Luo Wenqiang sat by the window, his coffee finished. He saw two familiar figures walk over from the other side of the street.
Xie Yu walked in front. A dark gray scarf was wound around his neck and only half his face was visible.
They held hands casually, fingers interlocked. Xie Yu stopped walking, looked down, and indicated for He Zhao to let go.
"Are you done?"
No. He wasn't done.
He Zhao was completely unaware of where they currently were, his mind occupied with thoughts of the person next to him. Only when he heard Xie Yu speak did he notice the words 'Coffee House' in front of him. He coughed lightly and said, "This street is too damn short."
Inside the Coffee House.
Someone went through the news feed on their phone and, finding nothing interesting, looked up and around, saying, "Where's Zhao-ge? He said he went to get Yu-ge but he still isn't..."
Luo Wenqiang's large frame shook, worried that the speaker would see something he shouldn't. He held down his classmate's head, pulling him back by force, and cast about for something to say. "Fu Pei, look, the weather's real nice today. Let's sit down and chat about our life goals."
"Luo Wenqiang, are you sick?!"
Ten people had shown up for the gathering. During winter vacation, everyone had their own plans, and some had even left the city. As they ate, they planned to go to a nearby KTV to sing karaoke, each harboring hopes of becoming the next God of Song when they made the booking.
Xie Yu rarely came to such noisy places. The moment he walked into the lobby, he heard wailing and shouting from all around. One of the KTV lounges must not have shut their door properly. A middle-aged man was singing at the top of his lungs, his voice hoarse as if from smoking.
This KTV lounge had reasonable prices and did fairly good business.
The cashier at the front desk put in their information and glanced up at the group of students, estimating they were about high school age. The girls had done their hair up in simple ponytails and wore thick down outerwear. The boys were clumped together, talking loudly.
He Zhao draped himself on Xie Yu's shoulder from behind, as if wanting to pull him into his arms. He leaned closer and asked, "Old Xie, do a song later?"
"Song, my ass."
"Come on, it's just singing."
He Zhao didn't think any more of it and mentally went over a list of recently popular songs. He picked one which was so popular everyone had probably heard of it. "'I Love You,' do you know this one? It was popular lately."
Still holding his position, Xie Yu leaned his head backward slightly, his lips brushing He Zhao's ear carelessly as he spoke. He asked, "What song?"
He Zhao was about to repeat himself, but then his mind caught up and he thought, He's definitely doing it on purpose. He Zhao lowered his head, just enough to bury his face in Xie Yu's neck and whispered, "...Little friend, you're very naughty."
Class 3's singing ability had already been showcased to its full extent on the bus during the autumn class trip. But they had been singing into a megaphone then and couldn't show off nearly as well as they could when singing into a mic. Luo Wenqiang excitedly picked a song, but before he could sing more than a few lines, Xu Qingqing covered her ears and cursed, "...Fuck it."
Liu Cunhao was about to pick a song, but when he heard her curse, he said in consolation, "Qing-ge, calm down."
Wan Da said, "We men have to be strong. This pain is nothing. Qing-ge, be strong."
