Chapter 2: Pomegranate

Saturday afternoon, Lin Xuan arrived half an hour early at the café by the back gate of Yuhu Huacheng. The pomegranate soda on the table had not been touched yet. Beads of water slowly gathered on the glass, then slid down its side, leaving a pale ring on the wooden tabletop.

He stared at that streak of moisture and suddenly thought of the pomegranate Xu Xiaoxi had drawn.

"Mumu, hurry up. Your Aunt Wen Huan just moved in, and we're going to take a look," Meng Xiao said.

"Got it, Mom. You two only saw each other yesterday, and today you still have to drag me along." "That's different. She just moved in and I haven't been to her place yet. All right, all right, let's go." "It's only a few steps away. What's the rush?"

That was the first time Lin Xuan met Xu Xiaoxi, in the backyard of Wen Huan's place.

The backyard was quiet. All he could see was a clean, elegant profile. Her bangs had been pinned all the way back, revealing a smooth forehead and a long, graceful nape. Two pencils were carelessly stuck into her low bun. His first thought was, So artists really can be this dramatic.

If he moved a little closer, he could hear the girl muttering to herself, "This part is too light," "This part is too dark," "The proportions are wrong again"... Her voice was very soft, as if she were talking only to herself.

Lin Xuan stood a few steps away and suddenly had a strange feeling. She didn't seem to be in this world at all, but in another space where only she and the paper existed.

He didn't want to disturb her.

"Mumu, why did you wander to the back?" Meng Xiao and Wen Huan came over together. "Don't disturb her while she's painting." Meng Xiao's voice carried a trace of reproach as she gave Xu Xiaoxi an apologetic smile.

"Come, Xiaoxi, this is Aunt Meng, my friend, and this is Aunt Meng's son, Lin Xuan," Wen Huan said, stepping forward to introduce them to Xu Xiaoxi.

"Hello, Auntie. Hello, Lin," Xu Xiaoxi said, standing up and giving a slight bow. She seemed a little reserved, a proper greeting all the same.

"This is Xiaoxi. She's studied painting with me for years. Come to think of it, she's about the same age as Lin Xuan, and they're both just about ready to graduate."

"Oh? Is that so? Xiaoxi, which school are you planning to apply to?" Meng Xiao asked.

"Mm... I'm not sure yet. Maybe the affiliated school."

"The affiliated school is great. Looks like you do well in class, Xiaoxi." Meng Xiao smiled. "Our Mumu might go to the affiliated school too, though he's also hesitating over No. 1 School. I wonder if you two will end up classmates."

"I hope we get that kind of fate," Xu Xiaoxi said obediently with a nod. "Since you have guests, I'll head back first, Aunt Wen."

"All right, Xiaoxi, go on."

With that, Xu Xiaoxi started packing up her drawing board and chair, carefully peeling off the masking tape and slipping the drawing into a portfolio.

Lin Xuan narrowed his eyes then and finally made out what Xu Xiaoxi had drawn: a split-open pomegranate, its skin cracked wide, the seeds inside full and tightly packed, as if they were about to spill off the page.

Lin Xuan stared at the painting, his chest suddenly tightening for reasons he couldn't explain.

When he came back to himself, Xu Xiaoxi was already gone.

The second time they met was right after graduation. Lin Xuan was out with friends and ran into Xu Xiaoxi at the mall. She'd let her bangs down, her hair falling smoothly over her shoulders. She looked quiet and composed, very different from the girl who had been muttering to herself while painting last time, but Lin Xuan still recognized her.

She was shopping when a boy suddenly stopped her.

The boy was red-faced as he said something to Xu Xiaoxi. After listening, Xu Xiaoxi seemed ready to leave and had no intention of responding.

Then the boy suddenly grabbed her forearm. Xu Xiaoxi lifted her head, her expression calm as she said, "I don't want to give it to you." Her voice wasn't loud, but it was clear. She yanked her arm free from the boy's hand and walked off without looking back.

Lin Xuan took all of it in. He linked Xu Xiaoxi's liveliness when she was painting, her restrained obedience when greeting his mother, and the impatience she showed when refusing the boy, and it made him feel like Xu Xiaoxi had more than one face.

"You still haven't decided whether you're going to No. 1 School or the affiliated school?" his childhood friend Ke Xinghua asked, nudging his shoulder.

"The affiliated school."

"When did you decide that?"

Lin Xuan's gaze stayed on the direction she had left for a second. "Just now."

That night, Lin Xuan, who didn't usually dream much, dreamed of Xu Xiaoxi. Only this time they were in the backyard of his own home. Xu Xiaoxi was still painting pomegranates. When she saw him, she stood up, wrapped her arms around his neck, and started kissing him.

They kept kissing their way from outside to inside, from the first floor to the second, and then into a bedroom. The moment Lin Xuan shut the door, Xu Xiaoxi began undoing the buttons on the shirt she was wearing.

That was the fourth version of Xu Xiaoxi in Lin Xuan's mind, like a plump pomegranate, her rose-red lips waiting for him to taste them...

Just as he was about to go further, he woke up. There was a dull, swollen ache between his legs, and before he knew it his hand had slipped into his underwear and he was stroking his cock, eyes closed, his head full of Xu Xiaoxi's face from the dream.

Would she be like that in real life too? He wanted to keep the dream going, wanted to see her beneath him, wanted to see her fucked stupid and drenched in pleasure... Lin Xuan thought about a lot of things.

He had always been the kind of person who did whatever he set his mind to.