Chapter 2: Behind the Bangs

Lin Ci leaned against the door panel, cold sweat running down his back from the fright.

He looked at Gu Mianmian, countless thoughts spinning through his head. Had she discovered something?

“You… what did you mean by that just now?”

Lin Ci probed cautiously.

When Gu Mianmian heard him, she looked puzzled.

She said softly.

“Only you treat me so well, Senior. No one else cares about me.”

Only then did Lin Ci breathe a sigh of relief.

So it was just a girl who’d lacked love since childhood, treating normal roommate kindness as some huge favor.

He silently cursed himself for being paranoid.

Then again, who would believe a grown man could turn into a stunning woman overnight just by sleeping?

That alone violated basic materialist principles.

But the counselor’s message was still on his phone.

Facial scan.

ID card.

Lin Ci looked at the time on the screen and felt a headache coming on.

At half past ten that night, Lin Ci closed the dorm room door.

Gu Mianmian was still washing up in the public washroom, so he was alone.

Lin Ci dragged a stool over to the full-length mirror and propped his phone on the desk.

He opened a photo-editing app and took a front-facing shot in the mirror.

The woman on screen had skin that glowed white, clear collarbones, and cold, striking features.

Lin Ci scratched his head at the sight.

He opened the edit function and began manually reshaping the face.

He dragged the jawline wider, all the way up.

Shrank the eyes by forty percent.

Erased the eyelashes, thickened the nose bridge, changed the eyebrows into a straight line.

After fiddling for half an hour, Lin Ci stopped and enlarged the edited photo.

A face with distorted features and a square jaw appeared on the screen.

The features were rough and very strange.

“Damn, what the hell did I edit this into?”

Lin Ci’s mouth twitched. He deleted it all without hesitation.

He looked up at himself in the mirror again.

Long hair spilled over his shoulders, and that face was so pretty there was nothing to criticize.

“No, man, who the hell are you?”

Lin Ci sighed at the woman in the mirror. His chest rose and fell with it.

The movement made the collar slip open a little, revealing a patch of white skin.

Lin Ci’s face darkened. He quickly pulled the pajama collar tight.

This body had too much going for it. A little carelessness and it would show something.

As a twenty-two-year steel straight man, he felt ashamed of his current figure.

While he was stewing, his phone buzzed.

The counselor’s message popped up.

[Lin Ci, why didn’t you come to the admin building this afternoon? Facial collection is very important. It’s tied to your graduation records.]

Lin Ci scratched his hair and typed quickly.

[Sorry, Counselor. I lost my ID card in the car and just went to report it and get a replacement.]

Two minutes passed before the reply came.

[Hurry and get a temporary ID card. You must be entered into the system by this Friday at the latest.]

Today was Monday.

At most, he had five days.

Lin Ci tossed his phone onto the desk and leaned back in the chair. He stared into space.

Five days. Where was he supposed to find a way to handle facial recognition?

He couldn’t exactly get reverse plastic surgery.

Whatever. He’d take it one step at a time.

Worst case, on Friday he’d fake sick and ask for leave. One day delayed was one day.

At eleven that night, the lights in the dorm hallway dimmed.

Lin Ci took his cup and walked out, planning to get some hot water.

Just as he reached the public washroom door, he heard rushing water inside, mixed with faint gasps.

Lin Ci pushed the door open.

He saw Gu Mianmian crouched by the sink, washing her hair with cold water.

The splashes had soaked her old sweatshirt through. It clung to her back.

She was shivering as she washed, her lips purple from the cold.

Lin Ci felt anger surge in his chest.

He crossed over in two steps and twisted the faucet shut.

“I told you last time not to wash with cold water. Use my card. Are your ears just decoration?”

Lin Ci spoke impatiently.

Gu Mianmian jumped at his voice and lifted her wet head.

Cold water ran down her cheeks.

She looked at Lin Ci. Her lips moved, but she didn’t dare make a sound.

The washroom was terribly quiet. Only the sound of dripping water remained.

Lin Ci saw how pitiful she looked, and most of his anger faded.

“Get up.”

He grabbed her arm and pulled her up from the floor.

Gu Mianmian’s hand felt cold even through her wet clothes.

“Come back to the dorm and dry off properly. You’ll catch a cold like this.”

Lin Ci pulled her by the wrist and strode toward room 302.

Gu Mianmian followed obediently.

Inside the dorm, Lin Ci closed the door behind them.

He dug a clean towel from the cabinet and dropped it over Gu Mianmian’s head, rubbing roughly.

“Dry yourself first. Don’t get the floor wet.”

Gu Mianmian clutched the towel’s edges with both hands, standing still obediently.

Lin Ci turned, found the hair dryer, plugged it in, and pointed at the chair.

“Sit.”

Gu Mianmian walked over slowly and sat down.

The hair dryer hummed to life. Warm air blew out.

Lin Ci stood behind her, hair dryer in one hand, his other hand moving through her hair.

Her hair was fine and soft, the ends a little dry.

Lin Ci’s fingers accidentally brushed her scalp.

Gu Mianmian’s body gave a violent shudder, her neck going tense.

“Don’t move around. If I burn you, I’m not taking responsibility.”

Lin Ci kept complaining, but his hands moved more gently.

The warm air blew apart the bangs over Gu Mianmian’s forehead.

The moment the cover lifted, a complete face was exposed under the light.

Lin Ci’s hand holding the hair dryer paused.

Without the bangs hiding her, Gu Mianmian’s features were fully revealed.

A straight, elegant nose, slightly upturned lips, and a pair of dark eyes.

Because she always kept her head down, no one had ever noticed what she looked like.

Now that he saw her, even by art department standards she was top-tier.

Lin Ci stared, then blurted out.

“You’re this pretty, so why do you hide behind your bangs all day?”

The moment the words left his mouth, Gu Mianmian froze.

Her ears quickly turned red.

The red spread, staining even her neck a light pink.

She turned her head in a fluster, avoiding his gaze, and mumbled.

“I… I’m not pretty.”

Lin Ci laughed.

“Come on, bro… I mean, Senior, I’ve seen plenty of people. Pretty is pretty. Why are you so insecure?”

He reached out, turned Gu Mianmian’s head straight, and kept drying her hair.

“From now on, tie your bangs up. Don’t leave them hanging over your face all day.”

Gu Mianmian didn’t argue.

She lowered her eyes, lashes trembling slightly.

The dorm room smelled of shampoo, mixed with the milky scent on Lin Ci.

The warm air carried that scent and wrapped around Gu Mianmian completely.

The hair dryer was loud.

Lin Ci only paid attention to whether her hair was dry and didn’t notice what was happening below.

Gu Mianmian sat in the chair, her fingers creeping forward.

She carefully extended two fingers and lightly grasped the hem of Lin Ci’s pajamas.

Her fingertips tightened, wrinkling the thin fabric deeply.

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