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Evanescia's always wanted it, you know. The telltale bittersweet, youthful, melodramatic story you can only find in shoujo manga— it would start with a meetcute, personally Evanescia's partial to bumping into the other— and then former strangers keep finding little events and happenings that keep drawing them closer and closer together. But, Evanescia notes, the right person is key, no, the most crucial part of the equation. And that all culminated to entering her 2nd year. Romantic experience: zero.
And— frankly— Yao Guang as a deuteragonist is almost too high-spec. Part of the exchange program with the Xianzhou school branch as a means of fostering inter-planetary relations had brought the titular woman to be attending the same high school as her. The moment she stepped to the podium during the school assembly, there was no way she hadn't caught the eyes of the entire student body. She had lightly tapped her manicured fingertip to the mic in feedback, and then she had caught their ears.
Evanescia would know. Teachers usually sent her to the back for group settings— her ears would surely block the way— and in that moment she thanked that she was so far from the ringing. She was holding her ears down, akin to a bunny with flopped ears, winced, until she glanced up again and—
When Yao Guang uttered an "Excuse me? Can everyone hear me…?" following the sharp sting of the microphone, the starkness only served to make her voice ever sweeter by proxy. Deep, prussian blue in her hair, her uniform, against the backdrop of clear, porcelain skin. And that hair: have you ever seen the first sleet of snow in the morning? It reflects the sunlight and it's almost blinding— but it doesn't stop you from watching in awe. Because for a moment, Evanescia believed in magic.
It was then that Yao Guang caught one student's heart.
Like most processes, everything settled itself into quick file, and almost everyone unanimously voted in favor of Yao Guang for class representative. The novelty of a beautiful transfer student rusts within 2 months, and her reputation solidified into "the unreachable flower beneath a huge waterfall." Approachable, but stopped at cordial. There was a certain quality, people would say. It wasn't condescension— but she looked straight through you as if she always knew more than you.
Foreign exchange student, divination prodigy, class representative… Evanescia wiped the drool from her mouth. The perfect pairing. Especially with little old, ordinary high schooler Evanescia. Gap moe. The set-up was perfect. Now she only had to win her over.
"Alright!" Evanescia had snatched her toast and promptly bit into it. "Dwis 'ill defphiuly worfk."
After careful scouting— Not stalking. Scouting. Of Yao Guang's usual time she walks to school, she's picked the perfect spot, right at the corner of the school grounds' wall, right at the turn. Optimal crashing. And then, after they collide, Yao Guang would surely outstretch a hand and ask if she was okay. More than okay. Go out with me. Hold it. Evanescia needed to stop simulating. With the bread in her mouth she really couldn't wipe the drool off this time. Baby steps…
She needed to execute this plan with maximum efficiency. Why that is, because as an exchange student, Yao Guang would only be here for the remainded of the school year. And it was already May! Evanescia needed her to be at least, aware of her existence before the summer festival. All these key events needed to be secured.
In her ruminations she almost missed the telltale cue to go: The taxis would go off sporadically, but the morning bus would always arrive like clockwork, by this street turn.
7:23.
Evanescia started running.
"Oh no, I'm going to be laaaate!" she cried out, as parsed as that could be with toast in mouth. She shut her eyes for impact.
Lilac. To her surprise she hardly fell into her target, no, she was making eye contact with the concrete pavement just centimeters away. And sorta… floating. On one foot. No.
Yao Guang, holding Evanescia by the wrist, had swfitly stepped to the side just before. "…You're going to drop your bread," she remarked.
Evanescia scrambled to get up and hold her toast— properly this time— to greet her future girlfriend. "I- Thank you! For saving me." She flashed a sheepish smile.
"You were planning to run into me." A neutral reply, but a touch accusatory. Yao Guang had crossed her arms and affixed her with a gaze.
"W-What? Of course I wasn't." She looked up into those deep, azure eyes that betrayed nothing about how she felt. Curses.
"I could see your ears from behind the bushes," Yao Guang directed a finger over to Evanescia's original spot. "Not exactly inconspicuous."
This isn't how it's suppposed to go. Evanescia stammered. "I just… You were the only one I could rely on!" She posed a free hand at her hip and gestured to herself. "Look! Not a single scratch thanks to your help."
"Mm."
"And— Gosh, how can I ever repay you…?" Redirect, redirect.
Perhaps sensing a premonition, Yao Guang hastily spoke. "You don't need to-"
"Are you free during lunch period? I can share some of my bento!" She took it out from the bottomless hole of her schoolbag. It was a lovely pink thing, with flowers on the corners and a crudely written Eva in the middle. "I, uh, made too much…"
"I might be busy. As class rep." Yao Guang trailed off, clearly not expecting that.
"I can wait after school too! And after after that! Weekends even!" Evanescia laid it on thick. Any day was fine. Even if it was outside of school, it'd work in her favor. Afterschool date…
"You've made enough food for that many days?"
"I can just make more later! Anything you want!"
Yao Guang finally took a proper, discerning look, at her. And then she glanced at her phone's clock and sighed. "Fine." She began heading to the school gate again. "I'm free during lunch. I'll be eating at the spare classroom on the 2nd floor."
"O-Okay! See you there!!" She can't believed that worked.
She saw off a non-committal wave of Yao Guang's hand from behind as she faded away from view. That actually worked— granted she ran the scenario through her head countless times, so of course it had to have, but—- it's happening! Yes! Things weren't quite as she planned, but neither was love! That's why she needed to keep strategizing it. All she had to do was appeal.
A certain 8-note chime rang in the distance. "7:45!??!" She cried out. "I'm gonna be laaaate!"
At the end of literature class did Evanescia notice a wrench in her scheme. It was when she got up from her desk, collected her things, and started heading towards that spare classroom.
"Gonna have lunch with Yao Guang ~ ♪" Evanescia hummed to herself once or twice. She took out the box earlier to hold it with both hands. Better see how the bento looks-
It looked like it survived 3 natural disasters. At once. Former animal themed foods were displaced across all borders. The octopus sausages fraternized with the tamagoyaki hearts, and the rescue efforts proved fruitless for her panda onigiri. It looked closer to an Othello board now.
It must've been from the running. Or the jostle of making it to homeroom in record time. Or that other instance when a group of— Ugh— rowdy classmates had bumped into her bag. There's no way she could show this to Yao Guang. Much less have her eat from it.
Maybe, maybe she should reschedule. Or tell her something else. What did they do in manga? Uhm. 'You can have me for dessert.' No.
"What if… I dashed to the cafeteria and brought back curry-pan…?"
"I'm more into sour stuff. Like lemon tea."
"Alright then, jelly! Wait." She swiveled and Yao Guang evidently, was standing behind her at the doorway. "How long have you been there!?"
"You tried offering yourself as—"
"AHHH stop stop stop! Okay!" Evanescia waved a hand at her to somehow give her 10-second memory loss. She slumped into a pout. "You should've told me…"
They began walking, until finding a suitable enough pair of seats. Yao Guang, seeming more receptive, curved her lips. "But Evanescia, you seemed lost in thought. I wouldn't want to bother you."
"You'd never be a bother." She said as easily as wind moves a pinwheel. Curtains flowed softly in the breeze at that, and Yao Guang froze. For a moment. Just a small second. She saw a waver in her deep, deep eyes.
For once the silver tongued class rep was speechless.
It took a bit for Evanescia to realize. "Oh! The draft! Were you cold?" She strided towards that pesky open window, responsible for goosebumping Yao Guang's porcelain skin. She heaved both hands firmly on the edge, and lowered it with heft. "There! Phew."
"…Thanks." she sort of murmured.
"Of course! You can just tell me next time if you're cold again. If uh, I can have a next time…"
Sidestepping that, Yao Guang moved on. "What does your bento have?" Yao Guang peeked at the box, still left open, that Evanescia had to leave on the desk to close the window.
"No wait!" Evanescia made to stand in front of the desk, obscuring it from view. "It's not, um… presentable."
Yao Guang's eyes widened. "It's food. Does it taste good?" She tried peeking from Evanescia's left and right, to no avail.
"Oh I'm sure it'll taste mostly fine? But it's not what I wanted to show you." A hobbled together mess akin to leftovers. And honestly now that she's thinking about it— the pandas were supposed to be a cute reference to her school Yuque, but maybe that was insensitive. And she didn't know Yao Guang's tastes, although the protagonists in shoujo manga hadn't seemed to mind that either…
"Alright." Yao Guang closed her eyes. "Feed me."
What?! Evanescia gaped at the display.
When Yao Guang had tried to lean this way and that way to peek earlier, she had gotten into Evanescia's space— practically centimeters away from their bodies touching. Looking at her like this with no awareness… felt wrong. Or something close to wrong. A blush ran up her neck.
As if assuming she'd be shocked, Yao Guang spoke again. "If appearance is the only concern, then you can just feed me. You can tell me how it was supposed to look." She ended with a pliant opening of her mouth.
Wasn't feeding someone like, a 3rd date activity? At an amusement park? Or aquarium? Evanescia swore her eyes must have looked at spirals, they were jumping about the order of things like they were on pogo-sticks.
Keeping her waiting, with her mouth ready to receive— provocative as it sounded— had felt even worse than the other, strange feeling, so Evanescia hastily grabbed her cherry blossom chopsticks to lift up an octopus sausage.
"S-say 'Ahhh.'" she intoned up and down. God, this was so embarassing to say out loud.
"Mmm," Yao Guang munched on the serving. "Sausage. Not too salty."
"Yeah. I'm definitely more into sweets than salty stuff, so I cut back on seasoning a lot. My Mom loved doing that for me." Why was she still talking. The nerves kept firing off random things without her knowing.
She politely covered her mouth with her hand to finish off the crumbs. "Works for me. Next, please."
Evanescia opted for a tamagoyaki next, mentioning how she thought hearts would be cute. When it came to the panda, she wasn't sure how to serve it in even parts rice, nori, and plum. She hastily explained the matter, and Yao Guang had simply shrugged at the disclaimer and offered to eat it anyway.
"They were going to be little panda heads," Evanescia prattled on. "I'd make the black parts seaweed, and— I thought it'd be weird to do meat for this— so I decided on umeboshi."
"Tastes amazing." Yao Guang almost moaned eating it, which didn't help with Evanescia's nervousness. Why was it so hot all of a sudden. Maybe the people who left the window open before had a point.
There was still the rest of the bento to go, and seizing her chance, Evanescia decided to secure opportunities to meet while Yao Guang couldn't shut them down as quickly.
"I was thinking," she passed another octo-sausage over, "if you were free after school today, or the next day… if we could walk home together. I already know your rout— that you live in a dorm with the other exchange students, so it wouldn't be out of my way."
"Mmhm." She chewed.
"There's a really nice convienience store nearby, and I can get you this candy I love, since you like sour things. We can point out parts of the bentos there that you like to eat. Or if you're not interested, there's a gachapon machine outside. I can win you a keychain!"
When she looks back on this, Evanescia thinks she might've been scared to hear her answer. Right when Yao Guang appeared to finish eating and make a proper reply, Evanescia had shoved the last of the rice gently into her mouth.
"I know you might be thinking, 'Why is this girl going through so much effort,' but, well… I can't say it here." Yao Guang remained silent. Her eyes remained closed, so she continued.
"But, you're only here for what, 9 months? Minus school breaks? That's only so much time." Evanescia laid her chopsticks down. "You can open your eyes now, you've finished everything."
"I thought at first you were against me."
"Huh?"
"You made an attempt to, at my perspective, attack me. And then you seemed intent on paying back favors, so then I thought you were trying to use my power." Before Evanescia could assauge those fears, Yao Guang continued. "But you seemed so… harmless. You didn't talk to me like I was above you. Frankly, I don't know what impression you have of me, but you approached me."
"I…"
"I can't promise anything." Yao Guang finally opened her eyes at that. The sudden awareness that brought made Evanescia take her next words to heart. "Is that amenable to you?"
"Absolutely."
When they were cleaning up, Evanescia returned to her normal, bright self. "I can…? Still get you jelly if you want? Or take requests for a do-over bento!" She said in an aside, walking down the hallway together.
"Do-over bento." She repeated.
"I don't even know how you like your eggs. Or if you're a rice or bread girly."
"Well…" They chatted over mundane things like that all the way until the end of lunch time.
Weeks and weeks pass, and they settle into routine. When Yao Guang wasn't swamped with work, they'd meet up in that secluded classroom, and eat. Each passing time Evanescia tried out different things: improving her cooking, orchestrating more happenings, or learning more about her admired. Success(?) on various fronts. Subjectively.
And when Yao Guang was too busy, she'd camp at the stuco room outside, or by the school gates, so that they could walk home together to make up for lost time.
She could consider them friends. Sometimes Evanescia forgot that she initially set out to seduce her, because she'd just marveled at how lucky she was to have made a friend! A friend!
But some instances reminded her. There was that time when Evanescia hadn't accounted for rain by the time dismissal arrived. She took solace in knowing other students were stranded to, and similarly opted to make a mad dash for it like some had already, until Yao Guang appeared in view ahead of her, by a bus station en-their-usual-route.
"I knew you'd run in this weather." She huddled Evanescia under her umbrella as she regained her breath.
"I think you're the only person I've seen in the student body to have an umbrella prepared."
"Premonition. Bet on that 8%."
"Glad to have Lady Luck on my side." Evanescia raised her hands from her knees and stood up straight. And immediately raised her eyebrow. They had grown casual with each other by this point, but Yao Guang had unexpectedly taken a distance away from her. Granted, there only so much distance you can take without being able to cover 2 people under an umbrella, but unmistakeably— a distance.
"Can you hold this for one second?"
"Uhm, sure, but why are you so far away? You'll get wet." As she said this, Yao Guang, baffingly, was removing her blazer.
Yao Guang thusly draped it across her shoulders, almost smotheringly. "Your shirt. It's see-through." Ah.
If it was left at that, Evanescia wouldn't think much of it, and was about to thank her bestie for the lookout. But.
Yao Guang had lowered her eyelashes. There could be plenty of reasons: the raindrops made it hard to see properly, she was thinking to herself. But her eyes were affixed with a certaiin appraising heat that left Evanescia weak in the knees for being under. Her face was sultry.
Was she- looking at her? Looking looking? Evanescia had never actually considered that Yao Guang might look at her with interest like that. She wasn't sure what to do under scrutiny like this, and so unconsciously raised her hand to cover the front of her shirt where Yao Guang's blazer couldn't cover. Yao Guang flicked her gaze back up to her face, and it was like the previous look was an illusion. Yao Guang feigned proper conduct.
"You ready to go?"
"S-Sure."
They stopped at the 2nd crosslight before Yao Guang mentioned that pink underwear suited her. Under the noise covered by the rain, Evanescia flushed the same shade of red as the light all the way home.
Another time. Well, she had to have expected something: the eve of the summer festival was one of the biggest events in shoujo manga. They exchanged plans to meet up, Evanescia was excited over goldfish scooping and Yao Guang, the festival prizes for shooting out the right plushies.
Yes, she had gawked at the sight of Yao Guang in a yukata, a splendid dark navy with peacock feathers lining the bottom and the borders of her obi. The navy faded upwards into porcelain white, until it blended into her skin and hair. Yao Guang had tied up her hair. More ornate than her usual, it exuded elegance that Evanescia had almost felt childish for reusing her sakura themed yukata from last year, she was later assured that hers was still lovely.
The night was long, and at the twilight hours Yao Guang's hair became loose from all the fun they had.
She announced it with a sigh. "I have to retie my hair," Yao Guang said as she unclipped her accessory. "Could you do it?"
"Me? I can't get it as good as how it was before…"
"That's fine, just help me get it out of my face." Yao Guang turned around and Evanescia was faced with the smooth skin of her nape. Yao Guang had moved all her hair to either side of her shoulders, likely to help make things easier. It was. To see the fine hairs at the base of her scalp. How wide and not wide enough the collar of the yukata was in exposing more milky skin from her sight.
Absentmindedly Evanescia's fingers brushed against Yao Guang's hair too lightly, and she exclaimed, "It tickles," to make her fumbling around worse. She wasn't really looking at how the hair tied to where. She was looking at that expanse of skin, almost too perfect, and something nagged at her to do something about it. Ruin it. Mark it.
"Ah," Yao Guang breathed out. Evanescia in her haste had tugged too hard at the strands she was holding, and the gasp that escaped felt like oil to fire.
"Sorry! I got… distracted. There. I hope a ponytail's fine." She removed herself from Yao Guang as far as possible without there being any questions.
"All functional." Yao Guang swished her head around a bit and smiled.
Summer festivals were too powerful. Evanescia couldn't help but sneak glances at her neck for a whole week afterwards.
By far the worst incident was the culture fest in November. All the other times could be written off as little blips or weird happenstance. But there was no ignoring it here. Whether by cruel sidelining or because they truly didn't view Yao Guang as a student like them, it was decided by the Student Council to have Yao Guang be her class' "event" for culture fest.
"But that's…!" Unfair.
"Really? I found it quite amusing myself." Yao Guang admired her manicure in the light of the gardens to the side of the school building. Evanescia had taken an offer to look after the flowers here in lieu of a sick classmate, so they were perched overseeing the little daisys, daffodils, and the like. "I'm not opposed to putting myself down as a bargaining chip. I get less work assigned to me, and I get more sway on my little résumé. Looks great for universities, plus all I have to do is not be spotted by the rest of the school." She leaned back against the garden shed.
"A manhunt for one person hardly sounds fun for you." Evanescia sulked to the flowers.
"If I can dodge being chased by you, it'll be a catwalk."
"I think you should still have the chance to have a normal school life." The earnesty of it gave Yao Guang pause. "You deserve to be able to walk around the hallways, trying out the haunted house or the maze. Or run a cafe with your classmates. I bet you'd love being able to work with everyone like that."
"Is that because that's what you want?" Yao Guang asked, but she had said it a touch too edged.
"What?"
"No, I misspoke. Really, I'm fine." She backtracked.
"Yao Guang."
"Evanescia." she mirrored in jest. "I'm glad for your concern. I will be alright."
"You always do that."
"Huh?"
"You'll give me a hint, a slight taste, of what you're really thinking, and then you'll just go back to being the perfect model student. I don't know if you even know you're doing it, because it looks like you don't. I think you're used to taking the easy way out, if it's for other people. But for you? It always has to be on you." Evanescia was stepping towards her now. "Why can't you rely on me? Get mad at me. Say it."
"I thought we were—" Friends was at the tip of her tongue. But it sounded completely foreign. They were—
"I don't know what you think of me." Yao Guang spits out, and Evanescia remembers the first time she fed her her bento. "I'm not- whatever this idea of me in your head is."
"You're not telling me what you are!"
"Why, did stalking me for a week before talking to me first didn't give you an idea?!" Evanescia clamped her mouth shut at that barb. "I thought all the time we spent together was you getting to know me. And I you. You had an idea of me and you seemed to believe it so purely that I thought by hanging out with me I could squash that dream like a bug, but you're still here."
Yao Guang hadn't made a single step from where she was leaning against the garden shed. But every sentence made Evanescia feel like retreating a step. "If you can't realize how I am at this rate, then your perception is as shoddy as your planning. Based on manga!" She punctuated in disbelief.
"I—"
"And, I've known you long enough to tell: you're the one that wants the idyllic, ordinary high schooler life. Don't project that onto me. I don't even know what you want from me!"
Yao Guang had raised both her hands up into her hair to grasp onto anything. "You don't want to destroy me, you don't want me to owe you a favor— I thought for a bit that maybe you just wanted to, to have me, and brag about it afterwards— but you can't possibly just want to be friends with me." Desperation laced the ends.
"You really thought I would do that to you?" It came out of her without her registering it. Even. Still.
"I don't. I don't know."
"I thought you said you knew me." Functional. She was talking just like how Yao Guang did, when her walls were up.
"What do you want, then?"
"I wanted you to enjoy the rest of the school year." Evanescia sobbed more than said.
She had wanted it to come out as even-toned and measured like the rest, but Evanescia wasn't like Yao Guang. She couldn't hold it in that long. Tears marked every third syllable.
"M-Maybe I was, projecting that onto y-you."
Yao Guang paled, sobering at the tears. She moved to outstretch her arm, but stopped. "I didn't mean…"
" 'I didn't mean to say that?' You were just," sniff, "Going to bottle it all, up. And b-bide your time until I gave you a reason to l-leave." Evanescia was fully wiping away her tears from her face with both hands and arms.
Why didn't Yao Guang get it? She wanted them to talk.
Evanescia steeled herself to end it here. "I'll give you a reason. If you were m-my girlfriend then I'd truly have the perfect ordinary li-ife. That's why I approached you. But now— I- I don't know anymore." She didn't look back when she ran away.
"Is Ms. Evanescia here?" A member from the student council called out into the classroom. Pairs of eyes nearby landed on the person of the hour. At the moment, she had been manning the makeshift kitchen set up for her class' cafe, and the rarity of Evanescia sporting a frown had kept the rest of the class 3 meters away from her vicinity.
"She's uh," A student's attempt at whispering fell on hearing ears.
"Here?"
"Yes, but—"
"Great, send her out here. We need her help."
"Evanescia's currently in a bad mood," the poor student continued blocking the way to the kitchen.
"Evanescia? Now I know you're lying. Look, is she here or not—" The council rep was about to go into a tirade until a mopey flop of sad pink hair appeared in front of him.
"What is it." The edges of her eyes were tear streaked. She lost her luster.
"Whoa. Is this what one day without Yao Guang at the hip does to you…?" He halfjoked in shock.
Evanescia's ear twitched at the mention of her name but her countenance remained unchanged. "If it's not important, I have to flip the takoyaki," she drifted off.
"I need you to find Yao Guang."
Her initial thought was confusion. Did something happen— Oh. Right. It was the middle of the afternoon on the first day of the culture festival. Yao Guang was supposed to be hidden out of sight. But then why is a member of the Student Council asking her for help? They have an express inyerest in keeping stakes high. "Why?"
"We agreed that it'd be insane to actually expect her to stay hidden for the whole day. We were supposed to have breaks in-between, for food and bathroom breaks. And also, so she could enjoy parts of the festival. But at the first break, she didn't show. The second, neither."
What?
"When were those breaks supposed to be…?" Evanescia asked. She had a suspicion, that was confirmed once the guy had recited the timeslots: Every break lined up with when Evanescia would be free to explore.
That stubborn, bluffing…
"We're getting really worried. Xianzhou representatives are visiting, and it'd look really bad if we lost one of their star students."
"Okay. I'll go find her. On one condition. Me finding her doesn't count as the game ending." To that, she received a nod, and off she went.
The empty classroom on the 2nd floor. No dice.
The rooftop. Lot of couples, but no Yao Guang.
The garden. Nothing. Evanescia racked her brain. Where would Yao Guang hide, if she didn't want to be found by anyone?
Did she leave the premises? No, She wouldn't disrespect the rules of a game like that. She remembered Yao Guang as a very sore loser.
These were all the first places Evanescia thought to go to. And maybe it was too obvious or self-centered to think that any of these places held significance to Yao Guang the way it did to her.
No. They were, at least, friends. She doubts it was a lie. Her feelings were still raw over the fight they had weeks ago, but after cooling off, Evanescia was mostly tired. She missed Yao Guang. But reaching out would stretch her too thin. And besides, didn't she make enough of a concession at the end of it? She should wait for Yao Guang to make amends.
Well. She actually has to find her first.
She had never seen Yao Guang's anger directed at her like that before. There were so many sides of her that Evanescia had yet to see. Maybe she's the type to stew in her anger. Or compartmentalize it for later. Hah, that sounds more likely. But it'll seep out regardless of whether you keep it in or not—
Wait.
If Yao Guang was still upset… then she must be…
In the last place Evanescia would think to look.
When Evanescia doesn't have Yao Guang to talk to, her thoughts end up in a spiral. So of course, she's ruminated and picked apart everything about that exchange, at every angle.
Yao Guang knew that she was being observed since a week before the toast run. Observed. Not stalking.
When Evanescia was staking out the area for the usual time she'd leave school, it was slightly peculiar then that her departure times varied— but she had chalked that up to Student Council discrepancies. She had pointed out her ears then, but really, eyes have to be searching for it to look in the direction of those bushes across the street.
So then, there must be a vantage point in the school where you could see the school perimeter, namely, the corner closest to the school gate, that Yao Guang was able to access.
Evanescia sucked at logistics. Best to just head to the corner and work backwards from there. And here she was, looking like a tourist trying to get into her own school. Strange. The walls obscured most things from view, so Evanescia hadn't the foggiest idea how Yao Guang was able to spy anything here. Families were ushering their kids from the sight of Evanescia hunched over, throughly inspecting this wall for any hidden lever that'd magically reveal the school's underground lair. Or something.
This is insane. Evanescia glanced at a stray pole, with those reflective mirrors to help cars park, and briefly considered Yao Guang was somehow at the top of the school bell and, ignoring the sound the ring would make at that distance, was able to see that tiny tiny mirror that would reflect a would-be confidant. Not stalker.
No hidden treehouse in the foliage either. It'd be easier at this point to just install a tracking camera attached to Evanescia's person. Like that camera at the peak of the wall corner. Wait. Oh. OH!
Evanescia grinned at the camera in defiance, almost forgetting they had fought the last time they met. "I'm coming to get you."
Evanescia's guess must've been correct, because the security room that was usually lit up at the admin's discretion was lights shut. "Yao Guang…?" She tried as she flicked the light switch open.
As she adjusted to the glow, she noticed chairs strewn about. So it's an obstacle course too.
"Yao Guang?" Evanescia tried again. "The stuco's worried about you." Not under the table. Not behind the potted plant. That leaves the spare closet.
She stepped closer. "Yao Guang. You can't hide foreVER!" She thrust open the doors to find white, stringy hair.
That was a mop.
What. No Yao Guang. She made a double take around the room.
"Please come out," she whined. "I'm not even that mad at you anymore. Well. I'm still a little." Silence, but it's never stopped Evanescia before. "I think we could both apologize, but I can't do it if you don't first."
"Not that I think you're more in the wrong. It's just… I'm always the one reaching out to you. Waiting for you when school's over. Pestering you to hang out. And I'm totally fine with that, because I know you enjoy spending time with me, but." A voice whispers a dark thought when Evanescia's alone. She doesn't actually like having to put up with you. She's tired of you. You're replaceable.
"I get scared."
Evanescia waits a little longer. She leans by the wall, and she remembers doing the same wait by the gate. And she looks straight ahead of her and imagines a figure fading into view.
Slowly. Reluctantly. Timidly. Yao Guang steps out of her hiding place.
"I knew it was the closet…" Evanescia mutters to herself. "How did—"
"Hidden compartment. It looks bigger on the outside than it does inside, so I just slide the panel and voila!" They smiled until they remembered themselves, and suddenly the room was as quiet as before Yao Guang was found.
"So."
"So." It was a Schrödinger's conversation. The moment it was observed to be, the convo fell apart like water.
"… I'll text them that I found you and you're okay." Evanescia tentatively takes her phone out.
"That's fine." Yao Guang nervously tapped her fingers against her jewelry. "I… need to apologize. You shouldn't have to coddle my feelings about it. Relationships aren't supposed to be one-sided like this. "
"It really hurt hearing that you don't trust me."
"I didn't— I— I Basically did say that." Yao Guang admitted. "It just doesn't feel real sometimes. You." She chanced a look at Evanescia.
It shouldn't have bloomed a warmth in her heart at that, but it did. "I know. It was your demons talking."
"It was my demons talking." She agreed. "I am so lucky to have you in my life. I took that for granted."
Evanescia smiled for the first time in days. She wrapped Yao Guang into a hug, and they stayed like that for a little while.
Evanescia spoke next. "I'm sorry for approaching you with ulterior motives. It wasn't about you— but it was about me, and that's not good either. I'm glad to be— You're important to me."
"I can't show it at times, but you find ways to chip me down." She gently rubbed Evanescia's back, while the other slotted her face into the crook of her shoulder.
"Mmm. You smell nice."
"Oh?" A manicured hand gently pat her head.
"Like, flowery rice wine. Or morning dew."
"That's specific."
"I've thought about it before. When I slept on your shoulder that one time. It was bothering me."
"That was ages ago. Am I on your mind all the time?"
"Yeap." The ministrations stopped. Evanescia lifted her head to see Yao Guang poised in picture perfect, stock-still, frame.
"Do you…" she trailed off, unsure where to lead.
"What?"
"Can I ask why you chose me? At first."
"Oh, that's easy. When you first stepped up to the podium at the student assembly, no one could take their eyes off of you. Me included. Your voice was as melodic as it was sweet," she recalled wistfully. "I hadn't known your name or a single bit about the exchange program, but I wanted to. My eyes kept following you."
"Oh." Yao Guang slowly broke the hug.
"You alright?" Evanescia asked.
"I'm. Going to meet with the Student Council." She said mechanically. "I'll meet up with you later." Stiffly she moved into a brisk pace out of the room. Maybe spending all those hours in the closet didn't do any good. Thankfully that'd never apply to Evanescia. She's grown past finding a lover like that of a shoujo manga protagonist. Her bond with Yao Guang was different.
It was a simple ordinary day. The days were darkening faster, so by the time it was 5:30pm, the sunset was already painting the streets in shades of orange.
The two were walking home, past the gate, past the corner. It was a street nodding off, cars heading home, students from clubs and extracurriculars walking back.
"Hey, can we stop by that store real quick?" Evanescia pointed. "There's a lip balm I've been wanting to try out."
"Sure." The girls made their way into one of the limited make-up sales off to the left of the building, right in plain sight.
"I'm not a huge makeup girl, but these look subtle enough for school," she lifted a stick in a nude shade. "See? Plus they're fruit flavored! I like strawberry!"
Yao Guang nodded intently. Across the stand were several kinds of tints. Blueberry, grape, lemon, strawberry, orange, and coconut. "I think you'd look great in it."
"Whuh-" She nearly dropped the thing. "These are barely noticeable…" Evanescia made a shy, pointing motion with her two index fingers.
"On the contrary." Yao Guang took the stick from her hand and opened it with a soft 'pop.' She motioned for Evanescia to stand still.
"But, you need to… pay…" she stammered out.
"This is the free-sample one. Face forward." Yao Guang lifted the stick towards her.
It was hard to look at her point-blank so close, but it would be even harder to shut her eyes and only feel the pressure of lip balm across her lips, so she darted her eyes about.
She softly dabbed starting from the center of her lower lip. She told Evanescia to press her lips together to spread it out, and Evanescia was totally aware that Yao Guang would be looking at her while doing so.
A pinky graced the corner. "You missed a spot." She made a slight, almost imperceptible circle, and the glide forced a tremble out.
"M-Mmm." Something about her finger to her lips kept her from speaking. Yao Guang stepped back to appraise her work, and tilted her head to the side in a grin.
"See? And it's glossy too." She directed her to the little mirror that comes with the stands, and she saw a flush of a pink tint grace her lip. Evanescia studies herself in the mirror.
It's like when water meets paint. A blossom of pink marks from cheek to cheek, it's in her ears, runs up her neck. Is she always blushing like that around Yao Guang? God, she's so obvious. Her hands cradle her face. This lip balm made her lips as glossy as her eyes.
"I'm definitely buying this."
When they leave the store, Yao Guang walks a little further ahead and turns around. "Hey, I got a lemon one." Yao Guang produced a similarly opaque balm, with the cap already removed. Instead of the more peachy shade Evanescia had, it was closer to off-white draft paper. "Let me know how it looks."
It's an equally shiny look, but not a single hint of color. Evanescia had reported it as so.
"Well, I don't think yellow would fit me. I think they kept it faint for that reason." She rubbed a bit of it around with her mouth. "Tastes like citrus though."
"Oh? Mine doesn't taste too much like strawberry." Maybe the taste wore off from wearing it longer. Maybe she should reapply it.
"Wanna taste mine?"
"Yeah, sure—" Yao Guang snatches Evanescia's wrists and keeps them firmly by her sides. The sunset frames her figure, and the bits of light that peak from behind her hair flowing in the breeze makes it hard to see straight. It's Evanescia's turn to simply stare. Her fluttering eyelashes. Her lips. Her scent. A smile that's far too loving for Evanescia to miss the hint.
The sun's nearly gone. It just barely hides behind the horizon, the buildings, the trees. Many days have passed where both of them can catch it together. There's a flash of the school year up until now that plays back in her mind. Was it story-like? Will she look back on these moments and laugh? Cringe? If you asked her right now, Evanescia doesn't regret a single step.
Evanescia closes her eyes in tandem with the setting sun, and leans in.
Yao Guang does taste like lemon. It's sweeter than a real lemon. The tang of sour jolts through her mouth and tongue. There's a quiet laugh that escapes after a breath.
"I can taste the strawberry. It's very you."