Eight years later, it was another summer.
This was the final semester of junior high. After the graduation ceremony, Bai Ying wove through the crowd, greeting familiar classmates and teachers from time to time. He stood on his tiptoes, straining to peer over a sea of heads in different colors to find Yun Ze. The exceptionally tall black-haired boy, who didn’t lose out to any of the other ethnicities’ males at school, stood out easily. As if by telepathy, he turned toward Bai Ying.
Bai Ying flashed a soft, radiant smile and waved vigorously at Yun Ze before pointing behind himself, indicating he had to leave the auditorium first.
Yun Ze’s brows furrowed imperceptibly. He didn’t want Xiao Ying too far away, but as an outstanding graduate, the principal had held him back to talk. By the time he looked toward the door again, Bai Ying had already vanished.
Bai Ying, who had left the auditorium, looked around before checking the text on his phone. He jogged all the way to the currently empty sports field. The boy who had asked him to come was already waiting there, dressed in a short-sleeved baseball jersey. His build was already exceptionally sturdy and tall—over a head taller than Bai Ying. The blond hair peeking from under his baseball cap shone like brilliant sunlight, framing a handsome face, though his expression was somewhat nervous. Upon seeing Bai Ying, he broke into a silly, goofy grin.
“Andre, why did you call me out here?” Bai Ying raised a hand to shield his eyes from the sun. “It’s so hot outside.”
Andre hurriedly handed him a can of iced cola that had been chilling in a bag of ice. Bai Ying accepted it with a smile. Under the sunlight, his fingers looked almost translucent. When he pulled the tab, a faint red mark lingered on his pale knuckles, accompanied by a soft pop that seemed to echo directly in Andre’s heart. He grinned even more foolishly.
The two sat down in the shade cast by a large tree, on the soft grass below. Andre asked nervously, “Bai, are you… about to go back to your hometown soon?”
“Yeah.” Bai Ying nodded and took a sip of the ice-cold soda. This wasn’t a secret. Yun Ze’s ear condition had finally healed the previous year, so Xu Yunwei had decided to take the two kids back to the country for high school. Bai Ying had told his classmates before graduation, and those who would likely continue high school locally had even thrown a farewell party for him and Yun Ze.
Unfortunately, Andre had been at a baseball game out of town and missed it.
For some reason, Andre’s eyes looked a bit pitiful. “Will you come back here in the future?”
“Maybe… for a trip?” Bai Ying said uncertainly.
Andre’s previously dim blue eyes lit up again in an instant.
He pulled out an envelope from his backpack—one that seemed utterly at odds with his tough exterior, pink and cute. Stammering, he said, “Bai, th-this is a letter I wrote for you. Please accept it!”
His palms were sweating from nerves, but Bai Ying was oblivious to his anxiety and took it naturally, even smiling as he asked, “What kind of letter is it?”
Bai Ying started to open the envelope, which had a little heart sticker sealing it. But before he could, another shadow fell over them from outside the tree’s shade.
Andre noticed first and looked up, blurting out, “Bro?”
“Who’s your bro?” Yun Ze’s face was icy cold.
Bai Ying, seeing it was him, called out in delight, “Brother!”
Yun Ze’s expression softened immediately. He pulled Bai Ying up from the ground, brushed the grass off his clothes, and led him toward the edge of the field. “Let’s head back. The driver’s waiting outside the school.”
He didn’t spare Andre a single glance.
Bai Ying had no choice but to follow Yun Ze while turning back to wave apologetically at Andre.
Andre waved back vigorously, shouting, “Bai, you have to remember to read it!”
Bai Ying nodded repeatedly. After walking some distance, Yun Ze’s cold voice sounded beside him. “What does he want you to remember to read?”
“It’s nothing…” Bai Ying hadn’t realized what was in the letter yet. Unable to hold back, he asked Yun Ze, “Brother, why do you dislike Andre so much?”
Yun Ze wasn’t particularly friendly to anyone outside of Bai Ying, his dad, and his mom—only maintaining basic politeness. But with Andre, he didn’t even bother with that.
“Who told him to bully you when you were little?” Yun Ze said matter-of-factly.
Bai Ying chuckled. “You still remember that?”
Andre was a local, and in this small town, there was only one school per grade level. Kids often found themselves with the same classmates from elementary all the way to high school. Andre had been in the same class as Bai Ying and Yun Ze since elementary. Perhaps inheriting his athlete parents’ genes, he was always taller and sturdier than his peers, with a brash personality. On the first day of school, he’d zeroed in on the fair, tender-looking Bai Ying.
Andre just thought his cheeks looked softer than the boiled eggs his mom made. Unable to resist, he reached out and pinched one.
Bai Ying’s dark eyes stared blankly, not understanding why his new classmate had suddenly pinched him.
He didn’t struggle, since the teachers at the orphanage—who were now his dad and mom—sometimes pinched his cheeks gently too. Bai Ying knew that meant they liked him.
Savoring the soft, smooth feel, and seeing Bai Ying didn’t refuse the first time, Andre pinched again, and then a third time.
But he didn’t know his own strength. Bai Ying’s cheek soon swelled red. Feeling the pain, he stared in confusion, wondering why he was being bullied. Tears welled up in his eyes and spilled down his cheeks.
What followed for Andre was Yun Ze’s fist, as he rushed over.
Knowing he was in the wrong, Andre didn’t dare complain about the beating and desperately apologized to Bai Ying. Bai Ying wasn’t one to hold grudges; two pieces of candy from Andre had him forgiven. But Yun Ze wasn’t so easygoing. Andre tried hard to win him over for some reason afterward, but Yun Ze never gave him a good look.
“Anyone who dares bully you, I remember every single one.” Yun Ze opened the car door for Bai Ying, fastened his seatbelt after he got in, and then spotted the corner of the envelope peeking from Bai Ying’s pocket. He frowned. “Is this the thing he wants you to read?”
“Mm-hmm.” Bai Ying responded. As the car started moving steadily, he opened the envelope and began reading right there.
He didn’t hide it at all; Yun Ze could see the contents with a glance.
The letter paper held beautifully penned poetry, each letter elegant but not fluid—like it had been painstakingly traced from a cursive font template. Bai Ying’s lips curved up immediately. He knew what Andre’s handwriting looked like and could only imagine how long this poem had taken.
Bai Ying read aloud softly as he went: “One glance back from you sets the fire of joy ablaze in my heart…”
He’d barely finished the first line when Yun Ze snatched the envelope away. Bai Ying let out an “Ah!” and looked at him puzzled. “Brother, what are you doing?”
Yun Ze’s face darkened. “It’s not anything good. Don’t read it.”
While Bai Ying read slowly, he’d already skimmed the whole poem. Seeing “kiss you a thousand times over,” he couldn’t stomach it anymore. Damn Andre, daring to write a love poem to Xiao Ying!
“You’re lying! Give it back!” Bai Ying didn’t believe him. Andre had turned over a new leaf long ago; he thought Yun Ze was still holding the past against him.
Yun Ze crumpled the love letter into a wrinkled ball and moved to toss it out the car window.
“Hey, you can’t litter out the window!” Bai Ying lunged at him.
Yun Ze pulled his hand back from throwing the “trash,” but instead of handing the letter to Bai Ying, he stuffed it into his own pocket, planning to ditch it once he got out.
The moment they arrived home, Bai Ying hovered around him, swaying left and right. Seeing Yun Ze raise his hand to “shoot” the letter into a nearby trash bin, Bai Ying huffed angrily, “Bad Xiao Xun! I won’t call you brother anymore!”
That one sentence had Yun Ze pinned.
Irritation churned in his heart; even Yun Ze didn’t understand why he was so furious over someone else’s love letter to Bai Ying. His brows knitted tightly. Finally, he returned the letter, saying coldly, “You care so much about what he wrote? Fine, read it then.”
“You’re acting so weird. Of course I have to read a letter someone wrote me…” Bai Ying unfolded the crumpled paper, read through it quickly, then froze. In disbelief, he read it again.
Yun Ze watched his face gradually flush red and snorted coldly.
“H-how could Andre write something like this to me…” Bai Ying stammered.
“You two are always so close!” Yun Ze was livid. Dating wasn’t as taboo abroad, and he’d long known some girls at school had crushes on Bai Ying—he’d been on strict guard. But he hadn’t expected to have to watch out for guys too! Thinking of how Andre was always fussing over Bai Ying, slinging an arm around him, coaxing him to watch games and hand over towels and water, Yun Ze wanted to go back and beat him up.
And that guy had the nerve to call him “bro”!
“I thought we were just good friends…” Bai Ying mumbled. He grabbed Yun Ze’s hand. “Brother, is that why you didn’t want me to read it?”
Yun Ze looked at him. “Calling me brother now?”
“I was just teasing you.” Bai Ying shook his hand. “But Brother, you’re overreacting. It’s just a love letter. Seeing it doesn’t mean I’ll say yes. Besides… you’ve gotten them too.”
Yun Ze was tall, cool, and handsome, drawing plenty of girls’ attention. Every Valentine’s Day, someone slipped him letters.
“I don’t accept them,” Yun Ze said.
His expression was icy, his voice indifferent. Bai Ying teased, “If Brother keeps this up, you’ll never find a girlfriend.”
“I don’t need a girlfriend.” Yun Ze held his hand and walked with him toward the house. “Xiao Ying, Brother won’t be with anyone else.”
Bai Ying thought he was joking. “Then Brother will end up alone forever.”
“Isn’t there Xiao Ying?” Yun Ze looked at him, utterly serious. “Brother won’t date, and neither should Xiao Ying. We’ll live together forever as family. Wouldn’t that be good?”
“But…” Bai Ying’s expression was blank and confused, trailing off without finishing.
He felt something off about Yun Ze’s words but couldn’t pinpoint it.
Even Yun Ze felt a bit lost inside. He wondered if he was wrong—normal brothers shouldn’t have such strong possessiveness toward their siblings. But he couldn’t control it. When girls at school flirted with Bai Ying, or when he saw Andre’s love letter, irritation and anxiety flooded him. He even wanted to hide Bai Ying away, so he’d only see him.
Why was he like this?
When he was little, Yun Ze had confessed this to a psychologist, who said it was normal. Many kids were possessive of playmates, and it would fade as he grew up and met more people. But it hadn’t. Entering puberty, Yun Ze stopped mentioning it to the doctor. What the doctor said might have been right once, but now he sensed his feelings for Bai Ying had veered off course with age.
Not just possessiveness toward a playmate.
As for what it really was, Yun Ze still couldn’t figure it out.
Just then, Xu Yunwei opened the door to welcome the two kids home. They didn’t bring up the no-dating-forever-together thing again that day. But the issue was merely shelved—like a fire temporarily extinguished, its embers waiting to reignite someday.
