CHAPTER 11: Add a bit more belly fat 1122:20. Study Room. Ah Xin sat to my left, with Monster and Yida behind me. I started to feel sorry for myself for having lost my phone in such a stylish manner. My sympathy wasn’t for the phone breaking into four pieces, but for the hassle of re-entering so many contacts, which was truly exhausting. Holding the new MOTO A890 that Monster had given me with both hands, I diligently started to input everyone’s new numbers. Little Monster, Little Ah Xin, Little Yida, Little Qi Qi, Little Ah Yao, Little Kang Xi, and even Little E LIAN… I find the word “little” to be very endearing, so I used it repeatedly, making everyone appear cartoonish and pure in my phone. With my head down, playing with the silvery-gray phone, Ah Xin, I don’t know when he started, propped his face with his hand, tilted his head, and stared intently at my ears. At 10:30, the building administrator played revolutionary songs on time to clear the room. Most people began packing their bags with serious expressions, walking out of the classroom. Winter had arrived; how far could the final exams be? Yida’s and my desks were cluttered with all sorts of odd shapes and thick textbooks. Monster, with his brows furrowed, was researching at what angle the skyscraper windows above the 25th floor should reflect sunlight to avoid light pollution in the city. And then there was Ah Xin, the most carefree of all, who only needed to turn in a few sketches to pass his final exams! So, during this long, beautiful self-study time, he was leisurely crossing his legs, reading—”The Legend of the Giants”? When I couldn’t stand the “loneliness” of the books and glanced over at him, he would always proudly flip the olive-green cover of the book towards me—as if to say: “The Legend of the Giants, get it?!” He would also stretch in a way that made me incredibly envious, yawn widely, lie down lazily to sleep, or slump in his chair looking out the window for an hour and five minutes. Now, he had somehow found something interesting on me, staring at my ears, possibly for another hour and five minutes?! “Why do your ears look like braised pig ears?” he asked, tilting his head. “Your description is quite poetic,” I said. His gaze focused, he said seriously, “Judging by the swelling, it must be from talking on the phone for too long.” “Not bad, pretty smart!” “Yeah, because there’s one more idiot in the world now.” “Being an idiot isn’t so bad.” I said calmly, though I was nearly bursting with anger inside. “Ah Xin, why do you always pick on Little Yu?” Monster stood up, packing away his drawing tools. I grabbed onto this lifeline, indignantly saying, “Yeah, Monster even bought me a new phone, what about you? You just mock and sneer, like an old gossip, why don’t you go host a Taiwanese variety show?” “Monster chose the phone, but I paid for it,” he said, lifting his chin towards me, like a director watching his actors fall into place. I was speechless; my arrogance was deflated. I could only sullenly say, “Oh, really? How great.” “Oh, just worship me, no need to throw yourself at me.” “Really? But it seems like Little Yu really likes Ah Xin.” I forced a smile, my heart inexplicably fluttering. “Ah? Please don’t say that, Monster would be heartbroken!” He quickly waved his hands. I was stunned, not knowing why I was stunned. “Monster is so good to you, you should acknowledge him as your godfather, right, Monster!” Ah Xin nodded towards Monster, and I didn’t dare to turn around to see Monster’s expression in response to this absurd question. “But the consequences of recognizing a thief as your father, you’ll have to bear yourself.” He said with a serious face, and I couldn’t help but burst out laughing, both amused and annoyed. “Wen Ling Xin!” Monster finally used his deep voice, unique to his role as the student council president, grabbing a meter-long, three-decimeter-wide ruler, jumping onto the desk with the poise of Chen Chong on a snowy night, confronting some adversary! Ah Xin rolled up his large book, nimbly dodged out of his seat, and ran out of the classroom with a chuckle. Monster chased after him, caught him, and dragged him to the window, attacking his lower body. Ah Xin, laughing and in pain, refused to beg for mercy. Their laughter spread freely, and I couldn’t help but laugh too, thankful that the classroom was nearly empty, or we might have been killed by glares. It had been a long time since I laughed like this; happiness seemed so distant, buried under many stories. “You look better when you smile than when you don’t,” Yida said with a smile, quietly helping me to gather my scattered textbooks and notes. “Ah?” I said, tonight’s atmosphere was strange. I always felt the study room had an eerie atmosphere. Yida’s smile was also nice, showing his two white rabbit teeth, his sideburns naturally falling, making his face look sharper, like a beautiful boy from the brush of Tomohon Yokonari, clean and comforting. “But you have more flavor when you’re not smiling,” his voice deepened, like a midnight piano piece. So, whether I smile or not, I’m quite charming, huh? “What major are you going to choose?” Yida asked, reminding me that next semester, the design department would split into three majors: interior design, fashion design, and interior decoration. “Interior design,” I said. “Why?” “Because I want to design window displays, to arrange theme products.” “Do you have a favorite theme product you’d like to arrange?” “Perfume.” Yida sniffed, smiling, “Perfume?” I nodded vigorously. A girl like me, who never uses perfume, choosing interior design because of perfume?! Yes, perfume. Because my mom is a perfume designer. Mom, such a distant word; I always wanted to do something to prove that I still had some connection with this family. My neck was buried in a high-necked sweater, clutching my books, walking between these three big boys. The road back to the apartment seemed less long. The trees on both sides were bare, emphasizing the slender path. In life, how many people can accompany you? Would the person who supported you yesterday still be by your side today? We kept walking forward. How many emotions can last forever? Who knows, who cares? “Hey! Can you focus on walking? Can you drop that shell on your back? Walking with such a lost look, like…”
“Did the three of us big men SM you or something?!” Ah Xin spouted a bunch of nonsense like machine gun fire. This guy with a foul mouth, I really wanted to kick him into the North Atlantic Current. Does this man worry that I might be too happy one day, making him restless? I looked up at him, pouting hard, pretending to be angry. Is this mischievous and glib guy the same one who drew those melancholic sketches, the one who writes those sorrowful columns? Ah Xin, what kind of person are you? You seem so cynical on the surface, but what do you truly think in your heart? Is there someone you deeply miss before sleep, someone you remember earnestly during the time it takes for a flower to bloom or the minute hand to tick? “Why are you looking at me like that? That look of yours can be misleading, you know?” He scolded me earnestly. Oops, I zoned out again. I quickly lowered my head, fearing that a moment’s hesitation would allow the sharp-witted Ah Xin to notice my fleeting blush under the dim streetlight.
