CH 14

“Rest well.” I draw back my hand, turning a deaf ear to his words, and simply leave a hasty reply before leaving the scene as though making a run for it.

I can feel Shang Muxiao’s eyes following me, wrapping around me and clinging to the nape of my neck. I am just looking ahead the whole time, putting up with that deep gaze of his until finally we are barred by the bedroom door.

I lock the door and gently rub my thumb over the hot skin on my wrist, the warmth belonging to Shang Muxiao still lingers on it, distinct and indelible.

I slowly clench my hand, compressing the wound that lies beneath the gauze, a continuous stinging pain arising in my palm, my senses quickly overpowering the distracting warmth.

–

The next morning, I wake up feeling listless. Shang Muxiao is still asleep when I leave the apartment.

The rain stops in the wee hours of the night, but the weather is still inclement; there are still waterlogged remains to be seen on the ground and the air is cold and clammy.

The late autumn rains are the harbingers of winter. Every time they fall, it signifies that winter is getting closer.

Shang Muxiao should be gone by the time I return home later.

–

I mop up today’s morning class thanks to Yu Xixi’s Americano, though the caffeine loses its effectiveness by the afternoon. For the first time in all my years of teaching, I space out in the middle of class.

Shang Muxiao’s voice echoes unpredictably in my head, repeating the words he said to me last night.

“Bei Jie, be my gem…”

How can such words be spoken so naturally? Is a ‘gem’ something or someone that anyone can be and want to be?

“…shi?”

“Laoshi!”

I come back to my senses and see the students all looking puzzled, puzzled as to why I space out in such a situation. I try to pick up where I left off as if nothing has happened, but I have lost track of where I was already.

“Let’s have a ten-minute break.” I turn off my portable mic, and head to the side of the podium, unscrewing my thermal mug and taking a big sip of black coffee, the bitter taste running from my tongue to my throat, down to my stomach. I do not know if it is a psychological reaction, but in a matter of moments, my mind actually feels less foggy.

“Bei-ge, are you okay?” Yu Xixi worriedly runs up to me and sees my cup of coffee already reaching the bottom, and she frowns. “You have drunk a lot of coffee today, did you not sleep well last night? You do not usually drink this stuff.”

“I’m okay. Yes, I didn’t sleep well last night.” I rub my temples and close my eyes to mellow myself out, not saying more.

Yu Xixi might be thinking of something good, but it is hard for me to think of how indeed ‘good’ my weekend has been.

“Shang Lu’s son has been absent lately.” Yu Xixi says with a tone of sadness.

I open my eyes and sweep my gaze silently in her direction.

Yu Xixi, seemingly realising something, turns her head, sees me looking at her, and immediately blushes. “What, people love looking at handsome men no…… And he is about the same age as the other celebrity’s children. He has the ideal height and the ideal face. Many people expect him to follow in Shang Lu’s footsteps in the entertainment industry.”

I do not want to talk about Shang Muxiao right now, so I barely express my opinion, and give a simple ‘oh’. However, Yu Xixi seems to have misunderstood that ‘oh’ to mean that I am querying her for more, as if she really has to explain it all to me.

“No, really, a lot of people are optimistic about him. He has this really popular photo from two years ago, and nowadays, every so often, marketing websites still use it to attract attention.” Yu Xixi pulls out her phone and looks for something. “Here, this is that photo.”

She hands me her phone and I take it, instantly catching sight of a pair of familiar yet unfamiliar eyes in the photo.

It is of a black and white filter, in an open-air setting, where the corner in the background is blurred with string lights and outdoor umbrellas. The light and shade are just right, giving the stern-looking young man in the photo a youthfulness.

He is wearing a pastel-coloured woollen sweater and his hair is cut rather neatly, perfectly showing the contours of his superior visage. He probably senses that he is being spied on and glances casually toward the camera, thus letting the photographer capture a candid shot. His expression remains natural and casual, yet there is a cold, chilling look in his eyes.

“This kind of HD close-up photo is taken so well, the quality is perfect, is it not? I remember when this photo first surfaced, many people thought that this was a pathfinder for Shang Muxiao to venture into the entertainment industry, but consequently waited for two years with no news, except for this photo and only this photo.” Yu Xixi shakes her head as she adds, “If he really had the intention to pursue a career in the entertainment industry, he would have gone to a drama school a long time ago, rather than wasting all his time and energy on our school taking up finance. The saying is true that a son follows his father’s footsteps, but in Shang Muxiao’s case, he is definitely going to inherit the family business, instead of acting. Anyway, with this, his persona as a swotter has been completely upheld, and his popularity with the public is even higher.”

How can a true ‘swotter’ let himself fail a subject.

I give no comment on Yu Xixi’s exaggerated account, and as I return her phone, I accidentally tap somewhere and the screen returns to the ‘Album’ feed, revealing photos other than this one of Shang Muxiao.

These other photos are still of Shang Muxiao.

There are about twenty or thirty photos in the entire album, from different angles at different times, and it is evident that they were taken secretly during class.

I look at Yu Xixi without saying a word.

She quickly grabs back her phone, looking embarrassed as she explains, “It is not like that. I have two friends who really like him, I merely took photos of him on their behalf.”

I nod. “Oh.”

“…”

Yu Xixi looks as if she is about to go berserk. “It is not like that, really. Bei-ge, believe me. I really do have these two friends! They are the ones who forced me to do it, I didn’t want to! Believe me!”

–

After work, I am about to start the car when my phone vibrates as a message from Shen Luoyu arrives, asking where I am.

[On my way home.]

I then start the car and exit the school. A short while later my phone vibrates again and I assume it is Shen Luoyu replying to the message.

I leave it unread, intending to reply when I get home. But it is not long before the phone rings as an incoming call comes.

Of course I assume it is Shen Luoyu who is calling because she cannot wait for my reply, so I readily turn on the Bluetooth speaker of the car.

“When will you be home.”

As the low, raspy voice rings out from the speaker, I uncontrollably veer the steering wheel about ten centimetres to the right, which I quickly square back into the right direction.

With my heart pounding, I glance at the number on the smart screen, and see that it indeed is Shang Muxiao.

“Have you not left yet?”

He then replies in a weak voice, “I slept all day. I feel so drained I do not feel like eating. That medicine you gave me didn’t work, I still seem to have a fever.”

Hearing this, I frown and say, “I hung your clothes out on the balcony, go check if they’re dry, and change if they are. I’ll be home soon…”

“You’re kicking me out?” His spoiled, childish voice from a moment ago abruptly changes, and the mood plummets.

I pause and keep thinking to myself that he is a patient and I need to be understanding. Building up my mind, I patiently explain to him, “Since the medicine does not work, you need to at least go to the hospital to get treated.”

There is silence on the other end, only the sound of light breathing can be heard.

I wait for some time for his reply, and fearing that he might have suddenly fainted, I call out to him with a hint of urgency, “Shang Muxiao?”

“Mhn.” He quickly responds, “I will wait for you to get home then.”

–

I get home faster than usual, and as I enter the elevator, I suddenly remember that I have yet to reply to Shen Luoyu’s message, so I take out my phone and read it, and then I feel my brain buzz.

[I have something to deliver to you. Take your time, drive slowly. I’ll just head straight inside your home when I get there first. Let’s eat together for dinner.]

Shen Luoyu has the password to the door lock of my apartment, and sometimes when she comes to deliver something to me, if I am not there, she will just put it inside before leaving.

The elevator doors slowly open. My apartment is already right in front of me, but I do not have the courage to open the door.

I try to recall if I have seen Shen Luoyu’s car in the parking garage, but nothing comes to my mind.

I just hope she’s not as fast to arrive as me…

I press my finger on the fingerprint lock and the door opens with a female voice saying ‘opening.’

The door opens a little, and two figures standing in the living room look over.

In the end, I am still not faster than Shen Luoyu.

But why I am afraid of her seeing Shang Muxiao, I am not sure myself.

Shang Muxiao and I are innocent in every sense of the word, and normally when people see a single man with another young man of the same sex in his home, they do not readily think of it in terms other than that of relatives or friends.

I only let the other party stay the night, not sleep with him, so what is there to be guilty about?

“Uh, I am not aware that you have a guest here.” Shen Luoyu raises the bag in her hand and says, “A friend gave my mother a chunk of bacon and she asked me to bring some to you. This guy here is…”

She appears to have just arrived as well, as she has yet to even put down the stuff she brought.

Shang Muxiao and I exchange a glance and speak almost simultaneously.

“He’s my friend.”

“I’m his student.”

I groan inwardly, not wanting to look at Shen Luoyu’s expression. At the same time, I feel grateful that Shang Muxiao has already changed back into his own clothes, otherwise things would be even more unexplainable.

“You go first, wait for me in the parking garage,” I say to Shang Muxiao.

I do not know whether it is because he is sick or because there is a third person present, he is unusually amenable at the moment. He nods his head modestly and without saying a word heads out.

The door closes again and the next second, Shen Luoyu raises her voice slightly in surprise as she says, “Student?”

“He’s younger, yes, but we’re friends.”

Shen Luoyu looks somewhat puzzled.

I lock eyes with her for a moment and add, “He’s Yang Haiyang’s girlfriend’s brother, who happens to be a student at our school.”

Shen Luoyu knows Yang Haiyang too, just not that personally, so she is not aware of the other party’s love life.

“I see. I was like, how come you’ve suddenly got such an atypical friend.” She seems to be accepting of this.

She takes the bag to the kitchen and stuffs the meat in the fridge for me.

I tell her that there is something I have to go to with Shang Muxiao, and I might not be able to join her for dinner. She waves her hand, not at all minding, and just accepts that it is Shang Muxiao who first made an appointment with me.

“Just take care of yourself. Let me just use your kitchen, I will leave once I have dined.”

I feel a little ashamed, and say, “Okay. I will treat you to dinner next time.”

–

I go down to the parking garage and as soon as I exit the elevator, I start looking for Shang Muxiao, but I scan around and see him nowhere.

When I finally make it to the car, I see him crouching with his back against the car door, hands in his jacket, and his eyes closed, probably still feeling unwell.

At the sound of the wheelchair, his eyelashes flutter and his eyelids lift, and when he sees that it is me, a dazzling smile gradually spreads across his face. The corners of his mouth move his facial muscles, the ends of his eyes are drawn up in a slight curve, and with just this expression, his previously unapproachable demeanour takes on a radical change.

In an instant, it is as if he has gone from being an untamable wild dog to a domestic dog that does bend to your every whim, not only circling around your feet, but also showing you its soft belly.

“Laoshi,” he utters this word briskly and sweetly.

“Do you regard me as your friend?”