Scent

The consequence of insomnia was not waking up until nine the next morning. The blackout curtains were tightly drawn, leaving the room pitch black.

Xie Qizhi let out a yawn, his arm slowly stretching out from under the blanket. His watch lit up, displaying 9:02 AM.

He sat up abruptly, rushing to wash up and change out of his pajamas. Before he could even finish buttoning his shirt with his left hand, he hurriedly twisted the door handle.

A person appeared at the bedroom door. He was wearing a white T-shirt and grey sweatpants, looking very comfortable in loungewear. Seeing that he was awake, Ying Huai lowered his half-raised arm and slightly bowed his head, saying, "Good morning."

Xie Qizhi didn't reply. With a "bang," the door slammed shut again.

Ying Huai: "..."

Xie Qizhi returned to the bathroom sink, finished buttoning his shirt, and dressed himself properly. He dampened his hands and pressed down the stray hairs that were sticking up, smoothing them completely before stepping out again.

Ying Huai was no longer standing there.

With a "ting," the toast popped out.

Ying Huai placed the plate on the dining table and looked up. Someone who had just left their room was startled by the sound of the toaster.

Xie Qizhi first looked around. After determining the culprit was the toaster, he quickly stole a glance toward the dining table. His expression was like a wary squirrel; thinking Ying Huai wasn't paying attention to him, he walked over nonchalantly.

Today's breakfast was toast with butter, a fried egg, yogurt, and cherry tomatoes.

Xie Qizhi looked a bit suspiciously at Ying Huai sitting opposite him. "Did you prepare all of this?"

"No," Ying Huai said. "I'm only responsible for bringing the plates."

Huh? Xie Qizhi was stunned. Was there someone else here?

Ying Huai glanced at him and asked, "Didn't you see?"

From his nonchalant attitude, Xie Qizhi guessed a certain possibility, and his whole body became stiff.

A green plant by the sideboard blocked his view. He couldn't see if there was a third person in the kitchen. During these years apart, he had no way of knowing Ying Huai's relationship status—whether he was with someone else.

Xie Qizhi clenched his fingers. Even though he knew he had no right or reason to care, he still felt a void in his heart. He pursed his lips, pretending to be relaxed as he asked, "Who is it?"

Ying Huai propped his chin up and looked at him, gesturing for Xie Qizhi to turn around. "They're coming out."

Xie Qizhi turned his head. There was only a cool breeze blowing in from the balcony, swaying his light-colored hair.

Behind him, the furniture was silent, with no trace of a third person.

"Behind the kitchen counter, slightly to the left." Ying Huai guided Xie Qizhi's gaze.

Xie Qizhi didn't want to look, drooping his thin eyelashes and remaining silent for a few seconds. He looked up a bit sadly, only to hear his nonchalant voice, "Our house elf, Bunny."

It took Xie Qizhi two seconds to realize what the house elf Bunny was.

Some people, to justify their nonsense, would even casually name something non-existent.

Ying Huai took a sip of coffee and asked leisurely, "Aren't you going to say hello?"

"Say hello to what?" Xie Qizhi really didn't understand what he had been worried about just now. His blue eyes widened. "Ying Huai, you're so boring!"

Ying Huai looked at Xie Qizhi's angry expression, just like an irritated cat. His clear black-and-white eyes curved almost imperceptibly. He lightly tapped the table, giving a not-so-serious reprimand: "What did you call me? No respect for your elders at all."

Xie Qizhi ignored him, lowering his head to take a large bite of toast.

After taking his medicine with the meal, Xie Qizhi helped Ying Huai put the dishes in the dishwasher. It was 9:35 AM.

He really regretted wasting more than ten precious minutes on breakfast with Ying Huai. He should have just bought something at a convenience store. He had to meet his advisor at ten, and now he was almost late.

Xie Qizhi put on his backpack and went to find Ying Huai. He had just gone into the room to get his phone and was sitting on the small sofa by the large window, scrolling through messages he had missed for nearly a day.

When the phone vibrated, Xie Qizhi summoned the courage to call him, "Brother Ying."

Ying Huai looked up, pressed a button to stop the vibration, and asked, "What's the matter?"

"I have to go to school. I'm almost late."

Ying Huai replied, "Wait a moment."

Half a minute later, he said, "I've called a car for you. Go downstairs."

Xie Qizhi was stunned for two seconds. "Aren't you taking me?"

Ying Huai asked strangely, "Are you twelve? Will you get lost?"

Xie Qizhi found an excuse. "I don't know the way."

The phone vibrated a second time. Ying Huai glanced at it and said only one sentence, "The driver knows the way." He didn't look at Xie Qizhi again, answering the call: "I received the news. Go ahead."

Xie Qizhi looked at him for a moment, knowing that no matter what, he wouldn't take him. He turned and walked out.

The driver, wearing a suit, offered Xie Qizhi water and nuts. Xie Qizhi glanced at them and said expressionlessly, "I'm allergic. I'll die if I eat nuts."

The driver gave a dry laugh, realizing he was in a bad mood, so he didn't try to chat further. The whole way was silent.

Xie Qizhi looked at the office buildings passing by outside the window, wondering a bit blankly: *What exactly am I to Ying Huai?*

When he prepared breakfast for the two of them, joked about the house elf, and put aside an unknown call to listen to him first, Xie Qizhi thought he was just like the old days, very close to him.

But when he withdrew his nonchalant smile, ignored his questions and presence, and showed even a hint of refusal, Xie Qizhi couldn't help but be saddened by that distance.

So, the closeness in the early morning was actually just because he woke up in a good mood. Regardless of who sat there, he could casually tease them a bit; it had nothing to do with Xie Qizhi.

Even if there had been no third person in these years and Ying Huai hadn't had any relationships, Xie Qizhi himself was already a superfluous third wheel between him and his brother.

Otherwise, why was Ying Huai so tired yesterday but still listened to his brother and went to the airport to pick him up? Yet today, he clearly had enough sleep and nothing to do, but he couldn't ask him to take him to school?

Because in Ying Huai's heart, his brother held a much more important position than he did.

Xie Qizhi went to school to submit his military training exemption form. His brother had insisted the doctor write this note for him. Initially, he thought he was fine and could participate. But after the advisor understood his situation, she didn't dare take the risk.

In the office at that time, there was also a green-haired boy, a bit taller than Xie Qizhi, standing in front of the advisor with a somewhat sluggish posture.

He had arrived a few minutes earlier than Xie Qizhi. Seeing him enter, he blinked curiously. Xie Qizhi met his gaze and suddenly felt something familiar about this person's aura—upturned eyes, a smiling mouth, looking at everyone as if he carried three parts of a smile.

The advisor said, "In principle, you two can be exempted from training this month, but you cannot leave without permission during training hours; you must sit and observe. Additionally, the exemption only grants an average grade, which might affect your future graduate school applications or promotions..."

Leaving the office, the green-haired boy caught up and started a conversation with Xie Qizhi. "What illness do you have?"

The question was quite blunt, but Xie Qizhi's first impression of him wasn't bad, and he didn't feel offended. He answered simply, "Lung disease. Just had surgery."

Green-hair gave an "oh." After entering the elevator, he took a bottle of medicine from his pocket to show him. "Then we're quite similar. I have asthma."

Xie Qizhi glanced at the bottle. "I know. I've used that medicine before."

Green-hair lightly touched Xie Qizhi's shoulder, becoming even more enthusiastic. "Family! Back in middle school, I had an attack once, and everyone thought I was faking it and laughed. I almost died of anger before I even fainted... What about you? Have you met any other patients with the same condition?"

"When I was hospitalized in England as a child, I saw some, but we didn't interact," Xie Qizhi explained to him. "Patients being too close can easily cause cross-infection, making the condition worse."

Green-hair lamented, "Then people with this illness must be very lonely. Those who can be close don't understand, and those who understand can't be close."

Xie Qizhi smiled and said, "Exactly."

Leaving the elevator and the main building, the brilliant sunlight shone on Xie Qizhi.

Today he wore a short-sleeved Cuban collar shirt and knee-length shorts. His straight legs under the wide pant legs were so white they were dazzling under the sun.

Green-hair was stunned. His attention suddenly shifted from lung disease to Xie Qizhi's exceptionally striking white hair and blue eyes. He asked, "Is your hair natural?"

Xie Qizhi nodded.

"It's really beautiful. I couldn't get it like that even if I dyed it. But I'm not as white as you; it probably wouldn't look good on me." Green-hair asked again, "Are you mixed-race?"

Xie Qizhi wasn't sure either, so he casually made something up. "En, my grandmother was half-mixed, not sure if she was Russian or Nordic. I looked quite like her when I was little; it must be atavism."

Green-hair laughed "haha," joking that atavism also depends on genes; if it were him, he'd probably just revert to a monkey.

Passing by the cafeteria, he insisted on treating Xie Qizhi to a meal. At this hour, it was hard to tell if it was breakfast or lunch—truly the meal of a student with a healthy lifestyle.

Xie Qizhi shook his head, declining, "I ate at home."

"At home?" Green-hair asked in surprise. "Are you a day student? A local?"

"I've already handled the dormitory withdrawal procedures," Xie Qizhi told him. "I live at my brother's place now."

By the time Xie Qizhi realized he had forgotten to ask the green-haired friend's name, he was already back at "his brother's" house.

He poured himself a glass of water, carrying the ceramic cup through the living room, kitchen, dining room, balcony, and several open rooms to look around. Ying Huai seemed to have gone out; he wasn't home.

The owner wasn't present, so this was Xie Qizhi's territory.

Yesterday he had already patrolled his new territory; only one place remained unexplored.

He tiptoed to Ying Huai's bedroom door, his left hand on the handle, and called out, hiding his true intent, "Brother Ying, are you in there?"

"Ying Huai?"

"Brother Ying Huai?"

No answer.

Xie Qizhi gently twisted it, and the door opened.

Sunlight streamed through the large window, shining on the matte black wooden floor and the dark grey carpet.

Ying Huai's bedroom had a very simple style, without many redundant decorations. Only the bed was exceptionally large, with dark-colored sheets and a silk duvet spread flat. Xie Qizhi touched it; it felt as soft and light as flowing water.

*Is this the bed Ying Huai used after his family went bankrupt and had to cut expenses?* Xie Qizhi thought. *No wonder he was late for school every day in high school. If it were me, I wouldn't want to get up either.*

He stood up straight, walking to the large window to look down. The building was too high; the green planters and people walking below looked tiny.

On the nightstand were several books; the top one had "Spring Fills the Northern Country" on the cover. Xie Qizhi memorized the title, intending to buy a copy to read.

Entering the dressing room separated by a sliding door, he turned on the light.

Suits, coats, spring/autumn jackets, and T-shirts were hung neatly on the rack. On the cabinet were various men's perfumes from different brands. Each drawer he pulled out contained sunglasses, ties, and all sorts of Ying Huai's accessories.

Xie Qizhi looked at each item, casually taking a black denim jacket from the rack and trying it on in front of the mirror. It seemed very large; the hem reached down to his thighs.

He was a bit defiant and slid his arms into the sleeves. This time, even when he straightened his arms, only a small section of his fingertips was visible.

Xie Qizhi hugged the jacket, lowering his head to lightly sniff the back of the collar.

He smelled a very faint scent of perfume lingering on the jacket—a scent completely different from before, like a true adult man.

The fabric softener scent that Xie Qizhi once loved and missed, along with Ying Huai's high school days, had long since vanished.

He stood in the spacious, airy bedroom, looking at himself in the mirror, but what he felt clearly was the change that had come from Ying Huai.

Though it was only a small detail, its presence was remarkably distinct.