Chapter 68

What could Meng Yu do? He couldn't take two people, his face was the one he'd shoved forward, he couldn't shove it again and demand Wen Fu hit him in front of Fei Baolin before letting him leave. Plus this was school — if it blew up, he'd be the one getting kicked out.

But clearly the two of them opposite had no intention of asking his opinion either. While Meng Yu was still stunned, Fei Baolin had already led Wen Fu away.

The moment they turned the corner off the path, Wen Fu dropped Fei Baolin's hand.

Fei Baolin figured at first he was just hot, so he didn't think much of it. But Wen Fu didn't just let go — he actually scooted to the side, putting distance between them, like he didn't want to know Fei Baolin.

That's when Fei Baolin noticed something was off about Wen Fu's face.

And this 'off' wasn't the same off-ness as when he was in front of Meng Yu. This one only showed up when he was facing Fei Baolin.

It wasn't exactly ugly, just cold and distant. Eyes not looking at Fei Baolin, looking at the ground. Full strangers-keep-away mode — exactly the same expression he had on his first day transferring into the class. And from his attitude right now, Fei Baolin was one of Wen Fu's 'strangers' too.

Fei Baolin's brain clicked. He asked: 'What did Meng Yu say to you?'

Wen Fu shook his head.

What was there to say?

Just showed him two photos. One of himself getting hit, one of Fei Baolin holding a wine glass. Saying it out loud meant remembering it, and every time he remembered, Fei Baolin looked a little more annoying.

As for why he was annoyed, Wen Fu hadn't figured that out himself.

The drinking? What's annoying about drinking? Even if you took the wine glass out of Fei Baolin's hand in that photo, Wen Fu would still find him annoying looking at it.

Was it the woman next to him? Wen Fu thought — take the woman next to Fei Baolin out of the photo and suddenly it wasn't annoying anymore. But Wen Fu didn't get it. He didn't dislike that woman. No past grudges, no recent grudges, didn't even know her. He just found the Fei Baolin in the photo annoying. He disliked Fei Baolin. So why did removing the woman make Fei Baolin seem not annoying?

Wen Fu figured his brain was as broken as Meng Yu's.

He ended up blaming himself in the end. Fei Baolin looked annoying — how could you blame a victim? He didn't want to dislike Fei Baolin. It made no sense.

So his face got even worse.

'Meimei.'

'Hmm?'

Wen Fu was still off in his head. Hearing Fei Baolin call him, his body answered before his brain did — a blank 'hmm.'

Then he met Fei Baolin's eyes, and his blankness flipped to anger. He looked away, ignoring Fei Baolin.

Fei Baolin figured if he let Wen Fu keep spiraling like this, tonight the house cat would run off and become a stray.

He was about to say something to coax Wen Fu when he spotted Xie Yining shouting at them from far away: 'Group leader! Do-Re-Mi!'

Both of them had to stop.

Xie Yining ran over with Lu Yuqiu and Su Haoran: 'Finally found you two. Where'd you go?'

Neither of them said anything.

Xie Yining couldn't be bothered to argue. She grabbed them and headed for the fifth-floor classroom door.

'The group photo time already passed. Just now was the two-person photo time. After that it's all group shots.' Xie Yining said, 'I had to beg the photographer to save two slots for you, told him to wait for you to come up. Pick who you want to take your two-person photo with. Everyone's been waiting forever.'

Wen Fu was facing the wall corner picking at the plaster, his school uniform collar pulled up high. He hadn't been listening to a word Xie Yining said.

Fei Baolin glanced at Wen Fu and said: 'Just me and him.'

'Do-Re-Mi?' Xie Yining spun around looking everywhere, spotted Wen Fu in the corner with his head down, silent. She called out: 'Do-Re-Mi... Do-Re-Mi! Get over here.'

She dragged Wen Fu next to Fei Baolin: 'The group leader says he's taking a photo with you.'

Wen Fu looked up. Fei Baolin was looking right at him.

He shoved both hands in his school uniform pockets, decisively looked away, walked to the balcony edge, pretended to look at the view below, leaving Fei Baolin nothing but the cold back of his head.

Cold. But with a tuft of cowlick sticking straight up.

Anyone with eyes could see they'd had a falling out, but Fei Baolin wasn't talking and Wen Fu wasn't speaking, so nobody could really ask.

The best way to handle a scene like this is to see it and pretend you didn't. Xie Yining, being an old hand, shouted at Wen Fu: 'Do-Re-Mi, I'm telling you to take a photo. The camera's this way, not over there. Get over here.'

Wen Fu pretended not to hear.

His head was full of that photo right now.

Thinking about it made him restless.

The more restless, the uglier his face got.

'You're not coming over?' Xie Yining asked his back.

Wen Fu still didn't make a sound.

Fei Baolin thought for two seconds. When he raised his face again, he just smiled slightly at the photographer: 'Forget it. Just take one of me.'

He paused, glanced at Wen Fu's direction, and added: 'High school only has one photo op like this. Don't waste it.'

Not far away, the swaying cowlick on Wen Fu's head froze in the wind.

For the photo background, Fei Baolin picked the simplest white tile wall outside the door. He wore the iconic blue-gray summer school uniform of Year 1 and 2, stood in front of the camera with no special pose, just used his usual approachable smile to curve his eyes at the lens.

The photographer bent over, held the camera up to his eye, ready to shoot: 'This is perfect, don't move. One... two... three!'

There was one more person in the photo.

—In the brief two seconds before the shutter clicked, almost nobody saw clearly how Wen Fu had flashed to Fei Baolin's side.

And Fei Baolin, like he'd long predicted Wen Fu would run over, the moment the other came to his side, just raised his hand and tugged down the school uniform collar Wen Fu had pulled up high, letting the half of his face that was hidden come back into view.

Click.

White wall, school uniforms, two boys with a silent understanding between them — their youth finally frozen in a single moment.

'So this is the strength of a sprint champion?' Xie Yining gave a dry roast of Wen Fu's behavior, then went over to the photographer to look at the photo in the camera, shook her head tsk-tsk: 'Do-Re-Mi, your face is seriously ugly!'

Fei Baolin walked over to look, but was very satisfied: 'Not bad.'

Rare to see the cat throw a tantrum, and he got it recorded. Very not bad.

Wen Fu followed Fei Baolin over and took a look. He didn't comment, just kept burying himself in thinking about the photo Meng Yu had given him.

The afternoon sun was too brutal. A lot of people in the class didn't want to do outdoor photos because of the heat, so the schedule that everyone had worried wouldn't have enough time ended early because of the weather.

At night, even though it was still the Year 3 free photo time on campus, Hanyang Class had already voluntarily filed back into the classroom after dinner to start self-study. Most of the General Class students had also obediently returned to quiet mode under the homeroom teacher's request.

Gu Mingchun didn't issue any orders to Class 6. Xie Yining specifically went to the office during dinner to ask if he needed to restrict activities tonight. He said: 'Only this many days left. If you can relax, then relax properly.'

The implication: tonight was given to the students to play, he wouldn't be managing.

So in the entire General Department, only Class 6's classroom was pitch black during evening self-study. Not a single person to be found.

The grade director patrolled to Class 6's door, saw the scene, felt it was improper, called Gu Mingchun to hold him accountable, but got brushed off by Gu Mingchun with vague talk.

Xie Yining directly ordered Su Haoran to find an off-campus takeout buddy with good connections to buy a case of canned ice beer into the school. While the security guard wasn't looking, they found the darkest corner on the School Lawn and pulled Fei Baolin, Wen Fu, and Lu Yuqiu to stargaze together.

Su Haoran had originally wanted to play poker too, but they unanimously felt doing something this bold was too outrageous, so there were signs of giving up on it.

Wen Fu didn't like playing cards. When Wen Fu saw cards, he'd think of his adoptive father, think of that nauseating cigarette smell mixed in with the noise.

So when Fei Baolin and Xie Yining said they couldn't play cards and Su Haoran and Lu Yuqiu held the opposite opinion, Wen Fu cast his crucial vote to the side of justice.

'Do-Re-Mi, I've been watching you for a long time.' Su Haoran squinted, expressing his dissatisfaction with Wen Fu's long-standing one-sided behavior. 'You can't just because the group leader has good grades and is handsome think everything he says is right, right? Can't you go along with me just once?'

'That doesn't sound too pleasant to me.' Xie Yining tossed a can of beer into Su Haoran's arms. 'Who are you really aiming that at?'

Su Haoran snorted, turned his face away, took a sip of beer, muttered: 'Anyway, after graduation, the only one going abroad with you is me.'

'Abroad?' Lu Yuqiu popped the can tab open, catching the important info. 'What abroad? Who's going abroad? Why didn't anyone tell me?'

Xie Yining took a sip of beer, licked her lips: 'Me.'

Everyone looked at her.

'I was originally going to find a time to tell you guys.' Xie Yining held the beer bottle in her hand, smiled, suddenly didn't know how to start. 'I previously...'

'Ningning previously always lived in Jin City, same villa area as me.' Su Haoran just cut her off, raised his chin, his cocky attitude coming out in no time. 'We're childhood sweethearts.'

'Say less and no one will treat you as mute.' Xie Yining grabbed some rubber pebbles from the ground and tossed them lightly at Su Haoran, then continued his words: 'Previously I was always studying art at the international middle school over there. Then in my third year of middle school, my parents' company had a cash flow problem, went bankrupt in a month, owed two hundred million, the contractor ran off with the money, the company money couldn't be repaid, they became deadbeats too, ran abroad to chase the debt, threw me back to my hometown, told me to rent a house with my grandma here. Me, well, switched from art to academics, went to high school here.'

Lu Yuqiu said: 'I know that. So why are you going abroad after graduation? Your parents got their money back?'

'Got it back. The domestic project money's paid off too.' Xie Yining shook the beer bottle and said, 'I was prepared for them to never have news again. Then last month they called, said to prepare visa and enrollment procedures, their new company abroad is too busy, told me to go live with them for a few years. Once it's stable, if I want to come back, I can come back.'

'Where?'

'Italy.' Xie Yining said this and genuinely smiled. 'Even though I can't bear to leave, I still really want to study in Florence.'

Florence Academy of Fine Arts — others didn't know, but Su Haoran knew it was the place Xie Yining had aspired to study since she first touched art as a child. After her family went bankrupt and she transferred to high school in Rongzhou, Xie Yining never mentioned it again.

'Got in?' Lu Yuqiu asked.

'How could it be that easy.' Xie Yining said, 'I've neglected art for so long. Just the portfolio alone is tough enough. Going out to relearn, it'll take at least a year or two.'

'What about you?' Lu Yuqiu turned to Su Haoran. 'Xie Yining's goal is Florence. Su Haoran, what's your purpose going to Italy?'

'Xie Yining, duh.'

Su Haoran winked at her, suddenly pretended to be serious, puffed out his chest and gave a salute: 'This is Su Haoran. My lifelong achievement goal is to spend my whole life by Xie Yining's side. This will be more important than anything! Please rest assured, organization!'

Lu Yuqiu: '...Su Haoran, you're so chuuni.'

Xie Yining also rolled her eyes at him, turned her head to drink beer, but didn't scold him again.

Su Haoran had always had his own head on his shoulders since childhood. Picked up from being by his dad's side since he could remember — business matters he not only picked up quickly but had his own insights. Plus his mouth, nicely said he's eloquent, less nicely said he's slick. From seventy-year-old men down to six-year-old kids, he could turn anyone into a brother. Although his studies weren't good, his other abilities couldn't find fault. Not to mention his family was originally well-off — even if he started from scratch, he'd never worry about food anywhere.

Wen Fu silently listened to their chat on the side. He didn't know where Italy and Florence were, didn't know if they were east or west of Rongzhou, how many tens of thousands of kilometers from Rongzhou. These were names he could only touch on TV or in textbooks.

He saw them all drinking beer, so his own mouth went dry, his Adam's apple slid, and he wanted to take advantage of when Fei Baolin wasn't looking to grab a can of beer.

Before, at Lin's Convenience Store, he'd seen lots of beer on the shelves. Every time he was eager to try, Fei Baolin stopped him.

Today he only dared to quietly reach toward the beer pile.

—Little kitty me, although angry, even when doing bad things still only dares to sneak around.

Watching his fingers about to reach the beer bottle, Fei Baolin, as if he had a third eye, while chatting with them, subtly reached out and blocked in front of the beer.

Wen Fu: '...'

He frowned and looked up, meeting Fei Baolin's lowered gaze: 'Not of age. Can't drink.'

Wen Fu withdrew his hand, but looked a bit unwilling.

Fei Baolin took out a box of Jule Milk from his backpack behind him: 'Drink this.'

It was his favorite pink box, yogurt flavor.

Wen Fu lowered his head and sucked on the yogurt straw.

Xie Yining opened the third can of beer, said a fair word beside them: 'We're all breaking school rules. Whether we're of age or not doesn't matter.'

Fei Baolin's hand was also holding his second finished can.

He just shook his head, said lightly and softly: 'Meimei is still young.'

Xie Yining: ?

Su Haoran: ?

Lu Yuqiu: ?

The three of them in unison: 'Who?'

Wen Fu's yogurt-drinking motion paused. He leaned close to Fei Baolin's eyes and stared at him for a while, then said affirmatively: 'Bo-ge is drunk.'

Fei Baolin smiled: 'I'm not.'

Xie Yining also leaned close to observe for a few seconds: 'I don't think he looks like it either. He's clear-headed — who is meimei? The group leader actually has a sister?'

Fei Baolin really did look quite clear-headed. His eyes not the least bit blurry, his whole face not red and heart not jumping, whatever they said he could pick up, no different from usual.

Wen Fu, as if he hadn't heard, still said firmly: 'Bo-ge is drunk.'

'I see you're protecting him again.' Su Haoran pointed at Wen Fu, laughed. 'The group leader only drank a few cans, not even enough to fill his teeth gaps!'

After saying that he clinked cans with Fei Baolin. The few of them drank the remaining cans of beer clean.

They lay on the lawn. The summer night breeze knocked over the empty beer bottles by their feet. The night sky stretched out like a vast galaxy, cradling this fleeting night of breeze, insect chirps, and happiness.

'Hey,' Xie Yining poked Lu Yuqiu. 'After I go abroad, you can't lose contact with me, okay?'

'How could I.' Lu Yuqiu leaned her head on Xie Yining's shoulder. 'I'm waiting for you to buy me cosmetics as a daigou.'

Xie Yining looked at Lu Yuqiu: 'I don't see you as someone who likes researching makeup.'

Lu Yuqiu: 'I resell at high prices.'

Su Haoran tsk-tsked shaking his head: 'Black-hearted merchant.'

Xie Yining tsk-tsked shaking her head: 'Black-hearted merchant.'

Wen Fu also shook his head: 'Black-hearted merchant.'

This drew everyone's attention to him.

Su Haoran asked first: 'Do-Re-Mi, where are you planning to go for college?'

Wen Fu said: 'Don't know.'

Wherever Fei Baolin goes, he goes.

"With Do-Re-Mi's grades, besides having to fight for a spot at a few schools in Beijing, he can pick any school in Sichuan no problem." Xie Yining said, "But what major do you wanna study later, Do-Re-Mi? It's definitely not gonna be Chinese lit, right?"

Wen Fu: "Why not?"

Xie Yining, matter-of-factly: "Do you really need to ask why?"

Lu Yuqiu, matter-of-factly: "Do you really need to ask why?"

Su Haoran, matter-of-factly: "Do you really need to ask why?"

Wen Fu went quiet.

"But I think it'd be pretty great if you switched careers and became a singer." Lu Yuqiu lay on Wen Fu's right side, casually patting his shoulder, "Go enter The Voice of China or something later, who knows, you might skyrocket and turn into a huge star."

"Other people might not make it, but Do-Re-Mi really could." Xie Yining tucked both hands behind her head, "Just give him one shot, Do-Re-Mi puts in a little more effort, and who knows, ten years from now the Chinese music scene might have a name that rings out loud and clear: Wen Fu."

Su Haoran: "If you make it big, don't forget us!"

Lu Yuqiu: "If you make it big, don't forget us!"

Xie Yining: "If you make it big, don't forget us!"

"You two, get lost." Lu Yuqiu said, "No matter how rich you get, you won't be richer than the two of you already are."

Xie Yining: "Hehe."

Su Haoran: "Hehe."

"What about our class monitor?" Xie Yining looked up, peering past Lu Yuqiu and Wen Fu at Fei Baolin, "What does class monitor wanna do later? Tsinghua or Peking University?"

"He can just pick either one." Su Haoran waved a hand, "With class monitor's grades, he's the one doing the picking, not the other way around. Has he ever scored below six-eighty on the recent practice exams?"

Fei Baolin gazed at the sky and shook his head, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly: "Just better than now is fine."

Tsinghua didn't matter, Peking didn't matter, as long as things kept getting better, as long as they could live the life he and Wen Fu wanted to live, that was enough.

"How much better than now?" Lu Yuqiu asked.

Fei Baolin stared at the sky, falling into a brief silence, then said: "Buy my sister... lots of new clothes."

Wen Fu turned his head again, staring hard at him: "Bo-ge is drunk."

"Drunk, my ass." Xie Yining fired back, "I'm not even drunk. So what if it's buying new clothes, whoever you buy them for, once I'm a big painter I'll design clothes for class monitor's sister on purpose! Any sister, any number of them, I'll make sure they can't wear them all!"

Lu Yuqiu laughed: "Then I'll build you a personal brand!"

"Deal!" Xie Yining burst out laughing, then hissed, "What's that line... we'll meet at the peak someday!"

Su Haoran: "Meet at the peak!"

Lu Yuqiu: "Meet at the peak!"

Wen Fu echoed softly: "Meet at the peak."

The three in front burst into laughter together.

After the laughter died down, Lu Yuqiu looked at Fei Baolin again: "Class monitor, why aren't you saying it?"

Xie Yining piled on: "Exactly, so unsociable. You're not gonna tell us you don't wanna meet us at the peak?"

The pressure cornered Fei Baolin into a helpless laugh. He said: "I just said it in my heart."

"Good words only count if you say them out loud." Lu Yuqiu said, "What's the point of keeping it bottled up inside?"

"Fine." Fei Baolin shook his head, his eyes crinkling into a smile. As he spoke, he glanced at Wen Fu like it was the most natural thing in the world: "Meet at the peak."

"Now that's more like it." Xie Yining shouted at the dark sky again, "Meet at the peak!"

"Meet at the peak!"

"Meet at the peak!"

"..."

"..."

The last evening breeze of the school day rang out the dismissal bell. They forgot exactly when they waved goodbye to each other. By the time Wen Fu and Fei Baolin walked out the School Gate toward home, the street was nearly empty of pedestrians, barely a car in sight.

They reached the crosswalk at the intersection just as the light turned red. Even though there were no cars right now, Wen Fu did what Fei Baolin had taught him before and stopped in place, waiting for the red light to die.

But before he knew it, Fei Baolin beside him didn't hesitate for a second, striding right onto the crosswalk and heading for the other side.

Wen Fu grabbed him: "Bo-ge?"

Fei Baolin turned back: "What?"

Wen Fu said: "Red light."

Fei Baolin: "I know. Let's go."

Wen Fu didn't move.

He studied Fei Baolin's expression, then repeated: "Red light."

"Red light go, green light stop." Fei Baolin caught his hand in return, clear-headed and calm, "Let's go, get home sooner."

Wen Fu: "..."

Fei Baolin was drunk.

This was the third time tonight he'd confirmed it.

But not a single person in the whole world believed him.

Luckily the red light disappeared fast. After a few seconds of yellow, the signal turned green. Wen Fu hurried to pull Fei Baolin across, but Fei Baolin held him back: "Wait for the red light before crossing."

Wen Fu: "..."

In the end he dragged Fei Baolin across against his will while the light was green. Looking back, Fei Baolin's eyes were full of resignation, like he was saying, "How do you keep forgetting the traffic rules I taught you?"

Considering Fei Baolin was drunk, Wen Fu the little cat decided not to hold it against the grown-up, and pulled Fei Baolin straight toward home.

When they reached Lin's Convenience Store, Fei Baolin insisted on dragging Wen Fu inside to check on the shop, saying it wasn't midnight yet, they could still do some business.

But the thing was, when Fei Baolin was handing things over to Aunt Wu, his thinking and speech were perfectly normal and totally fluent. Wen Fu figured that even if he told Aunt Wu Fei Baolin was drunk, she wouldn't believe him, and besides, you can't go telling adults about stuff like this.

Luckily in that hour-plus at the shop, aside from a few men buying cigarettes, no other customers showed up. When the last customer paid thirty yuan and Fei Baolin gave him fifty back as change, Wen Fu smoothly intercepted the guy, pointed at the completely empty milk shelf, and told Fei Baolin: "There's a box of milk that fell over back there, can Bo-ge go pick it up?"

Fei Baolin went without a moment's hesitation.

By the time he came back, the customer had just left. Fei Baolin was holding a bar of soap, and said to Wen Fu: "Drink it."

Wen Fu stared at the bar of soap for a moment, then took it and put it in his backpack: "Thanks, Bo-ge, I'll drink it tomorrow."

At exactly midnight, Fei Baolin finally decided to close up shop.

Wen Fu quietly let out a breath.

In front of Lin's Convenience Store there were two short steps, and past the steps a little path about three meters long. Only after turning out of the path did you reach the road inside the Residential Complex.

On either side of the path were flower beds and two white champaca trees. In summer the trees spread out like a canopy, the short little path entirely shaded, and even from inside the shop you could smell the fragrance.

Just when they could finally head home, who would've thought Fei Baolin would close the door, turn around, and sit right down on the steps out front, showing zero sign of moving.

Wen Fu was ahead, just stepping out of the path, when he heard nothing behind him. He turned back and saw Fei Baolin's two long straight legs stretched out on the ground, sitting right there on the steps, idly playing with his keys, watching Wen Fu with a half-smile.

"..."

The little cat sighed.

Wen Fu walked back, stood in front of Fei Baolin under the dappled tree shadows, and said softly: "Bo-ge, let's go home."

Fei Baolin said nothing, just looked at Wen Fu and patted his own leg twice.

He meant for Wen Fu to sit on it.

Any other time, this was absolutely not something Fei Baolin would do. He was the most particular about boundaries; even in the shower, if Wen Fu got too close he'd lift him away, as if the two of them getting too near would summon some terrible disaster.

But right now Fei Baolin was drunk, drunk in a way that wasn't normal, and a Fei Baolin who wasn't normal doing anything was normal.

Wen Fu reached down, trying to take his hand: "Let's go home first."

Fei Baolin caught Wen Fu's outstretched wrist and instead pulled him toward himself: "Get up here."

Wen Fu had no choice but to sit on Fei Baolin's lap.

The steps were low, so he sat in a half-seated, half-kneeling position, his knees gently bumping the edge of the stone.

Fei Baolin bent one leg slightly, like he was keeping Wen Fu from suddenly backing away, and draped Wen Fu's arm over his own shoulder.

Wen Fu was in his arms now.

He tilted his head back, looking at Wen Fu's long dark lashes and eyes like black gemstones, the palm of one hand pressed against Wen Fu's back.

No.1 High School's summer School Uniform was cheap fabric, very thin, and the heat of Fei Baolin's palm seeped warm into Wen Fu's spine.

Fei Baolin didn't speak, so Wen Fu called softly: "Bo-ge?"

Fei Baolin didn't answer, just kept looking at him, like he'd fallen into some long memory of him.

"Meimei."

Fei Baolin suddenly called him.

Wen Fu hadn't even had time to respond before Fei Baolin buried his face in the hollow of Wen Fu's collarbone, took a breath, and mumbled: "When did you..."

His voice was low and slow, but the words didn't finish, like something was being held back deep in his throat.

The hand Wen Fu had on his shoulder moved naturally to the back of his head, and he stroked Fei Baolin's hair the way Fei Baolin usually soothed him, again and again.

"Bo-ge," Wen Fu tilted his head, brushing his cheek against the top of Fei Baolin's head, "what are you thinking?"

Fei Baolin didn't answer. He caught Wen Fu's other hand, the one resting in front of him, gave it a squeeze that wasn't quite light and wasn't quite hard, then guided Wen Fu's hand to his own face.

By accident Wen Fu's fingertip brushed the scar on his chin. Maybe he felt Wen Fu's hand pause there, rubbing gently, because Fei Baolin's hand went still, letting Wen Fu's fingertip stay right where it was.

Three tetanus shots had been given here. The first one, Fei Baolin went alone. That night Wen Fu had followed him to the hospital and waited outside the whole time.

The second and third shots, Wen Fu insisted on going with him. Every time the needle went in, Wen Fu would stare at the doctor's movements in silence, frowning each time the needle pierced Fei Baolin's skin, as if he were the one in pain. Fei Baolin noticed, and after they left the hospital he'd buy Wen Fu an ice cream, like the pain, the scar, were nothing worth mentioning.

Wen Fu touched the scar, not understanding what Fei Baolin wanted.

"Does it still hurt?" Wen Fu's palm faced up, his index and middle fingers pressed together, the soft cool pads of his fingertips tracing along the scar's path, rubbing back and forth, "Because you drank, so it hurts again?"

Fei Baolin shook his head, then halfway through the shake started nodding.

"It's all your fault." Fei Baolin didn't deny it, he even said it, "All of it, your fault."

Wen Fu's fingertips went still.

Fei Baolin had never been able to bring himself to say a single harsh word to him, let alone something like blame.

He figured the alcohol had drawn out all the grievances Fei Baolin usually kept buried. Drunk, Fei Baolin became full of grievances and stopped caring—didn't care how Wen Fu would feel hearing him blamed, didn't care that Wen Fu might find the KTV photos disgusting.

Wen Fu was a little at a loss and a little wronged. It wasn't like he'd made Fei Baolin drink. He hadn't even gotten around to blaming Fei Baolin for being photographed like that, and Fei Baolin was already digging up something from so long ago to throw at him.

Did he want Fei Baolin to be in pain? It wasn't on purpose. Every time he watched Fei Baolin get a shot, he'd think: what does it feel like, a needle that long and that thin, piercing a wound? If Fei Baolin didn't feel it, fine, but if he did, Wen Fu should've felt it too.

How could there be so many surgeries in the world, and not one that could transfer one person's injury to another?

If one day there was such a surgery, he'd be the first to take Fei Baolin to get it done, to transfer the scar on Fei Baolin's chin onto himself. Better to transfer it back to how it looked at the very beginning, bloody, torn open into a savage gash by a rusty nail, and let it grow on him, stay unhealed forever and ever, let him feel Fei Baolin's pain once too, let him remember that next time he ran into someone in the rain looking for him late at night, he absolutely must not knock that person to the ground.

Forget it.

Wen Fu figured, meeting one Fei Baolin in this life was already enough. He didn't want a single one more.

"Then what do we do?" he asked Fei Baolin.

Something in Wen Fu's tone had gone stiff, like he refused to admit fault, refused to bow his head.

Fei Baolin lifted his head at that, tilted his face up to look at him, his expression somewhere between a smile and not, carrying a hint of cold, as if he'd seen through every single word in Wen Fu's heart, so he pushed back, throwing the question at Wen Fu: "You can't even apologize to someone? How do I usually teach you?"

Wen Fu said stiffly: "I'm sorry."

Like he didn't really mean it.

Fei Baolin could press just as hard: "Sorry is enough?"

Wen Fu, full of conviction: "You didn't teach me anything else."

Fei Baolin raised an eyebrow, looking more and more like he was laughing coldly: "You won't do it unless I teach you?"

Wen Fu said: "Yeah."

"Then say it out loud."

"Say what?"

"Say it out loud." Fei Baolin repeated, "So I can teach you."

Wen Fu remembered those dark days when talking to Fei Baolin had to follow grammar to the letter.

Now Fei Baolin was drunk, and he'd started grinding him down like that again.

So he asked first: "Teach me what?"

Fei Baolin asked back: "What do you think?"

Wen Fu lowered his eyes, stared for a long time at Fei Baolin's gaze, which the night wind had blown into something two parts drunk and two parts flirtatious, and said word by word: "Bo-ge teach me, how do I apologize to you?"

"Then watch closely."

Fei Baolin suddenly pressed the back of his neck and kissed him.