your memory is really bad..." Emily tried to free herself from his grasp. "I was the one who took you to the hospital that day. You must have had an attack; you were completely unconscious." Come to think of it, he still hadn't paid her back for the taxi ride.
Ryan's body stiffened, his right hand slowly sliding off her shoulder.
"I don't have a heart condition."
His lips were as rigid as marble.
Emily looked at him quietly. "Having a medical condition isn't something to be ashamed of."
"I said—! I don't—have—a heart condition! Are you deaf?!!"
His roar echoed through the camphor forest.
Ryan, in a fit of rage, punched the tree trunk. The leaves rustled violently, and the light from the streetlamp flickered as if shattered.
"I understand."
Emily coughed lightly, her sweat long gone, and a wave of coldness swept over her.
"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." She smiled at Ryan, her eyes like the crescent moon in the night sky. "But you need to take care of yourself. Fighting also counts as strenuous exercise. If you don't take care of yourself, I might just tell everyone your secret!"
Was that—
A threat?
In the camphor forest at night, Ryan glared angrily at the short-haired girl with fine, soft hair and crescent-shaped eyes.