12: Grab the hand

After asking this question, Xu Yuanzhe slightly turned his head to look at Yu Yue.

Yu Yue felt that Xu Yuanzhe’s eyes, as deep as ice and mint, were profound, making it hard to discern his emotions.

After a moment of silence, Xu Yuanzhe replied, “No.”

Yu Yue was taken aback.

He thought for a moment and said, “I thought you might have a girlfriend… After all, you are so good-looking.”

Xu Yuanzhe didn’t say anything.

Yu Yue asked again, “In your school’s performing arts department, there should be many beautiful girls, right?”

Xu Yuanzhe stood up a bit straighter, and his Adam’s apple moved up and down as he replied, “Yes.” It seemed like he wasn’t particularly interested in this topic. He lowered his eyes and glanced at his watch, then asked Yu Yue, “Are you hungry? Do you want me to go buy something else to satisfy your hunger?”

Yu Yue didn’t understand how the conversation had shifted, but he still blankly replied with a “Ah,” saying, “I’m a little hungry.”

Xu Yuanzhe left to buy some food.

Yu Yue watched his departing figure and couldn’t help but think, “Xu Yuanzhe actually doesn’t have a girlfriend? I thought I would meet my ‘sister-in-law’ this time.”

Not long after, Xu Yuanzhe returned.

He had gone to a nearby convenience store and bought a variety of snacks and drinks.

Yu Yue looked at the large bag of items and said, “Why did you buy so much? We’re going to eat soon, and I’m not very hungry. I can wait.”

Xu Yuanzhe replied, “If we can’t finish it, we can take it back to the dorm for our roommates.”

Yu Yue softly said, “Oh.”

He lowered his head, opened a bag of chips, and began to eat while sitting in a chair. The bag was placed at Xu Yuanzhe’s feet.

The first meal Yu Yue had on this trip was an expensive steak. While eating, he talked to Xu Yuanzhe about many things. Most of the time, Xu Yuanzhe responded with a simple “Hmm” or a slight nod of his head. However, Yu Yue didn’t feel that Xu Yuanzhe was being distant.

It was a strange thing. Perhaps a person’s feelings of caring or not caring could be sensed.

After finishing their meal, it was getting late. Xu Yuanzhe offered to accompany Yu Yue back to the school.

While taking a taxi back to school, Yu Yue took out his phone and checked the directions. He realized that his school and Xu Yuanzhe’s school were in completely different directions. The farther he went toward his school, the farther he was from Xu Yuanzhe’s school.

“Wouldn’t you like to go back first?” Yu Yue suddenly felt worried as he looked at the increasing travel time on the navigation app. “Your school is more than an hour away from mine, and it’s quite far from here.”

Xu Yuanzhe replied, “It’s okay; I’ll take you back first.”

Yu Yue remained silent, watching Xu Yuanzhe.

Xu Yuanzhe raised his eyes and made eye contact with Yu Yue.

After a moment of silence, his voice lowered slightly, and he asked, “What’s the matter?”

Yu Yue’s voice also became quieter, “Will you come to visit me again next time? Your school is so far from mine.”

Xu Yuanzhe’s figure paused for a moment.

The neon lights outside the car window flowed incessantly, passing over his face as if it were a slowed-down reel of a film.

He said, “If you don’t find me annoying, I can come to see you every week. Whenever you want someone to hang out with, you can contact me. I don’t have many classes.”

Yu Yue didn’t know why Xu Yuanzhe was so kind to him.

He gazed into Xu Yuanzhe’s eyes, remained silent for a while, and then smiled, about to say something. Suddenly, the driver made a sharp turn, and Yu Yue, who wasn’t wearing a seatbelt in the back seat, leaned into Xu Yuanzhe.

Yu Yue instinctively reached for something, and he ended up grabbing Xu Yuanzhe’s hand.