It wasn't even May yet, but the weather was already starting to warm up. Some days were so hot it felt like summer was about to arrive.

It was a rare day that Chen Chao wasn't studying. He was slouched in his chair watching a movie. Originally, he was watching it with Miao Jiayan and Ding Wentao, but later Ding Wentao went out to play ball with some people, and Miao Jiayan fell asleep.

After Chen Chao finished the movie, he turned his head and saw Miao Jiayan sleeping with his mouth slightly open, lying on his side on the bed in a position that looked uncomfortable. No matter who it was, anyone sleeping with their mouth agape like that would look comical.

Chen Chao chuckled, went to the bathroom, and when he came back, Miao Jiayan heard his footsteps and opened his eyes to look at him.

“Sleeping so soundly,” Chen Chao patted his leg. “Move in a bit.”

Miao Jiayan hadn't taken off his shoes, so his calves were hanging off the edge of the bed. When Chen Chao said that, he kicked off his slippers and scooted further in.

Chen Chao got on the bed. His phone had a mess of messages from who-knows-where, and he leaned against the headboard, looking through and deleting them.

Miao Jiayan was half-asleep. He changed positions, closed his eyes, and fell asleep again. The bed wasn't very wide, and occasionally when Chen Chao moved his arm, he would touch his face. Miao Jiayan was a light sleeper; the touch to his face would wake him. He'd open his eyes for a look, then close them and go back to sleep.

He was sleeping so comfortably that Chen Chao, who wasn't sleepy at first, started to feel drowsy just from watching him for a bit.

He tossed his phone onto the desk, gathered up the long hair that had fallen on this side of the pillow, placed the bundle on top of Miao Jiayan's head, and lay down as well.

A light breeze blew in intermittently from the window. Chen Chao got cold in his sleep and moved his arm to rest against Miao Jiayan.

Miao Jiayan groggily opened his eyes to look at him. Chen Chao frowned, let out a soft “mmph,” and curled up his legs. Miao Jiayan propped himself up, pulled the blanket down to cover Chen Chao, and then went back to sleep.

Miao Jiayan was soft. He was like a piece of cloth, like a cup of water. He could always gently envelop Chen Chao's sharp edges and preserve them properly. At the same time, he relied on Chen Chao. If Miao Jiayan was a tender, delicate sprout, then Chen Chao was the rock beside him, shielding him from the wind.

This dependence was mutual. After three years, even though Chen Chao was someone who disliked clinginess, in the last two months of middle school, he still showed a great deal of reluctance to leave this place, to leave his grandparents, and to leave Miao Jiayan.

At night, after Miao Jiayan finished his homework and was about to go home, Chen Chao yawned and said, “Don't go back. Just sleep here.”

“Ah,” Miao Jiayan didn't refuse. He turned around and came back, saying, “Okay.”

The weather wasn't cold anymore, so Miao Jiayan could sleep on the floor again. Sleeping on the floor was actually very comfortable, a different feeling from sleeping on a bed.

When Chen Chao came back from his shower, Miao Jiayan was already lying down on the floor pallet. Chen Chao plopped down, leaned against Miao Jiayan's bent legs, and tilted his head back to rest on Miao Jiayan's knees.

“Miao'er,” Chen Chao called him.

Miao Jiayan said, “Yeah.”

Chen Chao asked, “Who's going to take care of me after I leave?”

Miao Jiayan chuckled and said, “By then, you should be dating. Ding Wentao says everyone dates in high school.”

“What does that have to do with anything,” Chen Chao said, baffled. “Besides, even if I were dating, no one would be taking care of me. It'd be good enough if I wasn't taking care of someone else.”

“How would you take care of someone else?” Miao Jiayan couldn't imagine it. “My Brother Chao only knows how to find fault.”

“I won't take care of anyone,” Chen Chao said with a look of disinterest. “And I won't date either.”

Miao Jiayan didn't say anything, just smiled.

“You shouldn't date recklessly either,” Chen Chao said to Miao Jiayan after a moment.

“Date what?” Miao Jiayan asked innocently.

“A relationship,” Chen Chao said.

Miao Jiayan quickly said, "I... I won't."

“Don't date here,” Chen Chao shifted his neck, finding a more comfortable position, and said to Miao Jiayan, “This place is too small. You need to go see the outside world, and study hard.”

“You’re from the outside world,” Miao Jiayan said softly, lying there with his gaze lowered to look at Chen Chao. “You’re different from the people here.”

Chen Chao said, “At most, I’m just a kid from the outside.”

Miao Jiayan didn't speak. The hand resting by his side twitched, as if he wanted to touch Chen Chao's hair, but in the end, he didn't.

It always rained during the transition from spring to summer. The rain was so heavy that even school was canceled.

Miao Jiayan's birthday was on May 15th. The year he was born, this day had also been a rainy day.

This year, it happened to be a torrential downpour again. The wind was strong, and it knocked down a utility pole in the village. A whole section of the village lost power, and with the rain, it was impossible to do repairs. The power was out from the afternoon all the way through the night, leaving the house pitch-black. Grandpa lit a lot of candles, and Grandma cooked noodles and rolled hard-boiled eggs for him. Normally, they would order a small cake from town every year, but it had been raining for the past two days, and the cake shop in town wasn't open.

Chen Chao opened the window and shouted for him, and Miao Jiayan came running over, pulling his raincoat around him.

Grandpa Chen and Grandma Chen were already lying down, ready to sleep. Miao Jiayan hung his raincoat by the door and felt his way upstairs in the dark.

“What is it, Brother Chao?” Miao Jiayan asked as he pushed the door open.

“Sleep here tonight,” Chen Chao said. “The thunder is too loud, I'm scared.”

Miao Jiayan immediately burst out laughing. “Stop teasing me.”

“It's true,” Chen Chao said again. “Listen to the sound the wind is making, it's scaring me. And with the power out, it's so dark.”

Miao Jiayan couldn't stop laughing. Chen Chao said, “It's scary, stop laughing.”

“Alright, alright,” Miao Jiayan said while still laughing. “I’ll sleep here tonight. I'll go downstairs to bolt the door.”

“Let's go together.” Chen Chao stood up as well.

Miao Jiayan had grown up in this kind of environment since he was little. A power outage in the countryside during a windy, rainy night was indeed quite terrifying, but Miao Jiayan was surprisingly brave in this regard, just like how he wasn't scared when watching horror movies.

After bolting the door, on the way back upstairs, Miao Jiayan held onto Chen Chao's wrist the entire time, leading him up.

“Watch the steps,” Miao Jiayan reminded him gently. “Don’t miss one.”

Chen Chao walked very carefully. The blackout on a rainy night made it completely dark. Fortunately, his eyes had already adjusted to the darkness, so he could more or less see a little.

There were at least two candles in the room. Chen Chao closed the door and let out a breath.

Miao Jiayan didn't dare to laugh out loud, only daring to secretly curve the corners of his mouth.

The wind outside was blowing wildly, making the windows rattle and creak.

Miao Jiayan sat down on the edge of the bed. Just as he was about to speak, his hand brushed against something.

He felt it; it was a carrier bag.

“Take it back with you,” Chen Chao said to Miao Jiayan, sitting at the desk by the candles.

“What is it?” Miao Jiayan asked in surprise.

“Consider it a birthday present,” Chen Chao said. “Brother Chao is leaving soon, this is for you.”

Miao Jiayan reached in and felt around. It was another bag.

“Why are you giving me something...” Miao Jiayan blinked. “Aren't you leaving after the exams?”

Chen Chao found him fussy and said, “I never said I was leaving tomorrow.”

Miao Jiayan fell silent, sitting on the edge of the bed holding the hard-shelled carrier bag, dazed.

Chen Chao originally wanted to look at him, but in this weather, coupled with the meager light from the two candles in the room, with Miao Jiayan's pale face and long hair, to be honest, Chen Chao was a little afraid to look at him.

Miao Jiayan reached into the bag and felt around again. He also looked down into it, but couldn't see clearly.

“It's a dress. Stop feeling it,” Chen Chao said.

Miao Jiayan's eyes slowly widened, his expression filled with disbelief as he looked at Chen Chao.

Chen Chao turned away for a second then immediately turned back, saying, “Don't look at me like that, you're scaring me.”

Miao Jiayan asked in a small voice, “Why... did you buy me a dress?”

Chen Chao said, “For no reason. There is no why.”

Miao Jiayan lowered his head, looking like a very well-behaved child as he hugged the gift.

“Did you buy it for me?” Miao Jiayan asked again.

“I couldn't have bought it,” Chen Chao said. “I had my mom bring it last time. Stop keeping your head down.”

Originally, Chen Chao wouldn't have been this scared. It was also Ding Wentao's fault for getting so many horror movies, so now he subconsciously got the creeps whenever he saw that kind of long, straight black hair.

Miao Jiayan had no choice but to raise his head and face Chen Chao.

Chen Chao: “...”

Chen Chao: “Don't look at me either.”

Miao Jiayan didn't know what to do. In the end, he used the small elastic band on his wrist to tie up his hair.

It instantly looked much neater. Chen Chao's entire body, even his nerves, seemed to relax quite a bit.

“Thank you, Brother Chao,” Miao Jiayan's voice was small and soft.

Chen Chao casually patted his head as usual and said, “You're welcome.” He continued, “It doesn't matter what other people say. Pants are comfortable, dresses are pretty. Wear whatever you like to wear, it's no one else's business, right?”

Miao Jiayan didn't speak, just looked at Chen Chao, his lips slightly pursed.

A sudden gust of wind blew outside, rattling the window. Chen Chao took his hand off Miao Jiayan's head and placed it on his own leg, taking a deep breath before saying, “Stop looking at me. Why don't you go to sleep.”