Xu Ze looked at Lu Heyang’s profile, his mind blank while at the same time trying desperately to concentrate, trying to make out the sounds around him.
“I went to attend an elder’s birthday,” Lu Heyang said calmly, keeping his eyes on the road ahead.
“And then you conveniently got taken to meet an Omega, otherwise why would it take you a whole week to come back?” He Wei gossiped. “Right? Right?”
Gu Yunchi frowned. “Can you shut up for a while?”
“What? I’m not even allowed to care about my buddy’s love life anymore? Didn’t he specifically come to attend Heyang’s birthday party last year? The meaning was pretty obvious, wasn’t it?” He Wei said regretfully. “I told you ages ago to date more. You wouldn’t listen. What a waste. I bet the moment you get to college, you’ll be engaged immediately.”
“Even Xu Ze says he’d like a cute Omega. Lu Heyang is basically an emotionless machine.” He Wei turned toward Xu Ze. “Xu Ze, I advise you not to get too close to him, or you’ll become sexually frigid too.”
Xu Ze made no sound.
He slowly loosened the hand pressed against the seat and placed it on his thigh. His palm was covered in cold sweat.
Lu Heyang drove silently. Seeing Xu Ze like that, He Wei finally stopped fooling around and asked, “Are you still going to be at the preparatory school next semester? Didn’t they say before that they’d send you abroad early once you finished your second year?”
“I don’t know.”
He Wei immediately became melancholy. “I’ve only been back in the country for half a semester, and now I’m going to be separated from you again.”
The car fell silent.
The sound of the tires rolling over the road could be heard.
More than half an hour later, the car stopped at the entrance of Xu Ze’s residential complex. He Wei leaned against the car window and looked outside.
“It’s so dark. Xu Ze, be careful walking.”
Xu Ze raised his head. He had been sitting in the exact same position the entire time, and his neck was already sore.
“Mm.”
Xu Ze pushed open the car door without looking at Lu Heyang.
“I’m leaving.”
“Bye!” He Wei waved.
The car door closed. At the same time, the driver’s door opened. Lu Heyang unfastened his seat belt.
“Yunchi, you drive.”
Gu Yunchi answered with a “Mm,” but didn’t immediately get out to switch seats, because Lu Heyang wasn’t going to sit in the passenger seat.
He was walking toward Xu Ze’s retreating figure.
“What’s Heyang going to do?”
“I can understand why Chi Jiahan ignores you,” Gu Yunchi said.
He Wei was caught completely off guard by the mention of his sore spot.
“What the hell is wrong with you?!”
“Xu Ze.”
Hearing Lu Heyang call his name, Xu Ze suddenly shuddered.
Only then did he realize that he hadn’t heard any footsteps behind him at all.
He stopped at the entrance to the building and turned around. He seemed no different from usual and asked in his normal tone, “What’s wrong?”
Lu Heyang walked up to him without saying anything.
Xu Ze swallowed and said, “Go back and get some rest early.”
He figured Lu Heyang had probably only just returned today. He had even gone to the club afterward, and now he had driven Xu Ze home. He must be tired.
“Don’t you want a reward?”
The faint moonlight fell at their feet as Lu Heyang looked at Xu Ze and asked.
The grass around them was filled with the chirping of insects, and a light gardenia fragrance drifted through the air.
After a long moment, Xu Ze said quietly, “Maybe not.”
More than an answer to Lu Heyang, it sounded like he was warning himself.
Maybe not. I shouldn’t.
He had been so focused on saving things as memories for the future that he hadn’t taken the time to think properly. There were many things he shouldn’t covet.
Even if Lu Heyang was willing to give them to him, he couldn’t blindly accept them, greedily crossing the line again and again.
Several seconds passed before Lu Heyang said, “Okay.”
Then he raised his hand and touched the side of Xu Ze’s neck. The pad of his thumb brushed lightly against Xu Ze’s jaw.
“Go to sleep early.”
Like a robot that had simply been programmed with an instruction, Xu Ze showed no emotion and made no demands. He quietly nodded and walked upstairs.
Lu Heyang stood there watching him for a while before leaving the building.
Once they were back in the car, with Xu Ze no longer there, He Wei became somewhat more serious.
“Did Uncle Lu really take you to meet that Omega?”
“Originally, I went to attend an elder’s birthday banquet. Later, he took me to meet several principals.” Lu Heyang leaned back against the seat. “Last night, we went out for dinner. I didn’t know they’d arranged that kind of meeting until I arrived at the restaurant.”
He Wei fell silent.
He couldn’t comfort Lu Heyang by saying, It’s okay. It’s still early, so don’t worry.
Everyone knew the reality.
For people like them, there was no such thing as “too early” or “too late.” You never knew when you might suddenly be dragged into a position that someone else had planned entirely for you.
The stairwell was pitch-black.
Xu Ze climbed the stairs one step at a time, thinking about nothing.
When he reached the final step, he tripped.
His calf struck the edge of the stairs, and his entire body dropped to the floor, landing on his knees.
Xu Ze had walked up these stairs in the dark countless times.
Today was the first time he had fallen.
It hurt, but it was within Xu Ze’s tolerance.
He slowly got back up and limped to his door. He took out his keys and unlocked it.
After entering, Xu Ze made his way to his room and sat down at the desk. He opened the drawer and took out the medicine.
While applying it, Xu Ze’s gaze remained fixed on the iron box.
Eventually, he wiped his hands clean, put the medicine back into the drawer, then pushed the iron box farther toward the back until it was completely 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. After the groups were assigned, he went to the pool diagonally across from them to warm up.
Lu Heyang noticed that Xu Ze seemed to be walking strangely, as though he had injured his leg.
Xu Ze finished his exam quickly and left.
Lu Heyang finished twenty minutes later.
On the way to the changing room, as he passed one of the rooms, someone called out to him.
“Heyang.”
It was an Alpha from his class. As he got dressed, he said, “Xu Ze asked me which changing room you were in.”
“When?”
“About ten minutes ago. I told him.”
The Alpha discreetly studied the expression on Lu Heyang’s face, curious about his reaction.
But Lu Heyang didn’t seem to react much. He simply nodded.
“Okay. Thanks.”
There weren’t many people left in the swimming complex.
Lu Heyang walked to the entrance of the changing room.
Xu Ze wasn’t inside.
Lu Heyang noticed a bag hanging from the hook outside his locker.
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 returned everything he had received exactly as it was.
A call came in. It was He Wei.
“I just got out of class. Want to have dinner together?”
“No.” Lu Heyang leaned against the cabinet, the bag of things hanging from his hand, his gaze fixed on the floor. “The driver is waiting at the school gate. He’ll probably be picking me up after school every day from now on.”
He Wei clicked his tongue, sounding a little annoyed. “What? Why are they suddenly keeping such a tight leash on you again? Is that really necessary?”
“I don’t know.”
There was no rise or fall in Lu Heyang’s voice.
That evening, after Lu Heyang finished showering and came out of the bathroom, he dried his hair while looking at the bag of things Xu Ze had returned to him on the sofa.
After staring at it for about half a minute, Lu Heyang picked up his phone and made a call.
Seven or eight seconds later, the call connected.
Xu Ze’s “Hello?” sounded soft and distant.
Lu Heyang sat down on the sofa and asked, “What happened to your leg?”
Xu Ze had probably not expected him to ask about that. He paused before saying, “I accidentally bumped it.”
“Did you put medicine on it?”
“Mm.”
After that came a long silence.
The faint static from the phone sounded like the distance between them.
“Why did you return my things?” Lu Heyang asked.
After waiting several seconds without getting an answer, Lu Heyang said, “If you don’t want them, they’ll be useless just sitting there. I’ll have no choice but to throw them away.”
Xu Ze was clearly startled.
“Throw them away?”
When he heard Lu Heyang hum in response, Xu Ze immediately asked, “Where?”
“Were you planning to go pick them up?” Lu Heyang laughed softly. “I threw them in my room. If you want to come get them, just let me know beforehand.”
Even though Xu Ze knew he’d been teased, he still breathed a sigh of relief, because Lu Heyang had not actually thrown those things away.
“Xu Ze.”
Lu Heyang suddenly called his name.
“What is it?”
Xu Ze’s voice sounded cautious and nervous, the kind of uneasiness that came from being afraid of hearing bad news.
“Don’t keep your distance from me.”
Lu Heyang leaned back, looking at the silent chandelier above him, and spoke slowly.
Xu Ze’s breathing immediately became a little heavier.
After a long silence, he asked Lu Heyang, “Are you leaving next semester?”
He originally would not have asked.
He would have silently returned to the position he was supposed to occupy, neither disturbing nor prying, and once again become the Xu Ze who was not close to Lu Heyang.
“If I’m leaving next semester, are you planning to start distancing yourself from me now?” Lu Heyang asked calmly.
Xu Ze said softly, “I wasn’t trying to distance myself from you.”
People who lived in two different worlds—how could they even speak of distancing themselves?
Under normal circumstances, they would never have crossed paths in the first place.
Xu Ze of course knew that Lu Heyang would eventually marry someone else.
Maybe three or four years from now, while he was in college.
Maybe six or seven years from now, once he had established himself in his career.
It was only after He Wei’s reminder that Xu Ze realized there was something called “getting acquainted beforehand” before marriage, something that would begin at a very early stage.
At least, that was how things worked within Lu Heyang’s circle.
And the possibility that Lu Heyang might transfer schools next semester had caught Xu Ze completely off guard.
Lu Heyang retorted, “And you still say you aren’t.”
“Then are you leaving?”
Xu Ze rarely pressed the issue, but this time he asked again.
“I haven’t decided yet.”
Although the answer he received was vague, Xu Ze still said, “Okay.”
Then he added, “Get some rest early.”
“Mm.”
Lu Heyang ended the call first.
He knew Xu Ze would never be the first one to hang up.
Over the next few days, Lu Heyang was picked up by the driver after school every day.
His final exams were next Thursday, and once they ended on Friday, summer vacation would officially begin.
Today was Friday.
During the day, Xiaofeng sent Lu Heyang a message saying that Number 17 would be fighting tonight.
At nine-thirty that evening, thinking that Xu Ze should have finished his match by then, Lu Heyang sent Xiaofeng a message asking whether Number 17 had been injured.
Xiaofeng: Sigh. Number 17 is still fighting. He’s on his sixth match now.
Lu Heyang had originally been working on some problems. When he saw the message, he frowned, put down his pen, and asked:
What do you mean?
Xiaofeng: I only found out when the competition started too. The boss made Number 17 fight tonight wearing a skirt. Ten matches in total. If Number 17 can’t win them all, he doesn’t get paid tonight… And I heard that the fight last week where Number 17 had five hundred thousand bet on him—the boss is still holding back his share of the prize money. He hasn’t been paid yet.
Lu Heyang asked:
Is he injured?
Xiaofeng: Yes. He’s been bleeding the whole time. The fighter he’s facing in the final match is pretty strong too. Everyone says the boss is deliberately exhausting Number 17’s stamina and saving the strongest opponent for the end. It’s obvious they want him to lose.
Lu Heyang turned off his phone, grabbed his car keys, and walked out of the study.
He had barely driven out of the garden when a light flashed in his rearview mirror.
The bodyguard’s car had already followed from another direction.
A little after ten, Lu Heyang arrived at the club.
It was the busiest time of the night.
Lu Heyang made his way through the crowded people, batting away hands that tried to reach for his shoulder. He went all the way to the boxing gym.
He glanced inside from the doorway.
The person fighting in the ring was no longer Xu Ze.
Lu Heyang turned and headed toward the backstage area.
Xu Ze was not in the changing room either.
So Lu Heyang went to the side-door passageway. Xu Ze usually took this route when leaving.
There was hardly anyone in the passageway. It was very quiet.
When he passed the door to the stairwell, although he had not heard a sound or noticed anything unusual, Lu Heyang still stopped.
After a brief pause, he turned sideways and stepped half a pace inside.
There was another door inside the stairwell.
It was only half open.
There were no lights, revealing a pitch-black corner.
Some cardboard boxes, plastic bags, and other trash were piled in the corner.
And on top of that trash, something seemed to be curled up.
Lu Heyang slowly walked inside.
He began to smell blood, along with an indescribable smell of something burnt.
The person curled up on the trash was an alpha.
He didn’t know where a beam of light had slipped in from. It was like a silver blade, slashing directly across the alpha’s face and illuminating a streak covered in dirty blood.
The alpha had his eyes closed, seemingly exhausted to the point of falling asleep.
Lu Heyang’s fingertips twitched.
He was just about to walk farther inside when suddenly, a hand extended in front of the alpha.
The other half of the door blocked it, making it impossible to see who the hand belonged to.
That hand held half a lit cigarette between its fingers.
The glowing tip was pressed against the alpha’s body.
The alpha let out a muffled groan from the back of his throat. His body shifted, and the plastic bags beneath him made a faint rustling sound, but that was all the movement he could manage. He had no strength left to do anything else.
The indescribable smell of something burning in the air grew even stronger.