"Mmh"

Deep night, temperature plummeting.

Thumb-sized hailstones arrived abruptly, pelting First Prison with a dull thudding din.

In the communal cell block, the sound of snoring rose and fell in waves, never stopping.

The prison officer on duty yawned, having no intention of reporting Lu Mi.

Hailstones of this magnitude were hardly natural disasters on Calamity Planet; they were as common as drinking water.

Cell 05.

Yu Tu opened his eyes abruptly.

He had been curled up on his side with his back arched, legs bent, knees pressed against his chest, and arms wrapped around himself. His white hair draped loose behind him, making him look like a small beast trying to curl up as tightly as possible in the bitter winter to keep itself warm.

Now his red eyes snapped open, blazing with piercing, razor-sharp vigilance, paired with his instinctive motion of turning his head to listen.

The little beast instantly grew vicious fangs, the underdog flipping over to immediately become the king of wolves lying in wait for prey in the dark.

Fierce, violent, dead silent, yet reeking of a startlingly chilling bloodshed.

Yu Tu cocked his ear and listened quietly for a long time, the trace of a relaxed look finally surfacing on his cold, alluring face.

Yu Tu tilted his neck.

His gaze swept slowly across the dark surroundings.

The room was in shambles.

Memories gradually returned.

Yu Tu's face stiffened instantly.

After a long while, his thin lips parted and closed--

"We're~ ab-so-lute-ly~ fu-cked~"

Yu Tu sat up slowly from the bed, grabbed a corner of the quilt, and began gnawing on it.

Atop his head, white vines emerged leisurely, swaying listlessly left and right.

"What do I do, I did something unforgivable."

"I bullied Prison Warden Lu to pieces."

"He looks so pitiful and so angry!"

"He must hate me to death!"

"Wuwu!"

"What do I do, what do I do?"

"Is it too late to apologize now?"

Yu Tu stepped barefoot onto the cold floor, slowly walking toward the corner.

After intense exertion, a sound sleep through the night.

Lu Mi slowly opened his eyes, stretched, and after washing up, changed into his black uniform. He opened the fridge, took out a pack of jerky and a box of milk, and while eating breakfast, opened the monitoring feed for Cell 05.

The quilt was still on the single bed, but the person was gone.

Lu Mi froze for a second, his expression shifting immediately.

He checked the weather report from the previous night: hail.

First Prison was nothing like the staff rest cabins equipped with constant-temperature devices. Although yesterday's hailstones weren't big, the temperature had dropped quite a bit.

That old fogey Yu Tu was terrified of the cold.

Lu Mi hurriedly redirected the surveillance camera, the view panning slowly until it finally caught Yu Tu standing in the corner.

Dressed in a thin black prisoner uniform, he stood bolt upright barefoot in the corner.

Lu Mi clamped a piece of jerky between his teeth, milk carton in hand, and hurried out of the warden's living quarters.

The door to Cell 05 slid open, and Lu Mi strode inside.

The moment the cell door clicked shut behind him, his gaze shot straight at Yu Tu.

Icy, stern, tone unfriendly,

"0456, what are you doing?"

Yu Tu raised his eyes to look at Lu Mi.

For some reason... Yu Tu wasn't even dodging his gaze, but Lu Mi just felt like this old fogey gave off an extremely guilty vibe.

Yu Tu: "Keep yelling at me."

Lu Mi: "..."

Lu Mi frowned: "What are you being all sarcastic and shady about?"

"I'm not." Yu Tu pressed his lips together. "Keep yelling at me."

"Still saying you're not? Yu Tu, what the hell is your game?"

Yu Tu hastily turned around, his gaze locking onto the wall.

The white vines on top of his head were plastered completely flat against his hair, only their tips swaying gently, looking half-dead.

Lu Mi: "?"

Lu Mi: "Why'd you turn around? Do you loathe the sight of me that much?"

Yu Tu didn't budge an inch, driving Lu Mi utterly crazy with irritation.

He strode over, clamped his hand onto Yu Tu's shoulder, and forced him to turn back around.

Yet even with him turned around, Yu Tu kept his head hanging, his eyes glued to the floor.

Lu Mi let out a dry, furious laugh: "What, you old bastard, trying to pull that love-them-and-leave-them routine on me again?"

Lu Mi gripped Yu Tu's chin, forcing him to look up: "You wrecked half my life just yesterday, and you want to bail? Did you ask me first?"

Yu Tu: "Huh?"

"Huh, my ass!"

Yu Tu blinked: "You... you don't hate me?"

Lu Mi let out a cold snort: "In your dreams."

Yu Tu's eyes suddenly lit up: "Prison Warden Lu, I did bad things to you yesterday, and I thought you hated me to death! That's why I was standing in the corner as punishment! Turns out you don't hate me after all!"

The white vines transformed into a bamboocopter.

Lu Mi let go of his hand: "Hah, I hate you to death."

The bamboocopter stopped spinning.

Yu Tu turned back to face the wall: "Sorry, I'll try to minimize the times we see each other."

"..."

So seeing each other was something he could minimize just by staring at the wall?

Lu Mi's face went cold: "Turn around. Go lie down on the bed."

Yu Tu took two steps barefoot, and the next second his entire body was hoisted into the air.

Lu Mi picked Yu Tu up in his arms and laid him on the bed. When pulling the quilt over him, his hand pinched the sole of Yu Tu's foot.

Even through the leather glove, he could feel how cold it was.

"0456."

Lu Mi looked down at Yu Tu from above,

"You're my prisoner. Without my permission, who gave you the right to punish yourself? You did something wrong, and now, I'm going to punish you."

Yu Tu looked up at him: "Ho--"

Before the word could escape, Lu Mi pinched his chin and abruptly lowered his head. Their lips met, the air in Yu Tu's mouth ruthlessly plundered away.

Yu Tu was kissed limp, draping himself entirely over Lu Mi, a pretty flush faintly spreading across his skin.

Neither of them spoke for a moment.

After a long while, having finally caught his breath, Yu Tu asked Lu Mi in a soft murmur right beside his ear,

"Prison Warden Lu, since I treated you like that yesterday, do you actually like it or hate it?

If you like it, then... can I still treat you like that?

If you hate it... I, I will definitely work hard to restrain myself in the future."

"And then?"

"Huh?"

Lu Mi tilted his head back, staring at Yu Tu's face, and asked with a deadpan expression: "Restrain yourself, and then, who do you plan on looking for?"

"Huh?"

That question was by no means within the scope of Yu Tu's consideration.

So upon hearing Lu Mi ask this, he instinctively tilted his head and began to think about it in earnest.

His memories were limited, and the people he had seen in those memories were limited too.

"Let me think..."

Yu Tu was truly putting his heart into thinking.

He dragged up everyone he had ever seen in his memories and paraded them through his head one by one.

Lu Mi's face darkened completely.

Finally, what little patience he had left evaporated entirely.

The whites around his dark eyes suddenly crawled with bloodshot veins. Staring at Yu Tu, he gritted his teeth: "Yu Tu, what the hell do you take me for?"

The several-hundredth backup option?!

Yu Tu raised a hand to cover his mouth. "Stop making noise. I haven't finished thinking yet."

Very good, very good, very good.

Lu Mi closed his eyes.

Who am I.

Where am I.

Why haven't I beaten this old fogey to death yet?

Lu Mi opened his eyes.

At the same time, Yu Tu released his hand from Lu Mi's mouth.

Yu Tu reached up to wrap his arms around Lu Mi's waist, lowering his head like a little kitten as he rubbed and nuzzled against Lu Mi's cheek.

"Prison Warden Lu, I've thought it through.

I'm very sure... out of all the people I've seen, I only want you."

Lu Mi: "..."

The corners of his lips twitched upward slightly.

Voice cold, expression fiercely arrogant,

"Oh."

Yu Tu continued rubbing against him: "Then, can I still treat you like yesterday?"

"...Yes."

Yu Tu sat bolt upright with a swish!

Lu Mi's mouth twitched, and he instinctively raised a hand to support his lower back.

"Wait, truce for today. If you want to... I'll help you."

-

A little car drove past, kindly exhaling a mouthful of exhaust fumes at you.

You cursed and swore as you walked away, indicating that you'd still want it next time.

-

Yu Tu: "Mmh."

Lu Mi: "Are you warm yet?"

Yu Tu: "Mmh."