Chapter 33

Different from the previous kiss through the mask, Pei Ran could clearly feel Yan Zhun nibbling on him, not too hard and not too soft. It wasn't until he felt a slight pain that Yan Zhun released his lips.

Pei Ran thought it was over. Just as his tense shoulders were about to relax, the large hand on his neck showed no intention of letting go. Yan Zhun gently massaged the back of his neck, then tenderly and soothingly deepened the kiss.

Pei Ran could no longer hear the rain. He was kissed until he was dizzy and light-headed, even a little short of breath. He gripped Yan Zhun's clothes tightly. When Yan Zhun parted his lips, he instinctively responded a little.

Pei Ran lightly licked the tip of Yan Zhun's tongue.

Yan Zhun felt as if his heart had been hooked.

The pedestrians on the street were few and far between, holding umbrellas and rushing along. No one noticed them.

Both of their breaths were hot, tangling together in the rainy night.

The other side of the convenience store's glass window was piled with clutter, blocking the view from inside and out. Only light seeped through the cracks. When Yan Zhun let him go, Pei Ran's face and ears were completely red.

Pei Ran felt shy even just swallowing. He let go of Yan Zhun's clothes and blinked rapidly several times. Just as he was about to speak, Yan Zhun raised the back of his hand and wiped his lips clean for him.

Yan Zhun lowered his eyes and asked in a hoarse voice, "What does kissing me mean? Teacher Pei."

Only then did Pei Ran remember that he had initiated this kiss.

His face grew even hotter. After a long moment, he said, "I just wanted to kiss you. Sorry."

His tone was no different from usual. Yan Zhun could barely hold back. His Adam's apple bobbed several times before he managed an "en": "Kiss me if you want to. You can kiss me whenever you want."

Yan Zhun looked down, casually brushing his wrinkled clothes. "Was this comfortable to grab? If not, I'll wear a different shirt next time."

Pei Ran closed his eyes, with a hint of giving up on himself. "It was... comfortable."

The rain was letting up. Many people were already walking in the rain, and shopkeepers were setting up umbrellas outside their stores.

Yan Zhun had already sat up straight. Their thighs were pressed together through the fabric of their clothes, and neither of them moved away.

Suddenly, his phone rang. Pei Ran subconsciously reached for his pocket, but his elbow accidentally hit the table. The phone slid to the floor with a dull thud.

Just as Pei Ran was about to pick it up, Yan Zhun bent down first.

"It's dirty, wait." Yan Zhun picked up the phone, pulled out a tissue, and wiped the screen.

Just then, another message came in. Yan Zhun's gaze swept over the preview on the screen, but he quickly looked away and handed the phone to Pei Ran.

[Luo Qingshan: I heard from Little Yang and the others that they ran into you at the internet cafe. I didn't get to tell them in time, I'm sorry]

[Luo Qingshan: I was just playing ball, I didn't know about what happened in the group chat]

[Luo Qingshan: I'm sorry]

[Luo Qingshan: Can we still be friends in the future?]

Pei Ran had just finished reading the messages when the person beside him suddenly stood up.

"I'm going to buy an umbrella."

By the time Pei Ran came back to his senses, he had already grabbed Yan Zhun's hand.

Yan Zhun stopped and looked down at him. "Is there something you want to buy?"

Pei Ran looked at Yan Zhun's hand, which had a faint medicinal smell. After a long while, he finally raised his head and asked, "Can I be friends with him?"

For a rare moment, Yan Zhun was stunned. He looked into Pei Ran's eyes, as if sensing something. "Is it up to me?"

Pei Ran said, "En."

"Why?"

Pei Ran controlled his expression, his face so red it looked like it was about to bleed.

Just as Yan Zhun was about to speak, he replied in a small voice, "You can... be in charge of me."

The person in front of him fell silent.

The moment Pei Ran said it, he regretted it. He had never said anything like that before. Shame and embarrassment were about to drown him.

Just as he was about to let go of Yan Zhun, the other person gripped his hand tightly in return.

"Pei Ran," Yan Zhun said, "I don't want you to be friends with him, and I don't want you to contact him, because I like you."

"You're asking for my opinion, letting me be in charge of you..."

Pei Ran said, "Because I do too."

Yan Zhun pressed his lips together. Following Pei Ran's voice, his heart silently burst open.

He let go of Pei Ran's hand and ruffled his hair. "Teacher Pei."

Pei Ran: "...En?"

"Want to date me?"

Pei Ran's eyelashes trembled. First, he hummed "en," then a few seconds later, he said, "Okay."

Yan Zhun toyed with his hair, holding back again and again, but in the end, he couldn't resist. "Lift your head a little. Secretly."

Pei Ran seemed to know what was about to happen. From the moment he arrived at this convenience store, his heartbeat hadn't been steady.

Pei Ran lifted his head and received his second kiss of the night.

In the end, the two entered the convenience store together. The female clerk looked at them a bit strangely; she had probably seen something.

Although they bought two umbrellas, they shared one until Pei Ran got in the car.

"I'm coming back to school tomorrow," Yan Zhun said to him before he got in the car.

Pei Ran subconsciously replied, "Tomorrow is the weekend, there are no classes."

Yan Zhun said, "En, I'm going back to see my boyfriend."

The car door closed. Pei Ran gave the driver the school's address and turned his head to look out the window.

Late at night, there weren't many cars on the road. The driver kept the car's speed right on the edge of the speed limit. The streetlights receded one by one outside the window.

Pei Ran watched quietly for a while, then raised his hands and covered his face. His palms pressed against his cheeks, and it was impossible to tell which was warmer.

Back in the dorm, Pei Ran took a shower. As he picked up the bath towel, he remembered the pressure and feel of Yan Zhun using a tissue to dry his hair.

He slowly rubbed his hair dry and picked up his phone to check his unread messages. After he had said those few words in the group chat, he had received quite a few private messages and even some friend requests, but he hadn't opened any of them.

Pei Ran had a good habit of almost always replying to the messages he received. He had just managed to finish reading his unread messages when a new one popped up at the top.

[Yan Zhun: Forgot to say, thank you for the new gift, Teacher Pei.]

-

Pei Ran dreamed all night. In his dreams, there was rain, a convenience store, and Yan Zhun.

When he woke up, he was still a little dazed, staring blankly at the ceiling for a long time.

After getting out of bed and washing up, he made himself a cup of coffee and had it with some crackers for breakfast.

It wasn't until Luo Qingshan sent another WeChat message that Pei Ran remembered he had closed the app after reading the message in the convenience store last night without replying.

He had unblocked Luo Qingshan on the night at the hospital. Firstly, because of the matter with Yan Zhun, and secondly, because he remembered he still had some things to return.

Pei Ran couldn't remember the price of the high school uniform and textbooks anymore, so he directly transferred a thousand yuan.

[Luo Qingshan: ?]

[Pei Ran: The money for the uniform and textbooks from high school. Thank you for back then.]

[Luo Qingshan: ?]

[Luo Qingshan: What uniform and textbooks?]

[Pei Ran: The ones you put in my drawer.]

[Luo Qingshan: ...Did you mistake me for someone else?]

[Luo Qingshan: I never put any uniform or textbooks in your drawer.]

[Luo Qingshan: I don't even know where to buy that stuff.]

[Luo Qingshan: There are no classes today, why are you up so early?]

Pei Ran held his phone, slightly lost in thought.

Thinking back carefully, he had indeed never verified this matter. Because Luo Qingshan was the only classmate at the time who showed him obvious kindness, he had subconsciously attributed this act to him.

Luo Qingshan's messages came one after another, making his palm tingle from the vibrations. Pei Ran was in a daze for a good while before he looked down at the messages.

Luo Qingshan seemed to have sensed something and asked many follow-up questions.

[Pei Ran: It's nothing. Also, no.]

[Luo Qingshan: No to what?]

While cleaning up the crumbs and packaging and throwing them into the trash, Pei Ran typed out a reply.

[Pei Ran: Not being friends.]

Luo Qingshan didn't send any more messages.

In the past, when Pei Ran had nothing to do on weekends, he would go to the art studio. Today, a classmate @'d him in the group chat, asking him to go to the studio together, but he refused in a few short sentences and randomly put on a movie to pass the time.

After listening to just two lines of dialogue, he lowered his head to look at his phone.

The White Rabbit Creamy Candy profile picture lay quietly in his contacts list. The last message was from two in the morning.

He stared at the profile picture for a few extra moments, then continued to scroll down and found his high school class group chat.

The group had gone cold long ago; someone would only chat in it once every ten days or half a month. Pei Ran opened the list of group members and scrolled down one by one, trying to find the person who had stuffed things into his drawer back then.

He scrolled back and forth but couldn't find a single match, so he simply gave up.

The ninety-minute movie ended, and Pei Ran had no idea what the plot was about. He couldn't be bothered to rewatch it and listlessly scrolled his mouse, looking for a new film.

His phone suddenly vibrated. He looked down at it.

[Yan Zhun: Are you awake?]

[Pei Ran: I'm awake.]

[Yan Zhun: I'm at the school gate.]

Pei Ran threw on a coat and went out the door.

Yan Zhun was tall and slender. He wore his hat pulled down low, the brim obscuring his eyes when he lowered his head. He was very conspicuous standing at the school gate.

As Pei Ran approached, Yan Zhun had his back to him, talking on the phone.

"I'm not free today," Yan Zhun said.

On the other end of the line was the Coach, his voice extremely loud: "It's just two training matches, it won't take long... What could you possibly be busy with on a weekend?"

Annoyed by him, Yan Zhun said bluntly, "Dating."