Blood welled up instantly. Lucas quickly pressed a tissue to the cut on his face.

  More urgent knocking came from outside the bathroom.

  With a sigh, he gave up on shaving, pulled on his T-shirt with one hand, and opened the door. Lily rushed in like a whirlwind, grabbing her comb and a few cosmetics before vanishing again.

  Lucas stepped into the living room, looking around like he’d lost something.He crouched to search under the table, opened the TV cabinet—his movements growing more frantic.

  A sinking feeling gnawed at his chest.

  Turning toward the kitchen, he called,“Mom, did you see the two movie tickets I left on the table?”

  His mother didn’t look up from the dishes. “I didn’t touch them. Your dad’s been sitting there—ask him.”

  Lucas hesitated, then looked at his father, who was reading the newspaper.

  “Dad… did you see the two movie tickets I left here last night?”

  His father adjusted his glasses and replied in his usual strict tone,“I didn’t see any tickets. I saw two random pieces of paper someone left lying around, so I threw them in the trash.”

  Lucas’s breath caught.

  He rushed to the trash can, flipped open the lid—and there they were: two crumpled balls of paper.Carefully unfolding them, he saw the movie tickets he’d prepared with such care the night before.

  As he tried smoothing them out, his father added coldly,“Next time I see something left out, I’ll toss it. Doesn’t matter who it belongs to.”

  His mother stepped out of the kitchen, hands still damp, lips parting as if to speak—then thought better of it. She stood there a moment, sighed softly, and turned back inside.

  Lucas’s expression went blank.

  It was too familiar.

  He remembered the time, as a child, he’d spent hours drawing a picture he loved—only to have it torn up in front of him by his father because he’d forgotten to put it away.

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  He’d cried his eyes out that day.His mother only held him. She didn’t say a word of reproach to his father.

  That was the day a quiet cut was made in his heart.

  After that, he never drew again.

  Not out of hate or anger, but numbness.He learned to pretend he didn’t care—to use silence as a shield.

  But he never threw away that special pen.

  He often held it, silently telling himself,“Maybe one day, I’ll draw again. Maybe I’ll dream again.”

  He tucked the tickets into his notebook, slung on his backpack, and shut the door behind him without a word.

  Behind him, his father peered over his glasses at the closed door.“No goodbye? What kind of manners is that? You really didn’t raise him well.”

  His words sliced through the room like a cold knife.

  His mother muttered quietly from the kitchen,“You threw away his tickets. That’s why he’s upset…”

  “You two are always like this…”She let out another sigh and went back to washing dishes.

  In the classroom, sunlight spilled across the desks, and dust particles floated lazily in the beam. Time seemed softer here, even as the room buzzed quietly with pre-class chatter.

  Nora rested her chin in one hand, idly spinning a pen with the other. Her eyes wandered over her open textbook, but her mind wasn’t on it.

  She was still caught in last night’s dream—the tail of the fox, the blinding headlights on the highway…It had all felt too real.So real she wondered if it had actually happened.

  Should she tell Alex?Alex, her seatmate, was sharp, decisive, almost boyish. She always knew what to do.But this… how could she explain something even she didn’t understand?

  Just then, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Lucas.

  He had a fresh bandage on his face and was fidgeting with a strange pen—dark wood, etched with swirling lines.On the desk in front of him lay two very wrinkled movie tickets.

  Wait—wasn’t his seat farther away yesterday?

  She frowned slightly and whispered,“Lucas… when did you switch seats?”

  Lucas paused mid-spin of his pen. For a second, he looked like he didn’t know what to say.

  Before he could answer, Alex leaned in with a sly grin.

  “Hey! What’s going on with you two? Are you… dating?”

  Nora shot up straight in her chair, eyes wide.“No! Don’t be ridiculous, Alex!”

  Lucas opened his mouth, but said nothing.

  The bell rang, cutting off any chance of reply.The chatter faded as everyone turned toward the front.

  Ms. Anderson stood at the podium, tapping her desk with her knuckles.Her usual warm smile lingered on her lips.

  Thank you for reading! This book was fully revised on March 28 with final edits and polished translation. If you enjoy the story, please consider leaving a comment or sharing your thoughts — it really means a lot to me as a first-time author. The full version is available on Kindle. Let’s discover the dream of the night fox together!