His dark hair fell, covering his eyes, and he asked, "If there's nothing else, go to bed early. It's late."
It was midnight.
Yun Mi reached out one hand and said, "Ding Yuan gave you yogurt."
It was the same peach yogurt as hers. The girl's hand hung in midair. Chen Yiyang was silent for a moment, then said, "I'll take it."
Yun Mi didn't want to leave yet. She hesitated: "And..."
She slowly extended her other hand, holding a first-aid kit.
She secretly glanced at the boy's cheek, where fine bleeding points showed, the purple-red and bruised palm print even more jarring against his pale skin.
Yun Mi said, "How about... I treat it? I asked Aunt Qin for this."
"..."
Chen Yiyang didn't say anything. After a while, he stepped back half a pace.
His room layout was similar to Yun Mi's, but the style was completely different—overall cold and clean.
With the scent of dried mint.
Chen Yiyang said, "Come in."
Yun Mi muttered quietly, "The person you like would be heartbroken seeing this."
Chen Yiyang's tightly pressed lips moved slightly, his thin eyelids dropping.
He knew what Yun Mi was talking about.
He thought, if Yun Mi really became his sister in the future, there wouldn't be such a problem.
Yun Mi sat down in the seat Chen Yiyang had just occupied. On it lay an IMO competition problem book.
Beside the silver desk lamp was a photo album. The photo was strange—a frame of moderate size held a photo only half its size.
It was a picture of an elderly man and Chen Yiyang.
Probably from his middle school days.
Chen Yiyang looked much more youthful then, wearing a uniform from some middle school, his smile more unrestrained.
Yun Mi wanted to look again, but suddenly heard someone say, "There's no one I like."
"Huh?"
She turned around in surprise and met the eyes of the person sitting on the bed.
Chen Yiyang thought, if Wen Liangyu was happy, it would be fine for him to stay silent forever.
Only one desk lamp was on in the room—late-night studying by lamplight. In the backlight, the boy met the girl's eyes. The faint light fell on the dusty, brilliant blue electric guitar in the corner.
The metallic luster couldn't break through the shackles of time, so it was confined to a corner of the bedroom.
On the desk, the photo album held a three-person photo: him, the old man, and another person folded inside the album, never seeing the light of day.
And never to see the light of day again.
Chen Yiyang raised an eyebrow and said, "I lied to her. Otherwise, how would I make her back off?"
Yun Mi had been overthinking for days, her mind a mess, only to realize it was just a casual lie from Chen Yiyang.
All the heartache and unhappiness vanished.
Only contempt remained.
The girl's expression changed, and she looked almost speechless.
Yun Mi cursed him: "Liar."
Chen Yiyang retorted: "Can't compare to you."
"Hmph."
Her pouty, angry look was so lively that Chen Yiyang smiled.
The boy's Adam's apple moved slightly. He lowered his eyes and said, in a voice so low even he could barely hear it:
"If only you weren't my sister."