Chapter 5

The Utility Room, vacant for a long time, was filled with a foul smell of dust mixed with mold.

The fresh fragrance emanating from the restrained youth became even more pronounced.

It was like the scent of some natural grass and wood, or like a cotton quilt baked under the sun, with a hint of sweet popcorn that brought a sense of happiness.

The man’s breathing grew heavier.

He almost pressed his nose against the fair skin of the youth’s nape, like a wild beast sniffing its prey, drawing in the sweetness beneath the flesh.

His breath was scorching hot, making it itch.

“How about it?”

“Not Second Brother, and no one else.”

After the two hushed exchanges, there were several sounds of doors opening and closing at varying distances.

Zhong Nian held his breath, his full attention focused outside, terrified that the next door to be checked would be theirs.

When he saw shadows lingering at the doorway through the crack under the door, his heart stopped in tension, and he didn’t dare breathe. Meanwhile, the man covering his mouth continued sniffing around behind him like a dog.

“Alright, it’s probably just a rat. Let’s go back and talk business.”

Not long after, the people outside left, returning to their original room.

Zhong Nian let out a heavy sigh of relief, which turned into a layer of moist vapor against the man’s palm.

He moved his arms, signaling the man to let him go.

“Don’t move.”

The man said in a low voice laced with panting, “It would be bad if we got discovered.”

“…”

Zhong Nian’s heartbeat gradually calmed.

“I’ve noticed you sneaking around for a while, eavesdropping like that. What bad thing were you trying to do?” the man questioned again.

Zhong Nian, with his hands bound and unable to speak, could only tap twice on the man’s thigh with his fingers to signal.

At least he needed to free his mouth to answer, right?

The man inhaled sharply and said gruffly, “Stop seducing me.”

Zhong Nian: “…?”

What’s wrong with you?

Unable to endure it, he lifted his foot and stomped hard on the man’s foot.

A rabbit’s legs were extremely strong. If he put his full force into a stomp, few could withstand it.

As expected, the man winced in pain and inhaled sharply, loosening his grip.

Zhong Nian quickly broke free and hopped away, turning around to scrutinize the man who hadn’t recovered yet in the dim light.

“Zhan Lu, were you deliberately scaring me?”

The exposed man grunted lowly: “I saved you, and not only are you ungrateful, you stomp on me.”

Zhong Nian asked, “Why were you here?”

Zhan Lu grabbed his hand: “Let’s go first.”

They left silently together. Zhong Nian didn’t know how he led them, but after a few turns, down some stairs, and a few more steps, they were back in his original crew dormitory.

Click.

The cold white light flicked on, illuminating Zhong Nian’s somewhat disheveled appearance.

After a busy day and being pressed in the dusty Utility Room, his clean uniform and little face were now filthy, like a rabbit that had rolled on the ground, covered in dust.

Zhong Nian wiped the sweat from the tip of his nose with his hand, making it even dirtier.

Unaware, he pressed on with the question he hadn’t gotten an answer to earlier.

While Zhan Lu reached out to remove a spiderweb from his hair, he said, “I just wanted to find a place to smoke, then I saw you sneaking around. I haven’t even asked you what you were eavesdropping on.”

Zhong Nian opened his mouth, about to speak but hesitated: “Nothing. I need to take a shower first. You should leave quickly.”

To hurry him out, he started undressing right there in the dormitory.

First, he took off the outer vest and placed it temporarily on a stool, then undid the black bow tie at his collar, followed by two buttons.

The jade-like collarbone hidden under the shirt collar was revealed, with a slender and graceful neckline. If two more buttons were undone, one could see…

“Why haven’t you left yet?”

The man, standing dazed with his soul wandered off, snapped back to reality. He saw Zhong Nian’s hand paused on the third button, glaring at him discontentedly with a pair of almond eyes.

Zhan Lu’s throat bobbed, he closed his eyes, turned, and strode out, slamming the door loudly behind him.

“What a bad temper.”

Zhong Nian muttered, stripped off the rest of his clothes completely, and entered the bathroom naked.

The crew dormitory’s bathroom conditions were average, but better than nothing.

Perhaps because he returned too late, there wasn’t much hot water left. Zhong Nian grew colder the more he washed, finally drying off haphazardly, wrapping a bath towel around his lower body, and coming out.

The first thing he did was look for pajamas to wear, but after two steps, he froze.

There was someone else in the room.

He didn’t know when he had come in, but he was squatting in front of the Storage Locker on the other side, fiddling with something.

Head buried and back hunched, his figure was slim. He jolted at the sound of Zhong Nian coming out, full of a thief’s guilt.

If not for the blue-and-white crew sailor uniform he wore, Zhong Nian almost thought a burglar had broken in.

“Hello, are you my other roommate?” Zhong Nian approached a couple of steps and asked.

His attitude was friendly, but the other seemed very resistant, not even looking at him properly, burying his head even lower. His overly long hair almost covered half his face, but the ear peeking out from the black locks was red as blood.

“Y-You… put some clothes on first…”

In the tiny voice, Zhong Nian belatedly realized his current state was a bit indecent, and his face reddened.

He quickly found his pajamas and put them on, saying, “Sorry, I thought I was the only one living here, so I didn’t bring clothes in. You probably don’t mind, right? We’re both guys.”

“It’s better to wear them next time…” The roommate by the Storage Locker finally stood up and turned around. Zhong Nian then noticed he wasn’t short; he just habitually hunched his chest and back.

“Got it, I’ll pay attention next time.” Zhong Nian felt a bit embarrassed thinking about it—parading around like that in front of someone was like being a hooligan.

After that, they exchanged names. Zhong Nian learned his roommate was named Ke Zhengchu.

Ke Zhengchu held the position of Second Water, responsible for the maintenance and cleaning of deck equipment. He was also a new crew member on the ship, out to sea for the first time.

After chatting a couple of sentences, Zhong Nian realized this roommate was truly shy. He spoke in a very soft voice, always keeping his head down and avoiding eye contact. If one got a bit too close, his whole body tensed up.

Zhong Nian backed off a little further and, sure enough, saw him relax slightly.

“You haven’t showered yet, right? Go quickly, or there won’t be any hot water left.”

Ke Zhengchu nodded and went in hugging his toiletries and clothes.

In the time it took Zhong Nian to tidy his bedding, the man came out.

“Don’t you think this bed is super hard? I took out all the bedding from the locker to pad underneath, but it’s still rock solid. I definitely won’t be able to sleep tonight…”

Zhong Nian was just casually complaining when he looked up and saw the other hugging his own padding over to pad Zhong Nian’s bed.

Zhong Nian looked astonished and glanced at the bed across—nothing but a thin sheet and blanket.

“You’re just sleeping on the bare board?”

Ke Zhengchu nodded: “I like it that way.”

“Really? Don’t shortchange yourself or force it.” Zhong Nian asked repeatedly, and even after Ke Zhengchu affirmed, he didn’t quite believe it, thinking he was just kind-hearted.

“Zhengchu, you’re such a good person. Thank you.” Zhong Nian was quite touched, gripping the man’s hand and thanking him profusely. Suddenly, he felt something off with the texture under his fingers.

Without thinking, he grabbed the man’s wrist and flipped it over. His eyes widened.

The wrist was crisscrossed with wounds from sharp blades, some deep, some shallow, some new, some old. The worst one, soaked in water, had turned white, with skin split open and flesh exposed—utterly shocking.

Ke Zhengchu’s hand trembled, and he yanked it back forcefully, hiding it behind him.

“You…” Zhong Nian wanted to ask but held back seeing he clearly didn’t want to talk about it. “Why didn’t you protect it while showering? It’ll get worse like this. Did I press on it when I held your hand earlier? Does it hurt?”

Zhong Nian regretted his carelessness earlier, his eyes full of sincere apology and concern. He unconsciously bit his red lip.

With this expression, plus the soft pajamas he wore, and the silver-white hair still damp and clinging to his face, he appeared completely harmless and pure.

Under the cover of his hair, Ke Zhengchu’s dark eyes flickered with dim and bright lights.

The two hands behind his back moved stealthily, his thumb repeatedly tormenting the wound on the other wrist.

The familiar pain spread, but for some reason, under the youth’s worried gaze, his heartbeat was faster than ever before, and his blood ran hotter than usual.

This felt way better than self-harm.