Chapter 2

Half an hour later.

The man’s phone rang. It was Chen Huanyi.

“You’re home?”

“Uh…”

“What’s wrong?”

“Um…”

“Just tell me what happened.”

“I… I’m locked out.”

“What?”

“My dorm has security. I can’t get in.”

Chen Huanyi berated himself silently. Why had he been so stupid—the man offered to give him a ride, but he just had to blurt out that there was no need and then scamper home on his own. Making his way back with his balls blissfully empty, the world all around him seemed to be overflowing with little pink flowers, and he couldn’t wait to see what wonders the future held. Upon reaching his dorm, however, he discovered that his card wouldn’t let him in. The old security guard had long since gone to bed, and when Chen Huanyi looked at his phone, he saw that it was almost midnight. He was about to ask his roommates to let him in, but then he remembered that it was the weekend and none of them were home.

He stood outside his dorm building, shivering in the night wind. An orange tabby cat ran past him and darted into a box in front of the building that other students had made for stray cats. Chen Huanyi glanced at the box, which was padded with a thick towel and clearly very warm. That cat was chubbier than he was too—there was a good amount of corn dogs, dried fish, and kibble next to the cardboard box.

In the chill, Chen Huanyi felt himself getting both colder and hungrier.

He resisted the urge to steal the cat’s food and took out his phone to search up a budget hotel for the night. Instinctively, he wanted to fix this problem on his own without giving the man more trouble. But at this hour on the weekend, all the budget hotels within ten kilometers of the university were booked. The fancy hotel he’d just walked out of was the only place with vacancies left, but when he looked at the rates, even the cheapest room was a month of his living expenses.

He’d put up a valiant fight, but he still ended up calling the man.

The man was silent for a few seconds.

“Um, actually…” Chen Huanyi was beginning to regret making this call.

“Start walking this way, I’ll come get you.” The man’s deep voice came through the phone.

Chen Huanyi’s heart slowly fell again. “Ah, no need, I know how to get there…”

“It scares me when you say ‘no need.’ Wait for me.”

When Chen Huanyi caught sight of a tall figure in the distance walking toward him, the tip of his nose started to tingle, and his eyes welled with tears that he managed to keep from falling. The man strode over with long steps, draping the coat in his hands over Chen Huanyi’s shoulders right away. “Sorry—it gets chilly at night, and I forgot you were only wearing a shirt.”

Feeling very sorry for himself, Chen Huanyi’s tears finally spilled down his face, dripping onto the man’s expensive-looking coat. Chen Huanyi always considered himself to be quite a strong person, and he truly hadn’t been wronged today, but for some reason, his tears continued to fall, like water unleashed from a dam.

“Let’s go,” the man said.

Walking half a step behind him, Chen Huanyi followed the man into the hotel.

“You should wash up first, then go to sleep,” the man said as soon as they entered the room. Then he paused, looking back at Chen Huanyi’s tearful face. The man frowned slightly. “What are you still crying for?” He reached out to touch the boy’s head. Considering that he lived in a dorm with security, he was probably a student—but why did it seem like he was still just a kid?

Chen Huanyi was rather embarrassed. “I don’t know either, but I can’t stop.”

“Wash your face and brush your teeth. Then go get some rest.”

“Mm…” As soon as the reply left his lips, Chen Huanyi remembered what the man had said earlier. “Yes, Master.”

“I’m not particular about how you address me,” said the man. “Go on.”

After Chen Huanyi finished washing up, he came back out to see the man sitting at the hotel room table. A laptop and a few stacks of paper were arranged on the table, and the man was reading something intently. Chen Huanyi didn’t walk over to him. Instead, he silently climbed into the bed, making sure to leave a good two-thirds of it empty. Then he curled up at the edge and calmly went to sleep.

Chen Huanyi woke up the next morning after sleeping soundly through the night to find that the man was still sitting next to his computer. Surely he hadn’t stayed up all night? Chen Huanyi then realized he had sprawled out over the entire bed and immediately felt very embarrassed. He quietly slipped out of bed and asked, “Did you sleep?”

“I’ve got work to do,” replied the man. “Did you sleep well? Are you hungry?”

Chen Huanyi had been hungry the night before because he hadn’t eaten dinner, but the feeling was no longer as intense by the time he went to bed. Now, after sleeping for so long, he felt like he could practically eat a horse. “I slept well,” he nodded, “and I’m starving.”

The man raised his hand to glance at his watch. “We missed the hotel’s breakfast buffet. Let’s eat somewhere else.”

“Sure,” said Chen Huanyi. “I know the area well, how about I’ll treat you?” Only then did he realize his tone might have been too casual, but he only heard the man reply, “Okay.”

After they left the hotel, Chen Huanyi asked, “You aren’t checking out? You’ll probably miss the cut-off if you wait until you get back—you’ll have to pay for another night.”

“I’m staying here for a while,” the man answered.

“Ah…” Chen Huanyi was surprised. So he’s not from here… so will he leave and never come back someday…? He suddenly found this thought very much not to his liking. Then last night popped into his head again—it was pretty amazing how the man had gotten him into that state without taking off a single article of clothing. Didn’t he have any desire of his own?

“Where should we go?” asked the man.

Chen Huanyi led him toward the main gate of the campus. “There’s a Sichuan boiled fish place near our school that’s super good… uh…” He’d originally intended to hide the fact that he was a student here for his own safety, but he just blurted it out without thinking. However, even if he hadn’t said it out loud, the man had likely already guessed that he was a student around here—the dorm security and all had probably given him away.

The man looked at him and remarked mildly, “Sichuan boiled fish is pretty spicy.”

Chen Huanyi had a quintessentially Chinese palate and adored spicy food. “You can’t eat spicy food?” he asked, slightly crestfallen.

“You can’t eat spicy food,” the man pointed out.

Chen Huanyi instantly turned red. “Uh… um… there’s a decent Japanese place over there too…”

He brought the man to the Japanese restaurant.

“You should order.” The man passed the menu to Chen Huanyi, watching him with warmth in his eyes.

The man’s cell phone rang. Chen Huanyi heard him say, “No worries, I’m eating with my friend,” and then “Okay, meeting on Monday, got it,” and “Let me handle that, we can open up that class,” and then finally something about “genetic susceptibility to type 2 diabetes” in English. Based on who it sounded like the man was talking to, the imaginary drama playing in Chen Huanyi’s head started out as a romance and morphed into an office rivalry. As he nodded to himself, it turned out to be a campus drama about faculty politics all along—until he heard this last phrase of English. Chen Huanyi had always been a top student. Like most of his peers, his spoken English wasn’t fantastic, but his vocabulary was quite extensive. He realized the man was talking about the genetics of type 2 diabetes!

Chen Huanyi blinked.

He absentmindedly looked up from the menu to steal a glance at the man, taking notice of his glasses and his manner of speech. He seemed very intellectual and level-headed, and he spoke logically in a moderate tone of voice.

The man hung up to find that Chen Huanyi had yet to order. “You don’t want to eat anything here?”

Chen Huanyi subconsciously scratched at the menu with his finger. “No no, I’m ready!” He hurriedly called over the server and randomly pointed at some decent dishes he’d eaten before. Turning, he asked the man, “Is that okay?”

The man gave a small nod. As soon as the server walked away, the man frowned, his gaze stopping on Chen Huanyi’s face. His eyes looked very sharp behind his glasses, and his original warmth was completely gone.

Chen Huanyi opened his mouth and looked at the man. After a long hesitation, he looked down again.

The man waited for him to speak.

A long while later, Chen Huanyi said haltingly, “D-did you eat with your co-workers last night?”

The man furrowed his brow slightly. “Whatever you want to ask, just ask it.”

Chen Huanyi said nothing.

The man gazed at him steadily for a while, watching him lower his head again, a conflicted look crossing his face as he bit back the words he wanted to say.

The man continued waiting patiently, despite getting no response. Finally, he said bluntly, “I’m a teacher at your school. That’s what you wanted to ask me about, isn’t it?”