Song Yu had no familiarity with the layout of this place at all. He called the police as he ran.
He was panting for breath.
"Hello, is this the police?"
"A bunch of delinquent youths are ganging up on a poor high school student over on Lianyun Street. Is anyone going to do something about it?"
These delinquents with their knives and clubs deserved a baptism in socialism. Let the police stamp out violence and protect the innocent.
The officer thought this sounded a little familiar. "Young man..." Weren't you the one who called about getting beaten up last time, too?
But Song Yu had already hung up.
There were plenty of alleys around Lianyun Street. The moonlight was hazy and the stars dim, the streetlights casting long shadows.
Song Yu twisted and turned through them, finally running himself into a dead end.
"Fuck."
All their winding turns had put considerable distance between them and the thugs for now, but this alley was deep and connected to the main street. Going back the way they had come was too dangerous.
Song Yu looked to the side and spotted a trash can, then looked up to gauge the wall's height. Gritting his teeth, he pointed up. "Let's climb over."
Xie Sui tilted his head, looking at him seriously with dark eyes. "Are you sure?"
Song Yu was already pushing him. "Get up there."
The trash can was plastic, so Song Yu only dared step on its edges. Even then, he needed Xie Sui's help to climb onto the wall.
Once he was sitting on top, Song Yu turned to look behind him and swore into the night. "Holy fuck."
Behind the wall was someone's yard. The fence inside had sharp points and shards of broken glass, and even if he jumped, he would land in thorny bushes. Not to mention there was a sleeping dog.
Song Yu: "..."
Fuck, I'm scared of dogs.
By then, Xie Sui had already seated himself beside him with remarkable ease.
Up on the wall, the wind, moonlight, and streetlights all felt different.
With their view stretching farther, the whole night seemed quieter. Song Yu had eaten who knew how many mints along the way, leaving even the wind carrying their scent, cool and sweet with a faint bite.
Xie Sui followed his gaze behind them and asked with a quiet laugh, "What now?"
After acting so cocky for so long, Song Yu fell sullenly silent for the first time.
"Found them!"
"Over here!"
The thugs caught up just then, blocking the entrance to the dead end. Seeing the two of them stranded atop the wall, they burst into wild laughter.
"So this is where you are, brat!"
"Hahahaha! You've backed yourselves into a corner!"
Song Yu wasn't afraid to take them head-on. He had studied martial arts for years in his previous life and had been the school bully ever since he was little. He wasn't intimidated in the slightest.
But they had knives and clubs, and if he got hurt, he would have trouble explaining it to his grandmother. If Grandma Meng got serious and dug into what had happened, he could forget about seeing Xie Sui again.
Red Hair spat, slung his nunchucks over his shoulder, and swaggered forward. "Sitting on that wall makes you a sitting duck. You were so cocky yesterday, brat. Today, I'll have you crying on your knees!"
Behind him, Green Hair posed a rather dim-witted question. "But boss, what do we do if they won't come down?"
Red Hair smacked him and cursed furiously.
"Are you a fucking idiot? Why do we need them to come down? Throw whatever you have! Aim for their faces!"
Only then did his lackeys meekly obey.
Hearing that, Song Yu couldn't stand it anymore. With a cold laugh, he made to jump off the wall.
Then he looked down-holy fuck! I accidentally kicked the trash can over.
Song Yu was already a little afraid of heights, and now his head spun for a second.
...At this height, won't I break my legs if I jump?
Seeing his pale face, Red Hair laughed even more wildly. "Go on, keep acting cocky! Today, I'll show you who's daddy on this street, from the south end of town to the north!"
Having enjoyed the whole succession of expressions on Song Yu's face, Xie Sui held back his laughter and asked, "Which way are we going?"
Song Yu's principle in life had always been that even if he lost, he wouldn't lose face. Rolling up his sleeves, he said coldly, "Down there to kick their asses. That's all."
Xie Sui was genuinely amused by this kid.
He held him in place and smiled. "Forget it. You handled it last time. This time, let me."
Song Yu froze and looked up at him.
The stars above the city were dim, making the yellow streetlights stand out all the more. The boy's eyes held a smile, their inner corners dipping and outer corners lifting with a unique charm. Composed and elegant.
"Don't do anything stupid."
Before Song Yu could finish, Xie Sui had already jumped effortlessly off the wall, even landing in an exceptionally cool pose.
Red Hair was stunned, then gritted his teeth. "You came down here to die?!"
Xie Sui smiled. "I came down to be your daddy."
"..."
With his fingers pressed against the wall, Song Yu's mouth fell open in fright.
Isn't this protagonist a little different?
Red Hair, Green Hair, Purple Hair, Yellow Hair, and the rest instantly exploded.
"Xie Sui! Having fun playing the hero?! I'll teach you to show off! This time, I'm breaking your legs!"
They shouted about breaking his legs.
But sitting atop the wall, Song Yu saw Xie Sui strike cleanly, without the slightest wasted motion.
Snatching a steel pipe, he doubled two thugs over with blows to their waists. He moved with ease, grabbing Red Hair by the hair and slamming his head against the wall. Every blow used all his strength, leaving blood seeping across the wall.
Soon, cries of pain rang through the deep alley without pause. The thugs had brought knives, and Xie Sui bled too, blood splashing onto his white shirt. But his face remained expressionless throughout, as though those wounds weren't on his body.
Beneath his messy black fringe, the viciousness in his eyes was frightening. He wrested a knife from someone's hand and drove it straight through that man's palm. Blood gushed out, splattering the boy's finely sculpted features.
He bent down and scoffed, his voice carrying a playful danger. "Let me teach you what drawing blood means."
Song Yu sat on the wall, dumbstruck. "Fuck!"
What a beast.
Wounded thugs lay all over the ground at his feet.
Song Yu's voice brought Xie Sui back to his senses.
He lowered his eyes and reined in his emotions.
The police would arrive soon. He couldn't strike to kill.
The summer night's breeze turned cool.
Xie Sui dropped the small knife in his hand onto the ground, raised a hand to wipe the blood from his face, and walked beneath the wall, looking up.
One was atop the wall and the other below, one looking up and the other looking down.
"Do you want to come down?"
He asked softly, that ruthlessness from moments ago seemingly gone in an instant.
The boy in the white shirt stood at the mouth of the deep alley, faintly cool moonlight flowing over his finely sculpted face. His eyes were dark and earnest. Clean and gentle.
Song Yu came back to himself, feeling so fucking conflicted.
Seeing the way Xie Sui had just fought, he remembered what Ma Xiaoding had once said about him risking his life working for thugs outside school.
His heart instantly ached terribly-what kind of fighting was that? It was like he didn't care whether he lived.
Quiet nights made people sentimental, but Song Yu's sentimentality didn't last a second.
Because the moment he looked down, he discovered the same problem still staring him in the face.
The trash can had fallen over. How was he supposed to get down? He couldn't exactly make Xie Sui pick it up out of the garbage.
"I... can't really get down."
He had a slight fear of heights. Why was every unlucky thing happening to him today?
Xie Sui paused, then belatedly realized the problem too, and smiled.
"Jump down. I'll catch you."
He was, after all, the universally adored protagonist shou of Gentle Control. When he smiled, even the starlight and moonlight softened.
Song Yu looked down, a hint of hesitation in his eyes, but finally gave a solemn nod.
"Then make sure you catch me."
Xie Sui smiled, his tone carrying a tenderness even he couldn't describe. "Okay."
Song Yu gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and jumped off the wall.
Just then, police sirens sounded on the street.
Headlights shone into the deep alley.
In the dazzling light, Song Yu landed in an embrace that still carried a faint scent of blood. He wrapped his arms around Xie Sui's shoulders to cushion his landing before standing firmly on the ground.
But for Xie Sui.
The instant Song Yu jumped felt more like a sky full of stars falling. Landing in his arms, a mint-scented breeze.
In the height of summer in Jing City, a mint-scented embrace.