—

Xu Ze looked at Lu Heyang's profile. His mind was empty, and yet he was straining to gather his thoughts, to catch the sounds around him.

'I went for an elder's birthday.' Lu Heyang kept his eyes on the road ahead, his voice flat.

'And then got dragged along to meet an Omega — otherwise why would it take a whole week to come back?' He Wei gossiped. 'Right? Right?'

Gu Yunchi frowned. 'Can you shut up for a second?'

'What? I'm not allowed to care about my buddy's love life? Didn't he come all the way last year just for Lu Heyang's birthday party? The meaning was pretty obvious, wasn't it?' He Wei said regretfully. 'I told you ages ago to date more. You wouldn't listen — such a pity. I bet the moment you get to university you'll be engaged right away.'

'Even Xu Ze said he'd like a cute Omega. Lu Heyang is basically a heartless machine.' He Wei turned to Xu Ze. 'Xu Ze, I'd advise you not to get too close to him, or you'll go cold too.'

Xu Ze made no sound. Slowly he drew his hand back from the seat and set it on his lap. His palm was clammy with cold sweat.

Lu Heyang drove in silence. Seeing Xu Ze like this, He Wei finally stopped his racket and asked, 'So are you still at the Preparatory Academy next semester? I thought they said you'd go abroad early once you finished your second year.'

'Don't know.'

He Wei began to sink into sorrow. 'I've only been back in the country half a semester, and now I'm about to be long-distance from you again.'

The car went quiet — quiet enough to hear the tires pressing against the road. A little over half an hour later, the car stopped at the gate of Xu Ze's residential compound. He Wei leaned against the window and peered out. 'So dark. Be careful walking, Xu Ze.'

Xu Ze lifted his head. He had been sitting in the same position the whole time; his neck ached.

'Mm.' Xu Ze pushed open the car door. Without looking at Lu Heyang, he only said, 'I'm heading off first.'

'Bye-bye!' He Wei waved.

The door closed. At the same moment came the sound of the driver's side opening. Lu Heyang unbuckled his seatbelt and said, 'Yun Chi, you drive.'

Gu Yunchi gave an 'mm,' but didn't get out to swap seats right away — because Lu Heyang wasn't coming to sit in the passenger seat. He was walking toward Xu Ze's retreating back.

'What's Lu Heyang going to do?'

'Now I understand why Chi Jiahán won't talk to you.' Gu Yunchi said.

Poked at a sore spot for no reason, He Wei froze. 'Are you sick in the head?!'

'Xu Ze.'

Hearing Lu Heyang call him, Xu Ze was suddenly seized by a chill. Only then did he realize he had never heard footsteps behind him.

He stopped at the entrance to the building corridor and turned around. As if nothing were different, in his usual tone, he asked, 'What is it?'

Lu Heyang walked up to him and said nothing. Xu Ze's throat moved. 'Get back and rest early,' he said. He figured Lu Heyang had only just returned today, had gone to the Underground Club, and now driven him home — he must be tired.

'Don't you want your reward?' A faint wash of moonlight fell at their feet. Lu Heyang looked at Xu Ze and asked.

The grass was full of insect song; a light Plum Blossom scent drifted over. After a long moment, Xu Ze said quietly, 'Maybe not.'

Less an answer to Lu Heyang than a warning to himself: don't, he told himself. You can't.

He had been so busy hoarding memories for later that he hadn't stopped to think. There were things one ought not to covet. Even if Lu Heyang was willing to give them, he couldn't just take them blindly, crossing the line again and again, greedy and without limit.

After several seconds, Lu Heyang said 'okay.' Then he raised a hand and found the side of Xu Ze's neck; the pad of his thumb brushed against Xu Ze's jaw. 'Get some sleep early,' he said.

Like a robot that had just been fed a command — no expression, no demands — Xu Ze nodded quietly and walked up the stairs. Lu Heyang stood there watching him for a while, then walked out of the corridor.

Back in the car, with Xu Ze no longer present, He Wei grew a little more serious. 'Did Uncle Lu really take you to meet that Omega?'

'Originally it was an elder's birthday banquet. Later they took me to meet a few headmasters.' Lu Heyang leaned back against the seat. 'Last night we went to dinner. I only found out at the restaurant that this kind of meeting had been arranged.'

He Wei fell silent. He couldn't bring himself to comfort Lu Heyang with 'it's fine, you're still young, don't worry.' Everyone knew — for people like them, there was no 'still young' or 'not yet.' You never knew when you'd be picked up and set down in a place someone else had planned out entirely.

The corridor was pitch-dark. Xu Ze climbed the stairs step by step, thinking nothing. On the last step his foot caught; his shin struck the edge of the stair and he dropped to his knees. He had walked this staircase in the dark countless times — tonight was the first time he had fallen.

It hurt, but within what Xu Ze could bear. He got up slowly, limped to the door, took out his key and let himself in. Once inside he made his way to his room, sat down at the desk, pulled open the drawer, and took out the medicine.

While applying the medicine, Xu Ze's gaze kept drifting to the iron box. In the end he wiped his hands clean, put the medicine back in the drawer, and pushed the iron box deeper in until it was out of sight.

Tuesday's swimming class was the final exam. Lu Heyang arrived late; everyone had already lined up. Xu Ze was somewhere in the middle of the line. Once the groups were sorted out, he went to the pool diagonally opposite to warm up. Lu Heyang noticed that Xu Ze's leg seemed off as he walked, as though he were injured.

Xu Ze finished his exam quickly and left. Lu Heyang finished twenty minutes later. On his way to the locker room, passing one of the rooms, someone called out to him: 'Heyang.'

It was a classmate, an Alpha, dressing as he spoke. 'Xu Ze asked me which locker room you were in.'

'When?'

'About ten minutes ago. I told him.' The Alpha watched Lu Heyang's face with studied casualness, curious about his reaction.

But Lu Heyang showed nothing. He only nodded. 'Okay, thanks.'

The Swimming Pool had nearly emptied. Lu Heyang walked to the locker room door. Xu Ze wasn't inside.

Lu Heyang noticed a bag hanging on the hook outside his locker door. He walked over, took it down, and opened it. Inside were a brand-new pair of boxing gloves, a neatly folded T-shirt, and a Wristband wrapped in bubble wrap.

Xu Ze had returned everything he'd been given, untouched.

A call came in. It was He Wei.

'I just got out of class. Want to grab dinner together?'

'No.' Lu Heyang leaned against the locker, the bag dangling from his hand, his eyes on the floor. 'The driver's waiting at the school gate. From now on they'll probably pick me up after school every day.'

He Wei clicked his tongue, a little irritated. 'What the hell? Why are they suddenly watching you so closely again? Is it necessary?'

'Don't know.' Lu Heyang's tone gave nothing away.

That night, Lu Heyang stepped out of the bathroom after his shower. Drying his hair, he looked at the bag Xu Ze had returned, sitting on the sofa. After about half a minute, Lu Heyang picked up his Mobile Phone and made a call.

Seven or eight seconds later, the call connected. Xu Ze's 'Hello?' sounded light and far away. Lu Heyang sat down on the sofa and asked, 'What happened to your leg?'

Apparently not expecting the question, Xu Ze paused before answering, 'I bumped into something by accident.'

'Did you put medicine on it?'

'Mm.'

Then a long silence. The faint static on the line sounded like the distance between them.

'Why did you give the things back to me?' Lu Heyang asked.

After a few seconds, Xu Ze didn't answer. Lu Heyang said, 'If you don't want them, they're no use to me just sitting around. I'd have to throw them out.'

Xu Ze was clearly taken aback. 'Throw them out?'

Hearing Lu Heyang's 'mm,' Xu Ze immediately asked, 'Where did you throw them?'

'Planning to go pick them up?' Lu Heyang laughed softly. 'I threw them in my room. If you want to come get them, let me know in advance.'

Knowing full well he was being teased, Xu Ze exhaled in relief — because Lu Heyang hadn't actually thrown the things away.

'Xu Ze.' Lu Heyang suddenly called his name.

'What is it?' Xu Ze's voice sounded careful, tense — the kind of anxious wariness of someone afraid of hearing bad news.

'Don't keep your distance from me.' Lu Heyang leaned back, looking up at the silent ceiling lamp above him, and said it slowly.

Xu Ze's breath grew heavier at once. After a long silence he asked Lu Heyang, 'Are you leaving next semester?'

He wouldn't have asked it out loud. He would have quietly returned to where he belonged, neither disturbing nor inquiring, becoming once again the Xu Ze who wasn't close to Lu Heyang.

'If I'm leaving next semester, you're planning to start pulling away from me now, aren't you?' Lu Heyang asked calmly.

'I'm not trying to pull away from you,' Xu Ze said softly.

People who lived in two different worlds — what did 'pulling away' even mean? Under normal circumstances there was no chance of their paths crossing to begin with. Xu Ze knew, of course, that Lu Heyang would marry someone else someday. Maybe three or four years from now, during university; maybe six or seven, once he had made something of himself. It was only after He Wei's reminder that Xu Ze realized there was also the matter of 'meeting in advance' — that in Lu Heyang's circle, at least, this sort of thing began very early.

And the possibility that Lu Heyang might transfer schools next semester had caught Xu Ze off guard.

Lu Heyang countered, 'You say you're not.'

'Then will you go?' Xu Ze, rarely insistent, asked again.

'It's not certain yet.'

Even with such an ambiguous answer, Xu Ze still said, 'Okay.' Then, 'Get some rest early.'

'Mm.'

Lu Heyang was the first to end the call. He knew Xu Ze wouldn't hang up first.

For the next few days, Lu Heyang was driven home from school by the driver. Final exams were the following Thursday; once Friday's exams ended, summer break officially began.

Today was Friday. Earlier in the day Xiao Feng had messaged Lu Heyang to say Number 17 would be fighting tonight. At half past nine, thinking Xu Ze's match should already be over, Lu Heyang messaged Xiao Feng to ask whether Number 17 had been hurt.

Xiao Feng: Sigh, Number 17 is still fighting. It's the sixth round now.

Lu Heyang had been working on problems. Seeing the message, he frowned, set down his pen, and typed: What do you mean?

Xiao Feng: I only found out when the match started. Today the Boss had Number 17 fight in a skirt — ten rounds. If Number 17 doesn't win, he doesn't get paid tonight. And also, I heard that for last week's match where someone bet five hundred thousand on him, the Boss has been holding back his share of the winnings. He still hasn't been paid.

Lu Heyang asked: Is he hurt?

Xiao Feng: Yeah, he's hurt. He's been bleeding the whole time. The boxer in the last round is pretty strong too. Everyone's saying the Boss is deliberately wearing Number 17 down, saving the toughest for last so he loses on purpose.

Lu Heyang turned off his Mobile Phone, took the car keys, and walked out of the study. The moment he pulled out of the garden, a light flashed in the rearview mirror — the bodyguard's car had already fallen in from another direction.

A little after ten, Lu Heyang arrived at the Underground Club. It was at its liveliest now. Lu Heyang pushed through the crowded room, brushing off hands that tried to land on his shoulder, all the way to the boxing arena. He glanced in through the door; the person fighting inside was no longer Xu Ze. Lu Heyang turned and headed for the backstage.

Xu Ze wasn't in the locker room either. Lu Heyang went to the side-door corridor — the route Xu Ze usually took when he left.

The corridor was nearly empty, very quiet. Passing the door to the stairwell, though he heard nothing and saw nothing, Lu Heyang still stopped. After a pause he angled his body and stepped half a pace inside.

Inside the stairwell there was another door, only half open, no light, revealing a pitch-dark corner. Cardboard boxes and plastic bags and the like were piled in the corner; on top of the rubbish, something seemed to be curled up.

Lu Heyang walked in slowly. He began to smell blood, and a strange, hard-to-describe burning scent.

Curled up on the rubbish was an Alpha. From somewhere a sliver of light leaked in — like a silver blade, slashing across the Alpha's face and illuminating a streak of filthy blood. The Alpha's eyes were closed, as though he were resting from sheer exhaustion.

Lu Heyang's fingertips twitched. He was about to step further in when he suddenly saw a hand reach out toward the Alpha — hidden behind the other half of the door, the owner unseen. The hand held half a lit cigarette between its fingers and pressed the glowing tip against the Alpha's body.

A muffled groan rose from the Alpha's throat. His body shifted slightly; the plastic bags beneath him rustled. But that was all — he moved only that much, too spent for any other reaction.

That strange, unnameable burning smell grew thicker in the air.