“……”

The room was furnished with a certain coziness. On the bedside table sat an adorable little penguin figurine — expression rather blank, as if slightly dazed.

Ning Sui was very much like that penguin right now: ears burning, as though some invisible spell had rooted her to the spot.

She sat with rigid fingers. After what felt like several genuine seconds of trying to calm herself down, she barely managed to accept the present situation.

— Fine. Her hand was firmly caught. If she couldn’t move, so be it — but why did it get tighter every time she tried to pull away……

This was genuinely, not a little, shameless.

Would he just grab anyone’s hand like this in his sleep? Was that it?

A faint dampness was creeping into her fingertips. On the other side of the bed, her phone screen seemed to light up. Ning Sui felt that reaching for it without disturbing him would be nearly impossible.

She was stuck, caught between two impossible options, when two polite knocks came at the door.

A nurse, checking in.

The nurse saw that Ning Sui was awake and turned on the overhead light. Simultaneously, the person slumped at the bedside seemed to stir as well, rousing gradually. In the instant he sat up, Ning Sui seized the moment and pulled her arm back.

In truth, in that split second, their eyes did brush past each other in the air — but Ning Sui chose not to examine that too closely. She quickly pressed her back against the headboard and sat bolt upright, and perhaps slightly over-corrected by tucking both her hands firmly under the blanket, as if nothing whatsoever had occurred.

So when the nurse walked in, what she found was a young woman sitting rigidly at perfect attention.

“……”

“How are you feeling?” the nurse said. “It’s acute gastroenteritis combined with a mild case of low blood sugar. Did you eat something that didn’t agree with you?”

Ning Sui nodded. “Yes. I’m much better now, thank you.”

She’d also had a slight fever earlier. Now that the IV drip had run its course, her temperature had returned to normal. The nurse removed the needle and gave a brief rundown of dietary precautions and things to watch out for going forward.

Ning Sui listened while, from the corner of her eye, she watched Xie Yichen leaning back in the chair beside her with completely relaxed ease, head tilted down, apparently sending someone a message — as though he knew nothing at all about what had happened while he was asleep.

“……”

Ning Sui composed herself internally, quietly drew a breath, and looked away.

The nurse left shortly afterward. The two of them were alone again.

Ning Sui was visibly still in a somewhat dazed state. Xie Yichen’s gaze swept to her ear — where white skin and a faint blush met at the edge, conspicuous and unsettling, like a few scattered sparks quietly spreading, burning their way into his chest as well.

He curled his left hand slightly around his knuckles, pressed back the exhale rising in his chest, and laid his warm palm against his knee.

The back of his hand still carried a trace of warmth — like the light graze of a small cat.

Ning Sui seemed to come back to herself at that point. Her mind turned over.

Xie Yichen obligingly pocketed his phone and looked at her directly. “I sent the instructions to your WeChat. Make sure you read them.”

So that was what he’d been doing — taking notes.

Ning Sui unlocked her phone. Sure enough, a long row of red unread messages — his at the very top, with points one, two, and three laid out in clear order. She gave a vague murmur of acknowledgment.

Xie Yichen looked at her, his voice dropping to a gentle, quiet register. “Are you hungry?”

“I’m alright.” She looked up, meeting his gaze with her own.

“That… Xie Yichen.”

“Hmm?”

Xie Yichen waited patiently. His expression looked, if anything, slightly soft. Ning Sui held his gaze for a moment, and then — testing the waters — let one question slip out: “I got a medal, right? Who collected it for me?”

“……”

She really had no sense of guilt at all.

Xie Yichen was almost amused into a laugh. He reached into his pocket, produced a bronze medal, and set it on the bed beside her. “Not going anywhere. You ran yourself dizzy and you’re still thinking about this — if your department doesn’t name you sports role model, it owes you something.”

Ning Sui picked it up and gave a slow, quiet hum.

His dark eyes sharpened slightly. After a moment: “You’re really not feeling any discomfort anymore?”

“No.”

“What did you even eat for lunch today? Why the sudden gastroenteritis?”

“Some dried fish snacks from the convenience store, a braised egg, and a small packet of spicy strips.”

She really was a little cat, right down to buying dried fish.

Xie Yichen looked at her with an eye half-closed. “That’s all you ate? No wonder you didn’t have the energy.”

Ning Sui knew when to take her lumps, but her expression was still faintly bewildered. “I thought my constitution was fine. I know I was wrong.”

“……”

With the overhead light on, the room was bright. Xie Yichen’s white T-shirt was clean and a little rumpled, his shoulders wide, the neckline showing the faintest creases. Ning Sui thought of something and said quietly, “Did you eat dinner?”

Xie Yichen glanced down with a soft hum, his long hand resting casually on his leg. “Hu Ke’er was there watching you race. After I brought you in, she came too. She bought me some instant noodles.”

Ning Sui paused for a beat, her attention shifting involuntarily. “Just instant noodles? Why didn’t she get you a proper meal from one of the food stalls outside?”

“Too much trouble. Who had the heart for that at the time.”

When he wasn’t smiling, the sharpness in his brow and eyes came through more strongly — lashes half-lowered, features clean and cool. But when he spoke, he looked up again, eyes on her, unwavering.

Ning Sui had a pair of clear, luminous eyes, her lashes brushing lightly up and down. The two of them looked at each other across the space between them, both pausing at once. Neither looked away.

The atmosphere thickened somehow — like something warm settling between them, slow and close.

Xie Yichen’s throat moved slightly. He kept his eyes on her without wavering. Then, unexpectedly, he smiled. “What? Worried I’d get food poisoning too?”

“……”

“Relax. It was just one cup of instant noodles.” He lifted his eyelids slightly, curving his lips and lowering his voice. “My constitution is fine.”

“……”

Nobody was worried about that.

Ning Sui picked up her phone in silence and, finally, thought to ask: “Where’s Hu Ke’er?”

Speak of the devil.

A voice with remarkable carrying power pierced through the crack in the door: “My poor little Ning, the century egg and lean pork congee is here, daddy’s arrived, please hold on just a little longer!!!”

“……”

When Hu Ke’er pushed the door open, Xie Yichen stood up.

The two of them clearly had a lot to catch up on, and he had given them space enough. One hand in his pocket, the other holding his phone, he glanced down briefly. “I’ll head back. Message me if anything comes up.”

Ning Sui gave a simple hum. Hu Ke’er’s gaze made a quiet, wordless circuit between the two of them. Xie Yichen didn’t add anything. He left, and on his way out, he pulled the door shut gently behind him.

Only then did Hu Ke’er allow herself to release the full force of her gleaming, scheming stare at Ning Sui.

— She’d felt something was off back in Yunnan. Now, turning it over carefully, she suddenly saw a dozen little details she’d overlooked at the time.

But.

“We can get to that in a moment,” Hu Ke’er said, composing herself. “Call your mom first. Your aunt is practically losing her mind.”

Ning Sui looked away from the door, gave a quiet oh, and looked down at her screen.

Twenty-something missed calls.

Fourteen WeChat messages asking where on earth she was.

Hu Ke’er: “Your aunt probably couldn’t reach you, so she called me. I gave her a brief rundown.”

A pause. “Though I didn’t say it was gastroenteritis. I said you’d had your period and pushed too hard in the race. Didn’t want her thinking you hadn’t been eating properly again.”

Hu Ke’er knew Fanfang well enough. If she’d said gastroenteritis, the trust they’d barely managed to rebuild would probably collapse again.

Not that this was anyone’s fault but Ning Sui’s own, really.

It wouldn’t have come to this otherwise — but who told her to go prodding at Fanfang before the race, knowing she’d come back asking for results. And then three and a half hours of complete silence. With Fanfang’s temperament, she’d have called until the line burned out.

Ning Sui called Xia Fanghui. The moment the call connected, Fanfang asked how she was, and then immediately: how could you run in a competition while on your period.

“You’re the only one responsible for your own body. Stop acting like a child who can’t grow up. Don’t you understand this could cause serious problems? This kind of thing could affect your ability to have children later on!”

Xia Fanghui, when upset, had a habit of catastrophizing and projecting far into the future. Ning Sui had always had a strong aversion to hearing this — she felt that the weight of the future shouldn’t be loaded onto her in advance. Every stage of life had its own appropriate worries.

Ning Sui admitted her fault with great humility. “I understand, Mom. I’m fine now, I could start an Ironman competition this instant.”

Xia Fanghui went on at her: “Don’t take this lightly. I’m telling you — wear more layers. It’s getting cold in Beijing, isn’t it? Do you need me to send you a padded jacket?”

“No, no! I brought so many pairs of thermal leggings, I really have more than enough!”

It took about ten more minutes before the call finally ended.

A safe landing. Ning Sui let out a slow breath.

Hu Ke’er peeled back the plastic cover and handed her the steaming bowl of congee. “Xie Yichen stepped out to get food while I stayed here with you. A few of your dormmates came to check on you.”

Ning Sui scrolled through her unread messages. The dormitory group chat had practically exploded — nearly another 99+ notification pile-up, everyone asking how she was.

Liang Xinyue had watched the race. The other two hadn’t been there, but had both heard what happened.

Ning Sui replied: [Just woke up. I’m fine!]

Liang Xinyue replied instantly: [I was so scared earlier!!]

Bi Jiaxi: [Same here!!!]

Yu Qin: [How are you feeling now?]

Sui Sui Sui: [Don’t worry don’t worry, I was on a drip, feeling much better~]

She backed out and went through the rest — other classmates from the year group, some who’d witnessed it, some who’d only heard, all messaging to check on her.

Ning Sui replied to them all, put down her phone, and lowered her head to drink several large mouthfuls of congee. The hollow, unsettled feeling in her stomach eased considerably.

Looking up without meaning to, she found Hu Ke’er staring at her with unblinking, fixed intensity, a cryptic little curve at the corner of her mouth, making odd sounds at irregular intervals: “Heh heh. Heh heh.”

Ning Sui: “……”

“What are you laughing at?”

Hu Ke’er: “Confess. What’s going on between you and Xie Yichen?”

Ning Sui: “What?”

Hu Ke’er was operating at peak excitement right now, convinced she’d caught hold of a massive secret, and couldn’t even be bothered to lay out her evidence — she just shoved her phone directly at Ning Sui. “See for yourself.”

It was Jingda’s anonymous confession and gossip forum — the equivalent of Qingda’s public posting board.

Someone had taken two blurry photos from several meters away. One was of Xie Yichen crouching down and lifting her. The other was of him carrying her on his back. The post caption read: [Are these two a couple? The girl looks like she isn’t feeling well but I am SO invested in them, oh my god!!!]

Reply 1: [+1 I was close enough to watch the whole thing happen from start to finish, I am absolutely living for this!!]

Reply 2: [That guy reacted so fast. And he was so attentive — can anyone else see this? The way he carried her — maximum boyfriend energy!!!]

Reply 3: [Wait what’s happening here?]

Reply 4: [The 1500-meter race — the girl probably had menstrual cramps or something, and the tall handsome guy just carried her all the way to the medical center]

Reply 5: [Who are they?? They’re so well-matched, and they’re both so good-looking!!]

Reply 6: [I’m her classmate, coming to claim her! She’s from our mathematics department! I think she might be our department’s beauty — she’s absolutely gorgeous!! PS: she’s already doing fine now]

Reply 7: [She has a boyfriend?! Nooooo!!]

Reply 8: [Who’s that guy?? Is he from our school?? The photos are so grainy but he’s genuinely so handsome!!]

……

In reality, the post hadn’t blown up that dramatically — the photos were blurry and taken from some distance, maybe ten to twenty comments total.

Even Liang Xinyue hadn’t found it yet, otherwise she’d have been shouting about it in the group chat already. Ning Sui had no idea which corner of the internet Hu Ke’er had dug it up from.

Ning Sui read through it word by word, her lashes lowered, then handed the phone back. “This doesn’t prove anything. He would’ve carried you to the medical center too if you collapsed. We went to the same high school — the bond is different.”

“Somehow I really don’t buy that.” Hu Ke’er had one eyebrow raised in a look that said don’t try to fool me. “Xie Yichen — who is he, right? You haven’t heard Zhang Yuge talk about him? With all those people pursuing him in high school, some of them definitely tried to manufacture physical contact, fake trips, fake fainting spells — and I didn’t see him going around catching all of them.”

“Also — Zou Xiao is his high school classmate, right? We all saw what his attitude toward her was like in Yunnan. Couldn’t even get a word in edgewise.”

Hu Ke’er — for the first and perhaps only time — was genuinely clear-headed and precise, and she didn’t let Ning Sui brush her off.

She continued: “And all of that’s still beside the point. Your reaction was the real smoking gun.”

Ning Sui shot back quickly, “What reaction?”

Hu Ke’er, with the perceptiveness of a practiced observer: “I noticed that when you realized it was him who’d come — the look on your face was something like pure relief. Like—”

She thought about it, dug through her admittedly limited vocabulary, and pulled out what she considered the most fitting phrase: “Like seeing Oreos when you open a carton of milk.”

“……”

She really did have a way with words.

Ning Sui did an involuntary swallow. She turned her head toward the window. The curtains hung at an angle, and the soft, busy moonlight from outside seeped through. Down on the road, the running flags from the sports meet fluttered in the half-dark. Even in the evening, the campus was warm with noise and life — secret, quiet things to do with being young happening in every corner.

“Alright, I’ll admit it.”

Hu Ke’er’s entire being expanded with anticipation. She thought something revelatory was coming. Then she heard Ning Sui say, quietly and evenly: “We’ve actually known each other for a while. Much longer than any of you would think.”

Hu Ke’er: “?”

“Since the first semester of our second year of high school.” Ning Sui explained honestly. “We both went to Nanjing for that mathematics competition training camp. Remember? That whitewater rapid. You left before him, and he arrived afterward.”

Hu Ke’er laughed in disbelief, stunned and suspicious, with three rapid-fire questions: “How is that possible? Why did you never mention it to me? And why did you two pretend not to know each other in Yunnan?”

“Because something a little awkward happened at the time.”

Ning Sui looked down, picking at a small white thread on the blanket. When she spoke, there was no emotion in it. “It was around the time my mom was in a bad mood, remember? She scolded me, and Xie Yichen overheard. I was sitting in the hallway, crying.”

That period of time — Hu Ke’er genuinely ached thinking back on it.

Ning Sui had been in a terrible state. Listless, pale. Even thinner than usual, given how slight she already was — just all fragile limbs, like she might come apart in the wind. There seemed to be nothing in the world that could make her happy. Only when Hu Ke’er deliberately made her laugh would she manage the faintest smile.

Ning Sui hadn’t spelled everything out, but Hu Ke’er pieced together the outline: Xie Yichen, afraid of embarrassing her, had never brought up their history, not once.

That way of handling it — it was genuinely thoughtful of him.

“I see.” Hu Ke’er murmured, and went quiet for a moment.

When they were getting ready to leave, Ning Sui realized Xie Yichen had left his black jacket behind. Hu Ke’er didn’t notice it wasn’t Ning Sui’s. And since Ning Sui was starting to feel cold anyway, she put it on.

It carried a faint clean, cool scent — not easy to describe, but it felt pure, like the smell of laundry dried in sunlight.

There was a soft inner lining. Ning Sui pulled the collar close, and immediately felt much warmer. She tucked her chin down a little, letting the tip of her nose bury into the fabric.

They left the medical center arm in arm. Near the dormitory building, they parted ways. Ning Sui was heading into her building when she unexpectedly ran into Yin Rui.

He was wearing his backpack. When he heard her name, he looked up with a concerned expression. “Are you alright? I heard you weren’t feeling well during the race.”

Ning Sui replied politely, “I went to the medical center. I’m fine now. Thanks for asking.”

“Right.” Yin Rui looked at her for a moment, seemed to want to say something, then swallowed it. He smiled openly instead. “Alright then. If you and your dormmates need any help during the sports meet these next couple of days, just let me know.”

He’d joined the sports department of the student union. Ning Sui nodded. “Thanks.”

“Oh — one more thing.” Yin Rui took off his backpack, reached inside, and pulled out several items of clothing. “These are the jerseys being distributed for tomorrow’s campus run. I didn’t know whether you’d still be participating, but you can keep it as a memento either way.”

Ning Sui had expected the signature Jingda red. Instead, they were a soft sage green — bright and fresh. She said, pleasantly surprised, “Oh, these are really nice.”

Yin Rui: “Right? I thought so too, haha.”

Ning Sui noticed the few remaining jerseys in his hands. “Are you waiting for someone to come down and collect these?”

“Yeah, I already told the class president, she said she’d come down once she finished a call. Should be any minute.”

“Oh.” Ning Sui watched him standing there at the entrance to the girls’ dormitory, time going to waste. She offered, “Do you want me to take them up for you?”

Yin Rui hesitated briefly, then smiled warmly, the small dimple in his cheek appearing and disappearing. “Sure, thanks so much.”

After Yin Rui left, Ning Sui saw that Xie Yichen had sent her a message about ten minutes earlier: [Made it back to the dorm?]

Hmm…… Right now, honestly, she felt a little reluctant to reply to him.

But she also didn’t want to leave him waiting.

So she kept it brief: [Yeah.]

Xie Yichen had just gotten back to the dormitory and finished showering. He was still toweling his hair, drips of water falling here and there, when he glanced over to see what she’d sent him — it was a shared post from someone else’s Xiaohongshu note.

Before he could open it, Ning Sui had already retracted the message.

The speed of retraction was too fast. He’d only had time to read the title.

[What’s wrong with someone who likes to hold people’s hands in their sleep?]

“……”

Then, slowly, a follow-up message: [Wrong person. Sent by mistake.]