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“Hey! Is anyone out there? Hey! Anyone?!”
Shu Yi could feel his heart racing as he took in the situation. After a night of small scares, he is now locked in the infirmary with none other than the very face he used to loathe to see.
He bangs on the door again. “Help!”
“Aren't you tired of screaming already?”
Baka!
“Can’t you now see our situation?!”
Shu Yi gestures around the room while he explains. “We are locked in here. What if there is a fire? Huh? How would we get out? How would they know to check this room for us?”
“Calm down. They have people patrolling the building. I'm sure some person will come by eventually. Besides, staying here wouldn't be that bad.” Shi De says as he casually roams around the room. He is calm and at times cocky. If Shu Yi could throw darts with his eyes, Shi De would surely be a dead man at the moment.
Before he can form a comeback, his stomach announces the need for food. He had not given thought how they would find food. Great. Trapped and hungry with none other than Mr First At Everything. What else could go wrong? The past several weeks have been no less than torture. Between seeing Yu Xin holding hands with Zheng Wen, and spending every waking moment with Mr First Place, life was miserable.
Shi De manages to find some food. Where it came from and who it belongs to are not of Shu Yi's concern at the moment. He will not admit he is grateful for the small act of heroism, lest Shi De’s ego inflates to the size of the room.
After many rounds of rock paper scissors, they manage to finish a single bowl of noodles. Shi De won 2 rounds, they tied 5 rounds, and Shu Yi won 2 rounds. Not that he was counting. He's sure somehow Shi De cheated to make them tie so many times.
What he is counting, though, are the hours till dawn when they can leave. He knows if he slept the night would go quicker, but how could he possibly sleep with the faint sounds of people screaming? Every scream makes him jump. Could this night get any longer? He thinks of Yu Xin and Zheng Wang and how he's probably protecting her, has his arm around her to shield her from what could be around them.
I need a distraction.
“Gao Shi De, move your bed closer. We can talk.” Not that Shu Yi wants to hear Shi De’s voice. Not that he noticed how comforting and calm it has been at times he needed it- like when the door handle broke.
No.
He was hoping Shi De’s deep voice would bore him to sleep.
“Let's talk about….hmmm, what kind of person do you like?” If Shu Yi is lucky, Shi De will talk for the next hour all about the person he likes and Shu Yi can pretend to listen, while hopefully falling asleep.
“You really want to know about that?” The deep voice skeptically responds.
“Well, you call me a friend, right? Don't friends discuss such things? (The word friend slipped out way too easily for Shu Yi’s liking- like it's almost true) You know who I like. It's only fair I know about your special person.” Good come back, Shu Yi, he congratulates himself.
But instead of focusing on sleep, Shu Yi finds himself attentive and listening. Shi De goes into detail about his special person and Shu Yi tries to picture the person he's describing.
“Wow, you even like his bad points. He is that special to you? Your only love?”
Shi De answers but Shu Yi is too focused on the way his shoulders slightly slump and the way Shi De's eyes suddenly avoid his. This love seems to hurt Shi De. His own heart pricks. Maybe that's how Shi De saw him looking when he spoke of Yu Xin.
He hears Shi De continue to speak about this special person. He notes the good things Shi De likes about him.
“When are you going to tell him your feelings?”
It's an honest question, but it leads to others in Shu Yi’s mind. What will he think about you having an errand boy? Would he be jealous of the time we spend together? Who will help me with my broken heart?
As the conversation continues, the bed creaks with Shu Yi flipping and flopping- sleep nowhere in sight. The conversation doesn't sit well. It causes Shu Yi to have more questions and his mind to focus on his own recent heartbreak. Maybe some music will help.
“Gao Shi De, sing for me. I usually listen to music before I fall asleep and obviously I am without it tonight.”
Shu Yi stares at the ceiling. What he was expecting was a child's lullaby or a song of comfort, something a mother would sing to their children. What he hears …
A love song? Really? At a time like this? This idiot really is in love! All he can think about is this special person!
“That sounded good.” Shu Yi suddenly says, hoping the sudden interruption will cause Shi De to choose another song.
“Go on.” He meant, go on and keep singing, by choosing another song. But what he gets is…
Well, it made him close his eyes and really listen to the voice of the one singing. Instead of heartbreak and questions, his mind begins to fill with music notes. He imagines himself at the black piano. He can almost feel the keys under his fingertips. Without thinking, he taps his fingers to the beat. His breathing and heartbeat slow to match the beat of the song. He imagines he feels the keys. They start cool but turn warm. Hard, but turn soft. The melody is…comforting. His fingers slowly stop tapping. In the brief moments before sleep overtakes him, he realizes he was not tapping keys as he imagined, but the arm of the one in the other bed.
As quick as that realization hits him, his hands feel warmth spreading over them. Rough fingers slowly caress his fingers once…twice…then sleep comes. And with it, a peace his heart hasn't known before.