The heavy sound of fists crashing into flesh and bone echoed sharply in the stillness of the night.
Yan Chen’s movements were so swift and decisive that Liu Bingran didn’t even realize what was happening until a punch landed on his cheekbone after being dragged into the dead-end alley.
That punch was brutal. Liu Bingran staggered from the blow and saw stars. He crashed hard into the wall behind him, and his shoulder blades throbbed with a deep ache.
The anger that had been suppressed throughout the day surged to the peak at this moment, but Yan Chen didn’t give him a single chance to retaliate. He took a few steps forward, grabbed him by the collar, and landed another fierce punch.
“Fuck your mother, Yan Chen!” Liu Bingran coughed violently and spat out a mouthful of blood.
If it had been anyone else, they’d have been sprawled on the ground by now. But Liu Bingran had gone through years of training and wasn’t weak. Enduring the pain, he summoned all his strength and grabbed Yan Chen’s wrist, punching back with his free hand.
Yan Chen didn’t dodge. He took the punch head-on, his head jerking to the side from the impact. At the same time, he grabbed Liu Bingran’s arm and rammed his knee upward with force.
Liu Bingran let out a grunt of pain and instinctively bent over, only to be kicked down to the ground by Yan Chen.
His spine, lower back, and knees took several more kicks. The pain felt like it had spread to all his internal organs.
He could indeed take more hits than the average person, but in the end, he was still beaten so badly he couldn’t get up.
“Starting tonight, don’t come back to the dorm.”
Yan Chen stood over him, looking down at the man on the ground like a dead dog. “Pick a time when no one’s around, pack your stuff, and get the hell out.”
“I can make sure you don’t get into the tryout team, and I can make sure you can’t stay at the sports department either. If you don’t believe in evil, you can just keep being restless and give it a try.”
“If you go near someone you shouldn’t, don’t blame me for not warning you.”
—
The sun was completely hidden behind thick clouds, and cool winds blew again and again. It looked like it was going to rain. Chi Dongting hugged the medicine he’d just bought and quickened his steps toward the dorm.
He had just reached the main gate when his phone started ringing. It was a call from his mom.
Mother Chi: “Son, come out, your mom’s here.”
Chi Dongting felt like he’d been hit on the head with a stick, and he stood frozen. “Huh? You’re here already?! Didn’t we agree to wait a bit longer? You didn’t even tell me ahead of time!”
Mother Chi: “What’s there to wait for? It’s just a flight. Hurry up, bring your roommate too. I’m taking you out to eat, and we can talk about how to move your stuff.”
Chi Dongting hesitated. “I can’t come out right now. My roommate’s limping, and I just bought some medicine. I have to go back and help him apply it. You’re asking me to go out at this time, how can I…”
“Give it to me.” A cold voice suddenly sounded from above his head. “Go handle your business. Just leave Wenyu to me.”
Chi Dongting didn’t even know when Yan Chen had silently arrived.
He was still unhappy with this person who was trying to steal his best friend, but he had to admit that handing Wenyu over to him was actually reassuring.
Besides, he couldn’t really leave his mother who’d flown in from far away waiting outside with no one to greet her. After thinking it over, Chi Dongting had no choice but to hand the things to Yan Chen.
Chi Dongting: “Everything’s written on it. Please help Wenyu apply the medicine.”
Yan Chen made a sound of acknowledgment, took the medicine, and turned to head upstairs.
Chi Dongting was multitasking the whole time, he responded to his mother telling him to meet her at the west gate, while keeping his eyes fixed on Yan Chen’s back, feeling like something was off.
It wasn’t until he’d walked halfway out that it finally hit him. The wound on Yan Chen’s lip!
It was bruised, clearly from a fight.
So what was he doing coming to find Wen Yu right after a fight?
Trying to gain sympathy and break down the walls?
“Hiss,” Chi Dongting sucked in a breath. “Scheming!”
Ye Wenyu was alone in the dorm. When he heard the door open, he thought Chi Dongting had come back. He turned his head and saw Yan Chen, and couldn’t hide his surprise. “Why are you…”
Before he finished the sentence, he saw the wound on Yan Chen’s lip.
Yan Chen placed the medicine on the table and pulled over a stool. “Something came up with your roommate and he asked me to help you with the medicine.”
As soon as he sat down, his chin was gently pinched by someone’s fingers.
Ye Wenyu leaned in close to him, his beautiful brows furrowed as he carefully examined the wound on his lip. “What happened? You were fine yesterday.”
Following his force, Yan Chen tilted his head a bit, looking like a pet meeting its owner, docile and ready to be pinched or squished. “I don’t know. I only noticed it when I woke up this morning. Maybe I hit something while sleepwalking last night.”
“…”
Ye Wenyu stared at him in silence.
Under his quiet gaze, Yan Chen obediently changed his story. “I wasn’t paying attention when playing basketball and got hit.
That explanation sounded more reasonable.
Ye Wenyu reluctantly accepted it. “Did you apply any medicine?”
Yan Chen tore open a sterile cotton swab packet. “There’s no broken skin, so no need to apply anything.”
Ye Wenyu nodded and withdrew his hand. At Yan Chen’s instruction, he lifted his leg and placed it on the edge of the stool. “It’s already scabbed over. I can actually do it myself.”
Yan Chen: “Since I’m already here, are you going to let me make this trip in vain?”
This is the most common phrase among Chinese people. When you think about it, it’s not very convincing, but you just can’t argue against it.
Even sitting down, Yan Chen was taller than Ye Wenyu. Maybe bending over was uncomfortable, so he held Ye Wenyu’s calf and lifted it slightly, creating a sharp contrast between the different shades of skin.
Ye Wenyu never knew the skin on his calf was this sensitive. Just from the contact, he could clearly feel the calluses on Yan Chen’s palm. His hand felt rough, strong, and powerful, it didn’t give an oppressive feeling, just steady and reliable.
The scabbed wound didn’t hurt as much anymore, so applying medicine was much quicker than when it was freshly scraped. After finishing with the knee, Yan Chen let go of his calf and picked up another cotton swab, dipping it into the medicine again. “Give me your hand.”
Ye Wenyu placed his right hand on his knee.
The wound at the base of his palm had also scabbed, but the injury on his hand was worse than the one on his knee, so the scabbed-over cut looked even more frightening.
While Yan Chen lowered his eyes and focused on applying the medicine, Ye Wenyu’s gaze fell on the bruise at the corner of his mouth.
Although the skin wasn’t broken, the bruise looked serious. Blood was trapped beneath the surface, turning that area a dark purplish blue, heavily marking one side of his lip.
Like a flawless cinnabar mole suddenly stained with a drop of ink.
Ye Wenyu couldn’t imagine how much force it would take to hit someone with a ball and leave a mark like that, or how much it must’ve hurt at the moment of impact.
He stayed silent. Yan Chen looked up at him and raised an eyebrow. Imitating what Ye Wenyu did yesterday, he used the back of his finger to brush between his brows. “Relax. Why are you frowning so hard?”
‘I can’t relax,’ Ye Wenyu thought. He suddenly understood how Yan Chen must’ve felt yesterday.
But… not quite the same.
A mark like that on Yan Chen’s face, and at the corner of his mouth….it didn’t make him look pitiful at all. Instead, it gave him an indescribable charm.
While part of Ye Wenyu hurt for him, another part couldn’t help but be completely drawn in by this version of Yan Chen.
He had never felt this way before and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t find the most accurate word for it.
He only felt… as if he were under a spell. The more he looked, the more this unnamed emotion grew, becoming an urgent force that tightened in his throat.
When the cool breeze blew over his palm once again, his Adam’s apple rolled, and he couldn’t resist the impulse to lean in.
But halfway through, a surge of cowardice stopped him.
Their breaths intertwined at this distance, Yan Chen raised his eyes to look at him.
Ye Wenyu met his gaze, and the inexplicable impulse burst like a soap bubble that shone for a moment in the sunlight before disappearing with a pop. All that was left was a heart full of confusion and guilt that had nowhere to go.
In a mix of covering up and sincerity, he steadied his breath, which had gone off rhythm, and tried to imitate Yan Chen. He gently blew on the wound at the corner of his lip.
“This way… it probably won’t hurt as much.”
The rain that had been brewing all day and night finally came down. Maybe it had been held back too long, and unlike the light drizzles before, it was more like the storms at the beginning of summer, with raindrops coming hard and fast, making a lot of noise.
Even the air turned damp and stifling.
Suddenly, hurried footsteps and shouting echoed in the hallway. It was students from the nearby dormitories who had been caught in the rain, now soaked and yelling about their bad luck as they ran back.
The chaotic noise seemed to pull Ye Wenyu back to reality from an illusion.
A sense of unease rose from within.
He blinked uncomfortably and wanted to retreat, but was stopped mid-movement by someone pulling the same old trick and keeping him right where he was.
The back of his head was held by a dry, warm palm. The moment their foreheads touched, he felt as if he’d been bumped by a baby deer that had just grown its antlers, and his heart suddenly softened.
“What’s wrong?” He unconsciously hooked his finger around Yan Chen’s sleeve.
The latter closed his eyes with utmost restraint, hiding the storm in his eyes perfectly.
“I walked too fast on the way here and I feel a little dizzy.”
“Be good, let me lean on you for a while.”
—–
“Wenyu! Wenyu! I have fresh gossip!”
Chi Dongting rushed into the dorm holding a wet umbrella, shouting as he came in: “Guess what I saw at the gate when I came back?”
Ye Wenyu was at his desk, staring blankly at his own hand. When he heard this, he curled his fingers and turned to look at him. “What?”
“I saw the guy who bumped into you yesterday!”
Chi Dongting opened the umbrella and set it out to dry on the balcony. Then he came in, waving his arms dramatically as he described: “He was dragging a bunch of bags, like he was moving house. I don’t know what he’s up to!”
Ye Wenyu: “He moved out of the dorm?”
“I’m not sure, it looks like it.” Chi Dongting didn’t hide his excitement. “But the main point isn’t that. He looked like he was beaten up!”
Ye Wenyu: “Beaten up?”
Chi Dongting: “Yeah! You didn’t see it. From his face, it’s obvious that he got beaten up hard. He was even walking funny, limping like an old man.”
Ye Wenyu was stunned.
Chi Dongting was clear about who he liked and who he hated. Ever since Liu Bingran bumped into Ye Wenyu and acted like a jerk, he had put him straight onto his blacklist.
Now seeing that he was beaten up, he didn’t feel any pity and was very satisfied: “I told you, people like that will get punished sooner or later. Heaven really has eyes, this karmic retribution came in hot and fast…”
“I’m going to wash my face.”
Ye Wenyu grabbed his phone and went out to the balcony. He dialed a number, and the other end picked up quickly.
“Wenyu?” Yan Chen’s voice came through the receiver along with the sound of rain.
Ye Wenyu asked him, “Did Liu Bingran move out of the dorm?”
Yan Chen: “Why are you asking that all of a sudden?”
Ye Wenyu: “Xiao Chi just came back and said he saw Liu Bingran carrying luggage and leaving school.”
Yan Chen: “Then he probably moved out.”
Ye Wenyu: “Xiao Chi also said Liu Bingran looked like he’d been beaten up.”
Yan Chen: “Is that so?”
Ye Wenyu paused: “You knew.”
Yan Chen: “I haven’t seen him today.”
“What about last night?” Ye Wenyu said, “The injury on your face wasn’t from playing basketball, was it?”
Seeing he couldn’t hide it anymore, Yan Chen didn’t bother to lie and admitted frankly, “No.”
Ye Wenyu: “Liu Bingran?”
Yan Chen: “Yeah.”
He thought Ye Wenyu would ask why.
So in his head, he naturally generated several possible reasons: guilt, regret, couldn’t help it, felt bad about it, was in a bad mood, or just plain didn’t like him…
Unexpectedly, Ye Wenyu didn’t ask that.
Instead, he asked another question very seriously: “Did you win?”
Yan Chen was stunned for a moment.
Then a rare smile flashed across his eyes. “I won. He couldn’t beat me.”
Ye Wenyu asked again, “Besides your face, are you hurt anywhere else?”
Yan Chen: “No.”
Ye Wenyu: “Really?”
Yan Chen: “Really.”
Ye Wenyu didn’t say anything, using silence to express doubt.
“I’m not at the dorm yet.”
Yan Chen walked along the tree-lined path, the rain pattering loudly on his umbrella. “Do you want me to turn around now, take off my clothes and let you check for yourself?”
He was joking to make Ye Wenyu feel better, but Ye Wenyu took it seriously. “Okay, then come back now.”
Yan Chen’s steps paused.
He lowered his head a bit, and the smile in his eyes deepened.
“Wenyu,” he reminded him, “it’s raining.”
Ye Wenyu’s single-core processor, which had been focused solely on work, was finally poked by that sentence. It was only now that he started to register other sounds other than Yan Chen’s voice.
For example, the noise coming from the next dorm, and the noisy sound of rain just beyond the balcony.
Oh, right, it was still raining.
With rain this heavy, he couldn’t really make Yan Chen run back and forth.
“Then never mind.” Ye Wenyu thought for a bit. “Let’s skip today. I’ll check tomorrow.”
Ye Wenyu was hard to evade once he got stubborn, so Yan Chen went along with him: “Okay, tomorrow.”
Ye Wenyu hung up the call. Chi Dongting poked his head in through the crack in the door. “Wenyu, are you done with the call?”
Ye Wenyu: “What’s wrong?”
Chi Dongting: “I just remembered, besides applying medicine on you, did Yan Chen say anything else when he came up?”
“Anything else?” Ye Wenyu didn’t quite get it. “What do you mean?”
Chi Dongting: “Didn’t he have that bruise on his face? Did he tell you how he got it?”
Ye Wenyu: “He did.”
Chi Dongting: “He actually told you? I knew it! So how’d he get it? A fight?”
Ye Wenyu nodded again.
Chi Dongting: “With who?”
Ye Wenyu: “Liu Bingran.”
“Liu Bingran? Who’s that?”
Chi Dongting muttered the name and found it familiar. He quickly remembered. “Isn’t that his roommate?”
Ye Wenyu added, “He’s also the guy you just saw at the school gate.”
Chi Dongting: “?”
Chi Dongting: “?!”
Classmate Xiao Chi was shocked: “So the guy who bumped into you was Liu Bingran? And that pig-head face of his was from getting beaten up by Yan Chen!”
Ye Wenyu: “Yeah.”
Chi Dongting gulped hard. “So he got hurt because Yan Chen was getting revenge for you?”
Ye Wenyu’s eyes flickered, but he didn’t say anything.
“Huh? He’s that loyal? Then I was…”
Chi Dongting kept muttering to himself, but Ye Wenyu didn’t catch a word. “What?”
Chi Dongting looked a little embarrassed. “I was worried he’d come to you and play the pity card.”
Ye Wenyu: “He didn’t. Why would he try to make me feel sorry for him?”
Chi Dongting: “Obviously to win your sympathy.”
Ye Wenyu: “Win my sympathy?”
Chi Dongting: “Yeah. Think about it..
seeing that huge bruise on his face, didn’t you feel he was pitiful?”
‘Pitiful?’
Ye Wenyu shook his head. “No.”
That word didn’t suit Yan Chen at all.
Chi Dongting: “If not pitiful, then what? Distress?”
‘Distress?’
Ye Wenyu thought about it seriously and realized he couldn’t give the same firm denial as before.
He wasn’t sure if it was distress. It’s just that seeing Yan Chen hurt made him feel uncomfortable. He wondered if it hurt, wondered how to make him feel better, and thought about…
His thoughts accidentally touched an unexpected area, and Ye Wenyu’s mind suddenly went blank.
Yan Chen wasn’t here now. Without the biggest factor that usually influenced his logic, his thoughts cooled down with the rain, and in a flash, he seemed to realize what that inexplicable, unfulfilled impulse was.
At that time, it seemed like he had wanted to…kiss him.
