Lonely Rock: Love Songs Dedicated to the Stars

Yuzhen unfolded the folded paper. There weren't many words on it, but the handwriting was beautiful. He read it quickly; it basically said that she liked him and hoped he would come to the back of the school building after school today.

Xingge also saw the letter, and she felt inexplicably uncomfortable.

She seemed to want to say something more, but the school bell rang and the Chinese teacher entered the classroom, so she could only return to her seat and prepare for class.

During lunch break, Yuma and Hoshika brought their lunchboxes to the activity room, where the three seniors had just arrived and were sitting and chatting.

"Umino-senpai, how's your revision going?" Yuma sat next to Omori-senpai, with Umino-senpai sitting opposite him.

"It's alright, and Tokita is helping me too. I feel like I should have no problem passing the exam." Senior Umino looked a little tired, but she still maintained her usual smile.

Senior Tokita nodded to the others, indicating that they didn't need to worry.

After lunch, Yuzhen took out the love letter.

"Actually, I received this." He placed the love letter in the envelope on the table.

"Why did you bring this here? To show off?" Senior Omori looked at Yuuma with a resentful expression.

"He's definitely showing off."

"Tokita! You guy with a girlfriend, shut up!" Senior Omori seemed to have a lot of resentment about this kind of thing.

"You bastard, I've never received a love letter! I'm clearly on your side!"

"Shut up! You're not even a virgin anymore, how could you possibly understand how I feel seeing a junior receiving a love letter!"

Yuzhen ignored the two big guys wrestling next to her.

"Actually, this is the first time I've received something like this, so I'm a little worried that it might be a prank."

Umino-senpai picked up the letter, and Tokita and Omori also let go of each other and moved behind her to read it together.

"The writing is sincere and heartfelt. It doesn't seem like a prank."

Senior Umino read it carefully.

“Isn’t that what I said during break?” Xingge looked at him, puzzled. “Speaking of which, will you still reject me outright this time? I remember you rejected my confession quite decisively during the school festival.”

“That’s different.” Yuzhen looked scared. “During the school festival, I was downstairs and that girl was on the roof. Even if I rejected her, I would be fine. But this time we have to face her. What if I reject her and she chops me with a machete?”

After he finished speaking, he looked up and found that everyone else was looking at him like he was an idiot.

"Where did you hear about this kind of thing?" Xingge looked at him helplessly.

“In the anime, the male protagonist gets his head chopped off with a machete in the finale.” Yuma’s expression turned serious. “Art imitates life, and I think my concerns are quite reasonable.”

"I think your worries are completely unnecessary. Just tell me you have someone you like when the time comes." Senior Omori waved his hand at Yuuma. "We'll be watching from the sidelines. If anything happens, we'll help you."

"Should I just say I have someone I like? Is that a convincing reason?" Yuzhen questioned the practicality of this old-fashioned excuse.

"Just trust your seniors, it's all based on experience." Senior Omori's confidence seemed to come from nowhere.

"But Omori-senpai, you've never been in a relationship before, so where did you get your experience from?"

Yuma couldn't help but complain when she saw Omori-senpai's confident demeanor.

"It seems like he gained his experience from visual novels."

Senior Tokita stood next to Yuuma and spoke up about the information he knew.

"Do you two want a beating?!"

……

After school, Yuuma and his seniors didn't go to the club room. As his seniors had said, resolving Yuuma's issue was what today's club activity was all about. They went together to the location mentioned in the letter. However, there was no one else there when they arrived, so Yuuma sat down on a bench under a tree and waited patiently.

Xingge and his seniors crouched down behind the flowerbed, wanting to see if it was a prank or if a girl would actually come over.

After a while, it was almost time for the appointment, and Yuuma saw a rather cute-looking girl walking towards him. She wasn't very tall, wore black-rimmed glasses, and had two braids. When she saw Yuuma, she didn't dare to look him in the eye at first, keeping her head down. Then, as if she had made up her mind, she raised her face and looked directly at Kenzaki Yuuma in front of her.

Yuma stood up on the bench when he saw her walking towards him, and the two of them were now standing face to face under the shade of the tree.

"Did you give this to me?"

Yuma took the letter out of her pocket. The girl nodded after seeing the love letter she had written.

"I knew it." Yuzhen smiled as he looked at the girl standing opposite him. He was relieved that it wasn't a prank. "I can feel your feelings in this letter. Thank you for liking me."

"Can I go out with Kenzaki-kun?" the girl asked, blushing. "I like you."

"I'm sorry, I already have someone I like."

Yuzhen rejected her the moment she finished speaking.

"So... does Kenzaki-san like delinquent girls?"

Her sudden question almost caught Yuuma off guard, and the others who were peeking from behind the flowerbed were also surprised by her question. Senior Umino glanced at Hoshika beside her, but found that she didn't react.

Hoshigo was intently watching Yuuma's situation, eager to hear his response.

"Why would you ask such a question?" Yuma clearly didn't understand the meaning behind her words.

"Because Kenzaki-san is always with Ijichi-san, everyone says that the two of you are dating. That's why I wanted to ask."

Yuzhen understood. He had been too close to Xingge, which led others to misunderstand their relationship. But hadn't these people considered that their relationship might be that of just ordinary friends? Come to think of it, after spending so much time with Xingge, Yuzhen had almost forgotten that Xingge was like a delinquent girl.

“I usually hang out with Ijichi-senpai because we’re both in the Light Music Club,” Yuuma answered her question earnestly. “We’re just ordinary classmates.”

"I'm sorry, I lied to you! I do like her. But we're just ordinary classmates right now."

"I see. I'm sorry, Kenzaki-san, for wasting your time..."

She apologized to Yuuma, but Yuuma interrupted her.

Please don't say that.

When she looked at Kenzaki Yuuma, she found that Yuuma was looking at her with an approving gaze.

“You did nothing wrong. It takes a lot of courage to express your feelings today. At least I don’t have the courage to confess to a girl I like right now.”

The seniors, who were hiding behind the bushes, kept watching the situation until the girl left.

"This guy even said he doesn't like gentle girls, but he himself is very gentle." Senior Umino glanced at Hoshika next to her as she spoke.

Yuma waited until the girl turned into the teaching building before going to look for her seniors behind the bushes. By the time she found them, Hoshika and Umino-senpai had already returned to the activity room.

After Xingge returned to the activity room, she picked up her guitar and played for a while, with senior Haiye watching her. Only when she got tired and stopped did Haiye get up and come to her.

Does Xingge really like the guitar?

"Of course I like it." Xingge sat in the chair, looking at the guitar in her hands, barely paying attention to what Umino-senpai had said. She was still thinking about what Yuuma had just said.

"Really? You prefer guitar to Kenzaki?"

"How could that be?" she instinctively retorted to her senior, then realized she might have said something wrong. "Wait! What did you make me say?!"

"So, this is the truth?"

Senior Umino looked at Hoshika with a mocking expression.

"How could I possibly like him?"

Xingge turned her head away to avoid her senior's gaze.

"Xingge, sometimes being more frank can bring surprises."

Hoshika wanted to argue with her, but she heard Kenzaki Yuuma and Omori-senpai arguing; the two of them had returned.

"Why did you two come back so suddenly? It's so disloyal of you to abandon me and run away like that."

Yuzhen deliberately looked annoyed at the two girls sitting in the activity room.

"Sorry, I'm sorry. I was too tired from studying these past two days, so I came back first. Xingge was worried about me, so she came back with me."

Umino-senpai looked at Yuuma apologetically.

"I'm sorry, I was just joking, please don't take it seriously." Yuma sat next to Hoshika and looked at Umino-senpai with concern. "Senior, you should still take care of yourself and not overwork yourself."

“Kenzaki is right. Umino, if you’re too tired, you can just say so and go home to rest. There aren’t any club activities today.” Senior Omori also looked at Umino with concern. “Tokita just left to be with his girlfriend, so it’s okay. Studying is important, but you should also take care of your health.”

"Then I'll listen to you. I'll go home and rest now. See you tomorrow."

Haiye picked up her bag, got up, and left. Before leaving, she turned back and winked at Xingge.

After the senior left, Yuzhen also took out his books to read. His grades were indeed very good, but he didn't think he could take the final exam lightly. He still needed to review what he needed to review.

Senior Omori also took out his textbooks and started reviewing.

Xingge sat beside Yuzhen and watched her solve math problems for a while. She lowered her head and thought for a moment, then reached out and gently patted Yuzhen's shoulder.

"Is there something you need, Ijichi-senpai?"

"Um... could you tutor me?" Xingge felt her face burning up after saying that. "Right now, at my house."

"Of course. I'm so glad that you're finally willing to start learning."

'Why does this sound like a father's reflection after seeing his child study hard?' The thought popped into her head, but she quickly shook her head to dispel it.

"Well then, Omori-senpai, we'll be going now." Yuuma put the book into his bag. "Please lock the door."

"No problem. You guys go ahead, I'll stay a little longer."

……

Xingge walked home with Youzhen. She felt confused; why had she impulsively let this guy come home with her?

"Senior, what's wrong?"

Yuzhen watched Xingge's strange behavior all the way. Sometimes she would shake her head, and sometimes she would look down as if she was struggling with something. What was going on?

"Ah, um, it's okay, let's go."

The two arrived at Ijichi's house. After Yuma greeted Ijichi's aunt and Nijika, Hoshika pulled her into the bedroom.

Yuzhen sat opposite Xingge, explaining a math problem that she had just randomly pointed out to her.

Xingge's mind wasn't on that at all; she was still thinking about what Umino-senpai had told her before she left. Would being frank bring a surprise? Did it mean the guy sitting across from her, explaining problems to her, also liked her?

Thinking this, she stood up, then walked over to Yuzhen and sat down next to her; the two of them were now very close.

"Senior, what are you doing?"

Yuma felt his shoulders were pressed against Hoshika's. Being so close to someone he liked made him feel a little uncomfortable. His face was already a little red, but he ignored the feeling.

"Sitting across from you, I can't see what you're writing. Please continue."

"it is good."