“Driver, you know the place, right?” Henry Cooper asked as soon as he got into the taxi.

“How could I not know,” the driver said with a smile, “it’s the best hotel around here.”

“You sure know how to pick,” Brian Carter shot him a glance.

“No need to pick, their rooms are the most expensive,” Henry Cooper fished around in his pocket for a while and finally pulled out a lighter, handing it to him. “See if you like it?”

Brian Carter looked at the lighter. It was his preferred style—sleek, no decorations at all, just two letters engraved at the bottom. He leaned in and stared at it: “What the hell is engraved here? Police?”

“J, C, your initials,” Henry Cooper said. “Cool, right?”

“…Really cool,” Brian Carter put the lighter in his pocket. “How long are you staying?”

“Two days,” Henry Cooper sighed. “School’s about to start.”

“What’s with the sighing about school?” Brian Carter said.

“It’s a drag—classes, exams, homework, tests,” Henry Cooper frowned. “If I could learn as effortlessly as you, make the top ten without even going to class, I wouldn’t be sighing either.”

“Who says it’s effortless for me,” Brian Carter shot him a sideways look. “It’s not like you don’t know I pull all-nighters to study.”

“The thing is, even if I pulled ten all-nighters it wouldn’t help,” Henry Cooper dragged out his words and sighed again. “Damn, now I know why I miss you so much. Once you’re gone, there’s no one to let me copy answers during exams!”

“Just drop out,” Brian Carter said.

“What about humanity?” Henry Cooper glared at him.

Brian Carter just smiled and said nothing.

Henry Cooper wasn’t too happy with this small city, but he was satisfied with the hotel. He checked the bed, under the bed, the bathroom, and the shower: “Not bad.”

“Let’s get something to eat,” Brian Carter checked the time. “Barbecue?”

“Yeah,” Henry Cooper opened his suitcase. “I’ve got another gift for you.”

“Hm?” Brian Carter responded from the edge of the bed.

“Guess what it is first?” Henry Cooper reached into the suitcase and rummaged around.

Brian Carter glanced inside. The suitcase was packed with all kinds of snacks in various sizes—there was no room for anything else.

“A whistle,” he said.

“Damn,” Henry Cooper laughed, pulling out a long black leather case from the bottom. “Is it just too easy to guess, or are we just that in sync?”

“It’s just too easy to guess,” Brian Carter took the case, pulled out the black whistle, and looked at it. “Nice.”

“Susak, D,” Henry Cooper said. “I didn’t get the wrong one, did I? Same as your old one?”

“Yeah,” Brian Carter blew a couple of notes casually. “Thanks.”

“Don’t smash this one again, I gave it to you,” Henry Cooper said.

“Mm.” Brian Carter put the whistle away.

He actually didn’t have a habit of smashing things when angry. After all, he’d been taught “restraint” for over a decade, so while he might get into fights, he rarely broke things.

The last time he smashed the whistle, it was just because he had nowhere else to vent his anger. He couldn’t exactly go and fight his dad.

He wasn’t going home tonight. He hesitated for a moment, wondering whether to text David Thompson or call. In the end, he chose to call. It took a long time for David Thompson to pick up: “Hello!”

From the background noise, it was obvious he was playing cards. Brian Carter was a bit speechless. He wondered if his mom knew about David Thompson’s habit, but… compared to the family atmosphere ruined by his own existence, this didn’t seem like such a big deal.

“I have a classmate visiting me, I won’t be home tonight, I’m at a hotel,” Brian Carter said.

“A classmate came?” David Thompson coughed a few times. “Then hang out with your classmate, why bother calling? I thought something was up.”

“…Then I’m hanging up,” Brian Carter said.

David Thompson didn’t say anything else and just hung up.

“Your dad,” Henry Cooper looked at him, “what kind of person is he?”

“I don’t know. Smokes, coughs, snores, plays cards,” Brian Carter summed up.

“You smoke too, cough… who hasn’t coughed…” Henry Cooper tried to analyze, “snor—”

“Can you not,” Brian Carter cut him off.

“Barbecue,” Henry Cooper waved his hand.

The barbecue wasn’t anything special, but Henry Cooper ate with great gusto. Brian Carter himself couldn’t eat as much as yesterday—after all, he was still a delicate flower just recovering from a serious illness.

But when they left the barbecue place, he still felt stuffed.

“You’re in a bad mood,” Henry Cooper said. “The pork belly was pretty good today, but you barely ate any…”

“Good observation,” Brian Carter nodded. Although he wasn’t in such a bad mood that he couldn’t eat, he didn’t want Henry Cooper to know he’d had a fever and thrown up yesterday.

“Let’s walk around a bit,” Henry Cooper patted his stomach. “Is there anything fun to do here?”

“No,” Brian Carter said, then after a moment added, “I don’t know.”

“Hey, where’s your new school?” Henry Cooper suddenly asked. “Wanna go check it out?”

“Now?” Brian Carter tugged at his collar. “No.”

“Then tomorrow. We’re on break anyway, no one’s there, let’s go see what the school’s like,” Henry Cooper slung his arm over his shoulder. “Didn’t you check it out when you did the paperwork and stuff?”

“Don’t you know whether I did or not?” Brian Carter said irritably.