When I Meet the Moon - Extra Chapter 1

Extra Chapter - Yun Ye and Yin Yunyi (Part 1)

When Yin Yunyi first transferred to the junior high department of Xifu Experimental Middle School, it was the dead of summer. Carrying a lightweight backpack and wearing a baseball cap to shield herself from the glare, she was seen to the school gates by Yin Yucheng, who reminded her, "Remember to take off your hat when greeting your classmates."

"I know," she replied softly.

Following the teacher's guidance, Yin Yunyi bowed properly and announced, "Hello everyone, I am Yin Yunyi."

The teacher pointed to an empty seat for her.

The boy sitting next to her had delicate facial features, with soft locks of hair resting against his forehead. His brow carried a natural hint of impatience, and he didn't look particularly amiable.

"Hello."

Yin Yunyi greeted him somewhat nervously. The boy merely let out a faint "Ah," then lazily turned his head to stare out the window.

Yin Yunyi looked at the boy's reflection in the windowpane; the lower half of his nose was buried in his elbow, and his eyelids drooped listlessly.

She didn't notice that her own reflection was also cast upon the glass.

Yun Ye could see that Yin Yunyi had been staring at him the whole time.

The slouching boy shifted slightly, straightened his posture, turned his head to look at her, and asked, "Why are you staring at me?"

The boy's hair was slightly messy, his eyes clear, and his expression rebellious and untamed.

Yin Yunyi widened her eyes, completely unfazed by his unwelcoming demeanor. "My name is Yin Yunyi."

Yun Ye replied, "I heard it just now."

The implication was that she didn't need to repeat herself.

The boy sitting behind them poked Yun Ye with his pen and chuckled, "Yun Ye, you're being way too argumentative. She was just giving you a self-introduction."

Yun Ye let out a long, rising "Ah?", followed by a completely emotionless "Oh." Then he added, "I'm Yun Ye."

On the first day, no one took the initiative to talk to Yin Yunyi. She tried striking up a conversation with her deskmate, Yun Ye, a few times, but most of his responses were limited to three words: "Ah," "Oh," and "Mm."

She couldn't figure out why he was so aloof.

It even made him seem a bit impolite to her.

Yin Yunyi completely abandoned the idea of talking to him.

When the first day of classes ended, she inexplicably felt a bit discouraged as she shouldered her backpack and walked out.

Before she had even taken two steps, she heard the boy's voice beside her: "You forgot your hat."

The boy brushed right past her and placed the cap back onto her head.

Stunned, Yin Yunyi watched his back disappear around the end of the corridor.

Yin Yucheng was waiting for her at the entrance. "How was the new school?"

Yin Yunyi thought back on that uneventful day. Not knowing how to describe it, she opened her mouth and said, "It's pretty good."

Once home, Yin Yunyi's mind was consumed with thoughts of how to get along harmoniously with her classmates.

This particular classmate referred specifically to Yun Ye.

After suffering through half a night of insomnia, Yin Yunyi failed to come up with any brilliant methods. Instead, Yun Ye's handsome face only grew clearer and more vivid in her mind.

The next day, a classmate named Xu Yao chatted with her in the corridor. "Did you know that your deskmate is the top academic genius around here? And he's ridiculously cool, too. Look at that face—he looks like the whole world owes him a fortune."

Having slept poorly the night before, Yin Yunyi blurted out, "Oh, so isn't that just being in debt?"

The moment the words left her mouth, Yin Yunyi felt a pang of guilt, as if she had spoken ill behind Yun Ye's back.

Upon returning to her seat, Yin Yunyi saw Yun Ye with his forehead pressed against the desk. Finding it strange that he would sleep in such an odd position, she sat down and realized he was sneaking a session on a handheld video game console.

The school strictly prohibited bringing such mini gaming devices into the classroom.

Yin Yunyi opened her workbook. Finding this behavior far removed from the image of an academic genius she had imagined, she couldn't help glancing over a few more times.

Suddenly, Yun Ye raised his head, a red mark stamped onto his forehead from the desk. His eyes shone brightly, and a small canine tooth peeked out from his smile. "Do you want to play?"

"..."

Was this really the person Xu Yao called "ridiculously cool"?

Staring at that endearing smile, Yin Yunyi politely and formally declined. "No, thank you."

Yun Ye didn't look discouraged by the rejection in the slightest. With a grin playing at the corners of his lips, he lowered his head and went back to his game. "Don't tell the teacher."

From Yin Yunyi's angle, she could still see the faint red mark lingering on his forehead.

Flipping through her book, Yin Yunyi grew somewhat distracted, thinking that Yun Ye's behavior was bold, reckless, and rebellious.

From behind them came a sharp reprimand: "Yun Ye—"

"You're playing games again—"

The head teacher strode over, grabbed Yun Ye by the collar, and snatched his gaming console, though Yun Ye managed to shut the device off at the very last second.

Yun Ye remained completely unfazed. "I wasn't playing. The machine is turned off."

The head teacher gave him a firm knock on the head, causing Yun Ye to wince and press a hand to the spot.

The teacher then turned to Yin Yunyi. Confronted with her quiet, well-behaved appearance—the picture of a model student—his voice softened considerably. "Yin Yunyi, was Yun Ye playing games just now?"

With the teacher still holding him by the collar, Yun Ye raised his eyes to look at Yin Yunyi. She clenched her hands together; instinctively, she didn't want to lie. But meeting the gaze of someone she had shared barely a day and a half of deskmate camaraderie with, Yin Yunyi wore a troubled expression.

The teacher coaxed her, "You can just tell the truth."

Yun Ye watched her expression.

Just when the teacher expected Yun Ye to stubbornly argue to the end, the boy honestly admitted, "I was playing."

Indeed, he had been playing.

Watching the teacher drag Yun Ye away while the other students looked on with schadenfreude or utter confusion, Yin Yunyi frowned and said in a gentle yet firm voice, "Sir, you shouldn't pull him by the collar."

Decisively, Yin Yunyi added, "That's wrong."

The classroom fell into absolute silence.

The head teacher's mouth twitched, and just as he was about to blow his top, he met Yin Yunyi's innocent face, managed to check his temper, and released Yun Ye's collar.

When Yun Ye returned, the boy sitting behind him nudged his shoulder and said, "You've got a skull of steel today."

Usually, anyone caught with a gaming console would meekly confess and hand it over.

"Damn it. That was my sister's. She's going to kill me when she gets back," Yun Ye muttered, holding his head in a headache as he frowned. "I need to buy an exact replacement."

Expecting Yun Ye to blame her upon his return, Yin Yunyi gripped her pen tightly.

She didn't have much contact with Yun Ye, but she didn't want to sour their relationship either.

She had written several cards for Yun Ye, but none of them made it out of her desk. As she worked through her math problems, Yin Yunyi gradually forgot about the incident. By the time she snapped back to reality, she noticed Yun Ye counting the loose change in his backpack.

Yin Yunyi asked, "Are you trying to buy a game console?"

"Yeah." Yun Ye tallied the amount once more. Hesitating for a brief moment, Yin Yunyi said bluntly, "No matter how many times you count it, the money isn't going to multiply."

Yun Ye: "..."

Without a word, he gathered the paper bills and shoved them into his pocket.

Yin Yunyi reached behind herself for her backpack, rummaged through the inner pocket, and pulled out a ten-yuan bill, handing it over to Yun Ye. He looked down at it without taking it.

Feeling a bit awkward, she offered, "Is ten yuan too little...? My parents don't give me allowance, so this is all I have."

Yun Ye was silent for a moment before saying, "It's not little." Casually, he took Yin Yunyi's backpack, neatly folded the ten-yuan bill, and placed it back into its original compartment.

Then he set the backpack back behind her chair.

Picking up a book from her desk at random and glancing at the first page, he finally said, "Yin Yunyi, thanks."

For half a semester as deskmates, Yun Ye rarely spoke to her outside of occasionally borrowing a ruler or an eraser.

Yin Yunyi thought Yun Ye was a complicated person.

When something amusing happened, he would be more lively, flashing his trademark smile. The rest of the time, just as Xu Yao had said, he was aloof enough to make people keep their distance.

After the mid-term exams, Yun Ye ranked second in the grade, and Yin Yunyi ranked eighth.

Putting students with a performance gap at the same desk was an unwritten rule in the school. After class, the head teacher walked over to the two of them, intending to rearrange their seating.

Yun Ye chimed in, "Her math is bad."

Stunned for a few seconds, wondering why he would evaluate her that way, Yin Yunyi calmly retorted, "Yun Ye's Chinese is bad."

Yun Ye immediately changed his tune. "Right, my Chinese is terrible." Fearing the teacher wouldn't believe him, he added, "The only reason I got second place this time is because Yin Yunyi helped me tutor my Chinese. If you change our seats, it'll get even worse."

The first attempt at a seating rearrangement ended in failure.

After school that day, Yin Yunyi agonized for a long time over why Yun Ye thought her math was bad. Slinging her backpack over her shoulder, she followed behind him and asked, "What's wrong with my math?"

Yun Ye scratched his head, pausing for a moment. "Who said that?"

Yin Yunyi replied, "You did."

That was when he remembered. "Well, that's because—"

Meeting that pair of gentle, light-colored pupils, Yun Ye's voice cut off abruptly.

He unlocked his bicycle and swung his leg over it.

Pedaling with the slender legs unique to a youth, he leisurely rode past Yin Yunyi from the front.

His voice drifted back on the breeze: "See you."

...

One day, the sanitation commissioner assigned Yin Yunyi and Yun Ye to cleaning duty together.

Girls mature earlier than boys, and Yin Yunyi was quite a bit taller than Yun Ye at that time. She took the initiative and said, "I'll clean the blackboard."

Holding the eraser, Yun Ye paused by the board, leaped upward, and wiped away the text at the very top.

Having proven himself through this childish display, he wasn't the least bit embarrassed and simply handed the eraser straight to her.

When cleaning duty was finished, only the two of them remained in the classroom. Yun Ye quickly tossed his books into his backpack, slung it over one shoulder, and waved at her. "See you."

Yin Yunyi asked him, "Can you wait for me?"

As soon as the words left her mouth, she felt a slight flutter of doubt in her heart.

Expecting him to refuse, Yun Ye instead stopped in his tracks, sat right back down at his desk, and boredly propped up the wooden tabletop with both hands, leaning his head back slightly.

Yin Yunyi packed her things unhurriedly. Glancing back at her desk, Yun Ye saw neat rows of pens, sticky notes, and notebooks, along with a clean, transparent pencil case printed with translucent cherry blossoms.

His gaze shifted back to Yin Yunyi as he said, "You have chalk dust in your hair."

"Oh." Yin Yunyi patted her hair with her hand.

Yun Ye yawned and continued, "That's not where it is."

Yin Yunyi patted it again.

Yun Ye glanced over. In the next instant, Yin Yunyi saw his arm block the overhead light, casting her field of vision into shadow.

Yin Yunyi froze.

That hand barely brushed against her, gently dusting the chalk powder from her hair.

Growing nervous inside, she frantically stuffed her belongings into her bag and said, "I'm all packed, let's go."

"Oh." Yun Ye landed lightly on the floor.

Yin Yunyi caught a glimpse of his sneakers; the tips were worn scuffed from playing basketball so often.

On Yun Ye's birthday, Yin Yunyi told Yin Yucheng she wanted to buy a pair of basketball shoes for her deskmate as a birthday gift.

Not knowing Yun Ye's shoe size, Yin Yunyi asked Yin Yucheng to buy a pair near the school and tucked the receipt inside the box so Yun Ye could exchange them himself if needed.

After school, she walked toward the exit as usual. Passing the basketball court, she caught sight of a familiar figure.

Yun Ye was wearing the basketball shoes she had given him, dribbling the ball and freezing in place for several seconds as he locked eyes with her.

He only snapped out of it when someone else on the court swiped the ball away.

Yun Ye never told anyone that these shoes were a gift from Yin Yunyi.

In the past, he would wear his basketball shoes straight to school and roughhouse in them all day long. But with this pair alone, he carried them in a bag and only changed into them once he reached the court, minimizing wear and tear as much as possible.

By the time Yin Yunyi realized what was happening, a basketball came hurtling toward her side, and she instinctively raised her hands to block.

This wasn't the first time.

Yin Yunyi had been hit by basketballs before; plenty of boys used that method to catch a girl's attention.

Even when the hits hurt, Yin Yunyi never thought it was a big deal, simply telling the grinning boys who came over to apologize that it was fine.

The ball wasn't moving slowly, and just as it was about to smash into her, a figure stepped directly in front of her and easily caught it.

Egging classmates on, the boy who threw the ball had aimed with pinpoint accuracy and was already getting ready to walk over and chat up Yin Yunyi.

Instead, Yun Ye hurled the basketball straight back at him, his tone ice-cold: "If you're going to play basketball, play properly. Are you just begging to get hit?"

Guilty to begin with and seeing Yun Ye's menacing expression, the boy immediately picked up the ball and scurried back to the court.

Yun Ye turned his head. Following some logical reasoning, right as he was about to spit out the words "You're welcome," Yin Yunyi spoke first.

"You shouldn't be so fierce next time. Aren't you afraid they'll beat you up?"

She looked at the slender, thin figure before her, tilting her head with an expression full of disapproval.

Utterly devoid of any gratitude for being rescued by a hero, Yin Yunyi stated matter-of-factly, "They're so much taller than you."

Yun Ye turned his head away, staring at her in utter speechlessness for a moment.

Drenched in a dense layer of sweat and breathing lightly, he told Yin Yunyi, "I'm going back to play."

"Yun Ye," Yin Yunyi called out. Yun Ye looked back at her in confusion. She gripped her backpack straps, bit her lip, and verified once more, "They won't hit you, right?"
Yin Yunyi gripped her backpack straps, bit her lip, and verified once more, "They won't hit you, right?"

"I doubt they're that bored."

Someone on the court shouted Yun Ye's name, and without another word, he ran back.

By the time Yun Ye finished playing, it was nearly six o'clock.

With sweat dampening his hair, he walked over to the bicycle shed, where only his bike was locked up. Across from the shed was a public wash basin. Yun Ye walked over, turned on the tap, splashed cold water over his face with one hand, and eventually ended up drenching his entire head of hair with the cold water.

Turning off the faucet, he raised his head. Water blurred his vision, yet he clearly saw Yin Yunyi standing right in front of him, holding out a packet of tissues.

Yun Ye took the tissues. "Thanks."

Pausing for a moment, he asked her, "Why haven't you left yet?"

Yin Yunyi usually left much earlier.

"I was about to leave." Yin Yunyi stammered for a good while. Seeing that Yun Ye was holding the tissue packet awkwardly with one hand, she tore it open for him and handed him a sheet.

She was too embarrassed to tell him that she had been worried he would get beaten up for his "unruly remarks" earlier.

It was as if... all she had noticed was the fact that he wasn't very tall.

Yun Ye unfolded the tissue and casually wiped his hair. Shreds of paper stuck to his eyelashes; frowning, he flicked them away with his finger. His vision slightly out of focus, he blinked, and her silhouette snapped back into sharp clarity.

Just like when they first met, she was tall, wore a high ponytail, and possessed a slender, delicate neck. Her oval face framed almond-shaped eyes with unusually light irises, and both her nose and lips were small.

Yun Ye felt his breathing turn unsteady. He hastily said, "I have to go."

He brushed right past Yin Yunyi.

Before taking two steps, he looked back and asked her, "Aren't you leaving?"

Thinking of his usual wind-like pace, Yin Yunyi replied, "I don't have a bicycle. You go ahead."

She turned around and headed toward the school gates with her backpack.

Before she had gone two steps, she heard the ringing of a bicycle bell.

Yun Ye rode up beside her and dismounted from the bike.

Only then did Yin Yunyi notice it was a mountain bike.

Re-evaluating Yun Ye's height in her mind, she asked him softly, "Won't riding this be a bit dangerous for you?"

Yun Ye emitted a soft sound through his nose, leaving the meaning ambiguous.

They walked a bit further.

Dusk stretched their shadows long. Pushing his bike alongside her, Yun Ye accompanied her as she listened to the sound of tires scraping against the ground, casting a sideways glance at him.

Yin Yunyi's mind went blank for a few seconds, and a very natural thought popped up: once Yun Ye grew taller, he would probably look even better.

Though he was already quite good-looking as he was.

Every time seats were rearranged, Yun Ye's Chinese grades would drop.

Determined to protect this potential top scorer of the district, the head teacher kept them as deskmates for a full two years.

Her parents were extremely strict with Yin Yunyi; outside of academics and cram schools, her life had virtually no other entertainment. Even when using the computer, Yin Yunyi had to apply to her parents under the pretext of studying.

As a result, despite being deskmates for two years, she and Yun Ye had practically never participated in any activities together.

They had barely exchanged any words.

After the senior high entrance exams, Yin Yunyi opened the class QQ group, stared at Yun Ye's primitive penguin avatar, and clicked the friend request button. As if wanting to make it look less deliberate, she sent friend requests to several other people at the same time.

Yun Ye accepted immediately.

The dialogue box between the two remained blank for the entire summer break.

When senior high school started, Yin Yunyi didn't see Yun Ye, leaving her feeling somewhat discouraged. It wasn't until a month later during the tracking exams that she entered the honors class and spotted that familiar figure in the corner of the new classroom.

The boy was slumped over his desk, and the seat beside him was empty.

Just like those two years in junior high, Yin Yunyi walked over and silently took her seat beside him.

Yun Ye straightened up as if nothing were out of the ordinary.

Their eyes met, and as if touched by an electric shock, they both looked away.

The classroom adopted a random seating arrangement, so Yun Ye and Yin Yunyi were no longer deskmates.

Academic pressure intensified in senior high, and the daily activities of boys and girls overlapped even less. Instead of blindly sinking into those hazy, ambiguous emotions, Yin Yunyi poured all her focus into her studies.

That day, cleaning duty happened to fall on them together. Out of habit, Yin Yunyi picked up the blackboard eraser, turned her head, and discovered that Yun Ye was also standing by the blackboard. The golden glow of the setting sun washed over him, making his light brown eyes appear even richer in color as he lowered his gaze to look at her.

Yun Ye naturally reached out a hand, holding it palm-up in front of her.

Only then did she notice that after a summer break, Yun Ye had grown taller at an accelerated pace, turning tall and lean.

Staring at her without a trace of movement, Yun Ye spoke in a tone no different from before: "The eraser."

At that exact moment, Yin Yunyi's heart surged wildly, and an indescribable sentiment seeped from the depths of her soul. Flustered, she handed him the eraser, grabbed the stack of newspapers on the podium, and hurried over to the window.

Through the glass, she saw Yun Ye with one hand tucked into his pocket, his arm raising effortlessly to touch the very top of the blackboard.

It was the hottest period in Xifu; even by evening, the lingering heat and sunlight could bake a person dry.

When the two finished cleaning duty, it was already half past five. Yin Yunyi rummaged through her backpack for a long time before murmuring, "Why didn't I bring my hat?" Refusing to believe it, she searched through it one more time before giving up with a sigh and putting her bag back on.

Yun Ye had just finished washing his hands and returned to his seat. Yin Yunyi glanced at him and reminded him, "You've got chalk dust on your head."

Too lazy to care, Yun Ye replied, "If it's there, let it be."

Reminded of junior high, she stood on her tiptoes slightly and used her fingertips to brush away the stray locks of hair on his forehead. Yun Ye blinked in a daze, freezing in place for a moment.

Yin Yunyi quickly pulled her hand back. "It's clean now."

Still unable to comprehend the feeling in his chest, Yun Ye only felt a surge of heat on his face and a tightness in his breath. Awkwardly, he muttered, "No need, I like getting dust on me."

Without chatting further, Yin Yunyi headed toward the school gates.

As soon as she stepped outside, a gust of wind swept past, and a cap was gently placed onto her head. Mimicking that very first time, Yun Ye rode his bike past her side and waved his hand.

"See you."

A boy's head circumference was larger than a girl's, so the cap sat loosely on her head, blocking part of her view. All she could see were the bicycle wheels. By the time she adjusted her hat straight, Yun Ye's figure was already gone from sight.

The fabric felt as though it still carried the warmth of its owner.

At that moment.

Yin Yunyi finally understood with absolute clarity: that heart-pounding sensation she felt every single time she saw Yun Ye had a name, and it was called falling in love.