(4/4)
Under the influence of alcohol, Yun Ci was a bit slow to react.
Oh, yes.
Yes what?
…
Wait, yes?
He has someone he likes?
Yun Ci was taken aback.
Clearly, in three years of high school, no one ever appeared around Yu Xun.
The others eagerly crowded around for gossip: “Who is it, how long has it been, what are they like, are they from the same school, at Nanyang University? Or from another school, why do you like them? How did the story start?”
“…”
The light shifted back, and looking again, Yu Xun had returned to his usual slightly smirking expression, a bit roguish as he said, “Why so many questions, I just lost once, save the other questions for next time.”
Luo Sifang: “Alright, next time it’s my turn, I’ll continue asking.”
As it turned out, Yu Xun had terrible luck that night.
Or maybe everyone was just too curious about these answers and ganged up on him. The bottle pointed to him countless times, no matter who spun it, they kept asking: “Who is it, tell us more. Bro, I’m itching to know.”
Yu Xun beckoned them with a finger: “Wanna know?”
“Actually, that person—”
Just as everyone pricked up their ears, Yu Xun changed tack, bending down to grab an unopened beer bottle, opening it casually against the table corner, and said: “I’ll drink.”
Luo Sifang: “…Damn, you can’t do that.”
Wang Zhuang: “Yeah, drinking makes it no fun. What’s so hard to share with us, maybe we can help you get the person.”
“Forget the second half of that,” Peng Yiyuan said, “Do you have any experience?”
Wang Zhuang: “I don’t, but I have confidence in Yu-ge’s face.”
Peng Yiyuan: “…”
The subject of all this talk said nothing.
Yu Xun quietly finished the entire bottle.
The bottle pointed at him several more times, but Yu Xun kept choosing to drink.
After a few rounds, several empty bottles piled up beside him.
Next round.
Peng Yiyuan spun the bottle, pointing to Yu Xun.
Yu Xun didn’t say a word, just reached for another drink.
Yun Ci, sitting next to him, though there was some distance between them, could clearly see the tips of Yu Xun’s ears turning red from the alcohol, his movements opening bottles becoming gradually slower.
He really had drunk quite a bit.
Is this person he likes really that unspeakable?
Yun Ci turned his head away, not looking at him, and called out, “Hey,”
“If you can’t drink anymore, admit defeat,” Yun Ci said coldly.
Yu Xun had just taken two sips: “I’m fine, I can handle a lot of alcohol.”
Yun Ci: “What’s one plus one?”
Yu Xun: “Three.”
“…”
Yun Ci: “You’re drunk.”
“No.”
“Drunk.”
“No.”
“Ask me another question,” Yu Xun said again.
Yun Ci: “?”
He didn’t come up with a new question. The drunk person designed his own question and answer: “For example, I know…”
This Q&A was very illogical, already revealing the fact that he was very drunk and not clear-headed.
Yun Ci waited to see what he could know.
What he got were six words.
“I know you’re Xiao Ci.”
“……”
Yun Ci pursed his lips, momentarily stunned by these nonsensical words.
“Damn,” he said, “how many times have I told you, don’t call me that.”
Drunk people always insist they aren’t drunk. Yun Ci no longer continued this meaningless confrontation.
He checked the time, it was about time for them to return to the dormitory. He didn’t want this group to drink too much; drinking is harmful to health after all. So he pressed down the half bottle of wine in Yu Xun’s hand: “It’s about time, the dorm supervisor is strict, let’s go back.”
Luo Sifang, also a bit drunk, nodded drunkenly and said, “Alright.”
But when Yun Ci went to the bathroom and came out, he found everyone else was gone. Only the drunk Yu Xun was left in the private room.
“Someone,” Yun Ci said, after locking eyes with Yu Xun for two seconds, he directly called Wang Zhuang, “come back and carry someone.”
Wang Zhuang, already far away: “I’m carrying Sifang—! Peng Shao is carrying Liu-ge. There is no one else.”
Yun Ci: “You carry him back, I’ll switch with you.”
Wang Zhuang: “…Bad signal, I’ll hang up first.”
His second call was to Li Yan.
Yun Ci: “Five minutes, come to the KTV, there’s something.”
Li Yan’s parents’ voices were audible in the background, he covered the receiver and said, “Can’t make it in fifty minutes, brother, I’m home, not at school.”
“……”
Yun Ci hung up, feeling isolated and helpless for the first time.
What he didn’t know was that a few minutes ago, the 608 dorm group chat was buzzing.
[608 Brothers Group (without Yun Ci and Yu Xun version)]
Luo Sifang: [I’ll just say a few words]
Luo Sifang: [After all, we’re in the same dorm]
Luo Sifang: [Everyone knows as the dorm leader, I bear great responsibility. The greater the responsibility, the more I should work for dorm harmony, so I should create more opportunities for them.]
Luo Sifang: [I hope they can turn hostility into friendship soon.]
Drunk Luo Sifang concluded: [Life! There’s no obstacle you can’t overcome!]
If Yun Ci were in the group, he would seriously reconsider appointing Luo Sifang as dorm leader.
Putting away his phone, Yun Ci had to face reality.
He stood at the door, gesturing with his chin towards Yu Xun: “You, stand up by yourself.”
Yu Xun didn’t move.
Yun Ci: “……”
To be fair, this person was quite well-behaved when drunk, quietly sitting in the private room, head down, almost ready to fall asleep. He just couldn’t understand human speech.
Forget it.
Yun Ci rolled up his sleeves, ready to carry him.
Yu Xun heard the commotion, lifted his head, and seeing it was Yun Ci, relaxed, lazily draping an arm over Yun Ci’s shoulder, barely standing up.
Yun Ci had no time to think about personal grudges. He silently recited: Carrying a roommate back to the dorm, out of necessity. This person won’t remember anything when he wakes up tomorrow.
The way back to school became very long.
Most of the streetlights outside the east gate of the school were off. The shops’ business hours highly coincided with the dormitory’s open hours. Without students, they naturally closed too.
Only the streetlights were still on.
Under the streetlights, two figures moved forward closely together.
Yun Ci resisted the urge to throw him by the roadside: “Walk faster.”
Yu Xun’s voice had a slight slur, his tone habitually raised: “Drank too much. Can’t walk fast.”
Yun Ci: “…You still know you drank too much.”
Yu Xun: “You said I drank too much, so I must have.”
Yun Ci coldly replied, “Oh”: “I say you’re an idiot.”
“……”
After a brief silence.
Yu Xun said: “I’m not.”
Surprisingly, he didn’t fall for it.
Just as Yun Ci was about to marvel at how this abnormal lunatic still seemed normal even when drunk, three or four students approached from the opposite direction. They were probably temporarily out to buy something, and Yu Xun’s arm on Yun Ci’s shoulder suddenly tightened.
And he leaned closer to Yun Ci, the distance between them shortening sharply. Then he proactively greeted those two: “Classmates—”
The boy’s voice, elongated by alcohol, echoed down the street.
As if showing off, he said: “I’m drunk.”
“Xiao Ci is taking me back to the dorm, we live in 608.”
Yun Ci: “……”
Would it still be time to dump this person now?
“We don’t live in 608,” Yun Ci, a bit numb, tried to salvage some dignity, “We’re from the school next door, visiting Nanyang University.”
“I suggest you leave quickly.”
He added, “This person is drunk, has many bad habits.”
The male students quickened their pace, not wanting to get entangled with the drunkard, afraid this person might suddenly go berserk.
“Being embarrassing is one thing,” Yun Ci said after they left, “but you also have to report the dorm number.”
Yu Xun seemed to misinterpret this somehow and repeated: “608.”
“……”
After walking half the way, Yun Ci couldn’t help but mock: “You can’t drink much, yet you drank so much.”
This time Yu Xun didn’t respond.
Maybe his earlier antics had exhausted the last bit of energy in the drunk.
By the time they reached the end of the road, nearing the east gate, the person on his shoulder used his last bit of strength to lift his head and said: “Can’t say.”
Yun Ci: “?”
He turned his head, meeting Yu Xun’s half-closed eyes.
Yu Xun repeated: “Because I can’t say.”
Yun Ci took a moment to realize that this sentence was an answer to his previous “why drink so much.” He can’t say, so he can only drink.
The light dimmed a bit, and after staring at each other for two seconds, Yun Ci suddenly looked away.
–
Downstairs at the boys’ dormitory.
The dorm supervisor grandpa, after his shift, placed a small wooden stool at the entrance, draped in a coat, sitting there catching students returning late. This grandpa was incredibly formidable, and no one in the entire dormitory building dared to mess with him.
Yun Ci timed it just right to help Yu Xun into the dormitory.
The grandpa raised his hand to stop them: “What’s going on? Why are you back so late?”
Yun Ci glanced at the clock, confirming the time was just about right: “…Late?”
Grandpa: “Three seconds late.”
“…” Grandpa said, “I am very meticulous, always precise to the second. So, tell me, what’s the reason for being three seconds late.”
Yun Ci: “…”
Grandpa looked at the person Yun Ci was carrying: “And this classmate, what’s wrong with him?”
Yun Ci paused and said: “We went out to watch a movie.”
“Horror movie,” Yun Ci continued, “he got scared and fainted.”
“……”
Dorm supervisor grandpa: “Nonsense! I can smell the alcohol. Did you drink?”
Yun Ci: “Really, no.”
Just as Yun Ci was about to make up a story that the person had too much liquor chocolate, a few other students returned late, and the grandpa, as if he had eyes on the back of his head, suddenly turned and shouted, “You think I didn’t see you?”
Yun Ci seized this gap, discreetly moving a few steps towards the staircase, then, while the grandpa was scolding the others, ran towards the stairs with Yu Xun.
“—You two, stop right there!”
The dorm supervisor couldn’t ignore the others, or he wouldn’t be able to manage either side properly, so Yun Ci successfully slipped upstairs.
Fortunately, the semi-conscious person hadn’t entirely lost the ability to move. Yun Ci, panting, dragged Yu Xun, hiding in the stairwell. As for what to do if they met the grandpa tomorrow, he’d worry about that then.
When Yun Ci finally dragged Yu Xun to the door of dorm 608, the door was tightly shut.
He knocked a few times but got no response.
Without a key, Yun Ci said with his last bit of patience, “Open the door.”
The dorm was silent. The other 608 roommates, having drunk, were probably all in a daze and didn’t hear the knocking. With lights out, he couldn’t shout too loudly in the hallway.
So Yun Ci put his hand down and said to the semi-conscious Yu Xun, “I’ll make a call.”
However, just as he took out his phone and entered Luo Sifang’s chat, he didn’t notice the battery icon showing less than 1% power. Before he could dial out, the phone automatically shut down.
“……”
He was having a really unlucky day.
Yun Ci held the phone, took a deep breath, and called out to Yu Xun, “Hey, still awake?”
“Got a phone?” he added, “Lend it to me.”
Yu Xun handed him the phone unconsciously.
Yun Ci: “Password.”
Yu Xun: “Your birthday.”
“…?”
“I said the password,” Yun Ci thought he was talking nonsense again, “the password for your phone.”
Yu Xun still said those three words: “Your birthday.”
Yun Ci was running out of patience: “Yu, if you can’t handle it next time, go sit at the kids’ table.”
Yu Xun didn’t care what he said, half-opened his eyes, leaning on Yun Ci for some support, then drunkenly reached for the phone in Yun Ci’s hand.
The hallway light went out. Almost simultaneously, the phone screen lit up.
Yu Xun raised his hand and entered six digits: 051120.
The next second.
The phone unlocked, entering the home screen.
At the same time, the dorm door opened.
Luo Sifang stood at the door, having heard the noise, groggily getting up to open it.
Rubbing his eyes, Luo Sifang said, “Sorry, drank too much, forgot you two weren’t back yet—”
The last word was not finished, something must have happened outside the door. Yun Ci, somewhat flustered, shoved Yu Xun towards him with a punch, catching him off guard, almost causing both of them to fall.
What’s going on? How did his attempt to create opportunities make their relationship worse?
Were they about to fight at the door?
Luo Sifang: “Um, I—you—”
“You,” Yun Ci walked in first, looking very irritated, his earlobes inexplicably a bit red, “take him inside.”
This Yu Xun guy has been pining hard for a loooong time – poor guy! >♡<