1 FIRST ENCOUNTER

It was in the wee hours of the morning, around 2am. Chen Linyun was coming home from the library for doing his research at Rutherford University when he happened to see something by the lamp post. It was a huge dark grey bundle which looked suspicious. He wouldn't give a damn if he did not see it move from the corner of his eyes, and caught his attention.

Something, rather someone was lying there. Whoever that person was seemed to be agitated. Maybe something unexpected happened. Something like an emergency.

The person was wearing a dark grey baggy pullover sweater, white cap and a hood over his face, paired up with ripped jeans and running shoes. He was crumpled at the sidewalk.

Chen Linyun warily approached the lying person by the lamppost. The person coughed hard, then shivered. It was late autumn. It wasn't surprising that the person was attacked by the cold sleeping outside. Alarmed, Chen Linyun finally decided to catch that person's attention.

"Excuse me, Bro.. Are you okay? Do you need any help?" There was no response.

"Uhm, I know it's none of my business but sleeping here is not really that ideal." He shook him slightly. A pale face appeared, and seemed that the person lying there was heavily drunk. The stench of alcohol engulfed him.

'Oh great.' He thought. He looked at the person again and realized that they might be of the same age. It really wasn't his business but unfortunately he saw him there, and felt that he became accountable for that person. He couldn't just leave him there. His conscience would not allow that.

Before doing anything, Chen Linyun made a quick assessment. With his index finger he pulled back his round black thin-rimmed eyeglasses to his nose bridge and inspected this species in front him. 'Seems that his height is around 168 cm. He appeared thin and light.' Chen Linyun is around 175 cm. He estimated that he can piggy back him to his dorm which is approximately two kilometers away, just around the bend.

Stooping low, he grabbed the wrist of the unconscious person and swung him across his back. Good thing Chen Linyun was wearing a shoulder bag which he slung across his body first, and the unconscious person did not carry a bag.

However, the moment that the gray bundle completely rested on his back, he felt hot in the cheeks and his ears burned red.

He was flustered. He could put it into words at first but completely understood. He was lost for words.

The moment the grey bundle rested on his back, it felt that something soft poked him and that instant he knew. This drunkard. He's a she.

With a face burning red, he thought 'Yep, 100% she's a girl. And I'm actually holding a girl's thighs right now. Both of them. And her chest..' He coughed.

His face flushed again. He was not a pervert. However, in his eighteen years of existence, this certainly was the closest he got physical with a girl. Certainly the first, and probably the last.

He coughed again to shake his thoughts away. He was rooted in the ground for a while due to stupor. But he was totally sure that all the more that he could not leave this girl behind. So he moved. He hurriedly moved forward while gingerly carrying the girl on his back. He could not help but break in cold sweat.

He was almost walking briskly in the wee hours of the morning in the streets in Canada towards his dormitory two kilometers away. He put all his concentration on his foot one step at a time making his way closer and closer to his destination. It was a feat because he was also well-aware of the physical closeness of the girl towards his body. It wasn't anything perverted, but like the boy that he was, he was embarrassed and felt awkward with the situation.

During this struggle of his, the girl in grey hoodie seemed to be awoken by his movement. He paused for a while and waited. Then the girl unexpectedly murmured 'Brother, how could you..' After a while, the girl tilted her head and buried her head on the nook between his shoulder and neck. His back instantly tensed. As if not enough, the girl threw her frail arms forward around his neck in an embrace and fell soundly asleep.

He broke into cold sweats still. Even if uncomfortable, he started his brisk walk again, almost running.

After a while, Chen Linyun finally reached his dormitory. Sneakily, he turned his head around to check if there was anyone present. His current situation now did not seem normal. He's a teenage boy carrying a young drunken girl on his back, on his way to his dorm room. Anyone could misunderstand.

He did his best to sneakily cross the quiet hallways but then he abruptly stopped.

'Shit. Shit. Shit. What am I doing? I'm dead if I get caught.'

He realized too late that this dormitory is for all male occupants, and obviously a girl is not allowed. All the more not in the wee hours of the morning. Moreso, not in a drunken state.

He crossed the stairs in big strides and finally he entered his room in the second floor. Good thing his roommates weren't home because they had camping outside of town.

After he entered trembling, he laid the girl on his bed, wiped his sweat on his forehead, but could not make himself relax.

'What now?'

'What have I gotten myself into?'

Helpless, he also laid down on the bunkbed across. He closed his eyes for a bit and took a deep breath. When he opened his eyes again, he turned around and looked on the girl's face. His ears burned red again.

'So now I'm alone with a girl inside my room. I don't even know her name. What's up now? Nothing! Of course!'

He blushed, but couldn't take his eyes away from the girl. Although there was no light, and the only illumination in the room only came from the moon over the window, he could clearly see the girl's pale countenance. It was as clear as jade. Her brows slightly furrowed, as if there's something irritating her in her dreams, but eventually, it smoothed out on its own.

He found himself at peace with this sight. Beyond his dark-rimmed glasses, a flicker of fascination crossed his eyes and a hint of smile lingered on his mouth. It twitched a bit upward and finally he succumbed into his own slumber.

'What a night.' He thought just before his consciousness left him. He felt his fatigue finally win over him as his eyes drooped heavier and heavier.