Chapter 50

Half-asleep, Wen Fu only caught the tail end of Fei Bolin's sentence: '...kiss you.'

He was exhausted. He just wanted to get the kissing over with so he could go back to sleep, so he nodded. 'Okay.'

Fei Bolin: ?

Okay what?

Wen Fu's eyes were closing again. He remembered Fei Bolin hadn't kissed him yet, so he shifted his face a little closer. 'Can you hurry up? Bolin-ge.'

He really wanted to sleep.

Fei Bolin just kept holding his head, not moving.

Wen Fu leaned in and pressed his cheek against Fei Bolin's mouth.

Soft. Cool.

He couldn't tell if that sensation came from his own cheek or Fei Bolin's lips.

Fei Bolin's breathing stopped.

Wen Fu lay back on his pillow. 'Can I sleep now? Bolin-ge.'

Even as he said it, his eyes were already closed and he was drifting off.

Fei Bolin stayed frozen in place on the pillow for twenty minutes.

Finally, he took a deep breath, rolled over onto his back, and stared motionlessly at the ceiling.

What had Wen Fu just done?

Wen Fu had kissed his mouth with his cheek.

He'd been kissed by Wen Fu's cheek.

Fei Bolin glanced sideways at Wen Fu, then quickly looked away again.

Six in the morning.

Fei Bolin couldn't sleep.

Fei Bolin got up and took a cold shower.

When Wen Fu woke up, his hair was messier than it had ever been.

Fei Bolin sat beside him with dark circles under his eyes, arms crossed, watching him slurp down his noodles. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. 'Do you have any idea what you did last night?'

A piece of scallion was still stuck to the corner of Wen Fu's mouth. He finished his soup, looked up, and saw Fei Bolin's terrifyingly serious expression. His mind immediately went into overdrive. 'Did I sleep at the foot of the bed again?'

Wen Fu was a restless sleeper. Once he fell asleep, his whole body would curl up like a shrimp, and he'd often flip around in the middle of the night, waking up with his head at the foot of the bed. Once, he'd kicked Fei Bolin in the stomach in his sleep, making Fei Bolin cry out in pain. After that, whenever Wen Fu started thrashing around, Fei Bolin would promptly haul him back into place.

Fei Bolin was silent for a second, then covered his eyes and sighed. He rubbed his face frantically, got up, and went to wash his face with cold water again. 'Yeah.'

Might as well pretend Wen Fu had kicked his mouth with his cheek.

Just as he was washing his face, Wen Fu's phone rang outside.

Fei Bolin instantly turned off the tap. He stood in front of the mirror, silently listening to Wen Fu answer.

'...Hello?'

Definitely Qi Yichuan.

'...Don't know.'

Definitely Qi Yichuan asking Wen Fu if he knew who he was.

'...Don't know you.'

Definitely Qi Yichuan introducing himself.

'...Don't want to.'

Definitely Qi Yichuan asking Wen Fu if he wanted to go out.

'...DEATH NOTE.'

Definitely Qi Yichuan asking Wen Fu what anime he was watching on his phone yesterday.

'...Lyu Ke.'

Definitely Qi Yichuan asking Wen Fu which character he liked.

'...What's a figurine?'

Oh no. That was a question.

Sure enough, Wen Fu poked his head toward the bathroom. 'Bolin-ge?'

Fei Bolin walked out like nothing was wrong. 'What's up?'

'Can I go out?'

He knew it.

Fei Bolin asked, 'Where to?'

'To Qi Yichuan's house to see Lyu Ke's figurine.'

Fei Bolin didn't catch whether it was Lyu Ke or some other Ke. He just asked, 'Where?'

Wen Fu went back to the phone. 'Where do you live?'

The other person gave an address.

'Lingang District.'

Fei Bolin said, 'That's a bit far.'

The other person spoke again.

Wen Fu listened for a bit, then relayed to Fei Bolin, 'He'll take a taxi to pick me up.'

'Sure.' Fei Bolin smiled gently and ruffled Wen Fu's hair. 'Just have him bring you back before lunch.'

Wen Fu said into the phone, 'Okay.'

Then the call ended.

The smile instantly vanished from Fei Bolin's face.

Qi Yichuan was very proactive toward his old friend Wen Fu. Just as the two of them went downstairs to open Lin's Convenience Store, Qi Yichuan arrived at the entrance of the residential complex in a taxi.

Fei Bolin had packed Wen Fu's backpack full of snacks and two cartons of milk. He personally walked Wen Fu to the car and reminded him again, 'Be back before lunch.'

Only then did Qi Yichuan recognize the 'Bolin-ge' Wen Fu had mentioned on the phone — wasn't he the classmate Wen Fu had gone home with yesterday?

He walked up and smiled at Fei Bolin. 'You're his brother? I thought you were just a classmate.'

Then he asked, 'Want to come along?'

'No,' Fei Bolin smiled back. 'I've got things to do at home. Just make sure you bring him back before noon.'

'He has to be back by noon?' Qi Yichuan looked at Wen Fu, as if seeking his opinion.

Seeing his expression, which suggested he had no intention of returning Wen Fu, the corner of Fei Bolin's mouth twitched slightly, struggling to hold the smile.

Wen Fu said matter-of-factly, 'Yeah.'

'Oh...' Qi Yichuan scratched his head. 'But I've got a ton more anime at home I wanted to watch with you. Attack on Titan, you know it? It came out last year, it's really amazing.'

Wen Fu had heard Xie Yining talk about this anime a lot, but he hadn't watched it yet. Xie Yining was competitive and stubborn; she insisted on making Wen Fu catch up on older series according to her preferences before she'd download anything new for him.

Wen Fu nodded, then shook his head.

Qi Yichuan's eyes lit up. He immediately understood. 'You know it, but you haven't seen it?'

Wen Fu nodded.

'Then don't come back this afternoon. Let's watch it at my place.' Qi Yichuan said. 'We can eat dinner together and go to evening study.'

Wen Fu's expression clearly showed he was tempted.

He turned his head, silently asking for Fei Bolin's permission.

Fei Bolin's smile remained. 'Go if you want. It'll save me cooking two extra dishes.'

Seeing him relent, Qi Yichuan happily ushered Wen Fu into the taxi. 'Let's go, let's go. Time's tight.'

'By the way,' Fei Bolin suddenly called out to him, 'which class are you in? The General Department and Hanyang Class classrooms aren't on the same floor. Don't get lost going to evening study; he doesn't remember routes well.'

Wen Fu looked a little confused beside him.

He actually remembered routes just fine.

He'd remembered where Fei Bolin lived after following him just once.

How could a thief who'd grown up navigating streets and alleys not remember routes?

The cat was confused, but the cat didn't say anything.

Qi Yichuan said, 'Oh, I'm in Hanyang Class, section one.'

He explained, 'I just transferred this semester. I'm on exchange from Jin Cheng Foreign Language Affiliated High School to No.1 High School for a semester. I never thought I'd run into Wen Fu here.'

After saying that, he smiled at Wen Fu again.

And Wen Fu was still looking at Fei Bolin with a face full of confusion.

Fei Bolin pretended not to see Wen Fu's expression and asked Qi Yichuan, 'You're a sophomore too?'

'Yeah, sophomore.' Qi Yichuan replied. 'I'll be eighteen after summer break. Wen Fu just turned sixteen last winter, right?'

He even remembered his birthday that clearly.

Fei Bolin lowered his eyes, just enough to hide a flicker of annoyance.

Then he looked up again, asking in a joking tone, 'Almost eighteen, you probably won't go around kissing people for no reason anymore, right?'

The words 'for no reason' were emphasized slightly. Qi Yichuan found them grating, but looking at Fei Bolin's expression, there didn't seem to be any mockery intended — his eyes still held a gentle smile. So he didn't think too much of it. 'Ha, of course not.'

He got into the car while chatting to Fei Bolin. 'When we were kids, I wanted to kiss him but never managed it. Got beat up so bad my nose bled. Definitely not now.'

As Qi Yichuan finished saying this, he closed the car door. Through the tinted window, he caught a glimpse of Fei Bolin outside, whose smile seemed to have deepened.

Maybe it was the window tint or something else, but he hadn't felt it face-to-face outside. Sitting in the car and looking at Fei Bolin now, he felt that no matter how much this person smiled, there was something dark and gloomy in his eyes.

He turned and asked Wen Fu, 'Is your brother always like that?'

Wen Fu thought about it. 'He's being nice to you.'

When it was just the two of them at home, Fei Bolin was never this polite with Wen Fu. He was always decisive and didn't mince words.

Qi Yichuan misunderstood. His eyebrows shot up, pointing at himself, pleasantly surprised. 'Nice to me? You mean your brother likes me?'

Wen Fu wanted to say he didn't know, but he remembered Fei Bolin had taught him that when people ask him questions, he can say he knows or doesn't know. But when they're asking for his opinion, always saying 'I don't know' is rude. If he's unsure how to judge, he should agree without contradicting the facts.

So Wen Fu nodded.

Qi Yichuan stamped his foot in regret, feeling he'd missed out on a good buddy. 'When he walked you to the door just now, he wanted to hang out with me! I should've invited him more. Your brother doesn't really express his feelings well, does he?'

Wen Fu thought again. At home, Fei Bolin indeed never wasted words on him, sticking to the principle of action. Whenever Wen Fu acted up, an iron hand would reach out and haul him away.

So he nodded again.

Qi Yichuan was practically banging his head against the seat. 'I must have hurt his feelings.'

Wen Fu fell silent.

He hadn't noticed Fei Bolin's feelings being hurt by Qi Yichuan.

Qi Yichuan really did have a lot of figurines at home. Since he was an exchange student from Jin City, his family had rented him a decently sized apartment in Rongzhou, hired a live-in auntie to cook, and the figurines he'd brought with him were his most prized possessions. Each one had been carefully selected, meticulously packed, and transported all the way here.

When Wen Fu saw one he liked, he'd squat in front of the display case, eyes wide, examining it carefully.

Qi Yichuan would go over, take the figurine out, and place it in his hands. Wen Fu would say, 'Thank you.'

After looking at it, he'd put it back exactly as it was, then shift over to look at the next one.

Qi Yichuan would put the second one in his hands, and Wen Fu would still say, 'Thank you.'

For every single one, Qi Yichuan would proactively hand him the figurine, and Wen Fu would definitely say thank you.

Finally, Qi Yichuan couldn't take it. 'Stop saying thank you. Just pick them up and look.'

Wen Fu said, 'Oh.'

Then he looked at the next one, still not touching it.

Qi Yichuan handed it to him, and he said thank you again.

Qi Yichuan was speechless. 'Are you a robot? Who taught you you have to say thank you?'

Wen Fu blinked slowly. 'Bolin-ge.'

'What about your mom?'

Wen Fu said, 'Dead.'

Qi Yichuan was taken aback. He hadn't expected Wen Fu to say it so bluntly.

'I'm sorry. What about... your dad?'

Wen Fu didn't speak.

Qi Yichuan sighed. 'I remember you weren't like this when we were kids.'

How did he become so stiff after growing up?

He made a random connection and asked, 'Does your brother treat you badly?'

Wen Fu suddenly looked up at him. There was a hint of wary hostility in his eyes now. 'Bolin-ge is good.'

Qi Yichuan sensed he might be a little angry. 'I didn't mean it like that, I just...'

Just felt Wen Fu had changed too much, and had no way of knowing what he'd been through.

Flustered, Qi Yichuan pulled Wen Fu toward the projection room. 'Let's go watch anime.'

Wen Fu couldn't resist anime. The two of them curled up on the sofa and watched eight episodes straight. Wen Fu was completely absorbed in the screen, not even taking a sip of water.

Just as Qi Yichuan was about to start the ninth episode, Wen Fu glanced at the digital clock on the table and asked, 'Is it one o'clock now?'

Qi Yichuan said, 'Yeah.'

Wen Fu got up without hesitation. 'I have to go back.'

'Go back?' Qi Yichuan was caught off guard, standing up too. 'Didn't we agree to eat together and go to class tonight?'

Wen Fu shook his head. 'I have to go back and eat with Bolin-ge.'

Qi Yichuan didn't understand. 'But we agreed — your brother said okay too?'

Wen Fu looked back at him. 'Didn't you see Bolin-ge's eyes?'

'What?'

For the first time, Wen Fu felt someone was even slower than him, so dense they couldn't even read Fei Bolin's expression.

'He wants me to go back.'