Jian Muyang's eyes didn't have any major issues, they were just bruised with some minor capillary bleeding, but his vision was unaffected. However, his eyelids were swollen and bruised, making his eyes look smaller than usual on that side.

He was a bit worried that Qin Fang would be too concerned, so on the way home he went over and asked Qin Fang: "Bro, do I look like I got beaten up?"

Qin Fang glanced at him and said: "Yeah, you've got panda eyes now."

"Haha, then when I get home I'll say my brother beat me up," Jian Muyang laughed in a silly way, "I'll complain to Dad when I get home, and he'll have to beat you up too."

Qin Fang smiled, knowing that Jian Muyang was just trying to comfort him. In fact, he was really thoughtful. When he mentioned complaining, he only said he would complain to his dad, and never mentioned anything to his mom throughout. Qin Fang understood the subtle difference, so Jian Muyang rarely brought it up in front of him.

Xing Yan said to Jian Muyang: "Don't sleep on your side pressing that eye tonight."

"Okay," Jian Muyang nodded, "Got it."

When they arrived at the Jian family home, Qin Fang went in with Jian Muyang, while Xing Yan stayed in the car. Originally Qin Fang could have just left, but since Jian Muyang had injured his eye, it wouldn't be right for Qin Fang to leave directly.

As a mother, Dong Yin noticed it with one glance as soon as Jian Muyang entered. She walked over with a frown and asked: "What happened to Yangyang's eye?"

Jian Muyang smiled and waved his hand: "I wasn't being careful while walking and bumped it. My brother already scolded me, Mom, so don't scold me too."

Dong Yin pulled him to sit on the sofa and carefully examined his eye.

Qin Fang said: "We went to the hospital to get it checked. The eye is fine, it's just the eyelid that got bruised. It'll probably be swollen for a few days."

Dong Yin didn't look up, holding Jian Muyang's face as she looked, and just made an "Mm" sound.

"I'll be more careful when walking from now on," Jian Muyang smiled, showing his teeth, "Mom, don't tell Dad on me."

He was trying hard to make people laugh. Although Dong Yin didn't laugh, she wasn't frowning as much as before. Qin Fang put the medicine he brought for Jian Muyang on the coffee table, said something, and left.

Dong Yin was definitely unhappy. Jian Muyang had gone out with Qin Fang in good condition and came back with an injury on his eye.

Although Jian Muyang implied that it was all his own fault for not being careful, in the end it was Qin Fang who had taken the child out, so she definitely blamed him inwardly for not watching over him properly. But since Jian Mingtao wasn't home, she couldn't complain to his face, so no matter how unwilling she was inside, she had to let it go on the surface.

When Qin Fang got back in the car, Xing Yan was leaning back in the seat with his eyes closed. When he heard Qin Fang get in, he opened his eyes.

"Fell asleep?" Qin Fang asked him.

"No," Xing Yan said, "Dropped him off?"

"Yeah." Qin Fang nodded.

Xing Yan said: "Your brother is so well-behaved."

"Indeed," Qin Fang thought of how Jian Muyang had just tried to express that it was all his own fault for not being careful while walking, and felt a wave of tenderness in his heart, "A little angel."

This incident really affected Qin Fang's mood at the time. He was worried about Jian Muyang's eye. If it had been a guy, Qin Fang might have said a few more words, but facing a group of girls, he couldn't say much.

Later, after this matter passed and Jian Muyang's eye gradually recovered, when Qin Fang looked back on that day, besides that little episode at the end, the rest was all about Xing Yan.

Xing Yan's hand resting on Jian Muyang's shoulder as he walked, and after Jian Muyang bumped his eye, Xing Yan holding his chin and softly saying "Let me see". This Xing Yan was very different from his usual self, not so aloof, and even very... gentle.

It was indeed gentleness. The feeling he gave off that whole day was different from his usual self. It was as if through a child, a different side of this person was revealed.

Now when Qin Fang thought of Xing Yan, his feelings had become simpler and simpler, from the original tangle of various emotions, to now whenever he saw this person, the little ambiguous thoughts in his heart seemed to be all he could think about, as if there was nothing else besides this.

Qin Fang lay in bed staring at the ceiling, lying quite properly, pondering a relationship that was neither sweet nor salty.

Shen Dengke turned off the light and climbed into bed, glancing at him and asking: "Fang, why are you lying so straight?"

Qin Fang then moved his legs and changed his posture.

"Thinking about something?" his roommate asked.

"Lovesick." Qin Fang said.

Shen Dengke laughed for a while and asked: "Fallen for another girl?"

Before Qin Fang could respond, Chen Ke suddenly coughed a couple times from the opposite bed.

Shen Dengke immediately shut his mouth and changed the subject: "Exams are coming up soon, I'm so anxious."

His topic change was a bit sudden, but Qin Fang didn't pay much attention. Shen Dengke's train of thought was always jumping from one thing to another.

While chatting with his roommate, Qin Fang's mind was quite empty, but when the lights were turned off and he closed his eyes, the image of Xing Yan bending over and carefully examining Jian Muyang's eye still filled his mind. Xing Yan's eyes were so focused, making him even more captivating when he was concentrating.

Qin Fang blinked in the darkness, and the scene shifted to the countless times they had gazed at each other before. They would look into each other's eyes, reading emotions from the other's eyes, and also seeing themselves reflected.

Xing Yan looked at him at the highway entrance as they sat in the same bike, his eyes filled with madness, asking if he was scared.

Xing Yan placed a stone in his palm, kissed his shoulder, and then said - "Thank the atoms for composing you".

Qin Fang let out a long breath, first closing his eyes, then opening them again a moment later. He reached under his pillow for his phone and typed "Yan-ge" in his chat window with Xing Yan, then hit send.

Xing Yan definitely wasn't asleep at this hour. Qin Fang waited for the other side to reply with an "Mm" before continuing with another message: Are you sleepy?

Xing Yan asked him: What's up?

Qin Fang: If you're not sleepy, let's chat?

Xing Yan: Chat

Qin Fang had actually been thinking a lot, and then with an emotional fluctuation, he wanted to talk to Xing Yan, but now that he was really asked to chat, he didn't know what to say.

He didn't say anything for a while on his end, and after a while Xing Yan sent over: Still chatting or not?

Qin Fang smiled and replied: You start.

Xing Yan's messages were very prompt and quick, not giving Qin Fang time to react.

- What do you want to chat about?

Followed closely by two more messages.

- I guess you want to talk to me about feelings

- Did I guess right?

When he was like this, Qin Fang couldn't quite handle it. Now, straight or not, he was still more or less half a little straight man. With Xing Yan's barrage of questions, Qin Fang even wanted to throw his phone.

But he couldn't really throw it. After all, he was the one who took the initiative to chat, so Qin Fang replied very honestly: Right... I guess...

Those two ellipses were sent in a slightly cute way. Qin Fang felt like he was acting coy, so he followed up with a silly emoji afterwards.

Xing Yan: Did you want to ask me something?

Qin Fang replied: No, I just suddenly thought of you.

Xing Yan: Thought of me?

Saying this to Xing Yan was too difficult for him. Qin Fang replied with a struggling expression: Thought of... you.

Xing Yan: Mm

Actually, during this time, Xing Yan wasn't being very domineering. Qin Fang could sense it, it was a bit different from the time after they celebrated his birthday together.

Xing Yan didn't urge him, and didn't even take the initiative to bring these things up much, as if he could accept them maintaining their current relationship like this.

Before, he told Qin Fang not to think too much, but Qin Fang didn't go along with what he said. Qin Fang said he would decide how they would play out the next part, and Xing Yan really gave him the decision-making power.

After mulling it over and over up until now, the straight little guy didn't dare say he was ramrod straight anymore. Saying it out loud, even he felt hollow. But continuing to mull it over like this wasn't a solution either, so Qin Fang took a deep breath and sent a message over, half-straight and half-bent.

- Yan-ge, what do you think our relationship is right now?

Xing Yan, either intentionally or unintentionally, replied to Qin Fang with: Brothers

Seeing those two words, the corner of Qin Fang's eye twitched, feeling like Xing Yan was mocking him. In the beginning, he had "brother" hanging off his lips, and now he was blocked by someone using his own words against him.

Qin Fang pursed his lips and replied: Didn't you say you never considered me a brother?

Xing Yan said: That's right, but didn't you get angry? If I don't mess around with you, I can't be brothers with you?

...Gays are really annoying, Qin Fang thought. Tit for tat, how can we even talk like this.

The messy messages didn't lead to any clear result, but every word was permeated with a sour, rotten gay vibe.

Qin Fang didn't consider himself a newbie in the field of love, but he still stumbled when it came to Xing Yan. Ever since his relationship with Xing Yan started becoming convoluted, the things Qin Fang worried about had increased quite a bit.

That night, Qin Fang asked this question, but in the end, they never figured out what their relationship was. Coincidentally, the next day, Han Xiaogong asked the same question.

That day, Qin Fang didn't come. Xing Yan came by himself and read a book at the desk in Si Tu's room for the whole afternoon. Han Xiaogong was napping on the couch and only came out after waking up. Seeing him come out, Si Tu said to him: "Go eat some fruit."

Han Xiaogong was lying there scrolling through Weibo. Some comments below were begging for Qin Fang and Xing Yan to go public, clamoring to see Yan-ge.

"You guys have so many CP fans," Han Xiaogong said to Xing Yan. "It's over, before the three of us could make three different CP pairings, but now there's no business for me anymore."

Si Tu laughed: "There shouldn't have been any business for you in the first place."

"Forced pairing," Han Xiaogong said nonchalantly. "Pairing up with them, I'm not losing out. It gives me so much face."

Xing Yan didn't respond to him, he couldn't even be bothered. This kind of talk sounded too boring.

"Hey, Yan-ge." After a while, Han Xiaogong lightly kicked Xing Yan's leg, calling out to him.

Xing Yan was pinching the bridge of his nose with his eyes closed to rest. He looked over at Han Xiaogong.

Han Xiaogong asked him: "You guys got together?"

Xing Yan calmly replied: "No."

Han Xiaogong raised his eyebrows, laughing with some surprise: "I thought you guys had secretly gotten together long ago."

Xing Yan didn't say anything. Han Xiaogong asked again: "Then what exactly is your relationship?"

This question crashed into Xing Yan again. Xing Yan closed his eyes.

After reading for the whole afternoon, the pressure in his eyes was a bit high and he felt uncomfortable. When he closed his eyes and leaned back, he furrowed his brows slightly. This expression made his face take on a cold and desolate air, making people reluctant to approach him.

Xing Yan told Qin Fang they were brothers. Han Xiaogong said he thought they had gotten together long ago.

What exactly was their relationship?

Xing Yan massaged the acupoints around his eyes, thinking in his heart, no matter what relationship it is, it's one I can't bear to give up.