During freshman boot camp, my roommate covered herself from head to toe in her homemade sunscreen every day.

It made her skin fair and soft, and made her smell so sweet that she drew the attention of countless young men.

Even my rich boyfriend led the campaign to crown her campus beauty queen.

But only I knew the fragrance she added to her sunscreen was toxic. It would make her skin rot if she used it for a long time.

I said nothing. Instead, I quietly applied to switch dorms.

In my last life, I had warned her out of kindness. She cried in front of everyone and said I was trying to isolate her.

All the young men called me jealous. My boyfriend broke up with me in anger, then pursued her instead.

It didn't take long for my roommate's skin to really start rotting, and I rushed to apply the salve made from an old family recipe.

The wounds healed, but her skin turned dark and rough. She went from campus beauty queen to campus joke overnight.

My boyfriend dumped her, and the other young men avoided her like the plague.

She blamed everything on my jealousy. On the day she was forced to withdraw from university, she tied me up on the top floor of a university building.

Then she poured a bucket of sulfuric acid over my head.

"It's all because of your accursed salve that everyone's laughing at me! You ruined my chance to marry into a rich family!"

I died from the torment.

When I opened my eyes again, I was back on the first day of my university's freshman boot camp.

I could not stop myself from sneezing twice. Then, the familiar tickle in my nose made me freeze.

When I looked up, the girls in Aurora Sanders's row had already stepped out of formation and were introducing themselves to us.

"My name is Aurora. The Aurora dancing in the sky. Nice to meet everyone."

The familiar words made my fists tighten as I realized I had gone back in time. I was back on the first day of university's freshman boot camp!

As Aurora spoke, she tilted her head slightly, and the soft, almost-radiant skin on her face seemed to glow under the sun.

The guys behind us could only stare. "Aurora's skin is so fair and soft... I wonder if her skin would turn red if I pinched her?"

The freshmen from the other faculties looked over too. Even the girls started whispering. "Is her sunscreen really that good? The school said we can't wear makeup during boot camp, and it's 104 degrees today, but she's still at this fair without putting on any foundation."

"Smell that. Aurora smells amazing. What perfume is she wearing?"

The noises drowned out the rest of the introductions, and Aurora's smile grew wider as a blush spread across her cheeks while she listened to their praises.

The guys could barely stand still now.

My boyfriend, Matt Jackson, was standing diagonally behind me. His eyes were filled with awe. "She's pretty, fair, and smells so amazing too… Not to mention she has that hourglass figure. She's definitely one of the prettiest on campus!"

My fists tightened again.

In my last life, this was the moment Aurora became famous across the entire university because of her homemade sunscreen.

She was vain to begin with. After hearing all that praise, she applied it more and more often, going from once a day to four times a day.

My family was in the fragrance business, so I had grown up around scents. I could tell right away that the fragrance she used was toxic. But I never imagined that one warning out of kindness would make Matt betray me and turn my classmates against me.

Even then, after her skin began to ulcerate, I immediately gave her the salve made from an old family recipe. The salve could heal the ulcers, but after years of corrosion, her skin was already beyond saving. Her skin had become dark and rough.

I told her staying alive mattered more than anything, but she was convinced I had given her a toxin on purpose. For that, she poured sulfuric acid over my head as revenge.

"You were just jealous of my skin, jealous that Matt liked me! You deserve to go to hell for ruining my whole life, Wendy Summers!"

The memory of Aurora's twisted face made me shudder.

Then, I heard Matt asking me, "Is that your roommate? Does she have a boyfriend?"

Just then, the introductions ended, and we were given a five-minute break.

Aurora walked over, her pretty eyes drifting toward Matt beside me every now and then. Their eyes met. In that instant, Aurora's face turned bright red, and the sweet fragrance coming from her body grew even stronger.

Matt could hardly control his own breath.

But only I knew what was happening. The temperature was too high. Once Aurora started to sweat, it would mix with the fragrance in the sunscreen and make the scent even stronger.

However, it would also intensify the toxicity by manyfold.

When the instructor called Matt over, he gave Aurora one more look before he had to leave reluctantly.

Aurora used this chance to ask me, "Wendy, I heard you and Matt went to high school together. Can I get his number?"

Another of our roommates rolled her eyes. "Everyone in class knows Matt is Wendy's boyfriend. You're asking her right to her face? Are you trying to steal him right in front of her?"

Aurora frowned a little as her eyes reddened. "That's not what I'm trying to say. I just heard Matt was the temporary class leader, so I wanted to..."

"I'll send it to you," I said.

Aurora's eyes lit up and she quickly took out her phone.

After I sent her his contact info, she smiled and took my arm. "Thank you, Wendy. You're so nice. We're good friends from now on."

The tickle in my nose made me uncomfortable, and I pulled my arm away on instinct.

Aurora was ready to act like she was hurt again, so I forced down my disgust and called out to Matt, who was walking up behind her. "Matt, let's all have lunch together!"

-

On the way to where we would have our lunch, Matt kept staring at Aurora. He was completely captivated by her, as he looked at the exposed skin that was as smooth as marble, together with that sweet fragrance on her.

I silently moved to the side.

Matt and I had gotten together after the SAT, and only three months had passed.

In my last life, I really was jealous of the attention he gave Aurora. But after living through it once, I finally understood that he was already rotten inside. He and Aurora pretty much deserved each other.

In the cafeteria, Matt got a call from our faculty advisor. After hanging up, he looked at me hesitantly. I knew what he was about to say.

Tomorrow, each class had to choose one representative to give a speech onstage.

In my last life, I had been chosen by the class advisor herself since I was the top scorer. However, Aurora had waited until I went onstage before quietly sobbing and hinting repeatedly that I had stolen her chance.

All the guys had gathered around to comfort her and no one bothered listening to my speech. Even Matt glared viciously at me. After it ended, he dragged me into a corner, and we had the worst fight since we had met.

From then on, no matter what event came up, Aurora became the obvious choice.

Even though I was the top scorer, the scholarships, awards, and even outstanding thesis honors all went to her. I had studied so hard to get into my dream university and my dream major. I never imagined I would lose everything to Aurora.

When I came back to myself, Matt was still trying to figure out how to bring it up.

I coughed. "My throat isn't feeling well lately. I think I'm catching a cold."

He immediately straightened his back and said, "Then you should rest. But there's a speech tomorrow, and the faculty advisor specifically asked for you..."

"I can't go. Let Aurora do it," I said.

Aurora looked delighted. "Really? Thank you!"

I smiled faintly. "Of course. We're best friends, after all. Speaking of which, your sunscreen works really well. Remember to put on more when the time comes. The podium gets a lot of sun."

Aurora's eyes flickered with thought, and she nodded hard. Matt sighed in relief. His eyes swept over me for a second, then turned to Aurora's face again.

-

At the first schoolwide event after freshman boot camp began, Aurora became famous overnight.

From the moment she stepped onto the podium, not one male student looked away from her.

I sat in the crowd, and mention of her name came from every direction.

"Aurora's sunscreen works so well... It's so hot today, and everyone else has gotten tanner, but she's the only one who still looks so fair! She can probably reflect the sunlight!"

"If she can make sunscreen herself, it means Aurora's family must be pretty well off. Is she rich too?"

"No wonder Matt says she's the school's beauty queen! She's perfect from all angles!"

After Aurora finished her speech, she bowed to everyone. The movement made her collar fall open, revealing her ample cleavage.

Last night, while the rest of us slept, she stayed up and modified the fragrance into perfume.

The speech event started at ten. Before then, she had applied sunscreen three times and sprayed half a bottle of perfume all over herself. Even the breeze carried her fragrance through the wind now, and all the guys near the podium were blushing.

Some of them were even reacting to that…

I watched Matt crane his neck for a better look while trying to shield his manhood with one hand, and my disgust deepened.

A few hours later, a video of Aurora's speech was uploaded to the school message board and she went viral across campus. Everyone called her the school's beauty queen and the video was downloaded countless times, and a full-body photo of her was put on the homepage, right beside my top scorer photo.

In the photo, she wore a white spaghetti-strap mini dress that exposed almost every bit of skin she wanted to show. She looked so fair and gentle, it was almost unreal. Meanwhile, I wore an ordinary white T-shirt and jeans. It was so glaring that we did not even seem to belong in the same league.

Someone on the forum immediately started comparing us.

[When school started, I thought Wendy was quite pretty. But next to Aurora, she looks so tan and ugly.]

[They're in the same dorm. Why can't she learn from Aurora and use sunscreen properly?]

[A girl who doesn't even use sunscreen. I can't believe Matt didn't mind someone like her.]

Soon, Matt sent me a message: [Wendy, I don't think we're right for each other. Let's break up.]

The day I had been waiting for was finally here. I held back my excitement and sent him a few simple texts asking him not to break up.

Then I wrote: [Forget it. I'll be honest, I think you and Aurora are a better match. If she's the one you like, I wish you both well.]

A few days later, Aurora showed up arm in arm with Matt. The moment they appeared, everyone applauded. Aurora covered her mouth and laughed shyly on purpose, but I noticed the sunscreen on her body looked even thicker than before.

She had become even more dependent on it over the past few days. She had even set an alarm to apply it all over her body every two hours.

At this rate, there would be no need to wait until the end of the school year like in my last life. Her skin would start ulcerating before freshman boot camp was even over.

The two of them walked over like celebrities surrounded by admirers, and I smiled. "Aurora, you look even more beautiful lately."

Aurora leaned against Matt and smiled back at me. "Thank you for letting Matt and me be together."

I looked at the sunscreen smeared around Matt's lips and smiled sincerely too. "Of course. We're best friends, after all."

After that, Aurora and Matt took a few days off, and Aurora did not come back to the dorm either.

Judging from Aurora's social media posts, Matt often drove her around in luxury cars and took her to his family's businesses. The two of them were having lavish meals every now and then by the river and staying at five-star hotels.

That day, I was packing when my roommate muttered behind me.

"I wonder what Aurora added to that sunscreen of hers to make men lose their minds over her. Even you got bewitched enough to hand your boyfriend over to her just like that. I heard from students from other faculties that while Aurora is officially Matt's girlfriend, she's actually in a relationship with a lot of the other guys too. Since you two are so close, has she told you about it?"

I said nothing and simply continued to pack things into my suitcase.

My application to switch dorms had been approved. Once freshman boot camp was over, I would move out. I really could not stay another second in a place filled with that fragrance.

The day before the boot camp's performance day, the instructor had us all sit in a circle. Anyone with talent could volunteer to perform in addition to the march, where everyone would have to join.

Naturally, Aurora was the first to go.

She wore that white spaghetti-strap mini dress today, with white shorts beneath the skirt that left plenty to the imagination.

As she danced, I noticed that the fragrance was more than ten times stronger than before, and the watery sheen on her skin made the guys even more restless. Even the instructor blushed at her teasing.

I sat across from Matt and saw the sunscreen on his arms and face too.

But when I glanced to the side, another guy had some around his lips. Another had some on his arms. Even the tall, handsome guy in the back row had sunscreen smeared across his collarbone in plain sight.

Aurora had added too much fragrance into the sunscreen. Once it got on someone, it could no longer be washed off.

When the dance ended, the whole field erupted in cheers.

A dark light flashed inside Matt's eyes, as if he was upset that something that belonged to him was being coveted by others.

After thinking for two seconds, he walked over and dropped to one knee before holding out an expensive diamond ring.