But Su Jinning didn't seem to care, and even got up and spun him around: "Look, how do I look in these pajamas?"
Shen Moyu secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Perhaps Su Jinning's only redeeming quality in this life is her ability to change the subject.
Shen Moyu also wisely looked over. His clothes seemed to fit him quite well, though they were a bit too big, but that didn't affect his appearance.
Shen Moyu watched him dry his hair with a towel and couldn't help but laugh, "I never thought that this pajama set that's been sitting at the bottom of my drawer for so many years would come in handy with you."
Su Jinning turned to look at him, her eyes darting around with a mischievous glint in them, then pointed to herself with a smug look and said, "How about it, don't I look like your dad?"
"Damn it!" Shen Moyu punched Su Jinning in the stomach, his expression instantly changing. He said sarcastically, "There's no sun here, you'd better not sunbathe."
"Damn it! You just punched me and you still hit me!" Su Jinning rubbed her stomach, pouting aggrievedly.
Shen Moyu picked up a bath towel, turned around, and sneered: "I should have crippled you if I had known."
"Tch!" Su Jinning waved her fist at the air behind him to show her dissatisfaction.
It's a single bed after all, so it's a bit cramped for two tall guys who are both 1.8 meters tall to lie together.
They stood back to back, minimizing unnecessary physical contact.
The room was eerily quiet. Su Jinning stared at the door with her eyes open, her mind wandering to all sorts of things. She had been so sleepy just moments before, but now she couldn't fall asleep.
Shen Moyu wasn't much better off; his ears, which were plugged in with earphones, were already in excruciating pain. He took them off and put his phone aside.
Looking out at the darkness, I started to let my mind wander.
Are you asleep?
Are you asleep?
...
"No."
"not yet."
...
"What's wrong?"
"What's wrong?"
"Tsk!"
"hiss!"
Faced with four sentences spoken in unison, they turned to look at each other's blurry silhouettes in the night and burst out laughing.
"What great teamwork, top student!" Su Jinning laughed, staring at the ceiling.
"It's just a coincidence." Although Shen Moyu said this, he couldn't suppress the smile in his voice.
"If you can't sleep, let's chat." Su Jinning put her hands behind her head and closed her eyes.
"Okay." Shen Moyu adjusted to a comfortable position and agreed.
"Where did you go to high school?" Su Jinning asked curiously.
Shen Moyu was taken aback at first, then closed his eyes and lowered his voice: "Eighth Middle School".
"Huh?" Su Jinning turned around in disbelief, pouting, "You really dare to go to that school? I heard there's a lot of bullying there. Anyway, I really look down on that place."
Shen Moyu turned around and continued to face away from him, burying her face in the blanket: "Hmm, that place is not good at all."
He said this in a very calm tone, as if he were having a normal conversation.
Memories of her time at No. 8 Middle School flooded back in an instant. Shen Moyu gripped the corner of the blanket tightly, trying to suppress these unpleasant memories.
In the darkness, Su Jinning couldn't see his expression or notice anything amiss. She continued the conversation: "I remember Gu Junxiao was from there before, but he transferred in the second semester of his first year of high school. Did you know each other before?" He turned to look at Shen Moyu's back, waiting for his reply.
"I don't know you!" Shen Moyu suddenly opened his eyes, and his whole body trembled as his tone rose.
Su Jinning exclaimed in confusion, finding it rather odd. She said, "There are only three or four classes per grade at No. 8 Middle School, I thought you knew each other."
"I don't know him." Shen Moyu softened her tone as she spoke, afraid that he would notice something was wrong.
Seeing that his voice was getting softer and softer, Su Jinning assumed he was sleepy, so she stopped talking and scratched her head, preparing to go to sleep.
"When did you two meet?" Shen Moyu asked softly as Su Jinning closed her eyes.
“We? Back in junior high, right?” Su Jinning recalled something carefully, then slapped her thigh and said, “Right, right, in the third year of junior high, he was cornered by a group of people in the backyard of No. 8 Middle School. I had a fight with my dad at that time, and I had nowhere to vent my anger. Seeing those people bullying me, I went up to help. That’s how we met.”
Shen Moyu turned slightly, and the sound of the bedding rubbing together caught Su Jinning's attention. He turned his head and glanced at it, then added, "It's quite strange."
Shen Moyu asked in confusion, "What's so wonderful?"
"What a coincidence!" Su Jinning said, letting out a long breath. Before Shen Moyu could react, he leaned closer and said, "We are too."
Shen Moyu looked up. Even though it was pitch black all around, he could still feel someone's slightly intense gaze. He looked up as well, his voice even softer: "Why are we the same?" He wanted to hear Su Jinning's deeper answer.
"For example, I never expected that I would be lying here with you talking about these things." He spoke the last sentence very slowly, turning his whole body to face Shen Moyu.
His tone was like water at ninety degrees Celsius, just about to boil, with a low fever; it sounded calm and collected, but there were undercurrents surging beneath.
At this moment, the sound of their breathing fluctuated.
Shen Moyu laughed, buried her face in the blanket, and didn't give any further reply, only saying casually, "Good night."
"Good night." Su Jinning didn't ask for a reply, closed his eyes, and felt a sense of peace.
--------------------
Author's Note:
This chapter has some memorable quotes.
Do I look like your dad?
"I don't have the sun here, so don't let it shine on your face."
Chapter 24 Wish
Sunday's weather remained bad, with rain pouring down and pounding against the windows. But this didn't disturb Shen Moyu, who was still fast asleep in bed. He was simply too tired; he had been busy all day yesterday and had gone to bed too late.
But the spot next to him was now just a neatly folded stack of blankets and cold bedding.