Jiang Yu didn't sleep all night.
He moved everything in his room that could reflect a shadow to the side of his bed.
The mirror.
His phone.
His tablet.
The window.
Even a glass filled with water.
If Lin Zi'an really was still there.
He would appear again.
Three in the morning.
There was nothing.
Four in the morning.
Still nothing.
When dawn was nearly breaking.
Jiang Yu finally couldn't keep his eyes open.
Just as he was about to fall asleep.
Click.
It sounded like someone pulling out a chair.
Very soft.
But too clear to be a dream.
Jiang Yu's eyes flew open.
The room was empty.
But.
In the mirror in front of his desk.
There was a classroom.
Not his room.
It was Class 11-3.
Sunlight streamed through the windows.
The students were in class.
The teacher was writing mathematical formulas on the board.
In the last row by the window.
Jiang Yu sat in his usual seat.
And in front of him.
Lin Zi'an had his head lowered, secretly eating a red bean bun.
Everything remained exactly as it had been on the day he disappeared.
Jiang Yu slowly approached the mirror.
"Lin Zi'an."
In the mirror.
No one looked up.
As if the sound couldn't get through.
Jiang Yu reached out.
His fingertip touched the glass.
It was cold.
The next second.
Lin Zi'an suddenly stopped.
He slowly turned around.
This time.
He wasn't smiling.
He only looked at Jiang Yu.
His lips moved once.
But no sound came out.
Jiang Yu tried to make out what he was saying.
The first time.
He couldn't understand it.
The second time.
A chill suddenly ran through his entire body.
Lin Zi'an was saying.
Don't come.
Crack!
The mirror suddenly split.
A tiny fracture.
It spread all the way from the center.
The image instantly returned to Jiang Yu's own reflection.
He stood in his room.
His hand was still pressed against the glass.
As if none of what had just happened existed.
In the morning.
Jiang Yu carried the cracked mirror to the garbage truck.
The sanitation worker took it from him.
With a smile, he said:
"Young man."
"You can't keep a cracked mirror."
"Old folks say it's easy for things from the other side to come through."
Jiang Yu's body jolted.
"The other side?"
The sanitation worker laughed.
"Just an urban legend."
"But I've been doing this for more than twenty years."
"Every time someone throws out a cracked mirror."
"It's always in the middle of the night."
With that.
The garbage truck drove away.
Jiang Yu remained standing there.
At school.
During the break after first period.
The homeroom teacher suddenly announced.
"Starting tomorrow."
"A new student will be transferring into our class."
The whole class immediately started shouting.
"Boy or girl?"
"Are they pretty?"
The teacher smiled and shook his head.
"You'll find out tomorrow."
Jiang Yu didn't join in.
He only lowered his head and stared at his desk.
Suddenly.
Someone sat in the empty seat in front of him.
The chair that had originally belonged to Lin Zi'an.
"Excuse me."
Jiang Yu looked up.
It was a boy he'd never seen before.
He began organizing his schoolbag.
As if this seat.
Had always been his.
The class monitor came over.
He patted the boy on the shoulder.
"Welcome."
"You'll sit here from now on."
Jiang Yu froze.
"Teacher."
He suddenly stood up.
"Wasn't that an empty seat?"
The entire class fell silent.
The homeroom teacher looked at him in confusion.
"What empty seat?"
"This one."
Jiang Yu pointed at the new student.
"Wasn't it always empty?"
The teacher frowned.
"Jiang Yu."
"Have you been under too much stress lately?"
"This seat."
"Has always been reserved for a transfer student."
The new student also smiled.
"Hi."
"My name is Zhou Ye."
"I look forward to working with you."
Jiang Yu didn't take his hand.
His gaze fell on the number above Zhou Ye's head.
A number appeared.
1.
Not one hundred.
Not eighty.
Not a normal person's number.
Only.
1.
Exactly the same as the number above Lin Zi'an's head before he disappeared.
After school.
Jiang Yu rushed out of the classroom.
Shen Zhiwei followed him the entire way.
"What's wrong?"
Jiang Yu didn't answer.
He only turned around.
And looked toward the classroom windows on the second floor.
The setting sun shone on the glass.
Forming a broad expanse of glare.
And in that glare.
Jiang Yu saw.
Zhou Ye wasn't sitting in his own seat.
He was sitting in...
Lin Zi'an's seat.
His head lowered.
He slowly opened the desk drawer.
From inside.
He took out half a red bean bun that had already dried out.
Then.
He raised his head.
And through the glass, toward Jiang Yu outside.
He revealed a smile.
Exactly the same.
As Lin Zi'an's.