Ye Ran sat drowsily on the bed. On the desk sat the breakfast Shen Shi had bought for him; hot soy milk and buns.
He’d been awake when Shen Shi left that morning, lying weakly by the bedside to thank him. He still remembered a bit of last night: Shen Shi had carried him home after he got drunk.
Ah.
He stared off into space, his head aching and limbs weak.
Never drinking again.
There was one unread text message on his phone sent half an hour ago by Shen Shi, asking if he was awake.
Ye Ran replied: [Awake. Thanks for last night.]
Shen Shi didn’t reply. It was ten-thirty; he was probably in class.
Ye Ran got up to shower. The smell of alcohol on him had faded, but he still changed all the sheets and covers just to be safe. By the time he finished, twenty minutes had passed.
Too tired to blow-dry his hair, he sat in the chair sipping soy milk.
When Little Fatty came in, he was greeted by this lazy, sleepy scene; Ye Ran’s eyes rimmed slightly red from lack of sleep, damp hair clinging to his temples, his faint double eyelids drooping into single ones, long lashes trembling.
Ignoring Ye Ran’s groggy look, Little Fatty hurried over, clutching his phone. “Ye Ran, what were you doing with Shen Shi last night?”
Ye Ran’s drowsiness vanished. “…I wasn’t with Shen Shi last night… Oh, our class had a party at Swan Hotel. Shen Shi was there to celebrate Yu Ting’s birthday.”
“Then why did you two come back together?” Little Fatty pressed anxiously.
Ye Ran began to sense something off. “I got drunk. Shen Shi probably ran into me and brought me back.”
“You two didn’t do anything else?”
Ye Ran thought hard. He remembered nothing from being drunk, only that his head hurt, his stomach hurt, and he felt like throwing up.
“…I don’t remember.” He said hesitantly.
Little Fatty sighed, shoving his phone at him. “Look at this post — see if it jogs your memory.”
Ye Ran took the phone. On the campus forum’s blue homepage, a giant title jumped out at him:
[Discussion: What did the campus heartthrob do last night?]
[Original post]: As the title says, around 11:31 last night, I was in the first-floor lobby playing hide-and-seek with my roommate when suddenly a gust of cold wind swept over me. I felt chilled to the bone, turned around angrily to see who lacked basic decency — and there he was, our famous campus heartthrob, carrying a corpse on his back!
1F: OP, I suggest you report this to the “Shocking News Department.”
2F: I was there — can confirm OP’s not lying.
3F: Bullsh*t. The guy on his back was clearly a teammate from a brawl, okay? So brutal, carrying off a knocked-out dude!
Ye Ran frowned slightly, mumbling under his breath, “…He’s one-seventy-five.”
7F: Let me translate what OP meant: Around 11:30 last night, the campus heartthrob came back carrying his roommate, who was unconscious. People suspect they were in a fight.
8F: Thanks for the translation. Never thought I’d see the day Chinese needed to be translated into Chinese.
15F: I was there. As a certified microscope boy, I can confirm — the campus heartthrob’s neck was red. Could it have been scratched?
29F: The battle must’ve been intense. One fainted, one got injured… Brothers, the girls from the dance academy next door are already planning to check the surveillance footage. They’re determined to seek justice for our campus heartthrob.
40F: Am I the only one who thinks this doesn’t really look like a brawl…?
55F: Yeah. It was clearly a large-scale team combat project. Stop spouting nonsense.
…
…
Ye Ran skimmed through roughly, his expression gradually growing serious.
He racked his brain trying to recall last night. All he remembered was leaving the private room, walking down the street, then bumping into someone — and his phone falling to the ground.
Could it be… he got so irritable after drinking that he fought someone over dropping his phone?
Little Fatty said anxiously, “Shen Shi really didn’t seem right last night. After he came back, he barely said anything, took care of you, then showered and went straight to bed. You both smelled of alcohol — you don’t think you really fought someone, do you? How are you feeling?”
Ye Ran said, “I feel dizzy… and weak.”
“Exactly!” Little Fatty said. “Classic post-fight aftereffects. Usually takes a day or two before the pain really kicks in.”
Ye Ran still found it strange.
He knew himself well enough and he trusted that Shen Shi wouldn’t just fight someone for no reason. But the forum had pictures, “evidence,” and he couldn’t just sit there anymore. There were still ten minutes before Shen Shi’s class ended — he decided to go ask him directly.
He quickly tidied himself up and, under Little Fatty’s worried gaze, headed toward the Mingli Building.
By the time he got there, class had just ended. Ye Ran squeezed through the flow of people, climbing the narrow staircase to the third floor.
He refused to believe that he and Shen Shi had gotten into a fight. Once he clarified things with Shen Shi, he could go online and explain.
But as soon as he reached the third floor, he caught sight of two familiar figures in the distance.
One, wearing a black hoodie, tall and lean. The other, bundled in a thick cotton jacket, crouched on the ground, covering his head and cowering.
One was throwing punches.
The other was dodging.
Ye Ran’s faint smile froze on his lips. When he finally saw their faces clearly—
One was Shen Shi.
The other was Yu Ting.
Him: “…”
Him: “…………”
Faintly, he heard Yu Ting’s miserable cry: “D*mn it! Last night you and now today again!”
Ye Ran’s pupils constricted.
The hand braced against the wall trembled slightly.
Wait.
…Could it be that the person he and Shen Shi had “fought” last night— was Yu Ting?!
He froze in place, eyes unfocused, glancing around blankly— until he noticed Shen Shi’s black cotton jacket lying discarded in a corner, a gust of wind blowing it toward him. Instinctively, he bent down to pick it up.
***
Shen Shi straightened up expressionlessly, flicking his wrist. Yu Ting, clutching his head, sobbed: “I was wrong, bro! I shouldn’t have messed with you! I’ll turn over a new leaf, I swear!”
The coldness and irritation in Shen Shi’s eyes gradually faded. He had no interest in dealing with Yu Ting’s nonsense any longer. He glanced toward the corner only to realize his jacket was gone. When he turned back around, his casually wandering gaze suddenly froze.
At the stairwell stood Ye Ran, holding his jacket, staring at them in a daze.
He was bundled in thick clothes, a black scarf covering half his face. His skin looked even paler — almost translucent. His narrow phoenix eyes drooped wearily; his freshly washed hair was soft and slightly messy, revealing clear, gentle pupils beneath.
Standing quietly in that corner, he somehow gave off a quiet, hollow sense of heartbreak — as if no sorrow could be deeper than this.
Shen Shi’s Adam’s apple moved. He stiffly straightened his back. After a few seconds of silence, he composed himself and quickly walked over. “Why are you here?”
“Your jacket.” Ye Ran handed it to him. “I wanted to ask you something.”
Shen Shi put it on smoothly, the dark eyes beneath his fringe flicking over Ye Ran’s face, observing his expression. Seeing Ye Ran staring blankly at Yu Ting, he lowered his gaze slightly and said calmly, “Just fooling around.”
Ye Ran: “?”
Yu Ting, who’d been beaten to tears: “?”
Say that again, I dare you?!
Ye Ran blinked, taken aback for a few seconds. “Fooling around?”
“Yeah. How are you feeling?” Shen Shi asked.
“I’m fine.” Ye Ran looked at him. “After I got drunk yesterday… I didn’t do anything, right?”
Shen Shi’s fingers curled slightly in his pocket. He looked down briefly, his gaze sweeping over Ye Ran’s soft, faintly flushed lips. His eyes darkened, deep and unreadable, but his tone remained unchanged. “No. You just slept.”
Ye Ran hesitated. “I didn’t say anything either?”
Sensing the shift in his tone, Shen Shi immediately caught on. “What’s wrong? Did someone say something to you?”
“No, not really. It’s just— the whole forum’s talking about you carrying me back to the dorm last night…” Ye Ran rubbed his forehead, half exasperated, half amused. “They think we went out to fight.”
Shen Shi: “…”
He lowered his gaze, staring at Ye Ran. There was no trace of embarrassment or panic on Ye Ran’s face, only calm honesty as he stated the facts. After a few seconds, Shen Shi quietly looked away.
“I’ll take care of it,” he said.
He took out his phone and walked toward the stairwell to make a call, black hair falling over his eyes, shadowing the restless emotion flickering within them.
Ye Ran looked at Yu Ting, still crouched on the ground looking like his soul had left his body. He walked over and helped him up. “Are you okay?”
Yu Ting forced a pained grin. “I’m fine. Just fooling around.”
Shen Shi, you heartless b*stard!
You don’t even spare your brothers!
He groaned as Ye Ran helped him up — every inch of him aching.
“Why are you here?” he asked Ye Ran.
Ye Ran briefly told him about what happened on the forum. Yu Ting wanted to say something about that six-point summary, but in the end could only manage, “…”
Even more imaginative than himself.
“Don’t worry, Shen Shi has admin privileges on the forum. It’ll be easy to handle.”
Having resolved his long-standing question of whether Shen Shi was straight or not, Yu Ting felt revived. He stretched his arms, hissed at the soreness, and while cursing Shen Shi for being cold-hearted in his mind, said to Ye Ran, “Come on, let’s go eat at the cafeteria.”
Ye Ran nodded, then turned to glance back at Shen Shi.
Shen Shi was leaning by the window in the stairwell, on the phone. When their gazes met, he paused, said a few short words to the person on the other end, hung up, and walked over. “What’s up?”
“Wanna go to the cafeteria?” Ye Ran asked.
Shen Shi said, “Sure.”
Watching the two of them interact, Yu Ting couldn’t help but frown again. He pushed down the unease in his heart and was about to go downstairs when Shen Shi suddenly turned his head slightly, his gaze lifting to sweep over the quiet corridor.
“What is it?” Yu Ting turned back, but saw only empty classrooms.
“Nothing,” Shen Shi withdrew his gaze. “Thought I saw someone.”
……
……
The hallway gradually fell silent.
Liang Feng stood at the corner of the staircase, expressionless, his fingers clenched tightly into fists. Several minutes passed before he finally prepared to leave.
The next second, a mocking laugh suddenly sounded near his ear.
He immediately looked up.
On the stairs stood Lin Ziqian, lazily leaning against the railing, a cigarette pinched between his fingers. He was wearing heavy makeup again today; the four earrings on his ear cartilage gleamed under the light, and there were still faint red kiss marks on his neck—evidence enough of a rough night.
He lowered his eyes to look at Liang Feng, smiling faintly, not quite smiling. “Staring that long… aren’t you tired?”
Liang Feng’s face stiffened at once. Without a word, he turned to leave.
Lin Ziqian twirled his cigarette leisurely. “What’s wrong? Pretending you don’t know me after sleeping with me?”
“Shut up!” Liang Feng whipped around, as if struck in a sore spot, his chest heaving violently with anger. He all but gritted out the words: “If it weren’t for you—”
“For me what?” Lin Ziqian smiled. “If it weren’t for me booking the room? If it weren’t for me taking advantage of the situation? If it weren’t for me seducing you? Liang Feng, drunk men don’t get hard. You were the one pressing me down, not letting go. I didn’t force you.”
Liang Feng’s words caught in his throat. His mind flashed back to that night at the party then to the chaotic morning after. His face darkened as he turned to leave again.
This time, Lin Ziqian didn’t stop him.
The corridor fell silent once more.
The azure curtain was lifted by a cold wind.
Lin Ziqian gazed lazily at Liang Feng’s back, his face burning with anger. The amusement in his eyes slowly faded, cooling into something sharp and bitter.
The one who was on top of him… had called out another person’s name.
Liang Feng, oh Liang Feng…
Twisted, dark emotions churned uncontrollably inside him. Lin Ziqian’s fingers trembled slightly. A few seconds later, he straightened up, closed his eyes in restraint, and inhaled deeply from his cigarette.
His gaze was chaotic, edged, like that of a patient desperate for a cure. His lips moved, whispering Liang Feng’s name in a feverish murmur: “Liang Feng… how dare you…”
Ding.
His phone suddenly chimed.
Pulled out of his deranged state, Lin Ziqian closed his eyes for a moment, then expressionlessly took out his phone. The “Astronomy Club Family” group chat was already flooded with new messages.
[President Old Liu]: Dear members, I have some unfortunate news. Since the school overfunded us for the first half of the semester, the Astronomy Club’s treasury can’t hold all the money. So this week’s movie event has to be canceled.
[President Old Liu]: I’ve contacted the manager at Lianwu Mountain and rented a mountain villa. We’ll go stargazing this Friday—two days, one night. If everyone has fun, we can extend the stay.
[President Old Liu]: There’s really nothing I can do—the money is too much. I’m very distressed.
[President Old Liu]: Please list your names if you want to go. Type “1” in the chat if you’re in; if not, message me privately, and I’ll send you an equivalent snack package.
……
In almost an instant, the group filled up with a string of “1111.”
Lin Ziqian was about to close his phone indifferently when he caught sight of a name.
Ye Ran: 1
The dim shadows of the stairwell slid across his face. He could almost hear the flickering hiss of flames igniting inside his chest. The pain made him clench his fist tightly, his expression twisting.
Then, another message popped up.
[Liang Feng]: 1
His face went completely blank. After a few seconds, he pressed send.
[Lin Ziqian]: 1
Author’s Note:
The Astronomy Club event arc begins~
