TAM 16

Neither Mo Yao nor Si Yuan spoke for a while.

The changing room was too small and too closed. The air was hot and damp. Mo Yao could even feel the heat from Si Yuan’s body spreading toward him. He turned his head and saw the beads of sweat on Si Yuan’s shoulders, some rolling down and joining others, then sliding down his back.

Si Yuan supported his body with his arms behind him, so the muscles on his back tensed slightly. They weren’t exaggerated but held clear, the kind built from hard work.

Mo Yao suddenly thought about the argument between Wu Jingyan and Li Yahan. Did Wu Jingyan like Si Yuan? Maybe she did. From a practical and realistic view, Mo Yao would be the better choice for a boyfriend. But from the instinctive, emotional side of human desire, maybe Si Yuan was more attractive.

It wasn’t easy for Mo Yao to admit another man was more attractive than him. But from another angle, how could anyone not want to get close to someone strong and composed like Si Yuan?

Si Yuan picked up a towel and wiped his sweat, then took out a clean outfit and put it on. The shirt was a plain black T-shirt, and the pants were restaurant uniform pants, a gaudy mix of red and yellow, wide and shapeless, definitely not flattering.

But Si Yuan didn’t care at all. He said to Mo Yao, “Let’s go.”

Mo Yao had planned to call a car back to school, but he ended up taking the elevator with Si Yuan straight down to the parking lot.

“You have a car?” Mo Yao almost blurted it out in surprise.

Si Yuan pulled a bicycle out from between several rows of electric scooters.

Mo Yao hesitated, unable to find a polite way to refuse.

Si Yuan rode the bicycle and carried Mo Yao back to school. Fortunately, the school wasn’t far from the city center. It took only about half an hour to ride there, though they had to stop and walk at every traffic light. At that hour, traffic officers were still on duty at the major intersections, so Mo Yao had to keep his head down, afraid of being stopped. Even without a fine, being lectured would be embarrassing.

When they got back to school, Si Yuan went to the bike shed to park, and Mo Yao went ahead upstairs to the dormitory.

Chen Xinyong and Zhang Ziyu were there.

As soon as Mo Yao opened the door and walked in, Chen Xinyong said, “Why are you back so early?” He was surprised.

Mo Yao ignored him and walked toward his bed.

Chen Xinyong asked again, “Weren’t you celebrating Wu Jingyan’s birthday?”

Mo Yao glanced at him. “You seem to know everything.”

Chen Xinyong laughed awkwardly.

Just then, Si Yuan came in.

Chen Xinyong stopped talking, but even though he turned his face away, he kept stealing glances.

Si Yuan walked silently to the bathroom.

When the door closed, Chen Xinyong let out a short, mocking laugh. “What’s he wearing?”

Zhang Ziyu said, “Looks like a part-time work uniform.”

“Why’d he wear it back? So tacky.”

Mo Yao lifted his eyes. “What’s it got to do with you?”

Chen Xinyong froze.

Mo Yao added, “Mind your own business.”

The bathroom door opened. No one in the room spoke again. Each went through their routine and got ready for bed.

That night, Mo Yao couldn’t find his little black cat.

At first, he crouched and waited. He waited for more than half an hour, but the black cat didn’t appear. He couldn’t stay still any longer.

He crawled out of his shelter, stretched his front paws nervously, arched his back in a lazy stretch, sharpened his claws, and walked along the wall outside.

At first, he didn’t know where he was. After walking for a while, he realized the shelter was behind the girls’ dormitory, in a corner no one visited.

He walked aimlessly through the open campus. He looked around and meowed softly. He wanted to call for the black cat, but he was afraid a loud voice would bring other strays.

For a cat, the whole campus was enormous. He almost wandered through every corner, places he would never have gone as a student.

There was no sign of his little black cat anywhere.

It seemed to already be late at night. Mo Yao was hungry. He suddenly stopped walking and turned back, catching the smell of food from the grass by the roadside.

He pushed into the grass and saw a cage. The door was open, and there was canned cat food inside.

The food smelled so good. If Mo Yao had really been just a normal cat, he would have gone straight in to eat without a thought.

But he was a person. Even if he wasn’t a college student, even if he were an idiot, he would still know something was wrong with canned food inside a cage. He walked around the cage once, trying to see if there was any kind of trap. He only found a latch on the door. He couldn’t tell if it was connected to anything. He reached out a paw, didn’t dare to stretch too far in, and pulled it back.

He lifted his head and tried to find a stick nearby to knock the can out. He saw one that was long enough and jumped toward it, but the next instant, he lost consciousness.

When Mo Yao woke up in bed, the sky was already bright. It didn’t feel like he had woken instantly, but as if his soul had left the cat’s body, then slept again for a while before waking up.

So that night’s experience felt even more like a dream.

Mo Yao felt uneasy all morning. When he left the dorm for class, he didn’t even bother to eat breakfast. He went to the grass where he had found the cage last night, but it was gone. The cage was gone, and the cats were gone too.

But when he looked closely, he could see the grass was flat in a long rectangular shape, just like a cat cage.

Who was sneaking around catching cats at night?

Mo Yao’s expression turned cold.

When he lifted his head, he saw a bicycle parked by the road. He didn’t know when it had appeared.

Si Yuan sat on the bike, one long leg propped on the ground, his body tilted slightly as he looked at Mo Yao.

Mo Yao froze for a second and asked, “What?”

Si Yuan said, “What are you doing?”

“What’s it to you what I’m doing?” Mo Yao’s words were curt, but his tone was calm.

Si Yuan asked again, “What are you doing?”

Mo Yao didn’t answer. He asked instead, “Why aren’t you in class?”

Si Yuan said, “Waiting for you.”

“What are you waiting for me for?”

“You’re about to be late.”

Mo Yao checked the time. The first class really was about to start.

Si Yuan said, “You getting on?”

Mo Yao grabbed the back of his shirt and jumped onto the seat behind him.

Si Yuan didn’t say another word and rode toward the teaching building.

They did arrive a bit late, slipping into the classroom right as class began. The back rows were almost full. Mo Yao saw Zhang Ziyu wave and point at the empty seat beside him. He had clearly saved it.

On Zhang Ziyu’s other side sat Chen Xinyong. He didn’t look at Mo Yao, still sulking over what had happened the night before.

Si Yuan walked past Mo Yao without a word and went straight to an empty seat at the front.

Mo Yao hesitated, mouthed “thanks” to Zhang Ziyu, then followed Si Yuan to the front.

He sat down next to him.

At first, Si Yuan neither looked at him nor spoke. The teacher had already started the lecture when he suddenly said, “Why didn’t you sit in the back?”

“What?” Mo Yao didn’t understand.

Si Yuan kept his eyes on the blackboard. “Didn’t they save you a seat?”

Mo Yao said, “Didn’t you wait for me? That’s why you were late too.”

Si Yuan’s mouth twitched, barely enough to count as a smile.

During the break, Mo Yao got up and wandered through the teaching building. At night, the building would be locked, so he wanted to check during the day in case the two cats were hiding somewhere inside.

He couldn’t understand it. He had found every other cat, so why not those two? Could they really not exist at all? Were they only his dream or imagination?

Mo Yao went back to the classroom before the next class started.

Si Yuan was still sitting there, one hand supporting his cheek, looking absent-minded.

Mo Yao hesitated for a moment and asked, “Have you ever seen a black cat on campus?”

“Hm?” Si Yuan raised his brows.

Mo Yao said, “A completely black cat. And there’s also a fat gray one that’s usually with it, I think.”

Si Yuan didn’t answer. He only looked at him.

The teacher came back and continued the lecture.

Their seats were close to the front, so it wasn’t convenient to keep talking. Mo Yao opened his book and pretended to listen carefully, though his mind was far away.