chasing light

Song Jinhang saw him for the first time in one summer.

In the dark corner, the thin young man curled up tightly, his body trembling slightly, making a slight sobbing sound, his eyes were wet, sad and helpless, reminiscent of some kind of fragile little animal.

Song Jinhang liked his eyes, it reminded him of the cat he raised when he was a child, a little fluffy cat with wet eyes, who would meow at him coquettishly.

Song Jinhang knelt down and stroked the boy's head.

The boy looked up at him in panic, then buried his head deeper, only showing his clean and beautiful eyes staring at him.

Song Jinhang gently stroked his eyes, the young man's eyelids trembled slightly, his eyes moved uncomfortably, but he let him move meekly.

Song Jinhang said softly: "Come with me, I will not hurt you."

The boy didn't speak, just looked at him with innocent and uneasy eyes.

"If you don't speak, it's your default." Song Jinhang laughed.

Song Jinhang led the boy home, only to find that his body was covered with bruises, criss-crossing and shocking.

Song Jinhang touched the bruise on the young man's face with some distress. The young man flinched and wanted to escape, but he just stood there uneasily and stared at Song Jinhang with his beautiful eyes.

"Does it hurt?" Song Jinhang asked.

The boy pursed his lips tightly and said nothing.

Song Jinhang found ointment, applied it on the scars little by little, and blew gently.

After applying the ointment, Song Jinhang patted his head and said softly: "Hey, I'll take a bath first, and sleep if you're sleepy."

The boy didn't speak, just looked at him.

When Song Jinhang came out, the young man was sitting on the edge of the bed, with his head bowed, his eyes slightly squinted, his chest rising and falling slowly with his breathing, and he seemed to be about to fall asleep.

Song Jinhang leaned over to kiss the young man's eyes, the young man stared at him with wide eyes as if startled, uneasy and bewildered in his wet eyes.

Song Jinhang carried him into his arms, kissed those eyes again, and said softly, "Hey, go to sleep."

The boy struggled a few times in his arms, but he didn't break free. He looked at him for a while, then closed his eyes, nestled in his arms and did not move.In the darkness, Song Jinhang smiled and hugged the boy even tighter.

After breakfast, Song Jinhang patted the boy's head and said, "I'm going to school. What are you going to do?"

The boy just looked at him timidly, but didn't speak.

Song Jinhang said: "You should be in school at your age, right? Are you a junior high school student? Do you still want me to take you to school? Or do you want to stay at home?"

The boy still didn't speak.

Song Jinhang reached out to touch his Adam's apple, and asked him, "Why don't you speak? Can't you?"

The boy backed away, turned his head unnaturally, then turned back, looking at Song Jinhang.

Song Jinhang laughed and said, "I'm going to be late, what should I do?"

The young man looked at him cautiously, his eyes were timid, and he lowered his head uneasily, looking a little pitiful.He whispered: "I... I don't want to go, can I?"

Song Jinhang touched his cheek and smiled, "Don't go if you don't want to go, just stay at home."

The young man nodded, watched Song Jinhang close the door, and then his eyes turned blank for a moment.

The room was quiet and seemed empty.

The boy hugged his knees and curled up tightly.

When Song Jinhang came back, the boy was still in the posture he had left, curled up on the sofa, sleeping soundly.

Song Jinhang knew this was a sign of insecurity.

He woke up the boy, "Why don't you go to bed and sleep?"

The boy looked at him quietly without speaking.

Song Jinhang touched his eyes and asked him, "Are you hungry? Have you eaten at noon? Or have you been hungry until now?"

The young man looked at him, the deep uneasiness appeared in his eyes again, his fingers twisted together nervously.

Song Jinhang sighed, covered his eyes, hugged him into his arms, and said, "I'm not trying to lose my temper with you, how can you let me feel at ease and keep you at home?"

Song Jinhang touched the boy's stomach, and it was deflated.He went to cook some noodles and watched the boy finish eating slowly.

After clearing away the tableware, Song Jinhang kissed his eyes and said, "Hey, go to sleep."

The boy looked at him and closed his eyes.

When Song Jinhang went out in the morning, the boy was still awake.

Song Jinhang kissed him on the cheek, smiled, and closed the door lightly.

It was still early when I arrived at school, and several people had already come to the classroom.

Just as Song Jinhang put down his schoolbag and was taking out his books, Bai Quan leaned over and lay down on his desk, half dead, and asked him, "Why haven't you come out to play recently? What are you doing so early when you go back, anyway, you live alone!"

Song Jinhang motioned him to move away, but did not answer his question.

Bai Quan said again: "There will be a party the day after tomorrow. We are all classmates from junior high school. You can come together too. How about it?"

Song Jinhang said: "I have something to do these two days, so I won't go."

Bai Quan opened his mouth to say something more, but Song Jinhang motioned him to look at the door.

The homeroom teacher was standing at the door, rushing people out. It was almost time for morning reading, so Bai Quan had no choice but to go back to his seat, grab a book at random, and leave the classroom.

In the evening, Song Jinhang missed his family, packed his schoolbags and prepared to go home after only two self-study sessions.

When passing by the door, Bai Quan lay down on the table and pretended to be dead, and said, "That means you can ask for leave at this time. If it were me, I might be criticized by the old class."

Song Jinhang smiled at him, waved his hand, and left with his schoolbag on his back.

After dinner, Song Jinhang still asked: "Where is your home? Is it okay if you don't go back for so long? Will someone be worried?"

The young man was a little panicked, and his eyes were full of uneasiness and sadness, but he remained silent and did not say a word.

After a long time, Song Jinhang thought the young man would not answer, but the young man shook his head, then lowered his head, revealing only a pale and fragile neck, the emotion called sadness gushed out, almost drowning his whole body.

Song Jinhang sighed, wrapped the boy in his arms, and slowly stroked his back, but didn't know what to say, so he could only keep silent.

Song Jinhang didn't know what this young man had experienced, but he could probably guess a little bit. After all, the uneasiness and sadness in the young man's eyes could not be faked, and the scars on his body when he first met him explained everything.

Is it domestic violence?

Song Jinhang seemed to understand a little bit.

But he was helpless, he had no evidence, and he didn't know the boy's past, he didn't know whether he should intervene, and he didn't know what kind of identity he should intervene in.

But before he could figure it out, everything stopped abruptly, and he was caught off guard.

The boy left, just as suddenly as he appeared, and disappeared completely, like a gust of wind.

Song Jinhang looked at the empty house and felt that everything before was a ridiculous dream.

Four days ago, he picked up a docile and fragile teenager.Four days later, the boy disappeared without a trace along with any trace of his existence.