Chapter 1

When news of Julian’s death reached her, Clara was on a blind date.

The man sitting opposite her was handsome and wore a gentle smile, standing out as one of the better candidates she had encountered.

Listening to his reasonably good conditions, Clara gripped her coffee cup and thought, "Let it be him."

She was thirty this year, and her mother—well into her fifties—was using a mixture of emotional pressure and authority to demand that she get married this year.

She no longer had the energy to fight back.

Just as Clara was about to speak, a notification popped up on her phone screen: the news of Julian’s death.

#Genius Pianist Julian Falls: Commits Suicide at Home#

The brief line of text felt like a cold dagger, instantly slicing through Clara’s heart.

Her hand trembled, and the spoon she was holding dropped heavily into the coffee, splashing it everywhere.

She didn’t care; with shaking hands, she tapped on the notification.

Inside the article, Julian’s suicide note had been released.

The handwriting on the paper was wild and unrestrained, just as it had always been.

[I have no regrets as I reach this point in my life.]

[But if I really had to name one, there is still something: I never told that person I had been secretly in love with her for many years.]

[So much so that in countless late nights thereafter, I only dared to whisper her name in my dreams... Clara.]

Without warning, a tear fell onto the screen.

The face of a boy, free and spirited, appeared in Clara’s mind, and the few memories she had of him flashed by one after another.

The last time they met was at high school graduation.

She still remembered the bright blue sky and the golden sun that day, and Julian’s smile, which shone like a brilliant star.

And she, an ordinary girl, had gathered the courage to hug everyone else just to get a chance to embrace him.

That was the only time she had ever secretly expressed her feelings.

But she had never imagined that Julian would also like her.

He was a genius pianist who had become famous at the age of five.

After high school, he went abroad for further studies, returning with immense glory and countless awards to his name.

And she... she was just the most ordinary of girls, living her life according to the rhythm of a standard, rule-following existence.

How could the stars in the sky ever fall in love with the soil on the ground?

Clara didn’t even have time to say a word of apology to the man across from her before she stumbled out of the cafe.

She wanted to see Julian one last time.

But the city where Julian lived was so far away, and even if she went, she didn’t know where to find him.

Clara stood blankly in the middle of the road.

A truck sped directly toward her, but the shrill sound of its horn failed to call her back to her senses.

"Bang—!"

The whole world went suddenly quiet.

"Buzz—"

The sound of cicadas, exclusive to the summer, rang in Clara’s ears, followed by a burst of cheers.

Clara frowned and snapped her eyes open, feeling the high temperature surrounding her body first.

Immediately after, there was the blinding sunlight in the sky.

What was going on? Wasn’t she... hit by a truck? Where was this?

Before Clara could clearly see the scene in front of her, an urgent voice shouted at her: "Clara, watch out!"

Clara looked up instinctively, only to see a basketball flying rapidly toward her.

She didn’t have time to dodge, so she closed her eyes by instinct.

"Thud!"

The sound of the ball hitting a body echoed, yet Clara didn’t feel any pain.

She opened her eyes in suspicion and saw a boy blocking the path in front of her.

The boy turned his head and looked at her with a smile: "Look how scared you are. Since you know you’re afraid, why don’t you know how to dodge?"

Clara lost her voice for a moment, her eyes fixed on him in disbelief.

"Julian?"

Julian raised an eyebrow, turned around, and walked back onto the court, jumping up easily to sink a beautiful three-pointer.

The surrounding screams almost shattered Clara’s eardrums.

She stared blankly, and a few seconds later, she pinched her thigh hard—

It hurt, it really hurt!

This wasn’t a dream? Then what was going on? Why could she see such a young Julian?

Just then, her best high school friend, Quinn, walked over holding ice water.

Clara was stunned and grabbed Quinn in surprise: "Quinn, why are you here too? What year and month is today?"

Quinn was completely confused by her question: "It’s May 8th, 2011, today. What’s wrong with you?"

Clara’s breath hitched.

2011—wasn’t that twelve years ago, the year she was eighteen?

Had she... traveled back in time?

Chapter 2

Realizing this, Clara’s heart began to beat uncontrollably fast.

She looked at Julian on the court, dazed, feeling as if she were walking on sand—everything felt surreal.

Suddenly, she stood up abruptly.

Quinn was startled: "Clara, what are you doing?"

But before Clara could say anything, a wave of dizziness washed over her.

The next moment, everything went black, and she fainted right on the spot!

When she woke up, she was in the infirmary.

Clara opened her eyes groggily; the room was dim, and she vaguely saw someone slumped by the bed.

Assuming the person was her friend, she reached out to touch their hand, her voice raspy: "Quinn, do you have any water?"

The person slowly raised their head, turned on the light, then got up to pour a glass of water and placed it by Clara’s hand.

"Are you feeling better?"

The boy’s voice, clear like a mountain stream, made Clara’s fuzzy brain snap into focus.

The person in front of her wasn’t Quinn at all—it was clearly Julian.

In her past life, Clara and Julian had had very little interaction, and a moment of being alone together like this had never happened.

She sat up from the bed, feeling uneasy, and spoke somewhat incoherently: "You... why are you here?"

Julian looked as if he hadn’t woken up yet, his eyes not quite clear: "You had a heatstroke, so I carried you here. The school doctor had something to attend to, so he asked me to stay and watch you while you had your IV drip."

Clara gave a blank "Oh," and asked in distress, "What about Quinn?"

Julian smiled: "I don’t know. She said the teacher asked her to hand out test papers, and then she ran off."

Clara didn’t even need to think to know that Quinn had run off to create a chance for the two of them to be alone.

For a moment, Clara didn’t know what to say, so she lowered her head to hide her feelings.

"Thank you..."

Julian stood up and interrupted what she was about to say: "Let’s go, I’ll take you home."

"Huh?" Clara’s heart skipped a beat, and she felt even more flustered.

Julian gestured for her to look out the window: "Evening self-study ended a long time ago. The homeroom teacher asked me to make sure you get home safely."

Clara checked her watch—it was 10:30; evening study ended at 10.

She didn’t dare delay, so she got off the bed, tidied up, and left with Julian.

There was no one left on campus. Walking out of the school gates, the streetlights were sparse.

Julian had long arms and legs; Clara followed behind him, never quite able to walk side-by-side.

As she walked, she looked at Julian’s slender fingers and suddenly remembered what had happened in her past life, her eyes dimming instantly.

Who had deliberately broken Julian’s hand? Was it his rival?

And how was she supposed to save the Julian of ten years later?

Also... did he really love her?

While her mind was in a complete mess, Julian suddenly stopped: "We’re here. Go upstairs quickly, I’ll watch you go in."

Clara was stunned. In her memory, the walk from school to her home was clearly very long; how had it passed so quickly today?

She felt a pang of reluctance, gave a soft "mm," and walked slowly toward the building.

Halfway there, she stopped and turned back: "Um, about today... thank you, really."

Julian smiled, as gentle as always: "It’s nothing. If anything, I should thank you for helping me skip a math class."

"Go on back now, it’s late."

Clara nodded helplessly; with nothing else to say, she looked away and started walking again.

However, she had only taken two steps when Julian called her back: "Wait, hold on a second."

Clara turned around and saw Julian walk forward, opening the zipper of his backpack.

"I remember you and Cherry from Class 5 were middle school classmates, right?"

The topic changed too quickly; Clara nodded in a daze.