Chapter 4

Fu Yuhe started downstairs, and an unfamiliar voice suddenly came from below.

"Ah... I get it now. Thanks, Fu Cheng."

Fu Cheng was alone in the living room. The voice came from his phone, warmly familiar despite being a stranger, with a slightly husky magnetism and the drowsiness of someone not quite awake. The drawn-out ending of the sentence was like a hook, making one's heart itch.

"A friend?"

Fu Cheng had been focused on typing a reply and jumped at the sudden voice. He turned to see Fu Yuhe, who had come downstairs at some point. As Fu Yuhe passed him, he replied, "Yeah."

"The congee's staying warm in the kitchen. There's soup too."

Like Fu Cheng, Shen Yi didn't live at school, but he lived alone off campus, which was convenient.

After that day, Shen Yi often sought Fu Cheng out with questions about his studies, drawing closer to him intentionally or otherwise. They ate together and often played together in PE class. They grew much closer, close enough to walk home from school together. Friendships between high school boys formed quickly and were pure.

The sun had set, dyeing half the sky red and stretching the shadows long. School was over, and students streamed in and out of the gates.

"There's no school tomorrow. Want to go to the library together?" Shen Yi slung his schoolbag over his shoulder and turned slightly to ask Fu Cheng, who was beside him.

"I need to buy some study materials," Fu Cheng said.

Shen Yi said, "Then let's go together."

Fu Cheng nodded. "Sure."

They talked as they walked out. Shen Yi's eyes flickered, and he glanced back over his shoulder. Sure enough, he spotted Xu Fanchao and the boys from the restroom that time in the crowd.

They were tall, and even in school uniforms, they were easy to spot in the crowd.

Xu Fanchao met his eyes and waved his phone. Shen Yi's phone vibrated twice in his pocket, and he took it out.

[Xu Fanchao: Answer my fucking messages. What's with ignoring me these past few days?]

[Xu Fanchao: If you don't want to hang out with me, just say so.]

[Xu Fanchao: What's with you getting so close to that pretty boy?]

Shen Yi slipped his phone into his pocket without a change in expression. "Fu Cheng, you go on fir..."

Someone cut him off before he could finish.

"Shen Yi!" Xu Fanchao came up from behind them. He had obviously seen Shen Yi put his phone away. His eyes were full of hostility as he strode up to Shen Yi and grabbed him by the collar. "You fucking...!"

Startled by the person who had suddenly appeared, Fu Cheng took half a step back.

Xu Fanchao was tall, but standing next to him, it became clear that Shen Yi was no shorter. Xu Fanchao was radiating displeasure from head to toe.

"What is it?" The smile vanished from Shen Yi's lips. He looked at Xu Fanchao through lowered eyes, looking even less approachable than Xu Fanchao.

A chill ran down Xu Fanchao's spine for a moment. Then he came to his senses and said darkly through gritted teeth, "When I message you, fucking answer me!"

They had already walked some distance from the school gates, but the group of tall boys still drew sidelong glances from passersby.

Shen Yi said, "I thought I'd made myself clear enough."

Xu Fanchao said, "What?"

Shen Yi said, "We're not the same kind of people."

Xu Fanchao sneered. "I really treated you like a brother, and what about you? You knew damn well I had a grudge against this pretty boy, but you fucking went and got close to him anyway. Fine. Real fucking fine!"

Shen Yi said nothing. Xu Fanchao pointed at Fu Cheng. "I'll give you a choice. If you leave with him today, this isn't over between us."

Shen Yi not only left with Fu Cheng, but also went home with him, though things had taken a few turns along the way.

"You live here? It's pretty big." Shen Yi followed Fu Cheng into the villa, and Fu Cheng got him a pair of slippers.

Both of them had some bruises on their faces. Shen Yi's weren't serious, but Fu Cheng looked considerably worse. He rarely invited classmates home, and belatedly, he felt a little excited and thrilled for the first time.

He went to the fridge for two cans of soda, then came back and handed one to Shen Yi.

The living room was decorated in a simple style. The floor tiles were so clean they reflected the light, and the leather sofa was soft. When Shen Yi sat down, the cushion sank beneath him.

"You should put some medicine on your face first." Shen Yi set his schoolbag aside.

Fu Cheng assented and turned to rummage through the medicine kit. "It's my first time getting into a fight with someone like that."

With a click, Shen Yi opened his can. He tilted his head back and took a sip, his Adam's apple bobbing. "How did it feel?"

"Great!" Fu Cheng beamed, a rare sight.

Xu Fanchao had come looking for trouble today with his anger barely suppressed. When Shen Yi refused to go along with him, it was only natural that his anger flared up. But Xu Fanchao's anger had all been directed at Shen Yi today, and Shen Yi hadn't expected Fu Cheng to swing his schoolbag and start fighting them.

Shen Yi knew Xu Fanchao and Fu Cheng had a grudge, but he didn't know the details. He only knew that Xu Fanchao disliked Fu Cheng and kept calling him a pretty boy.

The plot revolved around the protagonist and hadn't gone into detail about this episode. From the protagonist's perspective, it had only briefly mentioned that Fu Cheng had once been harassed by classmates.

Having fought together, the two seemed to have forged a revolutionary friendship. Fu Cheng was excited the whole time, much less reserved than usual. After getting the medicine kit, he wanted to put medicine on Shen Yi too.

Shen Yi had only scraped the corner of his mouth. He took a cotton swab and casually dabbed at it a couple of times.

While they were talking, the sound of the door opening came from the entrance, and their conversation stopped abruptly.

Shen Yi turned to look toward the entrance.

The sound of the door closing rang crisply through the suddenly quiet living room. A figure appeared at the entrance and paused where the shoes were changed, seemingly because he had seen an unfamiliar pair by the door. He looked up at the person on the sofa and met Shen Yi's clear, limpid eyes.