It was a cloudy day. Earlier, the sun had been blocked by thick clouds, so you barely noticed it. But now, the clouds had drifted off, and the sudden burst of sunlight made Lin Shen’s eyes sting.
He was sitting right in the sun’s path. Sure, there were a few bamboo stalks in the way, but honestly, they were so thin and bare they didn’t help at all.
Meanwhile, Lu Chengxuan was sitting in the shade, completely unaffected.
He looked down at Lin Shen, eyes calm but focused. Lin Shen sat there with his jacket unzipped, flopping open like he couldn’t care less, sprawled out on a smooth stone like some half-baked punk. Underneath the jacket, he had on a loose, lightweight, brown wool sweater.
The shallow V-neck dipped forward just enough—thanks to the way he was slouched—to reveal everything inside. And Lu Chengxuan took it all in, every inch.
The problem was, Lin Shen couldn’t see a thing. The sunlight was too harsh, just blinding white all over, and he was like a deer in headlights—eyes wide open, but totally unaware.
Compared to that mess, Lu Chengxuan looked put-together from head to toe. His wool coat was buttoned all the way up to the top. Not a single inner layer peeked out, and even the angle of his collar looked like it’d been measured.
He’d been raised with strict manners, so technically, Lu Chengxuan knew he should look away.
But he didn’t.
He just stood there silently, staring straight at Lin Shen’s sunlit collar, not blinking once.
His eyes were deep, thoughtful—clearly still mulling over what Lin Shen had said a moment ago.
And Lin Shen? He knew he’d messed up with what he said earlier, but right now he didn’t have the brain space to care.
Because you can’t just stare at the sun with your bare eyes. But he’d forced himself to look up at Lu Chengxuan anyway, and now his eyes were all messed up—aching, burning, stinging. He kept his head down, rubbing at them non-stop.
And the more he rubbed, the more tears came streaming out.
Lu Chengxuan noticed something was wrong. He walked over, stepped between Lin Shen and the sun, bent down, and grabbed his wrist to stop him from rubbing. That’s when he saw it—red-rimmed eyes, lashes wet with tears.
“What’s going on? Your eyes hurt?”
He didn’t let Lin Shen keep rubbing. Instead, he used his fingertips to gently wipe the tears clinging to the corners of his eyes, leaning in to take a closer look.
With the harsh sunlight blocked by Lu Chengxuan’s shadow, Lin Shen finally started to feel a bit better. But the tears just kept coming, and the urge to rub his eyes wouldn’t stop.
“I don’t know either… my eyes just suddenly started hurting and stinging…” He struggled to open his eyes, and when he did, everything in front of him looked dark and blurry—like a black fog had rolled in. He panicked right away. “Shit, I think I went blind!”
Lu Chengxuan saw that Lin Shen’s pupils were unfocused, even though his eyes were wide open. His brows furrowed hard, and his voice came faster than usual: “You can’t see me?”
“I…”
Lin Shen was freaking out. First, he blinked hard a few times to check if his eyes were actually open—yep, they were. Then he tried to focus, tried to look ahead, but all he could see was a fuzzy, black silhouette. Nothing else made sense. That’s when he completely lost it: “I really can’t see! What the hell, everything was fine just a second ago, literally a second ago—what the fuck is happening?!”
Before he could finish rambling, Lin Shen suddenly felt something cover his eyes.
And then—boom—total darkness.
Someone had gently forced his eyelids shut. A warm hand pressed over them, the kind of warmth that seeped right through his skin, steady and comforting, slowly sinking into his blood like a soft current.
Next, a hand gently grabbed his arm.
“Don’t panic. Don’t open your eyes yet. I’m taking you to the nurse’s office.”
Lu Chengxuan’s voice was right beside his ear, calm and steady, like it had weight.
Before Lin Shen could even respond, he was already being pulled to his feet, led forward by that same quiet force.
Losing your sight all of a sudden messes you up. It’s the kind of panic that hits deep. Every step felt like walking on air with nothing underneath, like he could fall into a pit at any second. The fear crawled up his spine. He couldn’t help it—he tried to open his eyes, instinctively wanting to see where he was going, but all that got him was a sharp ache behind his eyeballs and a few fresh tears squeezed out from the pain.
Lu Chengxuan noticed right away. He stopped dead in his tracks and stayed close beside him.
Lin Shen let out a breath, then slid his foot across the ground to feel his way forward.
Just as he was about to take another careful step, he felt Lu Chengxuan’s hand slide down along his arm. When it brushed past his wrist—where the skin was extra sensitive—Lin Shen tensed up all over. It felt so unfamiliar and weird, like his whole body lit up with goosebumps in an instant.
Then, his hand was gently but firmly held.
Well, more like… taken.
“Don’t open your eyes. Just trust me,” Lu Chengxuan said.
Lin Shen stood there with his eyes shut, and even though the world was still pitch-black, it suddenly didn’t feel so scary anymore. It was like there was a soft little light glowing right beside him, and somehow that tiny glow made all the panic melt away.
“If you lead me into a ditch, I’m chopping you,” he muttered.
Lu Chengxuan didn’t say anything, but Lin Shen’s hearing had gone into overdrive ever since he lost his sight—and right after he spoke, he could’ve sworn he heard a quiet laugh.
By now, it was the second half of lunch break at Ningchang No. 7 High. A bunch of students who’d gone out to eat were starting to head back in, walking through the front gates in a slow, steady stream. The sports field sat to the right of the main office building, which was directly in front of the school entrance. The nurse’s office was on the left.
So the way from the field to the nurse’s office was basically a straight shot across the front of the office building.
And Lu Chengxuan? He just went ahead and walked that straight path, right past the school gates, right in front of a whole crowd of students—holding Lin Shen’s hand like it was the most normal thing in the world.
Their head-turn rate? Easily 300%.
Every single student passing by gave them way more than a quick glance—some even turned around three times for a better look. Most of them pretended to just glance casually as they walked by, but then they’d cover their mouths and keep sneaking looks over their shoulders like they were watching a soap opera.
Right then, Shi Shi—who was on her way to the office building to grab something for a teacher—walked right into them. Her pretty eyes were full-on stunned.
And Lin Shen? Had no idea any of this was happening.
He was casually striding behind Lu Chengxuan, like it was no big deal, walking with this easy, confident sway. Then he suddenly asked, toward the direction Lu Chengxuan was in, “You think I’m ridiculous again, don’t you?”
“I don’t,” Lu Chengxuan said simply.
“No, you definitely do,” Lin Shen shot back, absolutely convinced. He let out a sigh, annoyed at himself. “Seriously, how does a person just suddenly go blind like that? That’s messed up.”
“Step coming up,” Lu Chengxuan reminded him, then added, “It might be the light. You were sitting in direct sunlight, right in its path.”
Lin Shen couldn’t quite wrap his head around it. “Am I really that weak?”
“Eyes are super sensitive,” Lu Chengxuan said calmly. “And you’ve got a lot of bad habits.”
“Oh, so now you’re just listing my flaws?” Lin Shen frowned, clearly not thrilled.
“I’m not listing flaws,” Lu Chengxuan said, still calm. “You rub your eyes a lot. You stare at your computer, phone, and game console too much. You stay up late staring at screens. None of that’s good for your eyes. The path’s flat from here. Honestly, you’ve been lucky not to be nearsighted after all these years.”
Lin Shen had a naturally rebellious streak and couldn’t stand hearing stuff like this. His first instinct was to snap, and he went to yank his hand away in irritation—but the second he let go, he panicked and froze on the spot.
Lu Chengxuan caught his searching hand right away and quietly slipped it back into his palm, continuing to walk without saying a word.
He didn’t say anything, so Lin Shen just forgot whatever he’d been mad about a second ago.
They reached the nurse’s office not long after. The school doctor happened to be free at the moment and set down the book he was reading as soon as he saw them come in. He walked over with his hands behind his back and asked, “What happened here?”
“Not sure,” Lu Chengxuan said. “He was totally fine and then suddenly couldn’t see. Might be from the light.”
“He suddenly couldn’t see?” the school doctor repeated, puzzled. Then he turned and waved them over. “Come here. Let me take a look.”
Most school clinic doctors are familiar with all kinds of common problems—it’s basically part of the job. You could call them experts in minor stuff and you wouldn’t be wrong. And this particular doctor had even more experience; he used to run a small clinic of his own, so his background was solid.
Lin Shen was guided to a chair and sat down. He followed the doctor’s instructions, opened his eyes, and explained what had happened—when the blindness started, how it felt, and what it was like now.
Before long, the doctor set down the ophthalmoscope.
“It’s probably from too much bright light hitting your eyes too fast. That kind of overload can mess with the macula and cause temporary vision loss—like seeing black shadows and stuff. But it’ll go back to normal after you rest in a darker place for a bit.”
“Just keep an eye on it for now. If your vision stays blurry for too long, you should probably go see an eye doctor—could be a macula burn or a corneal injury.”
Lin Shen’s heart skipped a beat. “Wait, you’re saying I might actually go blind!?”
“Have you ever had anything like this happen before?”
“Nope. First time.”
“Are you nearsighted?”
“No way! I’ve got eagle eyes!”
“Then it’s probably nothing serious,” the doctor said. “Go lie down in the back and rest your eyes. Keep them shut, no peeking.”
After that little back-and-forth, Lin Shen obediently let Lu Chengxuan pull him up and guide him toward the back of the room.
Deeper inside the nurse’s office was a small private space with three beds meant for students who needed to lie down.
Lu Chengxuan went over and closed the curtains. Then he came back and pulled the light blue bedside curtain shut around the bed, doing his best to block out the light and keep things dim enough to help Lin Shen recover.
Just from the sound and the slight shift in lighting, Lin Shen could guess what Lu Chengxuan was doing. He reached back, felt around for the cushion, and laid down. The second he hit the bed, he sighed dramatically. “Here we go again. Back in jail.”
Inside the quiet, completely private space, Lin Shen was half-lying on the white sheets, his head tilted slightly to one side. His arms were thrown loosely above his head, eyes shut, body totally relaxed like he didn’t have a care in the world.
From where Lu Chengxuan stood, he could clearly see the smooth, defined line that ran from Lin Shen’s neck to his collarbone.
And then there were his lips—soft, pink, and slightly shiny, standing out even more against his pale skin from being indoors too long.
Somewhere in the still air, there was the faint sound of someone swallowing.
“Have you ever tried it?” Lu Chengxuan asked.
Lin Shen was just starting to doze off when the voice pulled him back. He’d actually forgotten someone else was in the room. His brain didn’t catch up right away, and he turned his head toward the sound, tilting his chin up a bit. “Tried what?”
“Kissing. To quit smoking,” Lu Chengxuan said.
The moment the words hit, it was like an invisible hand wrapped around Lin Shen’s throat. His breath caught instantly, and his heartbeat stumbled, skipping a beat before picking up again.
If Lu Chengxuan hadn’t brought it up, he honestly might’ve forgotten he ever said that.
But yeah, those words had come straight from his own mouth. Back then, he never explained it properly, and now it was way too late to backtrack. No matter what he said now, it’d just sound like he was covering up. His brain was short-circuiting, thoughts going wild, and honestly, he was kinda glad he couldn’t open his eyes—at least that way, no one could see the look on his face and catch on to the panic underneath.
After a pause, Lin Shen gave a dry little cough.
“O-of course! Man, I’ve been through it all!” Lin Shen blurted out. “Back then, kissing wasn’t about quitting smoking—it was just for fun. Pure fun. Kiss one, move on to the next. Just messing around, you know?”
What answered him was a long, heavy silence.
Lin Shen swallowed hard. Even though he couldn’t see a thing, he could feel the weird tension in the air, and it made him more and more uneasy. Still, he kept up the tough-guy act, gritting his teeth and asking anyway.
“What? Did I say something wrong?”
Lu Chengxuan’s voice came calmly, tone steady and unreadable.
“So you’ve already tried it—with other people.”
“Of course I have!”
Lin Shen kept his eyes tightly shut, raising his voice a notch to cover up how nervous he was starting to feel.
“Come on, we’re adults! That Xiao Lin guy is all over Xu Suinian every day like they’ve got no shame—doing all kinds of PDA nonsense right out in the open. And you think I’m just some virgin who’s never even kissed anyone? What a joke! No way I’m losing to him!”
Silence again. Nothing. Not a word.
Lin Shen was stuck somewhere between being embarrassed about claiming his “first kiss” had been spent on random flings, and being pissed off about getting blinded by the sun. He was desperately trying to save face, licking his lips and pretending to think things through.
“I mean, I don’t really know if kissing helps you quit smoking. Xiao Lin said it’s because it keeps your mouth busy, and that kinda makes sense. I guess I could give it a shot sometime.”
“Try it now.”
“…Huh?”
Lin Shen’s brain froze. He was still trying to figure out what that meant when he suddenly felt someone’s hand—gentle but firm—cup his neck and lift his chin.
He couldn’t move. His whole jaw and throat were being held just enough to stop him, but not hurt him. He was completely still.
Then something soft and warm, slightly damp, pressed against his lips.
The feeling was new… but the breath that came with it felt deeply, hauntingly familiar.
*
Author’s Note:
The world’s a mess, and the puppy is trying to stitch it back together.
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
I can’t believe he kissed him first!!! There’s still hope for the happy little puppy’s parents