The morning was buzzing with energy as the two schools gathered in the courtyard. Students were laughing, running, trading snacks and teasing each other. The air smelled faintly of rain and chalk dust.
"Listen up!" the teacher called over the noise. "This year's field trip will be a joint one — two days and one night at Green Valley! Be on your best behavior!"
Yun tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, adjusting her backpack. "Joint trip?" she muttered to her friend. "Great, more loud strangers."
Chen Hao, standing beside her, grinned. "You say that like you're not the loudest one here."
She glared at him. "Watch it."
He chuckled and slung his bag over his shoulder. "Fine, fine. Let's just get on the bus before it rains again."
Across the courtyard, the other school was arriving — a group of city students in clean sneakers and loud laughter. Among them, one boy stood a little apart, tossing a ball in his hand, sunlight glinting off his hair.
His friends called him Wen.
🌾 The Arrival
The road wound through green fields and muddy tracks, buses honking as they passed grazing cows and slow bicycles. When they finally reached the camp near the canal, the air was heavy with the smell of wet soil and the sound of cicadas.
Yun stepped off the bus first, stretching. "Finally. Fresh air."
"Smells like cow dung," Chen Hao said dryly.
"Nature's perfume," she shot back, elbowing him.
Wen, a few meters away, was already arguing with his friends about who could skip stones farther across the canal. His laugh carried over the water — easy, reckless, and annoyingly charming.
Yun turned at the sound. "That one's going to fall in, I bet."
Chen Hao followed her gaze. The moment he saw the boy, something in his stomach dropped.That face. That grin.
Li Wei.
He'd seen an old photo once — tucked in a family album Yun had brought for a project. A boy from her childhood, smiling beside her under festival lights, holding laddus like trophies.Wen looked exactly like that boy.
Chen Hao's heart thudded uneasily.He didn't know whether to tell her… or to stay silent.
Canal
"Stay away from the edge!" the teacher yelled.
Naturally, Wen was already there.
He crouched by the canal, letting the cool water slide between his fingers. The reflections of trees shimmered across his hand like rippling glass.
"Do all city boys have a death wish," Yun said behind him, "or is it just you?"
He turned, smirking. "Just me, apparently."
"You're not supposed to be near the water," she said, hands on her hips.
"And yet," he replied, "here I am."
"You're hopeless."
He rose to his feet, stepping closer with that playful glint in his eyes. "You always talk this much to strangers?"
"Only to the annoying ones."
"Good," he said. "Means I'm special."
She rolled her eyes. "You're ridiculous."
"Ridiculously good-looking?" he teased.
"Ridiculously wet— if you don't move back." And before she realized how close he'd gotten, her hand lightly pushed at his shoulder — half warning, half reflex.
But the stones were slick from rain.
Splash.
Yun gasped. "Oh no!"
He surfaced, water streaming from his hair, laughing. "You really did that?"
"I—I didn't mean to!" she said, trying not to laugh. "Are you okay?"
"Perfect," he grinned. "Cold, but perfect."
"Good. Maybe next time you'll listen."
"Maybe next time," he said, eyes glinting, "I'll take you with me."
Her cheeks flushed as she backed away. "Dream on, Wen."
"I might," he said softly.
Firelight
That night, the campfire crackled under the open sky. The students sat in circles, singing and roasting corn, their laughter mixing with the hum of crickets.
Yun sat a little apart, her legs drawn close, eyes on the flames. The light danced across her face — soft, golden.
Wen appeared beside her, holding a cup of cocoa. "You look like you're plotting my next drowning."
She smirked. "Maybe I am."
He handed her the cup. "Then at least let me die warm."
She accepted it, hiding her smile. "You talk too much."
"You listen too carefully."
She turned toward him — the teasing still in her eyes, but something gentler flickering beneath. For a heartbeat, everything else faded — the fire, the noise, the chatter. Just them, and the faint smell of smoke and rain.
Chen Hao watched from the edge of the firelight, his expression unreadable. He could hear their laughter, see the way they leaned closer — unknowingly drawn toward something they'd already once lost.
He clenched his jaw.
Wen didn't know that the girl laughing beside him was Lin Yue.Yun didn't know that the boy teasing her by the fire was Li Wei.Only Chen Hao knew — and that truth burned quietly in his chest.
He looked up at the stars, whispering to himself,"Fate really doesn't play fair."