Extra 1

High school extra. Proceed with caution.

The summer heat blazed, cicadas screeched, and the fan hummed overhead, blowing down air that carried its own heat.

The shrill bell broke through the stifling atmosphere. Only when the teacher left did the classroom finally come to life.

Yan Zhun closed his textbook and took his phone out of his desk to reply to Lin Xuhuan. He had only typed two characters when the boy in front turned around, picking up their discussion from the previous break.

"If you skip this game, we won't have any more class matches once we're seniors. Think it through," the boy said.

Yan Zhun looked down at his messages. It was so hot that even his tone was languid. "I can't play."

"Come on," the boy said. "We barely have anyone good at basketball in our class as it is. How about this? If we win the game the day after tomorrow, I'll get you breakfast for half a month!"

Breakfast didn't cost much, but the school cafeteria was such an ordeal in summer that only the kids dating in high school were willing to squeeze through the crowds and work up a sweat for each other.

Yan Zhun tossed his phone back into his desk and rested his right hand on the tabletop, explaining flatly, "Hurt my wrist. I really can't play."

Something had struck his wrist a couple of days ago. It wasn't serious, but it still ached when he moved it.

"...All right." The boy sighed helplessly. "We'll find someone else, then."

Yan Zhun gave a quiet "Mm," shoved all his textbooks into his desk, and put his head down to sleep.

In weather like this, he was destined to do no more than rest his eyes. The two boys in front kept talking, every word reaching him clearly.

"Which class are we playing first?"

"Class Three."

"Shit, Class Three's good at basketball. They have that guy called... Luo something."

"Luo Qingshan. The one with the buzz cut."

"That's him. I heard he got into a fight with a guy from the class next door in our first year. He won't play dirty, will he?"

"No. I've played with him. He plays really aggressively, though. I wouldn't dare guard him."

At that, the boy paused for a couple of seconds, then lowered his voice conspiratorially. "But I do know something."

"What?"

"I think he's gay."

"..."

"With a guy in his class. That guy won some art competition representing the school last time. The principal spent ages praising him at the flag-raising ceremony. His name's Pei Ran."

"...That's disgusting. Is it true?"

"It's true! I saw them holding hands on the second floor of the school library last Wednesday. They held hands for ages... It's not that bad, is it? I didn't actually find it disgusting when I saw them."

"Whoa, don't tell me you swing that way too..."

Knock, knock.

The dull tapping interrupted their conversation.

Both boys froze, then turned around together.

Yan Zhun raised his head slightly, his arm hiding everything but his eyes. Perhaps from tiredness, his eyelids were half lowered, and he seemed to be in a much worse mood than before.

The boy in front thought they had been too loud and woken him. He instinctively started to apologize.

Yan Zhun asked, "When's the game?"

The boy blinked. "Huh?"

"Aren't we playing a class match?"

"Right..." The boy finally caught on. "Four in the afternoon the day after tomorrow, on the school basketball court... You're coming? Isn't your wrist hurt?"

"It should be mostly healed by then." With that, Yan Zhun looked at the other boy, his voice adding a chill to the sweltering classroom. "I'm trying to sleep. Can you keep it down?"

After Yan Zhun put his head back down, the two boys in front exchanged looks for a while, then both shut their mouths.

The school's officially organized grade tournament was a much bigger affair than their usual casual games.

In thirty-eight-degree heat, the boys warmed up in their basketball uniforms, while classmates from both classes crowded the sidelines to cheer them on.

Their PE teacher was the referee. At a blast of his whistle, all the players took the court.

Nearly everyone's eyes were focused on the same spot.

In a loose jersey, Luo Qingshan looked at the person standing in front of him. "Hey, you're Yan Zhun, right? I think this is our first time playing together?"

Yan Zhun gave an "Mm" and looked down, rotating his wrist.

Luo Qingshan said, "I'm not great at holding back when I play. Don't take it personally if I bump into you and it hurts. If you really can't handle it, get your sub on."

Yan Zhun finally glanced at him. "Same goes for you."

Luo Qingshan had heard of Yan Zhun before and had seen him around, but only when they actually stood face-to-face did he realize Yan Zhun was even a little taller than him.

But it didn't matter. With shut-in gamers like him, one or two might look all right, but they were hopeless at actual sports.

-that idea began to crumble five minutes into the game.

When Yan Zhun drove past him to score yet again, the others on Luo Qingshan's team called a timeout.

The two teams' rest areas were close together. Yan Zhun casually wiped off his sweat and heard teasing from beside him.

"What's up with you? Yan Zhun's gotten past you so many times. No motivation without Pei Ran here?"

Breathing hard, Luo Qingshan took the water a girl handed him and gulped down a large mouthful, taking the excuse offered. "Yeah. Why hasn't his teacher let him go yet? Taking forever."

After the timeout, the players returned to their positions.

Luo Qingshan had only just taken his place when someone patted his shoulder. "Pei Ran's here. Play properly. If you can't shoot, pass to me."

Yan Zhun raised a hand to wipe the sweat from his chin and looked toward the opposing spectators without giving anything away.

The blazing sun hung high overhead. No amount of enthusiasm could withstand the scorching weather.

The girls all held either little electric fans or hand fans, their black hair blown into disarray; none of the boys bothered with appearances, either rolling their pant legs up to their knees or baring their stomachs.

Pei Ran stood in the crowd with his backpack in his arms, his clothes neat, looking clean and fresh as he quietly watched Luo Qingshan.

His expression was much calmer than those around him. He looked a little aloof, and a little well-behaved.

Luo Qingshan was about to blow Pei Ran a kiss when the whistle sounded. He quickly started moving, saying with a grin, "Come on, man, my wife's here. Go easy on me. I'll treat you to a smoke later."

Play resumed so quickly that at first, he wasn't sure whether Yan Zhun had heard him.

Only when Yan Zhun stepped up his game without a change in expression and scored ten points right in his face did Luo Qingshan think resentfully that the guy definitely had hearing problems.

"Yan Zhun, that's enough. We're almost twenty points ahead." Hearing Yan Zhun's heavy breathing as he passed, the boy who sat in front of him couldn't help saying, "Isn't your wrist hurting? Why are you playing so hard? Why don't you rest and we'll put a sub on? There are only a few minutes left anyway."

Yan Zhun said, "I can play."

No one had expected this score. Toward the end, Luo Qingshan's class had pretty much given up.

When the final whistle sounded, Yan Zhun stopped running and casually lifted the hem of his shirt to wipe the sweat from his lashes.

The girls weren't talking loudly enough for Yan Zhun to hear, but Pei Ran, standing in the crowd, heard them clearly.

"That guy from Class Eight is so handsome. He's amazing at basketball too."

"You only just noticed? Back in our first year, loads of older girls came to his classroom to see him. A girl in our class even wrote him a love letter..."

"Ah! Who wrote him one? What's his name?"

"I think it's Yan..."

"Hey-Class Three, get out of the way!" A shout from a distance cut off their conversation.

The girls looked up at the sound and saw a basketball hurtling straight toward them-a student from the other class had gotten so excited about winning that he had decided on impulse to attempt a long-range three-pointer.

But his throw had gone so wide that it missed even the backboard and flew straight at the spectators' faces.

The ball was heading toward Pei Ran. There were spectators behind him and girls waiting to give the players water in front of him. There was no time to dodge.

Pei Ran raised his hands to block it, only to hear a dull thud as a boy arrived just in time to intercept the ball.

The basketball struck his wrist hard, then dropped and rolled onto the ground. Yan Zhun frowned, enduring the discomfort in his wrist as he bent to pick it up and tossed it back onto the court.

The people in front of Pei Ran had already moved aside. The Class Eight boy the girls had spent so long discussing stood before him with his back turned. He could even hear the boy's low, rapid breathing.

Pei Ran slowly lowered his hands. He was just about to say "Thank you" when Luo Qingshan arrived and blocked his view completely.

Luo Qingshan squeezed between them, panting from exhaustion, and took the water from Pei Ran's hand, twisting it open and drinking. Afterward, he turned around and said, "If you can't shoot threes, don't! You fucking almost hit someone!"

The student was so frightened that he apologized over and over.

Luo Qingshan said, "If you'd hit him, you'd have answered to me!"

Pei Ran called his name. "Don't be like that. It was just a mistake, and it didn't hit anyone."

Luo Qingshan said a couple more things before letting it go, then pulled Pei Ran by the hand over to a bench to rest.

After chatting with his classmates for a bit, Luo Qingshan turned to see Pei Ran open his backpack and take out an unopened bottle of water.

Pei Ran had only taken two steps when Luo Qingshan caught his clothes.

"Where are you going, baby?"

At the word "baby," the others looked over a little awkwardly. Pei Ran lowered his eyes and explained, "The student from Class Eight blocked the ball for me. I'm taking him some water to thank him."

Luo Qingshan tightened his grip, his eyes widening. "He just beat your boyfriend, and you're taking him water? No."

"..."

"Besides, good thing I got there so fast, or he would've crashed right into you."

No, he wouldn't. He stopped perfectly steadily, Pei Ran thought.

When he stayed silent, Luo Qingshan simply took the water from his hand, opened it, and drank a rough gulp before smiling. "Now I've drunk from it, you can't give it away... Come on, shall we go to that Japanese place next door?"

Before leaving the court, Pei Ran glanced back.

The boy hadn't joined Class Eight's celebrations. He still stood beneath the backboard, silently wiping his sweat with his head lowered, seemingly without the slightest joy at winning. The setting sun spread gently over the ground, stretching his shadow long, long behind him.

Later, when they were in college and Luo Qingshan discovered that Yan Zhun was his roommate, he couldn't help bringing up that basketball game.

"My leg wasn't feeling right that day. Otherwise, you guys definitely would've lost. If you don't believe me, play me again sometime."

Yan Zhun said, "Oh."

"Right, you blocked a ball for my baby that time too..." At that, Luo Qingshan coughed twice. "I don't know if you remember him. Pei Ran, from my old class. He's my boyfriend."

Yan Zhun paused. "I remember."

Luo Qingshan didn't notice those few seconds of silence. "Just giving you a heads-up. If he comes to the dorm to see me, don't mind too much. He actually came by a few days ago. You were gaming with your headphones on, and when he saw you were here, he felt awkward about coming in."

"Did he?" Yan Zhun said. "He can come in next time. I don't mind."

With his roommate's approval, Luo Qingshan invited Pei Ran over to their room that afternoon.

When Pei Ran arrived, Yan Zhun was smoking on the balcony.

Leaning against the wall, he looked down at a match with only one earbud in. Hearing footsteps, he instinctively glanced up and met Pei Ran's eyes.

Pei Ran froze for a moment, then gave him a distant but polite nod.

Yan Zhun quickly recovered and nodded back expressionlessly, then turned to stub out his cigarette and threw it into the nearby trash can.

He heard Pei Ran push open their dorm room door, then gently close it.

From inside, Luo Qingshan called, "Baby." Yan Zhun stared at the extinguished cigarette butt in the trash for a while, then took out his pack and drew out another cigarette. He put it between his lips, lit it, and turned to head downstairs.

He didn't remember me, Yan Zhun thought.