Unbearable - Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Because Yu Wei Was a Good Person

Street barbecue is all about the atmosphere—the lighting is dim, just right.

You can see, but not too clearly.

Cheng Miao came back with the menu and immediately noticed the can by Yu Wei’s hand was the wrong color. Her eyesight was good—one look and she recognized it: craft wheat beer.

“You drank that?!”

Yu Wei nodded. “Mm.”

She even shook it. There was just a bit left inside, not enough to pour, just enough to slosh.

Cheng Miao was shocked. “That’s alcohol, you little devil!”

“I know.”

She wasn’t stupid. Even if she’d never drunk it before, she could tell the difference between soda and beer.

Yu Wei looked up at Cheng Miao and said in a quiet voice, “Get me another one.”

“No way in hell!” Cheng Miao pouted and sat down. “I was just gone for a little while, and you already finished it? You’re not even legal!”

Yu Wei didn’t argue, just smiled faintly. “Almost.”

“Still no.” Cheng Miao popped open a white grape soda and put it in front of her. “If your parents find out I let you drink, I’m toast.”

Yu Wei’s smile faded. She fell silent.

She lowered her eyes and stared at the newly opened soda. The bubbles fizzed inside the can. Without her glasses on, she couldn’t read any of the logos or labels, just a blurry patch of white—like a white pixel in a video game.

She was the same.

Just a slightly larger pixel.

She finally met someone who could see her—and now they were gone.

“They won’t.” Yu Wei took a sip. The soda was sweet and sour, very fragrant, coating her mouth.

She frowned.

Seeing her downcast expression, Cheng Miao changed the subject. “Come hang at my place this weekend? I got a new game, it’s super fun.”

“I—” Yu Wei started, then paused. “Maybe the day after.”

Cheng Miao slapped her leg excitedly. “Deal! I’ll have my mom make red-braised pork and soy-braised pig’s knuckle—so good! If you don’t come, I won’t even get any!”

After a week of boxed gourmet meals, her stomach didn’t react, but her mouth was definitely tempted.

Skewers kept arriving. Cheng Miao went next door to order a pot of pork rib soup. When she came back, she saw the grape soda had been swapped out for another beer.

The oversized red plastic chairs fit all sizes. Yu Wei leaned back into hers, head bowed over her phone, looking particularly small and thin. The screen’s glow lit up her pale skin and eyelashes.

Cheng Miao, sitting two tables away, sighed and went to vent her frustration on Liang Pang.

Searching for Yu Wei’s name online was something Yu Wei had never done before.

The table around her was buzzing with conversation, but she was focused on her phone, scrolling through chaotic Weibo threads. Yu Wei didn’t have an account, but her name turned up post after post of negative gossip. Nothing useful.

The chair beside her scraped loudly across the ground.

Yu Wei quickly locked her phone, turning her head—it was just someone passing by, their bag brushing the chair back.

She let out a breath. Half a can of beer in, she finally felt brave enough to reopen her phone.

She quit Weibo and started mindlessly swiping through screens. Before she knew it, she had tapped into a WeChat chat with a certain someone.

No new messages. WeChat didn’t show online status either.

She bit the inside of her lip, teeth grazing the soft flesh. Then she exited the chat and turned off the screen.

Her blurry reflection appeared in the dark phone screen—then, suddenly, it lit up.

Yu Wei: Where are you?

Before she could react, she had already opened the message. Her finger hovered over the input bar.

Two minutes had passed. No new message.

No “typing…” indicator either.

Yu Wei turned off the screen and put the phone in her pocket, finishing the rest of the beer. Then she picked the phone up again, turned it off completely, and stowed it away.

“Come on, come on! Too many people—gotta fight for skewers,” Cheng Miao called as she brought over a handful of sticks. Just as she pulled out her chair, her phone rang. She picked it up with one hand and reached for Yu Wei’s can with the other. “Hello? Xiao Yu?”

Yu Wei caught a glimpse of her movements out of the corner of her eye and suddenly felt awkward, fidgeting non-stop, then finally grabbed the empty can on the table.

“Where are we? At a barbecue place. It’s kind of off the main road. You coming?”

Cheng Miao whispered, covering the mic, “No more drinking, got it?”

She leaned in close. The phone speaker leaked the other voice.

Yu Wei’s voice, over the phone, sounded slightly distorted—but not as cold as usual. She asked, “You guys drinking?”

Yu Wei pressed her lips together and curled up in her chair, pulling her phone from her pocket and opening a random mini-game.

“Just a little,” Cheng Miao said guiltily, then asked, “Are you coming?”

It was like she was being interrogated from afar. Cheng Miao sat upright, nodding a few times, and her eyes seemed to dart sideways.

Like she was looking at her.

Yu Wei ducked her chin and raised her phone to block her face.

On screen, a little white character jumped across boxes. This time she pressed too long and the little guy fell off. Game over.

Yu Wei didn’t say anything.

A girl at the table asked, “Is Yu Wei coming?”

Several others turned eagerly toward Cheng Miao.

“No,” she said.

Everyone responded with a mildly disappointed, “Oh.”

Yu Wei looked down and started another game.

Cheng Miao scooted over next to her, staring intensely.

The little character fell again.

Yu Wei peeked out from behind her phone. “What are you staring at?”

“Xiao Yu asked if you drank.”

Yu Wei had just started the game again. Her little character stood motionless on the block.

She blinked. “So?”

“Something feels off.” Cheng Miao rubbed her chin, then picked up the can in front of Yu Wei. “You finished another one?”

Yu Wei nodded.

“You cannot drink anymore!”

“Okay.” Yu Wei raised her phone.

Cheng Miao watched her play a bit, then went off to check on the soup.

The rest of the group chatted about the upcoming monthly exams, the start of the new school year, whether the school anniversary event was happening or not. Last year as freshmen they were too shy—this year they were ready to go wild!

They were stuffed full, chatting and joking until it was time to head home.

“Orange and Lao Liang went to get the soup. Drink some before we go!”

Yu Wei was still slumped in her chair, tapping the screen lazily, brain foggy and dulled.

The chair beside her was pulled out.

“It’s not ready yet?” she said, peeking around her phone—and saw a hand on the back of the chair.

Under the dim yellow lighting, the fingers were long and clean.

She followed the line from the hand, up the arm, past the crumpled sleeve, until she was looking at Yu Wei.

From this angle, she could see the smooth line of her neck and jaw. Her eyes were slightly lowered, her face a soft blur.

Yu Wei wasn’t wearing glasses—she couldn’t see clearly, but her fuzzy brain still outlined every detail.

She probably looked a little angry. When she was mad, her eyelids drooped sharply, her eyes deep and impatient, a bit unapproachable.

Yu Wei bit her lip and looked down.

Her long lashes fluttered like snow on her cheeks.

“Cheng Miao said you weren’t coming.”

“Mm.”

Yu Wei’s eyes swept over her once, then frowned. “How much did you drink?”

“Three cans.”

Yu Wei’s phone screen went dark. She slipped it back into her pocket.

A few classmates noticed Yu Wei and greeted her warmly. After food and drink, everyone was more open than in the classroom.

Yu Wei responded with a few hums.

Yu Wei silently counted—more words than she’d said to her in days.

She pressed her lips together and stood up.

Yu Wei grabbed her bag from behind her. “Can you walk?”

“Yeah.” Yu Wei didn’t look at her. She turned back toward Cheng Miao, who had just exited the shop, and gave her a wave.

Cheng Miao looked between the two of them, then stood in place and waved dramatically like a scene from a movie.

Liang Pang, holding a bowl of soup, raised a brow. “Not walking Yu Wei back?”

“No need. Someone special came to pick her up.”

He hesitated. “You sure?”

“Of course.” One’s her friend, the other practically her daughter—and they’re family. What’s there to worry about?

It was late. They walked out of the alley, the smoke and lights fading. A cool breeze blew down the street. The sky held neither stars nor moon.

Yu Wei had her glasses on now. Head lowered, she trailed behind Yu Wei, watching her shadow under the streetlamp.

“You called Cheng Miao.”

It wasn’t a question. Her voice was low and muffled.

The shadow stopped. Yu Wei looked back at her. “You turned your phone off.”

So she’d tried calling her too?

Yu Wei looked at her. “You came to pick me up?”

“What else?” Yu Wei frowned.

Yu Wei’s lips curled into a smile—then flattened again. “How do you have Cheng Miao’s number?”

So many questions for someone drunk. Yu Wei sighed. “I asked the teacher.”

Yu Wei blinked. Asked the teacher? Was that okay? How did Yu Wei know her number anyway? They were only WeChat friends.

The car arrived. Yu Wei opened the door and watched Yu Wei climb in. She was about to shut the door when she noticed Yu Wei scooting over to the far window seat, staring outside.

She hesitated, then got in too.

The car drove through a brightly lit street. Outside the window, the lights blurred like falling stars and streaming galaxies, flickering in and out of the car.

Yu Wei pulled her collar up, hiding half her face. The red edge of her school uniform reflected in her eyes, tinted pink from neon signs flashing past.

Yu Wei looked over at her—curled against the window, unmoving, as if asleep.

Suddenly, she spoke. “They caught those guys.”

“Mm.”

“I told them I was mugged. That you stepped in to help.”

A few seconds later, another soft “mm.”

“Cheng Miao said she thinks something’s weird between us.”

Yu Wei’s voice was muffled behind her uniform, soft and low.

Yu Wei paused. “What?”

Yu Wei didn’t reply. She continued softly, “I think so too.”

There was no slurring—her voice was low but clear. Only a faint note of… almost like hurt silence.

Yu Wei frowned. “We—”

“You hate me.” Yu Wei cut in, whispering like it was something she’d been holding in for days. A conclusion that had finally taken shape.

Yu Wei opened her mouth, then shut it. Her eyes dropped to the pale skin brushed by neon light—then she silently looked away.

Several minutes passed.

Yu Wei asked, “Then why do you think I came to get you?”

Yu Wei thought for a long time. There was really only one possible answer: Because Yu Wei was a good person.

But saying that aloud felt strange. So she pressed her lips together—and stayed quiet.

Yu Wei let out a short laugh.