The sky curtain makes you a useless class monitor, yet you act arbitrarily for eternity?

In the South, the nights in December are not bitterly cold.

It can be very humid.

When the wind blows, the clothes stick to the skin, and the coolness seeps in through the cuffs and collar.

bedside.

Liang Rumeng's body was trembling.

She bit her lip tightly, her eyes were frighteningly red, and she pointed her finger at Yan Cong.

I know you're having a tough time right now!

"I'm under pressure!"

"but……"

Tears welled up in her eyes, and her voice choked.

"What about me?!"

"Yan Cong!"

"You know I've given you everything!"

"You're all I have left!"

Yan Cong tilted his head back, his throat tight.

He couldn't utter a single word.

Liang Rumeng wiped her face, but the more she wiped, the more tears she shed.

"I don't need you to be like before, attending to every detail and revolving around me!"

"but……"

"Could you please stop for a moment!"

"You're putting a little thought into me!!"

"I'm a human being too!"

"I am not a stone!"

"I'm hungry, I need to eat!"

"I cry when I'm upset!"

"I also need love to stay alive!"

"Do you even consider me your girlfriend anymore?!"

She practically shouted the last sentence.

The sound circled the small room before settling back between the two people.

Yan Cong turned his head away. His hands, which were behind his back, clenched into fists, his nails digging into his palms.

Liang Rumeng stared at him.

She waited a few seconds.

Yan Cong remained silent.

Those few seconds felt colder to her than the wind outside.

"come over!"

She reached out again, pulling Yan Cong towards the bed.

"I'm not wearing it today!"

"Fine, I'll take my medicine!"

But this time...

It still couldn't be moved.

Yan Cong bit her lip, frozen in place.

Liang Rumeng slowly turned around.

She looked at Yan Cong, her eyes gradually fading, and her lips twitched slightly, a faint smile playing on her lips.

It's also very fragmented.

It was as if she had finally realized that she was no longer as important to him as she used to be.

She let go.

Then, she lowered her head little by little, walked back to the bedside, and put on the clothes that had been tossed aside, one by one.

The only sound in the room was the rustling of clothes.

And there was the sound of the wind blowing through the bamboo forest outside.

After she finished dressing, her voice had turned cold.

"Wait a moment..."

"Take me home."

Yan Cong opened his mouth.

In the end, he only uttered one word.

"Um."

After saying that, he pushed open the door and went out.

There's a small stool by the door.

Yan Cong sat down, took out a cigarette from his pocket, and lit one.

A night breeze blew, and the sparks flickered.

The smoke drifted past his face and was quickly blown away.

Yan Cong lowered his head, his face full of exhaustion.

What could he say?

Is making money the most important thing right now?

He said he didn't not want to touch her, he just didn't want her to take her medicine?

He said it wasn't that he didn't want to love her, but that the thought of his grandmother's medical expenses, house, and marriage made him feel suffocated.

What's the point of saying all this?

She followed him at an age when she should have been carefree.

He didn't want to burden her with any more pressure.

He genuinely wanted to give her a home.

Yan Cong raised his hand to cover his eyes, utterly exhausted.

He only came to his senses when the smoke burned his knuckles.

As I finished my last puff of cigarette, the door behind me opened.

Liang Rumeng was already dressed and standing at the door.

"Let's go."

Her voice was cold.

The hurt look on her face was gone, as was her silly smile.

Yan Cong felt a tug at his chest, but he still nodded silently.

The two got on the electric scooter.

The car slowly drove towards the village entrance.

The warm yellow headlights shone ahead, illuminating only a small section of the dirt road.

Further away, everything was shrouded in darkness.

In the past...

Liang Rumeng had already hugged his waist from behind, pressed her face against his back, and chattered about how there were dogs here and ghosts there, screaming in fright.

But now.

There was a large gap between the two.

Liang Rumeng bit her lip, looking at the silent boy in front of her, and tears streamed down her face again.

Yan Cong gripped the handlebars so tightly that the veins on the back of his hands bulged.

The wind was blowing very fast, but it couldn't blow away the painful lump in his chest.

The car slowed down.

Yan Cong looked up at the stars in the sky.

The camera followed his gaze upwards.

The starry sky is very bright.

One by one, they hang in the damp night sky of a southern winter night.

Then.

The screen flips.

The camera falls from the starry sky to another dark mountain forest.

The bamboo shadows swayed.

At the end of the path, there was a dim street lamp.

Under the streetlights.

A girl squatted there, swatting away mosquitoes while occasionally checking her phone.

It was Liang Rumeng.

She frowned slightly, looking at the time on her phone screen.

【23: 45】

She then opened the chat page.

Don't be narcissistic:

Baby~

How many days will you be back to see Grandma?

On narcissism:

Three days.

Don't be narcissistic:

Could you spare me a day?

[Emoji (Looking pitiful)]

On narcissism:

I don't have time during the day.

Don't be narcissistic:

[Emoji (eyes light up)]

【I'm free tonight!】

On narcissism:

Didn't you say you were supposed to be back by 5 PM when you went out to play?

Otherwise, if your grandma tells your dad, you're finished.

Why are you out at night?

Don't be narcissistic:

【oops!】

"Can I sneak out while Grandma is asleep?"

[As long as I get back before she wakes up at 5 a.m., it'll be fine!]

I miss you so much! Are you coming to pick me up?

[Emoji (stomping feet in anger)]

On narcissism:

[Smiling emoji]

Are you missing me?

【You want it!】

Don't be narcissistic:

[Emoji (blushing and shy)]

On narcissism:

Tell me, have you been secretly working in a gold mine behind my back?

Don't be narcissistic:

[Emoji (covering face with hands in embarrassment)]

Oh dear, baby, I just missed you!

【I want one too~】

How can you bear to leave someone alone in an empty house?

[Emoji (A kitten looking up pitifully)]

On narcissism:

[Emoji (lecherous grin)]

"The same old place, huh?"

Don't be narcissistic:

【Hmm!】

On narcissism:

[Wash and enjoy the fragrance!!!]

[Hurry up and get here!]

Don't be narcissistic:

[Emoji (Kiss~)]

The chat history ends here.

Time stopped at 22:50.

"It's been over an hour, why haven't we arrived yet?"

Liang Rumeng pouted and typed another string of words.

Don't be narcissistic:

【Baby~ Where are you?】

So many mosquitoes!

[Just now, a middle-aged man parked his car and tried to chat me up, but I turned him down!]

[Emoji (The flowers have all withered from waiting)]

On narcissism:

It's just around the corner!

"Turn around! Turn around!"

Liang Rumeng stomped her feet angrily.

"Why does it take so long to turn like that?! Ugh!"

The camera then pans to the other side.

On a country road, a beam of car headlights, flickering on and off, is slowly moving forward.

The camera zooms in.

Yan Cong frowned, staring at the dark road ahead.

"Damn it!"

"Why are the car lights broken?"

It was pitch black all around.

The car lights flickered on and off.

The streetlights along the road were spaced several at a time, and only one of them was still working.

The key is that it's surrounded by bamboo forest.

A gentle breeze rustled the bamboo leaves.

Yan Cong got goosebumps all over his arms.

He gritted his teeth and continued driving forward.

We left the bamboo forest.

Turn a corner.

The car lights, which had been flashing intermittently, suddenly stabilized.

The warm yellow light pierced the darkness, illuminating the road ahead.

It also illuminated Liang Rumeng, who was kicking pebbles in frustration under the streetlight.

She was wearing a pink nightgown.

Upon seeing the newcomer, he first shrank back and tried to put on a cold face.

But as the electric scooter got closer and closer...

And that familiar shout.

"I already told you it's just around the corner, but you still don't believe me!"

all of a sudden.

The coldness on Liang Rumeng's face disappeared.

Her eyes lit up, and she ran over happily.

"Baby~!!!"

Yan Cong raised his chin.

"Hmm! Get in the car!"

"Hmph!"

Liang Rumeng gave Yan Cong a big kiss on the lips.

Then she stared at him fiercely.

"Why are you so slow? I'm about to be sucked flat by mosquitoes!"

"Where is it flat?"

Yan Cong grinned wickedly.

"You, you, you!"

"Bad old man!!!"

Liang Rumeng's face flushed red, and she covered her chest, glaring at him with shame and indignation.

Yan Cong chuckled and patted the back seat.

Let's go!

"Princess, please get in the carriage!"

The two sat on a small electric scooter.

That warm yellow headlight never broke again.

As they passed through the bamboo forest, Liang Rumeng clung tightly to Yan Cong's waist, muttering to herself.

"That was really scary."

"If you had come any later, I would have been taken away by a ghost."

"That ghost is really unlucky."

"Yan Cong!"

"I was wrong, I was wrong, baby, have mercy!"

We walked out of the bamboo forest.

The surrounding area turned into an empty rice paddy.

The night wind blew across the ridges of the fields.

Yan Cong tilted his head back, pointed at the stars in the sky, his eyes shining brightly.

"Baby~ Look, those stars are so bright!"

"You can only see this kind of scene in your hometown."

"You can't see a single star in the city."

Liang Rumeng hugged his waist tightly and looked up at him.

"Then come back and spend more time with me~"

"I'll watch the stars with you every day!"

"Okay~"

Back then, their eyes shone with light.

No matter how cold the wind was, it couldn't separate the two people who were leaning against each other.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Please wait a moment, there are four more chapters, currently being revised.