Jiang Xun didn't move. He knew who had come.
Shen Wangjing had sent Duan Qizhao to the dorm next door that night, switching beds with him.
Shen Wangjing walked over to the bed and sat down in the dark.
"Still awake."
Jiang Xun rolled over to face him, but buried his face in the covers, leaving only his eyes showing, startlingly bright in the darkness.
Shen Wangjing took off his jacket, draped it over the back of a chair, and lay down beside him.
The heating in the dorm was going strong, but cold seeped out from deep inside Jiang Xun's bones. Shen Wangjing's body was like a stone warmed through by the sun, pressing warmly against him and squeezing out that chill little by little.
Jiang Xun curled up and buried his face in the crook of Shen Wangjing's neck. His breath dampened a small patch of skin there, and his eyelashes brushed against it, a tickle that made Shen Wangjing's heart tingle.
"Shen Wangjing."
"Mm."
"I saw Mom today."
"Mom didn't abandon me." Jiang Xun closed his eyes. "She just had no other choice."
Shen Wangjing lowered his head, pressing his lips to Jiang Xun's damp hair.
"Your mom always loved you, just as you love her."
Jiang Xun said nothing more. Shen Wangjing kept patting his back gently, his rhythm slow and even.
As he went on patting, the tense body in his arms relaxed inch by inch. Jiang Xun's breaths gradually lengthened, until he became a soft bundle of warmth nestled entirely in Shen Wangjing's arms.
That night, Jiang Xun had a very, very long dream.
In the dream, there was a long road lined with white crabapple trees in full bloom. When the wind blew, their petals fell like snow.
A woman stood at the