Xie Yu kept his eyes shut.
The darkness before his eyes made his other senses even more acute.
For instance: his breathing, his heartbeat, and his fingers interlaced with He Zhao's.
Xie Yu felt at peace. He didn't feel any of the unidentifiable emotion from before. He didn't want to hit anyone anymore. He would let He Zhao keep his damn life a little longer.
The unidentifiable frustration now seemed to have found an outlet—an answer began to take shape, barely noticeable.
Maybe it had been there all along.
The interior of the cab was nearly silent. Aside from Wan Da humming in his sleep in the front seat, there were the sounds of other cars passing by and honking.
It was nearly evening and the sky was growing dark. When the cab turned onto a side road, Wan Da smacked his lips and woke up again, asking in confusion and fear, "Where's my light? Lighting crew?"
Asking for music so he could dance, and now asking for lighting, too. He was probably dreaming of being an international superstar.
When Wan Da finished speaking, Xie Yu felt He Zhao's hand stiffen in his. He seemed very anxious and even his breathing grew shallow.
Thankfully, Wan Da then closed his eyes and sank back into a deep sleep.
He Zhao moved his fingers, wondering whether to let go.
After a long time, he didn't move. He couldn't bear to let go.
The red light changed and the car kept moving forward. The number on the fare meter steadily ticked upward from its base fare.
After an indeterminate amount of time the surroundings grew familiar. Then the cab turned into a side street near Erzhong. Now they could see the classroom building, which was the flagship building of Liyang Erzhong. It was the tallest in the school and had the school's motto written on the top.
"Up here, right?" The driver turned the cab. "Quite an impressive school. Which year are you?"
"Second year."
"Second year, huh... My son is in his third year, so one year above you. Students these days have it hard. You have to do your homework late into the night, and I must say... studying is important, but your health is important, too."
Xie Yu was pretending to sleep, and this pretense was tiring. Especially for his neck, which was twisted so his head could rest against the back of the seat.
Seeing they were about to arrive at school, He Zhao tried to let go and withdraw his hand while his little friend wouldn't notice. "It's quite tiring. Hope your son does well on the high school exams..."
He suddenly cut himself off.
He was just starting to let go when Xie Yu—initially passive, his fingers slack—suddenly tightened his own hand, fingertips resting on the back of He Zhao's hand suddenly gripping it tightly.
"......"
He Zhao really was going to explode this time.
The cab driver was still discussing his son. "He lost so much weight, my heart hurts for him. Third year is exhausting. Endure... everyone just has to endure. No one gets to escape, wouldn't you say? When you get into a university, things will be better. So being tired now is worth it..."
No one listened to the driver's ramblings.
In the few minutes they had left, the two remained as they were, fingers intertwined. Neither of them spoke or looked at each other. When the cab stopped and the driver was waiting to collect the fare, he discovered neither of his passengers in the back seat were moving. "Erzhong, wasn't it? We're here. Erzhong."
