Chen Yanbai's heart skipped a beat, and he subconsciously tried to identify it.
At that moment——
"boom--!!!"
A deafening explosion, as if to tear the whole world apart, came from above without any warning!
The violent blast of air, like an invisible giant fist, carried scorching heat, thick smoke, and countless deadly fragments as it crashed down from the dome! The glass screamed shrilly, instantly transforming into billions of razor-sharp crystals that rained down like a torrential rain!
Chen Yanbai felt an irresistible force hitting his chest, and he was thrown off the escalator like a kite with a broken string.
I fell heavily onto the cold, hard marble floor, and all I could hear in my ears was a sharp buzzing sound and a chaotic stream of cries and screams.
His consciousness blurred for a few seconds, and then he was seized by great fear.
He struggled to get up, ignoring the burning pain in his body and the messy glass shards on the ground, and stumbled like a madman against the flow of panicked people fleeing, heading towards the upper level where Lu Zhaoran disappeared.
Thick smoke billowed, and the pungent smell of burning and blood filled the nostrils.
He shouted Lu Zhaoran's name hoarsely, digging desperately with his hands in the hot rubble and twisted metal wreckage, and his fingertips were soon covered in blood.
Finally, under the ruins of collapsed billboards and broken counters, he saw the familiar color of the school uniform.
Lu Zhaoran's body was half buried, his face was covered with dust and blood, his glasses were missing, and his eyes were closed.
"Lu Zhaoran! Lu Zhaoran!" Chen Yanbai rushed over, his voice trembling. He frantically tried to pull him out of the rubble.
At this moment, there was a soft "ding" sound, and a small metal school badge covered in dust and dark red blood slipped from the chest of Lu Zhaoran's torn school uniform and fell into Shen Yanbai's bloody palm.
Chen Yanbai subconsciously clenched the cold metal badge and turned it over with trembling fingertips.
On the back, near the pin, two small letters are clearly engraved with a very fine carving knife: "SYB".
The huge impact made Chen Yanbai's whole body cold. He raised his head suddenly, looked at Lu Zhaoran's pale face, and said in a broken voice: "What did you want to say just now? Tell me!"
He stretched out his uncontrollably trembling hand and tried to feel Lu Zhaoran's pulse on the side of his neck.
At this moment, Lu Zhaoran's fingers, which were covered in blood and dust, suddenly used up the last bit of strength and grabbed Chen Yanbai's wrist!
The force was as weak as a candle in the wind, but it carried an unquestionable stubbornness.
Chen Yanbai was shocked all over and immediately leaned down, putting his ear close to Lu Zhaoran's blood-stained, slightly moving lips. His heart was beating wildly in his chest, almost exploding.
Lu Zhaoran's breath was as weak as a gossamer, and the broken breath sound came intermittently into Chen Yanbai's ears.
The thick, rusty smell of blood instantly filled Chen Yanbai's mouth and nose.
He tried hard to distinguish the sound that was so faint that it almost disappeared.
That final voice, as soft as a sigh from a distant shore, was imprinted with unparalleled clarity deep within Chen Yanbai's soul:
"I like you……"?
As the last syllable fell, the weak force that was holding Chen Yanbai's wrist disappeared completely like the receding tide.
Later, in the morgue filled with disinfectant and the smell of death, Chen Yanbai avoided everyone and secretly and almost reverently cut off the second button on Lu Zhaoran's bloodstained school uniform with trembling scissors.
It was an ordinary white plastic button with indelible black-brown marks on the edge. He held it tightly in his palm, causing it to hurt.
Later, when Chen Yanbai was doing his homework, he would unconsciously put the pen cap in his mouth, and he could taste the slightly astringent taste of plastic on the tip of his tongue.
It was not until deep teeth marks were bitten on the pen cap that he suddenly woke up, let go as if he was burned, and then looked at the teeth marks in silence for a long time.
Later, every April 18th, no matter where he was in the world, he would buy an identical birthday cake with cream decoration.
When he got home and turned off all the lights, he would carefully put seventeen thin colorful candles on the cake, not one more, not one less.
The faint light from the burning match illuminated his well-defined profile and the bottomless silence in his eyes.
Then, he would light them one by one, watching the seventeen tiny flames sway and dance in the darkness, the flickering light and shadow casting swaying, lonely shadows on the wall.
Once, he was caught by his brother Shen Yanxiu who came back to China for business.
Chen Yanxiu looked at the almost untouched cake on the table, then at his brother's profile, which looked particularly cold and silent in the candlelight. He frowned, his tone filled with confusion and a hint of subtle worry: "Why do you always leave a piece uneaten? It would be a shame if it went bad."
Chen Yanbai didn't answer immediately. He picked up the last candle and leaned closer to the flickering flame.
Orange-red flames danced in his dark pupils.
After a long time, so long that the flame almost burned out the candle wick, he finally spoke softly, his voice a little hoarse, as if it had passed through the dust of time:
"Because..." He paused, his eyes seemed to penetrate the candlelight and saw a non-existent phantom, "Because someone said..."
His voice was as soft as a whisper, with an almost gentle, ethereal quality, "The cream...save it for the birthday boy."
The flickering flame suddenly jumped, and in the swaying light and shadow, he seemed to see Lu Zhaoran standing in the candlelight of his seventeenth birthday again.
There were still a few strands of colorful sequins in her hair that hadn't been cleaned off, her eyes were sparkling, and there was a little white cream on the corner of her mouth. She was holding up a cake fork and said to him with a smile: "This is the sweetest one for you! The birthday boy's privilege, I want to keep the cream for myself!"
The smile was lively and bright, with the unguarded warmth that is unique to young people.
The candlelight flickered suddenly and the phantom disappeared.
All that was left before my eyes was the cold wall and the piece of cream cake on the table that was never touched and was slowly melting.
Chen Yanbai sat quietly in the darkness, with only seventeen faint flames reflecting the bottomless darkness in his eyes.
——————End of extra————————
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