“Five-thirty.”
Shen Siyang set his alarm and placed the clock back on his nightstand, calculating his time down to the exact minute. “Ten minutes to brush my teeth, wash my face, and pack up. Twenty minutes to bike to school. This is the maximum compromise I can offer President Xu—I am not waking up a single minute earlier.”
Sang Xiaoshi sat beside the bed, watching him with a gentle smile in his eyes.
After placing the alarm clock down, Shen Siyang wrapped himself in his thin blanket and rolled over toward the wall. He then spread out a second thin blanket near the edge of the bed and patted the space, calling out, “Time for bed.”
Sang Xiaoshi nodded. He switched off the light, pulled back the blanket, and lay down beside him.
Sleeping side by side was second nature to them. During weekends and school breaks, Sang Xiaoshi spent most of his time at Shen Siyang’s house; whenever it ran late, Shen Siyang would simply insist he stay over.
When they were kids, the bed had felt vast and cavernous. Now, it barely accommodated the two of them side by side.
Shen Siyang shifted inside his blanket until he found a comfortable position, ready to drift into sleep, when a soft beep chimed through the quiet room.
He paid it no mind at first until a creeping wave of heat began to chase away his drowsiness.
Woken by the stuffiness, Shen Siyang opened his eyes and glanced toward the air conditioner. Seeing that its indicator light had gone completely dark, he realized the earlier beep had been the unit shutting off due to a power outage.
He fumbled around for the remote and pressed the power button twice.
The unit remained dead silent.
“Looks like the power went out,” Sang Xiaoshi said softly into the dark.
“Huh?” Shen Siyang turned toward him, puzzled.
Sang Xiaoshi pointed toward the window. “The lights in the building opposite us were still on a moment ago. They went out right when the AC cut off.”
As he spoke, Sang Xiaoshi slipped out from under his blanket, walked over to the window, and pulled back the curtain. After surveying the dark neighborhood outside, he closed the curtain and walked back to the bed. “Definitely a power outage.”
Hearing that, Shen Siyang sat upright.
Seeing his sudden movement, Sang Xiaoshi asked, “Where are you going?”
“Going outside to grab a fan,” Shen Siyang replied, tossing off his blanket and preparing to get out of bed.
The two had done their homework in the living room that evening, only returning to Shen Siyang’s bedroom when they finished. Because of that, the air conditioner hadn’t been running long enough to cool the room down fully. Now that the power was out, the temperature was rising rapidly.
Shen Siyang was exceptionally sensitive to heat. Once he was fast asleep, he could sleep through it, but if he had to fall asleep feeling hot and sticky, he wouldn’t get a single wink all night.
Before his legs could touch the floor, Sang Xiaoshi intercepted him.
“I’ll get it.”
Sang Xiaoshi turned and left the room, returning a moment later with a hand-woven cattail leaf fan.
Shen Siyang smiled his thanks and reached out to take it, but Sang Xiaoshi held on. “I’ll fan you.”
“No need, I’ll do it. You don’t mind the heat as much—just go to sleep,” Shen Siyang said, reaching out again.
Sang Xiaoshi paused for a moment. “Five minutes each?”
Shen Siyang considered it. “Works for me.”
Only then did Sang Xiaoshi hand over the fan. “You first. I’ll keep track of the time.”
Nodding, Shen Siyang took the fan and began waving it gently.
Carried by the remaining coolness in the room, the gentle breeze felt soothing. Shen Siyang closed his eyes and turned onto his side, fanning himself while waiting for sleep to claim him.
Just as he was drifting off, Sang Xiaoshi lowered his voice to say, “Five minutes are up.”
Without opening his eyes, Shen Siyang felt the fan gently taken from his grip. “Wake me up in five minutes,” he mumbled drowsily.
“Okay,” Sang Xiaoshi replied softly.
Having someone else fan you was far more hypnotic than doing it yourself.
The faint sleepiness that had briefly fled came rushing back the moment Sang Xiaoshi began fanning him. Shen Siyang clung to the last threads of consciousness. After what felt like a long time, hearing no sound from Sang Xiaoshi, he muttered softly, “Hasn’t it been five minutes yet?”
“Three minutes left,” Sang Xiaoshi answered in a calm, steady voice.
Shen Siyang fought a losing battle against his sleep-heavy brain. “These two minutes are taking forever.”
A trace of amusement crept into Sang Xiaoshi’s voice. “Not really. It just feels that way because you’re tired.”
“Oh.” Shen Siyang was barely holding on. “Not yet?”
“Mm. Two minutes.”
“Two minutes.” Shen Siyang felt his brain completely disconnect from his tongue. “Then, remember to call me.”
The boy’s voice trailed off, fading into the dark, quiet room.
Sang Xiaoshi gazed softly at Shen Siyang, who was curled up facing him. Listening to the boy’s breathing slow and deepen into a rhythmic pattern, he gradually eased his waving motion until he was sure Shen Siyang was sound asleep. Then, he put the fan aside on the nightstand.
He pulled the kicked-off blanket back up, gently covering Shen Siyang’s stomach.
Moving with quiet care, Sang Xiaoshi turned to the nightstand, picked up the alarm clock, and pushed the five-thirty alarm back to five o’clock sharp.
He turned back, lay down facing Shen Siyang, and quietly watched him in the dim light for a long time before closing his eyes with a faint smile.
At five o’clock in the morning, the moment the alarm sounded, Sang Xiaoshi snapped awake and reached out to silence it immediately.
Replacing the clock on the table, he turned to look at Shen Siyang, who was still fast asleep. Seeing no signs of him waking, he carefully lifted his blanket and slid out of bed without making a sound.
After quietly washing up, Sang Xiaoshi went downstairs, wheeled his bicycle into the yard, and walked over to the nearby stall where Shen Siyang loved buying egg pancakes for breakfast.
At five-thirty-five, Sang Xiaoshi pulled Shen Siyang’s face towel from a basin of warm water. Wringing it out, he walked back into the bedroom and softly draped the warm towel over Shen Siyang’s face.
When Shen Siyang had claimed he needed to wake up at five-thirty, he had built in a generous buffer. He never took ten minutes to get ready—five minutes was more than enough.
Sang Xiaoshi had learned long ago that waking up was a monumental struggle for Shen Siyang. As long as you didn’t resort to his mother’s aggressive method—literally dragging him out of bed like pulling a turnip—Shen Siyang would remain in a completely dazed state for ten to twenty minutes after waking up.
During this window, he would accept anything handed to him and follow almost any instruction given. Back when Sang Xiaoshi used to think Shen Siyang was entirely invincible, this was the very first endearing, childish flaw he had discovered about him.
The warm towel rested on Shen Siyang’s face for five or six seconds before the figure on the bed sat up like a zombie, the towel still covering his face.
Sang Xiaoshi watched him with warm affection. Once Shen Siyang was steadily upright, he delicately removed the towel and handed him the toothbrush and cup set prepared on the table.
With his eyes only half-open, Shen Siyang moved like a slightly rusted little robot: accepting the cup, grasping the toothbrush, popping it into his mouth, and stepping down from the bed.
It wasn’t until he had changed his clothes and stumbled downstairs that his brain finally cleared the fog of sleep.
Sang Xiaoshi had already taken both of their schoolbags downstairs and stowed them in the bicycle basket. Seeing only a single bicycle parked in the yard, Shen Siyang looked around, confused. “Where’s your bike?”
“Flat tire.” Sang Xiaoshi placed a warm egg pancake into Shen Siyang’s hands, then stepped onto the bicycle. “I’ll give you a ride.”
Shen Siyang stared at the warm pancake in his hands, momentarily stunned. “Wait, didn’t I say I was buying you breakfast today?”
Sang Xiaoshi’s eyes crinkled into gentle arcs. “Mhm. I took the money from your piggy bank.”
Shen Siyang hopped onto the back seat and instantly put Sang Xiaoshi in a playful headlock. “Well played, worker Sang! I’m docking your pay!”
Sang Xiaoshi kept a firm grip on the handlebars with one hand while holding onto Shen Siyang with the other. “My wages are already in my stomach.”
Shen Siyang laughed in his headlock for a long moment before letting go and settling comfortably onto the back seat.
At five in the morning, daylight had not yet fully broken over Xianxi Town. The area lay shrouded in a hazy mist, free from the sweltering, agitating heat of the daytime.
Shen Siyang finished his egg pancake, drank the last drop of soy milk, tied the trash bag tightly, and tossed it into a roadside bin before letting out a long yawn.
In the next second, Sang Xiaoshi’s voice called out from up front: “Brother Siyang, you can lean against my back and sleep for a bit.”
Shen Siyang was never one to stand on ceremony.
He was just about to lean forward onto Sang Xiaoshi’s back when he suddenly paused mid-motion and gave Sang Xiaoshi’s back a light pat instead.
The bicycle swerved in a brief S-curve. Sang Xiaoshi asked in confusion, “What is it?”
“Just suddenly realized,” Shen Siyang replied with a quiet smile, “our Xiaoshi’s back has grown into the back of an adult.”
Steadying the handlebars, Sang Xiaoshi chuckled softly. “Mm. Nine more days and I’ll officially be an adult.”
This time, Shen Siyang didn’t hesitate. He rested his front against Sang Xiaoshi’s back comfortably. “What do you want for your eighteenth birthday? I’ll let you ask for whatever you want—just this once.”
“Hmm, let me think about it.”
“Better think fast then. Offer expires after your birthday!”
“Alright.”
By the time the two arrived at school, it was two minutes before six.
Three large charter buses were parked near the school gates, each already occupied by scattered groups of students.
Shen Siyang asked Sang Xiaoshi to take their bags and grab seats first while he pushed his bicycle over to the school shed to park it.
By the time he returned to the main gates, the class monitors from both classes were already on the buses taking headcounts.
Shen Siyang stepped onto the bus he and Sang Xiaoshi had agreed on beforehand. But as soon as he spotted Sang Xiaoshi, he noticed a tall, unfamiliar boy sitting in the seat right beside him.
The boy wore a tracksuit, had a short buzz cut, and possessed a dark, athletic complexion—he looked like one of the school’s student-athletes.
As Shen Siyang walked over, he caught the tail end of Sang Xiaoshi saying to the boy: “This seat is taken.”
The boy was visibly nervous, faltering over his words: “By who? Your, your good friend that you always hang out with? I can talk to him and help him find another seat.”
“No.”
“Xiaoshi.”
Sang Xiaoshi’s blunt refusal and Shen Siyang’s voice rang out at the exact same time.
The moment Sang Xiaoshi heard Shen Siyang’s voice, the cold detachment in his eyes vanished instantly.
Glancing briefly at the boy who still showed no signs of leaving, Sang Xiaoshi turned his eyes back to Shen Siyang and stood up. “Let’s go find another pair of seats together.”
Hearing this, the boy sitting in the aisle seat stood up awkwardly. “I, I didn’t mean it like that.”
At the same time, Shen Siyang spoke up calmly. “No need. Just hand me my bag, and I’ll go sit near the back.”
He extended his hand toward Sang Xiaoshi as he spoke.
Sang Xiaoshi froze, staring at Shen Siyang without moving.
Watching the subtle rippling emotions in Sang Xiaoshi’s beautiful eyes, Shen Siyang couldn’t help but sigh softly, softening his tone. “Xiaoshi, what did I tell you before?”
Sang Xiaoshi’s gaze dimmed slightly. A moment later, he lowered his head and answered obediently, “To make more friends.”
Shen Siyang raised an eyebrow and motioned for his bag.
After a long silence, Sang Xiaoshi finally handed Shen Siyang’s bag over to him.
He watched silently as Shen Siyang took the bag and walked down the aisle to the completely empty back row. Sitting down, Shen Siyang gave him a light wave before hugging his bag, leaning against the window, and closing his eyes to sleep.
Only long after Shen Siyang had closed his eyes did Sang Xiaoshi finally pull his gaze back and sit back down.
The boy sitting next to him sat back down as well, looking somewhat embarrassed. “Sorry about that, I just really wanted to be friends with you. I’m from Class 5 next door.”
Sang Xiaoshi stared into space for a long moment before finally offering the boy a polite yet distant smile.
“Hello.”