It rained on the first day of finals. When Lu Ze woke up in the morning, he called Liang Xiao. “Don’t come over today. Stay home and sleep a bit longer.”
Before Liang Xiao could respond, Lu Ze heard the sound of a subway station announcement in the background. He froze. “You’re already on the subway?”
“Mm.”
Lu Ze immediately kicked off his blanket and got out of bed. “Why are you coming so early? Did you bring an umbrella? It’s raining pretty heavily outside.”
“…I didn’t bring one. It wasn’t raining when I left,” Liang Xiao replied. “It’s fine—I’ll wait at the station until the rain lets up.”
“Tsk,” Lu Ze clicked his tongue. “What do you think I am, just for show? Wait at the subway station—I’ll come pick you up.”
“No need,” Liang Xiao said quickly. “Don’t come. Focus on preparing for your exam…”
“I’m all prepared,” Lu Ze said with a grin. “All I need now is a lucky kiss from our Xiao-ge.”
The first exam was in the afternoon. Sun Zhuoyu had gone to find Meng Qian, and Mao Xin was at the library studying. Lu Ze brought Liang Xiao back to his dorm, where both of their clothes were slightly damp from the rain.
Liang Xiao frowned and said, “Go take a shower and change into dry clothes—you’ll catch a cold.”
“I won’t,” Lu Ze said with a laugh, leaning in to kiss Liang Xiao. “It’s nice and cool.”
Liang Xiao instinctively glanced toward the bathroom. “No one’s here, right?”
Lu Ze burst out laughing. “No one’s here—everyone’s out.”
Liang Xiao raised his hand to touch the back of Lu Ze’s neck and said softly, “Then kiss me again.”
The two stayed in the dorm until lunchtime, by which time the rain had stopped. Lu Ze removed his earphones after listening to some English practice and looked at Liang Xiao, who had been sitting silently beside him.
Liang Xiao was leaning back against his chair, one hand resting on his forehead as he stared at Lu Ze intently.
Lu Ze raised an eyebrow. “Am I good-looking?”
Liang Xiao smiled faintly. “Very good-looking.”
Lu Ze walked over and hooked a finger under Liang Xiao’s chin. “Xiao-Xiao is good-looking too.”
Liang Xiao clicked his tongue in response. “Are you hungry? If you want, you can keep studying while I go to the cafeteria and pack some food for us.”
“No need,” Lu Ze said as he stretched, revealing a sliver of his waist. “Let’s go together and bring our exam stuff so we don’t have to come back later.”
Liang Xiao didn’t respond right away, prompting Lu Ze to look down at him. “Hmm?”
Liang Xiao lifted his gaze to meet Lu Ze’s eyes. “Baby.”
Lu Ze clicked his tongue again and laughed. “Fine—let’s just keep tormenting each other.”
Liang Xiao reached out his hand toward him, and Lu Ze leaned closer, only to be pulled into a hug by Liang Xiao, who ran a hand over Lu Ze’s waist through his shirt before burying his face in Lu Ze’s stomach and taking a deep breath. “Let’s go.”
Lu Ze rubbed the back of Liang Xiao’s head and said, “Lift your head—let me kiss you again before we leave.”
Obediently, Liang Xiao lifted his head and even closed his eyes.
Lu Ze felt his heart skip a beat before leaning down after a few seconds to press a kiss on Liang Xiao’s eyelid. “Good boy.”
“Kissing a puppy?” Liang Xiao said with a laugh.
“You’re more like a big dog,” Lu Ze replied. “A German Shepherd—cool enough?”
“And what about you?” Liang Xiao asked.
Lu Ze thought for a moment. “Why do I have to be a dog?”
Liang Xiao smiled but didn’t respond, instead picking up Lu Ze’s bag for him. As they walked, Lu Ze continued, “A lion? A tiger? Which one’s cooler?”
“Then I won’t be a dog either,” Liang Xiao said. “The size difference is too much—it’d be hard to kiss you. One swipe of your paw, and I’d be flattened.”
That one sentence had Lu Ze laughing from the dorm all the way to the cafeteria. Even after finishing his meal, he was still chuckling.
On their way out of the cafeteria, they ran into Lu Ze’s listening comprehension teacher, who looked at him and said, “Wow, you’re in such a good mood. Looks like you’re confident—you better get me a perfect score on this exam.”
“Oh no, no,” Lu Ze replied modestly. “A perfect score is a bit too ambitious—I’m just happy because the food was good.”
The teacher patted him on the back with a smile.
Liang Xiao walked Lu Ze to the building where his exam was being held. Before heading in, Lu Ze handed Liang Xiao his dorm key. “Go back and take a nap on my bed. I’ll be done soon, and we can grab dinner off-campus tonight.”
“Alright.”
As Liang Xiao walked back with Lu Ze’s dorm key in hand, he glanced down at it and noticed how similar it looked to his own house key.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed someone approaching and looking at him. Raising his head, he saw Jiang Yijie wearing a mask.
Both of them stopped walking. Jiang Yijie stared at him for a moment before glancing at the key in Liang Xiao’s hand. He gave a small nod but didn’t say anything before walking away.
When Liang Xiao returned to the dorm, he sat down in Lu Ze’s chair, his mind lingering on the encounter with Jiang Yijie. It was clear that Jiang Yijie wasn’t doing well.
Recently, Liang Xiao and Lu Ze had been spending so much time together on campus that it seemed obvious Jiang Yijie had figured out they were dating.
Maybe that was why Lu Ze had been in a bad mood that night.
Back when Lu Ze came to him for drinks, there was nothing Liang Xiao could do about the situation. Now that he was Lu Ze’s boyfriend, he still couldn’t do anything—except feel heartache for him.
Seeing Jiang Yijie like this must have made Lu Ze feel terrible too. If Jiang Yijie continued to have feelings for him, it would mean losing a friend he’d known for five years.
As Liang Xiao thought about all this, he began to feel drowsy. Resting his head on Lu Ze’s desk, his eyelids grew heavy and eventually closed.
If only he had met Lu Ze five years ago.
Liang Xiao dreamed that he was sleeping on a school desk when Lu Ze walked into the classroom wearing a school uniform and sat down beside him. “Wake up, Xiao-ge.”
Lifting his head, Liang Xiao saw Lu Ze holding two cartons of Wangzai Milk. “Want one?”
“Sure,” Liang Xiao replied.
With a straw in his mouth, Lu Ze asked him, “Do you think you’re more of a lion or a tiger?”
“Lion,” Liang Xiao said after some thought.
“Then I’m a lion too.”
“Why?” Liang Xiao asked.
Lu Ze chuckled. “Two tigers can’t share one mountain—tigers are solitary animals. They’d fight if they saw a lion. But lions live in groups, so it’s easier to kiss you.”
In the dream, Liang Xiao couldn’t stop laughing, but faintly, he heard someone calling him.
“Xiao-ge… Xiao-ge?”
Struggling to open his eyes, Liang Xiao saw Lu Ze leaning close, tilting his head as he looked at him. “Why are you sleeping here? Go sleep on the bed.”
Liang Xiao stayed dazed for a moment before murmuring, “I’m not sleeping…”
Lu Ze frowned, sensing something wasn’t right. He reached out to touch Liang Xiao’s forehead and then felt his own for comparison. “Shit, Xiao-ge, are you running a fever?”
Only then did Liang Xiao start to notice how unwell he felt, though he still said, “No way—I wouldn’t get a fever just from getting caught in the rain…”
Ignoring him, Lu Ze pulled out his phone and sent a voice message to Mao Xin. “Mao Mao, where’s your thermometer?”
“You don’t need to…” Liang Xiao tried to sit up straight by bracing himself against the desk but immediately felt dizzy and had to close his eyes, waiting for the spinning sensation to pass.
“It’s not for me—it’s for Xiao-ge,” Lu Ze said as he walked over to Mao Xin’s desk. “Got it,” he added after hearing Mao Xin’s reply.
He grabbed the thermometer from Mao Xin’s things, shook it twice with force, and handed it to Liang Xiao. “Here, take your temperature.”
When Liang Xiao didn’t take it, Lu Ze bent down and lifted his shirt. “Fine—I’ll help you…”
Defeated, Liang Xiao took the thermometer and tucked it under his arm.
Lu Ze pressed down on Liang Xiao’s arm lightly. “Want me to hold it in place for you?”
Liang Xiao forced a smile, completely unaware of how pale he looked. “I’m not running a fever—at most, it’s just a cold.”
Lu Ze sighed and walked behind him. Bending down, he wrapped his arms around Liang Xiao’s neck and rested his chin on top of his head, rubbing gently against his hair.
After a long pause, Lu Ze spoke softly. “Xiao-ge, you’ve been pushing yourself too hard lately. Staying up late is terrible for your health—it weakens your immune system. It’d be strange if you didn’t get sick.”
He leaned down and kissed the top of Liang Xiao’s head. “Don’t go to Fool tonight, okay? I’ll lend you the fifty thousand yuan. It’ll be my own money—we’ll write up an IOU. Once you find a stable job later on, you can pay me back in monthly installments.”
Liang Xiao didn’t respond right away. When he decided to be with Lu Ze, this was exactly what he’d feared hearing. He knew Lu Ze had the money and that he himself could eventually repay it—but he didn’t want that.
He didn’t want to borrow money and couldn’t allow himself to do so—not because of pride or self-respect but because he wanted their relationship to remain simple and pure. Beyond I like you and you like me, there shouldn’t be anything else complicating it.
But now that he’d actually heard Lu Ze say those words, Liang Xiao didn’t feel as upset as he’d imagined he would. He understood Lu Ze well enough to know that when Lu Ze said this, it came purely from concern—a deep care for him.
So instead of rejecting him outright, Liang Xiao leaned into Lu Ze’s embrace like a spoiled child and murmured softly, “Baby… it’s time.”
