Two years ago,
Near the highway on the outskirts of Newlington, New Jersey,
In the early morning,
A small forest.
In the pouring rain, the black night swallowed the dark blue vehicle beneath the large tree. There was no light around.
Only the relentless sound of wind and rain.
Gradually, flashes of flashlight beams flickered deep in the woods, slowly converging like fireflies, flowing towards the dark-colored van.
The chaotic and impatient sound of doors opening and closing echoed, as young high school students in raincoats got into the van one after another.
Sitting in the driver's seat, a boy in a red raincoat impatiently threw it off and slammed his fist on the steering wheel. His hair was a striking bright red, with rainwater dripping from the tips.
He cursed under his breath:
"What's so special about being a congressman's daughter? My dad's the Secretary of Treasury! What's with her attitude? In this pouring rain, she ran off just like that, and after searching for so long, she's nowhere to be found. Let her die in this forest for all I care!"
"What did you say?" A boy in a green raincoat in the backseat got angry, jumping up to argue, but others next to him held him back. The boy in green had lake-green eyes, blonde hair, and fair skin, looking as striking as a prince from a fairytale.
A girl with a ponytail in the back seat shouted at the red-haired boy, "Kerry, shut up!"
"Me, shut up?" Kerry sneered maliciously. "Who was the one who made Laura mad and run off just now? If I remember correctly, it was you, wasn't it, Daisy?"
Daisy fell silent.
"Enough, stop fighting! We need to stay united! What's there to panic about?" said the boy in the front passenger seat, Tony, who looked like the oldest and the one with the most authority, with black hair and dark eyes. His scolding brought silence to the van. He then asked, "What should we do now? Keep searching for her, or get out of this cursed place first?"
The green-eyed, blond-haired boy spoke firmly, "We must find Laura first."
This time, Kerry didn't object, though he chuckled sarcastically, "I don't care, not like we can leave anyway."
Everyone was startled: "What do you mean?"
Kerry pulled out a cigarette, but after trying to light it multiple times with no spark, he angrily tossed the lighter away, saying, "That crazy Laura grabbed the steering wheel earlier, causing the van to veer off the road. We hit the gas tank, and now it's leaking."
"This is too weird," said another boy in the back seat, the smallest and frailest among them, with black-framed glasses making his pale face even more ghostly. He stammered, "Could this be that person's revenge? We should leave immediately! What if that person comes after us to kill us?"
For a moment, the van was deathly silent, with only the howling wind, rain, and the endless black night outside.
Next to him sat a girl with heavy makeup, who sneered disdainfully at him, "Qi Mo, you're such a coward. That graffiti on the glass was just a prank, it has nothing to do with us."
It seemed like she was trying to calm herself down, deliberately emphasizing the last few words.
The most handsome blond boy in the middle seat snorted, "Nothing to do with us? Anna, you were the first one to pack up and jump in the van, refusing to stay and insisting on driving back overnight."
Anna's face stiffened. She gritted her teeth, and after a moment, she slowly spat out his full name, enunciating every syllable, "Harry? Simon? Parker! If anyone is coming for revenge, the first one they should kill is you!"
Harry's face turned pale as he glared at her darkly.
Anna was startled, realizing she had said too much, and turned to look at Qi Mo. "You're just being paranoid. Hmph, that incident was an accident. Besides us, no one knows. Who would seek revenge? Who would avenge her?"
Qi Mo, the smallest boy, looked at her, his face suddenly turning ghostly white, his eyes bulging behind his glasses as if he had seen a ghost. His pale face reflected the stormy night outside, making him look even more terrifying.
Anna snapped, "Why are you staring at me like that?"
Qi Mo's eyes widened in shock, his voice barely a whisper, ghostly and ethereal, "Anna, behind you."
Anna froze with fear, seeing the horrified expressions on everyone's faces, and trembling, she stiffly turned her head.
Outside the window, the wind and rain whipped through the black night, tree branches swayed like ghostly hands, and raindrops splattered on the glass, forming patterns. But there, clear as day, was a small pentagram and a line of English letters: *You are my medicine.*
It was the exact phrase they had seen carved with a fruit knife at the beachside hotel.
Qi Mo's thin hand shook violently as he stammered, "Isn't that the last line of Lin Xing's love letter?"
It was just an ordinary phrase, yet it cast a deep shadow of fear over everyone in the van.
Qi Mo clutched his head, staring at the glass, his voice breaking with terror, "He's coming for us! He's coming to avenge Lin Xing! He's coming!"
"Shut up!" Anna screamed, trying to force a twisted smile. "Impossible. We've been driving for over two hours. He couldn't have caught up. Those letters must be some supernatural…"
But in an instant, she fell silent, her eyes widening in horror. Her black pupils seemed about to burst from their sockets. Everyone else in the van wore the same expression.
Even though they were together in the van, each person was frozen with fear, their rain-soaked faces deathly pale, reflecting sheer terror.
On the window with the letters, something white drifted by, carried by the stormy wind. In less than a second, it floated back.
Like a pendulum, swinging back and forth.
When the wind briefly paused, the object behind the rain-blurred window finally came into focus—it was someone's feet. And with a flash of lightning, they appeared ghostly white.
"Ahhh!!!" Several blood-curdling screams pierced the stormy night, but they were quickly absorbed by the forest, leaving only silence.
When the day of the big theater music concert arrived, Yan Su suddenly lost interest in going. That day, there happened to be an open-air symphony by the Juilliard School at Central Park.
Eva lived in New York, and from the start, Owen had invited her along. As a result, the four of them split up. Owen and Eva went to the concert, while Yan Su and Zhen Ai opted for the open-air symphony.
The spring symphony was scheduled to begin at 8 PM in Central Park.
Yan Su's apartment was near the park, so the two of them walked there together.
By then, it was already dark, but the city lights were bright, casting beams of white light across the gray sky.
The streets around the park bustled with traffic and voices, but the two of them walked in silence, quickly making their way.
Yan Su had changed into a thin black windbreaker, his favorite color, with his hands in his pockets. His eyes seemed lost in thought, his steps quick, as they always were. He walked so fast it felt like he could stir the wind.
At a certain moment, as if recalling his promise to Zhen Ai, he immediately slowed down his pace, moving as slowly as a snail.
The two had been silent along the way; she didn't know what he was thinking and felt it inappropriate to ask. She understood that most of the time, he was lost in thought, and she didn't want to disturb him.
But they were heading to a concert; couldn't he at least take a break for a moment?
Lost in her thoughts, Zhen Ai suddenly heard a sharp screeching sound of car brakes. She froze and turned toward the sound, only to see a speeding car veering directly towards her.
When did she end up in the middle of the road?
Zhen Ai was startled and instinctively wanted to retreat or run away, but at that moment, her body simply wouldn't respond; her reflexes lagged far behind her thoughts.
She watched in horror as the car barreled toward her, and just when she thought it was all over, someone grabbed her arm and yanked her back. The world spun with the lights from the cars and streetlights, and in the chaos, she caught a glimpse of Yan Su's astonished gaze.
In the next second, the chaotic sound of sliding tires abruptly ceased, and she found herself crashing into his warm embrace.
He had pulled her with such force that she knocked into him, pushing him backward until he collided with the trunk of a nearby tree.
The impact was not gentle; he winced slightly, biting his lip in pain, causing the tree to sway violently, sending down the withered leaves of late winter mingling with the new buds of spring, showering both of them with foliage.
Zhen Ai stared at him in shock, and after a moment, she suddenly realized she was in his arms, her hands inexplicably wrapped around his waist. The warmth of his body surged through her, making her cheeks flush. She quickly released her grip and stepped back, creating some distance between them.
This was so embarrassing!
But she didn't show too much awkwardness; she brushed off the leaves from her clothes and casually glanced at him, noticing he was focused on removing the leaves from his hair. Her heart felt a bit lighter.
The streetlights cast a warm yellow glow from above, creating a strange quietness in the air.
"That car looked pretty nice, didn't it? It was about to hit you, and you were staring at it so intently," Yan Su remarked casually, his voice as low and pleasant as ever.
Zhen Ai blushed, knowing he was mocking her slow reaction.
Sure enough, he continued, "Your reaction speed is really something…" He gritted his teeth, visibly irritated. After a pause, he added, "What kind of single-celled organism are you? A paramecium? Blue-green algae?"
"Ah?" Zhen Ai replied, confused; it was the first time she heard someone compare a person to paramecium and blue-green algae.
"No, even paramecium is faster than you." The dim yellow light hung over him, accentuating his deep features, yet he remained cool and detached. "Your neural reflex arc must be so long that it could wrap around the Earth five times."
Zhen Ai: …
She silently stared at him, unsure why he suddenly became so aggressive. Feeling a bit indignant, she pouted and turned her head away, refusing to look at him.
He frowned, clearly not pleased. It was her fault for wandering into the street, yet she still had the nerve to be angry?
After a few seconds of staring at her, he suddenly stepped forward and grabbed her hand.
Zhen Ai felt a jolt of warmth and widened her eyes in surprise. Instinctively, she tried to pull away, but he tightened his grip and ordered, almost in a low hiss, "Don't move!"
Zhen Ai froze, her clear eyes filled with caution.
She rarely saw him so slightly angry and felt inexplicably scared.
"Just follow me obediently, and don't try to run into oncoming cars. Are you some kind of moth?" His tone turned neutral, and after finishing, he took long strides forward.
Although he just mocked her as a moth, Zhen Ai couldn't find her voice. She could only feel his warmth seeping into her palm, strange yet oddly comforting, and she didn't dislike it. Instead, it felt quite heartwarming.
Despite his seemingly cold demeanor.
For someone so distant, even holding hands felt defiant, infused with an irresistible gentleness.
Her heart felt like it was wrapped in warm cotton, amplifying her secretly happy feelings.
At one point, she even wanted to squeeze his hand slightly, but after thinking it over, her little hand just moved without any strength, passively allowing him to lead her through the bustling streets and under the flickering lights.
Meanwhile, Yan Su had already set aside his earlier thoughts.
When Zhen Ai had crashed into his embrace, he distinctly felt two soft objects pressing against his chest, their warmth seeping through the fabric and into his heart.
That soft and delicate sensation seemed to linger at the center of his chest, refusing to fade away.
He didn't consider it from any other angle, clearly recognizing it as a normal reaction for a man's body.
Her emitted female hormones had caused chaos and unrest within his male hormones, which was truly annoying. And this fool didn't even know how to cross the street, yet still expected him to hold her hand—how frustrating!
But Yan Su was an adaptable person; he had originally planned to just guide Zhen Ai across the street, yet as they walked, he had gotten used to holding her hand.
His mind was preoccupied with other matters, almost forgetting they were still holding hands, and he instinctively tucked her hand into the pocket of his overcoat.
Zhen Ai was startled; even she knew this action was too intimate. Yet, Yan Su, seemingly oblivious, remained completely composed.
As they approached the entrance of Central Park, they suddenly heard someone call out, "Zhen Ai~~"
At first, Yan Su didn't react, lost in thought. But Zhen Ai immediately halted, turning to look back, and suddenly realized he was still holding her hand, quickly pulling away.
Yan Su felt a small gap in his pocket.
His hand remained in his pocket, quietly squeezing it for a moment, then he lowered his gaze and reflected—objectively speaking, that little soft hand he had just held felt really nice.