Chapter 8 (1/2)

Chapter 8

Edited by: Planetes

When Song Yuanxun returned to look for Zhang Ranyu and Zhou Meng, he reflected on his own impulsive, meaningless action.

Through the dating app, he had been chatting with Fang Zhaomu for over two weeks.

For the first week, Song Yuanxun had used “freezing out Fang Zhaomu and stopping Zhao Han” as an excuse, but by the second week, not only did he not manage to freeze him out, the frequency of their messages even increased. On the weekend of the third week, Zhou Meng and Zhang Ranyu had asked to borrow Song Yuanxun’s car, saying that they wanted to go shopping in the city. Song Yuanxun himself also did not know why, but he lied that he had something he needed to buy as well, and drove them to that supermarket Fang Zhaomu had mentioned to him the night before.

Not long after they entered the supermarket, Song Yuanxun saw Fang Zhaomu.

Fang Zhaomu was pushing the shopping cart alone, and in the cart was many items. His hand was on the handle of the cart, his body leaning forward slightly, and was leisurely strolling down the aisles. His head turned from side to side, as though looking for something.

Fang Zhaomu stopped in front of a shelf. Zhang Ranyu and Zhou Meng happened to be heading in that direction, adn Song Yuanxun naturally followed behind. He vaguely saw Fang Zhaomu take a photo of something, then his phone vibrated.

“Isn’t that…” Zhou Meng too noticed Fang Zhaomu, and opened her mouth uncertainly.

Their feet did not stop, and when they drew closer to Fang Zhaomu, Song Yuanxun heard Fang Zhaomu say something with his back facing them.

“Are you busy with work?” Fang Zhaomu asked. “Did you remember to take your lunch?”

Song Yuanxun stared as Fang Zhaomu moved his hand, probably letting go of the voice message button. Almost immediately, Song Yuanxun’s phone vibrated again.

Fang Zhaomu’s voice, without being digitally compressed, sounded even softer and more gentle. There was a liveliness and cheerfulness to it, and he was happily teasing the Andrew who he thought was working overtime.

Of course, Zhou Meng and Zhang Ranyu also heard Fang Zhaomu’s tender words. The moment after Zhang Ranyu sniggered, Song Yuanxun saw Fang Zhaomu turn his head towards them. He watched as his smiling mouth flattened, and the cheeriness in his eyes fading away, only leaving some wariness and annoyance.

To Fang Zhaomu, Andrew and Song Yuanxun was definitely different. Fang Zhaomu’s cheerfulness was for Andrew, and had nothing to do with Song Yuanxun himself. Fang Zhaomu did not consider Andrew’s suggestion to hitch a ride from his classmates, and when he walked past Song Yuanxun, he also did not keep up a friendly pretense. One second ago, he was complaining about Andrew’s reluctance to meet up, and in the next second, he limped forward, his eyes never turning towards Song Yuanxun.

Song Yuanxun was also unsure of what exactly he was doing then. He held his car key in one hand, and his phone in another, standing at the passageway outside the supermarket. He watched as Fang Zhaomu’s things scattered across the ground, watched as Fang Zhaomu walked towards him, then walked away. With complicated feelings, he looked at his phone, reading the sweet messages Fang Zhaomu sent to Andrew, then looked up and watched the back of Fang Zhaomu.

He had only thought, as classmates, it would not be a problem if Fang Zhaomu had asked for a ride — if Fang Zhaomu had difficulties, and wanted to take Song Yuanxun’s car back to school, Song Yuanxun would not reject him.

Fang Zhaomu was already standing at the outdoor bus stop. The wind plastered his thin sweater against his body, and made Song Yuanxun feel that at this moment, Fang Zhaomu had a little forlornness to him that would make a person feel flustered.

In the evening, Song Yuanxun had dinner with Zhang Ranyu and Zhou Meng in the city, inviting some of his city friends as well.