A hero standing in the light

By the end of the meal, Cheng Yue had barely tasted a thing.

After dinner, he declined a colleague's offer of a ride and took a taxi home on his own.

The driver was a chatty man who talked freely from the moment Cheng Yue got in until they reached his destination. Cheng Yue gave distracted responses the whole way.

Back home, instead of showering and changing as usual, he slumped listlessly onto the bare sofa, stared blankly at the ceiling, and sank deep into thought.

The moon was fuller on the sixteenth than on the fifteenth. Outside, silvery light blanketed the world like snow, spilling over the silent earth.

The refrigerator compressor hummed in the kitchen, then quietly fell silent a moment later, disappearing into the endless darkness.

An unknown length of time passed before an irritated sigh broke the silence indoors.

"Forget it. Whatever happens, happens!"

Yet when those calm, indifferent eyes appeared in his mind again, Cheng Yue abruptly sat up and rubbed his disheveled hair in agitation.

"Will this ever stop?"

Nearly twelve hours had passed since that afternoon, but he still clearly remembered his heart skipping a beat when his gaze had met those composed eyes.

The next day, Cheng Yue drifted into the changing room with dark circles under both eyes, looking utterly defeated.

"Oh? Couldn't sleep?"

The deputy captain on his shift was still indulging his favorite bad habit of teasing people.

Cheng Yue gave him a doleful look and began changing mechanically.

Wu Haifeng wasn't offended at being ignored. Seeing that Cheng Yue was in low spirits, he laughed a couple of times and left him alone, turning to joke around with the other team members.

The noisy changing room was enough to give anyone a headache. Cheng Yue put his things away, locked his locker, and wandered out with a gloomy air hanging over him.

Zhao Li was on the early shift and was standing outside the door, puffing away on a cigarette.

Cheng Yue stared blankly for a while. After a long silence, he suddenly turned his head. "Captain, give me one too."

With a cigarette between his fingers, Zhao Li stared at him for several seconds, then pulled a pack from his trouser pocket and handed it over with his lighter.

"When did you learn?"

Cheng Yue raised a hand to shield the flame from the wind, lit up with practiced ease, and took a deep drag before slowly exhaling.

"I've always known how."

If he really thought back, he had probably learned in his second year of middle school. He had been young and impressionable then, and watching other people smoke had made him think it looked impressive. (PS: attention! Minors must not smoke! Don't copy this, anyone.)

During breaks in the school's daily running drills, a group of boys would cram into the cramped restroom and pass a single cigarette around, each taking a puff. Only when the dean came looking for them would they scatter in all directions, yelling.

Of course, they had been caught sometimes too. While everyone else attended class as usual, they had run punishment laps around the field.

Perhaps their behavior back then had truly been out of line, but the happiness of his youth would stay with him throughout his ordinary life.

Cheng Yue tapped off the ash, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. "I was rebellious and didn't know any better. I kept thinking that if everyone else smoked and I didn't, wouldn't that mean I didn't fit in?"

He still remembered taking his first puff after a midterm exam, when a group of his troublemaking friends had hidden in a school corridor, passing around cigarettes stolen from home.

When Cheng Yue's turn came, he distinctly remembered the resistance deep inside him. He hadn't wanted to do it, but under all those eyes waiting for a show, his teenage pride had swelled to its peak.

When the smoke made Cheng Yue's face flush red and sent him into a coughing fit, shrill laughter had rung in his ears.

Zhao Li asked, "And then?"

"Then?" Cheng Yue smiled. "Naturally, I worked hard at learning in secret so I could quietly amaze everyone."

He had attended middle school in town as a day student. He saved up two days' meal money to buy the cheapest pack of cigarettes, then hid in his room late at night, blowing smoke out the window.

Fortunately, his efforts paid off-or perhaps he had a natural talent. Before he had even finished the pack, he had learned to inhale smoothly into his lungs without awkwardly choking on the smoke.

Zhao Li stood a step behind him, gazing at Cheng Yue's back with an unreadable look, as though trying his best to hide something.

"I meant, why did you stop smoking afterward?"

Cheng Yue narrowed his eyes at a distant trash can. With a quick, decisive flick of his fingers, he sent the cigarette butt straight into it.

"I didn't want to smoke anymore, so I stopped."

He tilted his head toward the sky. The setting sun shone through the branches onto his carefully styled hair. "Maybe I grew up."

"I'm off. Time to work."

Cheng Yue leaned sideways to retrieve his insulated cup from the table beside the door, his expression easing. "Thanks for the contribution, Captain. I'll treat you to some water next time."

Only after Cheng Yue turned at the junction and disappeared did Zhao Li unconsciously curl the hand in his trouser pocket. His fingers closed around empty air before he finally snapped out of his daze.

Dusk deepened, and the blazing sunset gradually faded.

Cheng Yue had originally been assigned to stand guard at the west gate that day. He was already halfway there when he doubled back to find their shift leader and said he wanted to go on patrol.

Wu Haifeng didn't ask any questions. He glanced at the duty roster and readily switched his assignment.

The earlier inspection work had already concluded, and the residential complex was peaceful. Only Cheng Yue wandered like a restless ghost, circling his assigned area again and again.

His starting point and destination, however, were always the same building.

At seven in the evening, foot traffic gradually picked up. Some people had just gotten off work, while others had finished dinner and come out to walk their dogs and work off their meals.

Cheng Yue stood in the outdoor fitness area, watching the building entrance across from him. Now and then, he gnawed at his nails or looked up toward the floors above.

Should I go or not?

The nineteenth-floor windows were completely dark. Normally, that meant no one was home, but Cheng Yue hadn't forgotten that the man wasn't a hero who liked standing in the light.

He liked standing naked...

Uh. Cheng Yue patted his hot cheeks, exasperated with himself. Is this really the time to think about all this nonsense? Seriously!

What I should be doing now is going up there to finish the earlier inspection. Since he's back from his business trip, as a dedicated, responsible employee, of course I should be ready to shed blood and lay down my life for the company.

Exactly. That's it!

As though waking from a dream, Cheng Yue straightened his collar, set his gaze firmly ahead, and strode toward the battlefield.

"Cheng?"

The foot he had just lifted stopped abruptly and drew back. Cheng Yue scrambled to steady himself, then turned and spotted a familiar face. "Oh, it's you."

The woman who had called out to him was the older woman from HR who had originally hired him.

"Why are you still here? Aren't you going to eat?"

Cheng Yue feigned composure. "Oh, I'm not hungry yet. I let the others go first."

Spotting the large cloth bag in her hand out of the corner of his eye, he hurried forward to take it. "You're heading home, right? Let me carry this upstairs for you."

The woman owned an apartment in the complex. Her child was grown and no longer needed looking after, so with nothing much to do, she had found herself a job to pass the time and earn some living expenses for her child along the way, killing two birds with one stone.