“Wait—what did you mean earlier? Without me, there wouldn't be this birthday celebration?” I shouted from the back seat.

  “They're celebrating my rebirth! Without you, I wouldn't have been reborn!” A-Ta called back, his voice carried away by the wind.

  “Hirious, huh? What did I ever do to deserve bringing you back to life?” I gripped the pole behind me tightly, starting to get a sense of what was going on.

  A-Ta shouted, “Really?? When we passed by the café earlier, we were actually pnning to go in and ask you to come out with us! But it was closed?? Did they close early today?”

  “Yeah?? The owner had to go back to Changhua for something?” I shouted back with effort.

  “Good thing your bike broke down??” A-Ta yelled nonsensically.

  “Broke down, my ass! And thanks for your ‘kindness,’ huh??” I snapped.

  As the buildings on both sides grew shorter, the wind became wilder. Every sentence required serious vocal power—A-Ta had plenty, but I was struggling to keep up.

  After passing Hulin, I could clearly feel not just the fierce wind hitting us, but also how the wind seemed to add to the bike's momentum.

  I sneaked a gnce at the speedometer—whoa! 110 km/h! That's definitely something to brag about the day after tomorrow!

  "Is it too fast? I can slow down a bit. We know the way anyway," A-Ta noticed my reaction.

  "No need! Just make sure it's safe—that's all that matters, okay? Promise me~~!"

  I shouted. Even though I was born and raised in Hsinchu, I had never been to Nanliao Beach!

  "I promise!" A-Ta lowered his body, and I could feel the scenery rushing past even faster.

  And yet—A-Ta was still at the back of the pack!

  "College students are so cool!" I shouted, suddenly thinking of my brother.

  I wondered if he was recklessly speeding around like this too. I'd have to interrogate him properly when I got home.

  "This is just right!" A-Ta sounded thrilled.

  We reached a long, wide highway, lined with evenly spaced streetlights.

  The orange glow from the bulbs bnketed the entire road, but their warm hue couldn't hold back the gusting wind.

  The closer we got to the sea, the stronger the salty scent became, and I started to feel cold.

  Everyone stopped at a snack stall in the fishing port to buy a few cups of bubble tea before riding down to the seawall.

  I let out a loud sneeze.

  “Here, take this windbreaker. Don't worry about it.” A-Ta took off his orange jacket and handed it to me.

  “No, it′s fine.” I hesitated—A-Ta had been blocking the wind for us earlier; he must be colder than I was.

  "People say idiots don’t catch colds—so don’t worry!" A-Ta, said seriously. I burst out ughing and pulled on my windbreaker.

  "One at a time, dies first!" The spiky-haired club president, A-Bao, called out as he directed everyone.

  A-Bao jumped onto the seawall first. A-Ta used his hands as a makeshift bridge, helping two female club members scramble up. Then it was my turn.

  "Long time no see! I heard you're pretty fierce now!" A-Bao ughed as he pulled me up.

  "Just right," I mimicked A-Ta′s tone as I stepped onto the seawall.

  A few of the guys pulled cakes and bags of fireworks out of their scooters and passed them up from below. Before long, those monkey-like boys were scrambling up one by one, even competing to see who could climb with the most style.

  Once everyone was up, we walked along the slightly narrow seawall, searching for what they called the “usual spot.” But the sea breeze was strong, and looking at the vast, pitch-bck ocean to my right made me feel dizzy after sitting for so long. I crouched down to rest for a moment.

  “Let's just sit here,” A-Ta noticed and crouched down beside me. “We can see the lighthouse from here too.”

  And just like that, the kindhearted group settled down around A-Ta and me.

  One of the girls opened the cake, while I helped arrange the candles into the shape of an excmation mark.

  “A-Ta, introduce her to everyone, will you? You idiot!”

  As the club president, A-Bao reminded the “reincarnated” protagonist that no one here actually knew me.

  A-Ta thought for a moment, then finally spoke. “Oh right, I don't think I even know your name.”

  I nodded. No kidding—because you never asked, and I never told you!

  "I'll introduce myself. My name is Li Siying—Si as in 'longing,' Ying as in 'firefly.' I work part-time at a café."

  I thought for a moment, then added, "And I'm still a high school student—a senior at Hsinchu Girls' High School."

  "A high schooler?! Whoa, a rare and precious high school girl! A-Ta, you totally hit the jackpot!"

  A skinny guy—who looked like a cross between a monkey and a bamboo pole—started hollering and hyping up the group.

  “As expected of the legend of the inline skating club—falling down isn't enough; you had to get up and unch yourself straight into the sky!”

  That idiot A-Bao hugged A-Ta, who panicked and yelled that it wasn't like that at all.

  He hurriedly expined that we were just friends and had only just met.

  Following that, everyone introduced themselves with their nicknames, though I had already heard most of them during PE css at school.

  A-Bao, Lu Houzi, Gui Jiaoqi, Gann Ren, Mei-Hua, Ke-Xin, Fu Lizha, and Dajie Wang.

  Aside from the girls, everyone had ridiculously weird nicknames.

  (T/N: 阿爆; ā Bào, refer to someone with a fiery, bold, or lively character; 绿猴子; lǜ hóuzǐ means green monkey; 鬼脚七; guǐ jiǎo qī, means Ghost Leg Seven; 橄榄人; gǎnlǎn rén, means olive man; 美华; měi huá, means beautiful flower; 可心; kě xīn, means satisfying; 弗力札, fú lì zhá, is the Chinese transliteration of Frieza, the iconic vilin from Dragon Ball Z. Frieza is a powerful, ruthless alien overlord known for his cruelty, arrogance, and ability to transform into stronger forms.)