The rain draped a thin veil over the southern magnolias on either side. There were few people on the campus path. Pei Ran walked slowly along, carrying his laptop, his right hand loosely closed around the little charm he had just received.
His phone chimed sharply.
[Yan Zhun: Walk a little faster.]
Pei Ran froze and instinctively turned to look, but all he saw were two young couples walking side by side under umbrellas.
[Pei Ran: Are you still there?]
Yan Zhun sent a voice message. Pei Ran held it to his ear. "Just guessing. You usually walk really slowly."
Pei Ran pressed his lips together and silently put his phone into his laptop bag.
His heart was beating fast. Even after walking so far, it still hadn't settled down. Listening any longer would only make it stranger.
Pei Ran hadn't accepted Yan Zhun's confession. As always, he had started with an apology, only to discover when he spoke that his voice was trembling a little.
Yan Zhun had quietly waited for his answer, and that patience had only made Pei Ran more nervous. He had barely managed to get out, "I don't want to date anyone for now."
The sentence had come out haltingly, without much conviction.
Yan Zhun had nodded calmly and said, "I know, but I'm still going to pursue you."
He had even asked, "Will you let me?"
Pei Ran hadn't said anything. He was afraid that if he opened his mouth, he would start stumbling over his words again.
In the end, Yan Zhun had lowered the brim of his cap for him and said, "Got it. I'll pursue you, then."
"Pei Ran?"
Pei Ran turned and saw Su Nian.
Su Nian stood shoulder to shoulder with another boy. They looked very close.
Su Nian glanced at him, then paused before asking, "It's raining. Why aren't you using an umbrella? And your face... why is it so red?"
Pei Ran's face was red, but his tone was as composed as ever. "Did you need something?"
"Oh, nothing. Just saying hello." Su Nian paused. "Right, it was my fault for upsetting you before. Since we've run into each other, let me apologize again..."
"No need." Pei Ran asked, "Didn't Lin Kang pass my message on to you?"
Su Nian smiled. "He did. I knew you were angry at the time, so I didn't take it to heart. As long as you're not angry anymore."
Pei Ran frowned. Not wanting to say anything more to him, he turned to leave.
"Hey, wait." Su Nian stopped him. "Let me give you my umbrella. Don't catch a cold."
Pei Ran declined. "No, thank you."
"No, see," Su Nian said with a smile, "Qingshan lent me this umbrella before, and I keep forgetting to return it. This works out perfectly. Just return it to him for me when you're done."
"He and I have already broken up. You borrowed the umbrella, so return it yourself." Pei Ran walked away, his remaining words drifting through the rain.
Su Nian stood there watching him go, not moving for a long time.
The boy beside him bumped his shoulder. "Listen to what you just said. Was that any way to talk? Even I thought you sounded bitchy."
Su Nian smiled. "That's how you have to deal with Pei Ran. If you're too subtle, he won't get it."
"They've already broken up. Why are you still going out of your way to disgust Pei Ran?"
Su Nian's smile didn't change.
They had broken up, but Luo Qingshan still had someone in his heart.
If he couldn't resolve things on Luo Qingshan's end, he could only deal with Pei Ran. As long as Pei Ran refused to get back together with him, there was nothing Luo Qingshan could do.
When Su Nian said nothing, his friend couldn't help frowning at him. After a long while, he asked, "Why bother? I don't think Luo Qingshan's that great. There are handsome guys everywhere. How about I introduce you to a few?"
"No." Su Nian took out his phone and glanced at it. He had sent Luo Qingshan over a dozen messages and still hadn't received a reply. He looked up at the curtain of rain. "Let's go."
Pei Ran returned to his dorm, took off the cap, and changed his clothes before picking up the cap and going to the sink.
He took a new toothbrush and lowered his eyes, gently scrubbing the cap.
Pei Ran liked washing things. All it required was repeating the same movements, and he could comfortably let his mind go blank for a while. But right now, he couldn't empty his mind at all. It was full of Yan Zhun's voice.
One moment it was saying, "I like you," the next, "I'm starting to pursue you," and now it was asking, "Will you let me?"
Before they parted, Yan Zhun had even reached out and patted his head through the cap. He had withdrawn his hand within two seconds and told him to head back, saying the rain was about to get heavier.
A crisp pattering pulled Pei Ran back to his senses. He turned and saw raindrops splashing into the room, leaving the floor beneath the windowsill wet.
Pei Ran closed the window. Only when he returned to his desk did he see that his phone had received a lot of text messages.
[Unknown number: I lent him that umbrella a long time ago...]
[Unknown number: You got caught in the rain today? Remember to drink some hot water to warm up.]
[Unknown number: Call me next time something like this happens. I'll come get you]
[Unknown number: I miss you so much. Can you please reply?]
Blocking him on WeChat and blocking his calls was useless. Luo Qingshan still found his way in everywhere.
Pei Ran checked the time. It had only been half an hour since he ran into Su Nian, and Luo Qingshan already knew about it.
Pei Ran didn't reply. He backed out and checked his WeChat messages.
[Yan Zhun: .]
[Pei Ran: ?]
[Yan Zhun: Checking whether I'm still here.]
[Pei Ran: Where?]
[Yan Zhun: On your friends list.]
Pei Ran took a deep breath, feeling his ears grow a little hot.
He held his phone for a long time before typing a string of dots, but he hadn't even had time to send them.
[Yan Zhun: You've been typing for five minutes. What little essay are you writing?]
[Pei Ran: ...]
[Pei Ran: I was busy with something else and forgot to close the chat.]
[Yan Zhun: Busy with what]
[Pei Ran: ...Something personal.]
After sending that, Pei Ran placed his phone facedown on the desk.
Then he got up, returned to the sink, and continued washing Yan Zhun's cap.
In late autumn, the rain fell on and off for two days.
After his roommate moved out, the dorm was quieter than before, and even drawing felt much smoother to Pei Ran.
He had only drawn a couple of strokes when his phone rang.
"Ran, baby, what are you doing?" It was Lin Xuhuan. For once, there was no clatter of keys on his end.
"Drawing," Pei Ran said. "What is it?"
"Drawing? Drawing me?" Lin Xuhuan's voice grew louder. "Hurry up and send it over!"
"I've only done a few strokes. It hasn't really taken shape yet." Pei Ran asked again, "Did you need something?"
Lin Xuhuan didn't answer immediately. There seemed to be someone else beside him, and Pei Ran heard his voice grow more distant. "Bro, sounds like Ran baby's drawing me. That takes concentration. Maybe we should leave him alone?"
Pei Ran instantly knew who was beside him.
His grip on his phone tightened a little. By the time he realized it, he had already put down his brush, switched off speakerphone, and pressed the phone to his ear.
Lin Xuhuan soon came back. "Nothing much... We were talking about going to your school's basketball court to play today. Come join us."
After Lin Xuhuan hung up, the person sitting by the sofa asked, "What did he say?"
"Of course he said yes." Lin Xuhuan was puzzled. "Why didn't you ask him yourself? Why did you insist I call?"
What other reason could there be?
Of course it was because he was worried Pei Ran wouldn't come.
Lin Xuhuan had helped Pei Ran before. If he asked, Pei Ran wouldn't refuse to come.
Yan Zhun stood, casually patted Lin Xuhuan's shoulder, and drawled, "Train your troops for a thousand days."
With the recent rain leaving the ground wet everywhere, everyone playing basketball had moved into the gym.
It was Saturday, and most people had gone out to have fun. There weren't many people on the courts, so they didn't even need to claim a spot.
When Pei Ran arrived at the gym, he happened to see Yan Zhun leap effortlessly and make a midrange shot. One corner of his jersey lifted, revealing firm abs covered in a thin sheen of sweat.
"Ran, baby." Lin Xuhuan was already panting hard after playing for a little while. "What took you so long? Come on, let's play three-on-three."
Pei Ran hadn't expected a game. He paused, even stopping halfway through taking off his jacket. "I'm not very good..."
"It's fine. We all suck. At least you take part in sports meets. We're usually too lazy even to walk. You can just make up the numbers," Lin Xuhuan said.
Pei Ran hesitated. Just as he was about to nod, someone grabbed his half-removed jacket and tugged it up, putting it back on him.
"He's not playing." Yan Zhun stood behind him, his breathing slightly labored, his voice as low as ever. "His leg's injured."
Pei Ran's shoulders stiffened. His jacket hung a little loosely, but he didn't reach up to adjust it.
"Oh, right." Lin Xuhuan blanked for a moment, then blurted out, "If you knew he couldn't play, why did you ask me to invite him?"
"Never mind that. Go play. Don't slack off," Yan Zhun said.
Lin Xuhuan didn't notice anything amiss at all. "Oh. Hurry up and join us, then."
Only the two of them remained.
Pei Ran steadied his breathing before slowly turning around.
They had already been playing for a while. Sweat had clumped together the hair over Yan Zhun's forehead, beneath which was a pair of dark eyes.
Perhaps it was because he had been exercising, but Yan Zhun looked much more vivid than usual, with sweat beneath his eyes as well.
Male hormones filled the air.
Pei Ran took the baseball cap out of his coat pocket. The cramped space had left it a little wrinkled, but fortunately, the brim had stuck out and hadn't lost much of its shape.
He smoothed out the wrinkles and held it out to Yan Zhun. "Here. Thank you."
Yan Zhun caught a faint fragrance. "You washed it for me?"
Of course he had to wash something he had borrowed before returning it after getting it wet in the rain, but somehow, Yan Zhun's question sounded strange to him.
"Yeah. It should be clean now," Pei Ran said.
The others called from across the court, urging him to hurry. Yan Zhun gave an offhand response, then said, "Hold on to it for me."
The basketball was hitting the floor too loudly, and Pei Ran hadn't heard him clearly. "Hm?"
"Hold it for me for a bit," Yan Zhun said. "My hands are dirty, and I stink. I'll get it dirty."
He was talking about the cap, but his eyes stayed on Pei Ran.
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