The night wind blew into the collar, and the whole person was being blown by the wind. The streetlights’ glow refracted into Yu Xun’s eyes.
After intense running, his heart, still unsettled, beat much faster than usual.
The street was empty.
Silence hung between Yun Ci and Yu Xun.
For a moment, he couldn’t find any words to respond to Yu Xun.
After a while, Yu Xun said again, “Pretend I didn’t say anything.”
“It was too impatient of me,” he said, “I wanted you to like me quickly.”
“……”
“When I secretly liked you before, it was enough to just secretly like you. But it seems like ever since I started pursuing you, I’ve had expectations. I expected you to like me too.”
Yun Ci couldn’t make any promises, and saying anything at such a time wouldn’t be appropriate.
Yu Xun was well aware of this. He quickly changed the subject, pulling a lighter and a thin candle, the kind used on birthday cakes, out of the pocket of his jacket: “I forgot to give you this this afternoon.”
He pressed down on the lighter, and a flame shot up: “Make a wish.”
Yu Xun stood in front of him with his hand outstretched and his fingers slightly curled. In the night, the light from the lighter was very bright. A breeze unintentionally brushed by, and the candle flame flickered like a star.
Yun Ci had never made a wish under such circumstances, in such a place, or in this way.
Before the candle was blown out by the wind, he made a wish in his heart.
It was almost time for dorm curfew, so the two of them returned to the dormitory.
On the way, Yu Xun casually asked him, “What wish did you make?”
Yun Ci also casually replied, “For someone surnamed Yu to switch dorms.”
It was a joke, though there was a bit of sincerity in it.
But the person surnamed Yu had no self-awareness whatsoever. He “oh”-ed and found a very absurd angle himself: “Your birthday wish included me.”
“……”
Yun Ci closed his mouth, planning to be mute for the rest of the way, not saying another word.
Not long after they returned to the dorm, the entire dorm building’s lights went out.
A wail came from room 608, and Liu Sheng demanded, “Explain why you two didn’t come to my performance?”
Yun Ci, fumbling in the dark, was silent for a moment before saying, “My nephew was still sick, so I went to check on him.”
Yu Xun: “Liu Zi’s illness isn’t better either.”
“……”
Liu Sheng continued to question: “Have they been sick for that long?”
Yun Ci: “Mm.”
Yu Xun: “The flu, it comes and goes.”
Liu Sheng: “Well, speaking of which, it’s strange. Today, someone from my department told me that a very handsome idiot used their equipment. The person didn’t catch up; it seemed like there were two, running really fast. Fortunately, there was no problem with the equipment, and it seemed like the person just borrowed it to sing a song.” Liu Sheng complained, “I have no idea who it was.”
Just listening to this, the embarrassment Yun Ci felt earlier on the playground came back.
The very handsome idiot had a very good psychological quality and proactively asked Liu Sheng: “What about your equipment?”
Liu Sheng: “I only have a guitar; I can’t afford their kind of equipment; it’s very expensive.”
……
It was hard to say whether this birthday tonight was more bizarre than the broadcast Li Yan did for him back at West High.
Before bed, Yun Ci realized Yan Yue had left him a message.
The content was basically about hoping he’s well and some old advice, ending with: “Your mom also hopes you cherish your time and study hard…”
Yun Ci stared at a certain word in that sentence for a long time, then put down his phone.
But surprisingly, he didn’t have insomnia this night and slept very well.
Before sleeping, he felt that the wind from running in the evening still hadn’t died down, seemingly still blowing around him.
*
The next day.
Yu Xun got up very early, grabbed his hair, and rushed to the store.
Liu Zi had already arrived at the store. Today, a lot of decorations were to be put up for the store’s anniversary event, and he had gathered a bunch of people from the group to help.
Several young men clustered together, clumsily handling a box of colorful ribbons and fairy lights: “How do you hang this? It’s beyond us, Liu-ge; we really can’t do it.”
Liu Zi distributed the box of things to them: “In the world, having more skills never hurts.”
Liu Zi, half bluffing: “Once you learn this, won’t it add points for you when decorating for various holidays to woo someone in the future? Stop whining and get on with it, I have a class in the morning.”
His Yu-ge, who was initially lying behind the cash register, stood up after hearing something, wandered over to them, and squatted down with them, asking: “…How do you do this?”
Liu Zi: “You want to do it? Didn’t you say you were getting people to do it?”
Yu Xun: “Suddenly thought it might be fun.”
“……”
Alright.
The few of them squatted and fiddled for a while.
Their methods were crude, and the decorations were hung crookedly.
Before long, customers came into the store, and Yu Xun put down what he was holding and returned to the cash register.
After Yu Xun left, someone quietly brought up a topic: “Do you guys know what happened last night?”
It was clear he had been wanting to say this for a long time but couldn’t find the right moment with Yu Xun around: “Last night at the playground, Yu-ge sang a birthday song for someone in public. Everyone knows whose birthday it was yesterday, right—Yun Ci. Damn, what’s going on between them?”
Due to the birthday battle back at West High, the whole grade could recite both their birthdays by heart.
The others quietly echoed: “I know.”
“I didn’t dare say anything just now.”
“I heard about it too; it made quite a scene last night.”
“……”
In the end, everyone’s attention turned to Liu Zi, who hadn’t said a word: “Liu-ge, you should know what’s going on, right?”
Liu Zi, without much expression, said: “I know.”
Someone speculated: “—Have they made up?”
Liu Zi smacked the person on the head: “What do you know? Ever been to Haidilao?”
That person: “…………”
Liu Zi: “Do you understand what it’s like to have a birthday at Haidilao?”
That person: “Got it.”
“Yu-ge’s move,” after a moment, that person said again, “is high. After all, with so many people on the school playground, isn’t this more damaging than Haidilao?”
Liu Zi said this, glancing at Yu-ge. Just then, he saw his Yu-ge sending off a customer who had just come in, then raising his phone to take a photo.
yx: [/photo]
yx: [Decorating for the store anniversary.]
Yun Ci had just woken up and was washing up. After finishing, he saw the message from the black avatar.
He clicked on it.
It was another new selfie.
He couldn’t see the decorations; they were probably in the corner, not in the frame.
After repeatedly telling him not to send and seeing no results, Yun Ci unknowingly started to get used to this kind of “report.”
He lowered his head, holding his phone, and had just opened the bathroom door when someone knocked on the dorm room door. Then Li Yan pushed the door open and poked his head in, the first thing he said was: “—What’s going on with you and Yu Xun?”
There was no one else in the dorm room, Luo Sifang was wearing gaming headphones, usually almost deaf to anything outside the game.
Li Yan, who had gotten used to him coming to their dorm, casually pulled a chair and sat down: “Why didn’t you call me last night?!”
Yun Ci knew Li Yan was talking about the playground thing last night. He hadn’t thought of how to explain it yet; after all, Yu Xun singing him a birthday song was hard to explain from any angle.
He (YC) can’t exactly say he’s (YX) pursuing him.
Li Yan’s voice wasn’t loud but was quite piercing: “I heard from Liu Zi’s people that it was a ‘Haidilao tactic; how dirty is that!”
Yun Ci: “…………”
Although he didn’t have to find an angle to explain it now.
But Li Yan and the others’ self-found angle made him very unwilling to acknowledge it.
Li Yan continued: “Uncle, you must have been really embarrassed last night!”
Yun Ci numbly: “Mm.”
Li Yan: “The kind of embarrassment where you want to bury yourself.”
“……” After a long while, Yun Ci said, “Yes.”
“Not just wanting to bury myself.”
He added, “I even thought about where to bury myself.”
Li Yan expressed deep understanding and sympathy: “Yu Xun is really malicious for doing that. On his birthday, we’ll figure something out to make him socially dead at Nanyang University.”
As Li Yan said this, he added, “But your ears are a bit red.”
Yun Ci usually looked a bit cold, and his skin was excessively fair, so any redness stood out distinctly.
Yun Ci’s lips stiffened, and he somewhat haughtily squeezed out a sentence: “Still feeling embarrassed, is that not allowed?”
Li Yan: “Allowed… honestly, this level of embarrassment could last until next year.”
Fortunately, Li Yan had to rush to class, so they didn’t chat much before he left, and the topic about the playground finally ended.
That day, aside from sending a notification message, Yu Xun didn’t show up much.
During class, he was catching up on sleep, and after class, he rushed to the store.
It wasn’t until evening that he appeared, half-drying his hair after a shower, pulling a chair to Yun Ci’s side to work on homework: “Done?”
“?”
“Let me copy.”
They used to compete over who got the most excellent grades on assignments.
Yun Ci: “Why should I let you copy?”
Yu Xun, holding a pen: “…Because I like you?”
“…”
How could this person just say “I like you” so easily?
Yun Ci, like a thief, glanced around the dormitory, making sure the other roommates weren’t there.
Before the semester started, he never imagined a day where he’d be sitting together with Yu Xun doing homework. To shut him up, he simply tossed the books and notebooks beside him over.
Yu Xun opened them and copied while reading.
He didn’t copy quickly but reviewed the questions himself, quickly solving them based on the answers.
Yun Ci wasn’t used to this proximity and was about to move his chair a bit when Yu Xun leaned closer, his palm pressing on the back of Yun Ci’s chair, making him unable to move: “This question seems to have a problem with the answer.”
Yun Ci: “If there’s a problem, ask the teacher.”
Surprisingly, Yu Xun didn’t continue to pester him. He released his grip, took his phone, and opened his WeChat friend list.
Yun Ci was about to move his chair but then accidentally saw Yu Xun’s pinned contact.
He didn’t mean to look, but Yu Xun’s phone was blatantly in front of him, and the pinned profile picture was a blank white one—his.
“…”
The main issue wasn’t the profile picture; it was the note beside it that made him freeze.
[Future Boyfriend]
Future, boyfriend.
Yun Ci almost couldn’t recognize these two words.
Noticing his gaze, Yu Xun not only didn’t avoid it but even took the initiative to explain: “I just changed the note recently. It used to be ‘Xiao Ci.'”
Who cares when you changed it or what it was before.
Yun Ci stared at the word “boyfriend.”
Those words made him acutely aware of what Yu Xun was expecting.
Before Yu Xun confessed, the word “like” was foreign to him. Another world had just opened up after entering university, and his life plan had never included romance.
Emotional matters aren’t like solving problems; there are no specific steps or fixed answers. He didn’t know how to define liking someone yet.
He hadn’t considered a different relationship with Yu Xun at all.
Therefore, he couldn’t even be sure what Yu Xun’s liking for him actually meant.
Young people’s affection was too reckless and intense, intense enough to be unbelievable and unapproachable.
Yun Ci opened his mouth, intending to clarify: “Is it because I used to always stare at you?”
“What?”
“At West High, I was too close to you as an enemy, competing with you in everything and often appearing in front of you.”
Yun Ci spoke with a slightly cold tone, trying to make Yu Xun clear-headed and put them back on track: “That’s why you think you like me.”
This time, it was Yu Xun’s turn to be silent.
Yun Ci didn’t avoid Yu Xun’s gaze; their eyes met.
The dormitory was very quiet.
Yun Ci continued, “Maybe we should keep some distance. After a while, you’ll realize…”
“Realize what?”
Yu Xun, still damp from his shower, interrupted, “Realize that I don’t like you anymore, that my previous liking was just an illusion.”
“…”
Yu Xun didn’t avoid his gaze either, staring directly into Yun Ci’s eyes. After a while, holding his pen, he said, “My liking for you is not a spur-of-the-moment thing.”
“It’s not an illusion.”
“It’s not, as you said, a feeling born out of being too close and constantly appearing around me.”
“Or do you think,” Yu Xun put down the pen, one hand supporting the table, half-rising and pressing closer with a strong sense of oppression, making their relationship and his feelings for him more explicit and straightforward, “—someone would have the urge to kiss another person because of an illusion?”
Kissing.
Kiss.
Damn.
Yun Ci felt like his brain was about to explode.
At that moment, Luo Sifang and the others came back from class, chatting and laughing as they pushed the door open: “I told you, the teacher in their class usually is—” Their laughter stopped halfway, “What are you two doing?”
Yun Ci pushed Yu Xun away with too much force, causing his own chair to slide back with a screech.
“Discussing a problem,” Yu Xun sat back as if nothing had happened, “I was humbly seeking advice.”
___________
Author’s note:
Why provoke him!!!!!!
hahahaha this yu xun guy is just. too. shameless.