Lynn Chen's voice trembled slightly, but gradually grew calm.
Her words were like a ship drifting through the cosmos, lost for ages, finally finding the right course—then, at the captain’s order, the vessel surged forward, breaking through layers of inner resistance to reach its final destination.
The students nearby were visibly excited.
Byron Yang glanced at Evan Lin, then at Lynn Chen. Already feeling bittersweet from the earlier 'long vacation' remark, he suddenly found himself wanting to call his old high-school desk mate and ask how she was doing lately.
"I know I did a lot of things wrong before. I made you really sad, and because I was stubborn, I never considered your feelings."
"I know I was always in the wrong. Like at the very start, back at Imperial Grand—you fought a whole group alone, got hurt protecting me and my classmates, and in the end I still blamed you for not stepping in sooner, for waiting until someone got hurt before you protected us."
When Lynn Chen said this, the crowd around them broke into an uproar.
"Hero saving the beauty, huh?"
"Damn! No wonder Eric Yu could never win Lynn Chen over—Evan Lin already left his mark on her heart ages ago!"
Some boys in the crowd clenched their fists eagerly, faces full of longing: "Man, if only I had the chance to protect the girl I like too!"
"Come on, if it were you, you might've been beaten to death ages ago." His buddy beside him gave him a playful punch, both of them exchanging glances and bursting into laughter for no reason.
Lynn Chen held the microphone as she continued walking forward, her gaze fixed on Evan Lin, never once wavering.
"After that, I kept wanting to find a chance to apologize to you, but I never knew how to say it. For a long time, I didn't know how to face you, so I just kept putting it off again and again."
"When you won the award in the Provincial Math Olympiad, I was genuinely happy for you, but I was even more afraid to apologize. Because if I apologized then, I always felt like I was begging for your forgiveness, that you'd think it was only because you did better than me that I was admitting fault, that I was giving in..."
Lynn Chen grew a bit incoherent.
Even though she kept trying to stay calm, looking at Evan Lin's face getting closer and closer made her mind swirl uncontrollably, her heart full of anxiety.
"Lynn Chen is so pretty—of course she had tons of guys chasing her back then. It's normal for girls to be a bit reserved!"
"Yeah! Evan Lin, as a guy, you should be more magnanimous!"
"Damn, my heart's pounding just listening to this! Aren't you going to say something?"
The crowd squeezed Henry Wang tightly in the throng, while three burly guys shouted loudly toward the opposite corridor.
Over the campus loudspeakers, every word Lynn Chen spoke was like carving a fresh line straight into the hearts of these soon-to-graduate seniors.
"I'm calling security—I'm calling security right now!"
Henry Wang struggled to free his hands, trembling as he fumbled out his phone, face twisted with anger, ready to dial: "This is outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!"
"You seniors this year—are you all planning to riot or what?!"
His face was flushed with fury, and after a huge effort, he finally found the school security number and pressed call.
Beeeeep...
On the other end, the first busy tone had just started.
No one had time to pick up yet.
Smack!
Henry Wang felt a sudden rush of cold wind whistle past his ear.
His right palm, still gripping the phone, flared with pain.
A moment later, he saw his brand-new phone launch into the air, tracing a perfect arc as it flew over the guardrail—rising to its peak, then plummeting straight down.
"My phone!"
Henry Wang’s eyelid twitched. He shrieked in panic, reaching out to grab it—but it was already gone.
All around him, the boys were shouting at the top of their lungs.
That slap just now? Good luck figuring out who did it!
"I've always had a strong sense of pride. I was terrified—terrified that you’d drift further and further away, until I’d never be able to catch up. So I kept pushing myself, studying harder and harder. And the truth is, you really have gotten more and more amazing."
"Every time a new girl showed up around you, I'd automatically start guessing what your relationship was. I was so scared that one day you’d really find someone you liked—and if she liked you back, I’d have no idea what to do."
Lynn Chen bit her lip.
Evan Lin listened quietly to her words.
Looking at Lynn, who was nearly overwhelmed by emotion, Evan felt a strange, bittersweet ache inside.
Lynn Chen grew up in a privileged family, always surrounded by classmates who treated her like a star. For a pretty, popular girl, suddenly having to share a roof with a kid from some rural county was honestly pretty tough on her.
Evan Lin never blamed anyone for his past. During those days living under someone else's roof in Whitewood County, he mostly just felt grateful to Lucy Lu—and understood why Lynn Chen, as a girl, would have her own pride.
Even if that pride meant nothing to Evan.
"Honestly, I’ve always envied Yolanda Fang."
Lynn took a deep breath. "She’s so brave—she loves and hates openly. When she liked Ethan Yi, she found every way to get close to him, and when she didn’t like him anymore, she just dumped him, no regrets."
"I really wanted to forget you the same way she forgot Ethan Yi."
Lynn’s voice was barely above a whisper.
As soon as she said that, everyone around her instantly turned to stare at Evan Lin.
Suddenly, they remembered how Ethan Yi had strutted in with his crew, only to leave in total defeat.
No one had ever guessed there was more to the story!
"Principal, should we step in?"
Inside the principal’s office, Director Ben Lu was peering out the window, watching the crowd grow thicker outside Class 12’s door. Hearing Lynn Chen’s voice over the broadcast, he hesitated and turned to look at Principal Damon Deng, who was lounging in his chair.
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"You want to step in?"
Principal Damon Deng squinted, glancing at Ben Lu through narrowed eyes.
Ben Lu, the Director of Academic Affairs, gave an awkward smile. "I just worry about the bad influence, you know."
"Who cares about influence, Ben? I remember back when you were homeroom teacher for the Experimental Class—on graduation day, didn’t you give your blessing to those two kids who’d been secretly dating for two years? What were their names, Chen Bing and Sun Xuexue? How are they now?"
The principal suddenly spoke up.
"They got married a couple years ago. Their kid’s old enough to run errands now."
Ben Lu replied.
Principal Damon Deng sighed, "Youth is awesome. From high school crush to marriage, from sneaking around holding hands to walking down the street together, living together, messing around, getting married, having kids—youth is just awesome."
"Principal—wait, what? 'Messing around?'" Ben Lu was stunned, staring at the usually serious principal, unable to process it for a moment.
Damon Deng just waved it off, totally unconcerned. "Yeah, messing around. Isn’t that what youth is about?"
"High school, first love, youth, messing around—that’s the best time of your life."
"As teachers, as principal, our job is to make sure they focus on their studies, so we try to stop them from dating early."
"But now? Now they're about to graduate—what's left for us to control? School is about more than just teaching knowledge and morals. No one ever said we had to stop kids from liking each other."
Damon Deng stood up, walked to the window, and looked outside.
"For a girl—especially a pretty girl—to get up the courage to say what she wants to say in front of everyone, that's really something special."
"That punk Evan Lin really is living the dream, huh?"
Principal Damon Deng smiled, wrinkles bunching up on his face.
He clasped his hands behind his back, eyes growing a little distant.
"So, today, I want to tell you—"
Lynn Chen’s voice suddenly grew firm and steady.
Wendy Wen, sitting in the radio room, was a bundle of nerves.
Every student in the school held their breath at that moment.
"Senior Year Class 12, Evan Lin!"
"I like you!"