Hao leaned back in his chair, staring blankly at the ceiling.The fragments of the dream still flickered in his mind —the blinding white light, the faint crying,the voices that sounded close yet impossibly far away.Every time he woke from that dream,his head buzzed as if electricity had passed through it.
He exhaled softly.Was the dream trying to tell me something? Or… am I really dying?He shook his head, forcing a laugh under his breath.That idea sounded ridiculous, even to him.And yet, the dull ache in his temples reminded him again —something inside him was quietly changing.
The classroom was quiet except for the ticking clock.Afternoon sunlight spilled through the windows,casting a gentle glow across his desk.Dust floated lazily in the light,like tiny pieces of time drifting without purpose.
From the corner of her eye, Luoting glanced at him.Hao looked calm — too calm, maybe.There was something almost fragile about his stillness,something that made her heart tremble a little.He wasn't handsome in the usual way,but the way he sat there, lost in thought,had a quiet kind of charm.
Luoting found herself watching him longer than she meant to.The boy who barely spoke, who seemed to live in his own little world,suddenly felt… human.Warm, yet distant. Close, yet unreachable.
"Stand up!"The teacher's voice broke the silence.Chairs scraped, the class stood in unison.After the greeting, the lesson began as usual.
Hao straightened in his seat.He actually felt better today — clearer, lighter somehow.When the teacher started writing on the board,he picked up his pen and began taking notes carefully.The scratching of his pen against paperwas soft, steady, almost peaceful.
Luoting didn't speak to him,but her eyes would wander to his side from time to time.She noticed the way he tilted his head when he thought,the way his lips moved slightly as he repeated something in his mind.There was something comforting about him,like a quiet song that only she could hear.
He's different when he's quiet, she thought.Maybe he's always been like this — just too used to being alone.
Luoting lowered her head and smiled faintly,her hair falling forward to hide the small curve of her lips.No one saw that smile.But in that tiny moment, it carried all the warmth she had.
To care quietly — that is my kind of gentleness.