I left my underwear here. I came to get it

Yuan Feng was already so hot he wanted to run around naked and charge straight in for a shower.

Only his lingering sense of decency and reason had let Jian Li beat him to it.

Still, he wasn't panicking. They were going in pairs, after all, so he still had a chance.

"Wait, I-"

Yuan Feng had barely raised his arm when Luo Xiaohong, beside him, pushed it back down. "Are you out of your mind? Showering with Jian Li?!"

"What's wrong with that?" asked Yuan Feng, the Straight Steel Man. "I reckon Jian Li's a pretty nice guy."

Luo Xiaohong rolled her eyes. "Weren't you in a web drama with two male leads? You seriously haven't noticed anything?"

"What's wrong with two male leads? What am I supposed to notice?" Yuan Feng looked utterly baffled. Then he spotted Huo Xiao stepping forward out of the corner of his eye, and his face fell. "Damn it! Someone beat me to it!"

While he was sulking, the others were already pairing up.

"Hey, Yi, shall we go together?" Zhou Nan nudged Shi Huayi with his elbow. "As soon as the curtain opens, we rush in."

As he spoke, he glanced at Shi Huayi's lower half. "Those old legs of yours can still outrun the youngsters, right?"

"Who're you looking down on?!" Shi Huayi snorted. "Though I've reached the ripe old age of thirty, snagging a shower should be no problem."

Hearing this exchange, Yuan Feng immediately turned on them. "Hey! Could you two at least say that behind my back?!"

"If you pair up, aren't you throwing me to the wolves?"

"What if someone gives me some kind of disease?!"

Lu Yuanhang couldn't take it anymore. "Who are you calling diseased?"

[LMAO, Yuan Feng wants them to talk behind his back? He's calling people diseased right to their faces! He's so straight I can't bear to bend him!]

[So he isn't gay? He seemed really into that drama with two male leads. The deep affection in his eyes at the end was impossible to miss.]

[Could it have been brotherly love? They never dared make it explicit because of censorship, after all!]

[I don't want to discuss this vague stuff anymore. Please switch to the shower cameras and give us some actual eye candy!]

The shower room was simply furnished.

Two stalls faced each other, with wooden doors across the middle to keep their private parts hidden.

Jian Li went in first, picked a side at random, and started undressing.

By the time Huo Xiao stepped inside, water from the overhead shower was already falling onto Jian Li's hair, running down his cheeks to his collarbones before sliding swiftly farther down.

"You're here."

Jian Li greeted him casually, then turned away and put his entire head under the water.

"Mm."

Huo Xiao's voice was unexpectedly deep. His gaze lingered for a moment on that pale back, gleaming coolly, before darting away as though he'd been shocked.

There were cameras in the shower room too, but they avoided the sensitive areas.

Their broad shoulders and narrow waists still left plenty to the imagination.

"You're in good shape. Do you have a trainer?" Huo Xiao broke the awkward silence over the sound of running water.

Going from a weakling to having a thin layer of muscle in such a short time wasn't something that could be achieved simply by lowering body fat.

He had clearly put a great deal of effort into it, and might even have hired a professional team.

"You need a trainer for this?" Jian Li smiled faintly. "It's all natural talent."

"Besides, do I look like I have the money to hire a trainer?"

Huo Xiao paused. "You're very poor?"

"A mistress for a mother, a gambler for a father, an immature little brother, and an asshole who never stops framing me and setting traps." Jian Li grinned without a care. "What, want to help me out?"

He turned as he spoke, unexpectedly meeting Huo Xiao's deep gaze, and immediately felt a little awkward. "Ahem. Just kidding."

"Who's framing you and setting traps?" Huo Xiao had little sense of humor. His incomparably handsome features held a stubborn earnestness.

"Who else?" Jian Li curled his lip. "My so-called sugar daddy."

"Lu Siqi?" Huo Xiao seemed to be speaking to himself, his expression turning slightly dark.

Jian Li didn't notice or answer, and continued washing at top speed.

Mercenaries spent years marching and fighting, often encountering all kinds of unforeseen situations.

So whether eating, sleeping, or showering, they had to stay alert and move fast.

Once a habit formed, it was hard to change.

And so, in less than ten minutes, Jian Li finished washing, pulled on his clothes, and headed out. "Take your time. I'm off."

"All right."

Huo Xiao answered, his gaze following him, something unusual flickering in his eyes.

Watching this from behind the monitors, the director suddenly looked puzzled. "Huh-"

"Didn't Xiao's agent say he's a germaphobe and can't share things with other people?"

The assistant immediately caught his meaning. To avoid trouble, he tried to offer a reasonable explanation. "Director, does showering count as sharing? Their water doesn't even mix."

"That makes sense, but something still feels off." The director scratched his head, racking his brain.

The two men who rushed into the frame interrupted his thoughts.

"Hey, hey, hey, why did the screen go black?!" The director grabbed his walkie-talkie. "Technical team, go check what's wrong!"

The instant the veteran intelligence officer and veteran informant entered the shower room, their expressions turned ice-cold. Mechanically stripping off his clothes, one drawled sarcastically, "I thought you'd retired. Didn't expect you to still be kicking around in the business."

"You haven't retired. Why should I?"

Shi Huayi shot Zhou Nan a sidelong glance. "What case is it this time?"

"Don't pry. You might get yourself burned." Zhou Nan turned on the shower. "Besides, we signed confidentiality agreements. We're accountable for any leaks!"

"Why act so mysterious?" Shi Huayi scoffed. "Wasn't it my help that let you catch that spy selling information last time?"

"Your help?" Zhou Nan glared at him. "If I hadn't drunk that spiked booze for you, would I have nearly gotten fucked in the ass?"

"That-that was an accident." Shi Huayi sounded noticeably less confident. "I didn't ask you to help!"

Zhou Nan said, "Fine, fine. Next time, I won't help even if they make you drink yourself to death!"

The two of them had actually known each other for years, almost like childhood friends.

They had attended the same military academy, then been assigned to different departments after graduation.

They'd originally been fairly close, but graduation had ended their romance-no, their contact.

When they met again, they discovered that both had changed careers and entered the entertainment industry.

"Holy shit, how'd you sink this low?" Shi Huayi had asked in astonishment, watching Zhou Nan drink with a sugar daddy.

Zhou Nan shot back without hesitation, "Aren't you fucking doing the same thing?!"

They wanted to keep trading barbs like sworn enemies while fishing for information about each other's departments' recent missions, but someone poked his head through the shower room doorway.

"Having a chat?"

Shi Huayi and Zhou Nan whipped around, their eyes full of wariness, and demanded in unison, "What did you hear?!"

How had he walked in without making a sound?!

A professional spy?!

"Didn't hear a thing." Jian Li flashed a rakish grin. "I left my underwear here. I came to get it."

"Carry on, you two."

Shi Huayi: "..." What the hell was this about underwear?!

Zhou Nan: "..." He could forget to put that on?!