"Bunny, when did you sneak off with my jacket?"
Ye Ruan sat in the chair with his head lowered, saying nothing as he pulled down the zipper to take off the jacket.
It had only slipped to the crooks of his elbows when it was pulled back up.
Gu Cheng crouched in front of Ye Ruan, about to zip it up again. After a moment's thought, he helped him take it off instead.
"It's dirty. Wear a clean one."
Gu Cheng took off the jacket he had just changed into and gently helped Ye Ruan put it on, carefully fastening the zipper and smoothing the collar.
"I bought this new when I came to South City. Haven't worn it even once. Lucky you, you naughty little bunny."
Gu Cheng lifted the collar for him to sniff. "Here, take a sniff. Smell nice?"
Ye Ruan stared blankly into Gu Cheng's eyes, then actually turned his face to sniff it, looking adorably foolish.
The rabbit ears that had appeared at some point twitched, then stood upright.
Ye Ruan smiled. "It does!"
"Finally, a smile."
Gu Cheng sighed and sat down on the floor.
"Such a pretty face, but you never smile. You're making me worry... Think you could smile more from now on?"
"...Okay."
Gu Cheng wore only a T-shirt, but he did not seem to mind the cold.
"Why are you unhappy? Want to tell your captain? I'll cheer you up."
Ye Ruan shook his head, his ears swaying twice with the motion.
"Don't want to talk about it... That's fine too."
Gu Cheng rose, his dark eyes gazing deeply into Ye Ruan's.
He was captivated by those eyes, as though he could trace the course of the Milky Way within them.
Ye Ruan's eyes widened as Gu Cheng's face suddenly drew closer, and he started to pull back.
Gu Cheng rested a hand on the back of Ye Ruan's head, keeping him still.
Their foreheads touched. Ye Ruan instinctively held his breath, his lashes trembling.
Gu Cheng's breath was warm, his voice low. "From now on, I'll protect you. Everyone in Team One has your back."
"When you're scared, just hide behind me."
A long silence followed, filled with the murmur of conversations outside the camp.
Inside the vehicle, there was only a heartbeat, beating very fast.
For a moment, Ye Ruan could not tell whether it was his own or Gu Cheng's.
Ye Ruan slowly opened his arms and wrapped them around Gu Cheng's shoulders, turning his face to rest his chin on one shoulder.
Ye Ruan hugged the big gray wolf, his soft voice drifting lightly from his lips.
"Thank you, big brother."
Gu Cheng froze, struggling to keep the corners of his mouth from lifting.
"Don't act cute. That won't work on me."
Despite his words, Gu Cheng slipped his arms around the little bunny's waist, pulled him into his lap, and hugged him tight.
Resting against Gu Cheng's shoulder, Ye Ruan turned his face and reached up to pinch the wolf ears that had emerged on his head at some point.
The fur inside the wolf ears was very soft, much softer than the ring of gray fur around the outside.
Rubbing a wolf ear between his fingers, Ye Ruan suddenly remembered something and leaned closer to ask in a tiny voice:
"Gu Cheng, could you let me see your tail?"
Gu Cheng said, "No!"
"Gu Cheng..."
"No acting cute!"
"Captain..."
"No!"
Gu Cheng cleared his throat. "Comrade Little Ye Ruan, you can't let being spoiled go to your head."
Ye Ruan pushed Gu Cheng away, his red eyes glistening and his lips turning down.
When he spoke again, his voice sounded tearful.
"Gu Cheng."
"All right, all right!"
Gu Cheng surrendered. He turned and walked to the vehicle door to check outside. No one was nearby.
Returning, Gu Cheng tugged the back of his waistband down a little.
He turned around, and a large, fluffy gray tail dropped to the floor.
"Wow..."
Ye Ruan's eyes lit up as he watched the wolf's tail swish back and forth like a cat teaser.
The bunny had no resistance to a big, fluffy tail. He abruptly transformed back into a lop-eared rabbit, clinging tightly to the tail with his paws and swinging from it.
Gu Cheng nearly exploded. His tail lifted the rabbit like a fishing rod hauling in a catch.
"Ah! You can't touch that!"
Gu Cheng caught the rabbit by the scruff and lifted him up.
The lop-eared rabbit's ears stood upright. His little split mouth moved, and a tiny pink tongue poked out.
"Big tail!"
Gu Cheng stood somewhat awkwardly, picking up the jacket Ye Ruan had taken off earlier to cover his crotch.
Through slightly gritted teeth, he said, "Don't you know you can't just touch someone's tail?"
The little bunny was unhappy. "You touched mine too..."
"Tsk." Gu Cheng planted his hands on his hips in exasperation. "You're really something!"
"Boss! Come out and eat!"
Yu Jingjing bounded into the vehicle and looked at the wolf and rabbit.
"What are you two doing? About to eat the bunny?"
"Eat my ass!" Gu Cheng raised his hand and tossed the rabbit into her arms.
"Take him outside first."
Yu Jingjing said, "Oh."
Lunch was a communal pot of stew. Worried about attracting Level Three Zombies, they had lit only one fire and cooked a simple vegetable soup with a can of chopped luncheon meat.
Ye Ruan cradled his own mess tin while the other teammates gathered around a table to eat.
The little bunny rummaged through his storage wristband and took out several boiled eggs and a few soft flatbreads.
Time stood still inside the storage wristband, keeping food as fresh as when it was first put in.
Yu Jingjing took a bite. The flatbread was soft, with a distinctive wheat fragrance, and went perfectly with the vegetable soup.
Fang Ci asked with a smile, "Did you buy these?"
Ye Ruan said, "My mother made them. Before I came to South City, she asked my grandmother to help. They spent a week preparing lots of food for me."
Gu Cheng came out of the vehicle and sat beside Ye Ruan.
Yu Jingjing knew what to do and had left the seat beside Ye Ruan open for Gu Cheng.
"Your mother really knows how to look after a home," Gu Cheng said.
Yu Jingjing hastily swallowed her flatbread. "Captain, Little Ye Ruan's mother is Ye Qingman, the previous deputy captain!"
Gu Cheng paused, then smiled. "Well, would you look at that! What a coincidence!"
Ye Ruan ate his favorite diced button mushrooms and asked curiously, "Captain, do you know my mother?"
Gu Cheng took a bite of flatbread:
"I do. Auntie Man hadn't left the team yet when I joined. Some people weren't happy about me being brought straight in as captain, and she helped me out."
"Thinking about it now, it's been seven or eight years since I last saw her."
Yu Jingjing paused mid-bite and asked in confusion:
"Captain, how much older are you than Little Ye Ruan?"
Gu Cheng cleared his throat, sounding a little uncertain:
"Only... two, two or three years."
Yu Jingjing snorted and looked at Fang Ci.
"And now, let's hear from our guest, Fang Ci. Fang Ci, how much older are you than Little Ye Ruan?"
Fang Ci bowed politely. "Ahem. Ruan is nineteen. I'm a year younger than Captain Gu and four years older than Ruan."
Everyone burst out laughing.
Li Rang laughed so hard he slapped his thigh, with no intention of sparing Gu Cheng's dignity.
"Hahahaha! Captain's twenty-four! Five years older than Ye Ruan! Hahahahaha-"
Gu Cheng said, "..."
"You little shit. Have I been too nice to you? You've got the nerve to laugh at me?"
Gu Cheng grabbed a flatbread and stuffed it into Li Rang's wide-open bear mouth.
Yu Jingjing finished her soup and shook her head with a sigh:
"Tsk, tsk. Robbing the cradle."
The laughter of the six of them carried over to the other side.
Tang Yi tightened her grip on her chopsticks, looking over with resentment in her eyes.
Gu Cheng was wiping a spot of soup from the corner of the white-haired, red-eyed boy's mouth with a tissue.
He looked very gentle, his eyes brimming with delight.
Tang Yi was mad with jealousy.
Tang Cheng reminded her quietly, "Rein it in."
"Uncle Zhao, what should we do next?"
Tang Cheng asked the middle-aged man beside him ingratiatingly.
The man was the representative of the survivors: Zhao Quan.
Apparently, he had once been a high-ranking official in South City. When Gu Cheng rescued Zhao Quan, he had spoken with headquarters and promised them plenty of benefits.
Zhao Quan gritted his teeth. "Those mercenary thugs. I promised their headquarters so many benefits, and that bastard Gu still won't show me any respect."
At the very least, he ought to sit at the same table as him for every meal.
Who didn't know the mercenaries ate well?
Before you continue