After supper, Qi Wang dropped Yu Nian off at home, and the two went their separate ways.

Qi Wang went to work the night shift, while Yu Nian went back upstairs.

However, when they were riding the motorcycle back, Yu Nian felt a bit cold, so Qi Wang gave him his jacket. Now Yu Nian was awkwardly trying to take it off.

Qi Wang was a size larger than Yu Nian, and the difference in their sizes wasn’t so obvious usually, but when his jacket was put on Yu Nian, it looked like Yu Nian was wearing adult’s clothes.

Qi Wang couldn’t help but chuckle.

Yu Nian raised his head vigilantly. “What are you laughing at?”

Just now, the girl at the vermicelli soup shop had laughed kindly at him when he was getting dressed.

Qi Wang shrugged. “Nothing.”

Yu Nian pursed his lips. Although he suspected that Qi Wang was laughing at him, he had no evidence.

He handed the jacket back to Qi Wang, who took it and smelled a faint scent, a mixture of lemon and pear with a hint of woodiness.

He squinted and asked Yu Nian, “Did you spray perfume on yourself?”

Yu Nian responded with a puzzled expression, then belatedly touched his head, “Oh, yes, I did. Xiao Gu sprayed her new perfume on me when we finished work.”

He felt a bit embarrassed, “I thought it had already dissipated, but I didn’t expect it to stick to your clothes. If you dislike the scent, you can give it back to me, and I’ll change into another shirt for you.”

He reached out his hand towards Qi Wang.

“No need, I’m not that delicate,” Qi Wang avoided him, put on his coat, and said, “I’m leaving.”

With a sigh, the motorcycle quickly drove away.

Yu Nian looked at the empty road, pursed his lips, kicked a nearby small stone, and then slowly went upstairs.

.

Qi Wang’s workplace wasn’t far away.

On a street three kilometers away, inside the innermost bar named “il sole” in Italian, meaning “the sun.”

When Qi Wang first started working here, he heard his colleagues complaining that the bar only operated at night, and it was so dim inside that you couldn’t see any sunlight, so the name was just compensating for what was lacking.

He arrived at the location, changed into his work clothes, a white long-sleeved shirt and a gray vest, combed his hair back, making him look several years older than usual.

But whether it was his psychological effect, he always felt the faint, soft fragrance from Yu Nian just now, as if it still lingered on him.

Although the bar was noisy and various smells were intertwined, he seemed to still smell it.

He walked up to the bar counter, rolled up his sleeves, and fortunately, the scars were not exposed.

He casually thought that the scent didn’t quite match Xiao Gu, it was too refreshing and chilly, but it seemed just right with Yu Nian.

.

After Yu Nian went upstairs, he studied for two hours as usual, then squatted in his seat, snacking while watching a movie.

He had a hard day, so indulging himself now was well-deserved.

Beside him, his phone’s video was still on, and on the other end was his childhood friend, Ying Quanshen.

The two chatted casually, boosting each other’s courage.

Yu Nian was watching a horror movie, but he was timid, and watching it once would make him scared for a week. Now he was alone in the room, with Qi Wang not around either, so he called Ying Quanshen, mainly for remote company.

Today, Ying Quanshen was originally supposed to meet a girl for coffee, but she stood him up. Now he was sitting lonely under a red umbrella, watching the fat pigeons in the square.

He looked at Yu Nian disdainfully, “With your cowardice, what are you going to do when it gets late?”

Yu Nian was startled by a crunching sound of potato chips, and an eerie skull popped up on the iPad screen, making him scream in terror.

Ying Quanshen: “…”

Yu Nian patted his chest, feeling his heart still pounding, but he refused to end the call, stubbornly saying, “It’s fine, I’m not scared. My roommate will be back soon, so I’m not afraid when there’s someone in the building.”

Ying Quanshen chuckled.

He teased Yu Nian, “Weren’t you complaining bitterly about how annoying he was before? Now you’re sticking to him.”

He knew about the little conflicts between Yu Nian and Qi Wang before.

Yu Nian couldn’t keep things to himself since he was young, even trivial matters had to be shared with him.

Of course, he also knew that the two had made up now.

He teased Yu Nian, “You’re still the same, as soon as you make up with someone, you cling to them. Isn’t he annoyed by you?”

Yu Nian proudly said, “He’s not annoyed. Qi Wang might look fierce, but the other day, there was a cockroach in my room, and he helped me get rid of it. Thank goodness, I wouldn’t dare to deal with it myself.”

Yu Nian still shuddered at the thought.

From being pampered to wandering on his own outside, he had adapted well all the way, without crying or whining. But cockroaches were truly his unresolved trauma.

Ying Quanshen imagined the scene and frowned.

He wasn’t afraid, but he found it disgusting.

“He seems like a good person. Thinking about it now, you’re quite lucky. It’s better to have a roommate next door who is an acquaintance than someone who is not reliable at all,” Ying Quanshen finished his last sip of coffee, put on his sunglasses, “Well, I’m off. Have you finished your horror movie? I have a gathering tonight, I have to go now.”

Yu Nian glanced at the progress bar, there wasn’t much left, just ten minutes.

The male and female leads were passionately embracing, weeping tears of joy after a great disaster, enjoying their future together.

He waved casually, “Go ahead, I don’t need you anymore.”

“Get lost.” Ying Quanshen laughed and cursed, “You just use me and then toss me away.”

He picked up his car keys, hung up the video call with a snap.

Yu Nian bit his potato chips, focused on watching the last bit of the movie.

But the unexpected happened at this moment.

When the female lead gently touched the male lead’s forehead and spoke words of gratitude, the fluorescent light in the room flickered extremely unstably.

Yu Nian couldn’t help but freeze.

Damn… He silently looked up, hoping it wouldn’t be so tragic. Please, no, he just watched a horror movie…

Almost at the same time as he thought this, the old fluorescent light in his room, which had never been very bright and occasionally flickered, snapped.

With a crack, the power went out.

The entire room plunged into darkness.

“Ah—!”

That night, at one in the morning, several residents on the 18th floor near the third floor, who hadn’t slept yet, heard a clear scream.

.

When Qi Wang came back, it was already past two o’clock. Tonight, someone got drunk again in the bar, and when he was leaving, a girl drunkenly fell on him. He didn’t know if she was really drunk or just pretending, she smiled and asked for his phone number.

He refused with a cold face three times before his colleagues pulled him away, leaving him not very happy.

This put him in a bad mood.

He passed by the convenience store and bought a sandwich and beer, planning to have a late-night snack later. When he walked downstairs, he saw a familiar figure curled up on the iron chair in front of Building 18, which made him feel a bit familiar.

He hesitated a bit and walked up, asking, “What are you doing here?”

Yu Nian, wrapped in a coat, curled up in a chair playing games. When he saw Qi Wang, he looked like a child seeing a parent, almost teary-eyed.

Now with the big temperature difference between day and night, he tightened his coat and his character in the game had just died. He pitifully said, “I’m here waiting for you.”

“Waiting for me?” Qi Wang raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

Yu Nian hesitated, feeling a bit embarrassed.

He was already an adult, still afraid of ghosts and the dark, it was a bit embarrassing to admit it. But he had to say it.

He mumbled softly.

Qi Wang didn’t hear clearly, so he bent down, getting closer, “What did you say?”

Yu Nian froze.

The surroundings fell silent, the dense shadows of the banyan tree above cast down, the moonlight cool as water. A small shadow fell on Qi Wang’s face from his long eyelashes, his eyes as dark as ink, staring at him unwaveringly.

They seemed to be a bit too close.

Yu Nian didn’t know why, but he felt nervous.

“I said… the light in my room is broken, it’s completely dark inside, I dare not stay there,” Yu Nian said awkwardly, “I just watched a horror movie, it’s a bit scary.”

Qi Wang understood this time, straightened up, and looked at Yu Nian with some difficulty.

Really delicate.

He thought it was something serious, turns out it’s just a fear of ghosts.

This would be a laughing stock if it got out.

But seeing Yu Nian sitting there so uncomfortably, like a guilty puppy, head hung low, not daring to look up at him, he didn’t show any signs of disdain.

He promised Song Yunchun to take care of Yu Nian. For such a small matter, there was no reason not to.

“Get up,” he said, “come with me, I’ll take a look.”

Yu Nian’s eyes lit up.

He immediately got up from his seat, “Okay, let’s go.”

The two went back to 1803 together.

Qi Wang entered Yu Nian’s room and, using moonlight and a flashlight, removed the old fluorescent lamp.

“The fuse is blown,” he said, “it needs to be replaced. The stores are closed now, I’ll help you replace it tomorrow. The socket in your room is also loose, I’ll fix it for you tomorrow.”

Yu Nian stood anxiously by the table, earnestly asking, “What about tonight?”

He looked a bit pitifully at Qi Wang. “I can’t just sleep in the dark, can I?”

Qi Wang also looked down at him, meaning—what else?

Yu Nian’s face fell.

He didn’t want this. If he hadn’t watched the horror movie tonight, it would have been fine. But now he felt like there might be a skeleton crawling out from under his bed at any moment.

He didn’t care about saving face anymore, he hugged Qi Wang’s leg.

“Ge, please, can I sleep with you tonight?” He wailed, “Just tonight, can I? If I sleep alone, I’ll definitely stay up all night.”

He exaggeratedly described the horror movie he had just watched, “That movie was really terrifying, there were skeletons and ghosts, several members of the main cast were bitten to death, and there was a ghost that crawled out from under the bed. I really can’t sleep alone with the lights off.”

Yu Nian almost squeezed out some tears from the corners of his eyes, to show how difficult it was for him.

After all, he also knew that Qi Wang was a meticulous and indifferent person. He didn’t like others invading his personal space.

If he wanted to squeeze into Qi Wang’s room, he could only sleep in the same bed with Qi Wang.

Forget about Qi Wang, Yu Nian himself felt disgusted just thinking about it.

Qi Wang was getting a headache from all the fuss.

He looked down at Yu Nian.

According to his previous temper, if anyone dared to make such a fuss with him, they would have been kicked out long ago.

But after these years of re-education, though not completely transformed, he had learned some self-restraint.

Yu Nian kept looking at him pitifully.

Though the room was pitch black, he could still vaguely see Yu Nian’s eyes, watery, and his lips trembling. He looked harmless, like an innocent child.

Qi Wang felt annoyed.

Both morally and logically, he didn’t want to agree. Yu Nian was already an adult, not a child. Why couldn’t he stay in a dark room by himself?

He was only entrusted with Yu Nian’s safety, not to be his babysitter.

But he sighed, after half a minute of locking eyes with Yu Nian’s pitiful gaze.

He exhaled slowly, and in the end, gave in, “You can come, but you can’t move around in my room, and you can’t make noise. Otherwise, you’re out.”

Yu Nian was overjoyed and promised, “I promise!”