Originally, everyone here had an ice cream.
The boys saw Evan Lin standing there empty-handed, and felt a subtle sense of satisfaction.
It was as if they'd teamed up with Mia Chen to isolate this guy right in front of everyone.
But now, seeing Mia Chen actually ask him if he wanted ice cream, the whole group was shocked again.
"Mia, that ice cream is the one I bought for you,"
The boy who'd run to buy the ice cream stood there, suddenly looking unhappy.
His name was Victor Zhou.
He was Mia Chen's neighbor.
When applying for college, he deliberately chose the same city as Mia.
He and Mia Chen had grown up together since childhood.
Victor really liked Mia Chen, straight from the heart.
But Mia was just too outstanding.
Great grades, pretty face, and most importantly, her personality.
Mia Chen never chased after power or money, never acted snobbish, and always stuck to her own principles.
Otherwise, back at Brightsea No. 2 High, when Liu Tianyu—the biggest rich kid around—was shamelessly chasing her, she never once gave him the time of day.
She was nothing like those flashy gold-diggers you see everywhere nowadays.
She was like a little white lotus blooming in a muddy world.
Because of this, Victor never dared to confess outright.
It wasn't until after they started college that he finally worked up the nerve to make a move on Mia.
Unfortunately, his first confession after starting college ended in total failure.
Mia told him that she only saw him as a friend, nothing more.
But Victor obviously wasn't about to give up that easily.
The more setbacks, the harder he fought.
Never backing down, no matter what.
He never expected to run into Evan Lin again, here and now.
Victor had nothing but hostility toward Evan Lin.
Back when he and Mia saw Evan at Old Man Liu’s place, Victor noticed that Mia—who always treated every guy the same, never showing any other feelings—had a rare emotional reaction to this Evan Lin guy.
Mia herself probably didn’t even notice.
But Victor, who’d grown up with Mia and was both sensitive and a bit insecure, caught the subtle differences right away.
Because of that, Victor was on edge every single day back then.
He was terrified that Mia Chen and this Evan Lin guy would develop some feelings they shouldn't.
But luckily—
After that one appearance, this Evan Lin completely vanished from Mia Chen’s life.
Like he’d never existed at all.
That let Victor finally breathe easy.
But he never expected they’d run into each other again here.
Now, seeing Mia Chen try to give Evan her ice cream—just so he wouldn’t feel left out—Victor’s heart sank and he got anxious on the spot.
"I don’t really feel like eating ice cream today. I’m not feeling too well."
Mia shook her head, still holding out the ice cream, offering it to Evan Lin.
Evan glanced at her. Seeing Mia’s calm face but the seriousness in her eyes, he paused, then took it.
"Thanks," Evan said, nodding.
Evan nodded.
Mia didn’t say anything else.
But this move made every guy there—including Victor—fill with hostility toward Evan.
It was like facing a powerful enemy.
They just couldn’t figure out why Mia, who never paid any attention to boys, would treat this guy differently.
"Hey, Emily, what were you guys talking about just now?"
Seeing the awkward atmosphere,
A girl spoke up, looking at Emily Yi.
"He was just asking me what happened over here."
Emily Yi took a small bite of her ice cream and glanced at Evan Lin.
"What happened?" Mia Chen was curious too.
They’d been on the other side just now, so they didn’t know what had happened over here.
They only came over when they saw a crowd gathering and things getting chaotic, mostly to check out the excitement.
Emily had just gone to the restroom and hadn’t returned yet, so they walked over to her.
That’s when they noticed Evan Lin standing next to Emily.
"I saw a person—no, a thing with a human head and a fish body."
Emily repeated what she’d just told Evan.
"If something like that really existed, it’d be taken to a lab for research right away."
"Definitely. Maybe it’s a new species caused by pollution and genetic mutation."
"But more likely, it’s just some tourism gimmick. Economy’s bad, so some places hire people to act out weird stuff to attract curious visitors."
Everyone chimed in, one after another.
Nobody really believed such a creature existed.
The topic shifted away from Evan Lin, and the mood instantly lightened.
The incident caused a bit of chaos around here.
Not long after, the ferry arrived.
"Do you want to come with us?" Mia Chen looked at Evan and asked.
"Your friends are waiting for you on the island, so you need to take the ferry too, right?"
Mia wasn’t sure, so she asked again.
"If you’re taking the ferry, let’s go together."
Evan nodded.
That answer made Victor and the other guys even more annoyed.
They were still hoping this guy would take the hint and leave on his own.
Victor was still hung up on Evan eating the ice cream he'd bought for Mia.
He’d run five hundred meters just to buy that strawberry ice cream.
Round trip, that’s a whole kilometer.
All that effort, and instead of impressing Mia, Evan ended up with the prize!
Evan had already bought his ferry ticket.
The group lined up to board.
"How’s school going for you?"
While waiting in line, Evan glanced around and asked Mia.
Mia paused at his words. "It’s alright."
"College classes are tough—especially advanced math—but everything else is pretty good. It’s way freer than high school, and I finally have my own time."
Mia answered quietly, then turned to Evan and suddenly couldn’t hold back: "Can I ask you something?"
"Something I’ve never been able to figure out."
As soon as Mia spoke, Victor and the others instantly turned their heads to stare at Evan.
Their eyes were practically murderous.
But Emily Yi and the other girls looked on with curiosity.
Mia had never shown interest in any guy before.
Let alone having some unresolved question about one.
Never happened in history!
Just who was this guy, really?
Was it really just a normal classmate relationship?