Chapter 16 (1)

Real Sleep vs. Fake Sleep

Bo Ziren waited for a while before Cheng Jingbo finally returned. He patted her on the shoulder without saying a word, and when she turned around she found that he was carrying an umbrella.

He opened it up and walked her out into the rain. It sluiced over them, dripping down the sides of the umbrella, like long spools of thread. The wind caused some drops to fly at her from under the umbrella, misting her sleeves, reminding her leaves sprinkled with dewdrops on a silent morning. He was quiet as he walked beside her.

“How is your friend’s situation?” she asked cautiously.

“Not very optimistic. We will find out more during next week’s consultation.”

She didn’t dare ask for any specifics and was very afraid to hear words such as terminal illness. She was not adept at comforting others, so she just quietly observed his side profile. When she noticed the shadow that was forming under his eyes, she felt saddened, compelling her to say, “Don’t worry. Your friend will be healed. Good people are always safe.”

Upon hearing this, his face became puzzled and he let out a slight, “Oh.”

“I mean, with a friend like you, he must be a good person. That’s a given.”

His eyes brightened up in the rain, and it seemed her words were the cause of it. His mood immediately became lighter, and he angled the umbrella in her direction.

“Come here. Don’t get drenched.”

The road conditions were not so good as they drove back to her dorm. The continuous rain had produced a fog, causing traffic to become very congested. As the car stood waiting to move, Bo Ziren closed her eyes and decided to pretend she fell asleep, so she could digest the negative emotions more comfortably. After a while, Cheng Jingbo noticed her closed eyes, and asked, “Fell asleep?”

She felt her eyelids tremble, but she kept them closed. The temperature in the car was slightly higher than the temperature outside, making the whole atmosphere very cozy.

Because of this, she ended up falling half-asleep for the rest of the drive. She woke up when she realized they’d arrived but kept her eyes closed, her lids feeling heavy with sleep. She felt his presence get closer until a hand gently grasped her shoulder, and he softly called out her name. His voice was so nice that she became unwilling to move, greedily hoping to prolong the sound of his voice calling her. However, he became quiet, the hand on her shoulder slowly moved away, and everything became as silent as a breeze.

A long time passed before she secretly lifted her eyelids, stealing a glance at him from between her lashes. He’d lowered his head slightly, which made her feel strange. When she opened her eyes fully, he had closed his. She leaned towards him slightly, but he didn’t move.

She gingerly stretched out her fingers and pretended to accidentally touch the back of his hanging hand. Her heart throbbed in response.

She didn’t want to wake him, so she stayed where she was, silently wishing for time to slow down when he woke up so she could pretend he belonged to her during this brief moment of time.

While she sat calculating and fantasizing, she heard a slight rustle beside her.

She looked up and felt taken aback as she found his open eyes upon her, like two shining stars. He whispered to her, “That felt so real. Did you fall asleep?”

“Well, I suddenly got sleepy.”

“I thought you were just pretending to be asleep.”

“Why?”

She thought to herself that not even her acting seemed to escape his eyes.

“People who fall asleep don’t sit so upright. You looked like a student in class.”

Bo Ziren felt a little embarrassed. She didn’t have the courage to lie anymore, but neither was she embarrassed enough to confess her lie. She reluctantly flipped the topic onto him to try and escape her awkward situation.

“Then, were you pretending to be asleep?”

“I’m really tired, so I closed my eyes for a bit,” he said and looked out into the night. The rain had stopped, but the air was still misty.

“Go inside, I will sleep for a while before I leave.”

Bo Ziren wanted to say that she preferred to stay with him, but she didn’t think it was appropriate. She hesitated slightly before finally unlocking the door.

After walking a few steps, she turned around and saw that he had indeed gone to sleep in the car. She felt slightly worried and a little distressed, so she impulsively hid behind a telephone pole. She ended up standing there in the cold, waiting patiently for him to wake up. She didn’t leave her post until he finally stirred awake, started the car, and left.

Is there anything I can do to help him? She thought, but nothing came to mind. It seemed that even her subconsciousness had deemed his problem unsolvable if even he could not find a solution.