By late September, the 14-day freshman military training finally came to an end. After a few more class meetings, the students had become familiar enough with each other. The training ended on a Friday, followed by a weekend break, with classes officially starting the following Monday.

It was still early. It was just past four o’clock after the counselor finished the class meeting, and the afternoon sun was still scorching. Lin Zhu returned to the dormitory with his three roommates. The others were exhausted and collapsed into their chairs, unwilling to move.

Lin Zhu couldn’t wait to take a shower. Although there was a local student in the four-person room, Lin Zhu was the only one who chose to go home for the two-day weekend. After washing his dirty clothes and hanging them out to dry, he pushed open the door connecting the balcony to the dorm. The cool air from the room’s air conditioner hit him, and the sound of chatter flooded his ears.

Several of them were ordering takeout, discussing it heatedly. Lin Zhu walked in with slightly damp hair. His black tank top outlined a physique that was becoming more mature as he transitioned from a boy to a young man. His skin, tanned two shades darker, looked even more wild, but the most eye-catching thing was the ring he had put back on his left ring finger…

Seeing this, the three of them clicked their tongues in a practiced manner. Lin Zhu paused for a second, then immediately returned to his calm demeanor, pacing to his desk to tidy up without changing his expression. There was no helping it; he couldn’t feel awkward anymore. He had become desensitized to being teased by these bachelors.

After clicking their tongues, the guys went back to ordering takeout on their phones, not forgetting to ask, “Lin Zhu, has your off-campus application come through? Why are you packing already?”

“No, it won’t be approved until next week.” He pulled his suitcase out from the cabinet, putting things inside as he said, “I’m going home later, bringing some miscellaneous items back first.”

His roommate said, “We’re ordering milk tea; do you want some? You’re still packing for a while, so there’s time.”

Hearing this, Lin Zhu’s movement of rising slowed for a beat. He couldn’t help but rub his nose, his voice lowering unconsciously, as if sharing a secret.

“…No need,” he said softly. “I don’t like milk tea.”

When he got home, the sky was still bright. The summer sky was as blue as ever, and dense white clouds were blown by the wind into the shapes of small animals, huddled in clusters at the edge of the horizon. Lin Zhu dragged his suitcase along the road toward home. Halfway there, he took a photo of the “cloud puppy,” his fingers forming muscle memory, subconsciously clicking on Yan Ruojun’s avatar…

A second before sending it, Lin Zhu stopped. He had told Yan Ruojun yesterday that he would come home today, but because he wasn’t sure when the class meeting would end, he hadn’t specified a time, so the man didn’t know when he would arrive. After a moment of thought, Lin Zhu turned off his phone screen, deciding not to report his whereabouts in advance today.

And so, he returned home quietly.

Opening the door, stepping inside, locking it—Lin Zhu lifted the entire suitcase, making no sound throughout the process. As expected, he found no sign of the man in the living room or the kitchen. The man’s laptop was left on the dining table charging, with a few printed documents scattered beside it.

Lin Zhu placed his suitcase in the corner against the wall in the living room and walked toward the bedroom, his footsteps extremely light, inconsistent with his tall and burly build.

In the bedroom, the curtains weren’t drawn, and the sunlight jumped in unscrupulously. Fortunately, the room’s constant temperature system was always running, so it wasn’t hot enough to bother the man napping. But it was a bit glaring.

Lin Zhu squatted by the bed on tiptoe, amused to see Yan Ruojun lying on his side with his back to the floor-to-ceiling window to avoid the afternoon sun. He had even pulled the thin silk quilt over his head, with most of his face buried in it, leaving only half his nose and lips exposed… It looked like he had built a tiny nest.

Yan Ruojun used to almost never nap, drinking a cup of coffee in the afternoon to keep up with high-intensity work all day. It wasn’t until he became pregnant that he gradually developed the habit of napping. He had to; he was just too sleepy.

Lin Zhu stared for a few minutes, then turned to see the man’s two lower legs exposed to the air. He stretched out his arm to touch the man’s soles, confirming his body temperature was normal before putting his mind at ease.

Yan Ruojun was sleeping soundly. Lin Zhu didn’t intend to wake him; instead, he carefully pulled back the quilt, dug out the pillow that wasn’t his own from the man’s arms, and finally tucked himself into that spot.

The warm sunlight shone on Lin Zhu’s back. Yan Ruojun was enveloped in his shadow, blocking the annoying light, and the man’s fluttering eyelids finally became still. Perhaps smelling the scent he was particularly attached to, Yan Ruojun adjusted his posture in his sleep, and then buried his head into the crook of Lin Zhu’s neck.

Listening to the vague, unconscious murmurs he made, Lin Zhu couldn’t help but hook the corners of his mouth. He raised his hand to wrap it around the man’s shoulders, patting him lightly as if coaxing a child to sleep…

After patting for a long while, Lin Zhu stared at the slightly bulging gland near his neck, suddenly feeling his canine teeth itch, subconsciously biting his lower lip and grinding his teeth. His fingers seemed to have a consciousness of their own, already spontaneously roaming past the shoulder blades, searching for the flesh buried beneath the skin.

This patch of skin was no longer as snowy and flawless as when they first met. Under Lin Zhu’s repeated gnawing, it was already covered in a layer of marks that were hard to remove, looking both ambiguous and pitiful… making anyone who saw it wonder what kind of treatment it had endured.

Because he wore barrier patches, few people could see his gland, let alone observe it from such a close distance. Lin Zhu arched his neck, his chin resting on the man’s head, his long, lingering breath falling onto the edge of the gland… His fingertips touched Yan Ruojun’s gland, playing with it like a toy, full of interest.

Yan Ruojun wasn’t ticklish; this level of touch wouldn’t wake him. And that was exactly the case.

Outside, the sky gradually turned duck-egg green, and the light became cool and pale. Before long, a raging fire ignited at the edge of the sky, burning the clouds into unrecognizable shapes, and the thick red glow painted the entire city.

It was nearly six o’clock. Yan Ruojun woke up slowly then, discovering that he was not only curled up in Lin Zhu’s arms but also had a leg draped over the younger man’s waist. He couldn’t help but let out a low laugh, squinting his eyes and asking hoarsely:

“Puppy Lin, when did you get back?”

Lin Zhu hadn’t been sleeping at all. He withdrew his hand from playing with the hair at the back of the man’s head and responded casually: “An hour ago.”

He asked what time it was. Lin Zhu fished out the phone he had placed by the pillow and glanced at it, reporting a specific time. He heard the man click his tongue helplessly: “I actually slept for over four hours? I probably won’t be able to fall asleep tonight.”

Hearing this, Lin Zhu was silent for two seconds, then suddenly said:

“It’s fine, I can’t sleep either.”

They hadn’t been living together for a short time, and they had a deep understanding of each other’s words and actions. Hearing this, Yan Ruojun understood immediately. He simply climbed on top of Lin Zhu, bowed his head to hook his throat, and said vaguely: “Are you hungry? Do you want to have dinner first?”

Lin Zhu felt the heavy weight on his body and couldn’t help but hold the man tighter, answering a question with a question: “Ge, what about you?”

Yan Ruojun said: “I had an extra meal before my nap, so I’m not hungry yet.”

Lin Zhu followed up: “I’m not hungry right now, either.”

As soon as the words fell, Yan Ruojun sat up from his body, not only with his calves pressing tightly against his waist, but his knees also rubbing against the inside of Lin Zhu’s pajama hem, which was hitched up.

The downward angle made the man look particularly cold and self-controlled, as if he were still that “Mr. Yan” whom no one could approach. But at this moment, Yan Ruojun was covered in an orange-pink filter by the sunset glow. His exquisite face was already slightly flushed from sleep, and there were faint waves of light in his eyes…

On top of that, his behavior and words were hardly “innocent.” The man’s two palms pressed lightly against Lin Zhu’s abdominal muscles, his voice husky and deep from just waking up.

“Then do we…”

Before he could finish, Yan Ruojun suddenly heard a strange rumbling sound echoing in the bedroom, as if some bizarre creature were howling.

The next instant, the man followed the sound, moving his gaze down inch by inch, finally landing where his palms were covering.

Lin Zhu’s abs.

Of course, abs don’t open their mouths, nor do they scream.

After a few seconds of silence, Yan Ruojun suddenly burst into a series of laughs even louder than the rumbling sound just now. He said between laughs: “There is food in the fridge. I had the nanny make extra at noon. You should go eat something.”

After saying that, he added: “I’m not in a hurry.”

Lin Zhu, having been fiercely mocked: “…”

His mask of calmness fell off. Lin Zhu carried the man off the bed, his face red, and turned on the lights in the bedroom and living room as they headed to the kitchen. He placed Yan Ruojun on a dining chair.

Seeing the man standing barefoot on the cold floor, Lin Zhu left his own slippers for him, and only after he saw him put them on did he turn toward the fridge, taking out the reserved food to heat up.

A few minutes later, Lin Zhu took out two sets of bowls and chopsticks. He served Yan Ruojun a small bowl of rice, and then silently sacrificed to his own “five internal organs temple” (stomach).

Yan Ruojun was truly not hungry. He used his chopsticks to pick up grains of rice one by one to his mouth, his peach-blossom eyes staring directly at the person across from him. Seeing the other party only busy lowering his head to shovel food, he picked up some vegetables for him and said with extra thoughtfulness:

“Eat more, don’t starve yourself.”

Lin Zhu heard the man’s trembling tail-note, clearly in a state of suppressing laughter. He couldn’t help but take a deep breath, swallowed the food in his mouth, and responded calmly: “Okay, I know.”

Immediately after, he said word for word:

“I’ll finish eating, and then I’ll eat you.”

“—Right here.”

Hearing this, Yan Ruojun subconsciously retracted the foot he was stepping on Lin Zhu’s knee, pulling his knees together, a tingling sensation crawling up his back. He restrained the arc at the corners of his lips, picked up the glass of water by his hand to take a sip, and coughed lightly twice, his mind filled with only one thought.

It’s over, I think I laughed too hard.

…I’m going to get punished.

After the meal, Lin Zhu cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks and wiped the table. He used a disinfectant wipe to scrub the surface again and again until there wasn’t a trace of dust or oil left. Yan Ruojun watched the whole time, his long lashes fluttering rapidly.

Neither of them spoke.

Cleaning the table wasn’t enough; Lin Zhu walked barefoot back toward the bedroom, and when he came out, he was holding a box.

Soon, he stood beside the man. His tall frame blocked the ceiling light of the dining room, bringing an intense sense of oppression. Yan Ruojun couldn’t help but lower his head, only to have his chin pinched and lifted by Lin Zhu…

Tap.

At the same time, Lin Zhu placed the box in his hand on the dining table; this action seemed no different from how he had placed the bowls and chopsticks earlier.

Yan Ruojun just felt—

That he was the dish waiting to be served on the table.

Lin Zhu nodded slightly, looking down at the man’s tightly drawn knees. A few seconds later, his gaze returned to Yan Ruojun’s slightly dazed eyes and his involuntarily parted lips, asking abruptly:

“Ge, do you really like me being like this?”

The man didn’t speak.

But it looked like, he really did like it.

Yan Ruojun’s breathing was unstable, and the toes under the table curled tightly. After staring at each other for a while, he couldn’t help but look away, his lips pressed tight.

The room was quiet.

Suddenly, he heard Lin Zhu ask again, “Then do you want me to carry you up, or will you lie down yourself?”

Yan Ruojun: “…”

A long while later.

The man whispered: “Carry me.”

…His legs were already weak.