ATLAS TRANSLATES

Lu Jiaheng stood stunned for three seconds.

His eyes widened bit by bit. He stared in disbelief at the bright red exclamation mark in front of the green bubble. In his twenty-some years of life, this was the first time he’d experienced being blocked by someone.

He was blocked.

Actually blocked?!

The apology he’d spent so much effort crafting didn’t even have a chance to be born before dying.

Without another thought, Lu Jiaheng directly dialed Chu Zhi’s phone number.

There was no soft, sweet “hello” like usual, not even the continuous ringing from the past few days.

A flat female voice coldly announced: “Hello, the user you’re calling is busy, please try again later.”

His phone number was blocked too.

Lu Jiaheng exploded.

He shot up and headed straight for the backstage area.

He’d been slumped in his chair for a while, and by now the last group performance had started. Many people were quietly slipping away. Cheng Yi called softly from behind: “Ah Heng, where are you going now!”

Lu Jiaheng completely ignored him, circling backstage where it was crowded with people. He searched for a while before finally finding her.

Chu Zhi’s previously pinned-up long hair was now loose, falling softly. The thick stage makeup had been removed with cleansing wipes, making her look clean and fresh. Her doe eyes were large and round, with curled lashes that cast soft shadows when she looked down.

Seeming to sense something, Chu Zhi raised her head to look over.

Lu Jiaheng stood in place watching her.

Their eyes met. His dark eyes looked gloomy, his lips pressed tightly together, his brows slightly furrowed.

In an instant, Chu Zhi lightly, imperceptibly moved her gaze away.

Yuan Ci called her from the side. She turned her head to talk to that boy.

Her gaze was calm and indifferent, the movement completely natural.

As if there hadn’t been anyone standing where her eyes had just swept past.

Lu Jiaheng stood frozen, somewhat unable to react.

Actually, the moment he saw her just now, all those things he’d felt entitled to had completely vanished without a trace.

Now, he suddenly realized.

What had he come here for?

What had he been doing all this time?

Lu Jiaheng’s thin lips were stiffly pressed together as he experienced something like panic for the first time.

The boy in front said something, and the girl quietly listened, her lips curving into a smile, a shallow dimple appearing on her cheek, her eyes also curving like a crescent moon.

Chu Zhi stood up, talking while walking past with her knight.

Step by step, the distance slowly closed.

He seemed to want to call out to her, his fingers slightly raising, his Adam’s apple bobbing, but no sound came out.

Chu Zhi brushed past his shoulder, never once looking at him.

Beside her, Yuan Ci was talking about something funny that happened in the octopus professional course. As they went out the back door, Chu Zhi let out a soft breath.

Yuan Ci tilted his head: “Sister, are you nervous?”

Chu Zhi raised her head blankly: “Huh?”

“You looked a bit nervous just now,” Yuan Ci grinned, “Who was that person? Do you know them?”

He’s a jerk.

She lowered her head again, hiding half her face in her warm scarf, saying sullenly: “Don’t know him.”

Yuan Ci made an “ah” sound and didn’t say more.

Winter days were short. At just past 4 PM, it was already getting dark.

The two of them left the auditorium together. Outside, snow had started falling at some point, pure white flakes drifting down, forming a thin layer on the ground.

Chu Zhi stopped at the back door of the auditorium, still looking down: “Thanks for your hard work today.”

Yuan Ci paused for a moment, then bent down, smiling at her: “Sister, if someone bullies you, just tell me.”

Chu Zhi nodded, then shook her head, saying slowly: “No one’s bullying me.”

“Alright, I’m going then.”

“Mm.”

The young man nimbly jumped down the steps, stood three steps down and waved to her, walked out a few steps, then turned back to wave at her again before leaving.

Chu Zhi’s nose brushed against the edge of her scarf as she reached up to pull it higher.

With her mouth and nose covered by the scarf, her warm breath crept up through the gaps, forming tiny water droplets on her eyelashes.

She stood there for a while waiting for her father to pick her up. The weather outside was a bit cold, and after thinking for a moment, Chu Zhi decided to go inside to wait.

As she turned around, she saw Lu Jiaheng standing behind her, leaning against the back door of the auditorium watching her.

This person had stood behind her several times today, never making a sound, who knows how long he’d been there.

Like some kind of spirit.

Chu Zhi turned back around, abandoning the idea of waiting inside.

Never mind.

Let it be cold then.

I LIKE the cold!!!!!!!!!

She simply buried her head deeply, hiding her eyes in her scarf too, trying her best to be a statue and pretend the person behind her didn’t exist.

But knowing something exists and knowing someone is standing behind you staring are two different things.

Chu Zhi felt terribly uncomfortable, her whole body ill at ease. Frustrated, she suddenly raised her head, jumped down the steps, and started walking around the auditorium to the front entrance.

But when she moved, he moved too.

Behind her came the continuous soft crunching sound of shoes on snow, following neither too far nor too close.

Chu Zhi took a deep breath and stopped. The person behind her also stopped.

After a pause, she started walking again, but before she’d taken two steps, she heard a soft sigh from behind.

The next second, the person behind quickened their pace and grabbed her wrist.

Lu Jiaheng held her, his long legs taking two steps to get in front of her. He was so tall that he had to bend down to grab her hand, so their eye levels were basically the same height now.

Chu Zhi kept her eyes down, moisture hanging on her lashes, the fine hair at her hairline also damp with moisture.

Everything below her eyes was hidden in her scarf, only her eyes visible.

Her long lashes lowered, staring fixedly at the ground, refusing to look at him.

She was angry.

Probably furious.

After they stood frozen for a while, Chu Zhi was the first to break, saying quietly: “Let go…”

He didn’t react.

She pulled her hand back forcefully: “Let go…”

He still held on tightly, not speaking or letting go, instead taking half a step closer.

When she pulled, his fingers slid down from her wrist to her hand, feeling ice cold yet somehow burning hot.

Her hand was too cold, soft and cool, seemingly boneless. Lu Jiaheng’s fingertips unconsciously brushed her hand lightly.

Chu Zhi trembled and pulled her hand back hard.

From childhood until now, she’d never met someone so shameless.

Willful and arbitrary, behaving frivolously, with a terrible temper, self-centered, a complete jerk who never considered others.

Chu Zhi was furious. The feelings she’d managed to suppress during her drama performance all came rushing back. She quickly ran through her lines in her mind, imagining how she should berate him in this scene.

Just as she was thinking, Lu Jiaheng let out a soft sigh.

He took two steps forward, getting closer to her, his eyes pitch black, his voice low: “I’m sorry.”

He pressed his lips together, bending down with his head lowered, looking at her unblinkingly, his expression drooping, his tone somewhat cautious: “Chu Chu, I was wrong.”

Chu Zhi didn’t speak, and her hand that had been desperately trying to pull away also stopped moving.

For a moment no one spoke, she just kept her eyes lowered looking at the ground, not responding.

Suddenly, with a plop, a water droplet fell onto the snowy ground between them.

A light drop, falling silently, followed immediately by another.

Chu Zhi blinked, and tears fell like strings of beads from under her thick lashes.

Lu Jiaheng froze completely.

She cried silently, tears falling quietly, her voice tiny, barely audible, with a slight sticky quality: “Let go…”

Chu Zhi’s head hung low, tears falling more fiercely, her small body trembling as she tried to pull back, grieved, weak and fine, with a sob: “Don’t touch me…”

Lu Jiaheng let go.

Chu Zhi quickly pulled back, her whole person rapidly retreating a tiny bit, going from silent tears to hiccuping sobs.

She cried more and more fiercely, tears unstoppable, her shoulders shaking.

Lu Jiaheng pressed his lips tightly together, his thin lips pale: “I won’t touch you.”

His hand hovered in front of her as he spoke in an extremely soft, gentle voice, “I won’t touch you anymore, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, don’t cry.”

He was panicked and heartbroken, somewhat at a loss, unable to say anything except sorry.

Chu Zhi hadn’t wanted to cry either.

She’d originally planned to coolly berate him, maybe even kick him, then leave dramatically, never dealing with him again.

But she just felt so wronged.

So upset.

The emotions she’d been holding back so well just burst like a broken dam when she saw him.

Crying like this wasn’t cool or graceful at all, completely different from the scene she’d imagined and rehearsed.

But she couldn’t control it.

Just seeing him, just thinking about what happened this afternoon, made her feel uncontrollably wronged.

How could he have done that today.

How could he, after doing all those things, arbitrarily take her into the changing room, then leave her there alone knowing people were outside, just walking away like that.

It was really too much.

How helpless, awkward, ashamed, and embarrassed she’d felt at that time.

How could he do that.

Chu Zhi finally raised her head, her eyes all red from crying, like a stubborn little rabbit.

She raised her hand, forcefully wiping her eyes with the back of it, her grievances spilling out uncontrollably, new tears flowing as soon as she wiped the old ones away, endlessly dropping onto the snowy ground with soft plops.

“Lu Jiaheng, you’re really hateful…” Chu Zhi sniffled, her voice hoarse and full of tears, “I won’t forgive you, I hate you the most.”