Chapter 12

The afternoon study session for the elite class was so quiet that only the hum of the air conditioner could be heard. Wu Ye was working on a final physics problem when his refill suddenly broke. Lin Wei, a girl in the front row, turned around with a smile as sweet as honey.

"Wu Ye, I heard your brother is very handsome?" She pushed a note over. "Can you tell me on WeChat?"

The note paper was pink and smelled of perfume. Wu Ye's pen tip rested on the draft paper, leaving a small dot of ink.

"He doesn't have WeChat." "You're kidding!" Lin Wei blinked. "I saw him pay with his phone the other day."

Chen Hao, a boy in the back row, came over, revealing a valuable watch on the cuff of his school uniform: "That's right, you won't die if you push him." He deliberately knocked over Wu Ye's pencil case, and the stationery scattered all over the floor.

Wu Ye squatted down to pick it up, and suddenly the back of his neck was pressed against the ice cola. Chen Hao smiled and twisted the bottle cap, and the carbonated drink splashed on the back of his school uniform.

"Oh, sorry!" He said it without any apology.

After school, several people blocked Wu Ye in the carport. The setting sun stretched their shadows very long, like an open spider web.

"I'll ask you one last time." Chen Hao pressed the basketball against his chest, "Will you give it to me?" Wu Ye silently picked up his bicycle, with sticky chewing gum on the handlebars.

Lin Wei suddenly chuckled. "I heard you guys live in a village in the city?" She flipped through her phone's photo album. "Was your brother moving goods at the wholesale market yesterday?"

In the photo, Lee Seo-yeon is carrying a box of drinks, his sweat-soaked T-shirt sticking to his back. The lens distortion makes him look particularly disheveled.

Wu Ye's pupils suddenly shrank.

"It's okay if you don't give me WeChat." Chen Hao hooked his arm around his neck, his strength intimate but threatening. "Bring two hundred yuan tomorrow as hush money."

The bicycle chain suddenly fell off, hitting the ground with a crisp sound. Wu Ye bent down to pick it up, and his finger was scratched by the gears, leaving a bleeding wound.

"Speak?" Someone kicked his shin. "Are you mute?"

The lights in the teaching building came on one by one. Wu Ye saw the figure of his homeroom teacher flash by the window on the third floor, and the hands that were pinching his arms immediately loosened.

"See you tomorrow." Chen Hao patted his cheek with a sunny smile.

When he was alone in the carport, Wu Ye slowly straightened up. Blood dripped from his fingertips, spreading dark spots on the cement floor. He took out a tissue to wipe the gum off the car seat, but it only grew stickier.

In the distance, Guangwei's school bell rang, long and drawn-out, like some kind of elegy. Wu Ye pushed his broken bicycle out of the school gate, the Coke stain on the back of his uniform already dried and hardened.

Neon lights lit up one after another, illuminating his silent profile. When he passed by a boutique, he stared at the men's perfume in the window for a long time, something Li Ruiyuan would never use.

When he got downstairs to his house, he stood in front of the trash can and hesitated for a moment, and finally stuffed the torn school uniform jacket into the bottom.

The aroma of instant noodles wafted through the corridor. Wu Ye stood at the door for a long time, until a submissive expression returned to his face, and then he pushed the door open and went in.

"Why are you so late?" Li Ruiyuan slumped over on the sofa, playing games, not even turning his head. "The teacher is staying after class," Wu Ye replied softly, his shadow perfectly covering the wound on his hand.

“There’s noodles over there, cook it yourself.”

…………

On Saturday afternoon, Lee Seo-yeon was shirtless playing a game when the doorbell woke him. As soon as the word "Victory" popped up on the screen, he impatiently kicked away the bag of snacks at his feet.

"Who is it?" A clear voice came from outside the door: "Hello uncle, we are Wu Ye's classmates!"

Opening the door, three men and women in school uniforms stood in the glaring sunlight. The leader, Chen Hao, smiled brightly, but his eyes inconspicuously swept over the scar on his abdominal muscles.

"Is Wu Ye home? Let's discuss the math problems." Lin Wei poked her head out from behind, her cheeks flushed: "Excuse me~"

Li Ruiyuan was stunned for two seconds, then suddenly grinned. "This guy is quite popular!" He casually grabbed a pair of beach shorts and put them on. "Come in, I just bought some watermelon."

The old living room was suddenly filled with a youthful atmosphere. Chen Hao looked at the yellowed wallpaper, while Lin Wei looked curiously at the statue of Guan Yu in the shrine.

"Wu Ye! Your classmates are here!" Li Ruiyuan shouted towards the bathroom and took out half a chilled watermelon from the refrigerator.

Wu Ye came out wiping his hair, the towel nearly dropped to the floor, water dripping down his stiff back.

"What are you standing there for?" Li Ruiyuan stuffed the watermelon into his hands and said, "Go cut it up for your classmates to eat."

The sound of cutting melons could be heard in the kitchen. Lin Wei approached Li Ruiyuan and asked, "Brother, what do you do for a living?"

"Bricklayer." He smiled and opened a can of beer, his abdominal muscles tensed with the movement.

Chen Hao suddenly pointed at the photo on the TV cabinet: "Is this Wu Ye when he was a child? So cute!"

"This is me," Li Ruiyuan took a sip of beer, "I was like a bean sprout when I was a child." In the photo, six-year-old Li Ruiyuan was wearing old clothes that were obviously ill-fitting, standing under a lychee tree with a pursed smile.

When Wu Ye came out with the watermelon, his nails dug into the edge of the fruit bowl. Li Ruiyuan naturally put his arm around his shoulders and said, "Why are you standing there like an idiot? Go get a chair for your classmates."

Sunlight filtered through the security net, slicing the young men's figures into pieces. Lin Wei's lipstick stained the flesh of her watermelon as she bit into it, while Chen Hao "accidentally" knocked over a medicine bottle on the table.

"Huh? This is..." He picked up the medicine bottle.

"It's mine." Li Ruiyuan grabbed it and threw it back into the drawer. "Take this to help you sleep if you have insomnia."

Wu Ye suddenly stood up: "It's time to go to the library."

"What's the hurry?" Li Ruiyuan opened another can of beer. "I came here specially to play with you."

Finally, the roar of a motorcycle downstairs saved the day. Li Ruiyuan peeked out from the balcony: "Fuck, I forgot to turn off the lights!" He grabbed a T-shirt, put it on, and rushed out: "You guys go have fun first!"

The moment the door closed, the air in the living room suddenly froze. Chen Hao spat watermelon seeds on the ground. "Your brother is pretty wild, isn't he?" Lin Wei smiled and wiped her hands with a tissue. "Much more handsome than in the photos."

Wu Ye silently picked up the peels, his fingers stained with sticky juice. "Next week's competition spot." Chen Hao suddenly lowered his voice. "You know what to do."

When the security door opened again, Wu Ye was left alone in the living room, wiping the table. Beer cans piled in the trash can like a small grave.

"Where are your classmates?"

"Let's go back." Li Ruiyuan slumped back on the sofa: "Top students are busy." He suddenly laughed and hit Wu Ye, "You should learn more from these people."

The pungent smell of the neighbor's fried chili drifted in from the window. Wu Ye lowered his head to wipe a nail scratch on the table, his broken face reflected in the water mark.

At dusk, Li Ruiyuan was humming a song while cooking instant noodles when Wu Ye suddenly hugged him from behind, resting his forehead on his bare back.

"What are you doing? Are you acting like a spoiled brat?" The boy's voice was muffled by the fabric: "Brother Yuan."

"Um?"

"Don't smile like that at other people."

Steam from instant noodles filled the small kitchen. Wu Ye's arms were still wrapped around Li Ruiyuan's waist, his forehead pressed tightly against his bare back, like a young animal seeking shelter.

"What's wrong with you?" Li Ruiyuan stirred the dough in the pan, but didn't push him away. Wu Ye said nothing, but tightened his grip. His nose brushed against the scar on his lower back, bringing a warm, moist feeling.

The kitchen light flickered, and the old clock on the wall ticked. The moment Lee Seo-yeon turned off the stove, the boy suddenly grabbed the elastic band of his pants with his teeth.

"Damn, are you a dog?" Li Ruiyuan rubbed his hair with his backhand, "Let go!" Wu Ye bit even tighter, and a vague whimper came from his throat.

The noodle soup in the pot gradually stopped boiling. Li Ruiyuan suddenly laughed out loud, scooped up a spoonful of soup and blew it to cool it down: "Starving, huh?" He handed the spoon behind him, and Wu Ye drank the soup from his hand, his eyelashes brushing against the inside of his wrist.

"It's hot..." the boy complained softly, his lips reddened from the heat. Li Ruiyuan blew on the spoon again: "Then just bear with it."

The two of them ended up squeezing together at the coffee table to eat noodles. Wu Ye insisted on squeezing onto the same sofa armrest as him, knee to knee.

"Sit tight," Li Ruiyuan kicked him, "the bowl is about to fall over."

Wu Ye leaned closer, his nose almost touching his face: "Brother."

A boring commercial was playing on the TV, and light and shadow flickered on the boy's face. Li Ruiyuan suddenly pinched his cheek: "Why are you so clingy today?" Wu Ye let him pinch him, looking at him with moist eyes.

The roar of a motorcycle echoed outside the window, making the glass buzz. Wu Ye suddenly leaned in and pressed his forehead against his. "Fever?" Li Ruiyuan used the back of his hand to check his temperature. The boy just shook his head, the end of his hair brushing against his chin.

As they washed dishes, Wu Ye hugged his waist from behind, his chin resting on his shoulder. Foam splashed onto the edge of the sink like tiny snowflakes. "Don't go too far..." Li Ruiyuan threatened, but left him hanging.

At night, Wu Ye insisted on sharing a pillow with him. His breath on his neck tickled him, making him unable to sleep. "You're fucking sick! Go back to your own side." In the darkness, the boy quietly grasped his index finger: "Your hands are cold."

The air conditioner hummed, sending a musty breeze. Li Ruiyuan suddenly turned over and faced him: "Did you feel wronged today?" Wu Ye was silent for a moment and shook his head gently.

Moonlight leaked in through the gap in the curtains, illuminating the boy's slightly red eyes. Li Ruiyuan's rough thumb brushed his eyelashes: "Then go to sleep." His tone was indulgent, even though he himself was not aware of it.