The kitchen was still quite lively, with the hum of the range hood, the stew bubbling on the stove, and white steam continuously rising from the pot before being drawn upwards.

Fan Jun stood in front of the stove for a moment, lifted the lid to check how the vegetables in the pot were doing.

Before he could even see clearly inside, his fingers were nearly burned by the solid cast-iron lid, almost making him curse.

So as not to startle Zou Yang, who was still zoning out in the living room, he quickly tossed the lid onto a nearby dish towel, and rapidly plunged his hand into the leftover ice cubes from earlier.

It probably needed to simmer for another ten minutes; the tofu wasn’t quite ready yet.

He grabbed a pair of oven mitts and placed the lid back on the pot.

Resting his hands on the counter, he stared blankly out the window.

It was just past noon, and the sun was somewhat glaring.

Everything around was very quiet, and it was very quiet outside the window too.

The quietness wasn’t something he heard; it was something he felt.

It was so quiet that he felt as if he could still hear Zou Yang’s breath brushing against his face from earlier.

Not knowing how long he had been staring out the window, Fan Jun opened the lid and checked again.

It should be done. He turned off the heat.

Just as he was about to bring the pot of stew out, the kitchen door was pushed open by Zou Yang: “Hey.”

“Hmm?” Fan Jun turned his head and realized that Zou Yang was leaning against the door frame, standing on both feet again. He frowned. “Do you not want your leg anymore?”

“It doesn’t matter,” Zou Yang lifted his left leg again, looked down, and thought for two seconds. “I wanted to say, earlier, sorr—”

“No need,” Fan Jun quickly interrupted him. “It’s fine, no need.”

Zou Yang paused, hesitated a moment, and spoke again: “I was just afraid of scaring…”

“You wouldn’t.” Fan Jun interrupted him once more.

Zou Yang fell silent.

“I’ll be twenty-four tomorrow, kid,” Fan Jun said. “I wouldn’t be scared.”

“…Mm.” Zou Yang replied.

“Go wait,” Fan Jun said. “It’s almost ready.”

Zou Yang turned and hopped back to the living room.

Fan Jun leaned against the counter and exhaled softly.

---

“Big Blackie,” Zou Yang leaned against the sofa and waved at Da Hei. “Come here, let big brother give you a hug.”

Da Hei yawned, scratched the sofa a couple of times with its claws, and completely ignored him.

Zou Yang clicked his tongue and took out his phone.

His phone had pinged earlier, but his mind had been in such a mess that he hadn’t even checked who it was.

Oh, it was Liu Wenrui.

Then it was fine not to look.

Liu Wenrui had sent a picture of the basketball court. They had been on holiday for two days, and the court was already completely empty.

After celebrating Fan Jun’s birthday, Li Zhiyue and Zhang Chuanlong would probably be heading home soon too.

Zou Yang lifted his left leg, took a picture, and sent it to Liu Wenrui.

[Respect]: You come keep score, and fetch the ball while you’re at it.
[Zou yang]: Scram.
[Respect]: Sounds like you’re not coming then.
[Respect]: So are you coming back tonight?

Looking at this message, Zou Yang suddenly felt a strange twinge of guilt.

He quickly turned off the screen and tossed the phone onto the sofa.

He picked up his glass, tilted his head back, and finished the last sip of his lemonade.

When he had opened the door and seen Fan Jun standing in the dark by the window holding a baton, Zou Yang’s first reaction was that he wouldn’t go back today. He didn’t understand these things, but his intuition told him that Fan Jun’s state of mind needed to be broken.

But…

Things had changed now.

Before ‘Respect’ asked him, he hadn’t even started thinking about it. Now that he was asked, he suddenly felt a bit lost.

What should he do?

His phone pinged again.

Although Zou Yang didn’t want to look, at that moment, Fan Jun came out carrying the pot. Zou Yang immediately reached back and grabbed his phone.

As he unlocked it, he asked, “Time to eat?”

“Yeah,” Fan Jun placed the pot on the small table. “This pot is extremely hot. Don’t touch it, just sit there.”

“Oh.” Zou Yang replied.

[Respect]: Something’s not right.

Zou Yang’s heart skipped a beat.

[Respect]: Zou Yang, you’re not right.

Shit.

Zou Yang felt a cold sweat breaking out for no reason.

Fan Jun went back to the kitchen, brought out bowls and chopsticks, and then took the lid off the pot.

The aroma of the stew had been wafting through the living room the whole time, but the moment the lid came off, Zou Yang still couldn’t help taking a deep breath: “Smells so good.”

“The staple is just glass noodles,” Fan Jun sat down next to him. “Taste it and see if the seasoning is right.”

“Mm.” Zou Yang quickly filled a bowl. For some reason, even though it was a normal mealtime, he felt hungrier than usual.

He lowered his head and took a bite. It was very hot, so he stopped to blow on it.

He felt Fan Jun looking at him, seemingly waiting for his review of the dish, but he didn’t look up.

Fumbling with both his chopsticks and his mouth, he finally managed to eat a piece of meat and a few cabbage leaves. If his dad had been there, he would have gotten a scolding for eating so messily and without manners.

“It’s perfect,” Zou Yang nodded.

“What?” Fan Jun asked.

“Didn’t you ask me to taste if the seasoning was right?” Zou Yang looked at him.

“Oh,” Fan Jun paused for a moment. “I already tasted it for seasoning before I brought it out.”

“Then why did you ask me?” Zou Yang was also stunned. “Made me rush for nothing.”

“That was just… part of the procedure,” Fan Jun said. “Isn’t that what people usually say? ‘Taste it and see if the seasoning is right.'”

“No,” Zou Yang couldn’t help but laugh. He leaned back against the sofa and looked at him. “Transferring to a human agent.”

Fan Jun smiled too: “Agent 003 at your service.”

“Is this also what your mom…” Halfway through, Zou Yang suddenly couldn’t bring himself to smile anymore.

The few dishes Fan Jun knew how to cook were taught to him by his mother. This “procedure”… was probably also a fixed phrase his mother used when she cooked.

“Mm.” Fan Jun nodded.

“She used to always say that too, right?” Zou Yang lowered his head and took a bite of tofu. It had absorbed the flavor quite well.

“Yeah.” Fan Jun replied.

Zou Yang didn’t say anything else, and the two of them ate in silence.

It was too quiet. You could even hear the sound of Da Hei grooming itself on the sofa.

It was uncomfortably quiet.

“Fan Jun.” Zou Yang put down his bowl and turned to look at him.

Fan Jun didn’t speak, but he put his bowl down as well.

“I wanted to say… I,” Zou Yang suddenly started stuttering, as if his mouth had been possessed by Zhang Chuanlong. “I today…”

He had to pause for a few seconds.

Just put it all out there. What’s the point of mincing words?

“I was just worried about you today, so I came over to check on you,” Zou Yang took off his glasses. Sometimes, a slightly blurred vision felt like an extra layer of armor. Suddenly, he stopped stuttering. “I originally didn’t have any other intentions, but I don’t know what came over me…”

“I know,” Fan Jun said.

“I don’t want you to think I’m taking advantage of…” Zou Yang said.

“Zou Yang,” Fan Jun smiled faintly. “I grew up in Nanzhouping, not in a vacuum.”

“What does that mean?” Zou Yang looked at him, not quite understanding.

“I’m not a kid who doesn’t understand anything,” Fan Jun said.

Zou Yang’s heartbeat accelerated wildly, almost leaping out of his throat.

“I went to No. 21 Middle School for both junior and senior high,” Fan Jun’s pace was steady. “A lot of my classmates, during those years of school, mixed and matched so much that it felt like they wanted to use up a lifetime’s worth of romance. They thought about everything except studying. Besides what was in the textbooks, they knew everything they should and shouldn’t know.”

Zou Yang just kept looking at him, truly at a loss for words for the moment.

“So…” Fan Jun said.

“Mm.” Zou Yang replied.

“Let’s eat,” Fan Jun said.

“Mm.” Zou Yang picked up his bowl again.

It was very wise of Fan Jun’s mother to teach him how to make this stew. It felt like a dish that would taste good no matter how it was made.

Zou Yang ate with great relish, feeling a bit of sweat breaking out on the tip of his nose.

Fan Jun grabbed the remote and turned on the air conditioning.

Perhaps because he had “put it all out there,” perhaps because of what Fan Jun had said, or perhaps just because he was hungry.

Although Zou Yang’s mind was still in turmoil, and although they continued to eat in silence, that awkward, at-a-loss feeling slowly dissipated quite a bit.

Before they even realized it, the whole pot of stew was gone.

Fan Jun gathered the pot, bowls, and chopsticks to wash them.

After the small table was taken away, Zou Yang stretched his legs out, leaned back comfortably against the sofa, and closed his eyes.

Being full made him a bit drowsy, and when someone gets drowsy, they get groggy. And when they get groggy…

Fan Jun’s lips flashed before his eyes.

And Fan Jun’s breath sweeping through his own…

I’m not a kid who doesn’t understand anything.

Zou Yang’s eyes snapped open.

Da Hei was standing right by the top of his head, leaning down and sniffing his face.

“What are you sniffing at? Move aside.” Zou Yang was a bit speechless. He scooped it up by the belly and tossed it onto a sofa cushion.

When Fan Jun returned to the living room, Zou Yang was still leaning back against the sofa with his eyes closed, unmoving.

“Do you want to… sleep for a bit?” Fan Jun asked, standing next to him.

“No need,” Zou Yang opened his eyes, and upon seeing Fan Jun looking down, quickly closed them again. “I think you should get some sleep.”

“Mm.” Fan Jun replied.

“Then go sleep,” Zou Yang said.

“I’ll… sleep on the sofa,” Fan Jun said somewhat hesitantly.

“Huh?” Zou Yang was taken aback. He opened his eyes, sat up straight, and looked back at the sofa. “Why not sleep in your room?”

Fan Jun was silent for a moment before answering softly: “I don’t feel at ease.”

“Then you take the sofa.” Zou Yang pressed against the sofa to stand up.

“You don’t need to move, it won’t be in the way,” Fan Jun quickly pressed down on his shoulder. “If you want to sleep… you can go to my room…”

“No need, I’m not in the habit of taking afternoon naps,” Zou Yang said.

Fan Jun didn’t say anything else. After a pause, he walked over and sat on the sofa. First, he lay down towards one end of the sofa, then sat up, lay down towards the other end, and sat up again.

“Are you digesting your food or something?” Zou Yang said.

Only when he looked back did he understand why Fan Jun was doing sit-ups here.

If he slept facing that way, his head would be right by Zou Yang’s feet, which he probably thought was impolite. But if he slept facing this way, their heads would basically be touching…

So Zou Yang quickly scooted towards the middle of the sofa: “Go to sleep.”

Fan Jun picked Da Hei up off the sofa and placed it on his lap: “Should I… turn off the light?”

“Mm.” Zou Yang nodded.

Fan Jun turned off the living room light. Everything was instantly plunged into pitch black, before faint outlines slowly began to emerge.

After hesitating for a moment while sitting on the sofa, Fan Jun lay down on his side.

Where Zou Yang was sitting was roughly at Fan Jun’s chest level. When Fan Jun lay down, he could clearly smell that faint scent of green grass on him.

They had just finished eating, yet he didn’t smell like pork and cabbage stew with glass noodles.

The room was very quiet. This time, he could distinctly hear both of their breathing, as well as the purring sound of Da Hei making biscuits.

“Are these curtains of yours,” Zou Yang gently scratched the back of Da Hei’s neck, “made of steel plates? The blackout effect is so good.”

“This spot gets the western sun in the summer,” Fan Jun’s voice drifted up from behind his left ear, carrying the slight hoarseness of someone who hadn’t rested well. “If I didn’t use curtains like this, the room would be unbearable.”

“Oh,” Zou Yang replied.

“If I fall asleep later, I might…” Fan Jun said, “…sleep for a long time. If you…”

“Don’t worry about me, you just sleep,” Zou Yang said.

“Mm.” Fan Jun smiled faintly.

“Why can’t you sleep at ease in the bed?” Zou Yang asked.

“It’s too formal,” Fan Jun said.

Zou Yang sighed very softly and didn’t press the matter further.

In the darkness, the faint grassy scent from Fan Jun was ever-present. Zou Yang really couldn’t help himself: “Hey.”

“Mm,” Fan Jun responded.

“Do you use perfume?” Zou Yang asked.

“…No,” Fan Jun said.

“Is that the smell of your laundry detergent, then?” Zou Yang asked. “That grassy scent.”

“My laundry detergent is unscented,” Fan Jun said.

“Then what is this scent?” Zou Yang grew a bit curious.

“Then it can only be my natural body scent,” Fan Jun said.

Zou Yang froze for two seconds, then couldn’t help bursting into laughter: “Damn.”

In the darkness, the atmosphere was no longer so awkward, and Zou Yang had relaxed a lot.

While Fan Jun was still staring blankly at the ceiling, he heard Zou Yang’s breathing slowly even out. Then, Zou Yang’s head slowly drifted back, resting against the arm Fan Jun had placed by his side.

This person who claimed he wasn’t tired and didn’t have the habit of taking naps had gone from silence to deep sleep in less than ten minutes.

Fan Jun turned his head. The faint light seeping through the gap in the curtains traced Zou Yang’s profile with a soft halo in the darkness.

He looked peaceful and grounded.

He closed his eyes. He hadn’t slept soundly for days; he needed a good rest.

Tomorrow was his birthday, and he didn’t want to be in bad shape and disappoint Zou Yang and his roommates who were celebrating with him.

…He opened his eyes again.

He looked at Zou Yang, zoning out a bit.

But he kept looking.

Until his vision blurred.

---

“Fan Jun.”

“Hey, Fan Jun.”

It was Zou Yang’s voice, very soft and very distant.

Fan Jun struggled a bit to determine the direction.

“Jun’er?”

“Mm?” he responded, his own voice sounding distant too.

Zou Yang glanced at the time on his phone: 11:58 PM.

Fan Jun was sleeping very deeply. After giving a groggy response, he didn’t open his eyes for a long time.

Zou Yang began to somewhat regret waking Fan Jun up right now.

“Zou Yang?” Fan Jun called out to him groggily.

“Yeah,” Zou Yang nodded. Well, since he had already woken him, he might as well go all the way. He lightly patted Fan Jun’s cheek twice. “Are you awake?”

“I’m awake,” Fan Jun’s voice was a bit hoarse. He stared at him for a long time, looking like he hadn’t fully come to his senses yet.

“Wait,” Zou Yang waved his phone. “Forty more seconds.”

“What?” Fan Jun asked.

Zou Yang didn’t speak, just stared at his phone.

57, 58, 59…

“Happy birthday,” Zou Yang said. “Fan Jun, happy twenty-fourth birthday.”

Fan Jun froze, looking at him without saying a word.

Zou Yang tapped his phone screen again. The screen went black for a second, and then suddenly erupted in fireworks, followed by one firework after another…

Fan Jun remained silent the entire time. He just sat there, transfixed, staring intently at the phone screen.

“This…” Zou Yang also glanced at the screen. The firework clip was only thirty seconds long, and Fan Jun had already watched it twice. “Did you fall asleep again?”

“No,” Fan Jun’s gaze left the phone and he looked up with a smile. “I’m just… so shocked.”

“So easy to fool,” Zou Yang said. “And you say you’re not a kid who doesn’t understand anything.”

Fan Jun smiled and sat up: “I just didn’t expect… that you would time it exactly…”

“It’s your birthday,” Zou Yang twirled his phone. “Am I the first?”

“Yeah.” Fan Jun nodded, stood up, and walked toward his room, casually flicking on a nightlight by the wall.

When he came out of the room, he was holding the box that contained the beaded bracelet from the other day.

“I can put this on now.” He walked over to Zou Yang, opened the box, took out the bracelet, and slipped it onto his wrist.

“Looks pretty good.” Zou Yang raised an eyebrow.

“Mm.” He nodded.

They both looked at the bracelet on his wrist and fell silent.

After a moment of silence, Fan Jun suddenly turned and walked toward the bathroom: “Wait… for me a second.”

“Need to pee?” Zou Yang asked.

Fan Jun didn’t say anything. He walked into the bathroom and closed the door.

Then Zou Yang heard the sound of running water.