He Wuning entered the room, took a moment to prepare himself mentally, then turned to Yi Luo. “So? What’s this good thing for Q?”
Yi Luo laughed and deliberately kept him in suspense. “What for? I prepared it for Q, not for you. Why are you asking so many questions?”
He Wuning raised an eyebrow. Yi Luo pushed him toward the bathroom. “Go take a shower. I’m not letting you see. Q and I need to talk alone.”
Before He Wuning could protest, Yi Luo had already shut the door from the outside and added, “Take your time washing. I’m locking the door for you. No peeking.”
He Wuning: “……”
He stood silently in the bathroom for a moment and snorted. “Who wants to peek?”
Yi Luo somehow heard him from outside and laughed. “Then you’d better not ask later either. Let’s see if you can really hold back your curiosity.”
He Wuning’s face darkened. He turned around, deciding to ignore him entirely, stripped off his clothes, and stepped into the shower.
Outside the room, Yi Luo mysteriously beckoned Q-chan. “Come here, come here.”
Q-chan sighed helplessly. “Your Sweetie will be angry.”
Yi Luo had already opened the window and smiled. “It’s fine. I’ll coax him later.”
“Don’t you think your Sweetie is actually cuter when he’s angry sometimes?”
Q-chan’s mouth fell open in shock. He had always thought he was already a qualified admirer of “the Sweetie,” but somehow Yi Luo had gone even further without him noticing.
“Sometimes when you look at him,” Yi Luo continued happily while leaning out the window, “you just can’t help teasing him a little—making him mad, then putting in the effort to coax him again. Of course, it’s a technical skill too. You can’t actually do something he’d really hate.”
Q-chan was silent for a moment before floating over to the window and looking down as well. “Usually,” he muttered, “behavior like this is called courting death.”
Yi Luo chuckled. “Alright, look at your gift.”
Q-chan froze. “Waaah—!”
Meanwhile, He Wuning knocked on the bathroom door. He only knocked twice before narrowing his eyes and, while drying his hair, started evaluating where he should kick to break the door open. Fortunately, Yi Luo arrived before he actually did it.
Yi Luo opened the door and, as if nothing had happened, reached out to help dry his hair. He Wuning stepped back to avoid him.
His hair was still dripping wet, and the heat from the bathroom had left his face flushed. He looked unexpectedly soft and even a bit vulnerable—but his eyes were fierce, like a soaked cat whose fur was still puffed up.
Seeing him like that made Yi Luo want to smile uncontrollably, but laughing right now would probably earn him more than just a scratch from the cat.
Yi Luo forced himself to hold it back and cleared his throat. “Hungry? Want to eat some of my treasured canned—”
He Wuning’s gaze swept around the room like he was inspecting his territory. When he didn’t see Q-chan anywhere, he raised an eyebrow. “Where’s Q?”
Yi Luo spread his wings on the edge of danger. “Try finding him.”
He Wuning narrowed his eyes at him. Yi Luo grabbed his hand and led the scowling He Wuning to the window, pointing downward. “Here.”
He Wuning froze. “You threw him out?”
Yi Luo touched his own face. “If you think that, I might have to question what kind of image you have of me. Am I really that excessive?”
He Wuning didn’t answer. Instead he leaned out the window. Outside hung something like a decorative birdcage. The door had been removed, the whole thing was dyed bright pink, and it was decorated with fluttering gauze curtains. In the middle was a deep-pink cushion. Q-chan lay on the cushion wearing a foolishly happy grin.
The whole thing was an explosion of pink—so much pink that one might start questioning how so much pink could even exist in the world.
Q-chan was rolling around happily in the cage-turned-room. When he noticed He Wuning looking, he immediately waved excitedly, grabbed some of the pink gauze, and struck a coy, half-covered pose.
He Wuning couldn’t help laughing. He closed his eyes briefly—the aggressive pink still seemed burned into his retinas. “Fine,” he said helplessly. “As long as he likes it.”
Yi Luo leaned on the windowsill and laughed. “The kid’s grown up. He deserves his own room.”
He Wuning’s expression softened slightly. He raised an eyebrow at Yi Luo. “So that’s it? What was there to hide from me?”
“There was.” Yi Luo smiled and shut the window. “I used that cage—ahem, room—to bribe Q so he’d stay quiet tonight. That way the two of us can be alone.”
He Wuning stood there silently and took a step back. The more he looked at Yi Luo’s smile, the more suspicious it seemed.
Yi Luo slowly stepped closer, his grin widening. “The more you react like this, the more I want to play the villain. Should I say the classic line now—you can scream all you want, but no one will come save you?”
“I won’t scream,” He Wuning said expressionlessly, stepping back to maintain distance. He lifted his chin slightly. “But if you come any closer, I might just break your legs.”
He said it fiercely. Yi Luo’s eyes were smiling as he slowly approached him step by step.
He Wuning soon reached the end of his retreat. His calf bumped into something. Out of the corner of his eye he glanced back. It was the bed.
For some reason, seeing a bed appear in his line of sight at this moment made his eyelid twitch. He almost jumped straight up.
Yi Luo saw his reaction and laughed quietly. He Wuning stared at him like facing a great enemy, preparing to stomp on his knee and follow with a knee strike to the stomach if he got any closer. But Yi Luo didn’t pounce like he expected.
With his hands behind his back, he only leaned a little closer and asked politely: “Can I kiss you?”
He Wuning looked at him suspiciously. Yi Luo coaxed gently, “Look, tomorrow you’re not on the list. It’s a rare day off. Can’t I kiss you today?”
He Wuning wavered slightly but stayed cautious. “Just one kiss?”
Yi Luo paused, then answered honestly. “Maybe more than one.”
He Wuning snorted softly. Lowering his gaze, he relaxed slightly from his hedgehog-like defensive posture. Yi Luo approached carefully, supporting the back of his head with one hand. What started as gentle brushing turned gradually into a firmer kiss. Like a patient hunter, he slowly dismantled He Wuning’s resistance and defenses.
By the time He Wuning realized it, he had already been pressed onto the bed. Only then did it occur to him that Yi Luo was a sniper—someone with great patience, someone who knew exactly when to act so the prey couldn’t escape.
He sighed helplessly and covered his eyes with the back of his hand, letting out a long, slightly trembling breath. Yi Luo smiled and kissed his palm. “I like it when you breathe like that.”
Restrained, controlled—only the faint tremor betraying the slightest loss of composure.
He Wuning held his breath for a moment, but eventually realized he obviously couldn’t stop breathing forever. He gave up, dropped his hand, leaned his head back to avoid Yi Luo’s endless kisses, and glared at him with reddened ears and tightly furrowed brows. “Are you done yet?”
“Not yet.” Yi Luo held his hand and rubbed noses with him affectionately. “Tonight I’m sleeping in the bed too.”
“I’ll take the couch,” He Wuning said without looking at him.
“No.” Yi Luo edged closer, acting obedient. “Together. See? I’m honest—I said I’d only kiss.”
“Really?” He Wuning narrowed his eyes and grabbed the hand resting on his waist. “Then does this hand have a mind of its own?”
Yi Luo looked righteous. “I’m worried your stomach might get cold.”
He Wuning stared at his face. Before he could speak, Yi Luo spoke first. “I know. I have no shame.”
He looked at He Wuning calmly and confidently. “Why would you need shame when you’re in love?”
“I used to be too thin-skinned. If I’d been this shameless earlier, Q would probably be calling me dad by now.”
He Wuning’s eyes widened slightly. He clearly hadn’t expected Yi Luo to have such a self-assessment.
Yi Luo leaned down and smiled at him. “If I’m shameless, can I kiss you a few more times?”
He Wuning: “…Do you want some water?”
“Hm?” Yi Luo raised an eyebrow in confusion, unsure whether to feel touched by the sudden concern or wary of it.
He Wuning narrowed his eyes. “Drink some water first. I need to find something.”
“What?” Yi Luo knew it probably wouldn’t be anything nice—but his curiosity got the better of him.
He Wuning sneered. “I just remembered I still have that spider poison in my backpack. Drink it with some water. You should behave tonight after that.”
Yi Luo: “……”
He had forgotten that something that dangerous was still in the backpack.
He Wuning looked away. “Just because I’m not on tomorrow’s list doesn’t mean you aren’t. Go to sleep.”
Yi Luo tried to argue. “I’m still young. I can handle it.”
He Wuning cut him off. “If I say you can’t, you can’t. Either lie down and sleep—”
He raised his fist threateningly. “—or I’ll make you fall asleep physically.”
Considering that obediently complying would at least let him sleep in the same bed as He Wuning, Yi Luo fell silent for a moment and then finally lay down honestly.
He turned his head and looked at He Wuning. “…I probably won’t have nightmares tonight.”
He Wuning paused. He knew Yi Luo often dreamed about the teammates who had died. After hesitating, he quietly responded. “Mm.”
Yi Luo added, “Maybe I’ll have some… less healthy dreams.”
He Wuning: “……”
“Get off the bed.”
He had now confirmed that even the slightest bit of sympathy toward this guy was unnecessary.
Yi Luo couldn’t help laughing. In the darkness he reached out and grabbed He Wuning’s hand, muttering, “Why didn’t Zone A Civil Affairs Bureau get dragged in here too?”
He Wuning kept his eyes closed and didn’t respond, pretending he hadn’t heard. But Yi Luo could clearly see that the back of his neck had turned red in the darkness.
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The author has something to say:
He Wuning expressionlessly pouring spider poison: “Dalang, it’s time to take your medicine.”
Yi Luo: “……”
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