When his roommate crossed the finish line, he was panting like an ox. Pei Ran quickly handed him some water.

His roommate leaned on his knees to catch his breath for a long while before looking up and laughing loudly, "I won! I beat the guy from the Computer Science Department!"

Pei Ran hummed, "That's amazing."

His roommate was pleased with himself for a moment, then remembered to ask, "What place did I get?"

Pei Ran said, "Second to last."

"..." His roommate's face scrunched up, but he quickly got over it. "Whatever, as long as I didn't lose to the Computer Science Department."

After registering his results, the roommate remembered something and said, "You seem pretty close with Yan Zhun? I saw you guys chatting near the finish line just now."

"He's Luo Qingshan's roommate," Pei Ran said.

His roommate had a sudden realization. "Ah, I get it. He's here to play peacemaker."

"..."

Pei Ran thought for a moment and decided not to refute it.

His roommate quickly said goodbye to Pei Ran to go cheer on his girlfriend. Pei Ran found a corner by himself to warm up for the 3000-meter race in a bit.

The 3000-meter race wasn't actually difficult, but some of the boys in their class were too lazy to exercise, and some outright refused to participate in the sports meet. One by one, they all resisted going. When Pei Ran signed up, a few people even came to persuade him not to.

He did a few leg stretches, staring blankly at the ground.

For the past half-month, because his father wasn't home, he hadn't really gone for his morning runs to train. He did a trial run yesterday. He finished it, but he was a bit slow.

'I'll try to be faster today.'

When Luo Qingshan found Pei Ran, he was doing high knees in place.

He was doing them very seriously. The taut lines of his bent leg were smooth and beautiful.

Luo Qingshan watched for a long time before he could bring himself to call out to him, "Pei Ran."

Pei Ran's movements paused. He turned his head to look at him, then slowly lowered his leg. "Is something wrong?"

"You're participating in the sports meet too?" Luo Qingshan was stung by his polite tone and tried to control his own. "What event did you sign up for?"

"The 3000-meter race."

"What a coincidence, me too." Luo Qingshan nervously licked his lips. "Want to warm up together? I can massage your legs for you."

Pei Ran shook his head. "No need, I'm almost done."

Pei Ran lowered his eyes, looking at Luo Qingshan's right hand hanging by his side.

Sensing his gaze, Luo Qingshan quickly raised his hand, spreading his five fingers for him to see. "Did you see the message I sent you? My finger has recovered these past few days. It doesn't hurt anymore."

Luo Qingshan's right ring finger was different from his other fingers. Although normal movement was no longer affected, if you looked closely, you could still see a thin, slightly distorted line.

Pei Ran used to often hold his finger and stare at it blankly, his touch incredibly gentle, each time feeling as if he were stroking Luo Qingshan's heart. As he spoke, he subconsciously extended his hand in front of Pei Ran.

Pei Ran didn't touch him.

"That's good." Pei Ran averted his gaze and looked up at him. "If there are any after-effects in the future, or if you feel any discomfort, be sure to call me. I will take full responsibility."

Luo Qingshan suddenly felt his throat go very dry. He withdrew his hand and gave a bitter smile. "Okay."

It wasn't until Pei Ran turned and left that Luo Qingshan realized the other hadn't even said a word of encouragement to him.

He frustratedly ran his hands through his hair twice and sat down on a nearby stone bench to play on his phone. He had already finished his warm-up long before finding Pei Ran; he had just been looking for an excuse to talk to him.

After those few sentences, Luo Qingshan became even more certain of his thoughts—he had to win Pei Ran back.

This was even more difficult than he had previously imagined. Luo Qingshan hesitated before opening the chat with the first friend on his list. Su Nian had sent him several messages in a row, asking what time his race was and saying she wanted to come cheer for him.

Luo Qingshan opened Su Nian's profile, his finger hovering back and forth over the block option.

But then he thought again, what did it matter if he blocked him or not? He didn't like Su Nian, so even if they were friends, he wouldn't cheat.

Besides, Su Nian... was actually very good to him. It didn't seem very kind to block him unilaterally.

[Luo Qingshan: Don't come. If Pei Ran sees you, he'll misunderstand us again.]

[Su Nian: ...]

[Su Nian: Okay, then good luck with your race. If you run into Pei Ran, help me apologize to him.]

[Su Nian: If you need anything, just call me anytime. I'm always free :D]

His phone vibrated again. Luo Qingshan exited the chat and saw that it was a message from Pei Ran.

He immediately perked up and shot up from the stone bench—

[Babe: My phone number hasn't changed, 134xxxxx, contact me anytime if you need anything.]

Luo Qingshan was so excited he even typed a few typos: What's wrong? I've never forgotten your number.

He read it over twice before hitting send.

[The other party has enabled friend verification. You are not their friend yet...]

Luo Qingshan was stunned by the red exclamation mark.

His eyes widened in shock. He sent a few punctuation marks in a row as if to confirm, and finally confirmed the fact—

Pei Ran had blocked him.

-

Pei Ran was the last one to register for his class. By the time he was done, everyone else was already at the starting line, ready to go.

Luo Qingshan stood in lane five, looking at him anxiously. When he saw Pei Ran coming over, he subconsciously wanted to walk over but was held back by the person next to him, who grabbed his clothes.

"Hey, it's about to start. Don't wander off."

Pei Ran squatted down and retied his shoelaces.

The side of the track was crowded with people, most of them secretly looking at Pei Ran.

Many people at school knew him. First, because his academic performance in his major was outstanding, and he was often used as a positive example by his advisors. Second, because everyone knew he had a boyfriend.

These days, homosexuality was accepted by most young people. Their gazes toward Pei Ran held no disgust or aversion, but more of exploration and curiosity.

Even so, Pei Ran still felt uncomfortable.

The sound of the starting gun interrupted Pei Ran's thoughts. He rushed past the starting line, and the cool wind blowing against his face finally made him feel much more at ease.

The 3000-meter race was nearly eight laps. Pei Ran counted as he ran. Halfway through the fifth lap, his breathing was still steady, but he had fallen behind a little in the rankings.

Pei Ran couldn't help but glance back. Thankfully, he wasn't in last place.

When he turned back around, he heard someone beside him exclaim, "Watch out—"

Before Pei Ran could react, he was bumped into hard.

He was in the leftmost lane. A student from the spectating crowd had somehow stumbled onto the track and collided solidly with Pei Ran. Pei Ran had been running with force, so he was knocked directly to the ground, seeing stars. His arm burned with a fiery pain.

Pei Ran frowned and quickly propped himself up.