"Do you know that guy?"Xiao Hui probed as they entered their apartment.
"No,"Li Yunxi replied nonchalantly.
"He's quite interesting,"Xiao Hui remarked and walked away.
"I'll continue with my essay and you?"Li Yunxi spoke at his retreating friend changing the subject.
"I can't think of anything to write right now. We just came back from the club aren't you tired?"
"Today we came back early. It's only half past midnight."
Each walked into their own room. The apartments in the place had differing sizes. Some were equipped with extra rooms. The amount of tenants intending to rent a house influenced the apartment you'd be allocated . Since Liu Daxun had intended to rent alone he had a one bedroom apartment while the two bartender friends rented a larger apartment to accommodate the two of them.
Being a student,Li Yunxi had his own study table in his room. Piles of different books,files and pamphlets were neatly arranged on the table with a rocking chair placed at the center for convenient access to the learning materials. He grabbed a half written foolscap from his set of files and settled down to write. As he flipped the pen with his fingers,he stared blankly at the foolscap,his thoughts wandering to the new raven haired boy who had just moved into the neighbourhood. He noticed before and this time too- the boy's beauty was ineffable and it got him staring more than he should. He seemed drawn to him and found it hard to not think about him.
Was it because of how unimaginable their first encounter was?
He could still hear the sound of his moans from that day replaying in his head. The image of the boy's slightly parted swollen lips out of which beautiful sounds came out suddenly became clear in his head.
Li Yunxi shook his head in attempt to get rid of the thoughts about the boy. With his busy schedule,he had to concentrate and finish writing his essay. He skimmed through the content he had written earlier, contemplated for a while and in a few minutes,he began to jot down the points trying his best not to indulge in irrelevant thoughts.
*****
Liu Daxun adjusted his running watch on his wrist as he walked hurriedly towards the door. It was just a few minutes past six- time for his morning run. He was already dressed in a fleece shirt and a water resistant jacket on top since it was already winter. He wore thermal running tights with knee length shorts on top. His hands were covered with warm gloves and his head was covered with a beanie to keep it warm.
Liu Daxun crouched down to pick his favourite running shoes from the shoe rack. He scrutinized the shoes for a while before he noticed the shoes had developed another damage on top of the others. The original colour of the shoes had dulled,the threads holding the shoe together were slightly frayed and now he noticed the slightly detached soles.
The shoes were a gift from his favourite uncle and he was unwilling to part with them. But with their condition,he would probably have to purchase another pair of shoes. He wanted to wear them but he was afraid the soles would completely come off while running on the icy tracks and it would be troublesome and even more embarrassing given that he wouldn't be the only one running at the field.
He glanced once again at the shoe rack which was mostly occupied with Gu Shan's shoes. He noticed three new pairs of branded sports shoes. He thought of borrowing a pair and so he walked towards the couch where his friend was lying deep in slumber. He shook him lightly and to his surprise Gu Shan stirred awake squinting his eyes open to check out the source of the disturbance.
"Morning,"Liu Daxun smiled brightly.
"Morning,"Gu Shan replied in a sleepy voice.
"Can I borrow your sports shoes?"
"Sports shoes?"Gu Shan repeated as if the words sounded like a foreign language and he couldn't decipher the meaning."Oh! Pick any from the ones on the shoe rack,"he finally said and drifted back to sleep.
"Thanks,"Liu Daxun said as he excitedly walked back to the shoe rack.
He examined the three pairs of sports shoes and each pair was clean and spotless,even the sole maybe Gu Shan hadn't even worn them. Given that Gu Shan wasn't athletic in nature,he must have definitely bought the shoes for fun or they were some gift from someone and he couldn't just throw them away. The shoes were all of high quality and the designs were appealing to the eye that Liu Daxun found it hard to pick one. When he heard a knock on the door ,a signal that time was running out and his running partners were waiting for him ,it coerced him make a choice in haste. He slipped his covered feet in the pair of sports shoes he had chosen and walked out of the room.
His running companions were none other than the two bartender friends. The trio occasionally went on morning runs together. The bartender duo were dressed in warm clothes too only that they were wearing sweatpants instead of tights and shorts like Liu Daxun.
"Let's go we're already late,"Xiao Hui instructed and they all turned on the heel to leave.
*****
On reaching the campus running paths where they jogged in the morning,they switched into competitive mode where they raced against each other before coming to a halt to catch their breaths. Xiao Hui opened his water bottle and took a sip before handing it to Liu Daxun who was in high demand for the colourless liquid. The temperatures were low but still their foreheads glistened with sweat droplets.
"That friend of yours...,"Xiao Hui began hesitantly,"Was he still sleeping?"
"Yes. He's not a morning person."
"Great shoes by the way. They must be expensive,"Xiao Hui complimented his eyes examining every single detail of the shoes.
"They are my friend's,"Liu Daxun replied lightly.
"Your friend looks rich,"Xiao Hui said casually.
"He doesn't look rich he's filthy rich but prefers to keep a low profile," Liu Daxun corrected.
"Sounds familiar. He must be some fourth or fifth generation heir of some goddamn prestigious company disguising as a humble knight,"Xiao Hui commented and chuckled at his own words.
"He never talks about his family much but I know he has a little sister - thirteen years or something,"Liu Daxun explained.
"You guys must be course mates, right?"
"Yes."
All that time Li Yunxi had been listening intently as the two talked about the boy. With his growing interest towards the boy,he couldn't help but jot down details about him in his memory creating his own mental diary about the boy.
"Hey guys, let's go,"Li Yunxi suddenly spoke up and began jogging away rendering the two to watch him in surprise.
"I've never seen him this excited,"Liu Daxun said expressing his curiosity.
"I just got a call this morning from the club. We have a day off so we'll be available even at night. I guess that's why he's happy."
"When do you guys have your lecture tomorrow?"
"At noon,"Xiao Hui confirmed,"Why do you ask?"
"Maybe I can come to your house for a movie night?"
"Sounds great. Bring your friend over so we can introduce each other properly,"Xiao Hui said and began jogging away. Liu Daxun jogged after him and they both caught up with Li Yunxi who was brimming with vitality, jogging in delight.