Lin Yiyang didn't stand up straight, lowering himself to match her height.
He tilted his head, catching the scent of perfume on her jaw and neck—a light, sweet, fruity fragrance. He was exhausted. The train ride took nearly four hours, and when combined with the time spent waiting for trains, buses, and subways, a one-way trip totaled about six or seven hours.
Spending twelve or thirteen hours commuting every weekend was almost enough time for a direct flight back to China.
With his eyes closed, his sense of hearing became more acute.
He could hear the people inside the pool hall still discussing his match with Meng Xiaodong. Someone had even grown interested enough to ask the temporary referee about the rules of snooker, wanting to try a frame.
The owner had found the disc Lin Yiyang had burned for him and put on a song: "Years of Friendship."
Boys of Lin Yiyang’s generation were the last to be influenced by the *Young and Dangerous* films, catching the tail end of that era. Back when he was working part-time, he had curated a collection of all the movie soundtracks for the owner out of his own personal preference.
Listening to the music, he slipped the lighter into his trouser pocket.
Amidst the melody, someone asked, "Lin’s private room is empty anyway. Can we use it?"
The owner replied, "He already gave word—no one uses it except his girlfriend."
Yin Guo felt as though his chin was practically resting on her shoulder.
"Can I hug you?" he asked in a low voice.
...
The question made her heart soften, yet she deliberately whispered, "No."
Her voice was very soft.
He caught her tone and smiled, tilting his head to look into her eyes.
If a gaze could burn, Lin Yiyang’s would have.
Two young men came around the corner, laughing and chatting as they headed toward the pool hall.
Because Lin Yiyang and Yin Guo were leaning against the left side of the doorway, the men took a wide step to avoid them. Unfortunately, the entrance wasn't wide, and the two fellows were tall and sturdy, making a collision inevitable. Yin Guo felt someone kick the heel of her shoe and politely moved forward half a step. This time, she was truly leaning against him.
Lin Yiyang chuckled. "You said 'no,' yet you're leaning into me?"
Despite his words, his right hand remained perfectly behaved, doing nothing at all.
A breeze blew against her face and hair, feeling cool.
"It’s too narrow here," Yin Guo said, quickly withdrawing her hand.
She turned around to look at the food truck. "How about... we get a hot dog?" She had been staring at the owner for what felt like a century; it was only right to give him some business.
Her palms were slick with sweat—his, and her own.
Seeing that the girl was reaching her limit of embarrassment, Lin Yiyang stood up straight and called out to the owner’s son, asking the boy to bring out his jacket. The kid delivered it immediately, as if he had been hiding behind the door just waiting for this errand.
"I'll take you to Koreatown," he told Yin Guo.
They didn't take the subway this time; he had called a car to pick them up.
As luck would have it, while the car was passing through a street in Manhattan, they ran right into a massive protest. The road was completely gridlocked.
The driver asked Lin Yiyang if they wanted to take a detour or just walk.
Lin Yiyang paid the fare, and he and Yin Guo stepped out of the taxi. Along both sides of the road stood many police officers, holding bundles of zip ties and batons, keeping watch over the area. Yin Guo had encountered such things abroad during the day, but facing a dense, dark crowd at night, marching past with various banners, made her feel a bit apprehensive.
"I ran into this twice the last time I was here. It was a protest against a police shooting," Yin Guo whispered. "What is it for this time?"
Lin Yiyang didn't particularly care. "They happen all the time. The reason is different every time."
Some were fine—for instance, the Independence Day parades were quite a spectacle. Others were trouble. When he first arrived, he had run into one in San Francisco; it was also winter, and once night fell, it turned into a violent incident of brawling and looting.
Although the safety level in Manhattan was high, it was already late, and he didn't want Yin Guo staying here long.
With people on all sides, Lin Yiyang guided her in front of him, placing his hands on either side of her arms as they walked slowly forward. In this position, he could shield her from the people to their sides and behind them, and his height allowed him to see the path ahead clearly.
This street was usually crowded, but now it was a bottleneck.
Yin Guo walked across the crosswalk, moving against the flow of the crowd on the main road who were hoisting banners. The scene ahead began to grow chaotic as people started backing away to clear a path. Lin Yiyang looked toward the next intersection; it looked like a physical altercation had broken out.
His voice came from beside her right cheek. "Turn right. Let's take another way."
Before they could turn, the crowds on both sides began to panic. Yin Guo cried out as someone stepped on her foot, and then her left shoulder was heavily jolted by a collision.
Lin Yiyang grabbed her, pulling her toward the exterior of a restaurant.
He was clever; he didn't try to run through the streets. Instead, he found a corner that wouldn't be easily swept away by the crowd, pushing Yin Guo against the wall. With her back to the street, he used his own body to wall her off from the passersby.
Yin Guo’s back was pressed against the grimy outer wall, her nose touching his shirt pocket.
Because she was so tense, her throat ached, and even her ears felt a dull pressure.
Through the layer of fabric, he could feel that the area over his heart was warmer than the rest, heated by her breath.
Behind him, people kept slamming into him, rushing fast and hitting hard. Lin Yiyang felt a dull pain in his lower leg—he had either been kicked or hit by something. He didn't even flinch, merely keeping his head turned toward the main road to judge if the situation would escalate. If it got worse, they couldn't stay here.
Fortunately, it was only a small-scale disturbance.
The startled pedestrians scattered, and new passersby, oblivious to what had happened, continued walking as if nothing had occurred. "It's okay," he said to the girl in his arms. "There was a fight up ahead. It's no big deal; those people running were just scaring themselves."
He let her go.
Yin Guo’s field of vision opened up. She looked back with lingering fear; the procession was still moving forward.
"Let's... just go to this one?" She pointed to a modest restaurant across the small street. "Let's just eat here."
Lin Yiyang nodded. He moved to put his arm around her but thought better of it. Instead, he gripped her right arm, keeping her close as he led her diagonally across the street, past some curbside trash, and pushed open the glass door.
It was a cheap local diner, filled with locals.
The owner behind the register saw Lin Yiyang hold up two fingers. After confirming there were two of them, the owner took two menus and led them to a four-person booth against the inner wall.
The menus were dropped on the table, and another person came to take their order.
Yin Guo’s heart was still racing, and she was out of sorts. Lin Yiyang pointed randomly at a few items. "Chicken wings? Fries?"
"Um, okay."
"Pasta?" He remembered she had specifically treated him to it once, so she probably didn't hate it.
"Yeah."
"What shape? The shape of the noodles?"
Yin Guo looked at him blankly, her mind still drifting. Under the bright, yellowish lights of the noisy little diner, in this second—after having been pinned against a wall, her face pressed against his heart for protection, and then being led across a street while he held her arm...
Looking at his face and those eyes, her mind began to wander, her face began to flush, and she realized, with a delayed shock, that she had completely fallen for him.
"They don't have many types here. There's long and thin, flat, macaroni, spirals, or lasagna."
"Macaroni," she chose, thinking the word sounded nice.
After Lin Yiyang told the server "macaroni," Yin Guo realized: *Wait, that's not right. I hate macaroni the most.*
This meal was the worst she had eaten since arriving for the competition.
Yet, it was her and Lin Yiyang’s first official date. When the pasta arrived, it looked unappealing, but the portion was three times what a normal restaurant would serve. The wings and fries were the same—massive quantities.
No wonder Lin Yiyang had only ordered those three things and some drinks.
Yin Guo struggled through a third of it before finally putting down her fork and taking a large gulp of her drink. It was truly terrible.
Lin Yiyang had been watching the whole time. Only when she set down her glass did he ask, "You like it that much?"
He had finished all the chicken wings—not because they were delicious, but because he didn't want to waste food. He had naturally gauged the quality of the restaurant.
"Yeah," she couldn't bring herself to praise it without violating her conscience, so she pointed insincerely at her glass. "This lemon tea is good."
The only passing grade for the entire meal.
His eyes were so beautiful, as were the bridge of his nose, his mouth... his jawline and face shape were practically perfect.
He was tall, and even his messy hair looked good—to say nothing of how he looked now, clean-shaven and with his hair styled. Why hadn't she noticed how exceptionally handsome he was before? No wonder Meng Xiaotian kept calling him a "total hunk."
Yin Guo bit her straw, her gaze shifting from his to a spot on the wall beside him where the plaster was peeling, staring at it intently.
"I thought it was mediocre, not to my taste," he said. "I'll have to get something edible when we get back."
"You know how to cook?" Her gaze snapped back.
"Not really. Simple things are okay," he replied, picking up the check to pay.
When they arrived home, Wu Wei had already laid out a table full of late-night snacks. He gave Lin Yiyang a fierce glare and shoved the receipt at him. Once Lin Yiyang realized the chicken wings at the restaurant were subpar, he had messaged Wu Wei to prepare a second meal.
However, Yin Guo was stuffed from the dinner macaroni and couldn't eat much; her cousin and Wu Wei ended up devouring everything.
Back at the apartment, under the watchful eyes of two extra people, they didn't have much contact. Halfway through the snack, Yin Guo’s coach called. she went to her room to report on her training progress. By the time she came out, Wu Wei was already cleaning up, and Lin Yiyang happened to be on the phone with a professor, so they missed each other again. Before bed, they exchanged a few cryptic words and went to their respective rooms to shower.
It was only when they were alone in their rooms that they had a chance to exchange a few messages.
Xiao Guo: *Are you going back tomorrow?*
Lin: *Yes.*
Xiao Guo: *Morning? Afternoon?*
Lin: *Same as last week.*
That was good; she wouldn't wake up to find him gone.
Xiao Guo: *Goodnight, see you tomorrow.*
Lin: *Night.*
They said their goodnights and turned off their phones, but she couldn't sleep.
At 3:00 AM, after several failed attempts to summon the Sandman, Yin Guo gave up completely. She sat up and scrolled through the club’s large group chat and the small 9-ball group.
It was afternoon back in China. Everyone was in the middle of training breaks, discussing various tournaments with heated enthusiasm.
The biggest upcoming 9-ball event was this Open. In the group, everyone was cross-checking their arrival times in New York.
Over the next three days, everyone would arrive. The juniors would compete next week, while her tournament would be the week after—a week-long event in early April, after which she would return home.
Knowing it was sleep time for Yin Guo, no one spoke to her directly, except for Coach Chen, who had left a WeChat message two hours ago.
Coach Chen: *I’ll arrive at the airport tomorrow afternoon, if there are no delays.*
Coach Chen: *Once I arrive, you’ll move into the hotel. The room is already arranged. We need to adjust your training plan and prepare for the matches. We’ll talk in detail when we meet.*
Move out?
That made sense. She had to move eventually.
When they first rented this apartment, this had been the plan. Although the room was rented until the end of April, that was just to give Wu Wei a way to settle things with the landlord, as short-term rentals weren't ideal.
So, at most, she would be moving out after this weekend or early next week.
She looked up at her bedroom door, lost in thought.
There was light coming from under the door. Who was in the living room? She tried a tentative WeChat message.
Xiao Guo: *Are you asleep?*
There was no reply, so it probably wasn't him.
She turned off her bedside lamp. Just as her head hit the pillow, her phone vibrated on the nightstand for a second. She immediately sat back up and checked it.
Lin: *Just saw this.*
Xiao Guo: *So you’re outside?*
Lin: *Yes.*
Lin: *In the living room. Coming out?*
Yin Guo tossed her phone aside, threw on a tracksuit jacket, and crept to the door. She gripped the brass handle and pressed down. Just as a crack appeared, she felt the door being pushed open.
A tall shadow stepped inside, pulling the door nearly shut behind him. He didn't close it fully to avoid the sound of the latch.
"Your cousin," he whispered.
Soon, the sound of shuffling slippers passed Yin Guo’s door, coming close and then gradually fading.
"Why’s the light on?" Meng Xiaotian muttered in a half-asleep daze, turning off the living room light before closing his own door.
Lin Yiyang silently closed the door behind him.
She hadn't turned on her lamp, the curtains were drawn, and there was almost no natural light.
In the darkness, Yin Guo stood before him, even having the illusion that he could hear her heartbeat. He probably couldn't; theoretically, it was impossible... Lin Yiyang was wearing a white tracksuit, likely changed into for sleep, as she hadn't seen it earlier.
Both of them waited for Meng Xiaotian to return to his room so they could speak without being overheard.
After about five minutes of this lingering, the footsteps returned and then vanished again.
Yin Guo breathed a sigh of relief and asked softly, "Not asleep yet?"
"Looking for medicine." He hadn't noticed while showering, but halfway through his sleep, he felt uncomfortable. He got up to check and found that the spot where he’d been hit while shielding her from the crowd had a patch of skin scraped off.
"Are you sick?" Her heart tightened.
Lin Yiyang held up his right hand to show her; he was holding ointment, gauze, and a stack of adhesive bandages. "Just a small wound."
Lin Yiyang pointed to the small sofa by the window. "Is it okay? Can I sit there?"
"Come in, quickly." She moved to turn on the main light.
Lin Yiyang caught her hand and pointed to the bedside lamp.
Following his lead, she switched on the small lamp.
Lin Yiyang had already sat down in the tiny, soft sofa, placing his supplies on the floor. His pant leg was rolled up, revealing the injury. This was his first time entering this room, even though Wu Wei had been renting the place for a long time.
The small sofa was something Yin Guo had bought when she moved in. It was cheap and could hardly be called a "sofa"—it was more of a large floor cushion. It was fine for her, but Lin Yiyang was a man, after all; sitting in that dark red cushion looked slightly comical.
Yin Guo knelt beside him, using the light to examine the wound. It wasn't deep, but it was a long scrape, looking as though something sharp had sliced through the fabric. She frowned and asked softly, "How did this happen?"
"Scraped it on the train," he lied, picking a random location.
"You’re only noticing it now?" He was far too careless, considering it had been since the afternoon.
"It didn't hurt, so I didn't notice."
It looked painful to Yin Guo.
He had already applied the ointment in the bathroom before looking for her.
Lin Yiyang figured the wound wasn't deep enough to need gauze, which would be a hassle with trousers. He wanted to use a few bandages, mainly to protect it while traveling tomorrow; once he was back in D.C., he could take them off, and it would heal in a day or two. He peeled off a few bandages and, by the lamp light, considered how to apply them horizontally.
"I'll help you," Yin Guo whispered, still kneeling there.
When he didn't respond, she looked up in confusion, her face illuminated by the bedside light.
Lin Yiyang was looking back at her because of those words.
*I'll help you.*
He hadn't heard those words since he grew up.
No one ever had the chance to say them to him, and he had never needed them.
***
