Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Pei Ran was the first to look away, his right hand unconsciously curling into a fist. It might have been an illusion, but he felt as if his palm was burning.

Yan Zhun's phone, lying on the desk, rang repeatedly, sounding like a relentless summons.

"I'll go check it out," Yan Zhun said.

Pei Ran nodded, not understanding why Yan Zhun needed to inform him even when getting out of bed.

He would soon find out.

Yan Zhun pulled back the covers and, with a supporting push, vaulted over him.

The creaky school bed protested under the strain. Yan Zhun's arm propped up beside Pei Ran's face, almost touching him. He could even sense the warmth radiating from Yan Zhun's arm.

Pei Ran held his breath, fully awake now.

While brushing his teeth, Pei Ran noticed unread messages on his phone.

"Lin Kang: Pei Ran, who did you look for last night?"

"Lin Kang: ... Su Nian took Luo Qingshan away."

"Pei Ran: That's good to know."

"Lin Kang: ???"

Yan Zhun had already finished getting ready. He sat on Pei Ran's chair, playing with his phone with one hand, still looking slightly weary.

A call came in, and upon seeing the caller ID, Yan Zhun couldn't help but glance at the time.

"Huan!" Lin Xuhuan sounded particularly energetic.

Yan Zhun lazily asked, "Still awake?"

Many professional gamers had irregular sleep patterns, and Lin Xuhuan was one of them. Usually, he would only wake up around two or three in the afternoon and wouldn't go to bed until dawn.

There was a moment of confusion on the other end before a slow response, "Two consecutive days of competition were too tiring. I went to bed early yesterday. I've been up for over an hour... Bro, what happened to your voice? It sounds like a broken gong."

Lin Xuhuan's words might have been somewhat exaggerated, but Yan Zhun's voice was genuinely hoarse – it was obvious upon hearing it.

"Got a cold," Yan Zhun asked. "Is there something?"

"Yes," Lin Xuhuan replied. "I'm the only one up in the base. Auntie's off today, so having breakfast alone is rather boring. Shall I come over to your place, Brother? Have breakfast together?"

Footsteps approached, and Yan Zhun's gaze followed Pei Ran as he watched him reopen the medicine box from last night and fumble around until he found a pack of throat lozenges.

Yan Zhun held his phone away and gently tugged at the corner of Pei Ran's shirt. "Shall we go out for breakfast?"

Pei Ran paused. "Okay."

After hanging up, Lin Xuhuan quickly sent the address of a restaurant. It was a well-known Cantonese dim sum place nearby.

Pei Ran tore open the throat lozenge wrapper and squeezed one out for Yan Zhun. "Are you feeling uncomfortable?"

Yan Zhun leaned forward to take it into his mouth, feeling its coolness.

"I'm fine," he said, getting up from Pei Ran's chair and patting down the strands of hair that had stuck up. "I'll make a call outside. You can come out when you're ready."

Yan Zhun's palm was large and warm, reminding Pei Ran of the temperature that had graced his forehead the previous night. He was lost in thought for a long while before he could gather himself, slowly folding the candy wrapper and slipping it into his pocket.

Yan Zhun didn't have any calls to make. Leaning against the railing of the dormitory corridor, he opened WeChat to read the messages he'd received last night.

They were all from Luo Qingshan—over twenty of them, filled with both accusations and insults. Several sentences were disjointed and hard to understand.

There were also a few voice messages lasting over ten seconds, but Yan Zhun had no interest in transcribing them.

The earliest one had been sent half an hour ago.

"Luo Qingshan: Where did you sleep last night?"

With a flick of his fingers, Yan Zhun blocked the sender.

When the two of them entered the private room together, Lin Xuhuan, holding his chopsticks, froze for a moment.

"Did you two sleep together last night?"

Pei Ran nearly choked on his tea.

Lin Xuhuan had vaguely heard other voices over the phone just now, and he initially assumed they were his brother's roommates.

Moving closer to Yan Zhun, Lin Xuhuan inhaled deeply. "It smells of Pei Ran all over you. Didn't you return to the dorm last night?"

Pei Ran removed his mask and silently sniffed the back of his own hand.

What scent did he have? He himself was unaware.

"A dog's nose?" Yan Zhun summarized succinctly. "I got drunk and crashed at someone else's place."

"Drunk? You drank? Oh my... were you planning on spending half a month in the hospital? And you caught a cold too?" Lin Xuhuan glanced at Pei Ran, who was also wearing a mask. "You caught a cold and still went to stay with someone, infecting Pei Ran in the process."

"I'm the one who passed it to him," Pei Ran said honestly.

Lin Xuhuan fell silent for a moment. "Should I perhaps keep my distance from both of you?"

After saying that, he pretended to lean back dramatically.

Yan Zhun poured tea for Pei Ran without looking up. "You won't catch it from this distance."

Pei Ran: "..."

Lin Xuhuan, the epitome of a straight man, effortlessly dismissed the awkwardness at the table and helped himself to a steamed bun. "Is this far? It's almost in your face."

After breakfast, Lin Xuhuan casually wiped his mouth and was about to speak when he saw Pei Ran take out a box of medicine from his pocket.

Pei Ran squeezed out a pill and whispered, "Hand."

Yan Zhun sat with an air of nonchalance, extending his palm towards him, receiving a cold remedy.

Pei Ran also took a pill for himself, and they both swallowed them together with warm water.

Lin Xuhuan's open mouth slowly closed.

Taking medicine when sick was indeed the right thing to do, but somehow, he felt...

Well, it was just odd.

"When's the next match?" Yan Zhun glanced at him and asked casually.

"It'll have to be next week." Lin Xuhuan snapped back to reality. "We were supposed to play the match in two days, but something unexpected came up… A team is accusing the organizers of rigging the competition. Both sides are currently gathering evidence."

Yan Zhun raised an eyebrow. "Rigging?"

"Strange, isn't it?" Lin Xuhuan said with a laugh. "A team was reported for consistently landing good weapons and being in the safe zone. Haha."

The topic shifted, and Lin Xuhuan became enthusiastic as he shared anecdotes from the gaming scene.

After listening to his tales for a while, Yan Zhun couldn't take it anymore. He raised his hand. "Excuse me, the bill please."

Before leaving the restaurant, Yan Zhun and Pei Ran put on their masks together. Lin Xuhuan frowned in confusion, feeling like an outsider for some reason.

Lin Xuhuan had no intention of returning to the base so early. The lazy bums wouldn't wake up until the afternoon, and training alone would be dull. As they passed by an arcade, he couldn't help but pause.

"Bro, let's go in and play for a bit?"

Yan Zhun ignored him, his eyes lowered as he sought Pei Ran's opinion.

Pei Ran replied, "I'll get some tokens."

Pei Ran had rarely visited such places since he was young. His parents, both enthusiasts of the arts, preferred to take him to exhibitions when they had spare time.

Scanning the room, it seemed that only the basketball machines and claw cranes were within his abilities.

Lin Xuhuan, on the other hand, was a child who had grown up with freedom. As soon as he entered, he dragged Yan Zhun along to race cars and play two-player competitive games.

Pei Ran stood silently behind Yan Zhun, observing.

He felt that Yan Zhun was incredibly skilled at gaming. Lin Xuhuan hadn't won a single round against him in battle mode.

"Brother, for fuck's sake, give me a break!" Lin Xuhuan yelled.

Yan Zhun replied, "You're too inexperienced. I can't control how much I should let you win."

Lin Xuhuan retorted, "Damn, didn't you seem pretty proficient when playing 'Battle Royale' with Baby Ran? Just give me the same level you have for Baby Ran!"

Yan Zhun held the steering wheel of the racing game loosely and said nonchalantly, "That's not the case."

Behind his mask, Pei Ran pressed his lips together, his expression calm but his heart pounding wildly.

With the conclusion of the game, Lin Xuhuan looked at the screen displaying his defeat and said, "No more of this, bro. Let's go ride those motorbikes."

"I'll leave you to it," Yan Zhun stood up.

Confused, Lin Xuhuan asked, "Where are you going?"

"The tokens were bought by the boss," Yan Zhun took Pei Ran's wrist and pulled him along, "I'll accompany the boss for a while."

Pei Ran was led to a large machine, its surroundings shrouded in black cloth, creating a small private space for them. On the screen, zombies were rampaging fiercely.

Regaining his composure, Pei Ran said, "I don't know how to play this."

Yan Zhun placed the gun in his hand, held his hand, and raised it to point at the screen, teaching him, "Shoot anything that comes into view. If they get too close, run towards me."

After two minutes of playing, Pei Ran marveled at how immersive modern arcade games had become; it felt as if the zombies were about to lunge at his face.

Startled by a zombie popping out from the side, Pei Ran instinctively dodged, only realizing he had bumped into someone after the collision.

Yan Zhun remained steadfast, eliminating the zombies before him. Turning around, he cleared the path in front of Pei Ran.

The game ended with Pei Ran scoring 112 points and Yan Zhun an impressive 1,419, breaking the machine's single-player kill record.

If Pei Ran could have scored over 800, they would have shattered the doubles record too.

Pei Ran removed his headset, his palms warm from the gameplay. "I'm not very good at this. Maybe you should ask Lin Xuhuan instead."

Yan Zhun replied, "I want to play with you."

Pei Ran: "..."

Suddenly, Pei Ran felt that their conversation was reminiscent of elementary schoolchildren.

He was led to the motorcycle game machine, only realizing upon sitting down that it was the only empty console left in the area.

Pei Ran didn't want to play alone and was about to stand up when the person beside him said, "Hold on tight, I'll teach you."

How was one supposed to teach this?

Just as Pei Ran was about to inquire, the game started.

He dashed out of the starting line at an accelerated pace, bumping clumsily into an NPC. On the verge of running off the track, a warm sensation suddenly covered his back.

It was Yan Zhun's palm.

Yan Zhun placed his hand on Pei Ran's back, propelling him through one turn after another on the track.

By the end of the game, Pei Ran felt like he was about to break into a sweat.

"Hey, why are you guys playing this?" Lin Xuhuan approached with three cold beverages in hand. "Is it hot? Look, Baby Ran's face is all flushed. Here, have some watermelon juice to cool down."

Pei Ran took the drink with a thank you and took a big gulp.

"I just broke a record in Star Wars and even left a selfie in the machine," Lin Xuhuan boasted proudly.

Yan Zhun acknowledged with a low hum. "I'll send it to your coach later."

Lin Xuhuan: "?"

The phone on the table beeped, and as all three of them had identical models, they couldn't tell whose it was. Upon hearing the sound, they all turned to look.

"Mom: Luo just texted me, have you two broken up?"

It was Pei Ran's phone.

Pausing for a moment, Pei Ran picked it up to type a response.

Seeing the message, Lin Xuhuan felt a bit awkward. He looked at Yan Zhun, hoping to share the discomfort with his brother, but Yan Zhun was sipping his cold drink with his eyes lowered, not sparing him a glance.

Lin Xuhuan cleared his throat and tried to sound casual. "Baby Ran, you even introduced that guy to our parents?"

Pei Ran replied, "Yes."

The inexperienced Lin Xuhuan put on an air of worldliness. "Young people are so impulsive. Once you've met the parents, breaking up would require explaining to them too, wouldn't that be troublesome?"

Pei Ran paused before saying, "Not really."

Yan Zhun held onto his cold drink, the icy water numbing his fingers.

On their way back, Yan Zhun remained silent. Pei Ran focused on responding to his mother's message while Lin Xuhuan talked to himself.

Arriving at a fork in the road, Yan Zhun halted his steps. "Let me know when you get to your dorm."

Pei Ran moved his lips, taking a while before he replied, "Okay."

He could sense that Yan Zhun was not in a good mood, but he had no idea how to resolve the situation.

After sending Lin Xuhuan off in a taxi, Yan Zhun tugged on his mask and turned around to leave. Suddenly, his arm was gently tugged on.

Pei Ran had been walking hastily, and with the mask on, he couldn't help but breathe heavily while speaking.

Regaining his composure, he lifted his head to meet Yan Zhun's gaze.

"My parents have many gay friends around them, so they're quite sensitive to this matter. They realized it when Luo Qingshan was hospitalized," Pei Ran paused, "… I didn't bring him home."

Yan Zhun was momentarily stunned before asking after a long while, "Are you trying to reassure me?"

Pei Ran wasn't skilled in comforting others.

He just wanted to catch up and explain, so he did just that.

After a moment of hesitation, he took out a milk candy and put it into Yan Zhun's pocket, mimicking what Yan Zhun had done to him outside the coffee shop when he had stopped him. "Thank you for teaching me how to play the game."

Yan Zhun felt a tickle in his heart, slightly regretting that he had been too focused on teaching the game amidst those black cloths earlier.

In a short while, he reached out to ruffle Pei Ran's hair, a subtle smile beginning to emerge in his eyes. He said, "Pei Ran, it seems like you're starting to like me."