residual heat

At 4:03 in the afternoon, the setting sun slanted through the diamond-shaped glass windows of the "Shiguang" bar. It was not the dazzling brightness of noon, but a warmth mixed with the dusk, like melted honey flowing down the window lattice, creating a half-spot of light golden light on the blue-gray floor tiles in front of the bar. There were tiny dust particles floating on the edge of the light spot, swaying gently with the wind rushing in through the door. When Xie Mo pushed open the glass door, his long hair swayed gently with the movement of the door, and the ends of his hair brushed across his shoulders - he didn't tie his hair up like usual today, and his hair hung on both sides of his cheeks, mixed with the smell of paper and ink he just brought out from the library, which made Akai, who was walking towards him, startled: "Mr. Xie? It just so happened that Brother Zhou and his band were rehearsing on the second-floor terrace, and it was very noisy."

Xie Mo nodded, his steps lightening as he made his way towards the stairs. His long hair cascaded down his neck, gently brushing against his collar as the steps rose and fell. As he reached the corner of the second floor, the heavy beat of a drum set, wrapped in a guitar melody, crashed over him, mingled with Li Huaizhou's voice—lower than usual, with a slightly rough texture, and a slight tremor at the end. This was an old song he'd found in the old bookstore at the end of the alley last Saturday; the lyrics were printed on the back of the pages. At the time, Li Huaizhou was squatting on the ground, his finger poking at the word "pretentious" and smiling, his fangs showing a little: "What's this about? It's like a high school love poem." But listening to it now, that little bit of "pretentious" was wrapped in something else, a pause at the end that couldn't be suppressed, like a sentence stuck in his throat, not daring to utter it.

He paused in the shadows at the terrace entrance, his long hair half obscuring his face, and remained silent. On the terrace, Shen Qitang's ponytail swung to the beat of the drums, the drumsticks clacking against the cymbals in a clear, mellow thud. Ji Jiancheng, clutching his electric guitar, bent his head to tune it, his fingertips gliding across the strings with swift movements. Li Huaizhou stood in the middle, his fingers whitening from gripping the old microphone. His school uniform jacket draped over a chair, the collar of his black T-shirt swaying in the wind, his profile glaring in the setting sun.

"Let's play the last part together!" Ji Jiancheng looked up and shouted, playing the prelude with a little improvisation. Li Huaizhou closed his eyes, and when he spoke again, the relaxation in his voice returned. Xie Mo looked at his slightly raised chin.

When the song ended, Chen Qitang put down his drumsticks first. When he wiped his sweat, he caught a glimpse of Xie Mo at the door. He was stunned for a moment, then smiled and winked at him gently. Ji Jiancheng was still tuning the strings and didn't notice it. He just muttered, "The last sentence was too much. Brother Zhou, keep it steady next time." Li Huaizhou said "hmm" and turned around to take the coat on the back of the chair. As soon as he turned around, he bumped into Xie Mo's sight. The moment their eyes met, the tip of his ear turned red, as if burned by the setting sun. The hand holding the microphone loosened, and then subconsciously clenched it, and his knuckles turned white. He tugged at the hem of his T-shirt awkwardly, and the fabric was pulled out of a fold. His voice was lower than usual: "Why did you come early? Didn't you say that the class would end at five o'clock?"

"get out of class is over early." Xie Mo walked over, her long hair swaying gently with her steps. As she handed over the notebook, her fingertips accidentally brushed against the back of Li Huaizhou's hand. "How long have you been practicing?"

"Half an hour." Shen Qitang came over and patted Xie Mo's arm, his tone natural, "Xie Mo, you came at the right time. Do you want to listen to us rehearse a new one later? Li Huaizhou has written a lyric, but the music hasn't been arranged yet." Xie Mo didn't respond, his eyes fell on Li Huaizhou, and his fingers quietly moved towards him - wanting to hold his hand, just like that day in the room. But Li Huaizhou shrank back as if burned, his eyes quickly swept over Ji Jiancheng and Shen Qitang, winking at him, with the corners of his mouth pressed down, clearly revealing the meaning of "don't". Xie Mo paused his hand that was stretched in the air, and slowly retracted it. The long hair hanging on the side of his body swayed gently, covering the slight sadness in his eyes.

Chen Qitang watched this scene and drank water silently. Ji Jiancheng was still talking to Li Huaizhou about the arrangement of guitar solo, but Li Huaizhou interrupted him with a little hurry, stretched out his hand and grabbed Xie Mo's wrist: "I'm going to the bathroom and will be back soon." Without waiting for the two to react, he turned around and left. Xie Mo followed him consciously. Ji Jiancheng didn't care and lowered his head to concentrate on tuning his guitar.

The tiled walls inside were stained with water, and the space was so small that turning around would almost touch each other. The moment the door closed, Li Huaizhou let go of his hand, leaned against the door, and looked down at the tip of his shoes. His voice was muffled: "I didn't mean to avoid you just now." Xie Mo stood in front of him, her long hair hanging down, almost touching Li Huaizhou's shoulders. She didn't say anything, just looked at him quietly. The bathroom was so quiet that you could hear the sound of instruments being tuned outside. Li Huaizhou looked up, a little panic in his eyes: "I just don't want them to know... Ji Jiancheng is a bit of a chatterbox, but I still think... it's strange for two boys to be together..."

Before he could finish the rest of his words, he saw the disappointment in Xie Mo's eyes, as if something was tugging at him. He reached out and grabbed the corner of Xie Mo's clothes, his fingertips clenched until they turned white: "It's not that you're weird, nor that I don't like you, it's just... can you wait a little longer?" After saying that, he stood on tiptoe and quickly moved towards Xie Mo's cheek - Xie Mo just happened to bend down, and her long hair brushed against Li Huaizhou's cheek first, soft and with a hint of shampoo, and then there was the touch of lips gently touching skin, light and fast, as if afraid of being caught.

Xie Mo's body stiffened for a moment, and he raised his hand hanging at his side, gently rubbing Li Huaizhou's cheek with his fingertips. The depression in his voice disappeared, leaving only indulgence: "Okay, tell me when you want to." Li Huaizhou's ears turned even redder, and he turned his head and whispered "Hurry up and get out." When he pulled Xie Mo to open the door, he was still annoyed about his previous panic, but he did not let go of the hand holding the corner of Xie Mo's clothes.

On the terrace, Ji Jiancheng had already put his guitar into its case. Shen Qitang was squatting on the ground picking up his drumsticks. Seeing them coming, he winked at Li Huaizhou and said without asking any more questions: "Let's go first. We'll practice after school tomorrow." Ji Jiancheng said "Oh" and walked to the door and looked back at Xie Mo. He frowned, but still followed Shen Qitang downstairs. The terrace suddenly became quiet, with only the sunset and the evening breeze, and Xie Mo's long hair hanging on her shoulders, which was blown by the wind and gently brushed against Li Huaizhou's arm.

The terrace suddenly fell silent, leaving only the sunset and the evening breeze. The sun sank lower, dyeing the sky an orange-pink. It fell on the tips of Li Huaizhou's hair, like scattered gold. The evening breeze softened, no longer carrying the harshness of earlier waves. It gently blew across the hems of their clothes, and Xie Mo's school uniform shirt and Li Huaizhou's T-shirt touched lightly, leaving a slight cool touch. Li Huaizhou's shoulders trembled, but instead of dodging, he quietly leaned towards Xie Mo, bringing his elbow closer to him.

"Let's go to my room. He's not here today." Li Huaizhou took the lead and walked towards the stairs. His steps were lighter than before, and the soles of his shoes made a slight "tapping" sound on the steps. Xie Mo followed behind, watching his back. Thinking of the gentle kiss in the bathroom, his fingertips slowly warmed up, as if holding a small stone that had been exposed to the sun.

The desk lamp in the room was still a warm yellow. The outer layer of the bulb was slightly dusty, but it didn't affect the light, illuminating the table brightly. Li Huaizhou sat on the edge of the bed, pulled the table over, and when he opened the textbook, his fingertips paused on the cover. He didn't turn the page immediately. He looked up at Xie Mo, his eyes showing a little panic, but also a little expectation: "Can you explain the simple solution to the problem you talked about last time again? I still don't quite understand it."

Xie Mo walked over and sat next to him. When he bent down to pick up a pen, his shoulder gently rubbed Li Huaizhou's arm. He didn't care, and with the pen in his fingertips, he drew a force analysis line on the draft paper: "You used orthogonal decomposition last time, and the steps were too complicated. In fact, the holistic method is more time-saving. Think of the two objects as a system..." The sound of the pen tip sliding across the paper was very light, like a spring silkworm chewing mulberry leaves. Occasionally, when it paused, the fingertips would rub off the pencil dust on the paper. Li Huaizhou stared at the draft paper, but his ears were quietly perked up. He could hear Xie Mo's breathing clearly - very steady, with a little rhythmic lightness, falling beside his ears, like the evening breeze blowing through the grass.

Halfway through his speech, Xie Mo looked up at him: "Do you understand?" Li Huaizhou said "Hmm?" When he took the pen, Xie Mo saw his clothes fluttering, and helplessly curled up his fingers and tapped his forehead. "What are you thinking about?" Li Huaizhou raised his hand to rub his forehead. The two of them were too close just now. Li Huaizhou couldn't help but stare at his profile for a long time. Xie Mo's voice was low when he was explaining the questions, and he always broke each question into several steps. He seemed to have endless patience, and was as gentle as the autumn evening breeze blowing across his cheek. Suddenly, he thought of something and Li Huaizhou smiled cynically, revealing two small canine teeth.

"Teacher Xie is so gentle to students and so handsome, it's hard to concentrate."

Xie Mo smiled when he heard that, with the corners of his lips slightly raised. Li Huaizhou thought about their first meeting for no reason. He felt that Xie Mo looked difficult to get along with. If he had known then that Xie Mo would be so gentle sitting next to him now, patiently explaining the questions to him, and still using the identity of... boyfriend, he would definitely think he was crazy. "Okay, try to write it yourself, I won't say it anymore."

After hearing this, Li Huaizhou quickly threw away the mess and lowered his head to try to calculate on the draft paper. When he got to the third step, he suddenly looked up with an inexplicable look of anticipation in his eyes: "Would you like to come to the next band performance? I'll save a front row seat for you."

Xie Mo was stunned for a moment, then turned his head to look at him. Li Huaizhou's eyes were as bright as falling stars, filled with a cautious expectation, afraid of being rejected. He curled his lips, his voice even softer than before: "Okay, I'll go." Li Huaizhou's lips immediately curled up, like a paper boat blown by the wind. As he lowered his head to continue working on the problem, the traces of the pen tip across the paper became much more stable. Even the steps that he had always gotten wrong before were now correct this time.

The sky outside the window gradually darkened. Downstairs, the bar could be heard opening doors and the noise of people coming to drink, but the room was very quiet. Xie Mo sat beside him, watching him work on his homework. His long hair hung down on the edge of the table, occasionally swaying in the wind and brushing against Li Huaizhou's arm. When Li Huaizhou finished a problem, Xie Mo would explain the solution to the next one. When her fingertips accidentally touched his hair, they both paused for a moment, then quickly returned to normal.

The light of the desk lamp enveloped the two of them, temporarily melting away the unspoken concerns and hidden anxieties in their hearts into the twilight. Li Huaizhou looked at the function graph on the draft paper, then glanced at Xie Mo, who was standing next to him with long hair, and suddenly felt that it didn't matter whether he waited for others to know or not. As long as it was like this, he was doing the problem and Xie Mo was by his side, it was fine.