The bunny got picked on

Only then did Ye Ruan remember, and he asked:

"Didn't you say you had some gossip about me?"

Gu Cheng chuckled. His voice rose slightly at the end, always carrying a hint of irreverent teasing.

"Most of what I heard was about how good-looking you are and how you get people thinking about you."

Ye Ruan's ears flushed faintly, his red eyes dewy as he looked at him.

"They're... talking nonsense."

Whether Ye Ruan was laughing or crying, his eyes were always moist, making him look pitiful and easy to bully.

Grinning, Gu Cheng reached over and pinched Ye Ruan's fair, tender cheek.

"So easily embarrassed? You're blushing."

Ye Ruan had long heard that the captain of Team One wasn't exactly a proper gentleman.

Now he had seen it for himself.

Ye Ruan pushed Gu Cheng away, intending to climb down the other side of the vehicle.

Suddenly, a flurry of hurried footsteps approached.

Ye Ruan reacted instantly, dropping back and rolling onto his stomach on the roof before motioning for Gu Cheng to stay quiet.

Gu Cheng cooperated, lying down beside the little bunny to hide.

The footsteps stopped a short distance away, followed by a somewhat rough, hoarse male voice.

"Fuck, that bitch Xia Yue doesn't know what's good for her!"

"Keep your voice down! If Xia Yue won't agree, there's still my sister!"

"Your sister?"

The man with the rough voice scoffed.

"At least she knows how to behave. Tell her to find a chance over the next few nights to... Once Tang Yi hooks that captain, we won't have to worry about them abandoning us."

"But aren't they soldiers? They shouldn't just leave us to fend for ourselves, right?"

"You don't know shit!"

The man lowered his voice and coughed twice, sounding even hoarser.

"They're a national special forces unit, just like those mercenaries overseas. They wouldn't come rescue us without money!"

"Besides, they value their own lives more than those of ordinary people like us. Who knows when they'll abandon us and leave City H on their own!"

"Didn't you see that boy they brought back today? The one with silver hair and red eyes. He's definitely not ordinary."

Silver hair and red eyes?

Ye Ruan tugged at the tousled bangs hanging before his eyes.

Yep, that sounded like me.

Gu Cheng couldn't resist touching him. His hot palm settled over the ends of Ye Ruan's hair, his fingers gently rubbing a few strands.

It was soft, just like him.

The two men nearby spoke again.

"What if Tang Yi manages to hook Captain Gu, but he still refuses to take us with him?"

"Then we'll find a chance to kill them!"

The man's voice grew hoarser with agitation.

"This biohazard vehicle was specially built by the military. Those monsters definitely can't claw through it! If they dare abandon us..."

Even though he lowered his voice for the rest, Gu Cheng and Ye Ruan could guess what the two men meant.

Ye Ruan turned to glance at Gu Cheng.

The man's face was expressionless, his whole body radiating a sharp, dangerous aura as a sudden chill swept over him.

Once the two men had gone far away, Gu Cheng noticed the little bunny watching him. By the time their eyes met, every trace of coldness had vanished.

A lazy, devil-may-care smile appeared on Gu Cheng's face as he rolled languidly onto his side.

"Little bunny, what do you think?"

Caught off guard by the question, Ye Ruan stared blankly for two seconds before answering with complete seriousness:

"Kill them."

Gu Cheng looked surprised, then laughed again.

"So you're soft on the outside, but not on the inside?"

Ye Ruan rubbed his nose. A gust of wind had left his soft voice a little nasal.

"Experience has taught me not to leave people like that alive. Otherwise, something will go wrong sooner or later."

Gu Cheng took off the jacket he had been wearing loosely and wrapped it around Ye Ruan.

"Don't worry. If I let those guys get the better of me, all these years I've lived would have been for nothing."

Enveloped in warmth, the boy looked at the man before him, who was flashing his white teeth in an open, hearty grin.

As though his good mood were contagious, Ye Ruan began smiling foolishly too.

The next day, Ye Ruan opened his eyes to the sight of a prominent Adam's apple.

After taking a moment to wake up, Ye Ruan realized he was resting his head on Gu Cheng's arm.

His memories returned. He remembered smiling foolishly for a while last night, then growing sleepy and simply falling asleep on the roof, wrapped in the blanket and Gu Cheng's jacket.

Now, only one corner of the blanket lay over Gu Cheng's stomach. The rest covered Ye Ruan.

"Well, well, you two actually slept together."

Yu Jingjing poked her head out, holding a large white radish.

Crunch. She took a bite, crisp and juicy.

Ye Ruan rubbed his eyes, perfectly calm.

Yu Jingjing was puzzled. "Aren't you supposed to clutch the blanket and yell, 'You pervert!' right about now?"

"Then make Captain Gu take responsibility for you."

Ye Ruan didn't quite understand why he should do that.

Having just woken up, his voice was soft, almost a little mumble.

"Why?"

Gu Cheng chuckled twice with his eyes closed, then lifted his eyelids to look at him.

The little bunny answered honestly, "Captain Gu and I did sleep together."

Gu Cheng's smile was inscrutable as he agreed, his expression indulgent.

"That's right. We slept together."

Ye Ruan vaguely felt something was off, but he didn't dwell on it. He folded the jacket and returned it to Gu Cheng, then jumped down from the roof to wash up.

Only one tap in the scrapyard still worked, near the main gate.

It was crowded at this hour, with a dozen or so people lined up at the tap.

Ye Ruan took his toiletries out of his wristband and silently stood at the end of the line.

Ye Ruan had some social anxiety and disliked talking to strangers, so he always kept a low profile.

But as it turned out, staying out of trouble didn't mean trouble wouldn't come looking for him.

He was standing there minding his own business when someone suddenly shoved him hard in the back.

But Ye Ruan had a steady stance and only swayed a little. An ordinary person would certainly have fallen.

His brows drew together slightly as he turned to look at the unfamiliar man before him.

The man stood beside Tang Yi, the woman who had approached Gu Cheng last night.

Noticing his gaze, the man gave a perfunctory smile.

"Sorry. My foot slipped."

Ye Ruan said nothing and turned back around.

This was the man who had been talking to the man with the hoarse voice late last night.

The two who intended to kill them and steal the vehicle.

A space opened up ahead. Ye Ruan was about to step forward when the two people behind him hurried around him and took the spot in front.

If he had bunny ears right now, they would have stood straight up to show his displeasure.

Ye Ruan tugged at his bangs and decided to try reasoning with them first.

"You can't cut in line."

Ye Ruan reached out and poked the man ahead of him.

Tang Yi rolled her eyes and snapped:

"What's wrong with you? We were already ahead of you! You're saying we cut in line? Who saw us?"

The man beside Tang Yi brushed the sleeve Ye Ruan had just touched, as though something filthy had gotten on it.

"Forget it, Yi. We won't stoop to his level. You're a girl; mind your image."

Yu Jingjing, who had happened to come looking for Ye Ruan, walked over and gave two exaggerated laughs when she heard that.

"You care about your image?"

Yu Jingjing leaned closer, looking curious.

"If you care about your image, why did you go up to my boss in front of all those people yesterday and offer to warm his bed?"

Tang Yi's face flushed red with anger, her voice turning shrill:

"What are you implying?"

Yu Jingjing shrugged, then affectedly toyed with her shoulder-length hair, mimicking Tang Yi's behavior from the night before.

"Mm... Captain Gu, you can have me do... mm... anything you like~"