Chapter 36

Although TZG's two assault players were usually easygoing, losing the match and having something like this happen to their teammate inevitably affected their mood. After exchanging a few casual words with Pei Ran, they went back to lying there in silence.

Pei Ran sat on the sofa, using his phone.

He had never been much of a talker. When no one spoke, neither did he. Sitting there doing nothing felt awkward, so he found something to occupy himself.

Two TZG-related topics were trending. Pei Ran tapped into them and read for a while, liking a few fairly worded Weibo posts.

His phone suddenly vibrated twice.

[Lin Kang: Pei Ran, got a minute?]

[Pei Ran: What's up?]

[Lin Kang: There's a post I want to show you. My girlfriend insisted I forward it to you...]

[Lin Kang: [Mancheng University Forum-Exposé-Su Nian from Mancheng University's Electronic Information department hooks up with my boyfriend every weekend. Pictures included.]]

[Lin Kang: She also told me to pass on a message... "May the cheating scumbag get hit by a car today and the homewrecker drop dead tomorrow. Don't waste your tears on those two bastards."]

[Pei Ran: ...]

Pei Ran had initially assumed "pictures included" meant screenshots of chats or something.

He had never expected a photo of Su Nian naked, with only his lower body covered by a blanket. A careless swipe of mosaic obscured his eyes, but anyone could tell at a glance that it was Su Nian. From the looks of it, he had been caught in bed.

After seeing the photo, Pei Ran lost interest and closed it.

Yan Zhun came out of the review room. Hearing him, Lin Xuhuan immediately opened his eyes, tilted his head back, and stubbornly asked again, "Bro, want to play a couple rounds?"

"No." Just as Yan Zhun finished speaking, a door opened upstairs. They all looked up at once.

Brother Wei walked out of his room holding a cup and raised an eyebrow. "What are you all looking at me for? Zhun, you're here?"

Brother Wei was the oldest player on the team, nearly twenty-five. Only he and the coach called Yan Zhun that.

Yan Zhun hummed in acknowledgment. "Making coffee?"

"No, getting some water." Brother Wei sounded more relaxed than the others. He headed downstairs toward the kitchenette. "Got time for a quick chat?"

Neither of them talked much, and a quick chat really was quick. Before Lin Xuhuan even had a chance to pry into what they were discussing, Yan Zhun came out of the kitchenette.

Lin Xuhuan asked, "Bro, you're really not playing? I'm sick of duos and solos."

"No." Yan Zhun walked over to Pei Ran and picked up his backpack with one hand. "We're heading upstairs."

TZG was one of the country's top teams, one that every trainee and rookie fought tooth and nail to join. The PUBG division's base alone was a large five-story villa. Computer components filled an entire storage room, and it had everything from a gym and movie room to a billiards room.

Yan Zhun's room was right next to Lin Xuhuan's. It was the same size and had the same furnishings as the players' rooms, complete with a private bathroom, a television, and a computer.

The window in Yan Zhun's room was open, and the night breeze sent waves through the curtains. The black cap he often wore had been casually hung on a chair. His bedding had been tidied haphazardly, but it did not look too messy.

Everything was clean, without any particular smell, yet Pei Ran felt that Yan Zhun's presence filled every corner.

Yan Zhun put the backpack on the chair and turned to ask, "Are you still going back tonight?"

Pei Ran opened his mouth, then froze.

Several seconds passed before he said, "Would it... be inconvenient if I stayed?"

"No," Yan Zhun said. "The bed's big."

Pei Ran said, "..."

Yan Zhun checked the time. "It's late. I'm worried the dorm supervisor won't open the door for you if you go back."

Pei Ran felt he might have been reading too much into it. Yan Zhun looked perfectly natural, as though he were simply inviting a good friend to stay the night.

So he nodded as naturally as he could, too. "...Okay, then."

They had eaten dinner at a Sichuan restaurant, and the smell had clung to their clothes. Yan Zhun gave Pei Ran a set of loungewear he often wore. He had bought it for its loose, comfortable fit, and it was even looser on Pei Ran. The neckline hung askew, exposing a broad expanse of skin, dazzlingly pale beneath the light.

Yan Zhun really had not thought much of asking him to stay, but when Pei Ran came out of the bathroom wearing his clothes, every thought, good and bad, came rushing out.

Yan Zhun asked, "Are the clothes too big?"

Pei Ran stood sideways, his elbow bent as he dried the ends of his hair with a towel. "A little, but they're really comfortable."

The T-shirt's sleeves hung so loosely that one could see straight inside.

Yan Zhun glanced over inadvertently, then abruptly stood and grabbed a change of clothes at random. "I'm going to shower."

The bathroom had just been used and was full of steam. Yan Zhun stood beneath the shower with his eyes closed for a while, then raised a hand and turned the water temperature down a little.

When he came out, Pei Ran was lying on his side on the right half of the bed, his eyes closed. Yan Zhun had no idea when he had fallen asleep.

Yan Zhun let out a long breath. He slowed his steps as he approached and pulled a corner of the blanket over Pei Ran's stomach. The heating was on, so the room was not cold. Any more covers would make him hot.

Out of habit, Yan Zhun had washed his hair in the shower, but now he could not use the hair dryer. His phone chimed with a message from the coach, saying the physiotherapists the team had arranged were on their way and asking whether he wanted them to work on his hands while they were there.

Yan Zhun replied, "No need," opened a drawer, and took out an unopened pack of cigarettes. He planned to let the breeze dry his hair on the balcony, turning off the room's lights before going out.

The night breeze cleared his head considerably.

Yan Zhun had not touched a cigarette in a long time. He took one drag, then held it between his fingers without smoking any more. Leaning against the railing, he gazed down at the streetlight below, lost in thought.

Brother Wei had not actually said much in the kitchenette.

He had said that he got into esports at fifteen, playing CS before moving to PUBG. Rounding up, he had been playing for nearly ten years. In those ten years, he had been praised and cursed, hit rock bottom and reached the summit. He had no regrets. He was satisfied.

Then he had asked Yan Zhun, "What about you?"

"Are you satisfied?"

By the time the cigarette had almost burned to the end, Yan Zhun had still only taken that one drag.

He lit another.

When Pei Ran opened his eyes, he happened to catch sight of the glow on the balcony.

He did not even know how he had fallen asleep. Perhaps it was because he had stayed up too late drawing the night before and then attended classes all day. He had nearly fallen asleep in the living room earlier.

As his awareness returned, Pei Ran pushed aside the blanket and got out of bed.

Barefoot, he made no sound. Only when he opened the balcony door did Yan Zhun turn around. At the sight of him, Yan Zhun raised his eyebrows and stubbed out his cigarette.

Thinking he had woken him, Yan Zhun asked, "Did the smoke drift inside?"

"No," Pei Ran said. "Why are you standing out here? Was I... taking up the whole bed?"

Yan Zhun smiled a little. "No. I came out for some air."

Pei Ran glanced at his hair. "With wet hair?"

"Yeah, letting the wind style it." Yan Zhun moved the ashtray farther away. "Go inside first. It's cold out here."

"What about you?"

"I'm waiting for the smell of smoke to clear."

Pei Ran did dislike cigarette smoke. People who did not smoke generally did not want to breathe secondhand smoke.

But perhaps Yan Zhun smoked a particularly unusual brand, because Pei Ran did not find it all that unpleasant. Mingling with the night breeze, the smoke seemed to become another scent altogether.

He stepped out onto the balcony and pulled the door shut behind him.

Yan Zhun paused, then looked down and saw his bare feet against the dark balcony floor.

"You didn't even put on shoes?"

"It was too dark. I couldn't find them," Pei Ran said.

Yan Zhun slipped off his slippers. "Step into these."

Pei Ran obediently stepped into them. Suddenly remembering how Yan Zhun had once compared their shoe sizes, he could not resist taking two steps forward and extending one bare foot to compare it with his.

With the sides of their feet pressed together, Pei Ran studied them carefully for a while. "Your feet aren't that much bigger than mine."

As soon as Pei Ran drew close, Yan Zhun caught his scent. It was his own body wash, made stronger by the time Pei Ran had spent under the covers.

Yan Zhun lowered his head and saw a broad expanse of pale collarbone.

Yan Zhun looked away, then looked back. Pei Ran was still studying the sizes of their feet. After this happened several times, Yan Zhun rested an elbow on the railing and teased him. "You look like you're trying to seduce me."

Pei Ran paused and looked up at him.

Yan Zhun's features were hidden in the darkness. Without a smile, he looked distant, and there seemed to be a crescent moon in his lowered eyes.

Pei Ran had only just woken up and had no energy to think. They were standing so close, too. After a moment of silence, he said, "Can't I?"

For a moment, Yan Zhun could not tell whether he was asking deliberately or was genuinely puzzled.

But it did not matter.

"Pei Ran." After a long while, Yan Zhun said his name, his voice low and deep. "Come closer."

Pei Ran shuffled forward until they were almost touching.

As though coaxing him, Yan Zhun said, "Kiss me."

Pei Ran was glad it was dark enough that no one could see his flushed cheeks. Suppressing the heartbeat in his throat, he gave a very composed "Mm," then tilted his head up and kissed beside the corner of Yan Zhun's mouth in the dark.

He smelled cigarette smoke, faint and a little enticing.

In the darkness, Pei Ran searched for his lips.

-Whoosh!

The sharp sound of a sliding door rudely shattered the intimate atmosphere.

Both of them froze. Only after several seconds did they draw apart and turn toward the sound together.

Every room at TZG had a separate balcony, with only a short gap between them. It was easy to talk across that distance.

Lin Xuhuan stood on the neighboring balcony, bare-chested, a bath towel tied loosely around his waist. Holding a pair of red underwear on a hanger, he remained frozen in the act of hanging it up, staring at them, dumbstruck.

Deep in the damp night, his red underwear trembled in the cold wind.

For a moment, no one spoke or made any other move.

Yan Zhun recovered first. He raised a hand and covered Pei Ran's eyes.

Lin Xuhuan: "?"

When he did not move, Yan Zhun asked coolly, "What, planning to hold those until they air-dry?"

"..." Trembling, Lin Xuhuan hung up his underwear.

The underwear was hung up, but he was still standing there. The two of them stared at each other a little longer.

Yan Zhun asked, "Enjoying the view?"

Lin Xuhuan finally found his voice. "...No!"

Yan Zhun said, "Go inside."

Lin Xuhuan said, "You got it, bro."