Chapter 3

Luo Qingshan had left without turning off his computer. When Pei Ran sat down, he glanced at it and saw PUBG still open on the taskbar.

Luo Qingshan had always had this bad habit of forgetting things. Back when they shared a dorm room in high school, he often went out without turning off the lights. Pei Ran clicked into the game, intending to shut down the computer for him.

Only when he opened the game did he discover that Luo Qingshan wasn't the only one idling in the matchmaking lobby.

Su Nian played a female character. Both characters wore the game's newly released clown outfits, standing silently on the screen.

"Do you want some water?"

Pei Ran instinctively let go of the mouse. He froze for half a second before turning around.

Yan Zhun had his back to him and was opening a game network accelerator. "Your lips are really dry."

Pei Ran pressed his lips together and licked them. He had forgotten to buy water before boarding, and his mouth was indeed a little dry.

He glanced at Luo Qingshan's cup. Although they had been dating for several years, he still wasn't used to drinking from cups other people had used. "No, thanks..."

"I have paper cups," Yan Zhun said. "Disposable ones."

Half a minute later, Pei Ran sat down beside Yan Zhun with a paper cup in his hands.

"I'm a little bored just sitting around. Can I watch you play?"

"Suit yourself," Yan Zhun said.

Yan Zhun was the same when gaming as he usually was: expressionless and silent. Over several rounds, Pei Ran never saw him turn on his in-game mic, though his teammates' microphone icons kept flashing.

When Yan Zhun killed a player on the ground while he was still descending, Pei Ran couldn't help saying, "You're really good."

Yan Zhun paused and looked at him in confusion. Just then, an enemy appeared by the wall around a corner. Pei Ran instinctively grabbed his clothes to warn him. "Someone on your right!"

By the time Yan Zhun looked back at the screen, he had already turned into a loot crate.

Pei Ran lowered his brows and let go. "Did I distract you?"

"No." Yan Zhun took off his headphones and returned to the matchmaking lobby. "I misheard the footsteps and got the position wrong."

Yan Zhun unplugged his headphones altogether, and Pei Ran heard the game's background audio.

Seeing him start another round, Pei Ran asked, "Can you hear footsteps without headphones?"

"Yeah. It's a low-skill lobby," Yan Zhun said. "I can't hear you clearly with them on."

Pei Ran blinked. "It's okay if you can't hear me."

Yan Zhun went quiet for two seconds. "What did you say to me just now?"

"Nothing much. Just that you're really good," Pei Ran said. "You were when we played together before, too... You could go pro."

Pei Ran meant it. He had watched two international PUBG tournaments with Luo Qingshan, and he thought many of the top players didn't play as elegantly as Yan Zhun.

Yan Zhun turned to glance at him. Less than two seconds later, he looked away, the corner of his mouth lifting.

"I'm not good enough. Couldn't do it," Yan Zhun said, half serious. "All I can do is stomp low-skill lobbies."

Pei Ran nodded. "Stomp me."

"You're not bad," Yan Zhun said seriously. "You just haven't played much, so you're not used to it yet. Aren't you good at League of Legends?"

Pei Ran was a little surprised. "Mm... How did you know?"

Yan Zhun fell silent for a while before saying, "I've seen you play with Luo Qingshan."

Toward the end of clearing Bootcamp, a girl on the team was killed. As usual, Yan Zhun silently wiped out all the enemies, then turned to revive the teammate beside him, dropping a first aid kit and painkillers for her while he was at it.

"Thanks, handsome," the girl thanked him. "Let's play together next round. I'll pay you back with three kits~"

Pei Ran waited a long time before he couldn't resist poking Yan Zhun's sleeve to remind him, "I think your teammate's talking to you."

"I know, but I don't want to queue with them," Yan Zhun said.

But his teammates didn't seem ready to give up. Pei Ran suspected they had a separate voice chat going in private; whenever they turned on their mics, they were talking to Yan Zhun.

"Come on, play with us. Number four's been clamoring for your WeChat." The tone was teasing.

Soon, a voice came from the other end. "You're so mean! Don't tell him..."

"Change your gender and I'll consider it," Yan Zhun said.

The other person didn't understand. "Huh?"

"I like men," Yan Zhun said as he reloaded.

Pei Ran: "..."

Even when the words "Winner winner chicken dinner" appeared, Pei Ran still hadn't quite recovered.

Had Yan Zhun just come out to him, without any warning?

The sound of the door opening interrupted Pei Ran's thoughts.

Luo Qingshan pushed the door open and entered. He wore a baseball cap, its brim partially covering his eyes. He shut the door and turned around, his expression freezing for an instant when his eyes met Pei Ran's.

Before Pei Ran could take a closer look, he had already composed himself.

"Babe." Luo Qingshan took off his cap. "Tired of waiting?"

Pei Ran stood up. "No. I was watching Yan Zhun play."

Luo Qingshan glanced at his roommate. Yan Zhun had started another round and didn't look at him at all.

But that was just how Yan Zhun was, and Luo Qingshan didn't mind. He slipped an arm around Pei Ran's waist and lowered his head to kiss him, only for Pei Ran to block him with his palm.

"You're all sweaty." After saying that, Pei Ran took a step back. "Go shower, then we can get something to eat?"

Luo Qingshan's lips turned down slightly. "Okay, I'll go. Wait for me."

While Luo Qingshan was showering, his phone suddenly chimed as it charged.

Pei Ran instinctively looked down.

[You have received a message]

Luo Qingshan had disabled message previews on his phone.

Pei Ran had played Tetris on Luo Qingshan's phone when he left campus a few days earlier. He remembered that setting hadn't been enabled then.

After showering, Luo Qingshan put his cap back on. "Let's go, babe."

As Pei Ran closed the door, he couldn't help glancing at the person playing.

Yan Zhun had put his headphones back on.

Pei Ran parted his lips. In the few seconds he hesitated, Luo Qingshan gently took his wrist.

"What are you spacing out for? Come on, there won't be any seats left."

The dorm room door closed. The character running across the screen abruptly stopped, and Yan Zhun turned his head, staring intently in the direction the two had left.

Luo Qingshan didn't return until very late.

When he came back, Yan Zhun was still gaming, brutally spraying an enemy dead with a barrage of bullets.

Luo Qingshan was talking to someone on the phone. "I just got back to the dorm... Dinner? We ate at that new restaurant next door. It wasn't good, really bland. We're not going back... I wasn't the one who logged out. Pei Ran probably saw my computer was on and shut it down for me."

After hanging up, Luo Qingshan climbed into bed and pulled the covers over his head, his mind full of what had happened that afternoon.

That afternoon, Su Nian had confessed to him.

Su Nian and Pei Ran were completely different types. When Su Nian confessed, his eyes had brimmed with tears and he had been on the verge of crying. Even his lips had been red.

"I thought you weren't coming back tonight."

Luo Qingshan hadn't expected Yan Zhun to speak to him. He froze, then pulled the covers away. "As if. The college is out in this lousy suburb, and Pei Ran thinks all the nearby hotels are dirty. He never agrees to stay."

Yan Zhun walked to the sink on the balcony without saying anything else.

But Luo Qingshan's mind was a little muddled, and he wanted someone to talk to. After Yan Zhun turned off the lights and got into bed, he finally couldn't resist rolling over.

"Yan Zhun, what did Pei Ran talk to you about today?"

"Nothing much."

"You didn't bad-mouth me, did you?"

"About what?"

"Oh, stuff like not washing my socks..." Luo Qingshan tucked one hand behind his head. "Tsk, don't all guys have that problem? It's mostly that Pei Ran's a bit of a clean freak."

"I didn't."

Luo Qingshan asked a lot of questions, and, surprisingly, Yan Zhun answered every one, though his answers were all brief.

"So who do you think is better, Pei Ran or Su Nian?"

The moment he said that, the room fell silent.

Only then did Luo Qingshan realize his tongue had slipped. He hurriedly said, "I was just asking..."

"Pei Ran."

"Huh?"

Yan Zhun closed his eyes in the darkness and repeated, "Pei Ran."

Irritation and a certain indescribable thrill tangled together in Luo Qingshan's heart. To him, Yan Zhun was a block of wood: bad with words, not fond of chatting, and certainly not someone who would gossip to others.

So he was far less guarded when he spoke.

"Right? Pei Ran's the best-looking guy I've ever seen in my life," Luo Qingshan murmured. "You never saw him in high school, wearing a white shirt. His face was beautiful, his hands were beautiful, even his neck was beautiful. Have you seen his legs? Long and straight. He took dance lessons as a kid, so he has a really beautiful figure."

"Mm."

Immersed in his own world, Luo Qingshan didn't notice the agreement in Yan Zhun's response.

"And he's really clean. Everything about him is clean... So when I found out he liked guys, I went after him without a second thought."

Pei Ran had been hard to win over, the kind who couldn't be coaxed into happiness no matter what. In the end, Luo Qingshan had beaten up the boy who went around spreading word about Pei Ran's sexuality, nearly getting himself killed, before finally winning him over.

A shrill ringtone interrupted Luo Qingshan.

Luo Qingshan abruptly came back to himself and answered. "Hello, Su Nian?"

His mind was still full of Pei Ran, and his tone was very cool at first. "I was just about to fall asleep. Let's leave it... What? Your foot's hurting again?"

After talking for a while, Luo Qingshan threw back the covers and got up. "I'll come over to your room and take a look. Open the door."

As Luo Qingshan opened the dorm room door, he heard the person behind him say coolly, "Going to treat a classmate's leg this late at night?"

Luo Qingshan laughed. "All right, stop teasing me. I'm going upstairs to his room to take a look. Leave the door unlocked for me."

After Luo Qingshan left, Yan Zhun got out of bed and took his cigarettes to the balcony.

In the darkness, Yan Zhun exhaled a cloud of smoke. It draped a white veil over the moon, making it look even more ethereal and distant.

A long while later, Yan Zhun stubbed out his cigarette.

He lowered his eyes, hiding the frustration and resentment surging within them.

"Fuck..."