Seven

Ji Su of course couldn't possibly send it again; he hastily deleted the photo he'd just taken from his phone, buried his face in the pillow, and began playing dead.

After a while, the phone buzzed again.

Ji Su slowly turned his face to the side, revealing one eye, and opened the chat between them.

G: [Asleep?]

Seeing that he wasn't chasing after the photo from earlier, Ji Su secretly breathed a sigh of relief, flipped onto his back, and typed a reply.

Mengmeng: [Almost fell asleep, but your message woke me back up, senior.]

G: [What about the photo you just sent?]

Ji Su: '...'

What a sly, scheming scumbag senior — deliberately tricking him into replying just to chase after the photo!

Ji Su put down his phone and went on playing dead.

Sending a leg photo was one thing, but if his butt got seen too, what kind of straight man would he still be?

G: [Asleep again?]

This time Ji Su wouldn't fall for it; he held his breath and didn't reply.

G: [Actually I saw it. It was black.]

Ji Su: '!'

His slender, scallion-pale fingers jabbed furiously at the screen, as if trying to stab right through the person on the other side.

A moment later, Ji Su calmed down, and decided that since it had already been seen, he might as well not waste this golden opportunity.

Mengmeng: [Senior! You're really so naughty!!]

G: [Oh?]

Mengmeng: [I'm not talking to you anymore!]

Mengmeng: [angry cat.gif]

G: [You sent it to me — wasn't it so I could look?]

Ji Su was momentarily struck dumb, at a loss for words.

As befit a Law Department student, the logic was razor-sharp.

Mengmeng: [Well... well I got all shy after sending it!]

G: [Really didn't see it clearly.]

Ji Su felt a little better, and decided to end this round of chatting.

Mengmeng: [I believe you~]

Mengmeng: [But I'm really a bit sleepy now, senior~]

G: [Mm, sleep early.]

Mengmeng: [Senior should sleep early too, don't work too hard~]

Mengmeng: [Good night~]

After sending good night, Ji Su decisively switched to his main account, trying to put distance between himself, the scumbag senior, and that photo he'd taken.

'Su Su, are you asleep?' Qiao Jin suddenly poked his head down from the upper bunk, calling softly.

'Not yet.' Ji Su climbed down from his bed. 'What's up?'

Qiao Jin lay draped over the upper bunk: 'Zhou Yang just messaged me, said they only just got back to the dormitory from the hospital.'

Ji Su asked with concern: 'How's his roommate's leg?'

'Fractured ankle — it's not exactly serious, but it's not exactly not serious either.' Qiao Jin rattled off like a tongue twister. 'A hundred days to mend a broken bone — anyway it'll take two or three months to recover.'

'That's really inconvenient.' Ji Su's brow knit slightly. 'No wonder Gu Zhao was so angry at the time.'

'Those guys from the Finance Department play so dirty!' Qiao Jin started cursing again. 'I hope Gu Zhao doesn't let them off easy!'

Ji Su blinked. 'What do you mean?'

'You don't know about this, do you — Gu Zhao looks cold, sure, but he's pretty loyal to his brothers.' Qiao Jin jumped down from the bed too. 'Before, Zhou Yang offended some rich second-generation kid from their department, and the guy kept picking on him on purpose. When Gu Zhao found out, he stepped in and helped sort it out.'

Ji Su grew thoughtful. 'No wonder Zhou Yang and the others are all willing to follow him.'

He'd secretly grumbled to himself before — with a personality as cold as Gu Zhao's, how come the people around him hadn't been frozen into popsicles?

Qiao Jin shivered. 'That said, I'm still a little scared of Campus Heartthrob Gu's cold face — it makes me feel like I'm constantly pressing a warm face against a cold butt.'

Ji Su couldn't bear to hear the word 'butt' right now, so he changed the subject: 'Tomorrow's Saturday — do you want to go visit Zhou Yang's roommate?'

Qiao Jin paused, then suddenly exclaimed with exaggerated wonder: 'Su Su, you're really good at this now!'

Ji Su blinked, bewildered. 'Good at what?'

Qiao Jin's eyes lit up: 'Good at dating!'

Ji Su: 'Am I?'

'Visiting Zhou Yang's roommate — I can show off my caring side, and use the chance to get closer to him.' Qiao Jin grinned to himself. 'Just thinking about it makes me happy hehe...'

Ji Su let out a small laugh. 'I wasn't thinking that much about it, but what you're saying isn't unreasonable.'

'Really, Su Su, I think you're super close to completely winning over that scumbag!' Qiao Jin clenched both fists, cheering him on. 'Victory is right in front of you, Su Su baby, go go go!'

*

The next morning, Ji Su woke early.

After getting up and washing, he went with Qiao Jin to the cafeteria for breakfast, then stopped by the supermarket to buy fruit and nutritional supplements, preparing to visit the unfortunate Wang Mingzhe.

They knocked on the dormitory door, and a voice called out from inside almost immediately: 'Coming, coming!'

The door opened, and Zhou Yang saw who was standing outside — his face lit up with pleasant surprise. 'Qiao Jin? What are you doing here?'

Qiao Jin held up the bag in his hand and said with great solemnity: 'I've come to pay my respects to the heroically wounded comrade Wang Mingzhe.'

Zhou Yang was amused by his wording. 'It's not that serious.'

'How is it not that serious?' Wang Mingzhe's voice came from inside. 'Comrade Qiao Jin is right — I was heroically wounded in service of our Law Department. The department should award me a banner!'

Zhou Yang turned back: 'Tell you you're fat and you really start panting!'

Ji Su pressed his lips together, struggling to hold back a smile.

'Um, Comrade Zhou Yang, may we come in?' Qiao Jin tilted his chin toward the door.

Zhou Yang slapped his forehead: 'Of course, of course! Come in, come in!'

Ji Su followed them inside, surprised to find the room quite clean and tidy — not at all like the usual messy, filthy boys' dormitories.

'Zhou Yang, your dormitory's really clean.' Qiao Jin noticed too and tossed off a compliment.

'Eh, it's only because Brother Gu's a bit of a clean freak.' Wang Mingzhe, his foot bandaged, sat in a chair and complained, 'To keep his lordship comfortable, we clean every day!'

'How many times have you actually cleaned?' Zhou Yang needled him. 'Every time it's your turn you suddenly have something to do, and in the end I'm the one doing it.'

Wang Mingzhe begged for mercy: 'Alright, alright, can you spare me some face in front of Ji Su?'

Ji Su, suddenly and inexplicably cued: 'Mm?'

Qiao Jin looked around. 'Speaking of Gu Zhao — where is he?'

Zhou Yang replied: 'Brother Gu had something to do, went out early this morning.'

Qiao Jin's eyes darted, and he lowered his voice: 'Let me secretly ask you guys one thing — don't tell Gu Zhao, okay?'

Zhou Yang and Wang Mingzhe exchanged a glance, and answered in unison: 'No problem!'

'Is Gu Zhao's throat bad or something?' Qiao Jin asked in genuine puzzlement. 'Why have I never heard him talk?'

Zhou Yang: 'Well...'

Wang Mingzhe waved a hand: 'Brother Gu's throat is perfectly fine — he just doesn't like to talk, usually spits out two words at a time.'

'Mainly because he doesn't really know you guys yet.' Zhou Yang added. 'Once you get more familiar, you'll definitely be able to chat with him.'

Qiao Jin: 'Then I'll wait?'

They chatted for a while, and the phone in Ji Su's pocket buzzed.

He pulled out his phone, glanced at it, pressed the screen off, and took his leave: 'Sorry, I have to head back first.'

'Stay for lunch!' Wang Mingzhe hurriedly tried to keep him. 'Even though my foot's out of commission, we can order delivery and eat in the dorm.'

Ji Su smiled apologetically. 'I really do have something — next time.'

Qiao Jin stood up too. 'Then I'll head off as well.'

'Stay — maybe you can help out.' Ji Su gave him a subtle look. 'I can get back on my own.'

Qiao Jin hesitated, then chose to stay. 'Alright then.'

Ji Su left the Law Department boys' dormitory and walked all the way to a quiet spot before opening his phone and dialing back the missed call.

The call connected, and a middle-aged man's voice came through: 'Why did it take you so long to answer?'

'Sorry, Dad, I was in the middle of something.' Ji Su's eyes lowered. 'I called back as soon as I saw it.'

'What could you possibly have going on on a Saturday?' Ji Zhenghai paused. 'Your brother's about to take his high school entrance exam soon — make sure you reach out to him these days, give him some encouragement.'

Ji Su's fingers tightened around the phone; he opened his mouth, but only a single syllable came out: 'Mm.'

Even though he knew his father didn't normally think to care about him, the moment he saw the incoming call, a small flicker of hope had still risen in his chest.

Only this time, the call was once again about that half-brother of his.

'What do you mean, mm?' Ji Zhenghai seemed very dissatisfied with his perfunctory attitude, and his voice grew stern. 'That's your own brother — don't you care about him at all?'

'Understood, Dad.' Ji Su ground a fallen leaf under his toe. 'I'll reach out to him. Don't worry.'

Satisfied with the reply, Ji Zhenghai's tone softened. 'Your brother's at the most critical stage — he's not as good at studying as you were. As his older brother, you should help him more.'

Ji Su knit his brow, and suddenly felt a tightness in his chest, as if he couldn't quite catch his breath.

He couldn't help thinking back to his own college entrance exams — staying at an inn alone, walking into the exam hall alone, setting seven or eight alarms every day for fear of missing the test time.

What had Ji Zhenghai been doing back then?

Ji Su reached up to tug at the collar of his hoodie, and asked quietly: 'Is there anything else?'

'It's been a while since you came home — your Qin Auntie was still muttering about you last night.' Ji Zhenghai said. 'Before your brother's entrance exam, find some time to come home and visit.'

Ji Su answered: 'Okay.'

After hanging up, he stood in place for a long while before dialing another number.

After two beeps, the call connected almost at once.

'Hey, gege!' A youthful voice came through the phone, its tone unmistakably bright with happiness. 'How have you been lately?'

Ji Su tugged the corner of his mouth into a faint smile, adjusted his tone: 'I'm doing well. What about you — is the studying pressure heavy?'

'There's definitely pressure, after all I want to get into your high school on my own merit!' Ji Chen chattered on. 'But I think my chances are pretty good — on the last mock exam I made it into the top twenty of my year, and if I hadn't been so careless and misread one of the math problems, my rank could've gone even higher...'

Ji Su listened in silence, and only when the other side seemed to have talked itself out did he ask: 'Is there anything I can help you with?'

'Gege, you've already helped me so much — if it weren't for the notes you left me, how could my grades have improved so fast?' Ji Chen's tone was genuine admiration. 'You know what? When my classmates heard I have a brother who got into A University, they were all so jealous!'

'You can do it too.' Ji Su lifted his eyes to the sky. 'Keep at it.'

'I will, gege!' The young man's voice brimmed with energy. 'I'll work hard to match you, and fight to get into A University!'

Ji Su replied softly: 'Alright. I'll be waiting for you at A University.'

Only, by then, he would have already graduated from A University.

After a few more words of idle chat, Ji Su said he had things to do, and only then did Ji Chen hang up, reluctant to let go.

*

Ji Su returned to the Dormitory alone, turned on his computer, and began to draw.

As he drew, the interest drained out of it again.

Ji Su picked up his phone, switched to his secondary WeChat account, tapped into the chat with G — no new messages.

In that moment, he suddenly wanted to ask the other person: how does one manage not to care about people who fundamentally don't care about you?

His fingertip hovered above the screen for a long while, and in the end he closed the chat window.

There was no one else in the Dormitory. After lunch, Ji Su slept straight through until evening, and when he woke the sky was already dark.

Qiao Jin had come back at some point without his noticing; hearing the movement, he immediately ran over to Ji Su's bunk: 'Susu, you're finally awake!'

Ji Su raised a hand and rubbed his eyes with the back of it, his voice carrying the slight huskiness of recent sleep: 'What time is it?'

Qiao Jin glanced at his phone screen: 'Six-thirty. Since when have you been sleeping?'

'A little after three.' Ji Su sat up halfway, and asked with concern: 'How are things going with you and Zhou Yang?'

'That's exactly what I wanted to tell you!' Qiao Jin was suddenly electric with excitement. 'We had lunch together — okay, it was with Wang Mingzhe too, but rounding up, that counts as me having a meal alone with him!'

Ji Su: 'That's good.'

Qiao Jin went on: 'And after lunch, Zhou Yang and I went to the Gymnasium together, and he even taught me how to play basketball!'

Ji Su found this a little odd: 'Didn't you already know how to play basketball? Why would you need him to teach you?'

'Ah, I was just looking for an excuse to have some legitimate physical contact with him!' Qiao Jin's smile carried a trace of shyness.

Ji Su looked at him: 'And then?'

'And then I found out he doesn't mind it at all!' Qiao Jin clutched his chest in a kind of rapture. 'He even hugged me from behind — you know, that Titanic pose?'

'It is real progress, but don't get your hopes up too soon.' Ji Su got down from the bed. 'He might just be treating you like a brother.'

Qiao Jin's beautiful dream burst: 'That's true, I suppose...'

Ji Su walked over to the desk and poured himself a cup of warm water.

Qiao Jin circled around him: 'Right, you got a phone call at lunch and left — was something up?'

'Nothing. A call from my dad.' Ji Su took a sip of water, his tone even.

Qiao Jin frowned: 'What does your dad want with you out of the blue?'

Ji Su replied: 'Ji Chen's entrance exam is coming up. He wants me to, you know, show some concern for him.'

'I knew it!' Qiao Jin's volume rose without his noticing. 'With a stepmother comes a stepfather — when is he ever going to show some concern for you?'

Ji Su said nothing; only the warm water in his mouth became a little harder to swallow.

'I swear, Ji Chen is his son — are you not his son too?' Qiao Jin grew more and more indignant as he spoke. 'I've seen favoritism before, but never a dad as biased as yours!'

'Forget it.' Ji Su set down the cup and gave a small smile. 'He gave me life, raised me, put me through college — he's never shorted me on money all these years.'

Qiao Jin shook his head: 'That's not the point, Susu—'

'What do you want to eat tonight?' Ji Su interrupted, a little stiffly. 'Come on, I'm a bit hungry.'

Qiao Jin read his expression, and cheerfully picked the mood back up: 'Baby, whatever you want to eat — tonight Lord Qiao is treating!'

*

His mood was poor on Saturday, and Ji Su had no heart to chat with that scumbag; fortunately, the other party hadn't sought him out either.

It wasn't until Sunday evening that Ji Su took the initiative to send G a message.

Mengmeng: [Senior, I just saw a guy at the court, his side profile kind of looks like you~]

He didn't expect G to reply instantly, and read for a while with half his attention.

A few minutes later, the other party sent back a voice message: 'I'm not at School.'

The low, magnetic voice was pressed very low, and on careful listening there was an inexpressible weariness and suppression hidden within it.

Ji Su froze for a moment, listened again, and faintly caught the rustle of wind.

The other person was outside right now, and there was no one else around.

Mengmeng: [Senior, did something happen?]

The reply came slowly, still a brief voice message: 'No.'

Mengmeng: [If Senior doesn't want to talk about it, I won't ask.]

Mengmeng: [But if Senior wants someone to talk to, I hope I can be your first choice.]

After a while, a new voice message popped up in the chat: 'Is it convenient to voice call?'

Ji Su gave a start, instantly nervous.

It had been several days since he'd practiced the Clamp Tone, and by now he'd almost forgotten the essentials of pronunciation.

Ji Su tried hard to recall the tutorial — parted his lips, pressed his tongue against the back of his palate, pinched his voice and pushed the airflow up from his throat — and ended up producing a string of strange, unidentifiable sounds.

Ji Su: '...'

It definitely wasn't like this back then!

The more he panicked, the less he could find the feel of it. Ji Su instinctively wanted to ask Qiao Jin for help, but his reply kept not coming, and the other side sent another new message.

G: [It's just me here. Too quiet.]

Ji Su keenly sensed that the other person's mood was very low right now — at a moment like this, it was the easiest time to find an opening.

Suddenly, he thought of a good idea, and immediately got up and headed for the door.

Mengmeng: [Senior, wait for me. Ten minutes.]

Ji Su ran down the stairs while sending a voice message to his senior sister: 'Senior sister, emergency — can I borrow the Music Society key?'

Lin Yan: [The key's in the little flower bed on the windowsill, just go get it yourself.]

Ten minutes later, Ji Su stood panting at the door of the Music Society.

He braced his hands on his knees, caught his breath, took out the key, opened the classroom door, and sat down at the Piano.

His slender, pale fingers pressed a few keys to test the sound; then he dialed G's WeChat voice call and set the phone aside.

The call connected. Before Gu Zhao could speak, a cascade of piano notes pierced through the phone and reached his ear.

The lilting melody poured from his fingertips like flowing water — like a clear lake, like the hush of night, like the first ray of dawn, like the first bud opening on a branch in spring.

But within that warm and peaceful music, threads of solitude were woven in — hard to notice, yet impossible to ignore.

Gu Zhao closed his eyes, and even his breathing unconsciously grew very, very light, as though afraid of disturbing the notes.

When the piece ended, Ji Su lowered his hands, steadied himself, and let his gaze drift to the phone screen.

This was G's favorite piano piece — and, as it happened, one he'd been practicing since childhood.

Before his eyes rose the image of that little boy who always sat obediently by the window playing the piano, practicing the same piece over and over without wearying, hoping for a single word of praise from his father.

But to this day, Ji Zhenghai had never heard this piano piece.

Nor had he ever imagined that one day he would play this piece for a stranger he'd only ever met online.

After a long while, a low, hoarse voice came from the other end of the call: 'Still there?'

Ji Su picked up the phone, wanting to hang up directly yet not wanting to break this rare atmosphere.

Although G had offered not a single word of comment, somehow Ji Su felt the other person had understood the piece.

The other party asked: 'Why did you play this piece for me?'

Ji Su cleared his throat and typed his reply.

Mengmeng: [Because you like it.]

Mengmeng: [I want to make you feel a little happier.]

The other side was silent for a few seconds, then asked: 'Why do you want to make me happy?'

Mengmeng: [Because if you're happy, Mengmeng will be happy too.]

This time the silence on the other end of the call grew even longer, with only clear breathing exchanged through the current.

'Mengmeng, still don't want to talk to me?' The other party guessed that Ji Su was unwilling to speak, and asked in a low voice.

His voice was too beguiling — even though it was calling a fake name, Ji Su's heartbeat still quickened just a little.

Mengmeng: [My throat isn't feeling great, my voice doesn't sound nice.]

'It's fine.' The other party's cold voice seemed to have warmed. 'I just want to hear you talk.'

Ji Su took a deep breath, silently recited the pronunciation formula for the Clamp Tone once more in his heart, and summoned his courage to open his mouth and call out: 'Hello...'

His natural voice was clear and clean, carrying the particular brightness of youth; now deliberately pinched, it became soft and pleasant, but because of his nervousness and shyness, the tail of the note trembled faintly, sounding especially pitiable.

Like a kitten not long born, eyes not yet open, stretching out its tender little paw to meow once.

Gu Zhao narrowed his eyes slightly. The words he wanted to say rolled around in his mouth, then were swallowed down with the bob of his throat, leaving only three words at last: 'Sounds lovely.'