Xu Yan was woken up on the second morning after arriving in Lilin by a phone call from Ji Ran.
Irritated, Xu Yan pulled the blanket over his head, trying to block out the noisy ringtone. But it was ultimately futile—the persistent ringing jolted him fully awake.
“What?” Xu Yan rolled over, grabbed his phone from the nightstand, sat up, ruffled his hair, and answered hoarsely.
“Still sleeping?” Ji Ran’s voice on the other end rose in pitch, as if genuinely surprised that Xu Yan was still in bed at nine in the morning.
Xu Yan squinted, his tone impatient. “Get to the point. I just woke up.” Xu Yan had a notoriously bad temper upon waking, but since it was Ji Ran on the line, he was doing his best to suppress his irritation. If Ji Ran took forever to spit it out, he might just muster the energy to storm over to his place.
“Want to catch up on homework?” Ji Ran suggested.
Only then did Xu Yan remember he had over a dozen sets of unfinished papers. He immediately got out of bed, urgency in his voice. “Yes, yes! Ji Ran, bring your papers. And where are we going?”
Then he recalled the WeChat message Qiu Muyang had sent him the night before.
Qiu Muyang had also just flown back to Lilin from Hainan last night and, according to him, had nearly a dozen unfinished test papers as well.
Xu Yan thought for a moment and decided that such a good opportunity for a group homework session shouldn’t leave out a friend. He made a quick decision. “Ji Ran, hold on. I’ll message Qiu Muyang. He’s joining us.”
There was a noticeable silence on Ji Ran’s end before he finally relented. “Fine.”
To make communication easier, Xu Yan created a small WeChat group for the three of them and named it: Study Support Trio.
As soon as Qiu Muyang joined the group, he popped up with a message: Yanzi, what’s this all about?
【Xu Yan】: Group for catching up on homework.
【Qiu Muyang】: Huh? Homework? Then why’d you add the top student?
【Xu Yan】: He’s finished. We can reference his.
Xu Yan phrased it subtly, but Qiu Muyang caught on immediately.
【Qiu Muyang】: Thanks, top student!
【Xu Yan】: Thanks, top student!
【Ji Ran】: .
Xu Yan and Ji Ran were still on the call when Ji Ran asked directly, “So where are we going? Does Qiu Muyang really have to come? I can just post the answers in the group.”
“Huh? Doing homework together creates a more focused atmosphere. I can’t get anything done at home anyway. Come on, Ji Ran, let’s go together.” While persuading Ji Ran, Xu Yan sent another message in the group.
【Xu Yan】: @Qiu Muyang, we’re going out to do homework. You in?
【Qiu Muyang】: Yes, yes! Perfect timing—my efficiency at home is terrible.
【Qiu Muyang】: Where are we going?
【Ji Ran】: City Library.
10 a.m., City Library, third floor.
Qiu Muyang specifically picked a large, long table so they could sit comfortably and spread out. But he never expected Xu Yan to ignore the spacious seating and instead squeeze in next to Ji Ran.
Qiu Muyang watched the two sitting closely across from him, crossed his arms, and smirked coldly.
Xu Yan and Ji Ran were sitting so close that it almost felt like they weren’t in a library but back in a classroom during a lesson.
“Ji Ran, my answer doesn’t match yours.” Xu Yan pulled his test paper over to Ji Ran, leaning in and whispering the words softly into his ear.
Ji Ran tilted his head, pressed a finger to his lips, and gave Xu Yan a quiet “shh.”
Xu Yan didn’t understand and thought Ji Ran was annoyed with him. He tried to pull back the glaringly bright test paper, but no matter how hard he tugged, it wouldn’t budge—the corner of the paper was pinned firmly under Ji Ran’s fingertip.
Frowning at the paper, Xu Yan lowered his voice and asked, “What are you doing?”
Ji Ran sighed softly at the paper and whispered, “It’s not that the answers are different—you copied the wrong ones.”
Xu Yan stubbornly insisted, “I didn’t copy. I really worked them out myself.”
“But this answer is from my previous test paper,” Ji Ran said helplessly, rubbing his forehead with a gentle look in his eyes. He stood up and casually smoothed the stray hairs on Xu Yan’s forehead.
The two were sitting very close. Xu Yan lifted his head with a bright smile following Ji Ran’s gesture. Soft spring sunlight streamed through the city library’s windows onto the long table. From Qiu Muyang’s perspective, the two seemed to share an intense, lingering gaze, their atmosphere unbearably ambiguous.
Qiu Muyang glanced over, then silently went back to finishing his own test paper. That’s my bro—I can’t be too sensitive about this!
By the time the three of them had nearly finished their assignments, it was almost closing time at the city library.
“We haven’t eaten since lunch. How about the three of us grab a meal together?” Qiu Muyang sprang back to life as soon as they stepped out of the library, bouncing around like a firecracker and nearly embarrassing Xu Yan on the spot.
Xu Yan gave an awkward smile. “Can you act normal? It’s just a meal—no need to get so excited.”
Qiu Muyang responded with a cold, dry laugh, staring at Xu Yan in silence.
If only he knew how much I’ve been holding back this afternoon! As a staunch straight guy, he had endured an entire afternoon of watching Xu Yan and Ji Ran’s interactions, feeling goosebumps all over.
The specifics included, but were not limited to: their hands somehow ending up intertwined while doing the test papers, sharing a cup without any hesitation, going to the bathroom together, Xu Yan resting his head on the top student’s shoulder, and the fond, doting look the top student gave Xu Yan.
Qiu Muyang’s straight-guy worldview had been built up, shattered, and rebuilt again that afternoon. He couldn’t understand how, after just one winter break, his good buddies had become so… gay.
He forced a smile and said to Xu Yan, “The fact that I haven’t gone crazy this afternoon is already the epitome of normalcy. No one in this world could be more normal than me.”
Xu Yan and Ji Ran: “…”
Qiu Muyang said with a bitter smile, “Let’s go get some skewers? I remember there’s a highly-rated barbecue spot near the library. Let me look it up.” With that, he avoided Xu Yan’s probing gaze and opened the M-Tuan app to check the ratings.
“Let’s go, this place,” Qiu Muyang said, not waiting for Xu Yan and Ji Ran’s agreement. He stumbled a bit on his feet, steadied himself, and followed the navigation along the street.
Xu Yan thought Qiu Muyang’s mental state seemed off, so he quietly followed him, holding Ji Ran’s hand.
By the time the neon lights of the night had all lit up, Qiu Muyang was sitting at a small table set up on an open-air platform, burying his head in a pile of skewers, when he suddenly realized two people were still sitting across from him.
Great. He had finally experienced the exhilarating feeling of isolating everyone all by himself.
“You,” Xu Yan paused, watching Qiu Muyang silently devouring his food across the table, then handed over the skewer in his hand, “You’ve gone crazy from studying. Eat more.”
Qiu Muyang’s eyes completely skipped over the skewer Xu Yan offered and instead, he shouted toward the shop, “Boss, bring a can of beer!”
“Why drink?” Xu Yan asked in surprise.
Qiu Muyang looked up with a resentful gaze. “Drowning sorrows in alcohol!”
“Then, I’ll keep you company.” Xu Yan had never actually drunk alcohol before, but seeing Qiu Muyang across from him in such a low mood, he decided to grit his teeth and accompany his friend!
The bustling, noisy entrance of the barbecue shop, filled with the clamor of voices, unexpectedly brought Xu Yan a sense of peace. He picked up the beer the owner had just brought over and downed it in one gulp.
“Slow down,” Ji Ran advised helplessly, but Qiu Muyang was amused by Xu Yan and raised his beer bottle in a toast from across the table: “Good brother, cheers!” With that, he tilted his head back and drank heartily.
Qiu Muyang’s drinking capacity had been trained by his father since childhood, so even after a few bottles of beer, he could still chat with Xu Yan about gossip from the neighboring class while eating barbecue.
“Yanzi, top student, let me tell you, two couples in our class have already started dating people from the neighboring class. Pretty amazing, right? It’s only been one semester.”
“Nor…mal!” Xu Yan, his face flushed red, stammered as he raised his bottle toward Qiu Muyang.
Qiu Muyang picked up a peanut from the plate and clicked his tongue. “Don’t you think that’s too fast? Last semester, they’d only known each other for less than five months before getting together! Even love at first sight isn’t that quick.”
“Not fast,” Ji Ran chimed in, gently steadying Xu Yan, who was swaying slightly. “Love at first sight isn’t fast either.”
Qiu Muyang hesitated, then said something seemingly random while holding a peanut: “Normal relationships are all fast.”
Ji Ran chuckled lightly, his gaze cold as he looked at Qiu Muyang, faintly sensing that he might have noticed something.
“Then… what about ab-abnormal ones?” Xu Yan asked curiously, holding up his chopsticks and looking at Qiu Muyang.
“Tsk—” Qiu Muyang watched Xu Yan, whose hands were trembling like he had Parkinson’s, and asked, “Yanzi, are you already drunk?”
“Not drunk!” Xu Yan insisted stubbornly, but Qiu Muyang appeared as a blurry double in his vision.
Qiu Muyang used the simplest method to check, holding up two fingers and asking, “How many is this?”
Xu Yan confidently identified: “Three!”
“Alright, you’re drunk.” Qiu Muyang stood up and glanced at the three beer bottles by Xu Yan’s feet—two empty, one half-full—and felt it was a waste. “There’s still more than half a bottle left! Yanzi, if your alcohol tolerance is this bad, why did you try to keep up with me?”
Xu Yan protested anxiously, “I-I-I didn’t know.”
Qiu Muyang sighed, rubbing his forehead. “Do you even remember the gossip I just told you?”
“Puppy love! No puppy love!” Xu Yan’s answer was loud and clear, leaving Qiu Muyang in stunned silence. When he accidentally turned his head, he saw Ji Ran tightly holding Xu Yan’s waist to keep him from falling over.
Qiu Muyang’s mouth fell open in disbelief. Combining the strange feelings he’d sensed that afternoon and before, he pointed at Ji Ran and joked, “Seriously, bro, has anyone ever told you two that you look really gay like this?”
Ji Ran’s hand, which was supporting Xu Yan, suddenly froze. Xu Yan, heavily drunk, hooked one arm around Ji Ran’s shoulder and gave Qiu Muyang a thumbs-up with the other, affirming, “Yeah, we’re good guys!”
“I’ll take him back,” Ji Ran said solemnly, nodding to Qiu Muyang.
That nod from Ji Ran sent a chill down Qiu Muyang’s spine, freezing him in place. The suspicions in his heart were suddenly confirmed by the person involved. He stood there, bewildered and at a loss, silently watching as Ji Ran led the thoroughly drunk Xu Yan farther and farther away.
Xu Yan was utterly disoriented by the winding paths. The twisting alleys of Lilin swirled before his eyes like strange, floating S-curves that seemed to circle endlessly. He pointed toward the alley entrance, about to ask to stop, when Ji Ran pulled him along. The tugging left him dizzy and with a splitting headache. He hung his head low, letting out muffled groans of protest.
“Ji Ran, I’m dizzy!” Seeing that Ji Ran kept tugging at his sleeve, Xu Yan mustered all his strength and simply crouched down on the ground.
Ji Ran had little patience for drunks. He tried to pull Xu Yan up, but Xu Yan refused, suddenly clutching Ji Ran’s sleeves with both hands and whining, “Ji Ran, I can’t walk anymore.”
“Just a few more turns and we’ll be there,” Ji Ran crouched down and coaxed softly.
“I just can’t walk anymore,” Xu Yan’s eyelashes fluttered downward, his voice full of grievance. “Let’s rest for a bit.”
“Alright,” Ji Ran relented, squatting on the ground and letting Xu Yan tug at his sleeve as he pleased.
“Does it hurt?” Xu Yan gazed quietly at the exposed part of Ji Ran’s wrist. The alley was dimly lit, and Xu Yan was too drunk to see clearly, but he still asked out of concern.
“It doesn’t hurt,” Ji Ran pulled his sleeve down a little, but unexpectedly, Xu Yan gently rested his forehead against Ji Ran’s wrist and asked, “Your parents aren’t good to you either, are they?”
“They’re fine.”
“Clearly not,” Xu Yan muttered softly.
“Hmm.”
“Why hurt yourself?” Xu Yan’s eyes were bright as he looked up at Ji Ran.
At the alley entrance, a shallow puddle reflected the cold, pale moonlight.
Ji Ran recalled their first meeting at the internet café and, for the first time, spoke bluntly yet helplessly to Xu Yan, “Xu Yan, don’t ask anymore.”
“It’s okay,” Xu Yan smiled, cupping Ji Ran’s face. “I’ll be good to you.”
“What am I to you?” Ji Ran couldn’t help but laugh, looking at Xu Yan’s flushed face, tormented by alcohol.
Xu Yan blinked, thinking carefully for a long time before suddenly exclaiming loudly, “You’re a… good person!”
Receiving the “good person” card, Ji Ran felt a wave of bitterness in his heart. So, after all this time, he was just a good person.
Ji Ran stood up, turning his back to Xu Yan, and said in a low voice, “Get on, I’ll carry you.”
Obediently, Xu Yan placed his hands on Ji Ran’s shoulders and rested his head softly against his back.
Though Xu Yan was tall and slender, he was surprisingly light. Ji Ran carried him silently, listening to the drunken ramblings of the man on his back.
“Ji Ran… good person!”
“How good?” Ji Ran asked in response.
“Good… so good, I like you.”
Thump, thump. Ji Ran’s heart suddenly raced, his blood flowing faster. He quietly carried Xu Yan toward his home.
Moonlight spilled onto the street, making the road seem endless, with only the two of them left in the world.