Bonus Chapter 1: Storm and Safe Haven
In the autumn of Jiang Zhao's sophomore year, D City experienced a once-in-fifty-year torrential rain.
The downpour began at dusk without warning. Large raindrops pounded against the windows, quickly forming a white curtain of water. Jiang Zhao had just finished basketball practice and was trapped in the gymnasium. Looking at the apocalyptic scene outside the window, he felt a little scared, but he still tried to remain calm and joked with his teammates to reassure the younger students who were also trapped.
The phone signal was intermittent. He tried to text Lin Jun, typing for ages, but when he pressed send, it just kept spinning for ages before finally displaying a red exclamation mark. Frustrated, he scratched his head, a strange sense of panic creeping over him. Not because of the downpour, but because of the feeling of losing contact with Lin Jun. That's the worst thing about long-distance relationships.
Time passed slowly, and the rain showed no sign of letting up. The gymnasium went dark, plunging into darkness, with only occasional flashes of lightning bringing brief moments of light. The younger students began to stir restlessly. Jiang Zhao turned on his phone's flashlight and loudly organized everyone to move to the higher stands of the gymnasium.
"Brother Zhao, are we going to be trapped here and die?" a junior student asked, his voice trembling with tears.
"Bullshit!" Jiang Zhao cursed, his voice echoing in the empty stadium. "What's a little rain! Everyone, cheer up! We can leave once the rain stops!"
He spoke with conviction, but his heart sank deeper and deeper. His phone battery was down to thirty percent, and the signal bars were still completely gone. He tried calling Lin Jun again and again, but all he got in response was a cold busy tone. He started to have wild thoughts: Was Lin Jun also experiencing bad weather? Was he worried about him? This feeling of helplessness almost suffocated him.
Just then, the roar of a car engine and the faint sound of a horn suddenly came from outside the stadium. Everyone was startled. Jiang Zhao jumped up and rushed to the window. In the flash of lightning, he saw a black SUV, like a ship cutting through the waves, struggling to break through the floodwaters and stop at the stadium entrance. The headlights pierced the rain, like a lighthouse in the darkness.
A familiar figure got out of the driver's seat with an umbrella. Rainwater instantly soaked his trouser legs, but he didn't care and strode towards the stadium entrance.
It's Lin Jun.
Jiang Zhao could hardly believe his eyes. He froze for a few seconds, then shot off the stands like a cannonball and rushed towards the door.
As soon as Lin Jun pushed open the door, he was tightly embraced by a wet body that smelled of a mixture of sweat and rain. The force was so strong that he staggered.
"Brother Jun! Why are you back?!" Jiang Zhao's voice was trembling with excitement and disbelief. He held on tightly, as if the person in front of him would disappear if he let go.
Lin Jun was struggling to breathe from his grip, but she didn't push him away. Instead, she gently patted his back with her free hand, her voice unusually calm amidst the downpour: "I saw the weather forecast and was worried. Luckily, my project was coming to an end, so I changed my flight."
He spoke casually, but Jiang Zhao knew that the flight back from England, which took more than ten hours, plus driving through most of the city during the peak of the rainstorm to find this place, was by no means as easy as he made it sound.
"The signal is down... I can't get through to you..." Jiang Zhao buried his face in the crook of his neck, his voice muffled, carrying a hint of barely perceptible grievance and lingering fear.
“I know,” Lin Jun replied softly, “that’s why I came.”
He brought not only himself, but also a backpack full of food, water, and a power bank. He calmly arranged for the stranded students to get into his vehicle; his SUV was in excellent condition with a high chassis, allowing it to barely navigate through the floodwaters. He drove each student back to their dormitory before finally taking Jiang Zhao back to their rented apartment.
Back at the apartment, Jiang Zhao followed Lin Jun closely, like a frightened little animal. Lin Jun told him to take a hot shower, and when he came out, he found that Lin Jun had already brewed ginger tea and was standing by the window looking at the torrential rain outside, making a phone call, seemingly dealing with the work that had been delayed because of his sudden return to China.
Jiang Zhao held the warm ginger tea, looking at Lin Jun's profile—a little tired but still upright—under the lamplight. The turbulent emotions within him could no longer be contained. He walked over, hugged Lin Jun from behind, and pressed his face against his broad back.
“Brother Jun,” he said in a low voice, “next time…don’t do that, it’s too dangerous.”
Lin Jun hung up the phone, turned around, looked at his still somewhat pale face and wet eyes, sighed, and reached out to rub his half-dry hair: "Let's see if you dare to run around in this kind of weather again next time."
That night, the rain pattered against the window, but Jiang Zhao slept soundly. He knew that no matter how fierce the storm outside, there would always be someone who would overcome all obstacles to come to his side and become his strongest haven. And Lin Jun, looking at the sleeping person in her arms, felt that all the more than ten hours of travel and the battle with the torrential rain had been worthwhile.
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