Chapter 5: A Childhood Friend’s Discovery

Damn it, why is it her? My childhood friend—Huang Beifeng.

I’m done for. Why is she staring at me like that? No, no, surely she hasn’t recognized me, has she?

****

Meanwhile, from Huang Beifeng’s perspective.

“A new student, huh? So shy, so utterly adorable. I just want to pinch her cheeks.”

“Wait, her hair—silver? Why does she remind me so much of *that* guy? Could he have been hiding this from me all along, pretending to be a boy?”

“I always wondered how a boy could be so delicate and refined. It turns out he’s been deceiving me this whole time.”

“No, no, I shouldn’t jump to conclusions so easily. Didn’t he say he was going to high school in another city? Maybe it’s just a coincidence. I should observe a bit longer.”

“No, no, it can’t be! The name is exactly the same! I almost fell for it again. You scoundrel, just you wait!”

****

Agh! Has she really figured it out?

‘No, I shouldn’t scare myself like this. I remember telling her I’d be attending high school in another city. My presence here is only because of that perverted older sister.’

‘She can’t have forgotten what I told her, right? I certainly hope not.’

‘No, no, my name! I used my *real* name!’

‘I’m utterly finished. Huang Beifeng has definitely recognized me.’

Perhaps noticing the subtle wrongness in my gaze, the way I somewhat dodged her eyes when looking at Huang Beifeng, coupled with my utterly dispirited expression, Meng Yue seemed to guess something was amiss.

Gently, Meng Yue patted my shoulder, then raised a hand to point at the empty seat beside Huang Beifeng.

“There’s still an empty seat next to Huang Beifeng. You can sit there for now.”

‘Agh! Don’t push me into the fiery pit! I’m doomed, completely doomed. What am I going to do?’

To appear normal, I desperately suppressed the panic swirling within me. Consequently, no one noticed anything amiss; it merely seemed as though I was a little nervous.

‘This is it.’

After dutifully walking to Huang Beifeng’s side, I could already feel the piercing intensity of her gaze.

‘Agh! I’ve absolutely been recognized.’

‘To be seen by my childhood friend while cross-dressing as a girl—what kind of earthly suffering is this?’

“Hi.”

I offered a stiff smile, removed the backpack from my shoulder, and gently took the seat beside her.

“Hi my foot.”

Beyond an awkward exchange of smiles, I couldn’t conjure any other way to react.

Fortunately, this was Meng Yue’s class. Under her watchful eye, Huang Beifeng couldn’t make any overt moves.

While she couldn’t make any grand gestures, small actions were unavoidable. Case in point: she was currently pinching my thigh with fierce determination.

‘Agh! That hurts! Can’t you be a little gentler? We’re childhood friends, after all. After months apart, the first thing you do is pinch my leg?’

She continued to pinch my thigh while simultaneously taking notes with her pen. That girl, her disguise was truly impeccable.

In response, I could only offer a wry smile, enduring the discomfort in my thigh as I tried to focus on the lecture.

‘How I longed for my long pants! If I were wearing them, it wouldn’t hurt this much. With only white stockings on my legs, there was absolutely no protection.’

Mercifully, the dismissal bell finally rang.

Having pinched me for the entire class, she naturally lacked the strength to continue, so she finally released her grip.

I had survived, but as I looked down at the area on my thigh, faintly visible beneath the white stockings, a bruise was beginning to show.

‘Seriously, it hurts so much, tears are practically welling up.’

‘For all our years as childhood friends, couldn’t she have been a little gentler?’

No sooner had Meng Yue departed than a new commotion erupted in the classroom. Seeing the students leave their seats to encircle me, I couldn’t help but offer a wry smile. This was perhaps a bit *too* much popularity.

However, at that very moment, Huang Beifeng suddenly seized my hand and, before anyone could react, pulled me out of the classroom.

‘Agh! When did this girl become so strong? Wait, where is she taking me?’

‘Huh, that direction… it’s the tutoring classroom. What is she planning?’

And so, at a different time, yet in the same place, by a different person, I found myself pinned against the wall once again.

“Ugh, what are you doing?”

“Luo Ye, Luo Ye, we’ve known each other for so long, grown up together since childhood. You’ve kept this from me for so long. Tell me, how should we settle this score?”

“I, I, I, what have I kept from you?”

‘As childhood friends, she ambushes me with a wall-slam at the slightest provocation. Well, at least we’re roughly the same height, so the awkwardness isn’t *too* overwhelming.’

‘But still, as a boy, being pinned against a wall by my childhood friend—it completely strips away any semblance of male dignity. My composure is truly shattered.’

“What do *you* say?”

‘What am I supposed to say? Agh! I truly don’t know anything! What have I even hidden from you?’

“I, I, I really haven’t hidden anything from you.”

“Are you not going to shed a tear until you see the coffin? Alright then, let me ask you: you’re clearly a loli, so why did you used to lie and tell me you were a boy?”

‘Huh? No way. As childhood friends, growing up together, you actually think I’m a girl just because of my face?’

‘Agh, my face really is quite deceptive!’

“I, I’m a boy!”

“You’re a boy? Then why are you wearing girls’ clothes?”

‘Uh, am I supposed to tell her *everything*? Wait, what’s with that look in your eyes? Do you think I’m lying to you? But I really am a boy!’

At that moment, after I explained the entire situation from beginning to end, she finally understood everything.

“So that’s how it is. I have to say, you actually have quite a talent for cross-dressing.”

‘I’ll take that as a compliment, but I’m not happy about it at all!’

“Still, for a boy, you really are adorable when you cross-dress. If it weren’t for how flat you are here, I’d almost feel unworthy of being a girl myself.”

‘Agh, what’s with that sighing tone? Are you trying to make *those* things grow? I’m a boy, how could I possibly have them?’

“But your voice has changed so much. No wonder I didn’t recognize it at first.”

After offering a helpless smile, I could only explain that during those few months of summer vacation, my perverted older sister had forced me to practice my falsetto. After continuously speaking in a disguised voice for months, my vocal timbre had undoubtedly undergone a significant transformation.

While my natural voice wasn’t bad, sounding soft and gentle, it was fundamentally more neutral. Naturally, it couldn’t compare to a practiced falsetto.

“I see. Class is about to start. Let’s go.”

Before she could leave, I reached out and tightly clutched her sleeve.

“Um, you’ll help me keep this a secret, right?”

“Of course! But, there’s a condition: you have to promise me three things.”

“I’ll agree, I’ll agree!”

At this point, agreeing to her terms was paramount. If I refused, I couldn’t guarantee she wouldn’t reveal my true gender. If she really did, I might as well sing a mournful dirge for my life.

“Alright, let’s go.”

Watching Huang Beifeng lead me by the hand, I knew that with a childhood friend like her by my side, these three years of high school certainly wouldn’t be a mundane routine.

‘Could the situation possibly get any worse?’