“Are you crazy?” Fan Jun kept his voice down.

“Yeah,” Zou Yang replied, his hand sliding down into Fan Jun’s pants.

“You better—” Fan Jun grabbed his wrist backhandedly, giving it a tug but failing to budge it. “Did you wash your hands?!”

Zou Yang’s movements stopped, and Fan Jun took advantage of his loosened grip to pull the hand out.

Zou Yang took a step back, pointed at him, and walked toward the door. Reaching the doorway, he pointed at him again. “Stay here. If you dare come out, I’ll thrash you.”

…Talk about a big game.

Fan Jun watched him without a word, but he didn’t walk out either.

He didn’t know what Zou Yang was trying to do.

Ten seconds later, Zou Yang returned, rubbing his hands together. Along with him came a faint scent of alcohol.

“The fuck?” Fan Jun was stunned.

“There’s a bottle of hand sanitizer on the shelf,” Zou Yang said, raising an eyebrow at him. “Whoever bought it and put it there was pretty thoughtful.”

“…Lu Ze bought it,” Fan Jun said.

“It’s better than the one my mom buys. Hers is a bit sticky.” Zou Yang hooked the door with his foot, gently pulling it shut.

He leaned in and carefully used his pinky to flick the deadbolt, locking the door.

Then he turned to look at Fan Jun. “Well? I’m pretty particular, right?”

Fan Jun honestly didn’t know how to answer, so he just murmured, “…Yeah.”

Zou Yang shook his hands dry and walked up to him.

Fan Jun watched him.

The moment Zou Yang moved, Fan Jun saw it coming. The very first second his entire body dipped down, Fan Jun instinctively raised his arm to block. At this distance, Zou Yang’s habit was to drop his shoulder and cut in.

But he miscalculated the final step.

Zou Yang’s usual habit had always been a right-shoulder cut. This time, he suddenly switched to the left, and Fan Jun failed to defend against it.

Zou Yang’s left shoulder slammed into his left ribs. The force wasn’t heavy, but his left arm was simultaneously pinned by Zou Yang. With his current stance and leverage, he couldn’t break free.

The next second, Zou Yang drove his shoulder forward, pinning him against a stack of mats by the wall.

Then, his whole body pressed flush against him.

Without any buffer, that familiar, irresistible scent that could precisely strike his nerves lingered at his lips and brushed past his ear.

Having just finished class, Zou Yang’s fingers were burning hot. The palm pressing down past his waistband held a fire.

Igniting an almost instinctive reaction within his body, Fan Jun wrapped his arms around Zou Yang’s waist, tilted his head, and kissed him.

But Zou Yang’s response was very light—just a graze of the tongue and a gentle tap on the corner of his lips.

Fan Jun could hear his own breathing growing hurried. He grabbed Zou Yang’s waistband and gave it a tug downward.

“Don’t move,” Zou Yang’s voice was low, carrying a husky, gritty texture scattered by his pants. It was incredibly sexy.

Fan Jun didn’t stop, but his wrist was suddenly seized by Zou Yang: “Did you wash your hands, Coach Fan?”

“…Fuck,” Fan Jun squeezed out through his teeth.

Zou Yang gripped his wrist and placed Fan Jun’s hand back onto his own waist.

Then, he pressed his right forearm horizontally against Fan Jun’s chest, slowly moving it up until it gently dug into the spot just below his throat.

If Fan Jun tried to move, his breathing would be choked off.

“Behave,” Zou Yang’s voice carried a slight pant.

Fan Jun didn’t move. Zou Yang stepped a half-pace forward, brushing right between his knees…

In the moment that scalding palm burned entirely through his desires, he tilted his head back slightly, leaning against the mats behind him.

…

The sounds outside the locker room gradually became clear—the thud of jumps landing on the mats, the smack of kicks against protective gear, the sound of Hou’er instructing the kids…

Fan Jun kept his eyes closed. He could feel the arm Zou Yang kept pressed beneath his throat rising and falling with his breathing.

He reached around Zou Yang’s back and gave a gentle pull. Zou Yang leaned heavily against him, exhaling a long, soft breath by his ear.

A moment later, Zou Yang finally asked in a low voice, “Do you have tissues?”

“In my pocket, I’ll get them for you,” Fan Jun said. “Just stop choking me first.”

Zou Yang chuckled and relaxed his arm, letting it slide down to hang at his side, though his body remained leaning against Fan Jun.

Fan Jun fished the tissues out of his pocket, pulled out two, and shoved them into his hand.

“Wet wipes?” Zou Yang glanced down. “Coach Fan is a man of culture.”

“Are you going to wipe or not?” Fan Jun said. “If not, you can go out just like this.”

Zou Yang clicked his tongue, lowered his head to wipe his hands, and pulled out two more to clean up.

“Are you on drugs or something?” Fan Jun also pulled out a few tissues to clean himself. “Do you even know what kind of place this is…”

“If it wasn’t here, I wouldn’t have been this excited,” Zou Yang said.

Fan Jun shot him a look.

“You finished faster than me,” Zou Yang said, tossing the tissues into the small trash can nearby.

Fan Jun immediately walked over and fished the paper back out.

The trash can was completely empty. Tossing a wad of tissues like that in there was a bit too conspicuous.

“That’s because you wouldn’t let me do it myself,” Fan Jun said. “Next time I’ll help you, and I’ll even time it for you.”

“Brother Fan!” Hou’er’s roar came from outside, followed by the door handle rattling twice.

Zou Yang jumped in fright, whipping his head around to glare at Fan Jun. “Want to say that a little louder?”

“Us hearing-impaired folks tend to speak a bit louder,” Fan Jun said, then shouted toward the door, “I’m changing clothes, what do you want?”

“Li Mao dislocated his hand!” Hou’er smacked the door again. “Come pop it back in, I’m too scared to do it.”

“Coming.” Fan Jun swept a glance over Zou Yang, walked over, and opened the door.

Li Mao only came to training for fun. This time he hadn’t shown up for a month, probably wanted to show off with some flips the moment he got back, and ended up dislocating his hand.

“You didn’t change clothes either.” Hou’er looked at him.

“My underwear,” Fan Jun replied. He grabbed the top of Hou’er’s head, turning his face toward the training area. “Let’s go.”

“Over there!” Hou’er pointed ahead and ran over. “Don’t move, Brother Fan will help you pop it back!”

Only when he walked away did Zou Yang let out a sigh of relief. He looked down at himself again before following them out.

As Fan Jun walked over, he tossed the tissues in his hand into a closed trash can in the gym.

Zou Yang clicked his tongue.

Li Mao was sitting on the mat, cradling his left arm, looking at Fan Jun with a face full of unyielding fortitude.

“I’m fine!”

“You’re fine?” Fan Jun crouched down to look at him.

“Yep!” Li Mao tilted his face up proudly.

“Alright,” Fan Jun stood up. “Then stay there.”

“Hey, hey, hey, hey… Brother Fan, Brother Fan…” Li Mao quickly stood up, calling out a frantic string of names.

Fan Jun didn’t say anything and pulled his arm over.

Li Mao squeezed his eyes shut and opened his mouth, just about to scream, when Fan Jun grabbed his upper arm with one hand and his forearm with the other, giving it a quick pull and release.

“Uh,” Li Mao opened his eyes. “It’s fixed.”

“If I catch you doing flips without warming up or having spotters again,” Fan Jun pointed at him, “I’ll dismantle your arms and legs all at once so you can hurt enough in one go.”

“Did you hear that!” Hou’er immediately echoed.

“I heard,” Li Mao mumbled.

“Get lost,” Fan Jun turned around. “Go run laps, eat after you’re done.”

Watching Fan Jun walk toward him, Zou Yang couldn’t help but curl the corners of his lips.

“What?” Fan Jun glanced at him. “Let’s go eat.”

“Nothing.” Zou Yang walked outside with him.

“Did you dislocate something?” Fan Jun said.

“My wrist, I think,” Zou Yang’s voice was low. “Must have worn it out just now.”

Fan Jun chuckled and gently squeezed his wrist. “It’s popped back.”

---

Mom took burning incense and praying for safety very seriously. She didn’t use to be very superstitious, but ever since the accident last year, she would occasionally go to the nearby temple to pray. However, she didn’t let Zou Yang go to that one.

“This is just for everyday prayers,” Mom said. “You need to go to that one… Old Lu, send him a pin to the one we went to last time.”

“You mean…” Uncle Lu looked at Fan Jun, “the one halfway up the mountain.”

“Oh.” Fan Jun nodded.

“You know it?” Zou Yang asked.

“Yeah, I’ll go with you,” Fan Jun said. “It’s not far.”

“Do we have to climb a mountain?” Zou Yang asked again.

“We have to climb a bit,” Fan Jun said. “But it’s not very high, and the scenery is nice.”

“You call this ‘not very high’?” Zou Yang stood by the railing, looking down at the massive expanse of green in the valley below, gleaming white under the scorching sun.

“Is it high?” Fan Jun asked.

“We’ve been climbing for half an hour and we’re still not there.” Zou Yang pulled a bottle from his side pocket, tilted his head, and gulped down two mouthfuls. “I’m almost out of water.”

“They sell water up top,” Fan Jun said. “Weren’t you guys in your dorm planning to go mountain climbing during the holidays anyway?”

“Did you see me participate?” Zou Yang clicked his tongue. “Plus, they didn’t climb to the top either, and the top isn’t even this high. They were climbing some mountain north of our school.”

“Do you want me to carry you up on my back?” Fan Jun asked.

“…It’s not that I can’t climb, I’m just sick of climbing. Plus, it’s hot.” Zou Yang sighed, turned around, and continued up the steps. “Mountains without paths are one thing, but climbing up stairs like this is just torture…”

“We’re almost there. Probably another ten minutes or so, assuming you don’t stop to bleat like a sheep,” Fan Jun said.

Zou Yang laughed when he heard that, turning his head to glance at him. “Why are you so cute?”

“Aren’t you?” Fan Jun smiled.

Coming around the bend ahead, they entered the shaded side of the mountain. Zou Yang felt his entire body relax. With the breeze blowing, his irritation vanished in an instant.

Now he was back to the pleasant feeling he had when he first started climbing the mountain in the summer with Fan Jun.

He glanced down and noticed a large, neat cluster of buildings on this side of the mountain. Well, not quite buildings—they were much smaller than normal structures.

“What is that place?” he asked.

“A cemetery,” Fan Jun said.

“…Ah.” Zou Yang paused. “It’s here, huh.”

“Yeah,” Fan Jun nodded.

After rounding two more bends, the crowd around them started to grow, and they could smell the scent of incense.

“We’re here.” Fan Jun pointed to a signpost up ahead.

After climbing another flight of stairs, they saw the main hall built on a large clearing halfway up the mountain.

“Let’s buy a bottle of water first, I’m thirsty.” Zou Yang spotted a small kiosk nearby.

“I want to eat a hotdog,” Fan Jun said.

“Are you kidding me?” Zou Yang turned to look at him. “Didn’t we just have breakfast an hour ago?”

“It’s been almost two hours.” Fan Jun checked his phone. “I’ve been eating really clean lately. An occasional hotdog won’t hurt.”

“Is that so?” Zou Yang asked.

“Isn’t it?” Fan Jun looked at him.

Zou Yang swept a glance over Fan Jun’s stomach. Instantly, his palm seemed to recall the sensation of Fan Jun’s abs. He cleared his throat. “It is.”

“So I’m going to eat a hotdog,” Fan Jun said.

“Eat, my treat,” Zou Yang said.

“Then I’ll eat two,” Fan Jun said.

“Hey now,” Zou Yang laughed. “How can you be like this?”

“Those hotdogs are very small,” Fan Jun pointed out.

“Boss, two hotdogs,” Zou Yang said. “And two bottles of water.”

The two stood outside the main hall, leaning against the railing, gazing at the lush greenery filling their vision.

“It’s quite comfortable.” Zou Yang stretched lazily and closed his eyes.

“Mhm.” Fan Jun ate his hotdog.

“Going down the mountain later is going to be a hassle,” Zou Yang sighed.

“I think there’s a cable car,” Fan Jun said.

“What?” Zou Yang was stunned. “Why didn’t you say so when we were coming up?”

“I didn’t know when we were coming up.” Fan Jun pointed to a small path next to the kiosk. “There seems to be a sign over there pointing to a cable car.”

“Holy shit!” Zou Yang shoved his bottle into his pocket and strode right over.

There was indeed a cable car heading to the mountaintop, with a stop right there in the middle.

“Aren’t you a local?” Fan Jun asked.

“Aren’t you?” Zou Yang looked at him.

“I’m from Nanzhouping,” Fan Jun smiled.

For some inexplicable reason, this answer made Zou Yang’s heart twinge. He raised his hand and gently hooked Fan Jun’s chin. “We’ll take the cable car down later.”

“Okay,” Fan Jun nodded.

Neither of them had ever burned incense before and didn’t know the proper procedures, but they ran into a very enthusiastic ‘auntie’.

“You two just follow me,” the auntie said.

“Thank you, sis,” Fan Jun said.

They followed the auntie, entering the halls one by one. Under her guidance, they bowed to this deity and that one. After making a full round, they went to the incense burner, lit their incense, and placed it inside.

“Did you pray for anything?” Zou Yang asked.

“Yeah, that everyone stays safe and sound,” Fan Jun said.

“…Me too,” Zou Yang said. “Do you think our wish is too mainstream? A lot of people probably pray for the same thing.”

“Maybe it makes it easier for the Bodhisattvas to process them assembly-line style. The areas with the most business are usually the ones they’re most familiar with,” Fan Jun said.

Zou Yang paused, then couldn’t hold back a laugh.

“Let’s go, time for the cable car,” Fan Jun said.

“Have you ever taken one?” Zou Yang asked.

“No,” Fan Jun said. “I’ve never even seen one with my own eyes.”

Zou Yang didn’t speak. He took out his phone, opened the video recorder, and filmed as he walked behind Fan Jun.

There weren’t too many people at the cable car station, just a line of a dozen or so. They joined the queue and it was their turn before long.

Fan Jun kept watching the people ahead of them getting on the cable cars.

Zou Yang zoomed in and captured a close-up of his side profile. He looked incredibly handsome.

Fan Jun tilted his head to look at him and whispered, “This thing doesn’t stop.”

“Yeah,” Zou Yang smiled.

“Don’t… hold it so high,” Fan Jun pressed down on the hand holding the phone. “The people behind us are looking at your screen.”

“Oh,” Zou Yang murmured. Waiting in line the whole way, zooming in and out on Fan Jun’s face… he felt a bit too embarrassed to turn around.

The cable car was a two-seater—just a suspended chair with a safety bar across the front.

It was a bit sunny, but the view was much better than the enclosed ones.

“You’re not afraid of heights, are you?” Zou Yang asked.

“I’m not afraid as long as it isn’t plunging straight down,” Fan Jun said.

“Like a roller coaster?” Zou Yang laughed.

“Yeah, scrambled my guts.” Fan Jun frowned. “That’s when I should have realized you were a pervert.”

“Do you like perverts?” Zou Yang asked immediately, aiming the phone at him.

“I do,” Fan Jun said.

“Do you like all perverts?” Zou Yang pressed.

“I’m not crazy,” Fan Jun said. “I only like you, you pervert.”

“Mhm.” Zou Yang nodded.

The cable car’s drop-off point wasn’t in the same location as the path they took up the mountain. Walking out, they hit a fork in the road; the other path led to the cemetery.

Fan Jun glanced at Zou Yang, who was using his phone’s navigation to see which way was faster to the parking lot.

“Are you tired?” he asked.

“Not tired.” Zou Yang looked at his phone. “It was just during the climb up, I recovered ages ago.”

“Then…” Fan Jun hesitated, unsure whether he should speak.

“What is it?” Zou Yang put his phone back in his pocket and looked at him.

Fan Jun stayed silent for a moment before saying, “That path leads to the cemetery.”

“Yeah.” Zou Yang glanced over. “The one we just saw from the mountain, right?”

“Yes,” Fan Jun nodded.

Zou Yang didn’t say anything, just looked at him.

“My mother,” Fan Jun said, “is over there. Do you want to…”

“Okay,” Zou Yang agreed before he could even finish.

Fan Jun paused.

“I wanted to ask you before if you wanted to go together next time, but I never dared to,” Zou Yang said. “I was afraid… I just didn’t know what you would think about it.”

“I’ve only ever gone that one time…” Fan Jun said softly. “I got pretty busy after that, so I didn’t go again.”

“Yeah.” Zou Yang didn’t care that they were standing right at a crossroad with people constantly coming off the cable car beside them. He pulled Fan Jun into a hug, patting him gently on the back.

“I should have told you yesterday,” Fan Jun’s voice murmured by his ear. “But I didn’t know how to say it.”

“Have you figured out how to say it now?” Zou Yang asked.

“Zou Yang,” Fan Jun called his name.

“Hmm?” Zou Yang responded.

“Accompany me… to go see my mom, okay?” Fan Jun asked.

“Okay,” Zou Yang nodded.