My Boyfriend is the Heartthrob, and I'm Just a Passerby. - Chapter 12

“Someone is really crying.”

The person stood at the door, not coming in, but insisting on saying it.

Ye Jishu saw the person in front of him slowly furrowed his brows.

At the same time, his eyes showed confusion and an instinctive fear of the unnatural.

“Didn’t you hear it? It’s… a girl crying.”

But this is a boys’ dormitory.

Due to serious incidents in other departments, mixed-gender living is prohibited, so only boys can come and go freely throughout the building. It is impossible for a girl to appear in the corridor without reason.

So, it’s even more unlikely that someone would be crying.

At the end of the corridor, there is a blue glass window.

Perhaps a student forgot to close it, and a chilling breeze swept through the corridor.

Although he could understand the fearful expression,—

Ye Jishu: “I didn’t hear anything.”

This was a face with no expression.

But at the same time, it was such a genuine expression, without any intention of lying.

“…”

Bo Zhehan’s face slowly broke into a sweat, which seeped through the collar of his shirt as it ran down his throbbing neck.

That sound…

So close.

But, where exactly?

In that moment, his mind involuntarily flashed many scenes from horror movies.

For example, inside the wall that was so close.

Or perhaps on his own back, which could only be seen if he turned around.

Even more extreme, wasn’t there a Thai horror movie about something riding on your neck…

Bo Zhehan had heard the horror rumors about this dormitory a long time ago, such as the math student who died in the elevator during the summer and had already rotted into a puddle of viscous fluid by the time he was discovered…

To clarify, he wasn’t particularly afraid of these stories; it just seemed unlucky no matter how you looked at it.

If his family had money, why stay at school?

If not for going home like this would get him scolded by his meddlesome older brother, and booking a hotel would attract attention, he wouldn’t have stayed overnight in this miserable dormitory.

“Creeeak—”

Suddenly, a sound interrupted his thoughts.

It was the sound of a window creaking.

Bo Zhehan took a step back in shock, feeling a bit ridiculous, and his gaze nervously shifted toward the end of the corridor.

The dormitory was the last room at the end of the corridor. He hadn’t seen anyone standing there before, so who could be—

The next second.

A girl’s back entered his view.

She was facing away from him, her shoulders trembling.

This was a very obvious, suppressed crying motion.

Upon hearing his noise, she lifted her head and glanced at him, her movements timid.

A delicate appearance.

An entirely normal look.

Tears were spilling from her eyes, and her face was filled with unspoken sadness.

[What a relief, it’s just a person.]

[No blood, no three-headed or six-armed monsters, just an ordinary girl.]

The pounding heart instantly calmed down.

“…Haha, haha, I was wondering what happened.”

Bo Zhehan chuckled awkwardly: “By the way, you look familiar… Oh! You’re Chen Heming’s girlfriend, right? What are you doing here… Oh! Is it because Ye Jishu helped you, so you came to thank him? But why are you crying?”

Among the wealthy students at the school, only a few came and went frequently.

It was a small circle.

For the sake of mutual interests, news was often exchanged.

So even though Bo Zhehan wasn’t on the scene during the day, he had already heard about Chen Heming’s incident. More than others, he was more concerned about what Ye Jishu had done—so harsh with him but so kind to other rivals’ accomplices? It made his teeth itch with irritation.

“…”

Hearing his words, Ye Jishu’s action of closing the door paused.

He turned his head.

He also looked toward the end of the corridor.

There was indeed a girl facing away from him.

Her stance of covering her face and lowering her shoulders reminded him of how she had tried to avoid others’ gaze during the day.

Feeling embarrassed.

Wishing she hadn’t been seen.

Meanwhile, Bo Zhehan, irritated by the sudden scare and his already bad temper, felt an uncontrollable anger rise as he saw the girl still crying at the end of the corridor. He was burning with a nameless rage, wishing she would stop crying immediately.

What on earth is she crying about? It’s making him look foolish in front of Ye Jishu!

The more he thought about it, the harder it was to bear.

He glanced at Ye Jishu, who wasn’t even looking at him.

Bo Zhehan pinched his fractured hand, a sharp pain piercing through his flesh, and he couldn’t help but grind his molars. He stepped forward towards the girl, reaching out to grab her shoulder and twist her outward: “I told you…”

That face came into view.

The next second.

He heard a scream.

What was that? Who was screaming?

Suddenly.

Bo Zhehan realized.

The vocal cords were vibrating, his throat was hoarse and painful. There was only one possibility.

That scream came from his own mouth.

His brain couldn’t process as fast as his body. Only at this moment did he realize what he had seen.

Because that face—

That face—

Only the profile was normal. The other side—

Bo Zhehan liked to have an egg for breakfast, paired with oatmeal and milk.

But the other half of the face in front of him was smooth and soft, like an egg with its shell removed. There were no features, only the normal curves of facial muscles, and no ears on either side. It perfectly displayed elastic and resilient skin, slightly translucent, revealing enticingly blue-purple veins.

“Don’t, don’t look at me…”

From the small aperture, a sad, moaning sound emerged.

“Ahhhhhh—!!!”

Bo Zhehan fell heavily to the ground.

But he couldn’t care less about the excruciating pain in his fractured hand. Using his hands and feet, elbows pressed against the ground, he desperately crawled backward.

What is this?? What on earth is this ahhhh?!

Was he going crazy? Or was he dreaming due to his foggy mind tonight?!

The lights on the ceiling of the corridor were flickering, constantly flashing.

The floor seemed to be shaking.

The crying sound coming from all directions surrounded him. He had almost no place to escape—

“Bump.”

Suddenly, Bo Zhehan’s backward movement was halted.

He had bumped into someone’s calf behind him.

The familiar shadow cast in the dim light made him realize that he was not alone—

Yes.

He wasn’t the only one here.

If he hadn’t realized this, Bo Zhehan’s sanity would have almost “snapped.”

“Ye Jishu! Ye Jishu, say something!!!” he yelled in desperation.

Ye Jishu: “What do you want me to say?”

That voice brought an unsettling calm.

At the same time.

Another scene.

At the stairway of the corridor.

Startled by the scream from above, Lin Lin abruptly looked up towards the stairs.

He had been running all the way here.

He hadn’t even had time to catch his breath while climbing the stairs, his chest heaving, feeling a burst of pain in his heart.

One more floor.

Almost there, almost there!

He wouldn’t have been delayed so long if the elevator hadn’t been out of order.

This time…

He had to make it.

While running down the next step, Lin Lin clenched the pendant in his uniform pocket, feeling the metal against his palm. His face grew determined: as long as he could stop the [Source of Infection] once, it would be worth any sacrifice.

Finally, he arrived at the floor where Ye Jishu was.

The situation immediately came into view, drenched in sweat.

But—

The back turned towards him was a girl.

Not the [Source of Infection 3301] Chen Heming.

Lin Lin instantly understood the situation.

[Source of Infection] are created from extreme emotional infection.

Thus, once formed, they possess the power to infect and assimilate everything around them.

Chen Heming, as an [Source of Infection], had probably infected the girl who had recent emotional entanglements with him, turning her into an unconscious infected parasite, compelled to cause trouble for Ye Jishu.

Troublesome…

[Source of Infection] comes with such additional issues.

And the sadder fact is that once deeply infected by the [Source of Infection], the person’s brain consciousness is completely taken over, and their body undergoes inhuman alterations, making it impossible for them to return to their original form.

But unlike [Source of Infection].

Such parasites can be physically removed.

The infected parasite in front of him still had a complete body, roughly estimating an infection index of around 7.

In his eyes, Ye Jishu and the unknown student had some distance from the parasite, and the entities in the scene hadn’t moved.

Neither of them was in immediate danger.

If he acted at the right moment, he could end it quickly.

“Don’t move.”

Lin Lin whispered.

At the same time, his hand slowly reached behind his uniform jacket.

Suddenly, he heard a voice speaking.

The back of Ye Jishu, facing him, turned around. First, he was surprised and said, “Ah,” then his expression turned calm, and he said, “What are you doing here?”

“Is there something else?”

“…”

Lin Lin was stunned.

No, no, is this really the time to be asking such questions?

The other boy leaning against his leg clearly realized that something was very wrong. Although he was over 1.8 meters tall, his whole body was trembling like a quail, his eyes almost popping out of fear, and he was unable to speak coherently.

But Ye Jishu’s gaze at him was so strange, as if he were an odd outsider. It made Lin Lin’s hand, which was holding the gun behind his back, loosen a bit, feeling awkward inside. He instinctively started to explain.

“I, um—”

Ye Jishu: “…Let’s resolve the first matter first.”

Before Lin Lin could react, Ye Jishu had already bypassed him and walked towards the deeply infected parasite.

“Stop crying,” Ye Jishu said. “Your eyes will be swollen when you wake up tomorrow.”

He paused.

“If it’s because of fear of a breakup, I can help.”

Even though it was troublesome.

But at this point, a normal person wouldn’t refuse.

The next moment.

In front of him and everyone, the girl crying against the translucent blue glass turned around completely.

Lin Lin’s breath caught.

But it wasn’t because of a terrifying sight.

Instead, it was the opposite. The face was completely normal.

He couldn’t be mistaken.

The glimmer of hope in her eyes was a human emotion, not the insanity of a parasite.

“Can… can I?” she asked slowly.

If the pen used to measure contamination levels ran, it would undoubtedly show a [0].

Ye Jishu: “Yes.”

After saying that, he turned to look at the still-collapsed Bo Zhehan and the stunned Lin Lin. In a tone that was hard to describe, he said, “Then there’s the second matter. What are you both shouting about…”

Lin Lin trembled.

The person in front of him sounded full of confusion, and even honestly, there was a hint of hidden anxiety.

This wasn’t feigned pretense.

Nor was it because he wasn’t afraid, so he appeared calm.

He just genuinely didn’t know what was happening.

The amount of information was overwhelming.

Lin Lin suddenly felt a wave of dizziness.

It seemed that Ye Jishu really hadn’t seen what they had seen. They had all experienced the same event…

It was as if Ye Jishu was in—

An [Extremely Normal World].

And to correct his perception, the world swiftly and timely adjusted these anomalies.