Title: Social Outcast (社交温度)

Author: Not!Pikachu / Ka Bi Qiu (卡比丘)

Translator: AlexPT

Editors: Silvi (ch.1) and Planetes (ch.2 - END)

Description:

Homophobic Top X Clingy Bottom

A cold and homophobic top matched with a person he hated on a dating app, and discovered that the other was even more clingy than he thought!

Version_1.0

2019/05: Happy 1 million views at BBTL!!

Chapter 1

Song Yuanxun sent Zhao Han to the airport security checkpoint gate. When he returned to his car, his phone suddenly buzzed with a notification alert.

“Mu has matched with you.”

Song Yuanxun picked up his phone and realised that the notification came from an app that he had never seen before. Opening the app, he only saw a selfie occupying more than half of the screen.

The chin of the person could be seen in the selfie and he was dressed in a black T-shirt. The collar of the T-shirt was neither loose nor tight, and it covered up half a delicate looking collarbone. Under the T-shirt, the chest looked very flat. Just by looking at the photo, it was a bit difficult to tell the gender of the person.

Song Yuanxun scrolled down, and under the photo was the person’s basic information. This person was called Mu, a male, Asian, 21 years old. Following that was a section detailing the instructions on how the app worked. Sliding to the right would mean that he accepted this match, and if he slid to the left, the match would be rejected.

When Song Yuanxun saw that, he immediately understood. Zhao Han had installed a dating app for him.

The words on the screen flashed, as though urging Song Yuanxun to come to a decision.

Song Yuanxun had wanted to slide his thumb to the left, first rejecting the match with this Mu person then uninstalling the app. However, as he looked at the photo on the screen, somehow his thumb paused and went the opposite way of what he wanted. The cool colour of the app then changed to a warm tone, and accompanying the change in colour was a short snippet of the beating of a heart and an announcement showing that Song Yuanxun and Mu had matched successfully.

Mu seemed to be waiting for Song Yuanxun to accept the match. When the announcement showed, he immediately sent a message to Song Yuanxun, and it was a voice message.

Song Yuanxun looked at the screen. He did not open the voice message. Then a call from Zhao Han, the mastermind came in. Song Yuanxun accepted the call and Zhao Han’s jubilant voice could be heard. “Have you seen my farewell gift yet?”

“What did you install on my phone?” Song Yuanxun asked Zhao Han, and a trace of anger could be detected despite the calm tone.

“It’s just the app that I mentioned to you,” Zhao Han was not frightened by him. He clicked his tongue, “Did you forget what we were talking about yesterday?”

If Song Yuanxun’s friends had to be ranked according to their unreliability, with the most unreliable ones at the top, Zhao Han would be so far ahead of them that all that could be seen of him was dust.

Song Yuanxun searched his memories and recalled that Zhao Han did seem to have talked to him about some nonsensical matters last night.

Zhao Han had dropped by C City yesterday and crashed at Song Yuanxun’s place. While drinking Song Yuanxun’s beer and smoking Song Yuanxun’s cigarettes, he displayed an attitude that was worthy of a beating, asking Song Yuanxun, “Ah Xun, your mom doesn’t dare to ask you, so she always runs to me. Now I also want to know, are you fucking gay or not?”

Song Yuanxun was on the computer analysing the results of his experiment that he had recorded in the day. Hearing the word “gay”, he was reminded of that girly person in the lab. He instantly shuddered and glared coldy at Zhao Han, retorting, “Do you want to sleep on the bench tonight?”

“No no,” Zhao Han saw that Song Yuanxun even switched off his computer, standing up and walking towards him, looking as though he was ready to fight. He immediately raised his hands in surrender, “I’m just asking only. This is all because Auntie kept asking me about it. Why are you reacting this way?”

“What gay or not gay, it’s disgusting.” Song Yuanxun replied expressionlessly.

Hearing that, Zhao Han was slightly taken aback. He said slowly, “Your view isn’t quite right.”

Song Yuanxun opened the refrigerator and poured himself a glass of beer. Leaning slightly against the wall, he looked at Zhao Han who was on the sofa and gave a one-word reply. “Oh.”

He then quickly followed it with a question. “Is it not disgusting?”

Zhao Han sat up. He glanced at Song Yuanxun, drinking his beer. “Hey, do you know there’s a saying about how homophobic people are actually just hiding deep in the closet?”

Seeing that Song Yuanxun remained silent, he continued, “I think that it makes quite a lot of sense. What do you think?”

“Zhao Han,” Song Yuanxun ignored his question, and only replied coldly. “I’ll reply your previous question. I’m not gay.”

The conversation ended there, at least, it did so in Song Yuanxun’s memory. Hence, Song Yuanxun was unable to confirm exactly what Zhao Han was referring to when he said, “What we were talking about yesterday?”

“This app’s pretty good,” Zhao Han said. “I didn’t register an account with your actual identity. Don’t worry and have fun with it. Let go of your control and nature.”

“I’ll uninstall it straight away. If you touch my phone again, don’t blame me for being rude.”

Song Yuanxun hung up after saying that. He was about to delete the app, but Mu then happen to send another message. Reflexively, he played the message, and Mu’s voice drifted out from his phone.

“How are you? I’m Mu.”

“Hi?”

The person’s tone was breezy, his voice was gentle, and Song Yuanxun recognised it.

Before Song Yuanxun could react, the person sent another message. “Andrew, why didn’t you say anything after accepting the match?”

That person’s voice was nearly the same as usual, with an innate indolence, but also sounded somewhat mysterious, different from what Song Yuanxun was used to.

Fang Zhaomu… was using this app too? How long had he been using it? How many matches had he made?

Song Yuanxun stared at the screen as though possessed. He moved his thumbs and replied the sissy from the lab that he abhorred, “What did you say?”

Chapter 2

This was the first time Fang Zhaomu had ever used a dating app, so he was a little nervous about it. However, having not a single person he could talk to at school, he was truly very lonely.

He was still not very familiar with the workings of the app. After completing the registration, and selecting a few interests, the app started showing him a few possible matches. He swiped past profiles that he had no interest in, then a profile with the name Andrew appeared.

Andrew was a 29 year old Chinese mechanical engineer. Much like Fang Zhaomu, his face was hidden in his photo. Dressed in a shirt with the top buttons unbuttoned, he exposed his 8-pack abs. Zhaomu was not a fan of showy photos, but was intrigued by the fact that the other party was an engineer, and 8 years older to boot. He decided to swipe right, and gripped his phone tightly, anxiously awaiting a positive response from Andrew.

This year, as he did his exchange at T University, he was met with all sorts of bitterness.

In the beginning, nothing was out of the ordinary, but gradually, Fang Zhaomu discovered that the other Chinese people in the laboratory were reluctant to associate themselves with him. Although the caucasians in his modules were quite friendly, their conversations were always short. As for his friends back home, due to the time difference, they could not help much.

He dreaded solitude, and constantly surrounded himself with friends. As such, these silent days were foreign to him. And as if the silence weren’t enough, it also made him fearful; even the moment where he had to leave his room every morning filled him with fear.

No one had said it directly, but Fang Zhaomu could feel that his ostracisation was because of Song Yuanxun. As for why Song Yuanxun did not like him, Fang Zhaomu did not have a clue.

He only knew that everyone revolved around Song Yuanxun, and since Song Yuanxun did not like him, everyone else started distancing themselves from him, whether on purpose or not.

Having to bear such silent abuse from adults would instil fear in a person. Fang Zhaomu had a countdown set on his phone that counted down to the end of his exchange. Every day he would look at his phone, longing for his day of departure, a parallel to when he was still in his university; he longed for his exchange to start.

Fang Zhaomu had downloaded this app a while ago, but never had the courage to try it, not even daring to register an account. It was only because he had been angered today, and without anywhere to vent his frustration, he finally gathered his nerves, and wanted to try it out to relieve his pressure.

He sent Andrew two messages, then stared at the chat and fell into a daze. On his twentieth time going through his memories to try to see if he did have any unhappy interactions with Song Yuanxun ever since he entered the lab, Andrew replied his message.

“What did you say?”

The four words and a question mark startled Fang Zhaomu. He had nearly forgotten how long he had not spoke Chinese with anyone during the evenings in City C.

Fang Zhaomu tapped on the voice message function, asking Andrew, “Where are you?”

Exiting the chat screen, he took a look, then told Andrew, “The app tells me that we’re only 3 miles away from each other. We can easily meet up if we want.”

After a while, Andrew replied. “Meet up?”

Fang Zhaomu paused, and then received Andrew’s third message. “Where are you?”

Fang Zhaomu thought about it, and told Andrew that he stayed near T University. He then tried to ask him out, “Is this your first time using this app? If you have the time, let’s come out and have a drink.”

Andrew’s replies were very slow. Fang Zhaomu put down his phone, looked at a few pages of his book, before he received another reply. “Why are you in such a rush?”

Fang Zhaomu felt that Andrew was a little strange, and he switched to typing, asking him in return. “Isn’t the app for this purpose?”

This time, Andrew replied very quickly, but it was another question. “Which purpose?”

Fang Zhaomu looked at the screen for a few seconds, and lost interest in replying. Putting aside Andrew’s chat, he started looking at other profiles.

Not long after, Andrew sent another message. “You’re a frequent user of this app?”

Scrolling through many profiles, Fang Zhaomu did not see anyone else that he was interested in. As such, he once again returned to his conversation with Andrew, and replied honestly, “I’m using this for the first time as well, you’re the first person I matched successfully with.”

“Why did you try matching with me?” Andrew asked.

Chatting online had reduced the sense of reality of their interactions. Andrew did not send Fang Zhaomu any voice messages, and his words were very cold. Fang Zhaomu felt as though he was chatting with a robot, and could not help but want to tease the other person. Sending a voice message, Fang Zhaomu told Andrew, “I feel that engineers are very sexy, and I like people who are older than me.”

Even after a long pause, Andrew still did not reply. Fang Zhaomu then asked him, “Don’t tell me you’re feeling embarrassed.”

“No.” Andrew replied instantly.

Fang Zhaomu felt that Andrew’s reaction was very entertaining. He had never felt such joy in a very long time, and so continued teasing Andrew. “I don’t believe you.”

Without waiting for Andrew’s response, Fang Zhaomu asked, “Why are you using this app? Is it because you’re shy in real life, and can’t find a boyfriend?”

“No.” Andrew repeated.

“I think I’m right,” Fang Zhaomu joked. “You don’t even dare to send me a voice message.”

After half a minute, the other person finally sent him a voice message that was two seconds long.

Fang Zhaomu listened to it, it was a very cold and low male voice. “No.”

When he heard it, Fang Zhaomu suddenly felt that he seemed to have heard this voice somewhere before. However, in the next moment, he burst out laughing at the person’s serious denial. Listening to it a few times, he then sent a mocking reply. “Andrew, you’re so stupid.”

Andrew ignored him, then Fang Zhaomu continued. “However, has anyone ever praised you for your voice?”

“I bet your colleagues definitely won’t,” Fang Zhaomu was getting addicted to teasing him. “Then, I’ll compliment you. Andrew, your voice is very nice — and your muscles look very good too.”

Chapter 3

When Song Yuanxun stepped into the lab in the morning, he saw Fang Zhaomu standing by the document cabinet, arranging things with his side facing the door.

Maybe because he felt someone entered, Fang Zhaomu looked up. When his eyes met with Song Yuanxuan’s, he quickly lowered his head.

Fang Zhaomu was a lot shorter than Song Yuanxun. His back and shoulders were slightly hunched, and he looked very stiff. Any traces of his relaxed manner on the app last night could not be seen at all.

Song Yuanxun’s feet did not stop. He walked past Fang Zhaomu, and headed in the direction of his group member, Zhang Ranyu.

Last night, after listening to Fang Zhaomu’s compliments, Song Yuanxun then decisively deleted the app. After all, to be successfully goaded by someone like Fang Zhaomu into sending a voice message was incredibly irrational of him. And to chat with such an academically incompetent gay, it was a pure waste of his time.

“Brother Yuan.” Zhang Ranyu greeted Song Yuanxun, and showed him the results of last night’s computation.

Their group’s experiment was more than halfway done, and had already reached its conclusion stage. Today, after a short meeting in the lab, they would have to start writing their thesis.

It did not take much time for the remaining members of their group to arrive and for Song Yuanxun to finish assigning them their tasks. All of a sudden, they could hear the sound of glass breaking.

Everyone turned their heads to look. Fang Zhaomu had broke a test tube, and was bending down to pick the shards up.

“It’s him again…” Zhang Ranyu had a mocking look on his face. “Embarrassing.”

Zhang Ranyu’s voice was not loud, but Fang Zhaomu had heard it. Fang Zhaomu threw the glass shards into the bin, then turned around and looked at Zhang Ranyu. He asked Zhang Ranyu in a cold voice, “How am I embarrassing?”

Yesterday afternoon, it was Zhang Ranyu who had angered Fang Zhaomu.

If Song Yuanxun was the invisible nucleus of the chinese people in the lab, then Zhang Ranyu would be a character like the many eunuchs next to the emperor that could be seen on television.

Song Yuanxun was working on two degrees, and was seldom in the lab. He would not have any direct conflicts with Fang Zhaomu, and had rarely spoken to Fang Zhaomu, mostly just ignoring and avoiding him.

However, that was not the case for Zhang Ranyu. In his life, Zhang Ranyu only had two hobbies. One was to suck up to Song Yuanxun, and the other was to think of ways to make Fang Zhaomu feel uncomfortable.

Yesterday, when Fang Zhaomu was holding on to a reagent, he accidentally bumped into an electronic weighing scale that Song Yuanxun was using.

Song Yuanxun was standing next to Fang Zhaomu, and he quickly used the lab report in his hand to push Fang Zhaomu’s hand away. With a poker-face, he stared at Fang Zhaomu. Then, before Song Yuanxun could even open his mouth, Zhang Ranyu had leaned over, blaming Fang Zhaomu for destroying Song Yuanxun’s half hour of work.

At the start, Fang Zhaomu still apologised nicely, but after getting unrelentingly scolded by Zhang Ranyu, his face also turned cold, and he walked off with his reagent.

Zhang Ranyu had not expect that the usually tolerant Fang Zhaomu would dare to retort. He was stunned, and watched Fang Zhaomu walk towards him.

“How am I embarrassing?” Fang Zhaomu drew closer to Zhang Ranyu, and asked again.

Although Fang Zhaomu was not tall, he was still half a head taller than Zhang Ranyu.

His eyes were fierce, and he was still holding on to the half-broken test tube. Stared at by Fang Zhaomu, Zhang Ranyu took a step back in panic, and his backside pressed against the table. He then mustered up his courage, raising his neck up to confront Fang Zhaomu. “Was I talking about you?”

“Then who were you talking about?” Facing Zhang Ranyu, the corner of Fang Zhaomu’s lips twitched.

“Alright, alright. Stop arguing.” Zhou Meng, standing next to them, came to mediate. She told Fang Zhaomu, “Ranyu was just speaking casually, why are you treating it so seriously.”

Fang Zhaomu still wanted to argue, but the professor and the assistant chose that moment to enter the lab, so he could only let it go.

He went upstairs to his own table and switched on his computer. He then took out his phone, and opened the app that he had started using yesterday.

After complimenting Andrew’s muscles yesterday, Andrew seemed to have turned shy, opting for silence.

Fang Zhaomu felt that he might have gotten himself imprinted on Andrew like a little duckling. Other than Andrew, he was not interested in anyone else. He opened his chat with Andrew, and sent Andrew another message.

He first typed a message, telling him good morning, and asked him if he had woken up already. After spending some time on his analysis report, Andrew still had not reply. Fang Zhaomu then pressed on the voice message button, dragging his words out, he asked Andrew, “What are you doing?”

“I met an idiot again today, and I’m in a bad mood. Chat with me,” Fang Zhaomu persisted. “Ok?”

Just as he finished, Fang Zhaomu heard a small noise coming from behind him, and he turned around to look. Surprisingly, Song Yuanxun had also came upstairs, which he rarely did. With his back facing him, he took out his computer.

Now that there was someone else present, Fang Zhaomu was unable to send a voice message anymore. He sent a few crying emojis to Andrew, then started looking at through his materials.

After Fang Zhaomu finished reading a thesis, he could not resist opening the chat again, discovering that Andrew had replied. Andrew asked, “That idiot made you cry?”

“Mn,” Fang Zhaomu lay on the table, typing his message to Andrew. “I cried.”

This time, Andrew replied a lot faster than he did last night. He told Fang Zhaomu, “I don’t believe, take a photo for me to see.”

“I’m in the lab, there’s people next to me.” Fang Zhaomu turned his head to take a look. Song Yuanxun was typing on his computer very seriously, he should not notice him. He then lowered his voice and told Andrew, “You’re not working?”

“I’m working,” Andrew said. “I saw that you said you weren’t in a good mood, so I took some time out to chat with you.”

Fang Zhaomu felt that Andrew was a little different from last night, he seemed to have become friendly. Fang Zhaomu did not know what else to say, so he told him, “Thank you, with someone to speak to me, I feel a lot better now.”

“You can send voice messages in the lab?” Andrew asked Fang Zhaomu. “What are you studying?”

“Sure I can.” Fang Zhaomu told Andrew his major, then asked him, “What does a mechanical engineer do at work? Is it very busy?”

Before his voice faded away, more noise sounded behind Fang Zhaomu. He turned around to see Song Yuanxun stand up and walking quickly in the direction of the staircase with his phone.

Andrew’s side of the conversation suddenly fell quiet again. After Fang Zhaomu analysed some data, he looked up and casually sent another message. “Are you really that busy?”

After a moment, Fang Zhaomu then received a reply. In it were only four words, “I’m really quite busy.”

Chapter 4

Song Yuanxun re-installed the app, only because he did not want Zhao Han to use this account and mess around with Fang Zhaomu.

Just now, when Song Yuanxun had arrived upstairs and sat down behind Fang Zhaomu, he had received a message from Zhao Han with the account password for the app.

Zhao Han asked him how it went, if he had found his true self within.

“I’ve already deleted it.” Song Yuanxun replied him.

On his side, Zhao Han leapt up, sending Song Yuanxun a long voice message condemning him for wasting his membership fee. Then he continued, “Forget it. If you’re not using it, I’ll use it.”

At that time, Song Yuanxun was busy, and did not take it seriously. It was Fang Zhaomu’s sudden low words that attracted his attention.

It was not that Song Yuanxun was too perceptive, but it was because Fang Zhaomu’s tone was too similar to how he sounded last night. He even mentioned “work” and “mechanical engineer”, sounding a loud alarm within Song Yuanxun.

He picked up his phone and headed downstairs, re-installing the app. Logging in, he forced Zhao Han to be disconnected, then he opened the chat window. In one shot he read the entire record of Zhao Han’s and Fang Zhaomu’s messages, and thereafter he straight away changed the password.

An announcement appeared showing him that he had successfully changed his password, and within a few seconds, he received a call from Zhao Han. Sulkily he asked Song Yuanxun, “I was chatting halfway with Xiao Mu, why did you change your password?”

“If you want to chat with him, go register your own account. Don’t use this one.” Song Yuanxun said impatiently. He was irked when he recalled the messages. How was Zhao Han any different from a human-shaped poodle, not even letting go of someone whom his childhood buddy had spent quite some time chatting with on the dating app.

“Bro, this app matches people according to distance. I’m so far away, I won’t be able to match him at all. Quickly change the password back for me.” Zhao Han capitulated, speaking nicely to Song Yuanxun. “You don’t say, this Mu’s voice is pretty pleasant sounding.”

“When did you start liking guys?” Song Yuanxun asked him.

Since young, Zhao Han had countless girlfriends, but he had never had one of the same gender. Who would have thought this person’s sex life would get messier as he got older.

“We’re just casually chatting,” Zhao Han said.” Also, from his photo, he’s pretty good looking. Hey, didn’t you already delete it? Can’t I recycle it?”

“No,” Song Yuanxun said resolutely. “I said it already, if you want to use it, go set up your own account.”

“… Fine.” Zhao Han also did not dare to continue being insistent with Song Yuanxun. Aggrievedly, he hung up, and went to register a new account.

After hanging up, Song Yuanxun again received a message from Fang Zhaomu. He replied “I’m really quite busy” and locked his phone. He took a look at Zhou Meng’s progress, and when he walked back to the staircase, he happened across Fang Zhaomu, who was coming downstairs carrying his bag.

As it was warm in the lab, Fang Zhaomu removed his coat and carried it on his arm. On him was a light coloured, wide collar sweater, revealing a large patch of his extremely pale chest. On one shoulder hung the strap of his bag, trapping the collar of his top, while his sweater had slid down from the other side of his shoulder. It looked extremely indecent, and Song Yuanxun only took a glance before looking away.

As they walked past each other, the back of Fang Zhaomu’s hand brushed past Song Yuanxun’s forearm just as he happened to be raising it. The skin from the back of Fang Zhaomu’s hand was very soft, together with the sickly sweet scent wafting off his body, it made Song Yuanxun utterly discomforted.

Not long after he returned to his seat, he received another message from Fang Zhaomu.

“City C is raining now, did you bring an umbrella?”

Fang Zhaomu took a photo and sent it to Song Yuanxun, and Song Yuanxun opened it. The rain outside did seem quite heavy, and through the rain, the air looked foggy.

As though possessed, Song Yuanxun replied Fang Zhaomu, “Did you bring one?”

“I didn’t,” Fang Zhaomu told Song Yuanxun pitifully. “I will have to run home in the rain.”

Song Yuanxun had not want to reply, but after seeing the photo Fang Zhaomu sent him, he ended up slowly typing, “Can’t you wait for the rain to stop before leaving?”

“Mn, I don’t want to stay in the lab. Those people are very irritating,” Fang Zhaomu said. “I’ll contact you again when I’m home.”

Song Yuanxun stared at his computer screen, looking at the data on it. After a few seconds, he stood up and walked to the window, gazing down to the outside.

Fang Zhaomu was dressed in his coat, carrying his bag and walking in the rain. Looking at him from the fifth storey, he looked very tiny. It seemed like he was hugging himself because of the cold, and was walking as fast as he could.

Song Yuanxun did not know where Fang Zhaomu was staying at, but no matter where it was, to walk home in this heavy rain, he would probably end up completely drenched.

“Brother Yuan!” Zhang Ranyu came upstairs with a tablet and called out to Song Yuanxun. “Look at these two groups of data, don’t you think there is a slight problem with them?”

Song Yuanxun walked towards him, temporarily placing the thought of Fang Zhaomu in the rain at the back of his head.

Chapter 5

By the time Fang Zhaomu reached home, he was about to turn into a block of ice. With a heavy head, he first went to the bathroom for a shower, then climbed into his bed and fell asleep for two hours. His hunger woke him up in the afternoon. Looking through his kitchen, he did not have anything edible, and could only prepare a glass of milk and went back to his bed. As he cupped his hands about the glass and drank a few mouthfuls, he suddenly heard his phone alerting him of new messages.

Fang Zhaomu put down the glass and picked up his phone. Andrew had sent him a message, asking if he was home already. Fang Zhaomu was a little astonished, he looked at the time, and realised that it had already been four hours since he sent Andrew the last message. Andrew must have been really busy at work if he only thought to ask Fang Zhaomu if he had reached home four hours later.

“I’m already home,” Fang Zhaomu told Andrew. “I even took a nap, but you’re just done with work.”

“Yeah.” Andrew replied with only one word.

Fang Zhaomu drank more of his milk. He was too lazy to pull his curtains apart to take a look at the outside world, and so, he asked Andrew, “Has the rain stopped?”

Andrew replied, “It had already stopped.”

Fang Zhaomu could not help complaining to Andrew. “I’ve always suspected that I’m being haunted by a rain demon. As long as I don’t bring an umbrella with me, no matter how clear the sky is, it’ll end up raining. And when I get back home, the rain would stop.”

After awhile, Andrew responded. “Superstitious.”

Fang Zhaomu looked at the word, and felt that Andrew was so stiff that he was becoming adorable. Thinking about it, he then used a very mysterious tone and said to Andrew, “I’m at home, and there’s no one around. I can take a photo now, do you want to see it?”

Fang Zhaomu then added, “If you want to see it, send me a voice message. If you don’t, just text a reply.”

Fang Zhaomu really liked talking to people, but there was no one he could talk to in school.

Now that there was Andrew, a person he did not know but was attracted to, Fang Zhaomu could help but tease him.

Not long after, Andrew really sent him a voice message. Fang Zhaomu played it, and Andrew had used his cold and aloof voice to tell Fang Zhaomu, “I don’t want to see it.”

Hugging his phone to his chest, Fang Zhaomu laughed for a long time. He then carelessly took a photo and sent it to Andrew, scoffing at him, “If you didn’t want to see it, why did you send a voice message?”

Song Yuanxun was at the library with a few of his business school classmates. Seeing the photo and voice message popping up on his phone screen, his hand paused for a moment before opening the photo Fang Zhaomu had sent over.

Fang Zhaomu had really taken this photo very casually. About half of it was his blanket, revealing his shoulder and a little half of his face. His right eye was not captured fully, and his cheeks were flushed with sleep, the corners of his mouth curving up. Fang Zhaomu had a pair of alluring eyes, and there was a very tiny mole at one corner of his eyes . Although the light in the room was dim, and the shot was also taken by the front camera of his phone, his eyes had gleamed as though they were wet.

Song Yuanxun only looked at the photo for a few seconds and kept his phone. However, for some reason, Fang Zhaomu’s eyes kept drifting about in his head, and never left.

Song Yuanxun personally thought, comparing Fang Zhaomu’s photo to his actual person, he was even fairer in real life.

When Song Yuanxun left the library, the sun was about to set. Entering his car, he saw that Fang Zhaomu had said that he would be going into the city the next weekend, and asked Song Yuanxun if he wanted to have a meal together.

Song Yuanxun paused for a few seconds before replying Fang Zhaomu, “I’m not free.”

He could not explain why he was chatting with Fang Zhaomu, and even seriously tried to consider the reason behind it. This was the most unseemly thing Song Yuanxun had ever done in the past twenty odd years of his life, but, what if Zhao Han again secretly used this account when he was not paying attention?

It was safer for Song Yuanxun to personally freeze Fang Zhaomu out, and monitor as Fang Zhaomu lose interest in Andrew.

“If you have to work on the weekends as well, does that mean you’ll only be free in the evenings?” Fang Zhaomu asked, then continued, “Working is hard.”

Song Yuanxun was driving, and did not reply. On the way home, Song Yuanxun received another two messages from Fang Zhaomu. He drove into the garage, parked his car, and played those messages.

“I used to never want to start working, and wanted to stay in school forever.”

“However, if I still have to meet people like those in the lab now, I’ll rather go to work.”

Song Yuanxun suddenly remembered that in the mid of the previous semester, a high school classmate called Li Wei had looked for him, asking about T University. He said, barring any unexpected circumstances, he would be doing a one year exchange here next semester. When the semester arrived, the one on exchange had turn into Fang Zhaomu.

Out of courtesy, Song Yuanxun had asked Li Wei about it. Li Wei’s response was furious. He said that he did not know what underhand methods Fang Zhaomu had used, and taken over his place. He even coyly hinted to Song Yuanxun, “They all say that the faculty dean treats him like his own son, but, who knows?”

When Song Yuanxun saw Fang Zhaomu the next day, he had an inkling of what Li Wei meant.

At that time, Fang Zhaomu was not as reserved as how he was like now. He walked about the lab, and hung around Song Yuanxun, saying that he was also doing a similar topic, and asked him some questions about it.

Song Yuanxun was highly annoyed by the scent wafting off Fang Zhaomu, and did not reply him, only saying to him, “Classmate, do you have to spray so much perfume when you come to the lab?”

The smile in Fang Zhaomu’s eyes vanished, while the expressions of Zhou Meng and Zhang Ranyu who were standing nearby also changed subtly.

Zhang Ranyu was a person who loved to curry favour for his own benefits. Before entering the school he had heard that Song Yuanxun was only son of the director of a certain top ranking biochemical pharmaceutical company back home. If after graduation, a student wanted to go back home to develop his career, he would definitely have to come in contact with Song Yuanxun’s family business. As such, Zhang Ranyu tried his best to ingratiate himself with Song Yuanxun, hoping to gain some advantages from it. Although Zhou Meng was not a lackey like Zhang Ranyu, but after Song Yuanxun expressed his irritation with Fang Zhaomu, she too silently distanced herself from Fang Zhaoumu.

Fang Zhaomu was very sensitive. Registering that he was not welcomed amongst them, he was no longer lively in the lab, but that scent from his body had never lighten up despite Song Yuanxun’s reminder.

Song Yuanxun sat in his car for awhile, holding his finger on the photo that Fang Zhaomu sent. The option to save the image appeared, and he stared at it. In the end, he still ended up locking the screen, and did not save it.

Chapter 6

Andrew was pretty strange.

His replies were always slow, and was always unwilling to leave Fang Zhaomu voice messages or calls, and there was no need to even mention meeting up. Fang Zhaomu could not understand why such a person who did not seem to even want to make friends would install a dating app.

However, after chatting with Andrew a few times, Fang Zhaomu believed he now understood a little of what the other person was like. Andrew was a person who took very long to warm up to another person. He was especially reserved, and always needed Fang Zhaomu to send a few messages before he would respond. Though his replies were only a few words long, he was not a completely cold person.

With Fang Zhaomu’s efforts, Andrew’s response rate had increased a little compared to the beginning. Recently, Fang Zhaomu had asked Andrew if he was chatting with other people on the app, and instead of answering him directly, Andrew surprisingly threw Fang Zhaomu’s question back to him, “Are you?”

“You tell me first.”

Actually, Fang Zhaomu did match with a few other people, but they were too direct, immediately wanting to start video-chatting in nude or meeting up straight away. It made Fang Zhaomu feel that Andrew’s coldness was a little more reliable instead, and so, deleted the rest of them, chatting only with Andrew.

“I’m not.” Andrew replied.

Fang Zhaomu answered Andrew a little guiltily, “I’m not as well, I’m only talking to you.”

Andrew seem to not really believe him. “Is it?”

“I’m really only chatting with you.” Fang Zhaomu took a screenshot of the app’s contact list and sent it to Andrew, self-righteously saying, “You see, there’s only you.”

Andrew did not say a word. Fang Zhaomu thickened his skin and asked Andrew for a screenshot of his contact list, but Andrew did not want to send it. Fang Zhaomu maligned Andrew for pretending to be pure and innocent, he definitely must have two hundred people in his contacts.

Andrew was unable to argue against Fang Zhaomu. After a few minutes, he really sent a screenshot, and it was the same as Fang Zhaomu’s, very empty, and only showing a Mu in there.

“It took so long for you to send it, were you deleting people off the list?” Fang Zhaomu continued teasing Andrew mercilessly.

“I didn’t delete anyone.” Andrew responded seriously.

“Then, are you interested in adding other people?” After asking this question, Fang Zhaomu wanted to revoke it, as this question seemed a little too serious.

Unexpectedly, Andrew did reply. “Not interested.”

Fang Zhaomu looked at Andrew’s non-mainstream profile picture of his muscles, and thought that Andrew was in fact a very gentle person, and would use his unique awkward ways to express his likes. Sometimes, when Fang Zhaomu impulsively sent Andrew a few photos, and Andrew seemed like he was unconcerned whether Fang Zhaomu sent him any, but from his fast replies, Fang Zhaomu could feel that Andrew did really want to see those photos.

On this Wednesday, Fang Zhaomu stayed in the library from morning till late. When he returned home, he did not feel like doing anything, and so went to browse through online shops, checking out what was available. He could not make a decision between two pairs of ear studs, and so sent a photo of them to Andrew, asking him to help decide.

Andrew was still working overtime late at night, and replied Fang Zhaomu twenty minutes later. “Is there a difference?”

“One pair is bigger and the other is smaller. The smaller one is a little more expensive.”

“The smaller one.” Andrew casually made a decision for Fang Zhaomu.

Fang Zhaomu actually also preferred the smaller pair, and so he bought it.

The ear studs arrived on Friday. After putting them on, Fang Zhaomu took a photo for Andrew, telling him that his eye was good. Seeing that Andrew did not reply, and he still had a bunch of data analysis to complete, he packed his things and went to the lab.

Fang Zhaomu was standing by the apparatus and waiting for the results. A female Indian classmate with whom he was quite friendly with came over to chat with him, and complimented his ear stud.

The ear stud was black, and had an inconspicuous marbling through it. On Fang Zhaomu’s ear, it made his ear lobe look round and exquisite, and not feminine at all.

Fang Zhaomu liked discussing such topics with people, and the two of them immediately starting chatting about the pros and cons of online shops as well as their available discounts.

“I was actually looking at another pair that was slightly bigger, “ Fang Zhaomu touched his earlobe, speaking happily to the female classmate. “My friend helped me select this pair.”

“— Fang Zhaomu, have you finished using this?” The two person’s conversation was interrupted by Zhang Ranyu and Song Yuanxun coming over from another side of the lab.

Zhang Ranyu poked at the apparatus next to Fang Zhaomu, asking rudely, “If you’re done, can we take over?”

With Song Yuanxun behind him, Zhang Ranyu acted as though he had a strong support behind him, and he was like a dog counting on his master’s backing.

Fang Zhaomu looked at the analysis progress, then told Zhang Ranyu, “There’s still 10 more minutes, can you wait awhile?”

The female classmate saw that there seemed to be some unhappiness between them, and found an excuse to leave. Fang Zhaomu lowered his head and looked at his laboratory notebook, not bothering to speak with the two people standing next to him.

With nothing to do, and feeling awkward, Zhang Ranyu wanted to think a way to squeeze Fang Zhaomu out.

He was short and fat, and his presence could be strongly felt. Each time he went closer to Fang Zhaomu, Fang Zhaomu would retreat a little. However, the apparatus was located next to the wall, and after retreating a few steps, Fang Zhaomu had nowhere left to go. Not wanting to give Zhang Ranyu the advantage, he picked up a book and blocked Zhang Ranyu, asking him impatiently, “Why do you keep coming closer?”

“I want to look at the progress of the apparatus.” Zhang Ranyu swatted Fang Zhaomu’s book away, about to lean over to take a look.

Zhang Ranyu was about to lean onto Fang Zhaomu, and Fang Zhaomu was naturally extremely unhappy about it. Just before he could tell Zhang Ranyu to stay away from him, a hand blocked Zhang Ranyu away from him.

Song Yuanxun silently pulled at Zhang Ranyu’s shoulder, and looking down and glancing at him. Zhang Ranyu did not know why Song Yuanxun would suddenly do this, but he still took a step back.

The person closest to Fang Zhaomu was now Song Yuanxun.

Song Yuanxun was tall, and his aura was completely different from Zhang Ranyu. The way he looked down on people would give them a solid oppressive feeling.

Fang Zhaomu only took one look at Song Yuanxun before he looked down. With a quiet, weary voice, he said, “I know you’re in a hurry, I’ll let you guys use it immediately once I’m done, ok? Do you have to do this?”

Song Yuanxun remained silent, standing next to Fang Zhaomu for a few seconds, he then retreated, but did not go far. In the past, Song Yuanxun would never bother to take even a glance at Fang Zhaomu, making it very clear that he looked down on him. Today, he seemed to have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed, his eyes were glued to Fang Zhaomu, causing Fang Zhaomu’s skin to prickle in discomfort.

Fortunately, the apparatus soon announced that the analysis was completed. Fang Zhaomu copied down the data, reset the apparatus, and walked off in a hurry. When he looked up, his eyes swept past Song Yuanxun, and he felt that Song Yuanxun seemed to be looking at his ear studs.

Walking out of the doors of the lab, Fang Zhaomu sighed in relief. His phone in his pocket vibrated, and he took it out to look at it. It was Andrew’s reply.

“Your face can’t be seen clearly.”

Fang Zhaomu was walking, and panted slightly as he replied Andrew. “I was taking a photo of the ear stud, I wasn’t aiming at my face in the first place.”

He suddenly understood what Andrew meant, and asked, “You want to see my face? But you don’t even want to meet up with me, what’s the point of seeing my face?”

Reaching the school gate, Andrew sent him a reply. “I’m busy with work.”

“Oh?” Fang Zhaomu teased him, “But I’m also busy with school, how would I have the time to take a photo for you?”

When he finished, he shivered, feeling the chill of the wind. Putting his phone back in his pocket, he gathered his clothes tightly around him.

Chapter 7

The next morning, Fang Zhaomu woke up very early. He went to the lab first to complete what he had not finished yesterday, and then took a bus into the city.

Previously, when Fang Zhaomu had asked Andrew if he would like to meet up, it was only a casual query. He had a huge amount of daily necessities that he had to buy, and if Andrew had agreed to the meet up, he really had no idea where he should keep those items.

Reaching the supermarket, Fang Zhaomu tossed the things he needed into the shopping cart according to his shopping list.

There was not much activities that he would do for fun, and so even if it was just browsing through the supermarket, it made him happy. There were not many people there today, and when he was nearly done with his shopping list, he started strolling down the aisles. As he pushed the shopping cart, Fang Zhaomu saw a shelf filled with nutritional packs that were on promotion. The brand was called XXXAndrew, and so he used his phone and took a silly shot of it for Andrew, attaching a voice message to it. “Are you busy with work? Did you remember to take your lunch?”

Just as he finished, Fang Zhaomu heard someone sniggering behind him. Turning his head around, he saw Zhang Ranyu, Zhou Meng and Song Yuanxun standing there, looking like they were browsing the supermarket casually.

After receiving a look from Fang Zhaomu, Zhang Ranyu shifted his eyes away, pretending that he was selecting an item from the shelf.

Fang Zhaomu ignored Zhang Ranyu’s provocation, but he was no longer in the mood to browse the supermarket. Looking at his shopping list dispassionately, he confirmed that everything on the list was in his cart, and headed to the checkout counters.

After paying, Fang Zhaomu picked up the bags and headed out. He then received Andrew’s response, and struggled as he took his phone out. Andrew told Fang Zhaomu, “I’ve already eaten. You?”

“I’ve eaten too,” Fang Zhaomu placed the bags in his hand on the ground, relaxing his wrists. “I’ve just finished doing my shopping, and am about to head home. All because someone’s too busy with work, and doesn’t want to meet up with me.”

He took a photo of his two big bags and sent it to Andrew, telling him, “They’re heavy!”

“How are you going back?” Andrew asked him.

Andrew might have managed to find a short break during his busy work, and his replies came faster than usual. Fang Zhaomu’s hands were aching after carrying the bags, and so remained standing by the side, replying Andrew. “I’m taking the bus.”

“Can’t you take a taxi?”

Andrew, unaware of the hardships of life, asked a very silly question. Fang Zhaomu’s lips curled up, and he patiently explained to Andrew, “The taxi fare from the city to my school is very expensive.”

Within seconds, Andrew gave Fang Zhaomu a suggestion. “Aren’t there any classmates with cars?”

“There’s no classmates that I’m close enough with to hitch a ride with,” Fang Zhaomu poked as his bag with the tip of his shoe. He then rubbed at his wrists and asked, “Do you drive?”

“Yes.”

Fang Zhaomu had wanted to joke with Andrew and tell him that he could drive him to the supermarket next time. However he could not say it aloud, as he felt that it was not very suitable for him to tell Andrew things like this.

The dating app was not a help-wanted app. It was fine to joke and tease him occasionally, but to actually request help from a person that he had never met before, Fang Zhaomu was unable to do so. He returned his phone to his bag, then picked up the bags on the ground and headed out of the supermarket.

Only after a few steps, Fang Zhaomu’s ankle twisted, nearly falling down. The bags in his hands too fell onto the floor, and the things he bought scattered across the ground.

Fang Zhaomu stood there in a daze for a few seconds with his mouth open. Limping slightly, he picked everything up. Just as he was about to walk off, he looked up to see Song Yuanxun standing not too far from him, looking at him expressionlessly.

Fang Zhaomu’s ankle was really hurting very badly. He could not be bothered to give Song Yuanxun any acknowledgement, and hobbled past him.

When he walked past Song Yuanxun, Fang Zhaomu looked down. He saw a car key in Song Yuanxun’s hand, and could not help but think about his conversation with Andrew. As a conventional 29 years old mechanical engineer, Andrew would definitely not have expected that in the famed University T, there would be such childish ostracisation going on within its campus.

Song Yuanxun was very tall, and standing upright in the midst of other tall caucasians, he would still attract a lot of attention. Just like usual, he did not speak to Fang Zhaomu, but stood by the side quietly, seeming to be waiting for someone.

Fang Zhaomu headed for the bus stop, enduring his aching wrists and ankle. He thought, that person whom Song Yuanxun would wait for, must be a very lucky, very special person who was favoured by the gods. Song Yuanxun was such a proud man, it was very difficult to believe that he would be willing to give anyone a moment of his time.

When he reached the bus stop, Fang Zhaomu looked at his phone as he waited for the bus. His mother had sent him a message, asking him how he had been recently, and told him that his little sister had won a prize for her violin competition, and even took a photo of the certificate and sent it to him.

Fang Zhaomu grew up in a ordinary and happy family. Both his parents were middle school teachers, and he had a pretty and outstanding little sister. Since young, his life had been smooth sailing. Other than hiding his sexual orientation, he did not have many troubles in his life.

He told his mom that everything was fine, and asked everyone not to worry.

At this time, the bus arrived. Fang Zhaomu picked his bags up and followed the other passengers up the bus, then discovered an empty window seat at the front. Fang Zhaomu would get carsick when he sat at the back of the bus. He was delighted with this unexpected surprise. He carried his bags, forgetting all about the discomforts of his body as he joyfully took the seat.

Before the bus left, Andrew sent another message to Fang Zhaomu, asking if he was on the bus already.

Fang Zhaomu told him he was on the bus already, and continued. “I think the ear studs you picked for me might be lucky ear studs. On my way to the city and back, I’ve managed to get a seat in the front both times. I was still afraid that if I had to sit in the back, I’ll vomit before I even arrive back at school.”

“Oh?” Andrew replied.

“Have you been slacking at work today?” Fang Zhaomu asked Andrew. “Why do you keep texting me?”

It seemed like Andrew was feeling guilty. Fang Zhaomu only received a reply when he was about to fall asleep. “No.”

Chapter 8

When Song Yuanxun returned to look for Zhang Ranyu and Zhou Meng, he reflected on his own impulsive, meaningless action.

Through the dating app, he had been chatting with Fang Zhaomu for over two weeks.

For the first week, Song Yuanxun had used “freezing out Fang Zhaomu and stopping Zhao Han” as an excuse, but by the second week, not only did he not manage to freeze him out, the frequency of their messages even increased. On the weekend of the third week, Zhou Meng and Zhang Ranyu had asked to borrow Song Yuanxun’s car, saying that they wanted to go shopping in the city. Song Yuanxun himself also did not know why, but he lied that he had something he needed to buy as well, and drove them to that supermarket Fang Zhaomu had mentioned to him the night before.

Not long after they entered the supermarket, Song Yuanxun saw Fang Zhaomu.

Fang Zhaomu was pushing the shopping cart alone, and in the cart was many items. His hand was on the handle of the cart, his body leaning forward slightly, and was leisurely strolling down the aisles. His head turned from side to side, as though looking for something.

Fang Zhaomu stopped in front of a shelf. Zhang Ranyu and Zhou Meng happened to be heading in that direction, adn Song Yuanxun naturally followed behind. He vaguely saw Fang Zhaomu take a photo of something, then his phone vibrated.

“Isn’t that…” Zhou Meng too noticed Fang Zhaomu, and opened her mouth uncertainly.

Their feet did not stop, and when they drew closer to Fang Zhaomu, Song Yuanxun heard Fang Zhaomu say something with his back facing them.

“Are you busy with work?” Fang Zhaomu asked. “Did you remember to take your lunch?”

Song Yuanxun stared as Fang Zhaomu moved his hand, probably letting go of the voice message button. Almost immediately, Song Yuanxun’s phone vibrated again.

Fang Zhaomu’s voice, without being digitally compressed, sounded even softer and more gentle. There was a liveliness and cheerfulness to it, and he was happily teasing the Andrew who he thought was working overtime.

Of course, Zhou Meng and Zhang Ranyu also heard Fang Zhaomu’s tender words. The moment after Zhang Ranyu sniggered, Song Yuanxun saw Fang Zhaomu turn his head towards them. He watched as his smiling mouth flattened, and the cheeriness in his eyes fading away, only leaving some wariness and annoyance.

To Fang Zhaomu, Andrew and Song Yuanxun was definitely different. Fang Zhaomu’s cheerfulness was for Andrew, and had nothing to do with Song Yuanxun himself. Fang Zhaomu did not consider Andrew’s suggestion to hitch a ride from his classmates, and when he walked past Song Yuanxun, he also did not keep up a friendly pretense. One second ago, he was complaining about Andrew’s reluctance to meet up, and in the next second, he limped forward, his eyes never turning towards Song Yuanxun.

Song Yuanxun was also unsure of what exactly he was doing then. He held his car key in one hand, and his phone in another, standing at the passageway outside the supermarket. He watched as Fang Zhaomu’s things scattered across the ground, watched as Fang Zhaomu walked towards him, then walked away. With complicated feelings, he looked at his phone, reading the sweet messages Fang Zhaomu sent to Andrew, then looked up and watched the back of Fang Zhaomu.

He had only thought, as classmates, it would not be a problem if Fang Zhaomu had asked for a ride — if Fang Zhaomu had difficulties, and wanted to take Song Yuanxun’s car back to school, Song Yuanxun would not reject him.

Fang Zhaomu was already standing at the outdoor bus stop. The wind plastered his thin sweater against his body, and made Song Yuanxun feel that at this moment, Fang Zhaomu had a little forlornness to him that would make a person feel flustered.

In the evening, Song Yuanxun had dinner with Zhang Ranyu and Zhou Meng in the city, inviting some of his city friends as well.

Song Yuanxun was not a sociable person, but people would always respond to his invitations. The meal ended at 9pm, and as Song Yuanxun and Zhang Ranyu both had drinks, Zhou Meng drove them back.

Song Yuanxun was a little drunk, and the image of Fang Zhaomu, walking away with his head bowed, refused to leave his head. Not knowing what to say, he then lied to Fang Zhaomu saying that he had finished his overtime, and could go home already.

Fang Zhaomu naturally expressed his sympathy. He then told Song Yuanxun, as his things were too heavy, and the bus stop was too far from his place, by the time he reached home he was so tired that he fell asleep on his bed for two hours, and was about to take a shower now. He even took a photo of his wrist that had turned red because of the bags and sent it to Song Yuanxun.

Fang Zhaomu was very fair, and the red marks were very obvious, looking as though he had been assaulted.

Song Yuanxun was dizzy, and did not know what he was typing. He only knew that he had sent a “it look as though you’ve been bound up”, and “I can drive you there next time”.

When Fang Zhaomu was done with his shower half an hour later, he only responded to Song Yuanxun’s first message, calling him a pervert, then asked him, “Why do you never send any photos to me.”

Song Yuanxun had not come up with a response yet, then Fang Zhaomu sent another message, “It should be mutual, I’ve sent my photos to you, you should send yours to me as well.”

“I’m not good looking.” Song Yuanxun took a long time before he sent this reply.

“It’s fine even if you don’t take a photo of your face,” Fang Zhaomu slowly said. His voice drawled, his words unbroken, and sounded a little dreamy. “I’m also an ordinary person, and am not especially good looking. If you send me a photo, I’ll also let you see how I look like with the ear studs.”

Zhao Han was on a vacation, and was woken up by the vibration of his phone. By the time he woke up, the phone had stopped vibrating. Zhao Han paused for a few seconds before he looked at it. Song Yuanxun had called him twice, then sent him a message. “Where did you find the profile image that you used on the dating app?”

Zhao Han scratched his head as he replied Song Yuanxun. “A few pages into google search for muscles and shirt.”

His reply was sent for only a short while before Song Yuanxun called him again urgently. Picking up the phone, Zhao Han immediately asked, “So hardcore in the middle of the night, gays aren’t disgusting anymore?”

Song Yuanxun was quiet for two seconds before telling Zhao Han, “Not as disgusting as you.”

“Oh,” When Zhao Han comprehended it, he said, “That means it’s completely not disgusting at all.”

“I didn’t find that photo.” Song Yuanxun did not continue, and went straight to the topic.

“Why are you looking for that?”

Song Yuanxun did not respond to his question, only saying, “Look for photos of the same person, and send them all to me.”

He hung up immediately, not leaving Zhao Han any moments to ask anything.

Chapter 9

Fang Zhaomu slept till the afternoon of the next day, and when he looked at his phone after he woke up, he discovered that Andrew had actually sent him a photo while he was sleeping.

It seemed like it was true that Andrew was not good looking, as his face was once again hidden in this photo. It was taken facing a mirror, and he was shirtless.

Fang Zhaomu did not like looking at muscle shots in the mirror, but since the subject of the photograph was Andrew, Fang Zhaomu did not hate it, only feeling that Andrew was definitely an engineering graduate, modest and obedient.

Fang Zhaomu complimented Andrew, “You’re so built. I bet you’re always at the gym when you’re not at work, no wonder you have no time to meet up with me.”

Fang Zhaomu zoomed into the photo, trying to see if there were other things he could also praise him about. Seeing a shadowy area around Andrew’s gym shorts, Fang Zhaomu was taken aback, and immediately joked, “Your size is impressive as well.”

Andrew replied, “What size?”

Last night, Andrew had just said something about being “bound up”, and their conversation finally had an air of having matched on a dating app. So, Fang Zhaomu was unable to distinguish if Andrew was being shy and pretending to not understand.

Not too long later, Andrew asked Fang Zhaomu, “You prefer this type?”

Fang Zhaomu was frank, “Yup, why else would I match you?”

“However, it’s fine if we just chat.” Fang Zhaomu was afraid that Andrew would overthink it, and added, “Don’t misunderstand, I’m not forcing you to meet up with me.”

As long as he could talk to someone, Fang Zhaomu was satisfied. Whether Andrew was willing to meet up or not, he was fine either way. If not, he would not have ignored Andrew’s message yesterday about driving him to the supermarket next time.

Andrew did not continue the topic of conversation. After a while, he asked Fang Zhaomu, “Why did you install this app?”

Fang Zhaomu did not know how to answer such a question, and so said, “It’s a long story.”

Andrew did not reply for a long time. Fang Zhaomu did not know if he was waiting for his response, or if he was busy. After a moment, he asked Andrew. “Would you like to hear it?”

“Go ahead,” Andrew replied.

Fang Zhaomu thought about it, and told Andrew, “I won’t be able to explain everything through messages. If you want to hear it, it’s best if we did it through a call.”

Fang Zhaomu was going to do some research in the afternoon. After sending that response, he packed his bag and headed out of the door. He had a simple lunch at a sandwich shop by the street corner, then went off to the library.

Just as he entered, Fang Zhaomu received a message from Andrew.

“In the evening,” Andrew said. “I’m now at the office, it’s not convenient for me to do so.”

Fang Zhaomu’s footsteps stopped. He had never thought that Andrew would be willing to converse with him through a phone call.

He had always thought that Andrew was the introverted type who, on their one year anniversary of knowing each other, would grudgingly agree to meet Fang Zhaomu at some cafe in the city for a short meet up. As for a phone call, it would probably only happen on their six months anniversary, or the day when Fang Zhaomu left C City. Whatever the case it was, he never thought it would be today.

Fang Zhaomu looked at Andrew’s message a few more times, and started to get excited about it. With light footsteps, he headed up the stairs. Even the floor of the library looked adorable to him now. He replied Andrew, “Sure.”

And added, “Then you have to tell me when you reach home.”

“Mn. Send me a photo first.”

Fang Zhaomu secretly took a photo of his side profile and sent it to Andrew, then did not manage to accomplish anything else for the entire afternoon.

He was thinking, if Andrew really was willing to talk to him through the phone, what should he say to make Andrew feel that he was very entertaining, and would be willing to call him again?

Things to do with his school and his dull life were out of the question. If he mentioned about his relationship with his classmates from the lab, he would seem very immature and boring, right? As for the restaurants and entertainment venues in C City, Fang Zhaomu had not been to most of them. Completely distracted, he did not complete his research, nor did he think or a topic, and went home empty-handed.

At 8pm, Fang Zhaomu had paced about his little bedroom over and over again. He showered, crawled into his bed and put on his earphones before sending a message to Andrew, “Are you home yet?”

“Just gotten back.”

Fang Zhaomu’s fingers tapped on his screen, typing and deleting “So are we going to talk through the phone” a few times. When he just typed “so” for the nth time, his phone suddenly rang, and the screen flashed, showing that he was receiving a call from Andrew.

Fang Zhaomu bit his lip, then drank some water. Nervously, he accepted the call, and he heard a very loud static noise coming from the other side, as well as the sound of something falling to the ground. Fang Zhaomu called out a few times, and waited for a short while before a mature, somewhat low and cold male voice travelled through the phone to his ear. “Mu?”

Fang Zhaomu’s heart was beating very fast, as Andrew happened to have one of those very very nice sounding voices.

“You’re not working overtime tonight?” Fang Zhaomu felt that he was about to start stuttering, but pretended to be calm and asked Andrew.

Fang Zhaomu was better at teasing as they sent each other messages, but when it came to such a direct interaction, it was Andrew who was more composed.

Andrew paused for a couple of seconds, then told Fang Zhaomu, “I’m working from home.”

Sounds of typing on a keyboard could be heard. Fang Zhaomu’s cheeks heated up, and quietly told Andrew, “You’re talking to me while working?”

“Mn.” Andrew hesitated, and the sounds of the keyboard stopped.

Fang Zhaoumu sat up on his bed, pulling his blanket aside to cool down. “You’re so busy.”

“It’s not too bad.”

“Andrew,” Fang Zhaomu felt that for some reason, Andrew’s voice sounded a little familiar. “I feel that we’ve unconsciously met each other before.”

“Hmm?” Andrew made a questioning sound.

“It feels like I’ve heard your voice before.”

“Oh?” No fluctuation in Andrew’s voice could be heard. “Where?”

Now that they had spoken to each other, Fang Zhaomu did not calm down, but his heart pounded even harder. He could only admit to Andrew, “Andrew, I’ve very nervous talking to you.”

Andrew stopped typing. “Why?”

Fang Zhaomu also did not know the answer, and guessed, “Maybe it’s because I haven’t spoken to anyone through the phone in chinese for a long time.”

“Mn,” Andrew asked him. “Does your wrist still hurts?”

Fang Zhaomu looked at his bruised wrist, and assessed it bitterly, “Now it really looks like a mark left from playing with ropes…”

“Mu.” Andrew called him.

Everyone, when they said “Mu”, would always have a trace of unknowing gentleness in their voice. Fang Zhaomu flushed when he heard it, and told Andrew, “It feels so weird for you to call me by just one word of my name. Actually, my name is Fang Zhaomu. You can call me Xiao Zhao, or Xiao Mu.”

“Mn.” Andrew acknowledged, then did not continue.

Fang Zhaomu waited, then thickened his skin and asked Andrew, “After acknowledging it, why haven’t you call me yet?”

“…” Andrew most probably felt a little helpless, and so, called him “Fang Zhaomu” in a low voice.

Fang Zhaomu immediately told him that he was incorrect.

“What’s incorrect about that?”

“I only asked you to call me Xiao Zhao or Xiao Mu, why did you call me by something else?” Fang Zhaomu said reasonably.

Andrew murmured “Xiao Mu”, then asked Fang Zhaomu, “When are you going to the supermarket again?”

Chapter 10

The number of times Fang Zhaomu would go to the supermarket depended on how much studying he had to do that month. If he was not busy, even if he had nothing he needed, he would also still go to the city. However, there were also times that he did not go for a few weeks when he had many things on hand to finish.

For the coming month, there were quite a few things that Fang Zhaomu would need to do. As such, he was not sure when he would go, and so probed, “I don’t know, why?”

From Andrew’s tone, Fang Zhaomu felt that Andrew wanted to see him, but did not dare to.

As for why Andrew did not dare to meet him, Fang Zhaomu had his own guesses.

Joining a dating app, but not daring to reveal his face, hinting Fang Zhaomu about his looks — Andrew was most likely afraid that he was not good looking, and that their relationship would fall apart immediately upon seeing each other.

Not getting an answer from Andrew, Fang Zhaomu considerately gave him an out. “I won’t buy so many things next time, it won’t be like yesterday.”

“Mn.” Then Andrew suddenly asked Fang Zhaomu, “You really don’t even have a single classmate who could drive you there?”

“Yeah,” Fang Zhaomu did not want to talk about this, and equivocated, “No, but it doesn’t matter. I’m used to doing things alone, why do I need people to drive me?”

Andrew asked Fang Zhaomu, seemingly insightful, “Oh?”

His voice and tone had a force to them that he could not pin down, sounding like a strict professor who was calling out students’ names to ask them questions, but made Fang Zhaomu feel that it was very naturally amiable.

However, the next question was not so amiable anymore. Andrew continued, “If you’re used to it, why are you using a dating app?”

For a moment, Fang Zhaomu did not know how to answer. After a pause, he then replied, “Being used to going to the city by myself and being used to being alone are two different things.”

He remembered that Andrew had only agreed to call him because he wanted to know his reason for using this dating app, and so explained to him, “I used this app mainly to try to get to know some Chinese people out of school.”

“What do you mean by getting to know?” Andrew replied very quickly.

Fang Zhaomu felt that Andrew was implying something, as so decided to add a little flirtation to his reply, dragging it out. “I didn’t even get to know anyone else. What I mean by getting to know? It’ll be how we’re getting to know each other.”

According to Fang Zhaomu’s understanding of Andrew, Andrew would not fall for this. Fang Zhaomu then continued, “Anyway, I’m not here to look for romance or anything. My exchange will end in May next year, I’ll be leaving then.”

“Why do you want to meet Chinese outside the school?” Andrew asked again, “What about the ones in school?”

This was the second time today that Andrew had mentioned about school to Fang Zhaomu.

Fang Zhaomu was unwilling to discuss this topic. Talking to his family and friends, he would only talk about the good, and ignore the bad. Complaining would not resolve any problems, and if one immersed himself too long in dejection, it would instead only breed more miseries.

“Andrew, “Fang Zhaomu spoke. “When you were studying, was it a very happy time for you?”

Andrew hesitated. “It was not too bad, why?”

“Your classmates are nice, that’s why you enjoyed it,” Fang Zhaomu deliberated over his words, and slowly said. “I’m not happy, so I’m looking for friends outside of school. Why do you keep asking me about my classmates?”

Andrew did not reply, and Fang Zhaomu continued, “However, my previous classmates were very nice too. I still thought that coming to an exchange would be very fun, but I did not expect it to be like this, so miserable and unhappy.”

“When I went to the supermarket yesterday, I actually bumped into some classmates who are from the same lab as me,” Fang Zhaomu fiddled with his bedsheets, speaking softly to Andrew. “I was standing by a shelf sending you a message, and they were laughing at me behind my back. They drove there, but they would never give me a lift, and of course I would never want to take his car as well, do you understand?”

Andrew was silent, quietly listening to him. However, to Fang Zhaomu, the silence was a comfort that was beyond any words, as Fang Zhaomu only needed to know that there was someone listening to him, and he did not need him to say a word.

After a moment, when his emotions settled down a little, Fang Zhaomu heard Andrew asked him, “Are you crying?”

He paused, then touched his face. Blinking a few times to get rid of the dampness in his eyes, he then told Andrew, “No, why would I cry that easily?”

Seeing that Andrew did not respond, Fang Zhaomu said, “However, if you’re here giving me a hug, I might cry.”

“Oh?” Andrew asked.

Fang Zhaomu switched off his bedside lamp, and the little bedroom turned pitch black.

Looking into the dark was like looking at Andrew. He softly asked, “Andrew, why are you unwilling to meet up with me? Why did you start using the dating app?”

“I accidentally downloaded it.”

Fang Zhaomu could not help laughing. “Oh, it was an accident downloading it, but you also accidentally registered an account?”

“No.” Andrew replied instantly.

“Did you accidentally match me too?” Fang Zhaomu did not let him answer, and continued asking. “Then, who did you want to match with?”

“No, the match wasn’t an accident.” Andrew’s resistance had completely been broken down by Fang Zhaomu’s questions.

“Then why,” Fang Zhaomu asked. “You’re so nice and gentle, you should have many friends. Why do you decide to use a dating app?”

“I’m nice?”

His voice had a very aloof tone to it, but it made Fang Zhaomu feel a warmth spreading throughout his body.

It felt like the sun of early spring, and Fang Zhaomu knew that the weather was about to warm up, so he was looking forward to each moment.

“You’re very nice,” Fang Zhaomu told him. “Are you afraid that I’ll think you’re not good looking enough?”

Andrew did not speak, and Fang Zhaomu took it as though he was agreeing silently. “I don’t mind. I feel that you’re really a nice person. I don’t care about looks, not a single bit, and we’ll only be chatting when we meet up too.”

It was followed by a bout of silence. Just when Fang Zhaomu was about to suggest that if it was not possible now, they would talk about it in the future, Andrew finally spoke.

“Next time,” Andrew seemed to have made up his mind. “Wait for me to come back from my business trip.”

“You’ll be leaving for work?” Fang Zhaomu straightened up. “Where are you going? For how long?”

“I’m going to Seattle for 2 months.”

Fang Zhaomu thought about it, then told Andrew seriously, “Then you must meet up with me when you return, don’t lie to me.”

After a few seconds, Andrew promised him. “I’m not lying.”

Chapter 11

After the phone call ended, Fang Zhaomu went to the bathroom to wash his face.

In the mirror, the face of his reflection was slightly flushed, and happiness could be seen in his eyes. His lips were redder than usual, even if it was not an image of him falling into the river of love, this was still the happiest version of Fang Zhaomu in the entire school year.

Fang Zhaomu smiled at his reflection, and his reflection smiled back at him.

If they met up, Andrew should like his looks, right? Since he was young, most of the compliments Fang Zhaomu had received was about his looks.

Ever since Fang Zhaomu arrived at T University, he had always felt somewhat unlucky. Only now did he feel that his fortune might have just came a little later.

Out of all the accounts in the dating app, he had matched with Andrew. With someone to speak to, someone to accompany him, and now that they were about to meet, everything was looking up.

Returning to his bed, Fang Zhaomu texted Andrew good night. Not long later, Andrew too replied him, “Good night.”

Unlike Fang Zhaomu, Song Yuanxun did not close his eyes and go to sleep after texting him good night. He was staring dazedly at a page on his laptop summarising Seattle.

He could no longer avoid Fang Zhaomu’s request to meet. In a moment of desperation, he suddenly thought of the city Zhao Han was studying in, and without thinking, he lied.

Song Yuanxun had said it so smoothly as though it was real. Recalling it, he himself was about to believe it.

Before the call, Song Yuanxun had been afraid that Fang Zhaomu’s suspicions would be roused, and went online to buy a voice-changing app. He even got the seller to adjust the voice to sound different yet still slightly similar to his voice, but who would have known that once the call connected, the voice changing app stopped working.

With no alternatives, Song Yuanxun conversed directly with Fang Zhaomu. Luckily, Fang Zhaomu was easily deceived. Although he found his voice familiar, but he did not think too deeply about it.

At this point, Song Yuanxun no longer wanted to find any more excuses for himself. He… was unable to reject Fang Zhaomu, unable to reject his voice, his photos, his generally reasonable requests, nothing more.

Song Yuanxun closed the lid of his laptop and looked at the photo Fang Zhaomu had sent him in the afternoon. A month ago, he would never have thought that he would help Fang Zhaomu select his ear studs. However, since he had made the selection, he should see if they suited him.

Song Yuanxun confirmed that Fang Zhaomu had taken the photo in the library. The shot was captured very quickly, the lens was not in focus, and the photo was a little blurry, but the ear studs suited Fang Zhaomu very well.

It was not obvious looking at him from the front, but from his profile, it could be seen that the tip of Fang Zhaomu’s nose had a very slight curve to it. His lips were always redder than most, and in the photo, they were opened slightly. Despite the low quality of the image, his lips would still give people the impression that they were very soft.

Fang Zhaomu’s eyes were lowered, looking at the screen. Song Yuanxun stared for a couple of seconds at Fang Zhaomu’s eyes, then expressionlessly switched the screen of his phone off.

Before 10am the next morning, Fang Zhaomu sent a text to Song Yuanxun. “What time’s your flight?”

Song Yuanxun was in his International Settlement class. He quickly checked the schedule for flights from C City to Seattle, then replied Fang Zhaomu. “11.20am.”

“Then, are you at the airport already?” Fang Zhaomu asked him.

“On the way.”

“I want to send you off.”

Song Yuanxun was alarmed, but Fang Zhaomu sent him another text. “But forget it, I’ll just wait for you to return.”

He also sent a very cute smiling face, “Bon voyage, good luck with your work.”

Song Yuanxun kept his phone, then took it out again. He replied Fang Zhaomu, “Ok.”

Today, Song Yuanxun kept himself updated with news on the flights. At 4.50pm, he opened the chat window of the dating app.

He was just done with class, and a few classmates had invited him to a restaurant near the school for a meal. As he walked out, he told Fang Zhaomu, “I’ve arrived.”

Fang Zhaomu did not reply immediately. When Song Yuanxun and his classmates got into his car, Fang Zhaomu suddenly sent a text asking Song Yuanxun, “Can I call you?”

Song Yuanxun had already started his car. He looked down at the words on his phone, and his hand paused. Turning to the two classmates in his car, he said, “I’ll make a call first.”

Seeing his classmates nod in response, Song Yuanxun left the car with his phone and closed the door. Walking a distance away, he called Fang Zhaomu.

Fang Zhaomu answered very quickly, “Andrew.”

Fang Zhaomu’s voice was not loud, and so naturally had an intimacy and softness to it that was not so excessive it would turn people off.

“What happened?” Song Yuanxun asked lowly.

Despite having heard the countless voice messages Fang Zhaomu had left for him, Song Yuanxun was still not very used to speaking to Fang Zhaomu directly.

Calling Fang Zhaomu on the phone was like carving up his reality into two. Song Yuanxun had to create Fang Zhaomu’s Andrew out of nowhere, and reluctantly play this role.

“Have you got off the plane?” Fang Zhaomu asked.

Fang Zhaomu seemed to be very happy to be speaking with Andrew. Song Yuanxun replied, “I’m off the plane already.”

“Is it raining in Seattle?”

Song Yuanxun had been prepared for this, and told Fang Zhaomu, “It’s cloudy, but not raining.”

“I’ve seen the weather forecast. It says that it’ll start raining tomorrow. Remember to bring along an umbrella.”

“Ok.”

Fang Zhaomu was silent for a short while. Song Yuanxun asked him, “Is there anything else?”

“No, nothing,” Fang Zhaomu was honest. “Bye-bye.”

Song Yuanxun hung up the phone and returned to his car, driving his classmates to the restaurant they agreed on. After he parked the car, he saw that Fang Zhaomu had sent him a message, and opened it. Fang Zhaomu said that he was eating alone in a restaurant, and wished that he could speak to Andrew.

He added that this restaurant was pretty good, and when Andrew returned to C City, he must bring him there to eat. Like this, he would be able to order the lovers’ set, and eat the dessert that was not available for ala carte.

“Lovers’ set?” Song Yuanxun sent his reply.

“It’s also called a set meal for two,” Fang Zhaomu explained. “You just eat it, why do you have to care what it’s called.”

Song Yuanxun headed into the restaurant with his classmate, and immediately saw Fang Zhaomu sitting next to the window facing the door. His chin was on his hand, and he was glancing about, a bowl of soup in front of him. Song Yuanxun was no further than five metres away from Fang Zhaomu, and his eyes fell upon his face.

When Fang Zhaomu looked up to see Song Yuanxun standing there, his smooth forehead knitted. He then cast his eyes downwards, stirring his soup with his spoon.

Chapter 12

Fang Zhaomu’s good luck did not complete its journey.

It was Restaurant Week. With a heavy workload, he had stayed in the lab for an entire day. Completing his tasks for the day early, he left alone to have dinner. The soup had only just arrived, and Song Yuanxun, who had not been the lab the whole day, entered the restaurant.

Mercifully, Song Yuanxun did not come here with Zhang Ranyu and Zhou Meng. The two people next to him were people that Fang Zhaomu did not recognise. They were probably Song Yuanxun’s business major classmates, as the way they dressed were more formal than the students who often spent their time in the lab, and their behaviour was high-spirited.

Just like normal, Song Yuanxun’s expression was indifferent. Bringing along with him a cold wind as he stepped inside, he even glanced at Fang Zhaomu. Fang Zhaomu had originally felt much more relaxed as he had not seen Song Yuanxun that day, but who would have thought that he would bump into him outside school. Next time he stepped out of the door, he would not be lazy, and must flip through the almanac to take a look at his luck for the day.

Fang Zhaomu looked down and perked his ears up. The host asked them if they made any reservations, and one of the two he did not recognise stated his name. A server then led them upstairs.

This restaurant had a difference between its upper and lower floors, and even the chefs and menus were different.

Fang Zhaomu thought that business students were truly extravagant. The next time he brought Andrew here, as ordinary people, it would be very nice for them to share a meal downstairs, sitting at this table next to the window.

Misfortune came in threes. Fang Zhaomu had just finished his soup, and a classmate from his group who was in charge of collecting the data gave him a call, saying that there were issues with all the data he had analysed this week, they could not be matched to the results another person did. The professor was now waiting in the lab and wanted Fang Zhaomu to quickly return.

Fang Zhaomu was extremely helpless. He did not wait for the rest of his food to come, but settled the bill, called for a taxi and rushed back to school.

Panting, he ran into the lab. Two classmates were waiting for him, while the professor had already left as he could wait no longer. He scrutinised his results from top to bottom with his classmates, and finally sighed in relief when they found out that the issue lay with the other person.

It was 9.30pm when Fang Zhaomu left the lab. The weather was very cold, and the wind blew strongly. Fang Zhaomu’s scarf was not thick, and the cold air squirreled into his body through the gap between his scarf and coat, freezing him.

He was in a hurry when he headed back to the lab, so he did not feel that it was cold. Now that things were settled, walking alone in the dark campus, he realised that it was really bitingly cold.

About to reach the school gate, Fang Zhaomu’s phone in his pocket vibrated. Now, hearing the vibration, he would be scared. Hesitating for a few moments, the vibration did not stop, and he finally took his phone out to take a look.

Andrew was calling him, and there were also a few notifications showing that he had messages that were unread. In his nervous state just now, Fang Zhaomu did not register that he had received any texts.

He answered the phone, greeting him. Andrew’s deep and steady voice could be heard, and Fang Zhaomu felt a slight twist in his heart.

What lovers’ set, what dessert, sharing a meal downstairs. Fang Zhaomu had imagined so much, but in the end, he did not even get to finish eating his meal.

He did not have anyone to talk to, and could only listen to Andrew’s voice. He ran through the miseries he wanted to tell others in his mind, and treated it as though he had already talked to someone about it.

“Were you busy just now?” Andrew asked him casually.

“Yes,” Fang Zhaomu pressed his phone against his ear as he walked, the back of his hand already numb with the cold wind brushing against it. Pretending that everything was fine, he spoke to Andrew, “Something came up at the lab, so I was busy until now.”

“What happened?”

“There were mistakes in my classmate’s data, so we spent the whole evening verifying it.”

Andrew paused and asked Fang Zhaomu, “You’re still in the lab?”

“No, I’m not. I’m going home now. What about you, have you reached your hotel yet?”

“I’m there.”

“Have you had dinner?”

“I’ve eaten. How was the restaurant?”

Fang Zhaomu was dejected. “I’m not sure. Just as I finished the soup, I was called out. The mistake really gave me a scare, and I still don’t feel hungry now. If the professor comes tomorrow, I still need to explain it to him.”

Andrew’s voice sounded a little disapproving. “You have to eat.”

“I don’t feel like eating.” A strong gust of wind blew past. Fang Zhaomu hugged himself tightly and complained to Andrew, “Andrew, I’m very cold.”

“Where are you now?”

“I’m walking home.” Fang Zhaomu shivered. “I won’t talk to you anymore. It’s really cold. I’ll talk to you again when I’m home.”

Fang Zhaomu hung up and made his way home, half-walking and half-running.

His lodging was not very far, nor very near the school compound. It would take about twenty minutes for him to walk back.

As he made his way round a corner, Fang Zhaomu discovered a car behind him. However, it never drove past him, but slowly followed him instead.

When the car was right behind him, Fang Zhaomu turned his head to take a look. Due to the intensity of the headlights, he was unable to distinguish what type of car it was, and continued walking ahead.

At the start, Fang Zhaomu did not think that the car was following him. However, after making two turns, the car was still the same distance behind, following him, and Fang Zhaomu became suspicious.

The dazzling lights and the sounds of the tires rolling across the road made Fang Zhaomu’s hair stand on end. In his head, many violent headlines flashed by. He kept closer to the wall, keeping as much a distance as possible from the car, and his footsteps sped up.

After half a street, the car was still sticking behind him. Fang Zhaomu was frightened to death. He wanted to dial 911, but after seeing those three digits, he hesitated, and instead gave a call to Andrew who was unable to do anything from Seattle.

Andrew answered very quickly. “What happened?”

“Andrew,” Fang Zhaomu paid attention to the car behind him, and spoke hurriedly to Andrew. “There seems to be a car following me, it has followed me for for awhile already. What to do, should I call the police?”

“…” Andrew was silent for a few seconds. “Don’t be afraid. Are you sure it’s following you? What car is it?”

“It’s driving very slowly, and keeps maintaining a distance of about 10m behind me. It’s been following me for 3 streets,” Fang Zhaomu mustered up his courage and turned to look at the car, in the end, he was so frightened that he started running. “I… I can’t see… what car… it is.”

At this moment, that car suddenly made a turn, and drove down that street at the same speed.

Fang Zhaomu came to a stop. He turned back to look, then started walking briskly ahead. He told Andrew, “It has turned onto another street.”

“How far away are you from your home?” Andrew asked.

“3 more minutes.” Fang Zhaomu could already see his place. “Can you continue talking to me? I’m very scared.”

“I can,” Andrew agreed instantly. “It’s fine, don’t be scared.”

Fang Zhaomu had been running about for the most part of today. His heart was beating rapidly, and he thanked Andrew with a small voice, continuing ahead. He was also not sure if Andrew might feel that he was paranoid, but he really got a fright, and could not think too much about it, only wanting to return home quickly.

When he reached the gate of the apartment building, Fang Zhaomu took his keys out with shaking hands and unlocked the gate. He ran in and closed it behind him, finally managing to relax a little. Slowly walking up the stairs, he told Andrew, “I’m home already.”

He was out of breath, holding on to the staircase railings, he stopped to rest. Andrew was also silent, before telling Fang Zhaomu, “Good.”

“Andrew,” Fang Zhaomu looked up at the dark and narrow stairway. He spoke softly, “Thank you for accompanying me.”

“It’s not very safe at night in C City,” Andrew said calmly. “Don’t walk alone next time.”

Fang Zhaomu felt that he was unable to keep this promise, so he did not say a word.

“I’ve ordered some food for you,” Andrew spoke up. “Where do you live? I’ll get them to deliver it to you.”

Fang Zhaomu was surprised. He headed up the stairs while refusing it, “There’s no need for that, it’s so late already. Anyway, I’m also not hungry.”

“I’ve ordered it half an hour ago. Give me your address.”

Andrew’s voice was very firm, and so Fang Zhaomu reported his address to him. “Is it near you? Are you going to find an opportunity to come peek at me?”

“I’m not even in the same city, how am I going to peek?” Andrew said. “Your place isn’t far from mine.”

Reaching his door, Fang Zhaomu heard a clear ticking noise coming from Andrew’s side. It stopped very quickly, and sounded like the signalling lights of a car. Fang Zhaomu asked him, “You’re in a car?”

“Yes, there’s something urgent. I have to head back to the office.”

Fang Zhaomu felt sympathy for Andrew. He also had something urgent just now, but at least he was home now. Andrew instead had to leave now, his work seeming much tougher than Fang Zhaomu’s. He did not want to disturb Andrew anymore, and so said his goodbyes and hung up.

Chapter 13

At 10.45pm, Fang Zhaomu’s phone rang. The person delivering the food had arrived.

Fang Zhaomu ran downstairs to pick it up. The delivery person seemed to be a part-timer. He was dressed in a suit, looking like a manager of the restaurant, and in his hands was a very big paper bag.

He politely handed the bag to Fang Zhaomu, and hoped that he would enjoy the food.

Fang Zhaomu felt the bag was very heavy. Back home, he saw that there were more than ten boxes within the bag. Fang Zhaomu’s table was small, and could not fit all the boxes.

Just a few boxes was enough to take up more than half the space on the table. Puzzled, he sent Andrew a text. “What did you order? Why are there so many boxes?”

“Lovers’ set,” Andrew replied. “It arrived so late?”

When Fang Zhaomu opened the boxes, he saw that the food within were all arranged very nicely. For some reason, they reminded him of something.

Fang Zhaomu finally registered what it was when he opened the box of dessert. Andrew had ordered him the lovers’ set from the restaurant he was at in the evening.

Fang Zhaomu was stunned for a moment. First, he was very touched, but then he suddenly felt that it was strange. Contemplating it, he pulled his hand back from the box, then looked at his brightly lit phone. Picking it up, his fingers paused on the screen for two minutes, before sending Andrew a message. “How did you know which restaurant I was at?”

Andrew’s response came very fast. “The photo you sent me had the restaurant’s name on the plate.”

Fang Zhaomu immediately switched to his photo album and zoomed in to the photo he sent Andrew. There really was a silver inscription of the restaurant’s name on the bottom right corner of the plate. Fang Zhaomu was no longer that worried, but he still felt a little strange about it.

Somewhat conflicted, he looked at the food on his table. Before he could calm down, he received a call from Andrew.

Fang Zhaomu picked it up. “Andrew.”

Andrew asked Fang Zhaomu, “What happened?”

Andrew’s tone could not be any more natural. Seeing that Fang Zhaomu did not respond, Andrew asked again, “The food isn’t good?”

Fang Zhaomu’s face heated up, feeling ashamed of his unreasonableness.

Andrew had contacted the restaurant who did not do delivery, and made them deliver the food to Fang Zhaomu’s place so late at night just to let him eat something, yet Fang Zhaomu was still feeling suspicious about it.

“I might still be in shock over the car just now,” Fang Zhaomu tried his best to find an excuse for his behaviour. “I think I haven’t recovered from it.”

“Don’t be scared.” Andrew paused. Fang Zhaomu felt that he still wanted to continue, but after waiting for a while, Andrew did not say it out.

Fang Zhaomu set his phone on loudspeaker, then opened up a few more boxes. He suppressed his other emotions, and told Andrew, “If only you were here. It’s too wasteful for me to eat a set for two people myself.”

“It’s fine.”

Fang Zhaomu picked up a forkful of salad. “How did you convince them to deliver the food?”

“Didn’t you want to eat it?” Andrew dodged Fang Zhaomu’s question, and asked him another in return.

Fang Zhaomu’s place was small, and the table was a low folding table he had purchased online. He took out all boxes of the set meal that Andrew had ordered for him, and they were spread from the table to the floor.

As there had been some communication issues with the school, they had only arranged a dormitory for him for two months. Fang Zhaomu had spent a long time looking for a place to stay, and moved here only last month. His lodging was in between two somewhat larger places, and it was not clear what his place was intended for. His landlord was Asian. He was renting out this place for the first time, and Fang Zhaomu had just happened across it.

From the start till now, Fang Zhaomu’s exchange had not been very successful, and he had been having problems with everything. For him to know Andrew, it felt like something that should not be happening to him.

“Thank you,” Fang Zhaomu told Andrew. “When you’re back, I’ll treat you to a meal too.”

“We’ll talk about it again.”

“Why do we have to talk about it again?” Fang Zhaomu squinted, and pushed his luck. “Does it mean that you don’t want to eat with me?”

Andrew hesitated for two seconds. “… No.”

Fang Zhaomu burst out laughing. “I’m just joking. Whatever you feel like eating, I can always accompany you.”

“Oh?”

Fang Zhaomu could hear Andrew tapping on his keyboard, and remembered that Andrew seemed to be working overtime. He then shyly said, “I’ll eat first, you should go back to your work.”

“Mn,” Andrew stopped typing. “Eat a bit more, you’re too thin.”

“I’m not too thin.” Fang Zhaomu objected.

“You are.” Andrew was like a strict trainer at a gym criticising Fang Zhaomu’s figure.

“You’ve never even seen me before…” Fang Zhaomu’s voice was small. He looked at his table filled with boxes, and his heart was moved. “Andrew, when you’re done with your work, do you… want to have a video chat with me?”

Andrew kept silent, and Fang Zhaomu added. “You don’t have to turn on your camera.”

After a moment of silence, Andrew replied. “Ok.”

Half an hour later, Fang Zhaomu received a message from Andrew. “I’ve reached the hotel.”

Done with dinner, Fang Zhaomu was lying on his bed reading. He had almost fallen asleep, only to be jerked awake by his text notification.

Putting his book aside, he asked Andrew, “Can we chat now?”

Andrew did not call him, only sending him a reply. “We can.”

Fang Zhaomu could only send the request for a video chat himself, and Andrew accepted it immediately.

When the call connected, Fang Zhaomu placed his phone on the stand of the cupboard by his bedside, and greeted Andrew as he sat on his bed.

Andrew’s display was black, and so Fang Zhaomu widened his own display instead. He was dressed in a grey silk sleeping robe, and looking at his display, he realised the robe was gaping too widely. Tightening the robe with his hand, he greeted Andrew, “You see, I’m not too thin, right?”

It seemed like Andrew did not agree, and so did not directly answer Fang Zhaomu’s question. “Was the dessert delicious?”

“It was,” Fang Zhaomu smiled at his phone. “It was very yummy, thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

Fang Zhaomu blinked, “You’ve returned so late, aren’t you tired?”

“I’m not.” Andrew’s breathing was very quiet, his voice very calm, and Fang Zhaomu was unable to detect what he was feeling.

“You always have so little things to say,” Fang Zhaomu grabbed a corner of his blanket and covered his legs with it. He looked at his display on his phone, “You make me seem like I’m very talkative — Andrew, do you think I’m annoying?”

“No.” Maybe he realised that he really spoke very little, and so Andrew added, “You’re not annoying.”

Fang Zhaomu laughed. “You don’t have to force yourself to talk more. Anyway, I do talk a lot.”

He suddenly remembered that he had his ear studs on, and so he leaned towards his phone. Tucking his longish hair behind his ear, he showed Andrew his earlobe, “Quick, look.”

After showing it to Andrew, Fang Zhaomu then asked, “Does it look good? Quick, tell me.”

“…” Andrew replied, “It does.”

“Mn,” Fang Zhaomu nodded his head in satisfaction. “It’s because you chose it.”

On this night, Fang Zhaomu spoke for a long time with Andrew. Most of the time, Andrew was listening quietly, and would say a few words here and there. He made many promises to Fang Zhaomu, that when he came back to C City, he would do them all with him, and would agree to his every request.

Fang Zhaomu was also unwilling to think about what sort of things would they really end up doing.

At this moment, Fang Zhaomu was just talking with a person he liked a lot. Whether or not all these promises were just perfunctory did not matter; it was even better than dreaming.

Chapter 14

“Really?”

“Yes,” Fang Zhaomu nodded, then shifted his position. He put his legs up, looking very docile. “The discount was so big that I bought it without giving it any extra thought. Who would have known that it was so highly fragranced? Next time, even if things are discounted, I must think about it first.”

“I also bought discounted curry powder cubes this time. However, I only remembered that I don’t have a kitchen when I got home.” Fang Zhaomu felt a little dejected. “The dormitory I previously stayed in had a kitchen, so I forgot that I currently don’t have one.”

“You can cook?” Song Yuanxun asked.

“I can,” Fang Zhaomu replied. “But I don’t cook much here. The other people staying in my previous dormitory made the kitchen very dirty, and never cleaned up. I didn’t want to go in there.”

“The kitchen in my place is very big.” Song Yuanxun pretended to be nonchalant as he stated.

“Oh?” Fang Zhaomu registered what he said, and replied Song Yuanxun lightly. “But what does your big kitchen have to do with me? You want me to go to your place and cook for you?”

Song Yuanxun had yet to think of a reply, then Fang Zhaomu drawled out, “Or… do you want me to go to your place?”

“Either way works.” Fang Zhaomu laughed at Song Yuanxun.

Fang Zhaomu was a person who liked to laugh. His eyes were big, and shone brightly even when curved with laughter. With his red lips and white teeth, he looked very innocent. His bed was against the wall, and it was very small. Both his bedsheets and blanket were blue, and complimented his skin very well.

Fang Zhaomu, who thought he was talking to an engineer, had a very pure air to him.

Song Yuanxun watched the cheerful Fang Zhaomu on his screen. He thought, if Fang Zhaomu was speaking like this to Song Yuanxun directly, Song Yuanxun would immediately go and pick him up right now.

The two of them conversed till 1am. Fang Zhaomu was very sleepy, and after saying goodnight to Song Yuanxun, he ended the video chat. Song Yuanxun stared at the dark screen in a trance for two minutes, then continued working on his business coursework.

Song Yuanxun slept later than Fang Zhaomu, and woke up earlier than him. He had a business class in the afternoon, so went to the lab in the morning. Staying there the entire morning, he did not see Fang Zhaomu at all.

At noontime, the few of them were about to head out for lunch. Song Yuanxun was at the front of the group and pulled open the door. A certain someone who wanted a video chat and ended up talking till late at night rushed in recklessly, and fell into Song Yuanxun’s embrace.

The books in Fang Zhaomu’s arms fell to the ground in the collison. His hands unconsciously grabbed Song Yuanxun’s arms, and his face looked up in alarm, his cheek brushing past Song Yuanxun’s chin.

With the collison, it caused quite a big commotion. The classmates behind Song Yuanxun all froze.

Zhang Ranyu was not around today. When Zhou Meng identified who knocked into Song Yuanxun, out of habit, she spoke lukewarmly, “Why didn’t you look where you’re going—”

She stopped halfway, as Song Yuanxun had turned and glanced at her. Zhou Meng suspected that there was something wrong with her eyes, as the look that Song Yuanxun shot her seemed to be warning her. Song Yuanxun turned back very quickly, and supported Fang Zhaomu by holding onto his elbow. Only after Fang Zhaomu steadied himself did Song Yuanxun bend down to help him pick his books up.

Fang Zhaomu stood there, stunned. He hurriedly apologised to Song Yuanxun. “I’m sorry, I was in too much of a hurry.”

Song Yuanxun picked up all the books before standing up and passing them to Fang Zhaomu. He even nodded his head at him, implying that it was fine.

Fang Zhaomu looked overwhelmed by his action, reaching out to take his books back. Without looking clearly, his hand even pressed upon the back of Song Yuanxun’s hand.

Fang Zhaomu’s hand was slightly colder than Song Yuanxun’s. Song Yuanxun only felt the soft sensation on the back of his hand for a few seconds before Fang Zhaomu became aware and quickly moved his hand.

“Thank you.” Fang Zhaomu looked down and walked towards the second floor of the lab, while Song Yuanxun continued walking out of the lab.

When he left the building, Song Yuanxun received a message. It was from Fang Zhaomu.

“Changing the body wash really helped,” Fang Zhaomu told him. “After changing it, my classmate who really dislikes me is now suddenly much nicer to me. I accidentally bumped into him just now, and he actually even helped me pick my books up!”

Song Yuanxun had no reply, and finally drily sent Fang Zhaomu a word. “Congratulations.”

Chapter 15

As their classmate’s mistake had affected the progress of their project, everyone had to recalculate their results.

The portion Fang Zhaomu was in charge of was not difficult, but needed a lot of time, and he could not leave the lab as the experiment was ongoing. He started it in the afternoon, but by 5pm, the progress was less than half.

Everyone had left the lab one after the other. When it was 7pm, Fang Zhaomu was the only one left. With nothing to do, he dozed off next to the analyser. Bolstering his spirits, he took a look at the time, then walked to the window and looked at the weather outside.

The winter sun set early in C City, and it was again dark outside.

It was not that Fang Zhaomu had never gone home alone before. It was only because he had just received a fright from the car last night, and now, seeing the darkness outside, an uncontrollable apprehension welled up from within.

There was a lounge in the lab, but Fang Zhaomu did not like sleeping in public areas, and so never used it before. Time ticked on, and Fang Zhaomu was very hesitant. After examining the progress of the experiment, Andrew happened to ask him if he had eaten yet. Fang Zhaomu then told Andrew about his current situation, and seeked his opinion, “Should I just sleep in the lounge?”

Andrew might have been busy, and did not immediately reply Fang Zhaomu. Fang Zhaomu then turned on his computer and browsed through some online sites casually.

When it was nearly 8pm, the door to the lab suddenly opened. Fang Zhaomu looked up to see Song Yuanxun entering with a few books. Taken aback, he shifted his eyes back to his computer.

Just as he expected, Song Yuanxun did not acknowledge him. He first went upstairs, then came down twenty minutes later and walked to a position near Fang Zhaomu, picking up a record book and reading it.

Song Yuanxun was really very tall, and his posture was very straight. In the lab, he was set apart from the rest of the classmates, very outstanding. Even though he was very distant and moody, he was still the type where people wanted to get closer to him.

Before knowing Andrew, Fang Zhaomu was very bored, and often spoke to himself in his room or let his mind wander about. He wondered about when he could end this suffering of loneliness, and what exactly about him did Song Yuanxun not like.

At that time, Fang Zhaomu often thought, if Song Yuanxun could be a little nicer, and not so stern, and stop silently approving of how Zhang Ranyu and Zhou Meng outcast him, how nice would it be.

Fang Zhaomu had no expectations of being his friend.

Although there were two people in the lab, but no one made a sound. It was silent.

Fang Zhaomu thought and thought, and his eyes drifted in the direction of Song Yuanxun. About to look away, the alarm he set on his phone rang, and Song Yuanxun too looked in his direction. Their eyes met, and Fang Zhaomu’s heart jolted when Song Yuanxun looked at him.

The alarm was still ringing. Lowering his head, Fang Zhaomu picked up his phone in a flurry and switched the alarm off. He then gave a tick on his lab book, it was time for the second-last addition of the reagent.

The reagent to be added was in the cabinet in front of Song Yuanxun. Fang Zhaomu had no choice but to walk over and stop a few steps away from Song Yuanxun. Without looking at his eyes, Fang Zhaomu looked down, “Excuse me… I want to get a reagent.”

Song Yuanxun took a step back, giving him the space in front of the cabinet. However, he did not go far. As Fang Zhaomu stood in front of the cabinet, he kept feeling that Song Yuanxun was too close to him, and he was extremely nervous.

Fang Zhaomu opened the cabinet, wanting to quickly get it over with. He took out the reagent, but as his action was too big, the bottom of the reagent bottle bumped into another glass bottle. He saw that the bottle was about to fall, and his body tensed up. When he wanted to grab it with his left hand, Song Yuanxun suddenly reached out and caught the glass bottle in time.

Fang Zhaomu sighed in relief. Turning his head to thank Song Yuanxun, he discovered that their current positions were somewhat abnormal. Song Yuanxun’s left hand that caught the bottle circled around Fang Zhaomu to replace it in the cabinet, and the cabinet was against the wall. It seemed like Fang Zhaomu was being embraced by Song Yuanxun.

Fortunately, after Song Yuanxun had replaced the bottle and helped Fang Zhaomu closed the cabinet door, he retreated. Fang Zhaomu again thanked Song Yuanxun. Song Yuanxun nodded at him, and suddenly seemed to think of something. He pointed at his own throat, and waved his hand.

Fang Zhaomu understood, and asked Song Yuanxun tentatively, “You have a sore throat?”

Song Yuanxun nodded his head.

“Oh.” Fang Zhaomu slowly answered, and suddenly felt that Song Yuanxun really did not seem to be ostracising him that much.

“Then…” Fang Zhaomu paused. “I’m going up to have some water. Do you want some? I’ll get you a cup.”

Song Yuanxun nodded again.

Fang Zhaomu added the reagent and headed upstairs. He first drank some water, then poured Song Yuanxun a cup of warm water and brought it down for him.

Watching Song Yuanxun drink it, Fang Zhaomu spoke up. “With a sore throat, you shouldn’t drink water that’s too hot.”

“When I bumped into you earlier in the day, did it hurt?” Fang Zhaomu asked.

Song Yuanxun put the cup down and shook his head.

Fang Zhaomu smiled at him, “I still thought you’ll be angry about it.”

Song Yuanxun shook his head. As usual, he looked emotionless, but Fang Zhaomu did not see the irritation Song Yuanxun used to have for him in his eyes.

The both of them interacted like this peacefully, and it did not seem to be as difficult as Fang Zhaomu thought it would be.

Fang Zhaomu walked over to the analyser and observed the progress again. He looked at his phone, it was already nine plus, but Andrew had yet to reply his message. He then turned towards Song Yuanxun, “You’re staying till so late tonight?”

Thinking about Song Yuanxun’s sore throat, Fang Zhaomu smiled in embarrassment at him. “I forgot that you can’t speak now. Just go ahead with your work then.”

Song Yuanxun picked up a book and wrote a few words for Fang Zhaomu. “You too?”

“My experiment’s taking too long,” Fang Zhaomu sighed. “I might have to sleep in the lab tonight.”

Song Yuanxun wrote again, “How much longer is it going to take?”

Fang Zhaomu looked at his lab book. “Another half hour.”

Song Yuanxun drank some water and then wrote, “I’ll send you back.”

This time, Fang Zhaomu was really overwhelmed by him. Without thinking, he rejected him, “No need, no need.”

Song Yuanxun closed the book and looked at Fang Zhaomu sternly. Fang Zhaomu said, “There’s really no need, the lounge is very convenient.”

Song Yuanxun did not write any more words for Fang Zhaomu. However, just now when he finished looking at the record book, he did not do anything else. He sat by a nearby table, his back facing Fang Zhaomu and fiddled with his phone, looking just like he was waiting for Fang Zhaomu.

Fang Zhaomu finally received Andrew’s reply. “I’ll help you call a taxi.”

“No need,” Fang Zhaomu carefully replied him. “It seems like my classmate wants to send me back.”

“I thought you don’t have any classmate that’s close enough for you to hitch a ride?” Andrew asked him.

Fang Zhaomu too did not understand the reason behind Song Yuanxun’s sudden change in character, and could only reply Andrew, “Theoretically speaking, I really don’t have any classmates that I’m close enough with.”

“Maybe it’s because you changed your body wash.”

Fang Zhaomu felt that Andrew’s reply was a little sour, then he remembered Andrew’s cold manner of speaking, and could not help but laugh. He then glanced at Song Yuanxun’s back, and took his phone with him as he walked to the corridor outside the lab and called Andrew.

Andrew only picked up after a few rings. Fang Zhaomu asked him, “Andrew, what’s with you? Your words are strange.”

“They’re not.” Andrew denied.

“My classmate’s very straight,” Fang Zhaomu said. “Don’t worry, ok?”

Andrew did not ask Fang Zhaomu why he should not “worry” if other people was sending Fang Zhaomu home. He only said, “Is that so?”

“Andrew,” Fang Zhaomu paused for a few seconds before continuing. “Are you bothered by it?”

Actually, Fang Zhaomu was not sure how Andrew felt about him, but he was afraid that Andrew would not be happy about it.

“I’m not,” Andrew hesitated, and reasserted himself. “There’s nothing to be bothered about.”

“Fine,” Fang Zhaomu looked at the ajar door of the lab. “I’ll talk to you when I’m home, I still have to finish up my experiment.”

Andrew agreed. Fang Zhaomu was about to hang up, but thought about Andrew’s tone in his reply. His heart jerked a little, and called out to Andrew. “Actually… My classmate’s only being nice and sending me home. But if it’s you, when you return to C City, and pick me up at night, you can bring me to your home.”

Chapter 16

When Fang Zhaomu ended his call, his face was still burning, and so he ran up to the balcony to cool off.

It was a little cold outside. When Fang Zhaomu pushed the door open, the cold air rushed in. Walking out against the wind, he looked up at the night sky of T University, then at the lawn shaded in darkness, the road lit by the street lights, and the buildings in the distance.

Just now, Andrew had not remained silent like usual after Fang Zhaomu’s teasing. He had asked Fang Zhaomu, “I can really bring you home?”

“You can.”

“Your classmate can’t, and only I can?”

Fang Zhaomu did not know why Andrew would ask this question, but still replied. “Mn.”

“Why am I the only one who can bring you home?” Andrew’s voice was very composed, and no emotions could be detected from it. Still, it made Fang Zhaomu blush and his heart beat faster.

Fang Zhaomu instantly came up with many responses, but was unable to select an appropriate one. Fortunately, Andrew also seemed to be busy, and did not continue this topic. He told Fang Zhaomu to let him know when he reached home, and they ended their call.

Without Andrew’s voice in his ear, Fang Zhaomu felt his brain heating up, and losing his reason.

He felt that his earnestness was a little inappropriate.

With his relationship with Andrew, it would at most be like this, and who knew if it would even last for a few months. No matter what Fang Zhaomu’s thoughts were, they were only an illusion.

Andrew had always been very calm, and never revealed much of his personal life to Fang Zhaomu. When they interacted, it was always Fang Zhaomu who was the more enthusiastic one. Those simple and hasty issues and things the twenty-one years old Fang Zhaomu spoke about probably disturbed the twenty-nine years old Andrew easily.

However, Fang Zhaomu still wanted to meet Andrew. No matter how ugly and boring Andrew really was, he really wanted to meet him. Even if Fang Zhaomu would not be staying here for long, and even if Andrew would not change for Fang Zhaomu.

It was difficult to stop himself from liking a person, and the reason was complicated and difficult to understand.

In the past, Fang Zhaomu had many friends in school. There were both males and females who had confessed their feelings to him, whether in public or in private. He was not very interested in any of them, and was unwilling to start a relationship from such a doubtful beginning.

Now that he finally had someone he wanted to get closer too, but there was no chance of them being together.

Fang Zhaomu seemed to have recovered his reason a little. His brain cooled down, but the heat in heart was unable to dissipate.

He was afraid of making Song Yuanxun wait for too long, so he quickly returned to the lab.

Fang Zhaomu entered, and Song Yuanxun was still sitting at the same seat with a book in his hand. Fang Zhaomu spoke apologetically to Song Yuanxun, “I was making a call just now, you must be feeling very impatient.”

Song Yuanxun put his book down and shook his head slightly at him.

Fang Zhaomu walked over to the analyser and looked at it. The experiment was basically done, and Fang Zhaomu decided to examine at the results tomorrow. He packed up his belongings, grabbed his back and walked back to Song Yuanxun.

Song Yuanxun switched off the lights, and led the way down the stairs. He drove a black SUV. The car was big and tall, and Fang Zhaomu was nearly unable to climb into it.

In the car, Fang Zhaomu put the seatbelt on and told Song Yuanxun his address. Afraid that Song Yuanxun did not know where it was, he told him, “I’ll direct you once we’re out of the school gates.”

Song Yuanxun nodded and slowly started driving.

The car was very dark, and for some reason, Song Yuanxun was driving extremely slowly. The radio was playing a soothing piano melody, very soporific. Fang Zhaomu had wanted to give Song Yuanxun directions, but after a while, they were still in the campus. The atmosphere was also so quiet it made him sleepy, and as he slept late last night, leaning in the seat, he fell asleep.

Not knowing how long he had fell asleep for, Fang Zhaomu woke up groggily. Seeing a dark figure next to him, he was alarmed. Then, he remembered Song Yuanxun had drove him home, and asked in panic, “How long was I asleep for?”

Song Yuan turned on the reading light and pointed at the clock in the car. Fang Zhaomu took a look. Luckily, he had only slept for about ten minutes, it was not too long. Fang Zhaomu apologised and thanked Song Yuanxun, and Song Yuanxun waved at him. The reading light was not very bright, it might be because Fang Zhaomu was still groggy from sleep, he felt that tonight’s Song Yuanxun had a gentleness that was different from before.

Fang Zhaomu was about to get out of the car, and wanted to help Song Yuanxun turn off the reading light. Looking up, he reached out to press it a few times, but the light remained on, and even turned one more on. Fang Zhaomu was at a loss, wondering why he had to be so itchy-handed and randomly press on things.

Helpless, Fang Zhaomu looked at Song Yuanxun. However, Song Yuanxun was not angry, and seemed to even have smiled. He reached out and caught Fang Zhaomu’s wrist, pulling it down a little, and helped him turn off the lights.

Song Yuanxun’s hand was warm. In the two seconds that he held his wrist, Fang Zhaomu panicked with the warmth. He said his goodbyes to Song Yuanxun, then opened the door and got out of the car.

Carrying his bag, Fang Zhaomu entered the building. He stood in the corridor for a moment, sending Andrew a message that he had arrived home before slowly making his way upstairs.

He thought about Andrew, and without thinking, he opened the air ticket booking app, searching for tickets to Seattle.

It was currently the peak period for travel, and air tickets were expensive. A five hours flight, a three hours time difference — should he go? Would Andrew welcome him?

In his place, Fang Zhaomu washed up and saw Andrew’s reply, telling him goodnight. Thinking that there was nothing else to talk about, he then shut off the lights and went to sleep.

Song Yuanxun suspected that he would not be able to think about anything else tonight.

Outside Fang Zhaomu’s place, Song Yuanxun stopped for about ten minutes before driving off, and all he could think off was how Fang Zhaomu looked like as he slept in the seat next to him.

When Fang Zhaomu was video-chatting with him last night, the distance between his phone and him was even further than the distance between them in the car. Fang Zhaomu did not seem to be sleeping too comfortably. He curled up in the seat, his brows knitting slightly, and he had one hand on his bag and the other on the seat.

This was the real Fang Zhaomu. Sleeping there without being on guard, and his light fruity scent filled the interior of the car. Because of Fang Zhaomu, the constrained space started heating up.

Song Yuanxun composedly watched Fang Zhaomu for a while, and undid his seatbelt for him, wanting him to sleep a little more easily.

Fang Zhaomu had split Song Yuanxun’s life into two.

Half of him was unscrupulous basking in Fang Zhaomu’s sweet words and reliance. He took up Fang Zhaomu’s time, Fang Zhaomu’s attention, and he only needed to go to the lounge on the second floor of the lab and would be able to answer Fang Zhaomu’s call from the same building. As for the other half of him, could only remain as “a classmate”.

Two entirely different world finally came together when Fang Zhaomu was asleep.

Next to Song Yuanxun, Fang Zhaomu’s breathing was regular. Only an arm’s length away, Fang Zhaomu’s lips were slightly apart, looking soft and supple, and his hair also clung softly to his cheek. He was wearing the ear stud Song Yuanxun had picked for him. He was always wearing it.

Song Yuanxun finally admitted it to himself.

He wanted to hug him, he wanted to touch him, he wanted to have him.

He wished that Fang Zhaomu, to Song Yuanxun, could also reveal his reliance, talk about everything, including his complaints. He wished that Fang Zhaomu would ask Song Yuanxun to help him select things, and wanted Fang Zhaomu to put his arms around Song Yuanxun’s neck, his face pressing into the crook of Song Yuanxun’s neck, and softly let Song Yuanxun bring him home.

Song Yuanxun stared at Fang Zhaomu, thinking about what he said to Andrew. He could not help but lock his car, and Fang Zhaomu was woken up by the sound.

Fang Zhaomu was a little dazed when he woke up, and even when Song Yuanxun held his wrist, he did not find anything strange about it.

As long as Andrew was not Song Yuanxun, it was likely that Fang Zhaomu would like him very much.

Song Yuanxun made a turn, and suddenly wished that he could conjure up another appearance. It would be according to what Fang Zhaomu wished for, an ordinary looking twenty-nine year old mechanical engineer, rushing back from Seattle, travel-stained, picking up Fang Zhaomu, and eating the set meal for two together.

Then, he would be able to hug him, touch him, and have him, unlike now where he was clearly so close to him, but yet, so far.

Chapter 17

As he paced around wondering if he should go look for Andrew, Fang Zhaomu’s busy week passed.

Not very contented with remaining in the lab previously, as Fang Zhaomu prepared to finish his project, he signed up for other electives. During the day, he worked on his experiment with his groupmates. He was so busy that he could not spare time to be concerned about other matters. At night, he called his family to discuss the issue of signing up for electives. The school fees of T University was expensive, and he had yet to be independent, so he needed to talk to his family about it first.

His family agreed to his request. However, Fang Zhaomu realised that since Song Yuanxun had sent him home, his relationship with his lab classmates had seemed to change subtly.

Zhou Meng had suddenly became a bit friendlier to him, and would even sometimes ask if he wanted to eat with her. As for Zhang Ranyu, he no longer antagonised Fang Zhaomu. And Song Yuanxun… his throat seemed to never recover.

At the same time, Andrew had been a little strange the past few days. He became even more unforthcoming than before, and more aloof. He said that he was busy, and would often disappear. With Fang Zhaomu’s one-sided enthusiasm, after he kept getting no response for a long time, he felt aggrieved. He did not know what he had done wrong, and so did not know what he should change, and his life again became stale.

On Friday, Fang Zhaomu received the remittance from his family, and he was also nearly done with the first draft of his thesis.

From the lab, he slowly made his way out of the school. The sun had yet to fully set. There were still many people on campus, and small clusters and groups walked past him. Everyone seemed to have many things going on in their personal lives, all except for Fang Zhaomu.

In the afternoon, Zhou Meng had asked him if he wanted to go to the city with Song Yuanxun and her, but Fang Zhaomu declined graciously.

He took out his phone and looked at the message he sent Andrew in the morning. He had asked about Andrew’s weekend, but Andrew had yet to reply him.

After dinner, a professor from back home whom Fang Zhaomu was quite close with suddenly contacted him. He told him that he had a quota for a direct PhD, and asked Fang Zhaomu if he wanted it.

That professor had always approved of Fang Zhaomu. He said that Fang Zhaomu was smart, that he could come up with ideas, and had strong focus, and had talent for research. As for Fang Zhaomu, there were many times when he himself was unsure of what he wanted exactly. He rarely thought about his future career, and in his mind, if he could continue studying, he, of course, would want that opportunity.

After coming home and taking a shower, Fang Zhaomu saw a message from his friend back home. He was asked if he had any arrangements for his birthday.

Fang Zhaomu looked at the calendar, his birthday was really on this coming Sunday. Recently, he had been so busy that he even forgot about this. Thinking about it, Fang Zhaomu replied his friend. “I don’t have any arrangements.”

He might just go to the city alone to walk around, buy a cake, and bring it home to eat.

On Sunday, Fang Zhaomu woke up very late. He lazily got up and headed out of his place, taking a bus to the city. On the bus, Fang Zhaomu received many birthday wishes one after another. His little sister, Fang Zhaoling, had borrowed her teacher’s phone, and sent him a very long text.

It mainly talked about how, despite often bickering at home, but now that she did not get to see Fang Zhaomu around, she really did quite miss him. She also wished him many happy returns of the day.

As Fang Zhaomu read this message, he found that there were still people who thought about him.

He got off the bus. After walking about, he didn’t see anything he wanted to buy, and so went to a famous bakery and bought a cake that was enough for himself after queueing for twenty minutes, taking it as his birthday present.

Fang Zhaomu did not talk to Andrew for the entire day. When he reached home, he placed the cake on his table.

Sitting down and facing his cake, he could not help but think about that person who claimed that he was very busy. He thought that on his birthday, he should follow his heart, and so took a photo of the cake and asked Andrew a question that even he himself felt was very stupid. “Emergency! If I light the candles, would I set off the smoke alarm?”

After a few minutes, Fang Zhaomu received a call from Andrew.

Feeling that this was a request that he had made, he answered the call, his nose a little stuffy. “Hello?”

“It’s your birthday today?”

“Mn.” Fang Zhaomu drew his fingers along the table surface.

“Why didn’t you mention it earlier?” Andrew’s voice sounded a little anxious and vexed, unlike his usual calm. This instead made Fang Zhaomu feel a little more at ease.

Fang Zhaomu thought about it, but decided to be honest. “You haven’t been responding to my messages recently, so I didn’t mention it.”

“It’s not that I…” Andrew paused, and struggled to explain. “I’ve been busier the past few days.”

“Mn.” Fang Zhaomu felt that his excuse was quite feeble, but did not probe into it. “I know that, thanks for calling me.”

Andrew was silent for quite some time before asking Fang Zhaomu, “How did you spend your birthday?”

“I went to the city and bought a cake. I also received many well wishes today as well. A lot of my old classmates had sent me messages, together with my little sister and my parents. My mom even gave me a red packet, although I won’t be able to use it.”

“Little sister?” Andrew asked.

“Yes, a biological one.” Fang Zhaomu bragged a little to Andrew. “My sister is very pretty and talented, she’s currently in high school.”

“Oh?” Andrew said in a low voice, “You’re also very pretty.”

Fang Zhaomu was taken aback, and did not respond. He thought, no matter how pretty I am, you also don’t seem to like me anyway.

The two of them were silent, and Andrew spoke up. “Happy birthday… Xiaomu.”

“Thank you.” Fang Zhaomu answered reflexively.

He actually still had many things he wanted to say to Andrew. So many things had happened over the past few days, and he had not have any chance to tell them to him. However, now that they were on the phone, Fang Zhaomu no longer wanted to tell him about it.

The silence dragged on. Fang Zhaomu put his phone aside, and placed the candle on his cake. Lighting it with a match, he then casually asked Andrew. “In the future, what sort of person do you think you’ll be in a relationship with?”

The candle wax almost dripped onto the cake, but Andrew still did not reply. Fang Zhaomu then laughed, “Forget it, I won’t ask anymore. I’m going to eat the cake, bye-bye!”

He hung up the phone, and blew out the candle.

Fang Zhaomu used his fork to clean up the wax on the cake. Cutting out a slice, he only had two bites before he received a very strange text from a foreign number.

“Hi, this is Song Yuanxun. My car has broke down near your place, and I just got your number from someone else. I’m unable to speak now, and I can’t communicate easily, can you come downstairs and help me out?”

Fang Zhaomu read this text three times, and confirmed that he had not understood it wrongly. He felt that this Song Yuanxun really had something wrong with him, always making people worried.

However, even helping someone repair his car was better than eating a cake alone. Hence, Fang Zhaomu stored Song Yuanxun’s number, told him that he was coming down, put on his jacket, and headed downstairs.

Chapter 18

Fang Zhaomu regretted his decision when he was downstairs. The weather in C City had again turned colder, and his sweater could not withstand the wind.

Song Yuanxun had sent him another text, telling him that he was at the junction.

Fang Zhaomu walked into the wind and immediately saw the car that he had taken before by the road side. He drew closer, and smelled a thick stench of burnt rubber.

And Song Yuanxun who had just texted him for help was standing by sternly.

Seeing Fang Zhaomu, Song Yuanxun turned towards him and watched him quietly, pointing at his tires.

Fang Zhaomu had a driving license back home, but did not drive much, and so he did not know much about cars. Walking over to Song Yuanxun, he took a look and speculated, “You have a flat tire?”

Song Yuanxun nodded at Fang Zhaomu, and signalled “2” with his hand.

“Two?” Fang Zhaomu was a little surprised as well as sympathetic. A gust of wind blew past them, and Fang Zhaomu recoiled. “What should we do now?”

Song Yuanxun was a lot taller than Fang Zhaomu. Standing on the path, he looked down at Fang Zhaomu with the light from the street lamps, and did not say a word. Being stared at, Fang Zhaomu felt goosebumps creeping up his flesh, and so looked away. He continued looking at one of the tires that had been damaged obviously, and crossed his arms. “Should we call for help or something…”

Fang Zhaomu did not have any experience handling such matters, and did not know what help he could provide.

Song Yuanxun suddenly moved. Fang Zhaomu turned to look at him, and saw him remove his jacket and lean towards himself.

Before Fang Zhaomu could react, he was wrapped up in Song Yuanxun’s clothes.

Song Yuanxun was very strong. He was close to him, and Fang Zhaomu also did not have a sure footing. Having the jacket wrapped around him, Fang Zhaomu was pulled forward, and it looked like he was throwing himself in Song Yuanxun’s arms.

Song Yuanxun was left in just a shirt. Fang Zhaomu was not close to him, and felt very awkward wearing his clothes. “You should just wear it yourself.”

He then tried to remove Song Yuanxun’s coat, only for his hand to be caught by Song Yuanxun.

Song Yuanxun waved his phone at Fang Zhaomu. He opened his reminder app, and typed a few words for him. “We have to call my insurance company.”

Fang Zhaomu, “Oh.”

Song Yuanxun typed, “Please help me explain the situation to them.”

Fang Zhaomu gave another “oh”, and asked, “I just have to tell them that two tires are punctured?”

Song Yuanxun typed “yes”, then continued typing out the situation of the punctured tyres.

Although Song Yuanxun’s trench coat was not very thick, but it could block the wind. Fang Zhaomu was no longer as cold as before, and he stood by the side as he watched Song Yuanxun typed.

The wind was really strong. Fang Zhaomu looked at Song Yuanxun’s thin shirt, and he reached out without thinking to touch the back of Song Yuanxun’s hand. Song Yuanxun stopped typing, and he turned to look at Fang Zhaomu.

Fang Zhaomu immediately pulled his hand back. Song Yuanxun’s hand was really quite cold, and he could not help but suggest, “Why don’t we just go to my place first. It’s too cold out here.”

Song Yuanxun immediately locked his phone and turned towards Fang Zhaomu, looking as though he was urging him to lead the way.

Seeing that, Fang Zhaomu was a little dazed. He had never seen someone who did not treat himself as an outsider before. However, he had not yet manage to eat his birthday cake, and had to stand in the cold wind to help a classmate with whom he was not close to and had also lost his voice, this could also be considered one of life’s little encounters.

“But my place is very small, and it’s a little messy.” Fang Zhaomu led the way and warned Song Yuanxun.

Song Yuanxun was walking along next to Fang Zhaomu, and on the other of him was the road. He turned his head slightly to look at Fang Zhaomu, nodding to signal that he understood.

Fang Zhaomu looked a little clumsy wearing Song Yuanxun’s coat as he walked, and turned his head to talk to Song Yuanxun.

His voice when talking to Song Yuanxun was completely different from when he talked to Andrew.

Talking to Song Yuanxun, Fang Zhaomu spoke very distantly, his mood placid. Half an hour ago, when he said that Andrew “haven’t been responding”, he was unable to hide his upset and complaints. Now, in front of Song Yuanxun, he had packed up his emotions, and there was no ambiguous feelings detected at all.

Fang Zhaomu removed Song Yuanxun’s coat and hung it on a rack by the side. He then removed his own sweater and hung it up next to Song Yuanxun’s coat.

He probably had never expected people to visit him, and so only had a pair of slippers. He let Song Yuanxun wear them while he stood there in socks.

Song Yuanxun was unwilling to wear his slippers, and Fang Zhaomu took it that he was feeling bad about it. He then said courteously, “It’s fine, you should wear them.”

Fang Zhaomu liked wearing soft, thin and loose sweaters. In a warm place, wherever he was, that place would feel like it had an air that made people reluctant to leave.

His words made people unable to reject him, and Song Yuanxun involuntarily wore those slippers.

Fang Zhaomu’s place could be entirely seen with a glance.

Song Yuanxun recognised this place. Fang Zhaomu had been sitting on this very bed in his pyjamas and video-chatting with him.

Fang Zhaomu even made Song Yuanxun compliment his ear studs — the ear studs he liked were personally selected by Song Yuanxun, and the food delivery happened because Song Yuanxun had given a large tip to the restaurant, and his little secret messages in the lab were all sent to Song Yuanxun’s phone.

The only thing was that Fang Zhaomu did not know anything about this, and Fang Zhaomu had got it wrong.

Fang Zhaomu’s bedsheets had changed, and on his little table was a cake. Song Yuanxun patted Fang Zhaomu’s shoulder and typed for him, “It’s your birthday today?”

Fang Zhaomu was a little taken aback, and admitted it. He then casually asked Song Yuanxun, “You want some cake?”

“Happy birthday.”

Fang Zhaomu politely and carefully thanked him.

Song Yuanxun typed some more. “Is there anything you wished for?”

Fang Zhaomu looked at the words and looked away. “I’ll help you call the insurance company now. What should I say?”

His tone made Song Yuanxun feel that Fang Zhaomu wished to quickly send him away.

Fang Zhaomu found a pen and paper for Song Yuanxun, and let him write it out.

Song Yuanxun found the number of his insurance, and Fang Zhaomu dialed it, explaining Song Yuanxun’s situation to the company.

At first, only one tire was punctured. After Song Yuanxun replaced it with the spare tire, another one was punctured. He had thought it was a system fault, and so continued driving. He only stopped when the car’s warning signs all lit up, and smelled the burning smell when he opened the door.

The company said that they would send a tow truck over, it would take about thirty minutes.

After the call, Fang Zhaomu cut a slice of cake for Song Yuanxun and poured him a glass of water. He saw that Song Yuanxun’s left hand had an abrasion on it, and it seemed fresh. Pointing at it, he asked him, “Did you injure yourself just now?”

Song Yuanxun wrote, “I scraped it on the rusty part of the jack when I was replacing the tire.”

“The jack was even rusty?” Fang Zhaomu looked helplessly at Song Yuanxun. He had a bit more emotions than when Song Yuanxun had asked him about his birthday wishes, and educated Song Yuanxun. “Don’t you know that you have to disinfect it and get an injection?”

Fang Zhaomu took a small first aid kit from a cabinet, and removed the cake from the table before he opened up the kit. He then asked Song Yuanxun to hold his hand out for him.

Fang Zhaomu’s cheeks were a little pink, and his lips were redder than most people. Even with his eyes lowered, his eyes and lips were still shiny.

Song Yuanxun thought, at least he definitely was not the only person whose breathing would turn irregular after looking at Fang Zhaomu for a long time.

Fang Zhaomu was not talkative with Song Yuanxun, and Song Yuanxun held his left hand out towards him. Fang Zhaomu grasped Song Yuanxun’s palm, and helped him disinfect his wound with a piece of alcohol-soaked cotton.

Fang Zhaomu’s hand was also very soft. Thinking about this, Song Yuanxun’s fingers curled up, and grabbed Fang Zhaomu’s left fingers.

Fang Zhaomu was startled and moved away the cotton. “Is it that painful?”

Song Yuanxun released Fang Zhaomu and slowly nodded his head.

“I’ll be gentler,” Fang Zhaomu smiled at Song Yuanxun. “You’re actually so afraid of pain.”

Song Yuanxun looked at Fang Zhaomu’s smile. Thinking for a few seconds, he then braced himself and wrote, “Keep it a secret.”

Fang Zhaomu laughed. His distance from Song Yuanxun was less than twenty centimetres. His eyes were curved, and gave a carefree assurance. “Alright, I won’t tell anyone.”

He then looked down and wiped his wound with the piece of cotton, and placed a plaster over it. “You still need to get a tetanus shot.”

Song Yuanxun wrote, “Sure.”

Chapter 19

After he had dealt with the wound, Fang Zhaomu turned to put the first aid kit away. Song Yuanxun’s phone started vibrating, and it was a call from Zhao Han.

Song Yuanxun simply rejected the call, and texted Zhao Han. “Make your own way to my place.”

“You’re repairing your car? I’ll come to the workshop.”

“Don’t come.” Song Yuanxun only sent those two words, as Fang Zhaomu was back again.

What he gave Fang Zhaomu to tell the insurance agent was not completely false, but it was not completely true as well.

Two days ago, Zhao Han had contacted Zhao Yuanxun and said that he wanted to crash at his place for a few days. At that time, Song Yuanxun’s right eyelid had started twitching.

Yesterday morning, after driving over a pothole, Song Yuanxun’s car had started warning his that the pressure in his tyres were not balanced.

In the afternoon, he visited an elder. Not long after he left the elder’s home, a tyre became punctured. The elder’s house was in the suburbs, and so Song Yuanxun decided to change the tyre himself. Opening his boot, he realised that his spare tire was not a full-sized tyre, and could only be used temporarily, and he would need to go to the workshop to replace it. When he was done, he headed to the nearest workshop. About to reach, he again drove over another pothole, and his tyre pressure warning was activated again.

Song Yuanxun stopped to take a look. Another tyre was now punctured. He was about to call for a tow, but at that moment, he received a message from Fang Zhaomu.

He spoke to Fang Zhaomu over the phone, then looked at his car. With a sudden flash of inspiration, he got onto his car and continued driving past the workshop. About to reach Fang Zhaomu’s place, the punctured tyre was driven right till the rim, and the car’s warning sounded continuously.

Song Yuanxun got off the car and took a look, feeling that it did look like a plausible excuse, and so sent Fang Zhaomu a message.

Misfortune could sometimes be a blessing in disguise. Adversity could be a step towards his good luck.

Just by puncturing two tyres, Song Yuanxun was able to rightfully enter Fang Zhaomu’s place.

Fang Zhaomu washed his hands and came back to see Song Yuanxun sitting quite stiffly on his carpet. Fang Zhaomu sat across him, and Song Yuanxun was sitting still. He secretly thought, a young master was truly a young master, and had to be served. Picking up the cake he took away just now, Fang Zhaomu pushed it towards Song Yuanxun. “You don’t want it?”

Song Yuanxun glanced at Fang Zhaomu, then looked down and took a few bites before writing out for him, “What birthday wish did you make?”

Fang Zhaomu was not very sure why Song Yuanxun would ask him this. The wish he made had nothing to do with Song Yuanxun at all, and he shook his head. “It’s nothing much.”

Song Yuanxun no longer forced him. He put down the pen, and continued eating.

The two of them ate the cake in silence. Song Yuanxun’s phone rang, and he looked at it before passing it over to Fang Zhaomu. Fang Zhaomu saw that it was the insurance agent he was just talking to, and so answered the call. The agent said that he was with the car already, and would like to ask Fang Zhaomu and Song Yuanxun to come down.

Fang Zhaomu hung up, and Song Yuanxun’s phone rang again. With a tap of his finger, Fang Zhaomu answered the call, and the other person spoke. “Are you not at home now?”

“Ah… Uhh…” Fang Zhaomu paused, and pulled the phone away. He saw the name “Zhao Han” on the screen, then looked at Song Yuanxun, asking him hesitantly, “Should I answer it for you?”

Song Yuanxun had also saw Zhao Han’s name. His expression froze for a moment, and he extended his right hand to Fang Zhaomu.

Fang Zhaomu did not understand what he meant, and the other person on the phone paused, feeling strange, before asking, “Who are you?”

Song Yuanxun waited for a few seconds and saw that Fang Zhaomu had yet to react. He then reached out and pulled Fang Zhaomu’s wrist to take his phone back. He hung up on the call, sent the other person a text, and stood up.

Fang Zhaomu headed downstairs with Song Yuanxun and met the insurance agent. Song Yuanxun signed the bill, and the agent had his car towed away.

“It’s done.” Fang Zhaomu was standing by the road. “Are you taking a taxi back now?”

Song Yuanxun typed a sentence out for him. “Let’s go have something to eat.”

Fang Zhaomu did not want to hang out alone with Song Yuanxun for too long, and shook his head. “No, it’s fine. I want to go back and rest.”

“Take it as I’m thanking you.” Song Yuanxun did not want to let him leave, and continued typing.

Fang Zhaomu looked up into Song Yuanxun’s eyes and rejected him directly. “I’m not going, I didn’t help much anyway. There’s no need to thank me, and I’m a little tired as well.”

Song Yuanxun looked at Fang Zhaomu and nodded. It just happened that an empty taxi drove past them, and so he waved at Fang Zhaomu and got onto it.

Fang Zhaomu returned home. Without Song Yuanxun, his room had a little more space, and he even felt that his place had expanded.

He poured himself a glass of water, and cut another small slice of cake, eating it slowly. It was at this time when he received a text from Andrew. “Did you light the candle?”

Fang Zhaomu pondered over it, but still replied him. “I did.”

“What wish did you make?”

Fang Zhaomu felt that he had been asked this question many times today. However, so what if he knew? Even if his wish had to do with Andrew, Andrew might not be able help him fulfil it.

So he told Andrew, “I made many wishes, but I don’t think they’ll come true.”

“Tell me about them.” Andrew was persistent.

Fang Zhaomu was slightly stunned by Andrew’s message, and slowly typed, “I hope that out of all the things I had an agreement with someone to do, I’ll be able to at least do one or two of them.”

It was not long before Andrew called him.

Fang Zhaomu picked it up.

“Are you talking about me?” Andrew was very direct.

Fang Zhaomu had only spoken to Andrew just before he had helped Song Yuanxun out, but he felt as though it had been ages since he spoke to Andrew.

Just by hearing his voice, Fang Zhaomu felt a lot of sorrow and reluctance that he could not say out.

It sounded like Andrew was outside. There was the sound of wind, the rustling of leaves, as well as vehicles driving by. Those might be the background noises that belonged to Seattle, and it made Fang Zhaomu want to go there.

He also wanted to be like the passersby walking past Andrew, able to see Andrew call him, and catch a glimpse of how Andrew actually felt about him.

“If that’s the case?” Fang Zhaomu asked Andrew in return.

“If it is,” Andrew said. “I will do them with you.”

“What will we do?” Fang Zhaomu asked depressedly.

“Didn’t you want to watch that movie released in March? We’ll also go to that biology exhibition in the city.” Andrew stated them one by one for Fang Zhaomu. “We’ll have to feed the fish when we got to the aquarium. We’ll go to the street market, a chinese restaurant, and you want to bring me for a stroll in T University in the evening, and we’ll do it again in the day.”

This was the first time Fang Zhaomu had heard him talk so much ever since they got to know each other.

Fang Zhaomu listened to him quietly. Because Andrew had remembered them all, his heartbeat started getting erratic, and his bad mood for the entire week vanished instantly.

He had never expected that Andrew, being so quiet, would actually remember everything they talked about. He did not know if it was because his memory was good, or if he was really paying attention.

Fang Zhaomu discovered that he really was someone who was easily pleased. Because of his sudden joy, he felt that this birthday was not too bad.

After Andrew listed every item, Fang Zhaomu asked him lightly, “So what do you think we should do first?”

“Let’s meet up first.”

Andrew’s answer was perfect, and Fang Zhaomu laughed. He told Andrew in anticipation, “Sure, we’ll meet up first.”

He then asked Andrew, “Are you on the streets now? You’re done with work?”

“Mn.” Andrew gave a brief answer.

“Is it cold where you are?”

“It’s not cold,” Andrew said. “It’s cold over there?”

“It’s very cold. I was queueing outdoors for half an hour to buy the cake,” Fang Zhaomu grumbled. “I also just went downstairs, and the wind’s even stronger than in the afternoon. However, the cake is very yummy.”

Fang Zhaomu mentioned the name of the bakery, and asked Andrew if he had tried anything from there before.

Andrew seemed to have been enlightened today. He told Fang Zhaomu that he had never eaten anything from there before, and added, “When we meet, I’ll bring you there.”

“Then who’s going to queue?” Fang Zhaomu lowered his head and poked the cake with his fork. He bit his lip, unable to control his smile.

“I’ll queue,” Andrew said. “You’ll wait in the car, I’ll go and queue.”

Chapter 20

Song Yuanxun was walking along the road.

He asked the taxi driver to stop by the road, about a kilometre away from his place. As he walked home, he spoke to Fang Zhaomu on the phone.

Song Yuanxun thought, maybe the wind might be able to sober him up.

There was a moment that Song Yuanxun wanted to confess, when Fang Zhaomu was asking him if it was cold.

However, the illusion was too beautiful. In the next moment, Song Yuanxun again started to yearn for the imaginary and undependable feelings, yearn for how Fang Zhaomu’s mood would be affected by his attitude, and how Fang Zhaomu would be troubled by his aloofness.

Deception often went around in circles, accompanied by timely self-delusion.

Song Yuanxun had tasted it.

With Fang Zhaomu, Song Yuanxun had no chance.

When Fang Zhaomu spoke with Andrew, he had summarised Song Yuanxun’s matter as “going downstairs”. Song Yuanxun understood that it was not because Fang Zhaomu was afraid that Andrew would misunderstand, but because he simply thought it was only an interlude, and not worth mentioning.

To make a switch, removing Andrew from Fang Zhaomu’s heart and replacing him with Song Yuanxun, it would not work. Fang Zhaomu’s rejection, was a very frank rejection.

Today was Fang Zhaomu’s birthday. No matter how Song Yuanxun subtly tried to invite Fang Zhaomu out for a meal, he was unable to do so, and could only let Andrew coax Fang Zhaomu out of his low spirits.

As for the rest, he would think about it after today.

By a very tall streetlight, Song Yuanxun stopped and listened to what Fang Zhaomu was saying.

The weather was cold, and Fang Zhaomu was warm. Fang Zhaomu returned to how he was like just a week ago, and told Song Yuanxun, “Since this wish has came through, then, I’ve decided. I’ll make a new wish.”

“Sure,” Song Yuanxun told Fang Zhaomu. “Light the candle again.”

“Will making a new wish work though?” Fang Zhaomu started floundering again.

“It doesn’t matter.” Song Yuanxun was very generous. “As long as you’re not asking for the stars or the moon, you can wish for anything that I’ll be able to achieve.”

After a short while, Fang Zhaomu said breezily, “What if I want the moon?”

“…” Song Yuanxun was mesmerised by this type of Fang Zhaomu. Without being taught, he exaggerated masterfully, “I’ll try my best to get it for you.”

Fang Zhaomu laughed in delight, telling Andrew that he was really very old-fashioned, and asked if he had just read some love advice from a 90’s era chatroom. Song Yuanxun did not admit it, and Fang Zhaomu switched the topic.

Entering his front yard, Song Yuanxun saw someone squatting by the door of his place.

Zhao Han had turn on the lights in his corridor, and looking like a hooligan, he was squatting by the steps and smoking. Seeing Song Yuanxun’s arrival, he stubbed the cigarette out on the marble pillar. “Yo, coming back from a date with Xiaomu?”

Song Yuanxun was startled, he stared at Zhao Han, then recalled that Fang Zhaomu had answered Zhao Han’s call and cursed.

Zhao Han was also taken aback. He carefully studied Song Yuanxun’s expression. “Fuck. It really was him?”

Song Yuanxun made Zhao Han give way and opened the door, then Zhao Han followed him in. He asked Zhao Han, “Is there a problem?”

“…” Zhao Han shook his head. “I had wanted to try matching him on the dating app in C City…”

Song Yuanxun switched on his lights, and turned to look at Zhao Han with an emotionless face. Zhao Han was frightened by the look in his eyes, and quickly spread his palms open and clarified, “I’m only joking, it’s a joke.”

“What are you doing here in C City?”

“Why are you so unwelcoming?” Zhao Han beat around the bush, dodging Song Yuanxun’s question. Making himself at home, he walked to the liquor cabinet in the dining room and selected a bottle, then went to grab an ice bucket. “You’ve already met each other, and you didn’t bring him home. Are you still a man?”

Song Yuanxun took the drink Zhao Han poured for him and sipped it. His doorbell rang, and he stood up and walked to the door.

Song Yuanxun’s phone was left by the bar. When he left, the screen lit up. Zhao Han leaned over to take a look, and it was a notification from some app.

Zhao Han had always been overly curious, and he also knew the passcode to Song Yuanxun’s phone. He glanced over at the corridor, and vaguely heard Song Yuanxun talking to someone. Feeling that Song Yuanxun would not be back so soon, he took the phone and unlocked it.

Opening the app, he heard Mu’s message. “Andrew, I want to come and look for you.”

Mu’s voice was really very pleasant sounding. Zhao Han listened to it twice, and did not scroll up to look at their chat history. Looking to stir up some trouble, he replied. “When?”

“I’m nearly done with my thesis, and I don’t have to go to the lab this week. Are you busy everyday?”

Zhao Han drank a mouthful of liquor, and replied attentively, “If you come, I won’t be busy.”

“Really?” Mu sounded very happy. After a few seconds, he sent another message. “Then I’ll buy my ticket. It’ll be for tomorrow.”

Zhao Han did not know what ticket he was buying, but it was most likely a bus ticket. He tried to emulate Song Yuanxun’s tone, and replied Mu, “Alright, I’ll wait for you.”

Not long after, Song Yuanxun came back with a box. It seemed like it was given by a new neighbour.

Zhao Han sat there, his ankle over his knee. When he saw Song Yuanxun took his seat, he gave a cough and tried to claim some credit, “I’ve helped you abduct Xiaomu here.”

Song Yuanxun was alarmed. “What?”

Zhao Han pointed at Song Yuanxun’s phone. “Take a look yourself.”

When Song Yuanxun looked at the messages, his complexion changed abruptly.

Fang Zhaomu was in a good mood. He casually looked at the airline website, and found that there was an offer on a two-way flight to Seattle. After asking Andrew, he bought it, and he would be in Seattle the following week for three days.

As he tidied up his place, Fang Zhaomu could not resist sitting down on his bed and asking Andrew, “Where are you staying? You really don’t have to work overtime tomorrow? Why don’t you give me your address, I’ll make my own way to your hotel.”

Fang Zhaomu waited for a while, but Andrew did not respond. He then returned to tidying up.

Now that they were really going to meet, Fang Zhaomu was a little scared and nervous. After all, he had often read news online about people being cheated by their online friends of money and their body. He even did not know how Andrew looked like, in a sense, they could be considered strangers.

Before leaving, Fang Zhaomu started feeling anxious. He stopped packing his clothes, and hesitantly messaged Andrew, “Can we have a video chat before we meet?”

Andrew suddenly gave him a call, and Fang Zhaomu answered. “You’ve bought your air ticket already?”

“Mn.”

“Which flight?”

Fang Zhaomu looked at his booking confirmation and recited the flight number for Andrew, then told him the estimated arrival time as well. Andrew was silent.

“Is something wrong?” Fang Zhaomu kept feeling that Andrew was strange. “Is the timing not convenient?”

“Yes,” Andrew spoke very slowly. It sounded like he was controlling his temper. “I can’t pick you up tomorrow.”

This person had just told Fang Zhaomu that if he came, he would be free. Now, he was saying that the timing was not convenient. Fang Zhaomu was disappointed, and faltered a little.

He paused, and tested Andrew. “Andrew, do you not want me to come?”

Andrew did not say a word.

Fang Zhaomu was unable to describe what he was feeling at the moment. If he had to come up with a word for it, it might be “discouraged”.

“I’ll just cancel the ticket then.”

In truth, the ticket he purchased could not be cancelled, but there was nothing else he could say.

“No need,” Andrew finally replied. “I didn’t not want you to come.”

Fang Zhaomu hung up. His heart sank, and his anticipation for tomorrow was not as fervent as half an hour ago.

He felt that in the few minutes of their conversation, Andrew seemed to have made a decision. However, Fang Zhaomu had no idea what it was.

Since he had already purchased the ticket, then he would just go.

Chapter 21

Fang Zhaomu landed in Seattle at three in the afternoon.

Seattle was raining again. To keep his luggage light, Fang Zhaomu did not bring an umbrella.

Before he had boarded the plane, Andrew had sent him the address of the hotel. Fang Zhaomu had searched it online. That hotel was a little far from the airport, but as he was afraid of getting lost on the public transport, pondering over it, he still decided to take a taxi.

In the taxi, Fang Zhaomu told Andrew, “I’m here.”

Andrew sent him a reply very quickly. “You’re on the way already?”

The taxi moved off, and the scenery outside the window sped past. Andrew’s voice was placid, and Fang Zhaomu could not identify Andrew’s location, nor could he distinguish how Andrew was feeling about it. So he only replied, “Mn”, then yawned.

“If I take a taxi, how long would it take before I arrive?”

Andrew paused before saying, “If there’s no jam, it’ll be about 40 minutes.”

He had sat for too long on the plane. No matter how Fang Zhaomu adjusted his position, he still felt stifled. Cracking the window just a little open for some fresh air, he asked, “What time will you reach the hotel? How would I go up?”

“I’m also on the way back to the hotel,” Andrew said. “I’ve left a keycard with the front desk. You just have to let them know my room number, and they’ll give the card to you.”

Fang Zhaomu obediently agreed, then asked Andrew again, “How long do you need before you’ll reach?”

“I’m not sure. You should take the card and head up directly.”

Fang Zhaomu told him he understood, and after hanging up, he stared unseeingly at the scenery outside.

When he reached the hotel, following Andrew’s instructions, Fang Zhaomu went to the front desk. The staff immediately understood when Fang Zhaomu told her the room number, and without asking any further, she gave him a keycard.

As Fang Zhaomu headed to the lifts, he looked around at his surroundings. He thought that Andrew must be very competent at work, if not his company would not have provided him with such a luxurious hotel for him to stay at.

In the lift, he sent Andrew a message, saying that he was on the way up. Andrew was staying on the 28th floor, and the lift was so fast that he reached very quickly. Yet to receive Andrew’s reply, Fang Zhaomu cautiously pulled his luggage along and found the room. Unlocking the door, he opened it.

Beyond the door was darkness. Fang Zhaomu stepped inside, and the door closed behind him. He could not see anything.

Fang Zhaomu was afraid of the dark, and he also did not know if Andrew was there. Nervousness crept up upon him, and he did not dare to take a step further, even wanting to open the door and run away instead.

Towards the complete darkness, he called out softly. “Andrew?”

After a while, no one responded. Fang Zhaomu gave a small sigh of relief, thinking that Andrew must not be back yet. He stretched his hand up, about to fumble for the light switch, and suddenly heard a voice he was very familiar with near him. “Xiaomu.”

This was the first time Fang Zhaomu had directly heard Andrew’s voice, and his heart instantly sped up.

Andrew’s voice was a lot more solid than listening to it through the phone. Just by hearing “Xiaomu”, Fang Zhaomu could imagine how Andrew was standing there. He did not know how much taller than him Andrew was, as it could not be seen from the photos.

“Why didn’t you switch on the lights?” Fang Zhaomu hesitantly released his luggage and walked in with his hand against the wall.

“I don’t want to scare you.” Andrew’s voice was a little closer. From what Fang Zhaomu saw of the room just now with the door open, Andrew should be standing at the end of the doorway.

“Why would I be scared?” Andrew sounded very earnest, and Fang Zhaomu laughed hearing him. He comforted Andrew, “You’re exaggerating. I’m very daring, I won’t be so easily scared off.”

He took another step, groping his way through the dark. When he suddenly caught a person’s arm, he then realised that Andrew had actually been so close.

Fang Zhaomu let go, but his hand was now instead caught by Andrew.

“You’re very daring?” Andrew asked him.

Fang Zhaomu could hear the amusement in Andrew’s question, and so blustered, “What do you mean? Say it clearly.”

Andrew did not speak, and only laughed.

In a dark room, a person’s senses would be heightened. Andrew had only gripped his wrist with a little strength, and it was enough for Fang Zhaomu’s mouth to turn dry. He was afraid that if his heart beat any harder, Andrew would be able to hear it. In the air tinged with a light incense fragrance, Fang Zhaomu suddenly felt that the room was filled with underlying ambiguity that was slowly heating up. Fang Zhaomu did not dare to move, but Andrew moved.

Holding onto Fang Zhaomu’s wrist, he gave a tug, and pulled Fang Zhaomu into his arms.

Andrew was a lot taller than Fang Zhaomu had imagined. He hugged Fang Zhaomu, and Fang Zhaomu’s hand was on Andrew’s chest. Through a thin t-shirt, he could feel his firm muscles.

“Andrew…” Fang Zhaomu called him, then did not know how to continue. He looked up, his lips brushing past Andrew’s chin, and Andrew seemed to unconsciously leaned back a little.

Fang Zhaomu was taken aback, and pushed Andrew. “Forget about the fact that you didn’t turn on the lights, why are you hiding?”

“I’m not.” Andrew denied.

His hand was on Fang Zhaomu’s back, a very gentlemanly way of hugging him.

Fang Zhaomu again pushed him lightly, and Andrew released him.

“I finally know why you wanted to download the dating app,” Fang Zhaomu leaned into Andrew’s body again. He raised his chin, tracing Andrew’s stubble, and accurately pressed into his lips before moving apart, then grumbled, “Because you don’t know how to take the initiative at all.”

In the next second, Fang Zhaomu could not say a word anymore. Andrew held onto Fang Zhaomu, and lowered his head.

Fang Zhaomu’s shoulders were tightly held by Andrew, his lips and tongue fiercely occupied by Andrew, and he almost could not breath. Andrew kissed him like he wanted to devour him, and the passionate sound of kissing filled the room. Fang Zhaomu’s legs weakened, he was about to slide down the wall. Only by holding onto Andrew’s arms did he barely manage to stand.

Andrew registered Fang Zhaomu’s unsteady feet, and moved back a little. “I’ll carry you over to a seat?”

Hugging Andrew, it took Fang Zhaomu sometime before he responded. “Mn.”

Andrew lifted Fang Zhaomu up in a princess carry, and took a few steps before placing him down on something very soft. Fang Zhaomu reached out to touch his seat, and asked, “Are we on the bed?”

“Yes.”

“Are we still keeping the lights off?” Fang Zhaomu asked. “Don’t you want to see me?”

“I don’t want to scare you.” Andrew repeated.

When Fang Zhaomu heard this, he wondered if Andrew’s face had some disability, or an even bigger problem. His heart ached a little for him, and so he said, “It’s fine if we leave them off then. It doesn’t matter.”

Fang Zhaomu reached out and tugged at Andrew’s clothes. “Come over then. It should be fine if I touch you, right?”

Andrew leaned over, kissing Fang Zhaomu’s lips haphazardly. He grabbed Fang Zhaomu’s hand and placed it on his face.

Fang Zhaomu lightly dragged his hand down Andrew’s face. “Mn, your eyebrows are very nice.”

A second, and Fang Zhaomu leaned in to kiss Andrew’s brows, then touched his brow bone and eyes. “Your features are very defined.”

He then kissed his eyes, and touched his nose and face. Andrew’s nose bridge was very high. Although he could not see it, Fang Zhaomu felt that he could not be ugly, and so intimately kissed the tip of Andrew’s nose. “Your nose is very sharp too.”

Finally, it was his lips. Fang Zhaomu pressed on his lower lip, and then replaced his fingers with his own lips. He pecked him lightly, and felt Andrew’s warmth and his breaths. He concluded, “They’re all very nice.”

“Are they?” With a low voice, Andrew pressed against Fang Zhaomu’s back, pushing him to sit on him.

“Yes, they are,” Fang Zhaomu said. “Actually, I’m also not much to look at. When you see me, you might be disappointed as well.”

“I won’t.” Andrew responded.

His embrace was very warm, and when he spoke, his lips were plastered to Fang Zhaomu’s ear. “I know that you’re very good looking.”

“But you can’t always keep the lights off.” Fang Zhaomu said helplessly.

Andrew rested his head on Fang Zhaomu’s shoulder. After a moment, he spoke up. “Let me hug you for awhile more.”

“Why are you behaving like we’re about to be parted forever?” Fang Zhaomu laughed. “Then we’ll just keep the lights off for now.”

Andrew grasped around for Fang Zhaomu’s hands, and held them tightly, seeming as though he was feeling insecure. Fang Zhaomu lost his rationality. He leaned over next to Andrew’s ear and asked him, “Or shall we… do it before we turn on the lights?”

Chapter 22

Andrew froze for a long time, making Fang Zhaomu feel that he was seriously considering it.

He tightened his arms around Fang Zhaomu, just like he was treasuring him. A moment later, he said, “You should turn the lights on.”

“I won’t,” Fang Zhaomu said lazily. “If you want them on, you’ll turn them on yourself.”

Fang Zhaomu pressed onto Andrew’s shoulders and changed his position, straddling Andrew’s body. His hand slid down, but before he touched anything, it was caught by Andrew.

“Why are you so shy?” Fang Zhaomu was not embarrassed even after Andrew caught his hand. “I even came to look for you, but you keep putting me off. Do you not want it?”

“Fang Zhaomu.” Andrew suddenly called his full name.

Fang Zhaomu suddenly had an ominous feeling well up within him. He could not identify what it was, but soon, he no longer had the time to think about it.

After calling his name, Andrew did not continue. The two of them paused for a moment, then Fang Zhaomu clung onto Andrew’s shoulders and started kissing him again.

Fang Zhaomu sprawled across Andrew’s body, biting his lips. He was so warm that he could not take it, and removed his shirt before removing Andrew’s T-shirt as well.

Andrew’s heavy pants exhaled into Fang Zhaomu’s ear, acting like Fang Zhaomu’s aphrodisiac. He did not have any more mental capacity to think about anything else, and his entire body was screaming for him.

This time, when Fang Zhaomu touched Andrew’s hardening part, Andrew did not stop him. Fang Zhaomu undid Andrew’s belt, the drag of the buckle against the cloth sounding extremely loud, causing a quiver in Fang Zhaomu’s heart, and made his entire body tingle in anticipation.

Andrew’s hand was on Fang Zhaomu’s waist, tightening slowly. Fang Zhaomu released the belt and wrapped his arms around Andrew’s neck. “You’re not allowed to call my full name.”

Andrew then smoothly called, “Xiaomu.”

Fang Zhaomu pulled down Andrew’s underwear, putting a hand around him. When the hard and heated flesh rubbed against Fang Zhaomu’s palm, Fang Zhaomu was lifted up by Andrew and pressed down onto the bed.

Andrew took over from there, pushing Fang Zhaomu into the bed. Andrew’s hands were big, and his thumb was by Fang Zhaomu’s belly button and his fingers around Fang Zhaomu’s waist. He was very strong, roughly yet carefully caressing Fang Zhaomu, from his neck, his chest, his belly and to his hips.

Fang Zhaomu had lost possession of his mind already, and allowed Andrew to do whatever he wanted.

At the last moment, Andrew suddenly stopped.

“What happened?” Fang Zhaomu asked after his breathing somewhat calmed down.

Andrew did not say a word. He only let of Fang Zhaomu and sat up.

Fang Zhaomu was puzzled, and continued lying on the bed. He remained silent with Andrew, and his pounding heart gradually settled.

“Xiaomu, are you serious about this?” Andrew suddenly asked him.

Fang Zhaomu did not understand what Andrew meant. He paused before asking, “Serious about what?”

“Sex?” Fang Zhaomu thought about it, and did not wait for Andrew’s reply. “You don’t want to do it?”

“No, it’s not that.” Andrew groped around in the dark and found Fang Zhaomu’s shirt. Pulling Fang Zhaomu’s hand, he helped him sit up, and wrapped his shirt around him.

Andrew straightened Fang Zhaomu’s shirt, then lifted his hand to stroke Fang Zhaomu’s hair. After about three to five seconds, he leaned over and kissed Fang Zhaomu’s cheek before moving apart.

“I’ll turn on the lights.” Andrew said.

Song Yuanxun turned the lights on.

The lights in the hotel were dim. Fang Zhaomu reflexively shut his eyes, and when he opened them again, Song Yuanxun saw Fang Zhaomu’s face whitened.

There was not a huge change in Fang Zhaomu’s expression, only a complete absence of a smile, and his warmth turned into cold.

He did not immediately react, only staring at Song Yuanxun’s face composedly, and watched him emotionlessly for very long. His mouth moved a few times, and Song Yuanxun felt that he had something he wanted to say, but Fang Zhaomu never said it aloud.

Song Yuanxun was sitting near Fang Zhaomu, calmly yet worriedly waiting for his judgement.

Fang Zhaomu abruptly stood up. He looked at the bathroom on the right, walked into it and pulled the door close behind him. However, the door was not shut fully.

Not long after, Song Yuanxun heard Fang Zhaomu retching inside.

On the morning flight, Song Yuanxun had came up with countless possible reactions Fang Zhaomu might have.

He thought that he had already came up with the worst case scenario, but it was still not as awful as this.

After awhile, Fang Zhaomu walked to the door of the bathroom and shut the door properly. The sound of running water could be heard indistinctly, Fang Zhaomu was taking a shower.

He showered for very long, even longer than the amount of time he spent staring at Song Yuanxun.

Fang Zhaomu only came out at 6pm, and his clothes were very neat. When he pulled the door open, the humid air from the bathroom rushed out. Fang Zhaomu’s lips were very red. He did not look like he had cried, and it was probably because of his vomiting that caused his eyes to be red.

Song Yuanxun was watching Fang Zhaomu, but Fang Zhaomu did not look at him. Fang Zhaomu picked up the coat that was tossed to the ground during their shared passion and put it on, buttoning it up tightly.

“I’ll go first.” Fang Zhaomu said, his head bowed, and he did not ask anything more.

This time, nothing could be sensed from him.

Song Yuanxun looked at Fang Zhaomu. Fang Zhaomu’s exposed skin was red with his washing, and his knuckles seemed to be grazed.

“Have you booked a ticket?” Song Yuanxun asked him.

“I’ll book it on the way.”

“Xiaomu—” Song Yuanxun had just called his name, only to be cut off by Fang Zhaomu.

“— You should just call me by my full name.” Fang Zhaomu seemed like he did not want to say a word to Song Yuanxun. He wore his shoes, and quickly walked to the door.

He had brought a luggage that was left by the door, and it seemed like he was really prepared to spend a few days with Andrew in Seattle. Before coming, he had spent three hours packing his luggage, but he had only stayed in Seattle for less than three hours before he was going back.

Song Yuanxun could not help but run forward and pull onto Fang Zhaomu. Fang Zhaomu shrank and pushed Song Yuanxun away. He gripped the handle of his luggage tightly, and Song Yuanxun realised that Fang Zhaomu’s hand was trembling.

Fang Zhaomu’s entire body was trembling.

Song Yuanxun felt that Fang Zhaomu was unable to return alone in this state. He reached out and wrapped his fingers around Fang Zhaomu’s wrist. “I’ll send you there.”

“No need, let go.” Fang Zhaomu pushed at Song Yuanxun a couple of times, but failed to push him away, and so he raised his head.

Fang Zhaomu’s eyes were finally filled with tears, and his voice had turned very hoarse. It seemed like he was no longer able to suppress his emotions, and neither did he want to suppress them anymore.

Song Yuanxun did not let go. Fang Zhaomu must not leave his sight. He was afraid that something would happen to Fang Zhaomu.

“Leave me alone.” Fang Zhaomu had his back against the wall, and gave up struggling, pleading softly with Song Yuanxun.

“Leave me alone.” Fang Zhaomu repeated.

His tears fell onto Song Yuanxun’s hand, and slid down.

Song Yuanxun had seen people cry before. Having lived for so many years, how was it possible that he had never seen anyone cry?

However, Song Yuanxun had never knew why people would cry. He thought that crying was the most useless thing to do. If there was a problem, then they should think of a solution. Crying was weak and powerless, useless and redundant.

So it turned out it was not.

Fang Zhaomu cried, because he was sad, because he was regretful.

Out of the thousands of methods to make friends, Song Yuanxun had used the worst one; Out of the thousands of people who wanted to be friends with Fang Zhaomu, Song Yuanxun was the worst one.

Just now, Fang Zhaomu had said that Song Yuanxun had made turning on the lights feel as though they were about to be parted forever. Song Yuanxun felt that even parting forever might be better than this.

There was no way to return from death, and whoever who met with that situation could only accept it.

However, before the lights came on, Song Yuanxun could still live in his illusions, he could still dream.

Fang Zhaomu’s tears and resistance were like rocks following an avalanche, coming down one after another. After flattening all of Song Yuanxun’s luck, his unrealistic hopes, Fang Zhaomu would leave.

Chapter 23

Fang Zhaomu carelessly opened the door and walked out. Song Yuanxun did not dare to use force with Fang Zhaomu, and was even more unwilling to let go. Without taking the keycard to the room, his hand tight around Fang Zhaomu’s wrist, Song Yuanxun was led forward.

Song Yuanxun’s room was not far from the lift, but they had to go past a guest lounge. When the attendant by the lounge entrance saw them, he hesitated about going over to them and asking about the situation. Song Yuanxun finally let go, and helped Fang Zhaomu pressed the button for the lift.

“I’ll send you.” Song Yuanxun persevered in standing next to Fang Zhaomu. Fang Zhaomu no longer bothered about him. When the lift arrived, he walked in by himself, and Song Yuanxun followed after.

When they arrived on downstairs, there were many people standing around in the main lobby of the hotel. It was only slightly after six, but it was unnaturally dark outside.

A person who looked like a hotel manager walked over. Song Yuanxun stopped him and asked what was going on.

“A storm is coming.” The manager hurriedly left.

Fang Zhaomu had a huge headache. He unlocked his phone, wanting to buy an air ticket to return to C City that night. However, there was no tickets available, and the news showing were all about the storm about to takeover Seattle.

Song Yuanxun was tall. He was standing by Fang Zhaomu, and Fang Zhaomu knew that he was looking at the screen of his phone. He continued ignoring him.

“Just put up with it for one night,” Song Yuanxun cajoled Fang Zhaomu. “Wait till tomorrow before you leave, I’ve originally booked two rooms anyway.”

Fang Zhaomu looked up at Song Yuanxun, and found that his brain was no longer able to handle anything to do with Song Yuanxun. Just like a self-protective instinct, he heard what Song Yuanxun said, but he could not process it. With a blink, he would forget immediately, and could not recall a single word.

There were more and more people in the lobby. Fang Zhaomu suddenly felt a fear of the crowd. When he saw them moving, he could not help but feel scared, shivers running through his body, and he dragged his luggage along with him as he headed out.

Out of the revolving door, he was faced with wind and a mist-like rain. The wind was so strong Fang Zhaomu staggered a couple of steps to the side. Song Yuanxun grabbed Fang Zhaomu and supported him. Once Fang Zhaomu steadied himself, he immediately stepped back.

Fang Zhaomu struggled to look for the nearest hotel on his phone, wanting to book a room.

Walking in the wind and rain was still better than staying here.

The rain turned heavier, pouring down. The entrance of the hotel was the drop-off area for guests, and should be sheltered from the rain. However, the wind was so strong it blew the rain inwards.

Fang Zhaomu’s shoes and trousers were all wet. With his phone, he looked at the location of the hotel, then looked out, wanting to walk outside.

The closest hotel nearby was a motel, about a five minutes walk away, and only one room was left. Fang Zhaomu was going to make a reservation, but he suddenly received a call from his sister.

It was too noisy outside, and chaotic within Fang Zhaomu’s head. He could only hear the howling of the wind and people speaking loudly. His face was drenched in the rain, and he thought about it before answering his sister’s call.

“Fang Zhaomu,” Fang Zhaoling’s voice sounded like it was coming from a very far distance. She appeared to be very happy, and shouted at Fang Zhaomu, “I love you!”

She burst out laughing. Fang Zhaomu did not speak, and quietly listened to Fang Zhaoling finish laughing and explain to someone next to her, “This is my older brother! — Ge, give me a minute.”

A short pause, and Fang Zhaoling walked to a quieter spot. She excitedly told Fang Zhaomu, “It’s my classmate’s birthday, and we’re at her place playing truth or dare.”

Hearing no response from Fang Zhaomu, Fang Zhaoling asked, “Fang Zhaomu, what are you doing?”

“I, I’m on my way home.” Fang Zhaomu stammered a little, and his voice was not loud.

He did not want Fang Zhaoling to know any of the awful things that happened to him here. He would just endure it, and it would be enough. “I just came out from the lab.”

The storm was getting heavier. Fang Zhaomu saw a huge tree nearby blown down by the wind.

Next, the crown of the tree curved down, and crashed into a car by the side of the road. Fang Zhaomu was terrified, and the shock dragged him back to reality.

With the cold wind and rain blowing at him, Fang Zhaomu felt an intense pain.

Since young, Fang Zhaomu had never cried often. Fang Zhaomu was very optimistic and smart. The people he met were all kind, his family harmonious, and there was no disturbances to be found. When his mother talked about his childhood, she would always mention the incident about him falling down when he was two or three years old. She said that Fang Zhaomu had fell down from the stairs, his knee scraped and bleeding. Even an adult would cry, but Fang Zhaomu remained sitting there, waiting dazedly for his mother to pick him up.

Fang Zhaomu did not remember it himself. Now, when he thought about it, he felt that the reason he did not cry was he was younger was probably because it was not painful enough.

Now that it really hurt, he would naturally cry too.

Fang Zhaomu’s vision turned blurry, an astringent feeling in his nose. He listened to Fang Zhaoling speaking like an adult, “It’s very late for you already, isn’t it? Be careful on your way home.”

Although Fang Zhaoling was in a quiet area, but Fang Zhaomu knew that it was very lively over there. There must be many people around her, and everyone were all very happy.

“Ge?” Fang Zhaoling did not hear any reply, and called out to him sharply.

“I know.” Fang Zhaomu was afraid that if he said anymore, Fang Zhaoling would realise that something was wrong with him, and he quickly said goodbye.

Fang Zhaomu hung up and wanted to continue reserving a room. However, his hand might have been too wet, and his phone slipped out of his hand and dropped to the ground.

Fang Zhaomu had been using this phone for quite sometimes, and there were occasional issues with it. He had been too lazy to replace it, and this time, after a drop, the screen turned dark. He picked it up, pressing on the switch continuously, but the phone did not turn on. Fang Zhaomu stared at the screen, his mind empty, and did not know what he should do now.

After a while, he realised someone was holding on to his arm. Fang Zhaomu’s eyelashes were thick with rain and tears, blocking his vision. He could not see anything clearly, and only heard that very familiar voice speaking humbly to him. “Mumu, let’s go in first. The rain and wind is too heavy outside. If you continue standing here, you’ll catch a cold.”

Fang Zhaomu did not want Song Yuanxun to touch him. He moved his arm lightly, “Don’t touch me.”

Song Yuanxun reduced the strength of his grip, but he did not let go. “Let’s go in first.”

Fang Zhaomu’s phone could not longer be used, and he was in an unfamiliar surrounding. With no other choices, he walked back into the hotel and queued at the front desk, wanting to book a room himself.

“I’ve booked two rooms,” Song Yuanxun told him. “I’ll go take the key to the other room.”

Fang Zhaomu did not say anything, only continued standing there.

He understood that when he was faced with troubles, persisting in rejection was something very meaningless. It was very petty, very narrow-minded, very insensible, but he did not want to care about all these. When a person was struggling in pain, why would they consider if they were being dignified?

While queueing, Fang Zhaomu heard a girl in front complaining to her boyfriend about the heavy storm, destroying all their travelling plans.

The boyfriend consoled the girl, saying that resting in a hotel could also be considered as a vacation, and to take it as one of life’s experiences.

Last night, after Fang Zhaomu was done packing, he even did a little research on Seattle’s Pike Place Market. Fang Zhaomu loved going to places like this, and liked to buy random wares from such places, and he had immediately screenshot it and sent it to Andrew.

Now that he thought about it, for all he knew, Song Yuanxun might still have been in C City, yet he had replied Fang Zhaomu with a “Sure.”

He told Fang Zhaomu, “We’ll go there.”

It was very decisive, like a solemn vow, as though after seeing each other, they would really go there together.

Song Yuanxun had found someone to give him the key. He returned to Fang Zhaomu, and stood there waiting with him.

In the end, Fang Zhaomu still ended up staying in Song Yuanxun’s extra room, as the hotel no longer had any rooms available.

Before he entered, he asked Song Yuanxun for his bank account number. Song Yuanxun did not say anything else, and gave him the details. Song Yuanxun was very thankful that Fang Zhaomu was willing to stay there safely. Outside, half the city had no electricity, the traffic was insane. With Fang Zhaomu’s slight figure, if Song Yuanxun was not holding onto him just now when they were standing outside, he was afraid he might have been blown away by the wind.

As his door was about to close, Song Yuanxun called out to him. Fang Zhaomu lifted his head, and Song Yuanxun spoke up after a pause. “You go ahead and take a rest first, I’ll order some food for you.”

Fang Zhaomu shook his head and closed his door.

Chapter 24

After Fang Zhaomu entered the room, he removed his coat and sat down on the chair.

The hotel’s window was an ordinary double-layered glass. The strong rain and wind outside pounded upon the glass.

Fang Zhaomu gazed out of the window. Through the rain, not many lights could be seen. They were mostly clumped together, and the city that was supposed to be brightly lit was in the dark.

He pulled the curtains closed and switched on the television. The news was reporting about this Seattle storm that had arose from convective weather, causing a severe traffic jam and half the city to have a power cut.

As Fang Zhaomu sat there, his sweater and pants clung uncomfortably to him. He first switched on the lights, then removed his clothes one by one and lay in bed. He did not want to take a shower, as he had showered for too long just now.

He tried to shut his eyes and fall asleep, but his head started throbbing. Fang Zhaomu was wrapped up in the blanket, half naked. The temperature in the room was not cold, and he soon heated up under the blanket. However, once he moved, the warm blanket would become very rough, scraping past every inch of Fang Zhaomu’s skin. It made Fang Zhaomu feel as though there was still someone touching him, that there was still someone holding him down, someone’s lips on his chin.

Song Yuanxun’s kisses had been too savage, pressing Fang Zhaomu down until he could not move.

There were a few seconds when Song Yuanxun’s hands were holding Fang Zhaomu’s wrists down. While kissing Fang Zhaomu, his hands slid up, and his fingers forced themselves between Fang Zhaomu’s fingers, intertwining their hands tightly together.

When Fang Zhaomu closed his eyes, every detail lay out in front of him, every action made him shudder, terrified.

It was all Song Yuanxun. There was no Andrew, right from the start, it was Song Yuanxun.

Fang Zhaomu did not successfully meet a Chinese outside school. There was no one coming to Seattle for work, no one working overtime, no twenty-nine years old mechanical engineer. His social network was always trapped in that lab in T University, and he had never escaped from there.

Fang Zhaomu opened his eyes. Unable to bear it, he turned on the lights and sat up. His eyes drifting down, he saw the red marks on his body that were left after scrubbing in the shower. Below those red marks, there were also love bites left by that lab classmate who did not like him much.

He tugged the blanket up a little, gazing sightlessly for a moment. The doorbell suddenly rang.

Fang Zhaomu got a shock. He did not go and open the door, but pressed the do-not-disturb button instead. However, that person started knocking. Fang Zhaomu did not go and take a look. He only huddled up in the bed, hoping that the person outside would receive his message from his silence, and go away.

Who would have guessed that when the knocking stopped, the phone in the room started ringing.

Fang Zhaomu sat there for a few seconds, then picked up the phone and immediately hung up on it. He was anxious, and kept feeling that the room was not safe. Walking over and opening up his luggage, he took out his clothes and put them on, then moved to the bathroom and locked the door behind him, carefully listening to what was going on outside.

His instincts were right. Five minutes later, Fang Zhaomu heard a beep coming from the door to the hotel room. Someone had came in. Song Yuanxun was talking to a female. Fang Zhaomu could not hear what they were saying, but not long after, the voices stopped.

Someone definitely had came in.

Fang Zhaomu stared blankly at his reflection in the mirror, wondering why was he so unlucky. He had finally thought things were changing for the better, but in the end, he was still the misfortunate one.

As long as Song Yuanxun wanted it, many would respond to his call, and Fang Zhaomu’s life would be difficult.

Fang Zhaomu had only wanted to look for an ordinary person who could listen to him. He did not want to take advantage of anything, or gain any benefits from that person. However, he was unable to find such a person. Fang Zhaomu ended up coming into contact with Song Yuanxun. After giving everything he could, only then did he learnt that he gave it wrongly.

Song Yuanxun moved very quickly. He looked around the room, then knocked on the bathroom door and pushed against it. It was locked. He turned and saw the bed that someone had clearly lay in it before. The clothes that Fang Zhaomu had been wearing were thrown to one side, his luggage open. There was no sound of water coming from the bathroom, and so he knew Fang Zhaomu was definitely listening to what was outside.

Fang Zhaomu’s trail of activities made Song Yuanxun recall how Fang Zhaomu’s face changed when he switched the lights on. It was very painful, but he had to accept it.

Song Yuanxun shut his eyes and knocked on the door again. “The attendant who delivered the food said that you weren’t around. I was worried, so I came in to take a look.”

There was no response.

In Song Yuanxun’s hand was something he just bought downstairs. He placed it by the side of Fang Zhaomu’s bed, then walked back to the bathroom door. He looked at the tightly shut door and paused, before saying, “I wasn’t the one who downloaded the dating app. It was my friend. He also registered the account.”

“The information about the engineer was filled in by him. I ended up matching with you because my finger slid in the wrong direction.”

“The profile picture was found online, so were the ones I sent to you. I was wrong, I’m sorry.”

“If you can hear me, knock on the door.” Song Yuanxun said calmly.

After some time, the person behind the wooden door gave a very light knock. Song Yuanxun continued. “When I bumped into you the last time at the supermarket, I wasn’t laughing at you. I wanted to give you a lift.”

“Coming to Seattle was a lie. I pretended to be unable to speak was because I was afraid you’ll recognise my voice. That time when you nearly called the police on the way home, the car following you was me. I was worried about you going home alone, but I didn’t think that you’ll get the wrong impression.”

“I pay attention to everything you said.”

“I was purposely giving you the cold shoulder. After that, I realised that even if Andrew ignored you, Song Yuanxun was unable to take his place.”

“It was my friend who let you come to Seattle last night. He got it wrong.”

Song Yuanxun stopped. A moment later, Fang Zhaomu knocked on the door, and spoke in a very small and low voice. “Why didn’t you say it last night?”

“I didn’t dare to,” Song yuanxun replied. “I was afraid that if things were revealed, I wouldn’t even get a chance to explain myself.”

As long as it was not the end, he could continue having hope.

“I took the earliest flight here.” Song Yuanxun said.

“Why?”

Fang Zhaomu’s throat was very dry, his voice unnatural and a little pitchy. Song Yuanxun could not determine if Fang Zhaomu was crying again. Fang Zhaomu’s question was very broad, maybe he himself did not know what exactly he wanted a reason for. However, Song Yuanxun seemed to know.

“I was afraid that you’ll be upset. If I could drag it out for even one more second, I would. I know that you don’t want to see me, and I also wished that it was someone else instead. I even thought of finding someone to replace me, but I no longer want to deceive you.”

“No,” Behind the door, Fang Zhaomu was crying. “You don’t like me, why must you make a fool out of me?”

Song Yuanxun stopped, and clumsily told Fang Zhaomu, “I do, I do like you.”

“I used the wrong method to like you, but I won’t do it again.” He added.

Fang Zhaomu did not reply.

“Right, I went downstairs and bought you a phone. If you’re willing to use it, just use it. I’ve placed it by your bed. I’ll go now. The attendant will come again to deliver the food twenty minutes later, this time, you have to take it.” Song Yuanxun left.

As the check-in times were different, Song Yuanxun was not staying on the same floor as Fang Zhaomu. Before Song Yuanxun reached his room, his phone notified him that someone had deposited money in his bank account.

Fang Zhaomu had transferred him three amounts. One for the room, one for the phone, and the other, Song Yuanxun was not sure what it was.

After opening the door, Song Yuanxun remembered. The amount was the price of that set meal for two he had ordered for Fang Zhaomu that night when they had their first video chat.

When he had made the order, Song Yuanxun had not given it too much thought. He had just wanted Fang Zhaomu to eat something, and he did not care about anything else.

Returning this sum of money to him, Fang Zhaomu might have been implicitly stating that he was not going to do what he said he was, inviting Andrew for a meal when he returned from Seattle.

The meaning was that they no longer had to fulfil the previously made agreement. There was no need to get the moon, everything stopped here. All the things that he had not done, there was no need for them anymore.

Chapter 25

At night, Fang Zhaomu slept very badly, and kept jerking awake.

In the first half of the night, he still had not got rid of the habit of picking up his phone and wanting to talk to Andrew. However, when he touched his new phone, he immediately sobered up and put his phone back.

It did not happen again for the rest of the night.

Waking up in the morning, Fang Zhaomu had recovered a little more of his spirits from yesterday. He turned on his laptop and started to plan his journey back.

He refused to think about anything to do with this Seattle trip. He really wanted to gouge out all his memories that had to do with the dating app, as every memory that looked very sweet then, all looked wretched now.

The weather report stated that this storm would last for another three to five days. Fang Zhaomu looked out of the window, then at his laptop’s screen. He was thinking about booking a room at another Seattle hotel.

The rain had lessened now. Fang Zhaomu felt that it was possible for him to move to another hotel, the main reason being that if he had to stay in this one for another three to five days, it would be too expensive.

He looked through the selections, and felt that a hotel apartment near the airport was not too bad and so booked a room there. He packed up his luggage, and called the reception to confirm if he needed to check out. The reception told him there was no need to do so, and Fang Zhaomu asked them to call him a taxi.

When Fang Zhaomu reached the entrance, his taxi had too arrived. The driver got off the vehicle and helped Fang Zhaomu placed his luggage in the trunk before moving off.

The streets were not flooded too badly. The rain poured down, pattering down on the roof of the car. It sounded a little scary, and the speed of the taxi was also not too fast, making Fang Zhaomu feel worried. Fortunately, the driver had a steady control over his car, and they smoothly arrived at their destination.

The hotel he booked only had a simple front desk. A receptionist standing there helped Fang Zhaomu arranged his check-in. Passing him a keycard, he told him that his room had been upgraded to a suite.

Fang Zhaomu headed upstairs. Upon opening the door, he discovered that the room was really quite big, seemingly suitable for a family of three to live. There was also an open-plan kitchen and a living room, as well as two bedrooms, one big and one small.

Fang Zhaomu sat down after settling in. He received an email from the professor who offered him a PhD position, asking him if he had considered it. Fang Zhaomu gave the professor a call.

When he had asked his family for school fees, he had mentioned about a PhD before, and both his parents were very supportive of that. Fang Zhaomu himself had also seriously considered it, even though he was not happy in the lab, but he liked doing experiments and writing the thesis. He really enjoyed being able to focus on research, and now that the professor was willing to provide him with this opportunity, he wanted to grab hold of it. At the end of the call, Fang Zhaomu and the professor had a verbal agreement with each other. When he was done with his exchange at the end of May, he would return to school and send in his application.

Having decided his path, Fang Zhaomu now had the energy to continue living his life. His mind was also clearer than before. He sat in the living room, looking at his thesis on his laptop. Feeling a little hungry, he went to check the fridge out. Finding some frozen food, he boiled some water and prepared a plate of pasta.

After a few bites, his phone suddenly rang. Looking at the screen, it was a call from Song Yuanxun. Fang Zhaomu put his fork down, but did not answer. When the phone stopped ringing, he blacklisted Song Yuanxun’s number.

Fang Zhaomu did not download the dating app in his new phone. He probably would never use anything like that again.

Not longer after, the phone in the room started ringing. Fang Zhaomu was completely irritated. He wanted to hang up, but afraid that it was a call from the reception, he picked up.

“Mumu.” Song Yuanxun called him.

Fang Zhaomu swiftly hung up.

Maybe because he had no other options, Song Yuanxun did not come to harass Fang Zhaomu anymore.

Fang Zhaomu spent a few days at the hotel, sneaking downstairs to buy some food. When the flights resumed, he returned to C City on his original flight.

Song Yuanxun’s name was like a trauma leftover from an accident. The recovery period was long, the condition triggered often, and he would probably need a lot of time before he got better.

As long as he was alone in the room, Fang Zhaomu could not help but descend into a low mood. He tried his best to not think about everything to do with Andrew and Song Yuanxun, and did his utmost best in filling up all his time with trivial matters, and was even unwilling to touch his phone.

However, life still had to go on. After defending his thesis, Fang Zhaomu no longer went to the lab. He still had to stay in T University for four more months, and so started three new classes. At the start, he sneaked around like a thief, afraid of bumping into Song Yuanxun. After two weeks of classes, he never saw him, and so Fang Zhaomu put down his guard.

One Wednesday, Fang Zhaomu went to class like usual. He was early, and entered the lift alone. Just before the door closed completely, a person ran towards the lift and re-opened the door.

Fang Zhaomu looked up. Song Yuanxun was standing there with the two other people he saw previously in the restaurant. Song Yuanxun’s eyes met Fang Zhaomu’s, and he was also slightly stunned. Sensibly, he shifted to a side, and did not stand too close to Fang Zhaomu.

However, if Song Yuanxun was there, Fang Zhaomu would feel reserved and awkward.

One of the girls walked in and stood next to Fang Zhaomu and gave him a friendly nod. Fang Zhaomu did not know how to react, and smiled at her without thinking.

She casually asked Fang Zhaomu, “Which faculty are you from? I don’t seem to have seen you around before.”

Fang Zhaomu paused, glossing over it. “I’m here on exchange.”

“Oh,” She thought Fang Zhaomu was a student here on exchange for the next semester, and so took out her phone. “Let’s exchange contact details, and go out for a meal when we’re free.”

Fang Zhaomu hesitated. “I didn’t bring my phone…”

He really did not bring it with him. Now, if he could avoid using his phone, he would not use it. Communication was done through emails on his laptop, and once he was used to it, it was not very inconvenient.

“Huh?” The girl was a little surprised.

However, Fang Zhaomu had reached his floor. He said goodbye to the girl, and walked out.

Fang Zhaomu sat by the window. Halfway through the class, snow started drifting down outside, and Fang Zhaomu could not help but turn to look.

He had never seen snow in C City before. There were a few forecast, but it never happened. The report yesterday said it would snow today, but Fang Zhaomu did not take it seriously, only for it to actually snow instead.

The snow fell heavier. By the time the class ended, Fang Zhaomu looked out to the ground. The snow had already piled up in a thin layer, and the ground looked fluffy. He slowly packed his books up and headed out, and outside the classroom was a person standing there.

Song Yuanxun was waiting for him.

Fang Zhaomu no longer felt much of anything when he saw Song Yuanxun now. His heart knew that Andrew did not exist, but he was unable to put Andrew and Song Yuanxun together. Andrew and the dating app that he was familiar with were in the past, and he was not familiar with this version of Song Yuanxun, and he was also unwilling to be familiar with him.

Fang Zhaomu glanced at Song Yuanxun. His feet paused, then turned into the stairways.

Song Yuanxun followed after him. “It’s snowing now, I’ll send you back.”

His voice was basically a nightmare to Fang Zhaomu, each word dragging out every embarrassing chat messages from Fang Zhaomu’s memories. Fang Zhaomu did not want to speak to him, but if he did not say anything, he would seem to be very contentious, as though he was still throwing a tantrum of some sort. He tried to speak mildly with Song Yuanxun, “I brought an umbrella.”

“The roads are very slippery.”

Fang Zhaomu glanced at Song Yuanxun. “I know now, I’ll walk carefully.”

Although there was more than half a metre between Song Yuanxun and Fang Zhaomu, Fang Zhaomu still felt his inescapable presence, and it made him unable to focus. There were three steps on the to the lift landing, and when Fang Zhaomu was on the last step, his ankle twisted for no reason. Song Yuanxun deftly caught him, while Fang Zhaomu’s school bag dropped.

“I’ll walk with you,” Song Yuanxun persuaded Fang Zhaomu helplessly. “You can even fall on flat ground.”

He let go, and helped Fang Zhaomu pick his bag up. Carrying it, he did not return it to Fang Zhaomu, and pressed the button for the lift.

Fang Zhaomu was completely vexed. He had never been so angry about his habit of not looking where he walked, and felt that it was also very embarrassing. He tried to take his bag away from Song Yuanxun, but failed to do so, and also did not dare to look into Song Yuanxun’s eyes. He wondered why Song Yuanxun was so insensible, Fang Zhaomu had already been avoiding him like this, and also did not argue with him over anything.

The door to the lift opened. Coincidentally, those two classmates of Song Yuanxun were also inside. The girl chatting with Fang Zhaomu just now was a little shocked to see the two people standing together.

Fang Zhaomu and Song Yuanxun both entered the lift, and the first thing the girl asked Song Yuanxun was, “You guys know each other?”

“Mn.”

The girl seemed to be filled with questions, but did not probe any further. They quickly arrived on the first floor. Fang Zhaomu walked very slowly, pulling the distance between them and the other two people apart before telling Song Yuanxun, “Return me my bag.”

Fang Zhaomu extended his hand to take it back again, only to still grab air. Song Yuanxun told Fang Zhaomu, “Just let me send you back this one time.”

Fang Zhaomu looked at Song Yuanxun. He really did not want to argue with him, but also did not want to sit in his car. The two of them were like elementary school kids, one reaching out and the other avoiding it. Finally, Fang Zhaomu also got angry, and told Song Yuanxun, “Then you can just take it.”

He walked off by himself, walking into the snow without an umbrella. Only then did Song Yuanxun ran after him and returned his bag.

In the snow, Fang Zhaomu took his umbrella out and started walking home. Song Yuanxun did not drive nor did he have an umbrella, and kept following behind Fang Zhaomu at his pace. Fang Zhaomu did not bother with him, only carefully making his way home, and did not slip and fall.

In Fang Zhaomu’s room was a very narrow window. He closed his door behind him, pondering for a few minutes before walking to the window and opening it, looking outside.

Song Yuanxun was about to reach the turn in the road. He was dressed in a coat, his posture straight. However, without an umbrella, snow had accumulated on his shoulders, and he did not look as dazzling as usual, and looked more human than before.

When Song Yuanxun turned around the corner, he looked back. Afraid of getting caught, Fang Zhaomu quickly closed the window and stopped watching him.

Chapter 26

The snow gradually fell heavier.

This Wednesday evening, the snowfall came and went, it seemed like an ordinary snowfall. Fang Zhaomu did not have any classes on Thursday, and so slept in till 9am. When he went down to take a look, the snow plow had already gone past his place, and there was no obstacle to walking.

Fang Zhaomu would not have proper meals when he was not in school. Going to the bakery at the junction, he bought some bread home, and read for the entire day.

His window was frosted, and he would not be able to see what was going on outside. When Fang Zhaomu woke up on Friday morning, he opened his window to see the entire world in white, and even the street lights were covered with a thick layer of snow.

It was still snowing. Fang Zhaomu had classes in the afternoon, and seeing the weather, he was baffled. How was he going to school like this? Closing the window, Fang Zhaomu had an idea, and went to check his email inbox and the school’s website. However, there was no notice for any cancellation of classes, and he was about to close the browser in disappointment before he received a new email.

He perked up, opening the email. The suffix of the email address was what he was hoping for, but the prefix was Song Yuanxun. Song Yuanxun had emailed Fang Zhaomu, asking him if he had a class this afternoon at 1pm.

Thinking about Song Yuanxun’s back as he walked away in the snow yesterday, Fang Zhaomu’s heart softened a little. He did not blacklist Song Yuanxun’s email address, but he did not plan on replying him. Pretending that he did not see it, he deleted the email, then again started hoping that the school would send a notice for the cancellation of classes.

Fang Zhaomu’s hopes were officially dashed at 12pm. He did not receive any new emails, and he would still have to attend classes. With no other choices, he pulled on a pair of overshoes he had purchased much earlier, then on top of his usual attire, he wore a very big hooded windbreaker. Covering his head with the hood, he headed downstairs.

There was a very conspicuous big black SUV outside his building. When Fang Zhaomu came out, the car window wound down, revealing Song Yuanxun’s face.

Song Yuanxun was wearing a surgical mask, and spoke very naturally to Fang Zhaomu. “Let’s go.”

His voice even sounded a little hoarse.

Fang Zhaomu wanted to ask him if he had caught a cold due to following him home yesterday. However, he resisted and did not ask, and neither did he greet him. Treating him as though he was invisible, Fang Zhaomu walked into the snow, and carefully made his way forward.

Only a few steps later, Fang Zhaomu heard the sound of a car door closing behind him. He did not turn back, but heard Song Yuanxun coughing, and knew he had got off the car and was following him.

Fang Zhaomu had made his way down half the street, and meanwhile, Song Yuanxun had coughed seven times behind him. Fang Zhaomu could not take it anymore. He turned back, and stared at Song Yuanxun who was three metres away. Seeing him turn, Song Yuanxun too stopped walking, and looked at Fang Zhaomu through the drifting snow.

The two of them looked at each other for a few seconds. Fang Zhaomu sighed, and decided to give in for once, walking over. He walked to Song Yuanxun, but Song Yuanxun did not move. He could only reach out and push him lightly, resigned. “Forget it, let’s get onto the car.”

Only then did Song Yuanxun followed Fang Zhaomu to the car.

The car was very warm, completely at odds with the temperature outside. Fang Zhaomu settled in and glanced at Song Yuanxun. He could not help but speak softly, “You’re already sick, why are you still doing this.”

Song Yuanxun started the car, but did not speak. Fang Zhaomu continued, “Aren’t you very good at following behind in a car? Why did you get off the car and follow me?”

Song Yuanxun coughed again, and quietly drove. He kept a slow speed due to the snow, but because Fang Zhaomu’s place was not too far, they reached the school building in ten minutes. Fang Zhaomu already could not be bothered to think about how Song Yuanxun knew his class was held here, and after thanking him, he got ready to get down from the car. Song Yuanxun finally spoke up. “I’ll be waiting downstairs for you. I’ll drive you home after you’re done with your class.”

Fang Zhaomu was nearly at the end of his rope with Song Yuanxun. He told him kindly, “You should go home and rest instead.”

Song Yuanxun did not answer. It seemed like he really was not going to go back. Fang Zhaomu was afraid of being late, and so did not continue and went to class.

Coming down after two hours of class, Fang Zhaomu was unsurprised to see Song Yuanxun sitting at the waiting area. On his thighs was his laptop, and next to him, Zhou Meng was standing there. They were talking to each other.

Seeing Fang Zhaomu, Song Yuanxun returned the computer to Zhou Meng and replaced his mask. He stood and walked over to Fang Zhaomu.

Song Yuanxun was tall. Dressed in a finely made coat, it felt as though the wind was accompanying him as he walked. He eyes were glued to Fang Zhaomu, and as he strode over, it reminded Fang Zhaomu of the first time he saw Song Yuanxun.

At that time, the first thing Fang Zhaomu saw when he stepped in to the lab was Song Yuanxun. He felt that Song Yuanxun was good looking. However, when he dawdled over to Song Yuanxun to ask him a few questions, wanting to get to know him, Song Yuanxun was unwilling to acknowledge him.

Fang Zhaomu had thought about it for a few months. In the long, lonely nights he tossed and turned in bed, but could not think of any mistakes he made.

“Mumu, the snow is too heavy.” Song Yuanxun stopped in front of Fang Zhaomu. He seemed to be explaining the reason why he was waiting there, as though afraid of scaring Fang Zhaomu.

Fang Zhaomu’s emotions were a little complicated, and Song Yuanxun was too close. He did not feel very comfortable, and took a step back.

Song Yuanxun saw Fang Zhaomu’s actions, and paused. “I’m only driving you back, that’s it.”

The sick Song Yuanxun’s voice was hoarse-sounding, a little pitiful. In the end, Fang Zhaomu still got into Song Yuanxun’s car.

Watching Song Yuanxun buckle his seatbelt, Fang Zhaomu told Song Yuanxun, “Thank you.”

Fang Zhaomu did not want to drag this on any further with Song Yuanxun. Also, not everyone drove to school. As long as classes were not cancelled, there was going to be a way for him to come.

However, Song Yuanxun was sick, and Fang Zhaomu was the type whose heart would easily soften. The sentence, “This would be the last time,” was stuck in his throat. Turning to see the sick Song Yuanxun with a mask, even after ten minutes, he was unable to say it aloud.

“There’s a blizzard warning,” Looking in front, Song Yuanxun suddenly spoke. “There should be a notice for cancellation of classes during the weekend.”

It took some time for Fang Zhaomu to respond. “Is that so.”

“Do you have any food at home?” Song Yuanxun asked Fang Zhaomu.

Fang Zhaomu thought it over, and told the truth, “There’s some bread.”

“Then you should buy some now,” Song Yuanxun stopped his car, about to turn in another direction. Seeing the hesitance on Fang Zhaomu’s face, he added, “The blizzard might be very long. I also have to buy some things, it’s on the way for me.”

Fang Zhaomu considered it, and felt that he really should buy some items. “Thanks. Sorry for the trouble.”

“It’s no trouble at all.”

The silence dragged on in the car. Seeing the signboard of the supermarket in the distance, Song Yuanxun finally spoke up. “I should have drove you that time when you went grocery shopping.”

“I saw that you had many things, and I wanted to drive you back, so I was standing there waiting for you.”

Fang Zhaomu no longer wanted to think about all these, and did not want to listen to Song Yuanxun talk about it. Only hearing a few sentences, his heart ached uncomfortably, but he did not stop him, as Song Yuanxun would not stop.

“I did hear you send the voice message, I didn’t laugh at you,” Song Yuanxun’s tone was very composed, yet very sincere. He spoke very slowly, as if he was afraid Fang Zhaomu would be angry, but also seemed to want to speak carefully. “You should know, all these messages that you’ve sent me, I really like them. How could I ever laugh at you?”

In comparison to half a month ago, there was no longer a wooden door between Fang Zhaomu and Song Yuanxun, but there was the sky full of snow outside the car.

Song Yuanxun was sitting next to Fang Zhaomu. They had been very close together once when the lights were off, but when the lights came on, they had never spoke to each other properly again.

Fang Zhaomu felt that Song Yuanxun was really very mean, and very scheming. On the surface he looked honest and reliable, but in reality, he always tried to take advantage of Fang Zhaomu’s softening heart. As long as he gave Song Yuanxun a chance, Song Yuanxun would be able to grab hold of Fang Zhaomu’s soft spots, and cause his resolve to waver.

“That time, when I reached home, I had thought, the next time I would definitely not let you come alone, and I’ll also help you carry your bags.”

Song Yuanxun parked the car outside the supermarket. “We’re here.”

He leaned over, undoing the safety belt for Fang Zhaomu. He was so close that Fang Zhaomu unconsciously closed his eyes. And very quickly, Song Yuanxun politely moved back.

They opened their own doors, and walked into the snow.

Chapter 27

There were so many people in the supermarket that Fang Zhaomu thought the apocalypse was coming.

Many of the shelves had already been emptied out, and everyone’s cart was nearly spilling over. Every cashier had a very long queue behind them.

As Fang Zhaomu pushed a shopping cart, he felt a little apprehensive when he saw how crowded the supermarket was. Then Song Yuanxun took over the cart, “Follow me.”

At first, there was a distance of a few feet between Fang Zhaomu and Song Yuanxun. However, as there were really too many people, Fang Zhaomu was squeezed to the point where his personal space was invaded, and so had no choice but to be right next to Song Yuanxun.

It was a last minute decision to come to the supermarket. Fang Zhaomu had not prepared a shopping list, and he did not have a stove at home. After standing at the cereal aisle for five minutes, buying about ten different types of cereal, then he went to buy a pile of snacks and drinks.

It was different for Song Yuanxun. He bought many things that needed to be cooked, and some of them were even things that Fang Zhaomu had been eyeing for very long but never bought them.

Fang Zhaomu was feeling very envious, but pretended to not care.

“You’re just buying these things?” Song Yuanxun asked him.

Fang Zhaomu nodded. Song Yuanxun looked a little like he did not approve of it, but he did not say anything, and Fang Zhaomu sighed in relief.

When they were done making their selections, they did not continue browsing around. Queueing at the cashier, it took them about twenty minutes before they could pay for their purchases. Song Yuanxun did not let Fang Zhaomu carry any of the bags, just asking him to help him open the trunk of his car, and he placed all the bags there.

The snow was falling heavier than when they went into the supermarket. It fell thickly, and as Fang Zhaomu was not wearing a windbreaker, the snow fell into his collar.

In the car, Song Yuanxun’s phone rang. He took a look and told Fang Zhaomu, “The notice for class cancellation is out.”

“Oh.” Fang Zhaomu leaned over to look. Classes on Monday and Tuesday were cancelled.

“I wonder what will happen for Wednesday.” Fang Zhaomu thought about something, then asked. “When will they make up for the cancelled classes?”

“They won’t.”

Fang Zhao thought over it, and said, conflicted. “Then it’s better to cancel less classes.”

Fang Zhaomu seemed to see Song Yuanxun laugh at that from the corner of his eye.

Song Yuanxun did not drive in the direction of T University, but to another part of the city. Looking at the surroundings, Fang Zhaomu recognised that it was not towards T Univsersity, and so asked, “You still have things you need to buy?”

“Mn.” But Song Yuanxun did not say what they were.

Sitting in another’s person car, Fang Zhaomu had no right to speak, so he remained quiet. Then, Fang Zhaomu realised that Song Yuanxun had drove to somewhere he was very familiar with, and stopped outside a shop.

It was that dessert shop Fang Zhaomu had queued at during his birthday.

Maybe because a blizzard was coming, or maybe because the shop had been opened for awhile already, these showy desserts were no longer as popular as the last time Fang Zhaomu was here. Looking through the clear windows, there were only about three to five people in the shop.

“Please wait a moment,” Song Yuanxun said. “I’ll go and buy something.”

He was about to get out of the car, and Fang Zhaomu called out to him.

Song Yuanxun looked at Fang Zhaomu, closing the door that he had opened. “What’s wrong?”

“You…” Fang Zhaomu did not know how to ask the question. He faltered and beat around the bush, “You’re buying it for yourself?”

Song Yuanxun looked at Fang Zhaomu earnestly. Fang Zhaomu pretty much did not dare to look him in the eyes, his mind rapidly going through a few things Song Yuanxun might say, and also came up with a rejection.

“It’s for you.” Song Yuanxun chose the simplest statement.

“No need, I don’t eat them.”

Song Yuanxun’s eyes immediately dimmed. Fang Zhaomu was suddenly a little panicky, wondering if he had been too direct, and so he added, “I only eat them on my birthday, I don’t normally eat them.”

“Is that so?”

Fang Zhaomu was going to reply “yes”, but Song Yuanxun continued, “I thought we had agreed previously that when I’m back, I’ll bring you here to have some cake because you wanted it.”

Song Yuanxun’s voice was very low, together with the hoarseness from his cold.

Fang Zhaomu looked at him, and for no reason, a sense of guilt welled up in him.

“I said, you’ll wait in the car while I’ll queue,” Song Yuanxun spoke. “You said sure.”

It was as though Fang Zhaomu’s throat was stuffed with a wet towel, his heart aching in pain. They did agree to come here, the only difference being that Fang Zhaomu wanted to let it go, but Song Yuanxun did not.

Song Yuanxun kept reminding Fang Zhaomu of a truth, the lights were already on.

He barbarically showed Andrew to him repeatedly, barbarically wanted Fang Zhaomu to accept it, that everything Andrew said was Song Yuanxun’s words, that every promise made was done by Song Yuanxun.

Even if Fang Zhaomu did not want it, Song Yuanxun wanted Fang Zhaomu to go through everything once again before rejecting it.

Fang Zhaomu gazed at Song Yuanxun, unable to say a word.

A moment later, Fang Zhaomu spoke lightly, “I agreed to it?”

“You did.” Song Yuanxun insisted.

Fang Zhaomu had no choice, “Then you go and buy it.”

Song Yuanxun got off the car and walked into the shop through the snow. Fang Zhaomu watched him through both the windows of the car and the shop.

The way he was selecting the cake at the counter was just like he was checking the microbalance, solemn and steady, focused and engrossed. Fang Zhaomu wanted to laugh when he saw that, but he also wanted to cry.

Fang Zhaomu did not bring his phone, and could not see the time. However, he felt that the amount of time Song Yuanxun spent picking the cake was longer than when he was checking the microbalance.

Finally, Song Yuanxun made his purchase. Walking out of the shop with a pretty box, he opened the car door.

Cold air rushed in, melding with the warm interior.

“This shop,” Song Yuanxun passed the box to Fang Zhaomu. “Has too many flavours.”

“I didn’t know what flavour you prefer,” Song Yuanxun said. “The salesperson said that this is the shop’s speciality, and it’s also limited in stock, so I bought it.”

Fang Zhaomu opened the box. The cake was gorgeous, on it was a circle of berries, red and purple. It looked very festive. He closed the box, placed it in his lap, and thanked him.

Song Yuanxun did not go anywhere else, and sent Fang Zhaomu to his place. Fang Zhaomu wanted to carry his things by himself, but Song Yuanxun did not allow him to do so. Telling him to just hold on to the cake and open the door, the two of them went upstairs. Song Yuanxun passed the bags over to Fang Zhaomu at his door. He turned to leave, never requesting if he could go in.

Fang Zhaomu watched Song Yuanxun walk away, and could not help but call out, “Song Yuanxun.”

His voice was very small, but Song Yuanxun heard him. He stopped and turned to Fang Zhaomu, asking him what was wrong.

“You’re not going to eat the cake?”

“You can have it, I won’t be going in.”

Song Yuanxun was not being polite with Fang Zhaomu, he really headed downstairs. Fang Zhaomu opened the box and placed the cake on his table, then cracked his window open slightly, wanting to see when Song Yuanxun would leave.

He waited for ten minutes, but Song Yuanxun’s car still remained there. The snow continued falling heavily, and the car was covered with a layer of slow. He did not understand, if Song Yuanxun did not come in, then what was he doing downstairs?

Fang Zhaomu felt like he was an old calculator that was about to become obsolete, working on a very complicated calculation.

How to deal with Song Yuanxun, he had been working on it for very long. Twisting and turning, thinking about it repeatedly, his results should not be too wrong.

Fang Zhaomu closed the window, and cautiously made his way downstairs. He smelt the smoke of a cigarette, and took a few steps forward. Song Yuanxun’s back was facing him, he was smoking, and he was even coughing as he smoked.

The sky had darkened, and there was not much light in the passageway. Even if it was Song Yuanxun, it was quite undignified to be hiding in the passageway and smoking.

“Song Yuanxun.”

Hearing Fang Zhaomu’s voice, Song Yuanxun immediately threw the cigarette to the floor and ground it out before turning to look at him.

Fang Zhaomu had wanted to ask if he was any idiot, but in the end, kept his patience. “What are you doing?”

“I still don’t want to go yet.” Song Yuanxun was very self-righteous.

Fang Zhaomu felt that he really could not let Song Yuanxun stay downstairs. “You’re sick and yet you’re smoking. You might as well come and have some cake.”

Song Yuanxun followed Fang Zhaomu upstairs, and again walked to his door. Song Yuanxun might have a cursed relationship with Fang Zhaomu’s place, or maybe it was Song Yuanxun’s relationship with Fang Zhaomu that was cursed. Just as he closed the door behind him, the lights in Fang Zhaomu’s place went out.

Chapter 28

Darkness descended upon the room. Song Yuanxun turned on the flash on his phone, and created a source of light.

“Do you have a torch in the house?” Song Yuanxun asked Fang Zhaomu.

“No,” Fang Zhaomu said as he walked to the small chest of drawers by his bed and rummaged through the drawer. “Where’s my phone…”

He had not switched his phone on for two days already, and vaguely remembered placing it in the cupboard. It was not in the first drawer, and Fang Zhaomu pulled the next one open.

“Mumu,” Song Yuanxun asked him. “You don’t use your phone anymore?”

Fang Zhaomu found his phone under a scarf. Taking it out, he replied Song Yuanxun calmly, “I don’t use it often now.”

Because if he held his phone, he would be in a bad mood.

While waiting for his phone to turn on, Fang Zhaomu walked to the window and opened it, looking out into the world. The streets were completely dark, and the snow had cloaked the surroundings. Fang Zhaomu could barely make out the windows opposite him. He had never seen such a long, heavy snowfall before.

Fang Zhaomu looked down. Song Yuanxun’s car was about to be completely covered by the snow.

Downstairs, someone had walked out. “Has the power supply been interrupted?!”

“Mumu.” Song Yuanxun called out to Fang Zhaomu. Fang Zhaomu closed the window and turned his head back to look at Song Yuanxun.

It was said that he was looking, but Fang Zhaomu could barely see anything except for his silhouette. Song Yuanxun was standing by his table, his back straight. “You should come to my place first, especially since we don’t know what’s the situation here.”

Fang Zhaomu considered it. “The power supply won’t be cut off at your place?”

“I’m not sure, but there’s a generator on standby in the basement that should provide enough electricity for the next few days. It’s definitely better than staying here.”

Song Yuanxun’s words made sense, but Fang Zhaomu was still hesitant.

He looked at the charge on his phone, it was left with only 30%. It was unknown when the power would come back on, and if it did not come back on, it was actually quite scary.

Fang Zhaomu was thinking about it, then he heard a sound. Turning his head in that direction, he saw Song Yuanxun placing his phone on the table, and was struggling to pack the cake in the box.

On the box was a rarely seen contraption to seal it. Song Yuanxun was clearly not good with it, and he looked like he was battling a monster.

Fang Zhaomu found it a little amusing. “Song Yuanxun, what are you doing?”

“Let’s bring the cake along too.” Song Yuanxun answered without looking up.

Song Yuanxun’s voice was very serious. He used a little bit of strength, and tore the cardboard box.

Fang Zhaomu broke into laughter, and went over to pull Song Yuanxun away. “Don’t touch it. Did I agree to go with you? Why did you take the initiative to pack it?”

Song Yuanxun did not answer him directly. “We should pack up quickly, my phone is nearly out of battery.”

Fang Zhaomu looked at Song Yuanxun for a few seconds. “Then you help me shine the light, let me see if the box can still be used.”

Song Yuanxun took a step back, and Fang Zhaomu leaned over. Although the box was torn, it could still close, and Fang Zhaomu repacked the cake.

Actually, there were still other options for Fang Zhaomu even if the power supply had been disrupted. However, if he rejected Song Yuanxun too many times, Song Yuanxun might give up, and no longer try to come to him.

However, having accepted a kindness and rejecting the next one, Fang Zhaomu felt that it should not be like that. Still, more importantly, it might be because Fang Zhaomu did not want to see Song Yuanxun standing alone downstairs and smoking again.

Fang Zhaomu turned on the flash on his own phone and passed it to Song Yuanxun. “I’ll go collect some stuff.”

When Song Yuanxun took the phone, Fang Zhaomu felt that he was happier than he looked.

Fang Zhaomu packed his belongings unhurriedly. His place was still a little warm, so he was not wearing a jacket, looking for things here and there. Wherever Fang Zhaomu went, the light in Song Yuanxun’s hand would follow.

Piling the things he wanted to bring along on his bed, there were not too many of them. As Fang Zhaomu stacked them up, Song Yuanxun kept shining the light in his face, blinding his eyes. He could only shield his eyes, and told Song Yuanxun, “Stop shining the light in my face.”

Song Yuanxun immediately corrected himself, and shone the light downwards.

Fang Zhaomu did not gather too many things. Placing them all in a bag, he told Song Yuanxun that he was done.

At this time, Fang Zhaomu suddenly received a call.

Looking at the screen, it was his professor, and so he answered. The professor asked him if he had filled up the application form yet, and wanted him to reply as soon as possible. Fang Zhaomu obediently told him that he had not completed it, as there were some parts he did not know how to fill in, and he also did not have the chance to email him about it, as C City was having a blizzard now, and he had to go shopping for groceries.

The professor then asked about the weather situation, and also which part of the application did Fang Zhaomu not know how to complete. Fang Zhaomu told him the parts he was unsure of, and the professor explained them all to him,

After he hung up, Song Yuanxun asked Fang Zhaomu, “What are you filling up?”

“A form.” Fang Zhaomu did not want to talk about it, and so glossed it over.

“When are you going back?”

“May.”

Song Yuanxun’s questions came one after another. “Will you still come here after going home?”

“Probably not.”

Fang Zhaomu added, “I’m not you, I can’t come here as and when I like.”

Fang Zhaomu thought about how Song Yuanxun had no idea about many things that were supposed to be general knowledge, and even if he explained it, he would only have a superficial understanding of it. He completely did not know how the life of an ordinary person was like. Song Yuanxun stood there a little stiffly, with a stubbornness that showed his naiveness.

“Fang Zhaomu, if Andrew wasn’t me,” Song Yuanxun asked. “If Andrew wasn’t me, would you stay for him?”

Fang Zhaomu was unable to determine what Song Yuanxun was feeling, as there was no inflection in Song Yuanxun’s voice. So he asked in return, “Is there any point in you asking about this?”

Song Yuanxun had already tried.

Song Yuanxun did not ask any further. His phone already had no charge to it, and so took Fang Zhaomu’s phone as well as the bag in his hand. He also picked up the shopping bags by the door, signalling that they should leave.

Fang Zhaomu’s movements were a little hesitant, and he picked the cake box up.

When he was about to open the door, Song Yuanxun called out to him. Fang Zhaomu turned around, wanting to ask Song Yuanxun what was the problem now, only to see Song Yuanxun switched the flash on the phone off, and slowly came closer.

Song Yuanxun was too close, and Fang Zhaomu could not clearly see his face. He only knew that he was drawing nearer, their breaths mingling, their warmth melding. Song Yuanxun gave Fang Zhaomu an opportunity to avoid him, but Fang Zhaomu did not do so, and Song Yuanxun pressed his lips against Fang Zhaomu’s.

Song Yuanxun’s kiss was very gentle and soft, and was very careful. Fang Zhaomu had his back against the door, and was overwhelmed by the kiss. He blinked a few times, then closed his eyes.

Fang Zhaomu was never able to determine exactly what his feelings for Song Yuanxun were.

He had tried to keep his distance, tried to be exasperated, tried to be indifferent, but during this minute as he was kissing Song Yuanxun, Fang Zhaomu could no longer differentiate if the person he was unwilling to push away was Andrew or Song Yuanxun.

Or it might be the same person, there was nobody else that would kiss him so preciously, even if they knew they were about to part.

Everyone wanted a return for their efforts. People who liked Fang Zhaomu liked his appearance, his character, and would write Fang Zhaomu’s name into their diaries, and recite it lovingly.

Even if Song Yuanxun was not the stupidest one out of all his admirers, but he should be the one with the least hopes. He was barbaric, wilful, and had greatly offended Fang Zhaomu. Logically speaking, for them to never interact again would be Fang Zhaomu’s greatest pardon for him.

Still, even though Song Yuanxun was so inferior, he was always that one whom Fang Zhaomu never pushed away.

The lights flickered, and came on.

The room was suffused in light. Fang Zhaomu raised his chin and looked at Song Yuanxun. Song Yuanxun was also looking at him, he moved his lips away and took a step back.

Under the bright lights, Song Yuanxun’s condition and actions had nowhere to hide.

There were many bags in his hand, including the shopping bags as well as Fang Zhaomu’s small baggage. Fang Zhaomu suspected that Song Yuanxun had never carried so many things in his life before. The look on Song Yuanxun’s face was a panic that Fang Zhaomu had almost never seen before.

Now that the power was back, was he going to leave?

Fang Zhaomu was still the first one to regain his senses.

He saw that Song Yuanxun was still in a daze, like he was troubled by something major, a little like a leader that was making a speech. He then reminded Song Yuanxun, “What are you thinking about?”

Song Yuanxun jolted and blurted out, “I’m thinking about how to bring you home.”

The two people fell silent.

Song Yuanxun had already kissed him, and already told him the truth. Going for broke, he looked at Fang Zhaomu, waiting for his reply.

Fang Zhaomu was extremely fair. Song Yuanxun felt that Fang Zhaomu probably did not know that when his face heated up, it would turn pink along with his ears. Fang Zhaomu held on to the cake, standing by the door, contemplating.

It might be because of the sudden illumination, his anxiety, surprise and shyness were all written upon his face.

Song Yuanxun gazed at Fang Zhaomu’s face, and suddenly felt like he could hear his heartbeat. The rate of that heartbeat was probably the similar to that of his own.

At least, at this moment, Song Yuanxun’s anxiety had turned into calm. The examiner had revealed the answers to him. He was sure, by the end of tonight, Fang Zhaomu would definitely be sleeping at his place.

The room was quiet, and the howling winds outside became louder. Song Yuanxun waited patiently, and after a few minutes, Fang Zhaomu spoke.

“Oh,” Fang Zhaomu said. “Then let’s go.”

Chapter 29

Fang Zhaomu took a nap again in Song Yuanxun’s car.

Song Yuanxun’s home was about three kilometres away from Fang Zhaomu’s place. When Mu and Andrew matched with each other, the app had shown that they were very close to each other. By the time Song Yuanxun parked his car in the garage, Fang Zhaomu had awaken, and he led Fang Zhaomu to the second floor.

The guest room was maintained properly all year round, and there were toiletries prepared. Song Yuanxun helped Fang Zhaomu put down his things, and left without staying for too long.

Weary with the day’s work, and also yet to fully wake up from his nap, Fang Zhaomu washed up and went to bed.

The next morning, Fang Zhaomu was a little giddy, his body aching, and his throat hurt. It seemed like the oncoming symptoms of a cold. He was very thirsty, and headed downstairs without changing out of his pyjamas.

Song Yuanxun’s place was pretty big. Fang Zhaomu made his way to the dining area from his vague memory, and Song Yuanxun was there already. He was fiddling about in the kitchen, it looked like he was cooking porridge.

“Song Yuanxun.”

Song Yuanxun turned to look at Fang Zhaomu. “You’re awake?”

“I think I may have caught a cold,” Fang Zhaomu sneezed. “Do you have water? I’m very thirsty.”

Song Yuanxun put down the ladle he was stirring the porridge with. Picking up a jacket by the side, he passed it to Fang Zhaomu for him to cover himself, and increased the central air by two degrees before pouring Fang Zhaomu a glass of water.

Taking the glass, Fang Zhaomu drank a mouthful. Song Yuanxun then asked, “How did you catch a cold? We didn’t go to anywhere too cold yesterday.”

“Might have caught it from you.”

“I was wearing a mask.” Song Yuanxun denied.

Fang Zhaomu mercilessly reminded him. “You weren’t wearing it when you kissed me.”

Song Yuanxun paused as he looked at Fang Zhaomu. “I’ll go find some medicine.”

“No need,” Fang Zhaomu had a glass in one hand, and his other hand grabbed onto Song Yuanxun’s sleeve and pulled him towards the kitchen. Fang Zhaomu was not very strong, but he was able to make Song Yuanxun move along with him. “What are you cooking? Why does it smell a little strange? Is it burnt?”

“It’s porridge.”

Song Yuanxun could not cook very well. He did not cook often, and only knew the simplest dishes. He had woken up very early to prepare porridge for Fang Zhaomu, and had spoilt a batch already, quickly redoing one more.

Fang Zhaomu held the glass and looked around the kitchen. “Why didn’t you use the rice cooker to cook the porridge?”

Song Yuanxun glanced at Fang Zhaomu, smoothly explaining, “It tastes better like this.”

“Oh,” Fang Zhaomu nodded his head, understanding. He took it onto himself to explain, “You didn’t know that you can cook porridge with your rice cooker.”

Song Yuanxun had wanted to object, but Fang Zhaomu was smiling at Song Yuanxun after saying that. He revealed two very shallow dimples, and Song Yuanxun no longer said anything.

Song Yuanxun had seen Fang Zhaomu’s sleeping robe before. Fang Zhaomu was wearing this exact one during that video chat. In grey, Fang Zhaomu looked very gentle, and he even had Song Yuanxun’s jacket over him, leaning over to Song Yuanxun, looking at the bubbling water in the pot.

When Song Yuanxun did not like Fang Zhaomu, he felt uncomfortable seeing him, as Fang Zhaomu was always able to affect him, and he could not proceed with his work normally.

When he realised he liked Fang Zhaomu, Song Yuanxun then understood. Everything about Fang Zhaomu was good, he was too good, and that was why he made him be on tenterhooks and restless, made him want to push him away, to avoid him, and wanted even more to pick him up.

“Song Yuanxun,” Fang Zhaomu waved his hand in front of Song Yuanxun. “Your porridge is about to burn.”

Song Yuanxun regained his wits and was pushed away by Fang Zhaomu. Fang Zhaomu put down his glass, lifted the pot lid, and took the ladle to start stirring.

He switched the electric stove to the smallest setting and stirred. Suddenly, he turned to Song Yuanxun and said, “Your kitchen is pretty big.”

This was the first time Fang Zhaomu ever mentioned his conversation with Andrew ever since he came back from Seattle. Hence, Song Yuanxun cautiously replied, “As long as you like it.”

“Why did you tell me that your kitchen is big?” Fang Zhaomu asked Song Yuanxun. “At that time, what were you thinking about?”

Bubbles arose from the bottom of the pot, popping open on the surface of the porridge.

Song Yuanxun could no longer recall what he was feeling then, but if he had to come up with a reason, since he said something like this, he definitely wanted Fang Zhaomu to come to his place.

Fang Zhaomu continued, “Song Yuanxun, what do you like about me? How much do you like me?”

He lifted his head slightly, gazing at Song Yuanxun with all his attention. Fang Zhaomu was also like this when doing his experiment and going to class. He was very focused and single-minded.

However, Song Yuanxun was a bad student. He did not answer the question completely, only giving a reply to the second part. Speaking ambiguously, yet explicitly, “I like you very much.”

Song Yuanxun knew that when Fang Zhaomu heard him say that he liked him, he might not feel too much about it. However, when he said it out loud, he felt very anxious and sheepish.

After all, Song Yuanxun had never said anything like this to anyone. In the past, he had never even thought about it, and the fews times he had said it to Fang Zhaomu this year, he had not received any good response.

“Then, why did you dislike me so much at the start?” Fang Zhaomu asked Song Yuanxun.

Fang Zhaomu’s expression was very serious, as though he was going to thrash everything out with him today.

Song Yuanxun gave it a moment’s thought, then asked Fang Zhaomu instead, “You want me to start right from the beginning?”

Fang Zhaomu put the ladle down. He turned around and crossed his arms, nodding at Song Yuanxun. “Mn, right from the beginning.”

“I first heard about you from Li Wei.” Song Yuanxun started.

“Oh,” Fang Zhaomu’s eyes chilled a little. He seemed to have understood something. “I can make a guess. He said I stole his spot?”

“I didn’t steal it. Our GPA are the same, and I scored better for my major, that’s why I was selected. He didn’t tell you that, right?”

Song Yuanxun’s silence confirmed Fang Zhaomu’s statement. “As for the perfume… You already know about that. Anything else?”

“At that time, I felt that you were…” Song Yuanxun found that word a little hard to say, and did not continue.

Fang Zhaomu said it for him. “You felt that I was girly?”

The porridge was done, but no one felt like eating. Fang Zhaomu switched the stove off and turned to look at Song Yuanxun. He pressed, “Am I right?”

About two minutes later, Song Yuanxun admitted. “Yes.”

“Then what about pretending to be an engineer?” Fang Zhaomu helped him take the lead.

Song Yuanxun slowly said, “Out of curiosity.”

“What were you curious about?” Fang Zhaomu paused. He asked directly, “Curious about how gays have sex?”

“No,” Song Yuanxun denied it a little wretchedly. “I knew it was you right from the start.”

Fang Zhaomu fell silent, and called out to him again after a moment. “Song Yuanxun.”

“Do you really like me?” Fang Zhaomu asked. “Or do you just want to sleep with me?”

Fang Zhaomu caught Song Yuanxun’s arm, tilting his head up to kiss Song Yuanxun. Song Yuanxun tried dodging him, but in the end still welcomed him, and pressed him against the marble countertop in the kitchen, kissing him fiercely and brutally. Fang Zhaomu’s clothes had fallen open, and Song Yuanxun could finally again touch Fang Zhaomu’s body. His body was very soft, suffused with a heat mingled with carnal desire.

Song Yuanxun lifted him up onto the counter, and Fang Zhaomu finally managed to separate himself a little from him. Gasping for air, his lips were swollen, his eyes out of focus, and his hand that was on Song Yuanxun shoulder slid down his chest, cupping his tented part of the body.

“You want to sleep with me.” Fang Zhaomu chose an answer for Song Yuanxun.

Song Yuanxun grabbed Fang Zhaomu’s wrist. He felt that he had not used much strength, but Fang Zhaomu cried out in pain, and so he let go.

“I do want to sleep with you,” Song Yuanxun did not avoid Fang Zhaomu’s eyes. “I like you, of course I want to sleep with you.”

“Yes, for today, you’ll like me.” The corner of Fang Zhaomu’s lips pulled up.

“It’s not only today,” Song Yuanxun said. “It’s everyday.”

“How could it be everyday?” Fang Zhaomu spoke. “You like me now, so you’ll be nice to me. But what if you don’t like me tomorrow?”

“When you stop liking me, will I have to go back to my previous life?”

“Song Yuanxun, why would I like Andrew? Why did I use a hookup app?”

“Because I was suffering too much in your school. Because every day, I had no one to speak to. Because no one liked me, because you didn’t like me, none of you welcomed me.”

“When you were lying to me, did you think about all these?”

“Your feelings are valuable, my feelings aren’t. Then, what about the feelings I gave Andrew, who can I look for to get them back?”

Fang Zhaomu cried. It was not loud, just that his emotions had caused his tears to fall. They slid down his face, dripping onto his thigh.

Song Yuanxun’s heart felt as though it would never beat again.

Ever since Fang Zhaomu came in contact with him, he had cried countless of times. He would cry when walking, cry when turning on the lights, cry behind the door, and cry when he kissed.

“Fang Zhaomu,” Song Yuanxun gripped Fang Zhaomu’s shoulders. He looked directly into Fang Zhaomu’s eyes, forcing Fang Zhaomu to look at him. “Fang Zhaomu.”

Fang Zhaomu looked him, his eyes filled with tears. He looked so sad, making Song Yuanxun feel that as long as he could make him never cry again, he would be willing to do anything.

“Mumu,” Song Yuanxun said. “If you want Andrew, look for him within me. If you feel that there’s anything different, I’ll change and make it the same.”

“Everything about me that’s wrong, I’ll change them all. Anything that you don’t like, you can just scold me.”

“My feelings aren’t worth a thing. Take them. Use them how you will. Your feelings — they’re worth everything in the world. Don’t take them back… don’t take them away from me.”

Later on when Fang Zhaomu tired himself out crying, Song Yuanxun carried him back to his room. Fang Zhaomu lay on Song Yuanxun’s shoulder, his breathing nasally.

Song Yuanxun placed Fang Zhaomu on the bed, then wanted to go downstairs to get him a bowl of porridge. Fang Zhaomu caught hold of him.

“Switch off the lights.” Fang Zhaomu said.

Listening to him, Song Yuanxun switched them off. Fang Zhaomu then said, “Lie down.”

“The porridge—” He was cut off by Fang Zhaomu.

“What porridge, come and lie down.”

Song Yuanxun thought about it, then lay down on the guest room bed in the dark. The soft body lay next to him for a very very long time, before moving and leaning onto him.

Fang Zhaomu’s hand grabbed hold of Song Yuanxun’s, lightly fitting his fingers with his.

“Song Yuanxun,” He said into Song Yuanxun’s ear. “You’ll need to change everything.”

Translator’s Notes:

“My feelings aren’t worth a thing. Take them. Use them how you will. Your feelings — they’re worth everything in the world. Don’t take them back… don’t take them away from me.”

This is the best line in the novel in my opinion, and the reason why I really wanted to translate this novel QAQ

Chapter 30

“Change, I’ll definitely change.” Song Yuanxun’s reply came very quickly, making Fang Zhaomu doubt if he even knew where he needed to start changing from.

However, Fang Zhaomu was a little tired thinking about all these, and was just in a fit of anger, and so was exhausted. “Song Yuanxun, I want to take a nap.”

Without any signals from Fang Zhaomu, it seemed like Song Yuanxun did not dare to do anything. He stiffly grasped Fang Zhaomu’s palm, “Alright, go to sleep.”

Fang Zhaomu leaned against Song Yuanxun, his leg across Song Yuanxun’s body, his face next to Song Yuanxun’s arm. Reaching out, he poked at Song Yuanxun’s abdomen, feeling that the muscles there were quite firm. With his eyes closed, he asked casually, “Your photos on the app are all fake?”

“Mn.” Song Yuanxun placed his hand on the back of Fang Zhaomu’s hand.

“Where did you find them?” Fang Zhaomu asked. “Are there any more?”

Song Yuanxun’s reaction was much bigger than what Fang Zhaomu had expected. Vigilant, he clasped his hand around Fang Zhaomu’s wrist. “Why?”

“Just asking.” Fang Zhaomu tried to pull his hand away.

Song Yuanxun did not let go. “There’s no other photos.”

Fang Zhaomu found Song Yuanxun’s feigned casualness very funny, and purposely said, “I don’t believe you, I’ll do a google search tomorrow.”

“You can’t.” Song Yuanxun groped around on the bedside, switching on the lights of the guest room.

Fang Zhaomu was no longer sleepy. Song Yuanxun drew closer, holding Fang Zhaomu down and repeating, “You can’t.”

“Why can’t I?” Fang Zhaomu shifted to the side. He placed his hands on Song Yuanxun’s shoulders, wanting to push him away a little. He put in some force, but Song Yuanxun did not move, and so Fang Zhaomu gave in. “Forget it then.”

Song Yuanxun lowered his head a little, looking at Fang Zhaomu.

Fang Zhaomu was a little scared of Song Yuanxun when he was like this. Song Yuanxun’s eyes were very scary. When he looked at him, in his eyes, there were undisguised feelings of invasion, possession, aggression and… infatuation.

Fang Zhaomu did not want to continue watching, and so shut his eyes. Song Yuanxun however took advantage of that and kissed him.

Song Yuanxun’s kiss was even more forceful than before, crushing Fang Zhaomu’s lips, prying his teeth apart, sucking on his tongue. Something hard was pressing against Fang Zhaomu’s belly, causing his belly to be dented slightly. Even through a pair of trousers and a sleeping robe, Fang Zhaomu could still feel its heat and size.

Song Yuanxun’s kisses left Fang Zhaomu out of breath. He shoved at Song Yuanxun, and Song Yuanxun finally pulled back a little, continue watching Fang Zhaomu silently.

“Song Yuanxun…” Fang Zhaomu said. “I’m having a cold. You still said you would change?”

Song Yuanxun kissed him on the cheek and let go. “I won’t do anything.”

Song Yuanxun sat up, caressing the back of Fang Zhaomu’s hand preciously. He then stroked Fang Zhaomu’s face, and straightened up Fang Zhaomu’s sleeping robe. “You should sleep.”

He again reached out to touch Fang Zhaomu’s hand.

Fang Zhaomu could neither laugh nor cry. “What exactly are you trying to do?”

Song Yuanxun’s phone suddenly vibrated. Fang Zhaomu glanced at it, the caller seemed to have the last name Zhao. Song Yuanxun took his phone and rejected the call straight away.

Fang Zhaomu was still looking at him, so he told him, “Sleep.”

His phone rang again, and Song Yuanxun walked out of the room with it.

When Fang Zhaomu woke up after his short nap, he found himself with a slight fever. Going downstairs to inform Song Yuanxun, Song Yuanxun found a thermometer and checked his temperature, thirty-eight degrees celsius. Fang Zhaomu felt it was still okay, but despite looking emotionless, Song Yuanxun was actually a little anxious.

In the blizzard, it was very difficult for a doctor to come, and he ended up having a half-hour phone conversation with the doctor. Fang Zhaomu was listening by the side, and the more he heard, the more he was amused.

When Song Yuanxun hung up, he gave some medicine to Fang Zhaomu and watched him eat some porridge before taking the medicine.

Fang Zhaomu’s illness was not serious, and his fever receded in the evening. Song Yuanxun was very particular, and would check his temperature every few hours, saying that the fever might come back. Having just fallen asleep, Fang Zhaomu was awoken by him. It happened over and over again, and he finally could not take it, deciding to chase Song Yuanxun out. In the end, he was held down by Song Yuanxun and kissed a few times, and Song Yuanxun told him that he could pass him the cold back.

Fang Zhaomu’s fever did not come back. As for Song Yuanxun, no matter how much he wished, the extreme weather was soon over.

Classes had been stopped for three days. Fang Zhaomu had also stayed at Song Yuanxun’s place till Wednesday, and then went back to his own place.

There was less than two months before Fang Zhaomu was returning home. Fang Zhaomu did not have many things to settle in the lab, and so he did not have much interactions with Song Yuanxun daily.

Fang Zhaomu was constantly prompted by Song Yuanxun to go back to using his phone. Song Yuanxun had known Fang Zhaomu for more than a semester, and with his wavering status in Fang Zhaomu’s heart, he finally managed to get Fang Zhaomu’s personal contact details.

The Thursday after a week of blizzard, a new apparatus was delivered to the lab. The professor called all the lab students for a meeting.

Song Yuanxun went to pick Fang Zhaomu up, and the two of them were delayed in the car for a while. They were the last ones to arrive at the meeting.

Zhang Ranyu had only held one seat for Song Yuanxun. When Zhou Meng came and saw that, she helped Fang Zhaomu reserve one too.

Everyone watched Song Yuanxun and Fang Zhaomu walked in. Song Yuanxun surveyed the surroundings, and led Fang Zhaomu to the two empty seats held for them.

Zhang Ranyu silently praised Zhou Meng’s prophetic action, then started contemplating when exactly did Song Yuanxun’s and Fang Zhaomu’s relationship improved. The person in the most awkward situation in the lab now was him, as to ingratiate himself with Song Yuanxun, he had been dead set against Fang Zhaomu. Now that Song Yuanxun no longer dislike Fang Zhaomu, and even came together with Fang Zhaomu, Zhang Ranyu started panicking.

He quietly paid attention to Song Yuanxun’s and Fang Zhaomu’s interactions with the corner of his eye.

When Song Yuanxun sat down, he quietly asked Fang Zhaomu if he wanted to drink some water. Fang Zhaomu said no, but Song Yuanxun still went to pour a cup for him.

When Song Yuanxun stood up to get some water, Zhang Ranyu swept his eyes past Fang Zhaomu. Fang Zhaomu’s jacket was pulled up to his chin, looking as if he was very cold.

Song Yuanxun came back with the water and passed the cup to Fang Zhaomu, then quietly asked him what he would like to eat for dinner.

Zhang Ranyu looked down at the basic instructions on his desk, and shifted his eyes. He saw a red mark on the back of Fang Zhaomu’s hand.

“Anything’s fine.” Fang Zhaomu said softly.

When the professor and his assistant entered the room, everyone fell silent including Song Yuanxun and Fang Zhaomu.

After the introduction of the apparatus was over, Song Yuanxun and Fang Zhaomu stood up. Zhang Ranyu had no idea what was going through his head, he picked up his books and pretended to be going the same way and followed them.

He followed them downstairs. Today, Song Yuanxun’s car was parked on the road behind the building. Zhang Ranyu sneakily followed behind, and unexpectedly did not attract their attention.

Song Yuanxun and Fang Zhaomu had walked to the car, but they did not get in. Zhang Ranyu was nearly dying of curiosity, and plastered himself against the wall and drew closer. Squatting down behind the cover of the bushes, he planned to hear how Fang Zhaomu had managed to ingratiate himself with Song Yuanxun, so that he could learn from him.

He heard Song Yuanxun’s voice. “Let’s just go to my place to do it.”

Zhang Ranyu had not expected that Fang Zhaomu could already go over to Song Yuanxun’s place. He waddled nearer, wanting to observe what was happening between the two of them through the shrubs.

“I’m doing it?” Fang Zhaomu asked Song Yuanxun lightly.

Song Yuanxun waited for a moment, then sounded him out. “I’ll try?”

Fang Zhaomu laughed. “You? Just forget it.”

Fang Zhaomu leaned in to Song Yuanxun, and said something very quietly to him. Song Yuanxun pushed Fang Zhaomu against the car door, and plastered himself onto him.

It was only three in the afternoon when they reached Song Yuanxun’s place.

Fang Zhaomu opened the freezer and took out some frozen seafood to defrost them. Just as he finished washing his hands, Song Yuanxun hugged him from the back.

“It’s too early to cook now.” Song Yuanxun said.

Fang Zhaomu turned and asked, “Then what’s not too early to do?”

Song Yuanxun trapped Fang Zhaomu at the sink with his two arms, looking down at Fang Zhaomu expressionlessly. “What do you mean by buying those things and having them delivered to my place?”

“Nothing much. Why didn’t you tell me that they’re here?” Fang Zhaomu raised his chin and kissed Song Yuanxun on the jaw. “I only wanted to help you lose your v-card, why are you so fierce?”

Song Yuanxun pressed his forehead against Fang Zhaomu’s, then kissed him lightly on the cheek.

After a short bout of kissing, Song Yuanxun pulled back a little. Fang Zhaomu asked, “There’s still about a month before I’m going back, don’t you want it?”

Fang Zhaomu’s arms circled Song Yuanxun’s neck, his breaths hitting his ear. His body was very pliable, and let Song Yuanxun carried him upstairs without any resistance.

Afraid of pain, Fang Zhaomu had purchased poppers. Before the clothes came off, it had taken effect.

Powerlessly, he lay in Song Yuanxun’s arms with his legs apart. Song Yuanxun gripped Fang Zhaomu’s shaft, tugging slowly on it. His knuckles brushed past Fang Zhaomu’s belly, and Fang Zhaomu shuddered, collapsing into his embrace, his shoulders against his chest.

Song Yuanxun’s hand sped up. Fang Zhaomu’s shoulders rubbed against Song Yuanxun’s shirt. It hurt a little, so he caught hold of Song Yuanxun’s hand and stopped him.

Song Yuanxun stopped, and Fang Zhaomu glared at him weakly. Without saying a word, he clutched at Song Yuanxun’s shirt and yanked it upwards. Song Yuanxun went along with him, and let Fang Zhaomu remove his top.

The colour of Fang Zhaomu’s skin contrasted with Song Yuanxun’s. One was fair as milk, and the other was a healthy wheat colour. Song Yuanxun’s body temperature was also higher. Song Yuanxun undid his trousers, and his heated organ slapped against Fang Zhaomu’s belly. Pulling Fang Zhaomu to touch him, he kissed his neck, one hand on Fang Zhaomu’s waist, sliding down his body.

A finger coated in lubricant entered Fang Zhaomu’s body, thrusting within. In the room was the sounds of his finger pushing in, as well as Fang Zhaomu’s pants.

Song Yuanxun seemed to like hearing Fang Zhaomu cry out. Once Fang Zhaomu made a sound, he stopped, laying him on the bed and pressing down onto him. Fang Zhaomu stroked Song Yuanxun’s abs, then grabbed hold of Song Yuanxun and wanted him to come in.

Song Yuanxun tried pushing in. Fang Zhaomu’s legs curled around him, and trembled along with Song Yuanxun’s penetrations. Every impale of Song Yuanxun was very firm, and Fang Zhaomu was unable to even cry out. He gasped for air, his body, lips, and heart all held within Song Yuanxun’s hands. They tightened and loosened, but never let go.

The both of them did it, but did not cook. At 9pm, Song Yuanxun was kicked out of the bed by Fang Zhaomu to order food.

Chapter 31

Song Yuanxun’s and Fang Zhaomu’s overseas romance, if they started counting it from the day Fang Zhaomu asked Song Yuanxun to change, to the day Fang Zhaomu returned home, was a total of fifty-six days.

Fang Zhaomu’s flight leaving C City was at 6.30pm. Song Yuanxun still had some things to deal with at school, and needed at least a couple more weeks before he could return.

The night before, Song Yuanxun had went to Fang Zhaomu’s place. The two of them packed Fang Zhaomu’s luggage until two in the morning, and in the mean time, Song Yuanxun even went home to take his own bigger luggage for Fang Zhaomu to store his things.

Firstly, Fang Zhaomu liked to procrastinate, always putting it off and did not pack his luggage. He even remembered the wrong date for his flight, and only became aware after a reminder from Song Yuanxun. Next, after coming to C City, Fang Zhaomu had bought many many things that Song Yuanxun referred to as junk. When placed in his little place, they were all piled up neatly, but when packing them up, there seemed to be no limit to them.

At the start, Fang Zhaomu was very stubborn, refusing to let Song Yuanxun help him. Song Yuanxun sat on Fang Zhaomu’s bed and watched him pack for half an hour.

Fang Zhaomu arranged everything in his luggage row by row. When his luggage was half-filled, Song Yuanxun pointed at the wardrobe. “Mumu, are you bringing your clothes back?”

“I am.” Standing up, Fang Zhaomu fanned himself with his hand.

His shirt was rather short today. With his arm raised, his waist was revealed, and on it were all marks left by Song Yuanxun.

Fang Zhaomu rested for a while, and noticed that Song Yuanxun’s eyes were a little dangerous. Looking down, he immediately put his arm down and adjusted his shirt. “Why did you ask?”

Song Yuanxun suddenly stood up. Fang Zhaomu was afraid that he would do something funny, and took a step back, stammering, “I’m only about 10% done.”

“Half your luggage is already full,” Song Yuanxun crouched down and picked up a box Fang Zhaomu had packed. Opening it, he asked Fang Zhaomu, “Such a small pendant, can’t you throw the box away?”

“No, I can’t.” Fang Zhaomu was a little obsessive. Every item had to be stored in their original packaging.

Song Yuanxun shook his head. “Just leave all these behind, I’ll help you mail them back.”

Fang Zhaomu thought that made sense, and so accepted Song Yuanxun’s help. He again took out everything he had packed within the last half an hour.

“There’s so many,” Fang Zhaomu looked at all the items in his room that had barely been moved, and a despair welled up within him. He finally started to reflect that he did put off his packing too late. Looking at the time, it was two in the afternoon, and a little helpless, he turned to look at Song Yuanxun. “What should I do?”

Song Yuanxun rolled up his sleeves. “I’ll help you.”

Reality showed that although Song Yuanxun was full of theoretical knowledge, but he was weak in practice, and only made a further mess out of things.

Fang Zhaomu had only bought too many miscellaneous things that could not fit in his luggage, and he did have the ability to pack his luggage. As for Song Yuanxun, he couldn’t even fold the clothes.

Fang Zhaomu looked at the clothes Song Yuanxun folded for him, and became even more anxious. “Ah, don’t touch it anymore. It’s better that Young Master Song remain sitting there quietly instead.”

He then kissed him, kissing away the unhappiness on Song Yuanxun’s face.

Stumbling about, the two of them cleared out the room and compressed everything within two 32-inch luggages. As for the rest, they would be mailed to Fang Zhaomu by Song Yuanxun. Making two trips up and down, they packed everything into Song Yuanxun’s car and left for Song Yuanxun’s place.

Packing up was very exhausting. At 11am the next day, Fang Zhaomu was woken up by Song Yuanxun. The two of them went out for a meal, and Song Yuanxun would have to send Fang Zhaomu off after that.

At the airport, the two of them hugged. Song Yuanxun held Fang Zhaomu’s hand, and Fang Zhaomu also did not want to ask him to let go. However, after a few seconds, Song Yuanxun still let him go.

He kissed Fang Zhaomu on his forehead. “Wait for me obediently.”

“Mn.” Fang Zhaomu looked at Song Yuanxun. “I know.”

Before he could start missing him even more, Fang Zhaomu turned and left.

Boarding the plane that would send him home, Fang Zhaomu felt that this exchange was like a dream, it lasted for a long time, but not enough.

He matured, his temper improved, and muddle-headedly decided his future. From twenty-one years of age to his twenty-second birthday, many things had happened, but it also felt like nothing had changed.

Fang Zhaomu’s family had all came to the airport to pick him up. He sat in the back seat with his sister, and his sister animatedly asked him many questions. Fang Zhaomu kept thinking about how Song Yuanxun asked him to wait for him obediently, and ended up taking a long time to reply her questions.

If Fang Zhaomu was asked about the project he did in T University, he could talk all day about it. However, if he was asked about his life in C City, he did not know where to start. It felt like he could not talk about the unhappy matters, nor could he talked about the happy things. Other than that, there was nothing else he could talk about.

Back at school, Fang Zhaomu was busier than he expected.

After he completed his application, he was dragged to work on a project by his professor, who called it “letting him adapt to the environment”. He was a native of A City. There were only three subway stops between his house and the school, and the laboratory of his future tutor was right at the subway exit. Fang Zhaomu was used to staying alone, and did not want to stay in a dormitory. As such, he commuted back and forth everyday, leaving early and coming home late, his life slowly getting back to normal.

Song Yuanxun was also busy. With the time difference, they had no time to chat with each other.

One Sunday afternoon in late May, Fang Zhaoling would be going back to school later. It happened that their parents were both on a business trip, and Fang Zhaomu was not going to the lab, so she forced Fang Zhaomu to bring her out for lunch and then send her to school.

The siblings went to the new restaurant near Fang Zhaoling’s school. As they were waiting to be seated, Fang Zhaomu suddenly received a text from Song Yuanxun.

“Are you at school?” Song Yuanxun suddenly asked.

Fang Zhaomu glanced at his sister who was sitting next to him. “I’m having lunch outside.”

“With your friends?”

“My sister.”

A minute later, Song Yuanxun texted. “Send me your location.”

Fang Zhaomu’s heart jumped, nearly dropping his phone. He told his sister that he was going to make a call, walking to somewhere less crowded before calling Song Yuanxun.

Song Yuanxun answered very quickly, and Fang Zhaomu heard Song Yuanxun’s voice as well as the airport announcement in the background. His heart that was originally calm now heated up, and he asked Song Yuanxun, “You’re back?”

“Mn,” Song Yuanxun said. “I’m back.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Fang Zhaomu grumbled. “I could have gone to pick you up.”

“I’m doing a sudden spot check,” Song Yuanxun replied. “I’m checking to see if you’ve been obedient.”

“— Ge, it’s our turn!” Fang Zhaoling walked over to look for Fang Zhaomu and called out to him.

Fang Zhaomu hurriedly told Song Yuanxun that he had to go, then hung up and sent him his location.

The server led them to a four-seater booth, and as he removed the extra cutlery sets he was stopped by Fang Zhaomu and asked to leave a set behind. Fang Zhaoling was surprised, and had an expression that was eagerly looking forward to gossip. “Ge, have you found a girlfriend who’s coming to supervise you?”

“A friend is coming, a classmate from the lab in T University.”

“A guy or girl?” Fang Zhaoling interrogated.

“A guy.”

Fang Zhaoling was first disappointed, then asked, “Is he handsome?”

Fang Zhaomu thought about it, then admitted, “Mn.”

“Why didn’t you say that you had a very handsome classmate!” Fang Zhaoling slapped the table.

Song Yuanxun arrived faster than Fang Zhaomu expected. The dishes had yet to come, but the server was already leading him over.

At first, Fang Zhaoling was still telling Fang Zhaomu about her school life. Upon seeing Song Yuanxun, she suddenly fell silent. Fang Zhaomu turned and looked, Song Yuanxun was standing about half a metre away from him and was watching him.

Song Yuanxun was dressed more casually then when he was in school, wearing a T-shirt, pants and sneakers. It was similar to how he dressed at home, and he looked less assertive than usual.

Their eyes met, and Fang Zhaomu felt as though his heart was constricting. Only then did he realised he really did miss him a little, and might be no less than how much Song Yuanxun had missed him.

Song Yuanxun nodded at Fang Zhaoling, then sat down next to Fang Zhaomu. He picked up their list of order and took a look. Fang Zhaomu told me, “Lingling and I had only ordered a few dishes, if there’s not enough, just order some more.”

Song Yuanxun did not stand on ceremony, and asked for the menu from the server. Fang Zhaomu leaned over and looked, then he remembered he had not made any introductions, and told his sister, “This is Song Yuanxun, my classmate.”

Hearing Fang Zhaomu’s introduction, Song Yuanxun looked away from the menu and turned his head towards Fang Zhaomu. A little guilty, Fang Zhaomu added another label onto Song Yuanxun, “He’s the one I’m closest to.”

“You’ve never mentioned it before.” Fang Zhaoling reproached Fang Zhaomu.

Song Yuanxun suddenly cut in, asking Fang Zhaoling, “He’s never mentioned it all?”

Fang Zhaoling told Song Yuanxun, “Fang Zhaomu refuses to say anything about his exchange. He always talks to me about some protein I don’t understand instead, how stingy.”

Fang Zhaomu wanted to speak, but his hand that was under the table got caught by Song Yuanxun.

Song Yuanxun’s palm was very warm, but he did not use a lot of strength. He only gently loosened Fang Zhaomu’s fisted hand and intertwined their fingers together.

“He is very stingy,” Song Yuanxun echoed Fang Zhaoling. “The air ticket on the 4th of May was only 70 dollars cheaper than the one on the 9th, but he insisted on leaving on the 4th.”

Fang Zhaomu wanted to clarify and asked when did Song Yuanxun become someone who beared grudges. It was his tutor who asked him to come back quickly if he had nothing else, and it was not him being stingy. However, his hand was held by Song Yuanxun, and his heart was beating ridiculously fast, so he could not speak even with his mouth open. He only wanted to quickly find an empty room, and kiss and hug Song Yuanxun without any other considerations.

Chapter 32

Each with their own thoughts, the three of them shared a conversation. When it was nearly time, Song Yuanxun and Fang Zhaomu both sent Fang Zhaoling to school.

The school was near the restaurant, and afternoon happened to be the period when most students were returning to school. Fang Zhaoling greeted quite a number of people on the way, and cheerfully introduced her “elder brother and his classmate” to her classmates.

After sending Fang Zhaoling into the school, Song Yuanxun looked down at Fang Zhaomu and asked, “Where are we going now?”

“I was planning on going home at first.” Fang Zhaomu then asked Song Yuanxun, “Where will you be staying?”

“At home. My parents live in A City,” Song Yuanxun told him. “Our family’s business is here.”

“Mn.” Fang Zhaomu nodded, and did not ask further.

Fang Zhaomu knew very little about Song Yuanxun’s family. In truth, he did not even know which city was Song Yuanxun from. He had only seen Song Yuanxun’s high school diploma. After high school, Song Yuanxun had left for C City, and was from a famous private school.

“You didn’t mention anything to your family?” Song Yuanxun and Fang Zhaomu followed along the path. Song Yuanxun was closer to the road, and his arm was around Fang Zhaomu. Fang Zhaomu turned to look at Song Yuanxun, then Song Yuanxun added, “I’ve already told my family about it.”

Song Yuanxun’s flat tone when saying this was a little frightening. Fang Zhaomu looked at him in alarm, and nearly tripped as he crossed the road. Song Yuanxun caught his arm and supported him. He spoke helplessly as he steadied him, “Fang Zhaomu, be more careful when you walk.”

Fang Zhaomu stopped after he crossed the road, pulling Song Yuanxun to a low wall nearby. “How did you tell them?”

“I said that I’m in a relationship,” Song Yuanxun watched Fang Zhaomu. “And the person I’m dating is a guy.”

Fang Zhaomu gazed blankly at Song Yuanxun. Song Yuanxun might have been amused by Fang Zhaomu’s expression, and smiled at him. “Mumu, where are we going now?”

Song Yuanxun used a very frank manner to look at Fang Zhaomu. He was not a very eloquent person, probably because he had never needed to worry about saying the wrong things, and would often not care about the other person’s feelings.

Fang Zhaomu felt that being in a relationship with Song Yuanxun was like crossing a river while clutching on to rocks. They liked each other, but he did not know that due to the strong current, the other person would let go and disappear. After all, when the school break was over, Song Yuanxun would have to return to T University for his fourth year. Fang Zhaomu did not know if Song Yuanxun planned on furthering his studies, and their future was unknown. Saying anything now would be too early.

“I haven’t told my family.” Fang Zhaomu did not want to avoid the topic, and was straightforward with Song Yuanxun.

“I know,” Song Yuanxun caressed Fang Zhaomu’s face. “Mumu, I don’t mind it.”

Many people often thought the opposite when they said they “didn’t mind it”. However, Fang Zhaomu knew Song Yuanxun’s “don’t mind it” was exactly what he was feeling, and this instead made his heart ached even more, and became even more worried. Fang Zhaomu could not help but wonder if he called his parents to come out of the closet today, would his parents immediately return home to hit him?

“What did your parents say?” Fang Zhaomu asked Song Yuanxun, wanting to gain some experience from it.

“They didn’t say much.”

Fang Zhaomu remembered that Song Yuanxun had asked where were they going. Thinking about it, he said, “Why don’t you come over to my place, there’s nothing fun in A City any way.”

They flagged a cab and returned to Fang Zhaomu’s home.

Fang Zhaomu’s home was on the fifth floor, a double-storey penthouse. It had been a few years since they moved in. Fang Zhaomu’s mother was very neat, and so the house was quite simple and clean. Fang Zhaomu opened the door and somewhat uneasily gave Song Yuanxun a pair of slippers. “My parents are on a business trip. My mom will be back the day after tomorrow, and my dad will only be back next week.”

Song Yuanxun wore the slippers belonging to Fang Zhaomu’s father and followed behind Fang Zhaomu. He looked around and asked Fang Zhaomu, “Where’s your room?”

“On the second floor. We’ll go have a look.”

They went upstairs. On the door of the first room was a little wooden sign, and on it was written “Ling”.

“This is my sister’s room.”

Next was a not very big room, the door half open. Fang Zhaomu saw Song Yuanxun looked at it, so he pushed the door wide open for Song Yuanxun to view.

“This is where my sister practises her piano and dancing.”

At the end of the corridor was Fang Zhaomu’s room. Fang Zhaomu opened the door and led Song Yuanxun in.

Fang Zhaomu’s room here were twice the size of his place in C City. His desk and shelves were in a corner, his bed next to the window, with a bedside cupboard in between. The floor was covered with a cream-coloured carpet, and his bedsheets were a dark blue. Fang Zhaomu wanted to grab a stool for Song Yuanxun, but he suddenly heard a click behind him. Song Yuanxun had locked his door.

Fang Zhaomu turned his head, his eyes wide and his voice small. “I’ve already said my parents won’t be coming back, why did you lock the door?”

Song Yuanxun’s legs were long, and in two steps he was directly in front of Fang Zhaomu. Without giving Fang Zhaomu any time to react, he carried Fang Zhaomu around the waist and pressed him onto the bed.

Fang Zhaomu sank into his bed, his arms trapped by Song Yuanxun. Song Yuanxun’s face was less than ten centimetres away from him, and he told him, “Just in case.”

Only after they kissed did they felt that they were really seeing each other.

Song Yuanxun held on to Fang Zhaomu’s wrist, kissing Fang Zhaomu just like how he did back in his own home.

The windows were covered only by a sheer curtain, and the room was brightly lit. Fang Zhaomu was stripped to nearly nothing by Song Yuanxun, while Song Yuanxun was still fully dressed, using the hand cream next to Fang Zhaomu’s head to stretch him out.

Fang Zhaomu had his eyes closed, but when he heard the sound of Song Yuanxun’s belt and pants being undone, he opened them again. Feeling that it was too bright in the room, he said softly, “Song Yuanxun, I want to pull the curtains closed.”

“No,” Song Yuanxun rejected him, then bent down and kissed Fang Zhaomu, pulling his hand to touch that hard, throbbing part of his. “Mumu, let me in.”

The two of them had not done it for a few weeks already, and they also did not use a condom. Song Yuanxun entered very slowly. He first gradually pushed himself in, and Fang Zhaomu’s hips arched up in pain, wanting to escape. Song Yuanxun then gripped him on his hips and gave a fierce thrust, impaling himself into him.

Before Fang Zhaomu could get used to Song Yuanxun’s intrusion, Song Yuanxun had started thrusting slightly. Fang Zhaomu could not really endure it, and clutched onto Song Yuanxun’s shoulders to stop him.

Song Yuanxun bowed his head, blocking Fang Zhaomu’s mouth and kissing him. While thrusting, he coaxed Fang Zhaomu with a lie, “A while more and it won’t hurt anymore.”

As such, Fang Zhaomu spread his legs and let him be, gradually starting to feel some pleasure in it as well.

Suddenly, Fang Zhaomu’s phone on his desk started vibrating.

They ignored it the first time. Fang Zhaomu did not have the energy to care about it, and Song Yuanxun could not be bothered to care about it. Fang Zhaomu’s legs were wrapped around Song Yuanxun’s waist, his ankles and knees flushed with a lewd pink, jerking along with Song Yuanxun’s motions.

The second time it vibrated, Fang Zhaomu bit Song Yuanxun on the lips, using a voice so small that it could barely be heard, “My… phone…”

Song Yuanxun finally stopped, but he did not pull out. He told Fang Zhaomu,” I’ll carry you there and you can answer it.”

Next, he lifted up Fang Zhaomu face to face and walked to the table. Fang Zhaomu got a fright, his limbs tightening around Song Yuanxun, afraid that he would fall.

Every step Song Yuanxun took, Fang Zhaomu felt him getting deeper within him. His erection rubbed against Song Yuanxun’s abdomen, craving for someone to soothe it as well. Fang Zhaomu eyes were misty, his breathing ragged. He held onto Song Yuanxun’s neck for dear life, not allowing his entire weight to rest at the part where they were joined. However, he did not have enough strength. Each time his arm loosened, it was in Song Yuanxun’s favour.

Reaching the desk, Fang Zhaomu had a headache when he saw the caller. It was a classmate from his lab group, and he was just discussing an experimental procedure in the group chat this afternoon.

Fang Zhaomu did not want to answer. He placed his lips next to Song Yuanxun’s ear, “Help me reject the call.”

Song Yuanxun looked at Fang Zhaomu, and did not do anything. Fang Zhaomu then kissed him, and mumbled his pleas, “Quick, help me reject the call.”

Song Yuanxun lowered Fang Zhaomu a little, letting him sit on the desk. Looking down, Fang Zhaomu saw that Song Yuanxun was no longer as deeply inside as he was previously. He wanted Song Yuanxun to pull out first, but instead, Song Yuanxun thrusted in firmly.

In a new position, with the table blocking him, Fang Zhaomu was unable to part his legs widely. All swollen and tingling with Song Yuanxun’s penetration, Fang Zhaomu could not control his mewls. He pushed against Song Yuanxun’s chest, but no matter how he tried, he was unable to move him away. It instead made Song Yuanxun’s thrusts even more savage.

At this time, Song Yuanxun would not show his concern for Fang Zhaomu. He only liked to see Fang Zhaomu crying because of his actions. Song Yuanxun picked Fang Zhaomu’s phone up, as though he did not hear what Fang Zhaomu had just said. “Mumu, Zhu Zhi’an is calling, do you want to answer?”

Song Yuanxun even placed the phone next to Fang Zhaomu’s ear, probably only intending to scare him. Who would have guessed that when Fang Zhaomu shook his head, his ear would slide across the screen, and the call was answered.

When the call was picked up, Fang Zhaomu’s classmate immediately said, “Zhaomu, I’m still not reconciled to what you said in the afternoon. I want to discuss it on the phone with you.”

Hearing the voice next to his ear, Fang Zhaomu nearly cried out loud. With tears in his eyes, he glared at Song Yuanxun, wanting to scold him yet did not dare to do so.

Song Yuanxun’s expression did not look very good as well. His left hand on Fang Zhaomu’s thigh tightened, and coaxed him in a low voice, “Mumu, relax.”

Zhu Zhi’an did not wait for Fang Zhaomu’s response, and had started to elaborate on his theory. With a hand propping himself up on the table, Fang Zhaomu grabbed the phone with his other hand and hung up immediately before tossing the phone onto the carpet. Smacking Song Yuanxun, and even pinching his hand that was on his thigh, he said, “Song Yuanxun, are you crazy?”

Song Yuanxun did not make a sound when he was hit. He leaned over and kissed Fang Zhaomu, then dragging him up. He lifted him again and pushed him against the wall by the table, thrusting vigorously. Fang Zhaomu’s arms had no strength left in them, and they lay weakly on Song Yuanxun’s shoulders. With Song Yuanxun’s movements, Fang Zhaomu reached his orgasm very quickly, and his come trickled down between Song Yuanxun’s and his bellies, dripping onto the floor.

Fang Zhaomu’s phone that had been tossed onto the floor started vibrating again. This time, Fang Zhaomu really was about to cry. Song Yuanxun again carried him and moved to the carpet next to his phone. While lying on Song Yuanxun’s shoulder, Fang Zhaomu pled with him continuously, “Help me switch my phone off.”

Song Yuanxun really did pull out. Bending down, he lay Fang Zhaomu on the carpet, then gripping Fang Zhaomu’s shoulders, he turned Fang Zhaomu over onto his hands and knees.

Fang Zhaomu stretched his hand out, wanting to switch his phone off. When he saw the words “Fang Zhaoling’s Form Teacher” displayed on his screen, he was about to make Song Yuanxun take a break first, but Song Yuanxun had started pushing himself in again.

“Mumu, what’s going on?” Song Yuanxun bent down and took Fang Zhaomu’s phone. He held on to his waist and thrusted into him lightly. Fang Zhaomu’s hips ached and his legs were weak, and he stuttered, “Fang Zhaoling’s form teacher…”

“You want to answer it?” Song Yuanxun asked, still thrusting.

“I… I have to answer…” Fang Zhaomu cried as he said. “Stop it.”

“Crying like this, how are you going to answer the call?” Song Yuanxun stopped moving, but did not pull out. He asked Fang Zhaomu, “Can I answer it?”

Without waiting for his reply, Song Yuanxun helped him answer the call and put it on loudspeaker mode.

Fang Zhaoling shouted, “Ge! I left my homework in my room, quick, help me bring it over!”

“Understood,” Song Yuanxun calmly told Fang Zhaoling as he fucked Fang Zhaomu. “Your brother is busy, he’ll send it when he’s done.”

He then hung up and switched the phone off.

Fang Zhaoling only received her homework during her self-study session in the evening. Her brother did not come, it was Song Yuanxun who passed it to her.

Fang Zhaoling asked why it was not Fang Zhaomu bringing it. Song Yuanxun gave a vague excuse about Fang Zhaomu twisting his ankle when he crossed the road, and was not able to walk. Fang Zhaoling did not pay much attention to it, as a twisted ankle was no big deal.

Chapter 33

Fang Zhaomu and Song Yuanxun fooled around for the entire break.

Song Yuanxun did not say anything aloud, but Fang Zhaomu knew that he was trying his best to keep to his pace. Song Yuanxun even purchased a transport card for A City. He would intern in his father’s company in the day, then go to the lab to pick Fang Zhaomu after work. They would eat together at the school’s cafeteria or somewhere nearby, then he would send Fang Zhaomu back home.

When Fang Zhaomu’s parents were not at home, Song Yuanxun would stay over at his place.

Half a year ago, Fang Zhaomu would never have imagined that the person called Song Yuanxun who did not like Fang Zhaomu would be conscientiously following him into the train station at seven pm, taking A City’s most crowded #2 train for three stops, and then sending him home, all just to see him every day.

The first time Song Yuanxun went to Fang Zhaomu’s lab, Li Wei was there as well.

Li Wei was there to borrow his senior’s study material, and was chatting at the door of the lab. He was a little taken aback when he saw Song Yuanxun. Song Yuanxun nodded his head to Li Wei. Li Wei greeted Song Yuanxun, asking him the reason why he was there, and Song Yuanxun’s eyes shifted behind Li Wei. He saw Fang Zhaomu walking out from within, and told him he was there to look for Fang Zhaomu.

Song Yuanxun walked in with them, and took a look around the lab. Li Wei asked after T University, and even about Fang Zhaomu’s performance there. With a straight face, Song Yuanxun said that Fang Zhaomu’s capability in the lab was excellent, and was well received by the professor and his classmates, his voice indifferent and objective.

Fang Zhaomu finally understood why Song Yuanxun could so easily deceive him then. It was because Song Yuanxun’s expression was too stern when he was bullshitting, and no one would ever suspect him.

And so, Fang Zhaomu glanced at Song Yuanxun, saying nothing.

They chatted for a moment, then Song Yuanxun wanted to bring Fang Zhaomu away. The two of them had to pick Fang Zhaoling up from her tuition class.

When they reached the corridor outside, Song Yuanxun asked Fang Zhaomu, “Mumu, how many points do I get today?”

Fang Zhaomu asked him where had he been studying all these dating guides, but Song Yuanxun refused to admit to it. Fang Zhaomu did not let it go, and even mocked Song Yuanxun, so Song Yuanxun took the opportunity to drag Fang Zhaomu into an empty classroom. Pressing him against the door, Song Yuanxun used the pretext of being angry from his embarrassment, and indulged in their sensual pleasure.

In the hottest summer night, as long as there was no one around, Song Yuanxun insisted on holding hands with Fang Zhaomu. Their hands were clammy with sweat, and due to the heat, their bodies were tacky. Fang Zhaomu could not help but think about their future, thinking that it would be enough if they could always be together, going through a few more other experiences.

The break passed quickly, and it was time for Song Yuanxun to go back to school. The two of them had to return to their lives that were separated by a time difference again.

Fang Zhaomu had not want to see him off, but went in the end.

This time, it was Fang Zhaomu’s turn to watch Song Yuanxun’s departing back. He thought that that time when Song Yuanxun had sent him off, he definitely did not feel as upset as he was, as Fang Zhaomu wanted to chase after him right then.

He really wanted to call Song Yuanxun back. His eyes burned, and stood for a long time at the security check before heading home dejectedly.

Fang Zhaomu was not as anxious as others in his fourth year of studies, but he was also very busy.

Last year, his score was extremely high, and was awarded a national prize. On his birthday, he gathered a big group of friends for a meal, and even brought Fang Zhaoling along. Fang Zhaomu’s acceptance into the PhD program had already been announced, and his classmates said that this would be the first farewell meal of their last year of studies, and called him Professor Fang.

Previously, Song Yuanxun did not return during Christmas. He had given Fang Zhaomu a call in the morning to wish him a happy birthday. The phone reception was not very good, and the two of them talked about Fang Zhaomu’s birthday plans before hanging up.

At the restaurant, Fang Zhaomu had drank a little. His face felt very warm, and as it was a little late, Papa Fang came to pick Fang Zhaoling up. Fang Zhaomu sent Fang Zhaoling downstairs, but did not immediately rejoin his friends. Fang Zhaoling said that Fang Zhaomu was drunk, and insisted on Fang Zhaomu going to the restaurant balcony to sober up in the fresh air, and also did not allow him to continue drinking.

Fang Zhaoling repeated confirmed it with Fang Zhaomu. Only after Fang Zhaomu promised her that he would take a break did she get onto Papa Fang’s car.

The balcony was on the south of the restaurant. Fang Zhaomu walked over to the railing, his elbows resting on it. Looking at the cars speeding on the distant expressway as well as the numerous buildings, he thought about Song Yuanxun, and kept feeling an emptiness within his heart.

Last year, Fang Zhaomu did not drink on his birthday, and it was also not as lively as this year’s one. He had received a very idiotic message that year, and had went downstairs to stand in the cold, waiting for help with Song Yuanxun.

Song Yuanxun had pretended that he could not speak with his sore throat, had given his coat to Fang Zhaomu, and had followed Fang Zhaomu upstairs for cake. With Song Yuanxun’s long limbs, he did not fit into Fang Zhaomu’s room, but Song Yuanxun still insisted on staying.

At that time, Song Yuanxun had wrote something, he seemed to have asked Fang Zhaomu what wishes did he make.

Fang Zhaomu’s memories for trivial things were bad. He was about to forget all of the bad points of Song Yuanxun, and also forgot about what wish did he make then.

Maybe he had wished that Andrew would not be too ugly.

Thinking about it, Fang Zhaomu found it a little funny. Unwilling to continue thinking about Song Yuanxun, he wanted to return to his friends, but someone suddenly hugged him from behind.

This was a person that Fang Zhaomu had not seen in months already. They had had many video chats, and would talk to each other daily. Every day, Fang Zhaomu had thought that those moments were good, but comparing everything now, this moment that they could meet each other was still the best.

“Have you had your cake yet?” Song Yuanxun asked Fang Zhaomu.

His lips right next to Fang Zhaomu’s ear, his voice ringing softly. Fang Zhaomu grabbed Song Yuanxun’s hand. “Not yet.”

“Mn,” Song Yuanxun kissed Fang Zhaomu’s earlobe. “I had wanted to ask you what you wished for.”

“What would you do after asking?” Fang Zhaomu turned around and looked at Song Yuanxun. There was no one else on the balcony, and so Fang Zhaomu raised his chin and kissed Song Yuanxun. “Classmate Song Yuanxun, you’ll help me fulfil these wishes today?”

“Mumu.” Song Yuanxun held onto his shoulders and turned him back.

In front, the exterior lighting of a few connecting skyscrapers changed colour. From the east to the west, a spheroid appeared. In the middle of the spheroid was a nucleus coloured with silver and gold. Blue and purple light spiralled outwards from the nucleus like a halo.

It was as though two hundred billion stars and stardust were plucked from the sky, and planted onto this barred spiral in front of him.

“The moon should be in there,” Song Yuanxun said. “Try looking for it yourself.”

Fang Zhaomu looked at this Milky Way that Song Yuanxun had created for him at night, at that moment, he could not say a word.

The people in the restaurant all started coming out to the balcony to look at the display. Song Yuanxun put down his hand that was on Fang Zhaomu’s shoulder, moving next to him and watching it with him.

After a while, Song Yuanxun again called out to Fang Zhaomu, and Fang Zhaomu turned his head towards him.

“I’ve completed all my credits.” Song Yuanxun said.

Fang Zhaomu was slightly surprised. “You don’t plan on continuing?”

“In the past, I had wanted to study for another two years,” Song Yuanxun looked into Fang Zhaomu’s eyes. He did not ask for any credit, nor did he conceal his regret. “But now I can’t endure waiting anymore.”

The night was dark. The lights on the balcony and the wall emitted a soft, gentle light, allowing them to see each other’s faces clearly.

“Let’s go back and have cake.” Song Yuanxun said.

In Song Yuanxun’s eyes were reflected the stars and moon he gave to Fang Zhaomu. Just like the first time he met Fang Zhaomu, he was as serious as then, as proud as then.

Song Yuanxun wanted to lead Fang Zhaomu into the restaurant, but Fang Zhaomu did not move.

“I don’t want to go back there.” Fang Zhaomu said.

Fang Zhaomu rarely did such wilful things, but he still gave his best friend a call, lying that he was feeling uncomfortable. He asked them to go ahead and have fun, that the KTV room was already reserved, and he would settle the bill.

For the passionate couple, the man-made Milky Way remained there for thirty minutes. When the lights of the buildings returned to their original state, Fang Zhaomu dragged Song Yuanxun upstairs to book a room.

It was not that there were no troubles. There were many, the storms and blizzards, and his parents.

However, with so much feelings, there was a persistent love that could not be abandoned, and a blindness that made him dared to follow him even in the dark. Being together with Song Yuanxun, Fang Zhaomu felt impetuous, and any consideration was only extraneous.

It was as if he had returned to his birthday a year ago.

Fang Zhaomu wore his lucky ear studs, loading the airline website and bought a return flight ticket to Seattle. He packed his luggage, taking off and landing, and when he opened his eyes, he saw the one he liked the most.

Table of Contents

1. Chapter 1

2. Chapter 2

3. Chapter 3

4. Chapter 4

5. Chapter 5

6. Chapter 6

7. Chapter 7

8. Chapter 8

9. Chapter 9

10. Chapter 10

11. Chapter 11

12. Chapter 12

13. Chapter 13

14. Chapter 14

15. Chapter 15

16. Chapter 16

17. Chapter 17

18. Chapter 18

19. Chapter 19

20. Chapter 20

21. Chapter 21

22. Chapter 22

23. Chapter 23

24. Chapter 24

25. Chapter 25

26. Chapter 26

27. Chapter 27

28. Chapter 28

29. Chapter 29

30. Chapter 30

31. Chapter 31

32. Chapter 32

33. Chapter 33