Xing Ye opened his eyes and looked at him coldly. The two stared at each other in silence.
Sheng Renxing blinked, struggling not to laugh. “You’re the one who told me to vent!”
As he spoke, he pulled his hand back, rubbed his fingertips together, and marveled, “Your hair is really soft.”
Xing Ye raised a hand to rub his hair, then touched the spot on his forehead that had been flicked. “Whose hair is hard?”
“Softer than mine.”
Xing Ye looked at him, then suddenly reached over and ruffled his hair.
Sheng Renxing stiffened but did not move. Jokingly, he asked, “Well? Who’s harder?”
Xing Ye did not answer. He seemed to be considering it, his fingers moving through Sheng Renxing’s hair, his fingertips brushing his scalp by accident.
A tingling numbness shot through him like an electric current.
Sheng Renxing clicked his tongue and tilted his head to avoid the hand, but Xing Ye followed him, even resting his elbow on Sheng Renxing’s shoulder.
“You’re softer.”
Sheng Renxing’s hair was on the longer side, already covering the tips of his ears. Xing Ye wound a strand around his fingers, the hair sliding over his knuckles.
“Bullshit!” Sheng Renxing refused to accept it. “My hair is really stiff!”
“Soft.”
“You’re the soft one!”
Xing Ye paused. “It smells nice too.”
“?” Sheng Renxing slapped his hand away. “That’s the smell of hair dye!”
He had only dyed it a few days ago; the scent had not faded yet.
Xing Ye withdrew his hand and touched his own hair again. He clicked his tongue inwardly. Sheng Renxing’s hair still felt better.
Xing Ye pulled his legs back and rested an elbow on his knee, idly examining his fingers as he chatted. “I kind of want to dye my hair too.”
“?” Sheng Renxing looked him over and asked hesitantly, “What color?”
Xing Ye shook his head, then turned to look at Sheng Renxing’s hair. “Like yours?”
Sheng Renxing pictured Xing Ye with bright red hair. His skin was pale, so it would probably… look pretty good.
Before he could say anything, Xing Ye shook his head again. “Too flashy.”
“?” Sheng Renxing looked like he wanted to say something but stopped. “You think you’re low-key?”
Xing Ye nodded without hesitation.
“…” Sheng Renxing swallowed what he had been about to say and changed the subject. “Is your forehead red?”
Xing Ye understood what he meant and glanced at him. “That fight with you was the first time I’d ever fought at this school.” He touched his forehead again. “It’s bruised.”
Sheng Renxing was first surprised, then amused. “Sorry for taking your first time.”
He copied Xing Ye’s earlier posture, stretching both legs apart and bracing himself on his palms behind him. “I barely used any force. Stop trying to scam compensation out of me.”
Xing Ye’s gaze fell to his legs.
Sheng Renxing was wearing tapered sweatpants. His ankles were exposed, his legs long and straight.
“Are those pajama pants?” Xing Ye asked suspiciously.
“No!” Sheng Renxing said. “That’s the design. I changed before coming out.”
Xing Ye was silent for a moment. “Thanks.”
Thanks for coming out this late just to sit with him in the cold and talk. All because of one inexplicable phone call.
“Ah.” Sheng Renxing touched his nose, unused to Xing Ye suddenly being so serious. “I only came over to beat you up.”
Then he sighed with amusement. “You really know how to pick a topic. If anyone else called me in the middle of the night to talk about Shelley, I’d beat him so badly he’d never want to see Shelley again for the rest of his life.”
Xing Ye also thought he had been acting stupid earlier. He pressed his lips together in a smile and pointed at the spot on his forehead Sheng Renxing had flicked. “With that?”
“You got a problem with it?” Sheng Renxing raised his eyes toward him.
“No problem.” Xing Ye nodded.
The two sat in the alley, talking off and on.
Whether Xing Ye’s mood had genuinely recovered or he had simply pushed it down, there was no way to tell from his face. But gradually, he began talking more.
Sheng Renxing deliberately did not ask why he was sitting here alone so late at night, as though he had forgotten the question entirely. Then several drunk people suddenly came walking over from outside. One of the drunks was extremely loud. Even while being supported by someone else, he could not suppress his urge to make a speech. Both of them stopped talking and looked over.
When they reached the mouth of the alley, another drunk, apparently unable to stand the speech any longer, suddenly bent over with a loud retch and vomited. Sheng Renxing frowned. The man had clearly eaten a great deal and brought up a great deal too. The wind carried over an indescribable smell. Sheng Renxing immediately could not take it and started to stand so he could move away.
Unexpectedly, Xing Ye was even faster. He stood, brushed off his pants, and said, “Let’s go.”
“?” Sheng Renxing did not react. “Go where?”
“I’ll take you back.”
“No need.” Sheng Renxing waved a hand. “I can go myself. I know the way.”
His lips moved. He wanted to ask whether Xing Ye was going home afterward or what he planned to do.
But Xing Ye insisted. “I’ll take you.” Seeing Sheng Renxing’s expression, he added, “It’s dangerous here at night.”
Sheng Renxing found that strange. “Weren’t you sitting here alone before I came?” By every measure, he did not look like someone who needed escorting home either.
Xing Ye shook his head. “That’s different.”
Sheng Renxing lifted a brow. Xing Ye said nothing more and simply held out a hand to him. “Come on.”
After only a moment’s hesitation, Sheng Renxing took it and let Xing Ye pull him to his feet.
When they passed the drunks, the group was startled by the sudden appearance of the two young men.
A woman who was helping take care of one of the drunks patted her chest and glared at them irritably. “Scared the shit out of me! If you’re gonna fuck outdoors, at least find somewhere better. What are you doing here pretending to be ghosts?”
She had technically been complaining to the person beside her, but she made no effort whatsoever to control her volume. When she saw Sheng Renxing looking at her, she even gave them the middle finger. Sheng Renxing frowned and glared coldly back.
Only then did the woman see clearly that they were both men. Refusing to back down, she stared at them. “Oh! Two fags, too!”
The rest of her companions looked over.
“Watch your fucking mouth!” Sheng Renxing stopped and stared at her.
“So you can fuck men but people aren’t allowed to say it?!” The woman was not intimidated and only shouted louder.
The drunk beside her chose that moment to retch again.
Sheng Renxing’s face had already gone black. Xing Ye tugged him. “Ignore her. Let’s go.”
Sheng Renxing turned and slapped Xing Ye’s hand away, looking ready to step forward.
Xing Ye moved across his path and blocked him. Then he turned toward the woman, who was still ranting, and pointed at her. “Shut up.”
The woman rolled her eyes and ignored him, opening her mouth to continue.
But one of her companions pulled her back. “Enough!”
The companion smiled apologetically at them. “Sorry, sorry. She’s drunk.”
It sounded like an apology, but his eyes stayed fixed on Xing Ye, his entire body tense as though facing a serious threat.
So being drunk meant she could act like a lunatic? Sheng Renxing sneered inwardly. I’m sober and I can still hit people.
Xing Ye ignored the group and turned back, tugging him again. “Let’s go.” This time his tone was firmer.
Sheng Renxing looked into his eyes, paused, then let himself be pulled away. After they had walked some distance, Sheng Renxing gradually calmed down, and the dark, gloomy look Xing Ye had worn a moment ago slowly resurfaced in his mind. It was almost exactly like how he had looked when Sheng Renxing first found him tonight.
Walking in front of him, Xing Ye did not withdraw into himself the way he had then. Instead, almost as though worried Sheng Renxing was still angry, he explained, “They’re all drunk. Drunk people don’t feel pain properly. You’d have to keep hitting them forever.”
Sheng Renxing felt exposed. “I never said I was going to hit them.” He clicked his tongue. “I was just going to reason with them.”
Xing Ye glanced sideways at him. “You can’t out-argue people like that. Never heard a shrew curse someone out in the street?”
“Fuck.” Sheng Renxing dragged a hand through his hair, remembered the group, and cursed, “What the hell are those people?”
“They’re not an exception. Everyone in there is like that.” Xing Ye’s brows lowered, his expression flat. “A whole pit of mud.”
Sheng Renxing paused and looked at Xing Ye’s profile.
Then what about you? He felt the ache in his wrist from Xing Ye gripping him too hard and stopped himself from asking.
When they reached the hotel entrance, Xing Ye let go and tipped his chin toward the doors. “Go in.”
Sheng Renxing stayed where he was. “What about you? Going home?”
Xing Ye pressed his lips together and shook his head.
Sheng Renxing frowned slightly. “Then where are you sleeping?”
Xing Ye thought about the less than one hundred yuan he had on him and figured he would probably spend the night at West Bend.
Casually, he said, “I’ll find a hotel.”
“This is a hotel.” Sheng Renxing pointed behind himself.
“…”
Sheng Renxing looked at him. “Do you mind sharing a bed with someone?”
