Chapter 84

Chapter 84

Bright and early the next morning, Xie Hang had already gotten ready.

He had slight dark circles under his eyes, but he looked wide awake.

He waited in his bedroom until 7:10, when there was finally a knock on the bedroom door.

Xie Hang quickly sat up on the edge of the bed.

"Brother Heng, you awake?" Ji Mian's voice was soft.

Xie Hang opened the door for him.

Ji Mian was a bit taken aback to see him all ready. "Brother Heng, you've already gotten ready?"

"Yeah."

"I'll be quick then."

"Take your time, it's still early."

"Oh..." Ji Mian raised his eyes, and as soon as they met Xie Hang's gaze, he was immediately pulled into a tight hug.

They stayed like that for almost ten minutes.

If they didn't have to leave by 7:40, they could have hugged all day and not gotten bored.

Xie Hang really wanted to tell Ji Mian to skip that stupid class and just bail.

Just as he was about to say something, Ji Mian had already slipped out of his arms and headed to the bathroom to get ready.

*

After over a month, they were back sitting together in class.

Xie Hang hadn't slept all night, and Ji Mian hadn't either, but oddly, neither felt tired.

Midway through class, Ji Mian felt his right hand, resting on his knee, being grabbed.

After a while, he looked down.

Xie Hang was fiddling with his hand, from his wrist to his fingernails, touching every part.

While one hand was busy, the other was still jotting down notes.

Ji Mian was amazed by his multitasking.

Not wanting to seem like a slacker, Ji Mian said, "Brother Heng, I should take notes too."

Xie Hang: ...

"What notes could you possibly take?"

He'd been sitting with Ji Mian for two years, and aside from the occasional note in advanced math at the start of the semester, when had Ji Mian ever bothered with notes in other classes?

Even so, he let go.

When Ji Mian pulled his hand out from under the desk, the back of it was red from Xie Hang's fiddling.

After the last class, Xie Hang stayed put, waiting until the classroom emptied, then turned to Ji Mian and asked, "Where are we heading back to tonight?"

Ji Mian thought for a moment: "My dorm?"

"..." Xie Hang pursed his lips and remained silent.

After a full half minute of silence, he finally spoke up: "Wouldn’t it be better to come to my place?"

Of course it is. Ji Mian thought, looking at him.

But he was also a little scared—scared that his life would revolve entirely around Xie Hang.

"Is the bed uncomfortable? Or is it hard to wash up?" Xie Hang was about to suggest switching rooms with Ji Mian when Ji Mian interrupted him.

"No, Brother Heng. I just don’t want to trouble you."

Xie Hang's brow furrowed.

Ji Mian noticed the signs of his anger and spoke up before Xie Hang could say anything: "Then I'll go back to the dorm tonight to get some clothes, and you'll accompany me, Brother Heng?"

Xie Hang’s rising irritation instantly vanished. "Alright."

He quickly gathered his things, slung his bag over his shoulder, and said, "Let’s get going."

"?"

"Aren’t we heading back to the dorm to grab some clothes?"

"Now?" Ji Mian was surprised. "But Brother Heng, don’t you still need to run on the track?"

"Not today, no."

"Oh..."

...

By Friday, after two sleepless nights and barely two hours of sleep on the third, Xie Hang knew something was wrong.

In class, Ji Mian noticed Xie Hang—usually so focused—was zoning out and even nodding off after eleven.

It’s common for students to doze off in college classes, but this course had a significant amount of credits and was quite challenging. Even when he wasn’t paying attention, Xie Hang would usually be reading or studying on his own.

They didn’t have an early class today—they’d arrived around ten—so he shouldn’t be this tired...

Ji Mian frowned but knew it wasn’t the right time to ask questions in class.

Even without an early class on Friday, they still had a full schedule.

After dinner, they had another evening class, and the economics students only relaxed when the bell rang at nine.

Luckily, there were no weekend classes. But students who’d loaded up on electives to boost their GPAs weren’t so lucky—most electives were on weekends, cutting into their downtime. They left the classroom with heavy steps.

By late November, the nights were chilly, and the campus paths were empty except for a few students leaving the library and classrooms.

When they reached a quiet part of the path, Ji Mian told Xie Hang to lower his head.

Xie Hang did as he was told.

Under the streetlamp’s glow, Ji Mian gently pulled down Xie Hang’s lower eyelid.

Xie Hang’s eyes were bloodshot, which was unsettling.

"Heng, haven’t you been sleeping well lately?"

Xie Hang: "A bit."

"Was I keeping you up?" Ji Mian let go. "I’ll head back to the dorm tonight. You should get some rest this weekend."

"No, no..." Xie Hang quickly grabbed Ji Mian’s hand, his voice tense. "It’s not you."

"..."

"If you’re not here, I’ll miss you so much I won’t be able to sleep."

Ji Mian’s face flushed at this. "So, what do we do?"

Xie Hang said, "I’ll sleep fine tonight."

He gripped Ji Mian’s hand tighter, as if afraid he’d leave.

Ji Mian whispered, "Alright."

Back at the apartment, Ji Mian put his bag in the guest room, and Xie Hang knocked and came in shortly after.

Ji Mian had brought some clothes and essentials from his dorm the other day. His clothes now filled the once-empty wardrobe, and his things were scattered around the room.

But Xie Hang still wanted more—he wished Ji Mian would just move in completely.

"Why bring so much? It’ll be a hassle to move it all back."

"Move back? Why would you?"

"I can’t stay here forever; I’ll have to go back eventually." Ji Mian joked, "Wen Bo and the guys will miss me."

"So if they miss you, you’ll leave?"

"..."

Xie Hang continued, "But I’ll miss you more."

Ji Mian smiled and kissed him.

Xie Hang kissed him back, but his heart ached.

He held Ji Mian, kissed him for a while, then whispered, "Stay, okay?"

Ji Mian hesitated before finally meeting Xie Hang’s eyes.

"Okay."

Xie Hang suddenly felt guilty for asking.

The system’s voice was barely audible: "Don’t get in too deep."

Ji Mian nodded.

"..."

The system stayed silent, trusting its host to handle it.

Both knew Ji Mian couldn’t survive another withdrawal.

They got back late because of their evening class. After washing up and changing into their pajamas, it was already past ten.

Worried that Xie Hang hadn’t been sleeping well, Ji Mian didn’t linger too long. At half past ten, he promptly pulled away and urged Xie Hang to get some rest.

He stepped into the guest room, leaning out halfway, and said, "Night, Brother Heng."

"..."

Ji Mian had planned to shut the door as soon as Xie Hang said "goodnight," but after a few seconds of silence, he gave up waiting.

He blinked. "Brother?"

"How about..." Xie Hang glanced at him, "you don’t stay in the guest room?"

Ji Mian paused, surprised.

Xie Hang added, "If you need the bathroom at night, you’d have to knock on my door."

Ji Mian found the words oddly familiar, and after a moment, he realized he’d said them himself.

He chuckled, "What if it keeps you up?"

"It won’t."

Ji Mian studied him for a moment, then turned and headed back to the guest room.

Xie Hang was still confused when Ji Mian reappeared, carrying his blanket and pillow.

"Brother, can you open the door?"

Xie Hang hadn’t expected Ji Mian to agree so fast, and his ears burned red at the sight. It seemed like Ji Mian always gave in to his requests without hesitation.

"I’ve got it." He took the blanket, his heart racing.

Soon, an extra blanket lay on the main bed, right beside Xie Hang’s.

Xie Hang knew he’d overstepped.

He lay down, listening to Ji Mian’s steady breathing, and felt wide awake.

Even with his strong constitution, Xie Hang couldn’t help worrying about the consequences of another sleepless night.

Too exhausted for inappropriate thoughts, his brain buzzed simply from having Ji Mian beside him.

After a while, he heard the soft rustle of fabric beside him.

Without opening his eyes, Xie Hang could tell Ji Mian had turned to face him.

Worried Ji Mian might leave if he realized Xie Hang was awake, he shut his eyes and feigned sleep.

A few minutes later, he gave up the act, opened his eyes, and sighed.

He turned too, and in the dark, met Ji Mian’s faintly glowing gaze.

Xie Hang almost laughed. "Can’t sleep?" he asked.

Ji Mian squirmed a couple of times toward him, his head inching closer to Xie Hang. "...Hmm."

Xie Hang tried to resist for half a minute but couldn’t help himself. He slipped his arm under Ji Mian’s blanket, wrapped around his waist, and then with a strong pull, tugged him into his own blanket.

He held Ji Mian close in his arms, not daring to kiss him, afraid he’d get too worked up again—tonight, they really needed to sleep.

At first, his heart was racing, but as time passed, Xie Hug hugged Ji Mian even tighter, gradually settling down.

It felt like a hollow part of him was slowly being filled, very grounding.

Just after a shower, the scent of shampoo from Ji Mian’s hair lingered in Xie Hang’s nose. He leaned down and brushed his lips against Ji Mian’s hair, then slowly closed his eyes.

*

Xie Hang couldn’t remember what time he fell asleep, but it was much earlier than the previous few days.

The next morning, the harsh sunlight streamed directly onto his eyelids, and Xie Hang woke up.

Ji Mian had woken up earlier and had been idly staring at the buttons on Xie Hang’s pajamas for a while.

Feeling Xie Hang stir, he looked up and found that Xie Hang was also awake.

"It’s still early, Brother Heng, go back to sleep." He noticed a beam of light shining right into Xie Hang’s eyes. "Is it bright?"

"A bit."

At this, Ji Mian immediately got up to close the curtains.

Xie Hang’s arm was left empty.

Xie Hang: "..."

Ji Mian closed the two sheer curtains and pulled the blackout curtain near the head of the bed.

The room was instantly bathed in softer light.

After closing the curtains, Ji Mian very consciously got back into bed, snuggled back into Xie Hang’s arm, turned around with his back against Xie Hang, and continued to be his human pillow.

"Brother Heng, you sleep, I’ll play with my phone for a while."

Xie Hang was stunned, taking a long time to process Ji Mian’s series of actions. When he finally reacted, he felt like he was drowning in honey, sweet to the point of melting.

Having not slept well for several nights in a row, Xie Hang was really a bit tired.

He hugged Ji Mian’s waist, buried his face in Ji Mian’s beautiful nape, and then tried to fall asleep again.

The light in the room was just right, soft and warm.

This was a life Xie Hang had never imagined in the past decade—holding someone, idling away an entire weekend.

In the warm winter blanket, he nuzzled Ji Mian’s nape with his nose, smelling the soft fragrance emanating from his neck.

...So happy.