Chapter 5

Things took a turn in our second semester.

It was our dorm night out, and the four of us had arranged to go drinking at a barbecue place on the street behind campus.

Our chubby roommate clamored for baijiu, the strong stuff, but Wang Gang, our other roommate, stopped him. In the end, we ordered two cases of beer.

I sat beside Jiang Suiye, across from the other two.

Maybe I was imagining it, but his scent was especially strong that day. It felt as though it had covered every scent on my own body. Even my breath seemed to carry it.

But that was impossible. How could someone’s cologne envelop another person?

It had to be my imagination. Otherwise, why didn’t our other roommates smell of it when they were sitting so close?

In all this time, I’d never mentioned Jiang Suiye’s cologne to them.

Mostly because, despite living together for so long, I’d never once seen him take out a bottle and spray it.

I thought he might not want people to know he wore cologne, so I’d never brought up his scent with anyone.

Fortunately, our roommates seemed to think the same way. They’d never rudely asked why his cologne smelled so strong.

But that day really was strange.

From the very first bite of food, Jiang Suiye barely spoke.

He usually kept a bit of distance, but he wasn’t this cold.

And he always had plenty to say to me.

One of his hands rested against the edge of the table, his knuckles faintly white, as if he were trying to endure something.

I leaned toward him. “What’s wrong? Are you feeling sick?”

He turned his face away. At such close range, the agarwood surged over me, so thick I could hardly breathe.

“I’m fine.”

Before I could ask anything else, he stood up.

“I’m heading back. I won’t be staying in the dorm tonight. Have fun.”

Then he left in a hurry.

And he said he was fine?

“What’s up with Suiye?” Wang Gang asked, puzzled. “Usually, if you’re here, Suyan, he wouldn’t leave even if it killed him.”

“Maybe he’s not feeling well,” our chubby roommate said. “He was sitting there barely saying a word.”

I remembered Jiang Suiye briefly pressing a hand to his neck, his expression pained.

What if something really was wrong?

My unease kept growing.

He never normally left so abruptly, and his face had looked frighteningly pale.

“You guys keep eating. I’ll go check on him,” I said.

We were all roommates, and he and I were especially close, so neither of them objected.

Jiang Suiye’s family was reasonably well-off. As soon as university started, he’d bought an apartment near campus.

I’d visited it then. It had one bedroom and a living room, which faced south and had a lovely view. It wasn’t on a particularly high floor. The place wasn’t as large as I’d imagined, but it was more than spacious enough for one person.

Finding his place was easy. Before long, I was at his front door.

“A-Ye? Are you home?” I called softly from outside, but there was no response.

That didn’t make sense. He couldn’t have arrived much earlier than me.

And his lights were on.

Then I remembered he’d added my fingerprint to his door lock on my last visit, claiming he might forget the code.

I’d been puzzled at the time. I didn’t believe someone as smart as him would forget a door code.

But he’d insisted, so I’d gone along with it.

Now, unexpectedly, it came in handy.

I opened the door.

A wave of agarwood rushed at me.

God, how many bottles of cologne had he sprayed? How could it be this strong?

“Smells nice” didn’t begin to describe it anymore. The scent pressed down on me as if it had physical weight. My knees buckled, and I nearly dropped to them in the entryway.

That only made me more certain something was wrong.

Who came home and immediately sprayed himself with a lethal dose of cologne?

“A-Ye, where are you? Are you okay?” I asked softly, feeling my way toward his bedroom.

The closer I got, the stronger the scent became.

The back of my neck began to burn. By the time I reached his bedroom door, it was so hot it hurt.

My legs felt weak as I walked.

And for some reason, a strange longing rose inside me.

I’d never felt anything like it. My heart was racing absurdly fast, and my throat was painfully dry.

I raised a hand to knock. The instant my fingertips touched the door, it opened from inside. A hand reached out and pulled me in.

Before my eyes could adjust to the darkness, someone had pinned me against the door.

Jiang Suiye pressed against me, his body a handful of fire that set my heart burning.

“Mmph…” I tried to speak…

…

Wait.

I suddenly came to my senses.

Was I being…?

I shoved him away hard and was about to speak…

“Jiang Suiye! Jiang Suiye, it’s me!” I got the words out in the gap, trying to bring him back to his senses.

Sure enough, he stopped when he heard that.

I couldn’t see his expression in the dark, but his breathing was still fast and heavy.

“Zhou Suyan?” His voice was low.

“Yes, yes, it’s me.” I answered as if I’d grabbed a lifeline, completely missing what was wrong with him.

“Ha…”

“Mine… My Yanyan.”

What?

What was he saying? I didn’t understand.

Before I could react, he turned me around and pressed me hard against the door…

…

I had no choice. While trying to deal with him, I edged toward the door.

Something was terribly wrong with Jiang Suiye. His eyes were unfocused, his movements urgent. He was nothing like the calm, self-controlled star student I knew.

Who had done what to him?

At last, just before he could completely devour me, my hand found the door handle.

Before he could react, I yanked the door open and rushed out.

The door slammed shut. Inside, he was still pounding on it frantically.

I didn’t dare wait another moment. I called 120 for an ambulance.

“Hello? The address is xxx. I think the patient has rabies. He keeps biting people…”

The ambulance came quickly, and Jiang Suiye was taken to the hospital.

After something this serious, of course I stayed by his side.

He was wheeled out of the emergency room not long afterward. I hurried over.

“Doctor, how’s my friend?”

The doctor gave us both an odd look. “Young couples should make time for a little intimacy.”

“Don’t call over something like this again. It’s a waste of public resources.”

What?

Why did those words stop making sense when he put them together?