As class was about to end, Pei Ran closed his textbook, took a mask out of his pocket, and put it on.

"You're leaving early again?" his roommate asked.

Pei Ran nodded.

Roommate: "You've been leaving early for a few days now. Anyone who didn't know better would think someone's waiting to ambush you after school..."

Pei Ran smiled but didn't say anything. The moment the teacher turned their back, he slipped out the back door with his books.

Pei Ran didn't relax until he was some distance away from the teaching building.

He let out a soft breath and took out his phone to check. As expected, there were several messages, all from Luo Qingshan.

Pei Ran quickly scrolled through their chat history from the past few days, feeling for a moment as if he'd gone back to high school.

[Luo Qingshan: Pei Ran, want to have lunch together?]

[Pei Ran: No thanks, I ordered takeout.]

[Luo Qingshan: Okay, which place did you order from? I'll get the same thing.]

[Luo Qingshan: [Video call, unanswered]]

[Luo Qingshan: Babe, I miss you.]

[Luo Qingshan: I couldn't focus in class all day.]

[Luo Qingshan: I deleted Su Nian. You can check anytime.]

[Luo Qingshan: Dinner together? I'll come find you in the classroom.]

Luo Qingshan had pursued Pei Ran the same way in high school. He proactively asked the teacher to change his seat to be next to Pei Ran, switched dorms to get the top bunk above Pei Ran, and even stuck to Pei Ran during lunch and dinner... Things like that, impossible to chase away no matter what was said.

Pei Ran closed the chat window and, while he was at it, unpinned the chat that Luo Qingshan had pinned using his phone.

That evening, when Luo Qingshan pushed open the dorm room door, Yan Zhun was watching a replay of the PUBG International Tournament.

He was only wearing one earbud, his legs spread apart carelessly. He looked a bit preoccupied, and the sound of the door opening didn't affect him at all.

With a thud, Luo Qingshan placed a pack of beer on his desk and asked, "Want to drink?"

The beer cans were wet, looking like they had just been taken out of the fridge. Yan Zhun looked at the damp desk, frowned slightly, and then shook his head. "I'm not drinking."

So Luo Qingshan could only drink to get drunk by himself.

Halfway through his drinking, he picked up his phone, subconsciously wanting to call someone to accompany him. Only after dialing did he realize his mistake and quickly hung up.

At two in the morning, Yan Zhun was woken up by his roommate.

He slowly opened his eyes, which were filled with sleepiness and irritation.

Luo Qingshan: "Pei Ran, you're really this cruel..."

Yan Zhun was instantly wide awake.

The dorm lights had been out for a while, and Luo Qingshan's phone screen was the only source of light.

Luo Qingshan's tone was dejected. "Three years... We were together for three years, you have to tolerate my mistakes, Pei Ran."

Luo Qingshan muttered to himself for a few minutes. Yan Zhun, thoroughly annoyed, took out earplugs from under his pillow and was about to put them in when he heard a rustling sound.

"Luo Qingshan, it's very late."

Luo Qingshan actually had his phone on speaker.

Pei Ran's voice was hoarse and thick with exhaustion. "Whatever it is, can we talk about it tomorrow?"

"You'll ignore me tomorrow," Luo Qingshan said.

Pei Ran rubbed his hair, taking a long while to finally wake up completely.

Luo Qingshan was speaking intermittently and stumbling over his words; he must have been drinking again.

Feeling his throat was dry and hoarse, Pei Ran took a sip of water before continuing, "Luo Qingshan, our breakup... it's not entirely because of this issue."

The other end of the line was quiet, with no response.

Pei Ran: "We agreed before, to give it a try."

Back then, Luo Qingshan was lying in a hospital bed, his hands and arms wrapped in bandages. They were both only seventeen or eighteen, and their eyes were turbulent.

Luo Qingshan was grimacing in pain, yet he was still smiling, coaxing and teasing him, asking if he was moved, and if he wanted to devote his life to him.

Pei Ran was silent for a long time before saying, 'Then let's give it a try, Luo Qingshan.'

Pei Ran took three years to understand that love doesn't necessarily grow from prolonged companionship for everyone.

At least, his current feelings for Luo Qingshan weren't yet great enough to tolerate everything.

Luo Qingshan still didn't speak. Pei Ran lowered his gaze. "Sorry..."

"He's asleep," a low voice came from the other end.

Pei Ran was taken aback. "Ah."

Yan Zhun tossed the empty beer cans from the desk into the trash can. "He had a bit to drink. He's asleep now. This is Yan Zhun."

Pei Ran: "..."

'Does that mean Yan Zhun heard everything I just said, and everything Luo Qingshan said to me?'

An inexplicable sense of awkwardness crept up from the soles of his feet. Pei Ran swallowed and, after a long moment, said, "Did I wake you?"

"No." Yan Zhun said without a change in expression, "I stay up late."

Pei Ran let out a soft "Oh."

The air fell into a brief silence.

"Go to sleep," Yan Zhun said. "Next time you go to sleep, remember to turn on silent mode."

Pei Ran: "...Okay."

The second before Pei Ran hung up, Yan Zhun hastily added, "Good night."

After the WeChat call ended, Yan Zhun lowered his eyes and inadvertently saw Luo Qingshan's chat list.

The first was Pei Ran, and the second was Su Nian.

[Su Nian: Did you call me? Is it a good time for me to call back...?]

He couldn't see anything further down.

Yan Zhun remembered that among Luo Qingshan's earlier mumblings, there was a phrase: "I already blocked him, what more do you want from me."

Just then, Luo Qingshan, whose face was resting on the desk, suddenly turned over, muttering indistinctly, "Babe..."

Yan Zhun casually grabbed one of Luo Qingshan's jackets and draped it over him. "Don't call out randomly."

Luo Qingshan, with his eyes closed, mumbled subconsciously, "Huh?"

"You two broke up." Yan Zhun said with rare patience, reminding him, "He's not your babe anymore."

Pei Ran sat on his bed, staring blankly at his phone screen.

'Did I hang up the phone too quickly? It seems like Yan Zhun hadn't finished talking.'

After that commotion, Pei Ran had lost all desire to sleep. Fortunately, his roommates had been staying elsewhere for the past few days, so he was the only one in the dorm. Otherwise, he would have had to go to the balcony to answer the call.

He sat down at his computer, looking at the half-finished draft in front of him, hesitating whether to finish drawing it.

In the end, laziness won. Pei Ran took his phone and climbed back into bed.

Pei Ran lay on his side playing with his phone. He browsed casually and came across a Moments post from a minute ago.

[Yan Zhun: Available for game companionship, can play any game, online anytime.]

Pei Ran casually clicked into Yan Zhun's Moments, only to find that the post had been deleted in a second.

To be precise, Yan Zhun had posted a new one—

[Yan Zhun: Available for game companionship, can play any game, online anytime, good at cheering people up, can do anything. Interested bosses, please DM. Running out of money for food [Web Link]]

Pei Ran spent ten minutes scrolling through his Moments for the day, and in the end, couldn't resist clicking the web link.

It was a very legitimate game companionship website. Yan Zhun's account looked new, with 0 orders completed. At twenty yuan an hour, it was the lowest price on the site.

Pei Ran looked it over several times before finally placing an order for ten hours. After paying, he closed the webpage directly.

He was just about to turn on silent mode and go to sleep when a WeChat message popped up.

[Yan Zhun: Boss.]

[Yan Zhun: When do you want to play?]

Pei Ran's eyes widened, and it took him a few seconds to react before he started typing.

[Pei Ran: What are you talking about?]

[Yan Zhun: You placed an order with me for game companionship, ten hours.]

[Pei Ran: ...How did you know it was me?]

[Yan Zhun: It has your WeChat profile picture on it.]

Pei Ran covered his eyes. He had forgotten about that.

'So here's the problem, if I admit that I was just trying to support him with some food money, wouldn't that be a bit disrespectful?'

[Yan Zhun: ?]

[Pei Ran: Ah, it's very late today, so let's not play for now.]

[Yan Zhun: Then tomorrow?]

[Pei Ran: These next few days... I have a part-time job to take care of.]

[Yan Zhun: Next week, the school has a seven-day break. I'll play with you then.]

[Yan Zhun: It feels uncomfortable to owe you.]

Since he had put it that way, Pei Ran felt he had little choice.

[Pei Ran: Okay.]

[Pei Ran: I hung up too quickly just now, I didn't catch what you said at the end, sorry.]

[Yan Zhun: It's fine, I didn't say anything important.]

[Pei Ran: Okay. By the way, could I trouble you to put a cup of water next to Luo Qingshan?]

[Yan Zhun: You're my boss now.]

[Pei Ran: ?]

[Yan Zhun: You could even tell me to pry open his mouth and pour water in.]

[Pei Ran: ...]