The apartment complex had a twenty-five meter long pool in the inner courtyard. Covered by a transparent glass dome that dutifully let in the sweltering sunlight, the pool sparkled when the sun’s rays hit it. The rest of the inner courtyard, not covered by the dome, was a sprawling and carefully maintained garden.

After he had dropped his things off at his apartment, Sun Fang decided to relax with a good swim. He whistled on his way down the elevator and once he reached the entrance to the courtyard, he walked through it with his swim bag swinging in his hands. He flashed a wave at a person he recognized who awkwardly smiled back at him, clearly recognizing him as well. It only made his smile grow.

Walking back out into the sunlight, Sun Fang raised a hand to shield his eyes. He clicked his tongue as he put down the bag by his feet and dug through it, finally bringing out a soft yellow glasses case. From it, he whisked out a large pair of round black sunglasses and expertly placed them on the bridge of his nose in one smooth motion.

There were beach chairs by the pool with parasols looking over them. Sun Fang set out to his own, sitting down on it crosslegged and putting his bag in front of him on the seat. He pulled his phone from the bag and started it up, immediately logging in to his side account on Stargazer and checking the response. It didn’t seem like the vicious cursing of his name had lessened any; if anything, it had increased. The amount of misdeeds he was being accused of committing had also grown larger, and he even saw a few stray references to things his friends had done.

Sun Fang leaned back comfortable on the beach chair, pushed his sunglasses up on his head and started to post stuff. On the ride over here, he had thought of many things that he wanted to say, and he was looking forward to the reactions.

Starting with something easy, he went on to post a long 3 000 word post about that time he was accused of cheating on an exam in high school and how he had allegedly bribed instructors to ignore it when he was caught. He hadn’t seen much reference to the event, even though it had been a pretty big deal when his father found out, so he decided to proactively spread it around. He was sure that if his brother knew he’d thank him with stars in his eyes. After all, Sun Fang was oh so generously doing his work for him.

Wasn’t Sun Fang such a good brother? Didn’t he take such good care of his younger brother, helping him out with work?

Sun Fang laughed a little to himself, feeling a burst of warmth in his stomach. When he finally put his phone down and decided to go swimming, his fingers were starting to itch slightly from typing so much. Cracking his wrists, he stood from his seat and pulled off his clothes until only his swimming trunks were left on.

Then he got a starting run, took a great leap and splashed into the sparkling blue water.

The shock of the cold water made him shudder when his head broke the surface again and he pushed his bangs back, the strands of hair sticking to his head neatly thanks to the water. Swimming back over to the edge of the pool, he set his foot down on the raised platform there and held onto the edge of the pool. Breathing out a sigh, he muttered, ”Warm…”

The water truly was very warm. It was a balm to his wounded soul, easily bringing him out of his mean-spirited thoughts. He sighed through his nose as he crossed his arms on the pool’s edge and laid his head down on them, taking the chance to relax.

Closing his eyes, he almost started dozing.

Eventually, though, he pushed himself off form the edge and started doing laps around the pool. The repeated movements stretched out his muscles and gave him a pleasant feeling of working out. He spent nearly an hour swimming to and fro, diving down to the bottom on the shallower ends and back up again. When he finally left the water his with fingers pruny, he felt refreshed.

He smiled at the few other people hanging around the pool. One of them, an old man with barely any hair from the floor above his, waved back and winked cheerily at him. Sun Fang felt a sense of kinship and winked back.

Collapsing back onto the beach chair, Sun Fang picked up his sunglasses and put them on. He shut his eyes and placed his hands on his still-wet stomach, feeling all tension leaving him. The white parasol above him cast a long shadow on him and his chair, and protected him from the harsh sunlight. Ah, come to think of it, he’d forgotten to use suncream, hadn’t he?

Mn. Mianmian would scold him if he knew.

Sun Fang rearranged his towel so it was lying below his head and spent a few more minutes lying still. But he couldn’t spend all his time here, as much as he might want to. He still had things he had to get done if he wanted to fade into the background and blend in.

He exhaled a soft breath when he stood from his chair, over two hours after he first came down here. His hair was a mess from the pool; he needed a shower. Packing up his things, he threw the bag over his shoulder and left the courtyard, entering the apartment building through the glass doors. They opened automatically as he approached.

He started whistling again when he got to the elevator. Tonight, he would get a good night’s sleep. And tomorrow, he would get started on clearing up the last of his unfinished business. But for now, he was looking forwards to a warm, rejuvenating shower.