“It’s the kind of liking you feel for a friend. It’s not the same as how I like you.”
Dong Yin explained seriously. She was sensitive enough to feel that something was off with Xie Mingjun’s mood, but she didn’t dare think too much about it, afraid she was just overthinking.
After all, what fell from the sky was only rain, not some corrosive acid.
When they reached the dorm entrance, Dong Yin habitually reached for her backpack strap. Her fingers paused. She turned her head to look outside, suddenly anxious.
Xie Mingjun was standing at the door with an umbrella, clearly not planning to come inside. She looked at Dong Yin.
“What now?”
“I… I lost my backpack.” Dong Yin stammered.
“Backpack?” Xie Mingjun glanced at her shoulder. Sure enough, no sign of the black strap.
Normally, wherever Dong Yin went, she had that black backpack with her. It was just some thirty-yuan thing she’d bought online, gray, nothing special.
“Just buy another one,” Xie Mingjun said.
“No… there are books in it. And my laptop. I’ll go to the dorm and grab an umbrella.” Dong Yin wanted to go back and look for it.
“What are you going to look for now?” Xie Mingjun frowned, looking like she really didn’t want to escort her anywhere.
“I’ll ask Lu Hanqiu and the others,” she said. “Maybe you left it in the car.”
“I remember hanging it on the chair at the barbecue stall,” Dong Yin said earnestly. She’d even reminded herself at the time to grab it before leaving.
But then the rain had suddenly come pouring down, and she’d completely forgotten about it.
“I’ll go get it. I have an umbrella in the dorm,” Dong Yin said.
“I’ll ask Lu Hanqiu first,” said Xie Mingjun.
Dong Yin picked up her phone, ready to check the group chat. Then she thought that might not be appropriate, so she just clutched the phone tightly and waited for Xie Mingjun.
While sending the message, Xie Mingjun still couldn’t help snarking at her.
“At least you didn’t lose your phone.”
Her tone had a faintly mocking edge. Dong Yin didn’t know how to respond, so she just watched her tap on her screen. A moment later, Xie Mingjun looked up.
“Okay. Lu Hanqiu says your bag’s with her. The barbecue stall owner saw it, called them, they drove back to get it. She’ll bring it over when she has time tomorrow.”
“Great—thank you so much.” Dong Yin let out a breath of relief and added, “And help me thank your friends too. And thank them for treating us today.”
“Mm.” Xie Mingjun’s response was faint. “Didn’t you also buy milk tea? That wasn’t cheap either, twenty-two a cup. Almost the price of a dessert.”
She stood in the dorm lobby doorway, shaking the umbrella so the water pattered loudly on the floor. The rain was getting heavier. No stars, no moon, just black sky and sheets of rain that made the night feel gloomy and a little sinister.
Then she lifted the umbrella again and stepped into the pitch-black, rainy night.
Dong Yin walked a couple of steps after her. She’d originally wanted to see her off. She craned her neck and peered outside, but all she saw were a mess of colorful umbrellas. There was no way to tell who was who.
Her dorm key was in her backpack; she’d need to go to the dorm manager to get the spare. And if the backpack really couldn’t be found, she’d have to apply to have the lock cylinder changed.
New lock, new keys—it all added up.
Now that the backpack had turned up, Dong Yin could finally relax. She opened the door, went to return the spare key, then took out her phone to scroll through the group chat.
In the group:
[Xie Mingjun]: “Did you guys see Dong Yin’s backpack?”
[Chu Ning’an]: “No, what’s up?”
[Xie Mingjun]: “Check the car.”
[Chu Ning’an]: “Still nothing. Could it be at the barbecue stall?”
[Chu Ning’an]: “We almost got nailed for DUI just now, fuck. They poured a ton of beer into those crayfish, no wonder they smelled so good. Good thing Lu Hanqiu has a brain and didn’t eat any. Don’t drive when you head back, okay? It’s pouring out there, be careful.”
After that, there were no more replies from Xie Mingjun.
And no one else said anything either.
Dong Yin read it carefully a few times. Nowhere did Lu Hanqiu say the bag was in the car.
So… Xie Mingjun had lied to her.
Just then, a few of her roommates came back. They looked at the open door, then at Dong Yin, who’d run back.
Ying Qiongxue frowned.
“Why’d you go out without closing the door? Aren’t you afraid we’ll lose stuff? The room next door just said they lost money a few days ago.”
Her voice was loud, and since their dorm was on the first floor, the sound stretched and echoed down the corridor. Everyone on the floor could hear her.
Dong Yin’s head was still full of her bag. She retorted, “I was standing right outside. And the dorm manager’s security cameras are on. How would anything get stolen?”
“You still need to be careful. You can’t just blindly trust people.” Ying Qiongxue kicked the door and muttered a couple of things under her breath.
Before, Dong Yin would never talk back to her. She’d just lower her head and listen, tongue-tied, mumbling a stuffy apology.
But today she’d actually talked back, and that made Ying Qiongxue very displeased. It made her itch to pick a fight with Dong Yin.
Sometimes people are just that petty. She only had to look at your face to decide she didn’t like you and wanted to bully you. That alone made her feel good.
Now that Dong Yin had pushed back, Ying Qiongxue felt even more uncomfortable.
As soon as she got in, she started rummaging through her things like crazy, as if determined to find out that something was missing. She even egged everyone else on to check their stuff. She was making a huge deal out of nothing.
The other roommates had planned to ignore her, but after watching her dig around for so long, they started to worry and began checking their own things as well.
Dong Yin had already been anxious. Hearing Ying Qiongxue say she’d lost some expensive lipstick made her even more on edge. She grabbed her phone.
“Did you really lose it? If you did, I’ll call the campus security.”
Ying Qiongxue shut her mouth.
“Keep looking,” Dong Yin said. “See if there’s anything else missing.”
Ying Qiongxue didn’t want to say anything anymore.
Dong Yin turned around and squatted down to fish her umbrella out from the storage box under the bed.
“Enough, enough,” Ying Qiongxue said. “Is that really necessary? I didn’t lose anything, okay?”
Dong Yin had actually been planning to go look for her backpack.
For some reason, hearing that made her feel a weird, guilty sort of delight. She’d never argued with anyone before, and this was the first time she’d actually “won.”
The other roommates stopped her too.
“Forget it, don’t go bother the dorm manager. Ying Qiongxue just runs her mouth, there’s nothing missing so just let it go. Listen to the thunder and lightning out there. Go take a shower and sleep early.”
True enough, it was pretty terrifying outside, all thunder and lightning. Dong Yin didn’t dare go out. She thought she’d wait until the rain got lighter, or at least until the thunder and lightning stopped. But unfortunately, the rain never let up.
Lying on her bed, she tried to comfort herself.
It’s fine. It’s just a backpack.
She could buy another one later, or just use a tote bag. She still had a cloth tote in her drawer. The books weren’t that important either; she’d already finished the courses. She could buy new copies online or borrow them from the library.
If she went back to the stall early tomorrow, maybe she could still find it.
And besides—she’d just argued with Ying Qiongxue and come out on top. That was something to be happy about.
The process still felt awful, though. Like exposure therapy. She had to keep reassuring herself, or she’d spiral into more and more pessimism.
She ended up sleeping late. Her roommates left for class without waking her.
She only woke when someone started hammering on the door, loud enough to make it bang.
Dong Yin climbed down from the bed, opened the door, blinked—
And saw Xie Mingjun.
Her hair was slightly damp, the cuffs of her black wide-legged pants soaked. She’d clearly come through the rain.
Just one look, and Dong Yin knew the rain still hadn’t stopped.
At first, she was a little dazed. She thought she might still be dreaming. Why would Xie Mingjun come knocking on her door again?
“Zoned out?” Xie Mingjun’s voice was a little hoarse.
“N-no. No. You’re here so early… is something wrong? You, you should come in, my roommates all went to class.”
Dong Yin opened the door wider for her.
But Xie Mingjun didn’t step inside. She stood in the doorway and lifted her hand. She was holding a bag with a backpack inside.
“Lu Hanqiu asked me to drop this off.”
A sudden itch pricked at Dong Yin’s throat. She stared at her.
After a couple of seconds, impatience flickered across Xie Mingjun’s face. She tossed the bag at her.
Dong Yin quickly reached out with both hands, catching it and hugging it tight. It was heavy with books and a laptop.
She let out a small grunt at the impact.
“Thank you,” she said.
Her backpack was back?
Had Xie Mingjun gone and found it for her?
Dong Yin looked at her carefully. Brows lowered, expression impatient, face slightly pale. After a moment, she turned to leave.
Hugging the backpack, Dong Yin quickly rubbed her face and said, “Wait for me. I’ll just get changed.”
She rushed back inside to change and wash up. By the time she ran back out, Xie Mingjun was already gone.
Dong Yin sighed and blamed herself for waking up too late.
It was still raining that morning, showing no sign of easing up. The sky was dark and heavy, the wind howling in gusts that made the tall trees outside thrash and groan.
September was almost over; the chill of autumn was coming. Judging from past years, this kind of rain would probably drag on and on.
How was Xie Mingjun supposed to get over a cold quickly like this?
Dong Yin picked up her phone to check the group chat. No activity at all. They only really started talking in there when they were too lazy to switch to a different chat while gaming. Right now, everything was dead quiet.
Her worry gnawed at her. Before long, she thought of Zou Yuxi.
Just yesterday, he’d messaged her asking for help with some tasks. He was shooting videos lately, to feed his starving fans, and this rainy spell was perfect material.
Dong Yin sent him a message:
“I just heard someone say you might have come down with a cold. If you went to take care of her now, you two would probably make up faster.”
Zou Yuxi replied very late, probably still asleep at this point. So Dong Yin texted him again, then called him on WeChat and kept ringing until he picked up.
Three minutes later, he sent a voice message. His voice was lazy and rough, the sound of someone who’d stayed up way too late and was nowhere near fully awake.
“She caught a cold…? Ugh. Okay. But I really can’t make it today. I didn’t get enough footage, and the rain’s perfect for reshoots. I’ll order delivery and have someone run medicine over to her later.”
“That’s not really good enough,” Dong Yin typed back. “It’s better if you go in person. Having medicine delivered feels kind of insincere. You might as well pretend you don’t know she’s sick.”
Silence on the other end.
Then her phone rang. On the call, Zou Yuxi sounded helpless, sighing nonstop.
“Hey, Dong Yin. I really don’t have time, you have to believe me. How am I supposed to explain this to her…”
Of course she knew he was busy. If he weren’t, she wouldn’t have said anything.
Dong Yin rested her chin on her hand, tapping the desk with her finger.
“Th-then I’ll go for you,” she said.
“You’ll go?” He sounded surprised and forced himself a little more awake. “Can you? It’s pouring, and she lives pretty far.”
“Mm… I still have a thesis and a translation to work on…” Dong Yin paused, falling silent long enough that Zou Yuxi cut in.
“If it’s not convenient, forget it. I won’t trouble you.”
“Do you really want to get back together with her?” Dong Yin asked.
He might say no, but of course he did.
Before, Dong Yin had been too clumsy to notice. Now she was painfully sensitive.
She hummed softly.
“I’ll bring my laptop over. I’ll take care of her for you, and I’ll tell her you asked me to go.”
“That’s not really fair to you… It’ll waste a ton of your time.” He still sounded hesitant.
“There’s nothing unfair about it.”
Dong Yin really, really wanted to go take care of Xie Mingjun. She wanted to go so badly.
She was sure it was because of her that Xie Mingjun had caught a cold—because she’d gone to retrieve that backpack for her.
After that, Zou Yuxi sent over the address.
Dong Yin hung up.
She checked the address on her map app. It wasn’t actually that far—just one bus ride away.
She changed her shoes, grabbed her umbrella, and headed out. At the door, she went back for her backpack and slung it over her shoulders.
She even adjusted the straps to sit a little higher. No one else would notice that today, her backpack was a tiny bit different.
But this was the backpack that Xie Mingjun had found for her.
Whether anyone else noticed didn’t matter. What mattered was that this was her own little joy, something she could brag about to the whole world if she wanted.
It was enough that today’s dark clouds and pouring rain knew.
After getting off the bus, she followed the navigation on her phone. The gated community needed an access card to enter, but her luck was good—right as she got off, she ran into an auntie holding a child and struggling with her bags.
Dong Yin helped carry some of the things and slipped into the complex with her.
When she reached the unit where Xie Mingjun lived, her heart suddenly started pounding. She took a deep breath and knocked.
No answer.
She pressed the doorbell.
This time, the door opened. It was Xie Mingjun.
She had one hand on the doorknob. When she saw it was Dong Yin, her brows furrowed.
“I’m here,” Dong Yin said quickly. “Hi, Xie Mingjun.”
Her face was a little pale. She wore a long gray sleep shirt and looked exhausted. When she spoke, her voice was hoarse.
“What are you doing here?”
“You didn’t look so good this morning, so I came to check on you,” Dong Yin said nervously, fingers twisting together. “Can I come in? I brought some medicine.”
She glanced at the bag in Dong Yin’s hand. While she was looking, Dong Yin wedged the tip of her shoe into the doorway. They stood like that for two, three minutes before Xie Mingjun finally opened the door wider.
Dong Yin slipped inside with the bag.
Only after closing the door did Xie Mingjun seem to think of something.
“How do you know where I live?”
The place was decorated beautifully, a fully furnished three-bedroom with a spacious living room. There was a blanket thrown over the sofa; it looked like she’d just been sleeping there.
Dong Yin stood on the doormat by the door. The floor inside was spotless; she was embarrassed to just step in with wet shoes.
“Should I change into slippers?” she asked.
Xie Mingjun nudged a pair of clean slippers toward her with her foot. They were green, the same style as the ones she was wearing, just a different color.
Dong Yin changed her shoes and walked over to put the medicine on the coffee table. Only then did she answer the earlier question.
“I asked Zou Yuxi.”
“Zou Yuxi?”
“Mm.” Dong Yin nodded. “He’s really trash, honestly. I told him you were sick and he still won’t come take care of you. He just has to go shoot his stupid videos. So gross. You’re clearly not a priority to him at all.”
“Good thing I remembered your address,” she went on. “Otherwise I wouldn’t have found the place. I really thought you lived far away from campus.”
“Hmm. It’s this close, and he still won’t come?” Dong Yin muttered, genuinely puzzled.
She’d really thought the apartment would be far. Now that she knew it was this close, it would be so much easier to come hang out with her in the future.
She was turned away from Xie Mingjun as she spoke, her cheeks a faint pink. By the time she finished setting things down and turned back, her expression looked perfectly normal again.
“Thank you for bringing my backpack this morning,” she said.
“You talk a lot,” Xie Mingjun said. She leaned back against the sofa with the blanket over her legs, looking miserable.
Dong Yin still had so much more she wanted to say. Stuff like, “Your boyfriend is trash. Unlike me—I want to take care of you.” Or, “Let me take care of you, I’m way better for you than he is.”
Listening to her babble on, Xie Mingjun finally said, “You’re really annoying.”
Dong Yin answered quietly, “Okay.”
Annoyed is good. If she’s annoyed enough with Zou Yuxi, maybe she’ll like me instead.
In a small voice, she added, “What would you like to eat, Xie Mingjun? I could make you some congee, if you want. I’m really good at cooking congee.”
Xie Mingjun didn’t respond. She sat there for a while, then lay back down again.
“Do whatever you want,” she said. “Make anything, I don’t care. Just don’t bother me. My head hurts.”
Dong Yin nodded. She stopped talking and simply walked over, reaching out to touch her forehead, then her own.
Not hot. Probably no fever.
Xie Mingjun didn’t want to acknowledge her, pretended not to notice, too lazy to move.
Dong Yin squatted by the sofa, watching her sleep. Even with her eyes closed and her brow relaxed, she hadn’t lost that sharp-edged presence. Her face always carried that touch of cold beauty and distance. The harder it was to reach, the more you wanted to conquer it and claim it.
The longer she looked—
The more Dong Yin wanted to kiss her.
As long as she didn’t say anything… sneaking one kiss should be fine, right?
