It was late. Most of the dorm building had gone quiet, the kind of quiet where you could hear the hallway lights buzz and the wind tapping against the windows.
Xiao Shuai was on his bed, headphones in, scrolling something on his phone, bare feet tangled in his blanket. The room was dim, just the desk lamp casting a soft glow across his face.
Cheng Yu sat at his own desk but wasn't doing anything. Just watching.
"You're staring," Xiao Shuai said without looking up.
Cheng Yu smiled faintly. "Am I?"
Shuai finally looked at him, one earbud falling loose. "Yeah."
There was a pause. A silence with weight.
"I used to hate nights like this," Guo Cheng Yu said quietly, eyes still on him. "Too quiet."
Jiang Xiao Shuai didn't interrupt.
Cheng Yu leaned back in his chair, hands folded behind his head.
"My parents divorced when I was thirteen," he started, the words slow, careful. "It was loud for a while. The kind of loud that makes you wish for silence. And then it got too quiet. Like... everyone gave up trying to talk."
He exhaled. "That quiet never left."
Xiao Shuai sat up slowly, pulling his knees to his chest.
Cheng Yu glanced at him, unsure. "I don't really talk about this."
"You don't have to," Shuai said, voice low.
"I want to."
He looked away, toward the window.
"My dad left. I didn't see him for almost four years. My mom worked two jobs and smiled too much in front of people. At home, she'd forget to eat. I got good at pretending everything was fine. Being the cool, funny one at school. The reliable one. But inside, I was scared all the time. Scared I'd wake up and find everyone gone."
He looked down at his hands.
"I'm still scared. When something feels too good, I start looking for the crack in it. I start pulling away before someone else can."
Silence.
Then Shuai's voice, steady.
"You haven't pulled away from me."
Cheng Yu finally met his eyes.
"No," he admitted. "You're the only one I haven't."
Xiao Shuai got off the bed and crossed the room quietly. He sat beside Cheng Yu on the floor, shoulder to shoulder. After a moment, he reached for Cheng Yu's hand and held it–firm, warm, unwavering.
"I'm not going anywhere," Shuai said.
And Cheng Yu – cool, untouchable Cheng Yu felt his chest tighten.
"You're dangerous," he whispered.
Xiao Shuai turned his head. "Why?"
"Because you make me want everything I've always been afraid to want."
A beat of silence.
And then, slowly, gently, Xiao Shuai leaned his head against Cheng Yu's shoulder.
"You're not the only one who's scared," he murmured. "But I'm staying."