—

He was still head-down in thought when Wen Fu had already felt his way over to him in the dark.

It wasn't until a warm, gentle breath hit his face that Fei Bolin realized Wen Fu had come right up to him.

'You sang really well, Xiao Fu.'

He was at a loss for words, could only come up with something this dry. Because he couldn't see, and wanted to touch the other person, he raised his hand blindly in the dark. The moment he reached out, Wen Fu nuzzled his head into his palm twice.

Fei Bolin smiled, fingers sinking into Wen Fu's hair. 'How did you write it?'

Wen Fu gripped his wrist — the one resting on his own head — and pulled Fei Bolin outside. 'Love songs, they all pretty much write the same way. Read a few and you pick it up.'

'Just hard to start,' Wen Fu kept walking ahead. 'Thought for a long time, kept thinking of Bo-ge.'

Wen Fu probably didn't realize how much of a stir those words would cause anyone hearing them. Fei Bolin's gaze faltered for a beat, and his heartbeat skipped one too.

But he was the one who understood Wen Fu best. He was the closest person to Wen Fu in the world. Whatever Wen Fu said, even if Fei Bolin wanted to misunderstand it, he couldn't fool himself.

Wen Fu said he was the inspiration, said he gave the song its opening — said it plain as day, made it crystal clear to Fei Bolin that his role in Wen Fu's work was just a fuse that set off the spark.

Wen Fu was honest because he had nothing to hide. Only people with ulterior motives would cover things up and squirm.

Fei Bolin frowned. For a moment he couldn't figure out where these two slivers of disappointment had come from — probably because he'd confirmed those love-song lyrics after the opening had nothing to do with him, and because Wen Fu's attitude toward using him to write a love song was so damn casual.

Just as they stepped out of the classroom into the light, that bright wash of moonlight swept the murky shadows clean out of his heart.

He grabbed Wen Fu's hand back, stepped up to walk shoulder to shoulder, changed the subject: 'How come I never see this level of skill on your Chinese exams?'

Wen Fu shook his head honestly: 'I don't know.'

Like there's a special switch in his brain when he writes songs — every word comes alive once it's paired with music. But pull the music away and he's still that blocked, silent Wen Fu who can't squeeze out a single word. Looking back at his own work afterward, those lyrics and lines feel strangely unfamiliar.

'But my skill isn't great either,' Wen Fu went on. 'Qi Yichuan said the lyrics to The White Brow are pretty bad — only the melody's good.'

Actually, if you had to compare the two, Wen Fu's composing and arranging was way better than his lyric-writing. But Fei Bolin figured that was because his childhood had eaten away at that part of his ability — one day it'd come back.

He squeezed the back of Wen Fu's neck. 'It's all good.'

The next day, Sunday — a city leadership group came to inspect the School, and at the last minute notified them that the auditorium's external booking was canceled.

When Qi Yichuan heard the news, he cursed out the leadership group first, then cursed out the School, then ran over to the soccer field to check — and found the club people cussing and setting up tables and chairs at the same time. His heart instantly felt better.

There was still an hour before the competition started. The hosting club hurriedly posted the news, telling all contestants and audience members to report to the soccer field.

Qi Yichuan handled these logistics efficiently. Wen Fu stayed outside the crowd, looking at the Teaching Building in the distance, thinking — the venue moved, so now anyone could come listen.

Would Fei Bolin come?

Fei Bolin had evening study hall. He never skipped. He probably wouldn't come.

Wen Fu pulled his gaze back and followed Qi Yichuan backstage to draw lots.

Lucky for them, they drew a slot in the middle-to-late range — right when the competition was hitting its stride, the perfect point to stir up the audience. Not so late that people were tired, not so early that they'd fade into the background.

Coincidentally, that night the second-year high results for the third monthly exam were posted. Wen Fu had blown past his usual level in Chinese and English, scored 660 total, and for the first time ranked above Fei Bolin. The class transcript was printed and taped to the back wall of the classroom, causing quite a stir — and he himself still didn't know because of the competition.

Fei Bolin was two points below Wen Fu. They were both in the top twenty for the year. At seven that evening, Fei Bolin was bent over his desk grinding through problems when Gu Mingchun suddenly called him to the office.

The moment Fei Bolin left, Xie Yining grabbed Lu Yuqiu and started whispering.

'What do you think Xiao Gu wants with our team leader?'

'Who knows. Doesn't he always call the team leader to the office? Free labor.'

'Not this time, though.' Xie Yining didn't buy it. 'I heard Hanyang Department held some big meeting for days, wanting the School to transfer all our General Department's top second-year students up to them. Our department's top students — that's just two people, right? The School could just name them directly, why all the runaround?'

'Oh mo — the team leader and Do-Re-Mi? Transfer to Hanyang Department?' Lu Yuqiu copied the expression and tone from that viral K-drama, acting shocked. 'Mi kka sseo? Isn't that just taking the students our department's teachers worked so hard to teach and using them to boost Hanyang Department's numbers?'

'Watch less The Heirs,' Xie Yining pouted, then kept going. 'Hanyang Department just picks up ready-made stuff all day long.'

Lu Yuqiu glanced at the back of her own seat: 'You mean Xiao Gu called the team leader out for this?'

'What else?' Xie Yining flipped through her workbook, bored. 'But if the student himself doesn't want to, the School can't force him, right?'

'Our homeroom teacher might not be happy about it either.'

'Xiao Gu's just a salaryman working for the School. No matter how unhappy he is, can a single arm twist a thigh?'

'That's true…' Lu Yuqiu deflated a bit. 'Don't know if the team leader will agree — but why didn't Xiao Gu find Do-Re-Mi? Our class has both of these genius-types.'

Xie Yining clicked her tongue: 'Do-Re-Mi's at the competition right now. What kind of memory do you have?'

'Oh right, right, I forgot.'

Just as they were talking, the break bell rang. Fei Bolin was back.

Xie Yining and Lu Yuqiu turned in unison and slumped onto Fei Bolin's desk, four eyes staring at him hopefully.

Fei Bolin slowly pulled out his chair and sat down. The space under the desk was cramped, bending his legs was uncomfortable, so he stuck one long leg straight out past the desk as usual: 'Out with it.'

Xie Yining: 'What did Xiao Gu want?'

Lu Yuqiu: 'Was it about transferring you to Hanyang Department?'

Fei Bolin glanced at Wen Fu's empty seat, nodded lightly.

The two across from him said in unison: 'So are you going?'

Fei Bolin shook his head.

'Oh yeah!'

'Oh yeah!'

Their moods brightened. They didn't press Fei Bolin on why he'd refused. Xie Yining and Lu Yuqiu exchanged a look, then asked Fei Bolin: 'Wanna go hear Do-Re-Mi's singing competition?'

Fei Bolin hesitated: 'No entry ticket, how do we get into the auditorium?'

'Old-person internet speed again?' Xie Yining carefully checked outside the classroom, then secretly pulled out her phone, showed him the QQ Space post. 'Look — the venue moved last minute, it's at the soccer field, anyone can go watch.'

Fei Bolin stared at the screen, said nothing.

Xie Yining saw he was wavering, grabbed Lu Yuqiu to egg him on together: 'Come on, come on.'

Lu Yuqiu piled on: 'It's the weekend, no one's at the School except the duty teacher, the grade director's not even here, no one's patrolling.'

Fei Bolin went even quieter.

Silence meant hesitation. Hesitation meant there was room to negotiate.

Xie Yining fanned the flames: 'Let's go, let's go.'

Lu Yuqiu jumped in: 'Let's go, let's go.'

Su Haoran suddenly popped up: 'Let's go, let's go.'

Xie Yining: ?

Lu Yuqiu: ?

Su Haoran flashed a follower-type smile.

Fei Bolin: '...'

The class bell was about to ring — once the second period of evening study started, it'd be even harder for their group to slip out. Fei Bolin stood up and headed for the door: 'Let's go.'

Four shadows slipped down from the Teaching Building in the chaos.

Su Haoran hung at the back, fiddling with his phone nonstop.

Xie Yining asked: 'What are you doing?'

'Texting Do-Re-Mi,' Su Haoran said. 'Asked him where he is, otherwise how do we find him?'

'Why find him?' Lu Yuqiu turned back. 'Just find a spot and watch — once he's on stage we'll see him.'

-

The field was packed with people.

Su Haoran found a less crowded spot, squeezed in first, then gave up the space in front of him for Lu Yuqiu and Xie Yining.

Fei Bolin was tall — Su Haoran didn't worry about him. Even standing at the very back he could see the stage perfectly.

By the time they arrived, the competition had just started. Two songs had already gone by. Wen Fu wasn't visible among the contestants waiting backstage — probably still a while before his turn.

Xie Yining was on tiptoe, her neck stretched out a mile, but the people in front still completely blocked her view.

'So annoying!' She stopped and kicked the grass. 'Why are so many people skipping class? Don't any of them study?'

Su Haoran knew her temper was flaring again, scooted over and squeezed her arm: 'How about you sit on my shoulders?'

'Are you insane?' Xie Yining switched to indiscriminate-attack mode. 'When the teacher sees us, you think he'll remember you first or me?'

Su Haoran: 'Put my School Uniform jacket over your head!'

Xie Yining wavered a bit: 'Sigh… forget it.'

Su Haoran said again: 'When the teacher comes I'll say I forced you! I'll say I deliberately hoisted you up to scare you!'

Xie Yining twisted his ear: 'You playing?'

Su Haoran stepped up, squatted in front of her, patted his own shoulder: 'Get up here, Ningning. You won't even see Do-Re-Mi when he goes on.'

At this point, Xie Yining couldn't be bothered to argue: 'I'm getting on then?'

Su Haoran: 'Up!'

Xie Yining swung a leg over. Su Haoran grabbed her by both knees and stood up.

'Yo-ho!' Xie Yining grabbed his head and let out a shout. 'This is the view from up high? I'm loving it! Stop wobbling!'

Su Haoran looked up, saw her smiling and smiled too: 'Can you see clearly?'

'It's so — clear!'

Lu Yuqiu rolled her eyes: 'Stinky couple.'

Xie Yining made a face at her.

Fei Bolin hadn't spotted Wen Fu yet, so he just hunched over his phone memorizing vocabulary.

The group kept messing around, no one knew how long. Xie Yining shouted first: 'Do-Re-Mi's on!'

Sure enough, the next second the MC announced, calling out Wen Fu and Qi Yichuan's song, and specifically noted they were performing an original.

Fei Bolin's gaze finally lifted from his phone.

'Original?' Xie Yining patted Su Haoran's cheek. 'I'm not hearing things, right?'

Su Haoran opened his mouth and went 'ah-bah ah-bah' twice: 'Probably not.'

Lu Yuqiu stretched her neck toward the stage: 'Whose original?'

Xie Yining: 'Qi Yichuan, probably? Do-Re-Mi doesn't really seem like the type to write songs.'

Fei Bolin spoke up from behind them: 'Let's just listen first.'

It was already nine-thirty at night. Deep summer was close, the sky above No.1 High School was full of stars. The stage at the soccer field had been thrown together in a rush, but the club people had set it up carefully, and the lighting effects were pretty good. It wasn't hard to imagine how much better it would've looked in the auditorium.

The two on stage bowed to the judges' table first, then Qi Yichuan walked over to the drum kit while Wen Fu sat in a chair holding the Guitar.

'Holy shit…' Xie Yining murmured. 'Do-Re-Mi's singing solo, Qi Yichuan's just backing him.'

The intro finished. Wen Fu opened his mouth.

'Holy shit!' Xie Yining was even more worked up this time. 'Do-Re-Mi sings way too well, he could just pack up and debut as a pop star one day!'

'That's weird though,' Lu Yuqiu said. 'It sounds good, but why can't I understand what he's singing…'

It wasn't just them — most of the audience below had fallen silent.

Slowly, not long after Wen Fu started singing, the people watching the competition across the whole field quieted down in unison. From their expressions, they weren't struggling to make out his lyrics — they were immersed in the song's atmosphere, appreciating the performance in wordless silence.

More and more people held up phones to record.

Wen Fu's gaze swept the crowd.

He was looking for Fei Bolin.

Some people turned on their phone flashlights and tapped them to the lyrics. Fei Bolin stood far outside the lights, staring at Wen Fu without moving.

Lucky for him, the spot he stood in was less crowded and he was tall to begin with — Wen Fu caught his position without much effort.

The moment their eyes met, Wen Fu's eyes lit up.

The accompaniment cut into the chorus at just that moment. Wen Fu adjusted his posture without a flicker, facing Fei Bolin straight on.

The chorus began.

'It's fate playing tricks, heaven smiling down…'

'Even knowing till the end of time I can't chase him, I knelt before the gods and begged to grow old together…'

Wen Fu's expression was focused, as if he were just gazing into the distance, emptying his eyes, wholly devoted to performing the song.

No one knew he was staring at Fei Bolin — the person he slept beside every night, someone even Xie Yining and Su Haoran, who spent day and night with them, didn't know about.

The crowd below churned like waves. In Wen Fu's eyes, there was room for only this one audience.

Maybe Wen Fu himself hadn't realized — at some point, searching for Fei Bolin first in any setting had become something in his bones. As if only by finding Fei Bolin could he find the courage to face anything.

Just like writing songs was to give his soul an outlet, singing was another way of expressing himself to Fei Bolin.

All the lights dimmed.

Fei Bolin heard the song again. Under the bright lights and starry sky, he looked clearly into Wen Fu's eyes — clear and clean, just like that voice. This time the love song had a shape, the one offering it had a concrete face, but he still seemed to have been pulled back to that pitch-dark kindergarten classroom.

The night was still, the wind was still, everything sank into the darkness around him — so he could smell Wen Fu's breath, feel the air by the river a hundred miles away.

Right now Wen Fu's song filled his ears — more vivid, more passionate than last night, threading through the noise and clamor of thousands, those lyrics born from him still pouring into his ears like waves.

Fei Bolin thought, gracelessly — how absurd. Someone in this world had a confession born from him, and it wasn't being handed to him.

Why should everyone get to hear it?

He gave Wen Fu a gentle smile, and at the same time felt his own heartbeat in his chest, tangled up with Wen Fu's singing.

Fei Bolin's smile was vivid and stiff — enough to fool everyone, not enough to fool himself.

Something took root and sprouted, tumbling through every beat of his heart, cutting off all sound, severing the night wind and the insect chorus, trapping him in that inescapable darkness.

Like a spear, like an arrow — struggling out of Wen Fu's half-conscious confession, pouring down on him headfirst.

It was a twisted color blooming in Fei Bolin's once black-and-white life — like the heavy, ink-dark curtain of night being torn open by a crack of sky blue.

Smashing his upcoming eighteenth birthday into a void.

He finally felt his long-delayed youth splash into being, along with a thunderclap a hundred miles away pouring down onto the calm river surface.

Everything had been foreshadowed — and yet it happened without warning.

This was his and Wen Fu's first summer.

His season of storms.

Young and unknown, the river roaring.