Ye Ran’s head was spinning.
Zhang Zichu lowered his head, scowling viciously as he cried, and when Ye Ran looked, he even glared at him.
It was the first time Ye Ran had made someone cry. Embarrassed and helpless, he whispered, “Don’t cry… I really don’t like you.”
Hearing that, Zhang Zichu gritted his teeth, glaring harder, tears flowing faster.
Ye Ran sensed something was off. A few seconds later, he opened his mouth: “I…”
“Stop. I’m eating out with friends. We’re almost done,” a voice suddenly came from the restroom entrance, impatient. A man holding a phone approached, frowning casually as he lifted his eyes. “I—”
His gaze froze when he saw a tattooed guy crying in the restroom. “Holy—”
The stranger shivered, his drunk face immediately sobering. He looked at Zhang Zichu, then at Ye Ran, hesitated a few seconds, hung up, carefully stuck to the wall, passed behind Zhang Zichu, and chose the stall farthest from them.
Then:
“Splash—” He pulled down his pants.
“Sorry, bro,” the man muttered, hurrying, glancing awkwardly at Zhang Zichu whose tears were gone. “Uh… my wife’s waiting at home, I’ll be quick, I’ll be quick.”
The restroom felt deserted.
After washing his hands, the man slipped out the door quickly. From the corridor, his voice echoed: “D*mn, wife, I didn’t mean to hang up… you wouldn’t believe I just ran into two p*rverts in the restroom…”
Ye Ran: “……”
Zhang Zichu: “……”
Zhang Zichu finally had no tears left. He washed his face at the sink. Amid the water splashing, Ye Ran paused, approached a stall, and just as his hand touched the waistband, Zhang Zichu seemed to notice from the side and glared sharply.
“You’re using this one too?!”
Ye Ran cursed himself for drinking so much sour plum juice today.
He silently stepped back. Zhang Zichu glared, then returned to washing his face two seconds later.
The faucet ran loudly. Zhang Zichu buried his face in his palms, the tattoo on his neck twisting with the movement. Ye Ran watched him for two seconds, then turned to leave.
Just as he reached the door, he heard Zhang Zichu’s muffled, slightly watery voice: “I’m sorry.”
No reply came from behind.
When he lifted his head again, Zhang Zichu stared at the empty mirror. Steam blurred the surface, his gaze distant, memories drifting back to a summer in high school.
The sun blazed overhead.
Cicadas chirped incessantly.
A younger Ye Ran had been annoyed endlessly by him following, until one rare afternoon after school, Ye Ran finally stopped him. The sunset lit his calm profile, even the tiny downy hairs visible.
All the boys in class knew Zhang Zichu liked Ye Ran and teased him.
His heart raced, pretending to wait naturally for Ye Ran to speak. But Ye Ran remained calm, soft, and said: “Zhang Zichu, I really don’t like you.”
The memory faded back to the present.
Amid the sound of flowing water, Zhang Zichu stood still for a few seconds, then twisted a bitter smile.
See? You even forgot that you rejected me before.
This crush, lingering from high school until now, had finally, truly come to an end.
Ye Ran walked out of the bathroom. Outside the door, someone was waiting for him.
Shen Shi was leaning lazily against the wall, head lowered, his gaze on the phone in his hand. He was tall and slender, wearing a loose black sweater. Under the light, he carried an air of calm boredom. Only when he saw Ye Ran come out did he put away his phone and say, “Ready to go?”
He didn’t ask anything. Ye Ran’s steps quickened unconsciously, and the strange gloom in his heart instantly disappeared. “Mm!”
He took Shen Shi’s outstretched hand. “Let’s go to the second floor later.”
“Mm?” Shen Shi looked at him. “For what?”
Ye Ran replied, “To use the washroom.”
A man hurrying toward the men’s restroom froze in his tracks, glancing at the wide-open door and then recalling Ye Ran’s words.
That restroom… must be haunted.
***
After the Christmas date, Ye Ran began a stretch of days spent eating, drinking, and having fun with Shen Shi.
In the mornings, he and An Yu would sleep in at home. Both of them were equally lazy in winter, sleeping past ten, eating a casual breakfast, then sprawling on the sofa to watch TV or scroll their phones.
At noon, Shen Shi would drive over to pick him up, obviously to take him out for lunch and a little date.
In the evenings, around seven or eight, under An Yu’s relentless calls, Shen Shi would drive Ye Ran back home. Before leaving, they would exchange a few kisses, strictly following the “two rules” Ye Ran had originally set.
One small kiss every two days, one big kiss every three days.
When An Yu first heard about these rules, he almost laughed himself to death. In the middle of the night, he even dragged Ye Ran into a deep discussion about the exact circumstances of that agreement.
“Wait, you actually told him that?” The bedroom was softly lit. The two of them, wearing black and white pajamas, lay curled on the bed, talking about it.
Ye Ran buried his face in the pillow, only his sleepy eyes visible. “Yeah.”
“Tell me more,” An Yu said eagerly.
Ye Ran had never held anything back from him. “He… Shen Shi seems to really like kissing me.”
An Yu: “Wow.”
Ye Ran: “And every time he kisses, he goes way too far.”
An Yu: “Oh-ho.”
Ye Ran: “The day before yesterday, we went on a date…”
That day was the first implementation of the “big kiss every three days.” They had gone to the amusement park in the north of the city.
It was crowded, and Ye Ran played a lot of rides excitedly. Around seven in the evening, he and Shen Shi got on the Ferris wheel. Before getting on, Shen Shi bought a small bag of candy.
The Ferris wheel took twenty minutes for one full round. During those twenty minutes, Ye Ran was kissed until his head was spinning, his limbs weak. In the end, he sat on Shen Shi’s lap, and Shen Shi coaxed him to hold a candy in his mouth and feed it to him.
There were seven individually wrapped candies in the bag. Shen Shi’s breath was hot, his voice low and hoarse, calm as he whispered beside Ye Ran’s ear, Next time, let’s get grape flavor.
An Yu: “…”
His chest felt blocked. “…Haha.”
D*mn. That candy was stuck in his throat now.
Ye Ran sighed, full of pent-up frustration that had nowhere to go. With An Yu egging him on, he couldn’t help continuing, “And the day before that…”
The day before that was the first “small kiss every two days.”
Ye Ran had forgotten to explain what exactly a “small kiss” meant. When he tried to clarify later, Shen Shi somehow heard the rumor that Zhang Zichu was once said to be Ye Ran’s boyfriend and kept a dark face for an entire day.
Ye Ran, feeling inexplicably guilty, ended up being pinned in the driver’s seat, Shen Shi’s lips on his earlobe, kissing and licking him for a long time. Afterward, Shen Shi personally drove him home.
Finally, the two reached an agreement, small kisses don’t involve tongue.
An Yu: “…”
His smile faded. “…Good night. I’m going to sleep.”
Thanks.
Single people really shouldn’t have to hear this kind of thing at night.
Ye Ran blinked at him in confusion. “What’s wrong?”
An Yu closed his eyes tightly, face serene. “Nothing.”
Ye Ran suddenly remembered something and poked his cheek. “Ah Yu, didn’t you say Senior Jiang goes to the same university as you in London? How are things between you two?”
“Don’t mention him,” An Yu sighed, opening his eyes with a pained expression. “He…”
Ye Ran had heard rumors about this Senior Jiang, apparently, he was something of a leader among Chinese students in the business school. Remembering his “straight man” persona, Ye Ran guessed, “He has a girlfriend?”
An Yu’s eyes filled with tears. “D*mn it… he’s bald.”
Ye Ran: “…”
B–bald?
Ah. That’s… serious.
Ye Ran froze for a moment, wanting to comfort him, but realized that the fall of a once-great male god couldn’t be eased by a few words of comfort.
“It’s okay, the water in London is really hard… maybe it’s just, you know, the environment. It’ll get better when he’s back home.”
An Yu turned away, clenching his fist in anguish. “Yeah!”
Ye Ran looked at his back, then leaned closer after a few seconds, whispering, “Why don’t you bring a few bottles of anti-hair-loss shampoo with you?”
An Yu: “…”
He turned his head wordlessly. Under the lamplight, Ye Ran’s hair was thick and black, shiny and soft, slightly long at the ends, brushing the pale nape of his neck, glimmering under the warm light.
“…No need,” An Yu said stubbornly. “Don’t worry. I’ll never end up like him.”
Knowing he couldn’t talk him out of it, Ye Ran nodded. “Alright then.”
But An Yu tossed and turned in bed, mind in chaos.
Yes.
London’s water might be hard, but not as hard as his mouth.
***
The next day, Ye Ran was once again picked up by Shen Shi at noon and didn’t return until evening.
The two of them had gone to see another movie, a Hollywood blockbuster this time. The visuals were impressive, but the plot was the usual cliché of foreigners saving the world.
Ye Ran enjoyed it quite a bit, though there was one thing he didn’t quite understand.
“How did the aliens get driven off in the end?”
Sitting in the car, he asked Shen Shi, “Was that missile really that powerful?”
“It wasn’t the missile,” Shen Shi said. “Humans developed a serum. The aliens weakened humanity with a virus. Humans first made deterrent missiles, then developed the serum, breaking the aliens’ plan step by step.”
Ye Ran still looked a little puzzled. He blinked and said, “Oh, I see.”
It was snowing lightly outside, the sky dim and gray.
The snowflakes, soft as willow catkins, soon piled into thick drifts, swirling and dancing in the cold wind.
As the two chatted, Ye Ran suddenly startled. “Was that static just now?”
He was wearing a down jacket today, the hood fluffy with fur. Shen Shi had just leaned in to kiss his cheek and right after, there was that familiar sting, sharp as an electric jolt.
Shen Shi nodded. “Yes.”
Ye Ran couldn’t help but laugh. “Do you know what that means?”
Shen Shi followed along, asking, “What does it mean?”
Ye Ran leaned toward the car door, putting some distance between them. “It means no more sticking close.”
As he said it, he shook his head, even trying to pull his hand out of Shen Shi’s grasp. But Shen Shi calmly caught it again. In the dim car light, he lifted his eyes to look at him, the hint of a smile on his lips. Then he leaned in again to kiss Ye Ran’s cheek. “This time—”
He paused.
Ye Ran winced. “Static again?”
Shen Shi said evenly, “No.”
“It’s your imagination.”
Ye Ran almost laughed out of exasperation and yanked his hand back. “No more sticking close!”
“Let’s try again,” Shen Shi said without blinking.
“No,” Ye Ran said. “My face hurts.”
“I didn’t feel anything,” Shen Shi replied.
“Huh?” Ye Ran looked at him suspiciously. “How’s that possible? Shouldn’t it hurt more for you?”
“Why don’t you try?” Shen Shi said.
Ye Ran thought about it. “Okay.”
No way he could feel it but Shen Shi couldn’t.
He leaned over and gave Shen Shi a light peck on the cheek. Shen Shi’s eyes glinted with amusement, tilting his head to meet him halfway.
Zap!
Ye Ran: “…!”
His lips went numb; he hissed, jerking back like a startled cat.
“There was static!”
Even Shen Shi hadn’t expected it to happen three times in a row. Meeting Ye Ran’s wide, shocked eyes, he sighed. “Where did it hit you? Let me see.”
Ye Ran pressed his lips together, feeling the faint, prickling numbness.
The static wasn’t strong, just a quick jolt, but Shen Shi still smiled and kissed his lips, gently brushing the two soft, reddened beads of his mouth.
Ye Ran squinted his eyes, liking this kind of gentle kiss, one without any trace of desire.
They kept talking, and after a while, even their fingertips began to spark with static.
Ye Ran was startled again, and for the first time seriously wondered if they really shouldn’t get too close. Shen Shi, unruffled, told him it was all in his head.
Half-convinced, Ye Ran tried to pull his hand back, but Shen Shi clasped it tightly once more.
In the dim car, Shen Shi’s eyes were dark, his expression calm. Ye Ran was just starting to believe him when—
Zzzap!
“…You lied to me?”
“No.”
“It was static!”
“No.”
“But I just got zapped again!”
“Still your imagination.”
Ye Ran almost burst out laughing. “…Hey! Shen Shi!”
…
Upstairs in the villa.
An Yu, freshly healed from the wounds of singlehood, carried a cup of hot coffee, ready to take a selfie in the falling snow for his Moments post.
Last night, he’d been truly wounded by Ye Ran and Shen Shi’s “sweet memories.”
He actually started wanting to fall in love again, something he hadn’t felt in ages.
So this afternoon, while Ye Ran was out, he stood outside for ten minutes without a coat.
…He’d really been living too comfortably to be fantasizing about love again.
Sure enough.
Love was best enjoyed by watching other people’s.
An Yu chuckled to himself and the next second, his gaze froze on the Mercedes across from the villa, swaying slightly in the shadows.
Snow had already gathered on the hood, a thin, soft layer.
With each subtle movement, the snow slid off in little flurries.
An Yu: “?”
An Yu: “???”
Are you serious?
Wait— Shen Shi!
What the h*ll are you doing to my baby???
