It was bizarre.
He suspected that tree had turned into a spirit and possessed sleep-inducing powers.
As the old saying goes, there is a first and a second, but no third.
He was not sure if he would fall asleep against that tree a third time, but the second time had already been firmly executed.
What was even more coincidental was that the moment he opened his eyes, he saw Huo You again, along with the extended selfie stick Huo You was using to poke him awake.
However, Lin Zong could not be bothered to ponder why things were such a coincidence right now, nor did he want to dwell on how he had been woken up. All of his thoughts were consumed by his mother.
Under Huo You’s gaze, he stood up, leaned forward, and peeked out at the parking spaces downstairs.
Forget his mother’s car; even the pink electric scooter that had been parked there yesterday was gone.
Had she not arrived yet, or had she already left?
Lin Zong pulled out his phone to check the time. He had slept for about ten minutes.
Could it be that she still had not arrived?
That could not be right. Even if his mother had walked down pushing her bike, she should have gotten here by now.
While Lin Zong’s mind was churning with thoughts, Huo You sat quietly in his wheelchair and watched him.
About a minute later.
Lin Zong finally stopped churning, turned his face to look at the transparent-feeling Huo You, and asked, “How did you get down here? Can this wheelchair even handle steps?”
Huo You answered calmly, “Someone happened to be coming out.”
He turned his head slightly, his gaze landing on Lin Zong with a sense of ambiguity.
Lin Zong glanced back.
He felt slightly annoyed.
Why did this guy keep rolling his eyes at him secretly?
Whatever, keeping him around still had its uses.
“Did you see an Audi?” Lin Zong asked.
Huo You silently shook his head.
“Did you just come out?” Lin Zong asked again.
Huo You raised his hand to look at his watch. “Ten minutes ago.”
Lin Zong asked, “?”
In other words, Huo You had been waiting at the entrance of the apartment building for a kind stranger for ten minutes?
Why did something feel off about that?
“Where are you going?” Lin Zong prepared to leave. If they were heading the same way, he could give the chair a push.
Anyway, since he could not see the eye-rolls when standing behind him, Huo You could roll them however he wanted, even doing backflips for all he cared.
“Going back up,” Huo You said.
Lin Zong’s hand, resting on the push handle of the wheelchair, paused for a moment. He felt quite puzzled. “You just came down, and now you are going right back up?”
Huo You nodded.
Is he out of his mind?
Lin Zong deeply felt that the guy was completely inexplicable.
Yet he still did not voice it, holding back to avoid triggering a disabled patient.
Sending Huo You upstairs for the second time was already a familiar routine.
Today, Huo You was wearing long sleeves, and he did not put up much of a fight when his arm was grabbed.
Lin Zong felt quite gratified.
Though he had no idea what he was feeling gratified about.
He pushed Huo You into the room.
This time, he was not in as much of a hurry to leave as before, so he subconsciously glanced around the room’s layout.
He swore it was just a casual glance, with no intention of prying into privacy.
However.
Why were there plush dolls all over Huo You’s bed?
And the bedsheets were even pale yellow.
Such a stark contrast?
Could someone who looked so cold and aloof on the outside actually be a princess at heart who loved plush toys and warm colors?
No, that sounded a bit like a stereotype, but Lin Zong could not think of a better description at the moment.
“Thanks.” Huo You maneuvered the wheelchair forward a bit, then turned back to look at Lin Zong.
There was not much expression on his face, and his left eye seemed to contract for a split second when their gazes met, probably because the lighting by the door was brighter.
“Next time, do not hide behind the tree,” Huo You said proactively. “You can be seen from upstairs.”
Lin Zong asked, “?”
In other words, the moment he fell asleep behind the tree, Huo You had spotted him?
Would Huo You think he had run away from home and had nowhere else to go?
A bit embarrassing.
The more Lin Zong thought about it, the hotter his face became. “Why on earth are you looking downstairs when you have nothing better to do?”
Huo You said in a low voice, “I was bored.”
Lin Zong leaned against the doorframe, feeling life was meaningless. “If you are bored, play on your phone. What is the deal with staring downstairs?”
Huo You stopped talking, lowering his head to look at something unknown.
“Phones are boring too?” Lin Zong pondered. “Do you want me to recommend a few mobile games?”
“No need,” Huo You replied quite quickly this time. “I do not have a phone.”
“Huh?”
You have already finished the gaokao and you still do not have a phone?
Did people not usually head straight to an offline store the moment they walked out of the exam venue?
“Then how do you stay in touch with people?” Lin Zong was curious.
Could he really be so unsocialized that he did not talk to anyone at all?
Huo You pulled his sleeve up a bit, raising his arm to reveal a white watch worn on his sharp-boned wrist.
Lin Zong looked closely and saw it was a kids’ smart watch.
Seeing a ghost in broad daylight.
An almost-college student wearing a smart watch.
The crucial part was that he had already seen that exact thing on Huo You’s wrist downstairs and had mistaken it for a fitness tracker.
“Well, you sure have great self-control.” Lin Zong racked his brains to say it.
Huo You pulled his sleeve back down and gave an almost imperceptible nod.
Logically speaking, Lin Zong should have left by now, but a new question popped into his head that he wanted to ask.
He wondered if it would be intrusive.
“Do you like plush toys?”
Anyway, just asking was the right move.
Huo You was slightly stunned, turned his head to look at his unobstructed bed, and said, “No.”
He was not lying; it could not really be called liking them.
He only kept them to make himself look a bit more decent when his skin hunger flared up, wishing not to look so wretched that he could only rub against his blanket.
Huo You felt pretty good right now, faintly able to catch the scent on Lin Zong.
Or perhaps there was no scent at all, and everything was just an illusion born from his own excessive yearning.
He wanted to let Lin Zong touch him, even if it was through his clothes.
However, that was wrong.
He should not have even gone downstairs to wake Lin Zong up, and he should not have any further contact with him, yet by the time he came to his senses, he was already at the entrance of the apartment building.
Just like the message he had sent out the previous night when his skin hunger struck, it had been impulsive and uncontrollable.
Thinking about all this made Huo You feel even more irritable.
Right now, he kind of wanted to throw Lin Zong out, much like how he had thrown his phone into the bedside drawer and locked it up after regaining his senses last night.
Of course, Lin Zong happened to be a person with burning curiosity, and he posed a brand-new question.
“Do you live alone?”
Lin Zong’s voice was very pleasant, full of vitality, and carried an elusive, lingering cadence at the end.
Huo You felt a strange rush of pleasure, the veins on the back of his hand twitching a few times.
He clenched both hands together, released them, clenched them again, and released them repeatedly.
Before Lin Zong could lose his patience, Huo You gave a low hum.
“Do you need to use the restroom?” Lin Zong’s curious-baby mode was fully activated. Seeing Huo You repeatedly clenching and unclenching his hands, he asked helpfully.
“No.”
Huo You was trying to figure out how to issue a polite eviction notice.
If Lin Zong stayed any longer, he might actually lose his manners and grab the other person’s hand.
Lin Zong had no idea what was going on inside Huo You’s head.
Because of his mild nearsightedness combined with his dislike for wearing glasses, he could not clearly see what was happening on the back of Huo You’s hand, so he prepared to lean in closer to take a look.
Watching the person get closer and closer, Huo You felt his fingertips trembling slightly.
His gaze brushed slowly over Lin Zong’s hand, and he raised his hand slightly with unbearable urges.
Wanting to reach out and hold it.
Only twenty centimeters away.
Fifteen centimeters.