I'm in Senior Year, and the System Says I'm Going on a Blind Date with My Childhood Sweetheart

She didn't even have time to cry out before her body fell into a warm embrace that carried a familiar scent.

The next second, Shen Yuan moved without warning.

His warm forehead pressed heavily against the side of her neck, burying itself deep.

The young man's breath was scalding hot, rapid and suppressed, fanning entirely over the sensitive patch of skin in the crook of Li Zhi's neck—a spot he had intimately marked before.

A ripple of tiny tremors instantly broke out there, a familiar yet strange tingling sensation spreading up her spine.

Li Zhi froze completely, her heart clenching painfully.

The force of the embrace was less of a hug and more like he was searching for a place to anchor all the tumultuous emotions surging within him.

"Shen Yuan?"

Li Zhi's voice held a slight hint of panic.

Shen Yuan didn't respond, only burying his face more forcefully into her soft, fragrant hair.

His forehead was pressed tightly into the hollow of her slender shoulder. His eyes were shut tight, and his Adam's apple bobbed violently, as if he were desperately trying to swallow something that was about to burst forth.

The only sound in the air was his somewhat rapid yet forcefully suppressed breathing, one breath after another brushing against the artery in her neck.

The clamor of the classroom seemed to be cut off by an invisible barrier.

Soaked in the scalding heat of his breath on her neck, Li Zhi's rigid body slowly began to soften.

The hand that had intended to push him away hesitated, lifted, and finally, gently and tentatively, landed on his tense back in a soothing gesture.

An imperceptible tremor traveled up from her fingertips.

"...What's wrong?"

Li Zhi's voice was very soft, as if afraid to startle a butterfly resting in his hair. She practically murmured the question against his cool earlobe.

She carefully pressed her cheek against the young man's fluffy, cool black hair.

In response to her question, he seemed to bury his head even deeper.

Shen Yuan tightened his arms around her waist and back, seeming to entrust his entire weight to this silent support.

Only after he had arduously swallowed down the surging emotions, his throat rolling with suppression, did a muffled voice finally sound from the crook of her neck:

"Li Zhi... Are you an idiot?"

The emotion was so turbulent and heavy that it made Li Zhi's own heart tremble.

She could feel a kind of stubbornness and sorrow in the force of his embrace that she didn't yet fully understand.

Li Zhi's cheek shifted against his cool hair, and her long, slender fingers gently stroked his tense back, as if she were soothing a large, anxious dog.

Just then, the muffled voice from her neck returned, carrying an imperceptible catch and hoarseness that struck even deeper into Li Zhi's heart.

Shen Yuan's voice, muffled by her clothing, continued to ask with a heavy warmth.

"Why did you wait for me? All the way until you were thirty-five?"

The undisguised pain in his words, mixed with the heavy weight on her neck and his scalding breath, made her choke up.

Her fingertips tightened unconsciously, pinching the sweater at Shen Yuan's waist. It was a familiar gesture, but this time it held a hint of panic.

Her face, like a ripe fruit, turned a breathtaking shade of red. Even her small earlobes burned until they were almost translucent.

Her teeth bit down hard on her lower lip, almost drawing blood, as she desperately suppressed the tidal wave of emotions and the cry that was about to break free.

Finally, she took a sharp breath, as if she had made up her mind.

The cheek pressed against Shen Yuan's cool hair moved, no longer just a soothing nuzzle.

Her bright, clear eyes were filmed with moisture, but they gazed with unusual seriousness at the young man still buried in her neck.

The girl's shy voice rang out clearly:.

"...What other reason could there be?!"

Li Zhi's voice instantly dropped, murmuring by Shen Yuan's ear.

"It's because I like you, you idiot!"

After saying this, Li Zhi seemed to have completely exhausted all her courage. She abruptly pressed her forehead hard against the crown of Shen Yuan's head.

Her fingers were no longer stroking unconsciously. Instead, with a force that was part indignation, part coquettishness, she pinched the muscle on Shen Yuan's arm.

"There... Are you happy now?!"

Shen Yuan's arms, holding her tightly, suddenly constricted even more!

It was as if he wanted to knead all the anxiety that had traversed through time and the overwhelming love of this moment into her warm, soft body.

The young man's strength was so great that Li Zhi almost whimpered in his arms. His knuckles turned white from the force.

His face was still buried deep in the crook of her neck, greedily drinking in the peach fragrance of her hair and the unique sense of security she provided.

However, this sweet moment didn't last long.

A devastating wail, as piercing as a winter wind in the south, instantly shattered the tranquil air.

"AHHHHH—!!!"

Ah Jie clutched his head with both hands, his face a mask of agony and indignation, as he pointed at the inseparable culprits.

"Poet! You poet!!"

Ah Jie's classroom-piercing wail was like a bucket of cold water.

Startled by the commotion, Li Zhi was instantly yanked out of her state of complete, immersive surrender.

Only then did she belatedly realize just how conspicuous their embrace was in the middle of a crowded classroom.

"Hey!"

Like a startled fawn, she immediately struggled in Shen Yuan's arms. With the flustered annoyance of having a private moment witnessed, her small fingertips pinched the arm he had wrapped around her waist.

"Isn't that enough?! Let go!"

Her hushed voice was rapid and commanding as she tried to hide the panic beneath her thin veil of shyness. "Everyone's watching!"