Chapter 37 Part 2

“Mhm.” Pei Ran looked up at the sweat on his forehead, his voice slightly drowsy. “Went for a run?”

“Ran for a bit.” Yan Zhun wanted to smooth down his hair, but when he raised his hand, he remembered his palm was sweaty and pulled it back. “I’m going to take a shower, wait for me.”

When Yan Zhun came out of the bathroom, Pei Ran was sitting in his chair, talking on the phone.

“Teacher Yun… Yes, it’s been a long time.” Pei Ran's eyes were lowered as he spoke, looking just like he did in class. “I’m doing well, how about you? … The class group chat? I look at it occasionally, but sometimes I see it late, after everyone has finished chatting, so I haven’t said much.”

Hearing the name “Teacher Yun,” Yan Zhun raised an eyebrow and silently walked over to stand in front of Pei Ran, helping him press down his sticking-up hair.

The surname “Yun” wasn't common. He remembered that the homeroom teacher Pei Ran had in his second year of high school had this surname.

If he remembered correctly, it was also this teacher who, under pressure from all sides, had "fought for" two major demerits as punishment for the student who had accidentally injured Luo Qingshan. The incident had caused a huge stir at the time, and people in other classes knew about it too.

Pei Ran let Yan Zhun fiddle with his hair, not pulling away.

After chatting for nearly ten minutes, Pei Ran finally hung up the phone.

“Are you hungry?” Yan Zhun asked.

Pei Ran said, “A little.”

“The auntie has gone back,” Yan Zhun said. “I’ll cook for you. There are noodles and dumplings in the fridge, what do you want to eat?”

Pei Ran said, “I’ll have the same as you.”

A simple sentence, yet it made Yan Zhun feel inexplicably pleased. He said, “Mhm, your boyfriend will make you an extra dish—a fried egg.”

Yan Zhun had just turned around when Pei Ran grabbed his hand.

“On the seventh of next month, I have to go to a high school class reunion,” Pei Ran said.

A high school class reunion.

That meant there would be teachers, classmates, and Luo Qingshan.

Yan Zhun lowered his eyes, only saying after a long moment, “Okay.”

Then he asked again, “Where is it?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t had time to check the group messages yet. The teacher said it's at a local hot spring hotel,” Pei Ran said. “It’s quite far, we might have to stay overnight.”

Yan Zhun gave a muffled “mhm,” his emotions unreadable.

Pei Ran waited quietly for a moment, but Yan Zhun didn’t say anything more. He quickly pressed his lips together and asked, “Are you not free?”

Yan Zhun was taken aback for a second. “What?”

“I’ll get my own room, I won’t be sharing with a classmate.” Pei Ran paused. “...I asked, we can bring family members. Of course, if you’re not free, I can go by myself too.”

-

On the day of the class reunion, the weather was gloomy, and it looked like it could rain at any moment.

The organizer was their former Class President. The meeting point was at the entrance of their alma mater, and they had rented two buses to go together.

The reunion was decided on short notice because their former homeroom teacher was about to retire and move to another province, so the turnout was quite good. Before the appointed time, more than twenty people had already gathered at the school gate.

Luo Qingshan had just arrived when he was stopped by an old classmate to chat. He forced a smile and replied briefly, then looked up and began to scan the people who had arrived.

The old classmate thought he was looking for the people he had fought with back then and quickly said, “Don’t worry, we didn’t invite those idiots.”

The three boys who had led the bullying in class back then, no one had contacted them after graduation, so naturally, no one invited them this time either.

Luo Qingshan said, “That’s good. Where’s the teacher?”

“Worried it might rain, the Class President had him and the Teacher's Wife wait on the bus.” After saying that, the old classmate looked behind him. “Didn’t Pei Ran come with you?”

“No,” Luo Qingshan paused, pulling out his phone a little awkwardly. “Otherwise, I could give him a call and ask…”

“I just called him,” the Class President said, walking up behind the two. “He said he’ll be here soon.”

Whoosh—

The rain poured down. Everyone was startled for a moment, then they all raised their backpacks to block the rain and ran towards the bus.

“The rain’s pretty heavy, let’s get on the bus and wait.”

“...You guys go on ahead.” Luo Qingshan opened his umbrella and said, “I’ll go to the station to wait for Pei Ran. I’m worried he didn’t bring an umbrella.”

“No need for that,” the Class President said. “He’s coming with his family member. Your umbrella can’t cover three people anyway.”

Luo Qingshan's footsteps faltered. “What family member? Whose family member?”

“Pei Ran’s,” the Class President said. “He specifically sent me a private message about it and even booked a separate room.”

Just as he finished speaking, someone nearby suddenly shouted, “Pei Ran’s here!”

Luo Qingshan turned around in a daze.

In the curtain of rain, Pei Ran and Yan Zhun walked side by side under a single umbrella. The gray umbrella was held a little low, hiding their eyes and making their expressions unclear. One could only tell that the two under the umbrella were very close.

Only one of them was carrying a bag.

Their luggage was packed together.