Chapter 42

This sleep was like writing a long, unbearable string of code, more strokes and less dots. The long waves were the lengths of his deep and light sleep, while the short waves were the broken beats of his wakefulness.

They were always short and intermittent. Pei Huai remembered that he woke up once in the middle of the night and someone held the back of his neck with their palm and fed him some juice.

The mouth is so dry that it can be scratched by the tongue coating. Water flows into the throat but does not trigger the swallowing reaction of the throat muscles.

He sipped slowly and tiredly.

The moment the cup left his lips, the man kissed him. With his hand on his chin, he stroked his waistline almost obsessively, pinching the hollow firmly. Pei Huai gasped, and a low sigh mingled with lust echoed from above his head.

He refused to let go, fully appreciating the slenderness that could be easily embraced in his arms with just one embrace. This rare possession fascinated him immensely.

Then, a terrifying force pushed the former back onto the sofa. The man leaned over and kissed him, pleasing his lips and tongue, as impatient as if sucking on a piece of candy.

His knees were forcibly pulled apart by his hands, and he touched his thighs and began to knead them wantonly.

Pei Huai twisted his waist unbearably, biting his lip and trying to hide. But the other party seemed to have received a dream gift, and kissed him for a long time without getting tired of it.

After the kiss, the man leaned over to his ear and said something reluctantly.

Can't hear clearly.

The sweetness of the orange juice still lingered in my mouth. Besides being sweet, it also tasted... indescribably strange.

But my brain was extremely dizzy, which made thinking a little difficult.

Pei Huai felt something like cloth wiping the corner of his lips, but it was no use. His eyelids continued to feel heavy, and as his lower back fell back onto the pillow, he lost consciousness and his awareness was interrupted.

He didn't even know when he was carried to the bed.

The strangeness doesn’t end there.

Memories floated up and down like fragments or bubbles, drifting here and there, yet nothing could be pieced together. He still remembered a time when he was awake and vaguely smelled the aroma of food. However, his stomach didn't contract, and he was still drowsy.

Until someone squatted in front of the coffee table, reached out and pushed back his bangs. Seeing no response, the person had to half-support his shoulders and sit up, holding the bowl, blowing each spoonful to cool it before feeding it to his mouth in an orderly manner.

The food wasn't hot, it was deliberately left out before being served...

It was probably egg porridge cooked until soft. The chopped green onions had a rich flavor, and a touch of sesame oil was added for a nice touch. Unfortunately, even after lifting my eyelids several times, I couldn't get a clear look at the person.

After barely swallowing some porridge, Pei Huai fell into a deep sleep again.

Later, his consciousness was always struggling with lucidity or chaos. He dreamed of the familiar ceiling, the sofa, the company and the assembly line-like commissions.

Finally, he dreamed that his fingertips had regained sensation and were twitching.

The intervals between regaining consciousness were brief. The only time he was no longer in a trance was when he realized something was wrong and wanted to check his phone. Coincidentally, the torn fingerprint made a "crackling" sound in his hand.

Pei Huai struggled to sit up, but before he could straighten his back, he felt a strange sensation scraping the soles of his feet.

He looked down.

He saw scraps of paper scattered all over the carpet, the sofa, and the floor leading to the dim entrance. He bent down to pick it up and found that it was the corner of a photo. It took some effort to piece it together.

And in that complete photo, there is himself.

He remembered the content of this photo; it was the scene of Zhu Zhiyang sending him back just now. The angle of the photo was...

...Third floor?

Goose bumps immediately appeared on his neck. He took a breath and double-checked, only to find this conclusion.

During the time when Zhu Zhiyang sent him downstairs, there was indeed someone standing in the corridor in front of his house, pointing a Polaroid camera at them.

Just like the photo I picked up last time, in the picture, only my figure was marked with a heart drawn on it with crayons.

Zhu Zhiyang's face and feet were slashed with a box cutter. The cuts were one after another, dense and staggered, revealing the resentment... or jealousy, almost overflowing from the person who had done the cutting. Every photo was like this. Only his face remained intact, carefully outlined in crayon.

The photos spanned a wide range of time. Pei Huai couldn't quite remember some of them, but they were basically him in the same frame with various people.

Behind every photo, there are fanatical and hysterical words.

Why? Why? Why should he be allowed to hold your hand? Why can he put his arm around your shoulders and touch your waist, but I can't? I want it, I want it too, brother. I want you to love me too.

I love you so much. I love you more than anyone else. But you always push me away and never take me seriously.

Brother. Love you. Brother. Love you. Love you. Love you.

【I love you. 】

A sense of horror crept up Pei Huai's spine. He contacted the company as clearly as possible and asked them to send someone over as quickly as possible.

He'd been struggling to hold on until the doorbell rang, trying not to lose consciousness and miss the crux of the matter. However, his calves gave out, and he had to rely on the wall or handrails to get up. Pei Huai opened the door and handed the paper to the company visitor, but a wave of dizziness overcame him and he couldn't recall what he was going to say.

"Are you okay?" The other person held his arm.

"Take me away, and then give me this thing..." He was about to fall asleep again, and it was difficult for him to move his tongue.

"Sorry, I don't think I could hear you clearly. By the way, does the gentleman over there know who you're giving this to?"

"What sir?"

"The one standing at the kitchen door."

Pei Huai suddenly felt a chill running down his feet: There shouldn't be another person besides himself in this room, absolutely not...

Without waiting to turn around to confirm, the figure that had been silent in the darkness for a long time walked towards him.

She placed her hand on Pei Huai's wrist bone and moved forward slowly, slowly, until her five fingers slipped through his fingers and clasped them tightly.

"Brother, you forgot." A lively and enthusiastic smiling face leaned over to his ear, rubbed the tip of his nose, and then put her arm around his waist and held him tightly in her arms. "From today on, we are officially living together and officially dating, right?"

Consciousness was interrupted again.

...After that, Pei Huai dreamed of a broken rope many times. He dreamed of the knot being grabbed, and the excruciating pain that nearly pierced his head. He sat up with a sudden jerk, his chest heaving dramatically.

I looked out the window, sweat dripping down my eyelashes like raindrops.

It was already dark, approaching dusk, but the clothes I was wearing seemed to have been changed, and the texture was unfamiliar.

He looked down. He had no bottoms, only an off-white shirt. The fabric was silky and had an indescribably expensive feel. Unfortunately, it was a size too big, clearly not for him.

Thinking of this, he looked around vigilantly.

The changed clothes were temporarily placed on the back of the sofa. The vertical air conditioner was diagonally facing the bed, and a gentle breeze swept over it. The wind was not strong, but there was an inexplicable sense of comfort in the mist of the humidifier.

This is not his home.

His shoulder-length hair was untied, falling down his back. He held onto the edge of the cabinet, perhaps because he had slept too long, but his legs still hadn't regained their strength.

Numbness spread from his waist to his legs, and he tilted his head back, trying to stretch his back. However, his muscles were sluggish, and the moment he moved, his entire body felt sore and limp.

This bedroom may be larger than the rental house he lives in, and all the decorations seem to be designed to satisfy the physical senses.

The bedding and sheets are both fine satin, and the quilt core has a velvety, downy feel. The mattress is thick and springy, like sitting on a bed of goose down. The table corners, stool legs, and picture frames are all covered with a layer of anti-scratch sponge.

Pei Huai had no idea who this room belonged to, but it was obviously carefully arranged.

The tabletop is spotless, adorned with perfume or potted plants. As you get out of bed, you can feel your feet sinking deeply into the cashmere carpet.

But there are no windows here, let alone any light source.

At that moment, his hearing suddenly caught the sound of footsteps approaching the door. He glanced around and calmly picked up a candlestick. In the shadow cast by the door, Pei Huai used only the slightest bit of muscle strength he had recovered to deliver an elbow strike, followed by a stomach-wrenching throw, overwhelming his opponent without any chance of resistance.

Even though his heart skipped a beat when he first saw that person, he still swung the candlestick in his hand down mercilessly, smashing the other person's head and causing it to bleed.

Xiang Mingqi.

This was someone he never dreamed of meeting.

"Even with the medicine, you're still very strong, brother." Xiang Mingqi smiled and blew away the blood clots in his nose. His hand moved up from his senior's naked hip, pinching his waist and kneading it slowly. "I won't hurt you," he said. "Don't be afraid."

"...Where is this?" Pei Huai narrowed his pupils in a threatening manner, straddling the chest of the younger generation with his arms wide open. The fingers pinching his throat tightened inch by inch, and a murderous intent spread in his eyes.

Even though it was caught in a nylon net and its wings were broken, it had to use its claws and beak to tear at the mesh, but this bruised eagle remained arrogant and still stood above humans, indestructible.

"It's my home." He smiled, ignoring the pain, and grabbed Pei Huai's legs and pulled him closer. "Brother, do you like the new room I prepared for you? I know you like cleanliness, so I cleaned it many times and replaced everything with new ones."

Not wanting to get entangled with him, Pei Huai bent his knees and kicked him until his nose bled, then stood up and left. He was still unsteady on his feet, and when he reached the entrance, he leaned against the wall several times, but couldn't press the doorknob.

Looking at the rectangular digital panel and the red circle that lights up when the fingerprint is wrong, he knows that the situation is not favorable for him.

...combination lock.

"Brother, are you feeling unwell?" A pair of muscular arms came from behind, gripping his waist and pulling him close, pressing his lower abdominal muscles against his thighs. "I'm sorry, this is my first time using juice to dilute the medicine, so I didn't get the ratio right. But don't worry, this won't cause any harm to your body."

Pei Huai grabbed the roots of his hair with his backhand, and without controlling the strength, he pulled him back with his head and body, exposing his throat which was enough to kill him.

He asked coldly, "What do you want?"

Xiang Mingqi wasn't surprised. If he was even slightly careless, this unruly and violent eagle would peck out his eyes and scratch his chest with its sharp claws.

He had to tread carefully.

"I'm sorry, I can't help it." He kept talking to himself, "I'm sorry, brother. You said you hated me, that you found me disgusting, that you wanted to leave me—and you even ordered me to stay away from you. No, I would rather die than break up, and I don't want you to distance yourself from me. I just want to stick with you, brother, for the rest of my life."

"Brother, you smell so good. Especially on your neck, I love the unique smell of soap there. Do you only use one type? I bought some secretly, but brother, you still smell the best..."

"Let go." He just thought of breaking Xiang Mingqi's hand bones, but when he lowered his head, he saw the bloodstains seeping from the other's lower abdomen, and was stunned.

——It was the knife wound from before.

Even if the wound was torn open by the contact of the limbs, this younger generation still felt no pain and blindly indulged in a certain great satisfaction.

He hummed a song, so excited that the blood in his body rushed to his skull.

"No." The other person laughed enthusiastically, "I'm sorry, brother, I don't want to. I can't do it."

Xiang Mingqi half-dragged, half-carried him to the sofa, half-knelt down. When he smiled and spread his knees apart, Pei Huai was shocked to realize that the exposed part of his thighs was already covered with handprints and mottled kiss marks.

His face suddenly turned ugly.

"What did you do?" A slap landed cleanly on Xiang Mingqi's face. It was loud and heavy.

The latter blinked in confusion, and the wound in his nose tore and bled again.

"Hey, isn't that weird? Haven't you and I always lived together?" The younger generation laughed, nonchalantly recounting those completely fictitious stories. He raised his two index fingers, tapped them together, and asked in confusion, "Are we in a relationship? Even though you didn't agree, I know, I know we've actually been dating."

“That’s enough!”

The cheek that had just been slapped was hit with the hardest blow ever, causing the teeth to slice through his mouth and causing blood to flow down his nose and lips, forming a small column on the ground.

But Xiang Mingqi ignored the pain. He spat out a mouthful of blood, bent down, took his senior's finger in his mouth, and licked it: "Brother, are you angry? I'm sorry. I made you unhappy."

Suddenly, there was a buzzing sound on his left hand, causing Pei Huai to turn his head and look with cold sweat dripping down his face.

He saw several text messages popping up on his phone which was turned upside down on the table, and he immediately grabbed it to check.

The sender is Zhu Zhiyang.

[Where are you? Pei Huai, we found the fingerprint you gave me. It's our new recruit. No, I should say he wasn't sent by headquarters at all. The file was destroyed midway, and the one we were given was forged. The new recruit's name isn't Xiang Mingqi. That guy has been making up stories to deceive us.]

[…Shit, he even has a doctor's note on mental illness. Are you home? I'll pick you up.]

Before Pei Huai could do anything, a hand grabbed his hips and pulled him forward, almost causing the sofa to fall apart.

The force was so great that he straightened his waist and tightly grasped the pillow on the side of his neck, subconsciously trying to dodge backwards.

"Xiang Mingqi——!"