Pei Ran stood by the window for a long time. The window was closed, but he could still hear those sounds.

It wasn't until he turned on the bathroom light and looked in the mirror that he realized his face and ears were red.

He washed his face, pressed the back of his hand against his cheek, and left the bathroom, picking up his phone again.

Pei Ran had received many confessions. His first love letter was in elementary school, from a fifth-grade girl with a ponytail, whose smile was as refreshing as lemon. She had blushed as she shoved the love letter into his hand, telling him to read it only when he got home.

He hadn't even blinked back then, politely pushing the letter back and saying, "Sorry, thank you."

Luo Qingshan had also received his "sorry".

He took a sip of water, thinking to himself that he was probably acting this way because he'd been startled.

Why would Yan Zhun like him? They had no interactions before this break, no intimate contact, and hadn't even exchanged any unnecessary words.

Pei Ran unlocked his phone; the screen was still on his conversation with Yan Zhun.

In the darkness, the phone vibrated again, making Pei Ran's palm tingle slightly.

[Yan Zhun: I'm just explaining, not confessing. No need to rush your answer.]

"..." Pei Ran was stunned for a moment.

'So this doesn't count as a confession?'

His rejection seemed to be stuck in his throat, unable to come up or go down.

[Yan Zhun: But from now on, I won't be calling you boss anymore.]

The rain gradually subsided. Yan Zhun leaned against the balcony, enjoying the breeze. After sending that message, he finally went back to check his message notifications, which were already full.

It was that group from before, clamoring for him to get online and continue killing people.

Before Yan Zhun could reply, an eager voice call popped up. Yan Zhun hung up once, but they called again. In the end, he had to answer with a frown.

"Bro, what are you doing? Why'd you hang up on me?" Lin Xuhuan asked.

"Busy."

"What could you be busy with this late at night?"

"Waiting for a message."

Lin Xuhuan paused, "Huh?"

Yan Zhun couldn't be bothered to explain. "What'd you call for?"

"To get online and keep playing, of course. Old He and the others are all up, just waiting for you." A rough male voice could be heard in the background, mumbling Yan Zhun's name.

Yan Zhun said, "I'm a student. I have school tomorrow."

"Hah, Old He said you should skip class and come to the Base to play for a couple of days."

"Not skipping. Hanging up."

Lin Xuhuan stopped him. "Hey, let's chat a bit more. The people in my stream all want to hear your voice, don't be in such a rush to hang up."

"In a rush," Yan Zhun said.

"A rush for what?"

Yan Zhun gripped his phone, his voice mixing with the wind. "In a rush to find you a sister-in-law."

The other end of the line was quiet for a few seconds.

"?," Lin Xuhuan said. "Holy crap! For real?! You can actually like women?"

Yan Zhun's tone was flat. "I like men."

"Hahaha," thinking Yan Zhun was joking with him, Lin Xuhuan burst out laughing. "Just kidding, just kidding, I didn't mean anything by it. I thought you were going to be single for life... Which guy is so awesome that he managed to catch your esteemed eye?"

"He is very awesome," Yan Zhun said, "Anything else?"

Lin Xuhuan finally got the hint. "Are you waiting to call your sister-in-law?"

"It's not a done deal yet, don't call him that randomly." Yan Zhun gazed at the moon and said, "I'm waiting for him to message me back."

Unfortunately, even after the call ended, he still hadn't received a new message.

Yan Zhun figured he probably wouldn't get a reply tonight. He closed the balcony window and tossed his phone onto the pillow, preparing to sleep.

After staring at the ceiling for who knows how long, his phone screen suddenly lit up.

[Pei Ran: Okay]

Forty minutes had passed since the last message.

The corner of Yan Zhun's mouth twitched up. Fighting off sleepiness, he opened the keyboard and randomly typed a few words.

[Yan Zhun: Go to sleep, Pei Ran]

-

The next day, Pei Ran refused the chauffeur's ride and took the bus back to school himself.

When Pei Ran arrived at the dorm, his roommate had just finished a game. He took off his headphones and asked Pei Ran, "You didn't check the class group chat?"

Pei Ran looked down, organizing his luggage. "No, what's up?"

"It's about the sports meet. There aren't many boys in our class, so the counselor is making all of us sign up. They're registering now." The roommate asked, "What do you want to sign up for? I think you should just do the 100-meter. Placement doesn't matter, as long as we can finish the race."

Pei Ran thought for a moment. "The 3000-meter race."

The roommate said "oh" and calmly replied to his girlfriend's message. A few seconds later, he turned his head in shock. "Huh?"

It was no wonder his roommate had such a big reaction. Although Pei Ran was tall, his overall impression was rather thin and weak. The roommate had once suspected he was even skinnier than the girls in their class.

However, Pei Ran had never taken off his clothes in front of him, even taking a change of clothes into the shower with him, so he could only get a rough idea.

Pei Ran signed up under his roommate's doubtful gaze. He looked up, met his roommate's eyes, and said with a helpless laugh, "I can really finish it, don't worry."

Just as he finished packing his luggage, he received a message from Lin Kang, asking if he wanted to have lunch together.

Remembering he had said he would treat him, Pei Ran agreed readily. The two arranged to meet at a western restaurant near the school.

"I was going to ask you to come back to school with me today, but I didn't realize how late it was until after my game." Lin Kang took a sip of lemonade and asked in a low voice, "Isn't this place a bit too expensive? Why don't we go for malatang instead? I'm not a picky eater."

Pei Ran: "It's fine, I have a membership, I can get a discount."

So, people who ride in a Maybach also use discounts.

So down-to-earth. Lin Kang felt that the distance between him and Pei Ran had shortened a little more.

As they were chatting, Lin Kang suddenly received a call from Luo Qingshan. He glanced at Pei Ran awkwardly, but the other person was looking down at the menu, his eyelashes lowered, completely unaffected.

After hanging up, Lin Kang cleared his throat. "He asked me where the basketball was."

Pei Ran nodded, looking up from the menu. "Should we get a set meal?"

Lin Kang quickly said yes.