In Yankui's world, sunlight is a luxury product outside the laboratory glass. He clutched the unhealed pinprick on his arm and concentrated all his struggles into the number of "Experimental Subject 07". The skin under the bandage was abnormally red, like unconcealable decay.
When the experimental data went viral for the third time, he understood that he was a "failure" destined to be abandoned. The dazzling "out" is branded on his neck, like a mark of shame that cannot be washed away. The pinholes on his arms are knotted and broken, bleeding and scabbing. The cold wind in the laboratory cannot blow away the ashes in his eyes. Even the sunny thoughts in the sunflower instinct have become evidence of being judged as "abnormal".
In the end, he was thrown into a deserted alley like trash.
When he fell to the end of the alley with injuries all over his body, Yan Zhinian held an umbrella and ran into his darkness. The boy put the warm school uniform jacket on him, avoided his wounds with his fingertips, and led him around the patrolling security guards. His movements were as gentle as if he was afraid of breaking something. Yan Zhinian didn't notice that this young man who always lowered his head had a vague but eye-catching experimental body code hidden behind his neck, nor did he know that he was enduring the severe pain of body rejection with every step he took.
The days that followed became the brightest time in Yankui's life. They sat together on a bench on campus and watched the sunset. The orange afterglow spread through Yan Zhinian's hair. When he lectured on topics, his tone was cold, but he would write the difficult formulas very neatly. That voice fell on Yankui's ears and became a good medicine against pain.
But the alarm of "clearing failed samples" finally broke this stability. When the headlights of the laboratory pierced the night and illuminated the alley where he had been picked up, Yankui tightened his grip on the pen that Yan Zhinian gave him - the pen still retained the warmth of the young man's palm. He took one last look at Yan Zhinian's panicked face, turned around and rushed into deeper darkness without saying a word of farewell.
He should have understood that Yan Zhinian was the light he picked up in the alley, and a failure like him was not qualified to keep the light by his side. He could only give it back to its original brightness with his own hands.
Purpose: In the tug of love and pain, explore "marginal individuals' pursuit and letting go of light", show the struggle in love due to identity gaps and external obstacles, and the ultimate questioning of love and freedom in self-sacrifice.