Chapter 15

Chapter 15

When his roommate crossed the finish line gasping like an ox, Pei Ran promptly handed him some water.

Supporting himself on his knees for a long while, the roommate finally looked up and laughed heartily, "I won! I beat the computer science department!"

Pei Ran acknowledged, "Impressive."

After laughing to himself for a bit, the roommate remembered to ask, "What place did I come in?"

Pei Ran replied, "Second from last."

"…" The roommate's face crumpled slightly but quickly regained its composure. "Oh well, as long as I didn't lose to the computer science department."

After recording his time, the roommate remembered to say, "You're quite close with Yan Zhun, aren't you? I saw you chatting at the finish line just now."

"He's Luo Qingshan's roommate," Pei Ran explained.

The roommate suddenly understood, "I see, he came to reconcile things."

"..."

Pei Ran pondered for a moment but decided against arguing.

His roommate quickly bid him farewell to cheer on his girlfriend. Pei Ran found a quiet corner to warm up for the upcoming 3000-meter race.

In truth, the 3000 meters wasn't particularly challenging, but some of the guys in their class were lazy about exercise, and others outright refused to participate in the sports meet. They all seemed reluctant, and when Pei Ran signed up, a few of them even tried to talk him out of it.

After a few leg stretches, he gazed at the ground, lost in thought.

Due to his father's absence over the past half-month, he hadn't gone for his usual morning runs. Yesterday, he attempted a trial run, but he was a bit slower than usual.

He hoped to improve his pace today.

When Luo Qingshan found Pei Ran, he was doing high knees in place.

He performed the exercise with great concentration, his flexed legs forming a smooth, attractive line.

Luo Qingshan watched him for a long while before finally calling out, "Pei Ran."

Pei Ran's movement paused, and he turned his head to look at Luo Qingshan before slowly lowering his leg. "Is there something?"

"Do you plan on participating in the sports meet as well?" Luo Qingshan's polite tone pricked him, and he struggled to control his voice. "What events have you signed up for?"

"The 3000-meter race."

"What a coincidence, me too." Luo Qingshan nervously licked his lips. "Want to warm up together? I can massage your legs for you."

Pei Ran shook his head. "No need, I'm almost recovered."

Pei Ran lowered his gaze, looking at Luo Qingshan's right hand hanging by his side.

Feeling his gaze, Luo Qingshan quickly raised his hand, spreading his fingers apart for him to see. "Did you read the message I sent you? My finger has mostly recovered, it doesn't hurt anymore."

Luo Qingshan's right ring finger was different from his other fingers. Although normal activities were no longer affected, upon closer inspection, a thin, slightly twisted line was still visible.

Pei Ran used to often hold his finger in a daze, stroking it with an incredibly gentle touch that always seemed to reach Luo Qingshan's heart. As he spoke, he subconsciously extended his hand towards Pei Ran.

Pei Ran didn't touch him.

"That's good." Pei Ran withdrew his gaze and looked up at him. "If there are any aftereffects or if you don't feel well, make sure to call me. I'll take full responsibility."

Luo Qingshan suddenly felt a severe dryness in his throat. He retracted his hand and gave a bitter smile. "Okay."

It wasn't until Pei Ran turned to leave that Luo Qingshan realized the other hadn't even wished him luck.

Frustrated, he ran his hands through his hair twice and sat on a nearby stone bench to play with his phone. His warm-up had been completed long before he found Pei Ran; he had merely been looking for an excuse to strike up a conversation.

After this brief exchange, Luo Qingshan was even more certain of his intentions—he needed to win Pei Ran back.

This task seemed more challenging than he had anticipated. Luo Qingshan hesitantly opened the chat with his first friend, Su Nian, who had sent several messages asking what time the competition started and saying that he would come to cheer him on.

Luo Qingshan tapped on Su Nian's profile, hovering his finger repeatedly over the option to block him.

But then he thought, what did it matter whether he blocked Su Nian or not? He didn't have feelings for Su Nian, so even if they remained friends, he wouldn't cheat.

Moreover, Su Nian... had actually been quite nice to him. It didn't seem fair to unilaterally block him without a valid reason.

"Luo Qingshan: Don't come. If Pei Ran sees you, he might misunderstand our relationship again."

"Su Nian: ..."

"Su Nian: Alright, then do your best in the competition. If you run into Pei Ran, please apologize for me."

"Su Nian: You can reach out to me anytime you need, I'm always available :D"

The phone vibrated again. Luo Qingshan checked and found it was a message from Pei Ran.

He instantly perked up, jumping off the stone bench abruptly—

"Darling: My number remains the same, 134xxxxx. Contact me anytime you need."

Luo Qingshan was so excited that he made a few typing errors: What's wrong? I've never forgotten your number.

After reading it twice, he finally hit send.

"The user has enabled friend verification. You are not yet their friend..."

Luo Qingshan was stunned by the red exclamation mark that appeared.

His eyes widened in astonishment as he confirmed the truth with a series of punctuation marks.

Pei Ran had blocked him.

-

Pei Ran was the last to register for the class, and by the time he finished, everyone else was already at the starting line.

Luo Qingshan stood at Lane 5, looking at him anxiously. Upon seeing Pei Ran approach, he instinctively wanted to go over, but someone grabbed his shirt from the side.

"Student, it's about to start, don't wander around."

Pei Ran crouched down to retie his shoelaces.

The sidelines of the runway were packed with onlookers, many of them discreetly stealing glances at Pei Ran.

Many people in the school knew him. On one hand, he excelled academically and was often used as a positive example by his professors. On the other hand, it was common knowledge that he had a boyfriend.

In this day and age, homosexuality has been largely accepted by the younger generation. The way they looked at Pei Ran was devoid of disgust or aversion; instead, it was filled with curiosity and a desire to understand.

Despite this, Pei Ran still felt uneasy.

The sound of gunfire interrupted Pei Ran's thoughts, and he dashed out from the starting line. The cool breeze that greeted him made him feel much lighter.

Running almost eight laps for three kilometers, Pei Ran counted as he ran. By the time he reached the halfway point of the fifth lap, his breathing remained steady, but his ranking had slightly fallen behind.

Unable to resist, Pei Ran glanced backward. Fortunately, he wasn't at the very back.

When he turned back, he heard someone beside him cry out, "Watch out—"

Before Pei Ran could react, he was violently bumped into.

He was on the far left lane, and somehow, a classmate who had been watching from the side had accidentally wandered onto the track, colliding forcefully with Pei Ran. As he had been exerting himself while running, he was knocked to the ground, seeing stars, and feeling a burning pain in his arm.

Pei Ran knitted his brows but quickly managed to sit up.

"Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry!!!" The classmate, having been caught by her friend, didn't suffer a severe fall, and she repeatedly apologized, "Someone pushed me, sorry, sorry! Are you hurt? Where does it hurt?"

"I'm fine," Pei Ran flexed his hand to examine his arm. It was scraped, bleeding, but seemed to be just a superficial wound.

He looked at the petite female classmate in front of him, "Did I hurt you?"

The girl was utterly panicked, shaking her head before nodding. "I'm not in pain, but you... Are you alright? What should we do? Did you hurt yourself?"

Seeing her distress, Pei Ran was eager to reassure her.

However, he realized that his injuries weren't limited to his arm – his ankle had twisted, and there was a dull ache in his calf.

He took a deep breath and struggled to push himself up from the ground.

"Stay still," Yan Zhun instructed.

Pei Ran lifted his head and met Yan Zhun's gaze.

Yan Zhun crouched down, grasped his arm for a closer inspection, then asked, "Did you hurt your back?"

"I don't think so," Pei Ran replied.

"Can you walk?" Yan Zhun asked. "I'll help you."

Pei Ran felt as if Yan Zhun had quite literally "lifted" him to his feet.

With one arm around Yan Zhun's shoulder, Yan Zhun supported his waist, effortlessly lifting him up.

They were in such close proximity that he could feel the warmth beneath Yan Zhun's thin clothing.

The first thing Pei Ran wanted to do after standing up was to release his grip, but then he heard Yan Zhun casually ask, "Can you make it to the infirmary on your own?"

Pei Ran fell silent for two seconds before responding, "...Thank you for your trouble."

It was the sports meet, and the infirmary was packed with people. The school nurse roughly examined Pei Ran's wounds, providing povidone-iodine and an ice pack for them to tend to the injury temporarily in the adjacent rest room.

Pei Ran sat on the bed in the lounge, carefully rolling up his pants to his knees. A scrape adorned his lower leg, a reddened patch of skin marking its presence.

Yan Zhun entered with a first-aid kit in hand, his gaze lingering momentarily on the wound before he turned to leave again.

"Where are you going?" Pei Ran asked instinctively, noticing the antiseptic solution Yan Zhun held.

"I'll ask her for more medication," Yan Zhun replied.

"No need," Pei Ran said hastily, reaching out to grab his shirt. "It's just a superficial injury, an antiseptic will do."

Yan Zhun frowned.

Pei Ran: "…Really."

A minute later, Yan Zhun casually dragged a chair over and sat down in front of him.

Pei Ran heaved a sigh of relief, intending to thank the other party again when Yan Zhun said, "Put your leg up here."

Pei Ran was somewhat perplexed. "On where?"

He watched as Yan Zhun opened the iodine solution, suddenly realizing what the other meant. "No need, I can do it myself."

Yan Zhun didn't respond and instead gently bent down, holding Pei Ran's ankle and placing it on his thigh.

Pei Ran still had his shoes on. He froze for a few seconds and immediately tried to pull his leg back, but failed.

"My shoes are very dirty," Pei Ran said.

"So don't move around," Yan Zhun said, pinching the cotton swab stained with medicine. His eyelashes drooped, and his gaze was fixed on the wound on Pei Ran's lower leg.

Pei Ran was about to refuse, but the cotton swab had already been pressed against his skin.

His legs were well-proportioned, and his complexion was slightly fairer than most boys. The iodine spread across his skin like an unintended splash of color on a pristine canvas.

Yan Zhun was wearing a short-sleeved shirt that day. Occasionally, his arm would brush against Pei Ran's calf. Each touch made Pei Ran's brow furrow involuntarily, and with each subsequent brush, the frown deepened.

Their position was too peculiar.

"Does it hurt?" Yan Zhun asked.

Pei Ran replied promptly, "No, it doesn't hurt anymore."

In truth, there was still a slight sting, but it was tolerable.

Yan Zhun watched him silently for a while before suddenly leaning closer.

Pei Ran sensed a cool breeze brush against his wound, triggering a prickling sensation that crept up from his calf to his entire body—Yan Zhun was gently blowing on his injury.

Pei Ran held his breath, then exhaled softly, feeling the vibrations of his own heartbeat.

Just as he was about to withdraw his foot, the door to the lounge suddenly swung open.

Luo Qingshan stood outside, still panting heavily. Upon seeing the scene within, his actions froze, and his eyes gradually widened.

The lounge fell into a brief silence.

Luo Qingshan's gaze shifted back and forth between the two, and after a moment, he found his voice, sounding both surprised and perplexed: "…Yan Zhun?"