During the evening study session, they received two sets of papers. The physics teacher used the first period to finish the day’s lesson, leaving only one period for self-study. If they couldn’t finish the papers, they had to take them home.

In front, Zuo Xiang had already finished one set and started on the second. Behind him, Chen Xiaoxin was comparing answers with his deskmate. Next to him, Zhong Qi had finished both sets and was resting his chin on his hand, watching Lin Shiyu, who was only on the third page of the first set.

Lin Shiyu said, “Don’t watch me.”

Zhong Qi replied, “I can’t use my phone during study hall, so I can only watch you.”

“Do your homework!”

“I don’t want to.”

Zhong Qi leaned over the desk, casually tapping Lin Shiyu’s paper with his pen. “You got this one wrong.”

Lin Shiyu pushed his hand away, but Zhong Qi annoyingly leaned in again. After several rounds of this, Lin Shiyu got angry and kicked Zhong Qi’s leg. Zhong Qi took the kicks and retaliated by pinching Lin Shiyu’s face. The commotion made the desks rattle, drawing attention from their classmates.

The physics teacher at the podium sighed. “This is study hall, settle down.”

Annoyed, Lin Shiyu threw Zhong Qi’s pen and notebook back at him and continued working on his paper.

As soon as the school bell rang, the hallway buzzed with activity. Gao Jie squeezed through the crowd to find Zhong Qi. “Brother Qi, can I borrow your phone to make a call? Mine is out of battery.”

Zhong Qi was packing his bag. He unlocked his phone and handed it to Gao Jie, who took one look and exclaimed, “Whoa, Brother Qi, who’s this on your wallpaper?”

Everyone nearby crowded around, curious about Zhong Qi’s phone wallpaper.

“Did you find it online? The lighting is really nice.”

“It looks like it was taken at home, but you can only see a silhouette, not the face. Who is this, Brother Qi?”

“Could it be a girlfriend?”

“But the chest is too flat—”

Lin Shiyu felt like something was off. He slung his backpack over his shoulder and took a closer look. Zhong Qi’s phone wallpaper was a photo with bright light casting a shadow of a person on a wall, and nothing else.

Lin Shiyu tilted his head, frowning as he tried to recall where he’d seen this before. The messy hair and lazy posture of the silhouette seemed familiar. After a moment, he remembered.

That day, he had woken up from a nap in Zhong Qi’s bed, groggy, and sat up. Sunlight streamed in through the window, making it hard for him to open his eyes. He heard a click and turned to see Zhong Qi standing there, lowering his phone.

“—What’s worth photographing?”

“You look good.”

Gao Jie scratched his head, puzzled by the photo. “Why does this silhouette look so familiar?”

Mao Silu blinked. “It looks a bit like Shi—”

Lin Shiyu slapped the phone out of Gao Jie’s hand, making him yelp. Lin Shiyu then snatched the phone, hastily handed his own phone to Gao Jie, and turned to glare at Zhong Qi.

Zhong Qi asked, “What?”

Lin Shiyu blushed and whispered, “Change the photo.”

“Sure, I have plenty more in my album. All of you, feel free to choose.”

“You…” Lin Shiyu was flustered. “You’re such a pervert.”

Zhong Qi slung his arm around Lin Shiyu’s shoulder and bent down to whisper, “Yep.”

Before Lin Shiyu could retaliate, Gao Jie finished his call and returned the phone. Seeing Zhong Qi walking out with them, he asked, “Qi Ge, don’t you live on campus?”

Zhong Qi replied casually, “I’m taking Lin Shiyu home first.”

“What? I thought Shiyu house was far from school.”

“Yeah.”

“Wow, since when did Brother Qi become so clingy?” 

Shen Ziyi joined in. “Aren’t you overprotective? Our Brother Shiyu isn’t some delicate girl needing an escort.”

Zhong Qi responded seriously, “I can’t help it. He’s afraid of the dark.”

Suddenly, Lin Shiyu pinched the back of Zhong Qi’s hand hard. Zhong Qi, in turn, grabbed Lin Shiyu’s hand, holding it tightly while continuing to chat with the others as if nothing had happened. The school road was dark, crowded, and noisy. 

In a hidden corner where no one noticed, they held hands. Lin Shiyu, nervous, lowered his head as his palms began to sweat.

Zhong Qi walked Lin Shiyu all the way to his building. Many streetlights in the complex were broken, and the remaining ones were dim. The road was quiet, with only the sound of crickets chirping in the tall grass on both sides.

Feeling awkward about being walked home, Lin Shiyu said, “You don’t have to walk me. It’s so far, and you’ll be late going back.”

“It doesn’t matter. I can finish my homework in half an hour, unlike a certain someone who takes two hours with me helping every night.”

“Then don’t help!”

Zhong Qi laughed, bending down to rub his annoyed face. “Alright, give me a kiss.”

He leaned in and bit Lin Shiyu’s soft, moist lips, whispering, “You look so pretty. What if someone kidnaps you?”

“…I’m a guy. What’s pretty about that?”

In the dark night, only a bit of yellow light from other homes fell on them. They kissed quietly in the shadows, their skin heating up with a tingling, thrilling sensation.

As long as Lin Shiyu went home alone at night, Zhong Qi would walk him to his building, kiss him in the shadow of the lamp, whisper to him, and then watch him go upstairs. Only when he heard the distant sound of the door opening and closing did he turn to leave.

After returning home, Lin Shiyu changed his clothes and took a shower. When he came out, he saw his mother in the kitchen making milk for him. He walked over, drying his hair. “I can do it myself.”

“Oh.” Lin Hui seemed to snap out of a daze, stepping aside awkwardly as she tucked her hair behind her ear. “Alright, you do it yourself.”

Lin Shiyu found it a bit odd and glanced at her, noticing that her eyes seemed a bit red. “Why are your eyes red?”

“Are they? Maybe I’ve been busy with work lately and haven’t slept well.”

Lin Hui smiled at him, and Lin Shiyu didn’t think too much of it. He nodded, telling her to rest early, made an extra cup of hot milk for her, and then went back to his room.

The next morning, the sound of cooking came from the kitchen. Lin Shiyu yawned as he got up to wash, with his early-rising sister Lin Wanyue following him to brush her teeth and wash her face, then obediently waiting at the table for breakfast.

Lin Hui brought the breakfast over. Lin Shiyu was about to sit down and eat when he noticed, in the light coming through the window, that Lin Hui’s face looked slightly swollen.

He froze for a few seconds, then walked over to turn on the living room light with a “click” and took a few steps towards Lin Hui. She hadn’t realized yet. “What’s wrong?”

Lin Shiyu could see clearly now. One side of his mother’s face was fair, but the other side was swollen and discolored, obviously from being hit.

“What happened to your face?” Lin Shiyu tried to keep his voice calm.

Lin Hui seemed to remember something and quickly covered her face with her hand, avoiding his gaze. “Oh, this? Maybe it’s a little inflammation…”

“You were hit!” Lin Shiyu suddenly raised his voice, seeing his sister looking at him in confusion, he tried to control his emotions. “Your lip is even broken! Do you know that? Who hit you?”

“Little Shiyu, don’t get angry. No one hit me, okay? Be good, eat your breakfast and go to school—”

Lin Shiyu shook her hand off. “Did a client hurt you? Or did Wu Xiang come looking for you again?!”

Lin Hui flinched at the mention of that name, and Lin Shiyu immediately understood.

Under his persistent questioning, Lin Hui finally admitted that his biological father had come to her for money. She said she only lent him eight hundred, but Lin Shiyu didn’t believe it. He checked her phone messages and found the bank notifications.

Since two months ago, his mother had transferred money to that man several times, totaling twenty thousand yuan.

Lin Shiyu arrived at the classroom just as the bell rang. Zhong Qi moved aside to make room for him. Lin Shiyu sat down, put his bag aside, and randomly opened his textbook on the desk.

Seeing Lin Shiyu’s pale face, Zhong Qi asked, “What’s wrong?”

Lin Shiyu shook his head. Zhong Qi thought he was still sleepy and suggested he rest while he kept watch.

Lin Shiyu lay on the desk, looking out at the pale blue sky through the window, the sound of reading and pages turning filling his ears.

He thought maybe he had been too happy, too carefree, so life had to harshly remind him of its reality.

The pain and chaos of the past were chasing him relentlessly.

A soft “snap” of fingers brought Lin Shiyu back to reality. He looked at Zhong Qi.

“What are you thinking about?” Zhong Qi asked, feeding him a tomato chip. “You’ve been daydreaming all day.”

“…I didn’t sleep well last night.”

Lin Shiyu silently ate the chip, thinking. He hesitated about whether to tell Zhong Qi. Zhong Qi was smart and could probably come up with a solution, and having him by his side…

Just as he was about to speak, Mao Silu and the others came over with a basketball. “Come on, let’s go to P.E.”

The group crowded around. Zhong Qi grabbed his water bottle and turned to see Lin Shiyu still sitting. “Come on, let’s play basketball.”

Lin Shiyu looked at him, then at the others who were eager to play. The small sprout of an idea in his mind slowly withered.

Forget it. He thought, this would just make everyone unhappy. What’s the point?

“You guys go ahead,” Lin Shiyu said. “I’m tired and want to take a nap.”

Zhong Qi paused, then sat back down. “Okay, I’ll stay with you.”

Lin Shiyu quickly pushed him away, speaking softly, “I’m just napping in the classroom. There’s no need to stay. Go to class and buy me a bottle of water on the way back.”

Zhong Qi stood up again. Hearing that Lin Shiyu wanted water, he didn’t insist on staying and left with Mao Silu and the others.

Lin Shiyu ran to the window, waiting until he saw the group leave the building with their basketball. Then he took his phone and left the classroom.

He knew his father still lived in their old house. When his mother divorced him, she only took her money and the two kids, leaving everything else behind.

What belonged to them was theirs. He couldn’t stand his family being bullied by that man anymore. Clutching his phone, Lin Shiyu left the school alone. He kept telling himself he would just clarify things and come back, maybe even in time for evening study.

He thought this time he had to solve the problem properly.

 

Edited by: Jaisland

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