Chapter 16: “What was the colonel doing before coming here?” …
[Three months isn’t that long, is it?] The system, watching He Yue painting in front of the canvas, was more anxious than him.
(What’s the rush? It’s only the first day.)
He Yue woke up from his afternoon nap, wearing a robe that barely reached his knees, a paintbrush dipped in paint in one hand, smearing color onto the canvas.
[I thought the host would directly lock him in the basement for a month, but you just let him go.]
He Yue put down his brush and walked to the table in the middle of the studio, picking up the remote control.
The connection indicator on the remote control glowed green and hadn’t changed since last night. Wherever Koeyle had placed the iron ball, it was at least still turned on.
He Yue pressed the switch, setting the intensity slider to the first level.
(Isn’t this like having him on call?)
He didn’t know where Koeyle was in the base, or what he was doing, but upon receiving his command, he should come to his studio unconditionally.
Wasn’t this more interesting than locking him in the basement?
Soon, He Yue received a message from Koeyle on his optical device: “Master, are you in the studio? I’m inspecting the new insects at the open-air training ground. I’ll come over now.”
He Yue remembered that the enlistment ceremony was also held at the open-air training ground, which was quite a distance from the residence.
He typed on his optical device: “30 minutes. Run here.”
The colonel would probably regret buying a house in such a remote location.
The indicator on the other end showed “typing” for a while, finally sending a long, unnecessarily verbose message, essentially pleading.
A bad dog who couldn’t even understand a command… How could he make him understand that there was no room for bargaining with Master’s orders?
He Yue smiled faintly, pushing the slider on the remote control forward several notches. He could guarantee that the disobedient little dog couldn’t even stand steadily now.
“You have 25 minutes left.”
He twirled the paintbrush in his fingers a few times before casually tossing it into the water-filled brush holder.
He Yue set a 25-minute countdown timer on his optical device, staring at the ticking numbers for a while.
He always disliked repeating his rules over and over; reciting those obscure rules one by one was as tedious as a creepypasta. He had plenty of ways to make every lesson unforgettable.
Twenty-five minutes wasn’t a short time. He Yue stepped onto a meter-tall ladder, sat down, and began hammering nails into the wall according to his sketch.
This white wall looked empty; he wanted to create a relief sculpture on it.
After hammering in a row of nails, He Yue glanced at the time; only a little over ten minutes had passed. He shifted to the side, sitting on the edge of the ladder, which resembled a bench.
The ladder swayed slightly, creaking softly.
The afternoon sun was just right, the light shining into the studio, illuminating the nails in front of He Yue. He hammered the nails into the wall unhurriedly, his movements so elegant that one might mistake the hammer in his hand for some refined musical instrument.
Yet, this activity, combining violence and aesthetics, in his hands, became strangely captivating because of the contrast.
In the last minute of the countdown, a knock came at the door.
“Come in.”
The door opened a crack, then slowly widened. Heavy panting could be heard from the gap, becoming clearer as the studio door opened fully.
He Yue didn’t need to turn around to guess the visitor’s disheveled state.
The intensity was set quite high, and he had to run from so far away. Every second of those 25 minutes must have felt like an eternity.
He Yue braced himself on the ladder, turning slightly to examine the bad dog who was even more disheveled after pleading for mercy.
Koeyle’s hand still gripped the doorknob with difficulty, his cheeks flushed an unnatural red. He hadn’t even had time to change his clothes, and the uniform he was wearing was wrinkled in several places.
He wiped the sweat from his chin with the back of his hand and glanced down at the countdown timer on his optical device.
The last five seconds of the countdown ended, and he let out a heavy sigh, his limbs weak as he stumbled forward and fell to the ground.
All he felt now was regret…
Regret for building his residence so far away, wondering how many times he would have to travel this distance from the training and office areas in the center of the base to his residence during these three months, and in what manner.
Regret for hesitating for so long before sending that pleading message trying to persuade He Yue. If he had hesitated just a little longer and deleted it, he wouldn’t have had to run so far, avoiding the strange gazes of the insects who greeted him with “Good day, Colonel” along the way.
The iron ball was still tormenting him relentlessly, but he didn’t dare to utter a single word of complaint.
Koeyle looked up, having to crane his neck to see He Yue, who was still sitting on the tall ladder. He gritted his teeth, his grip on the doorknob tightening, as if trying to rip it off.
But He Yue completely ignored his pleading gaze, propping one leg up on the chair he was sitting on, resting his chin on one hand, and leisurely watching him, as if appreciating a captivating play, with Koeyle as the main character.
Watching the insect in front of him being tormented by the iron ball, his pleading gaze directed at He Yue, only to be met with a mocking stare.
“What was the colonel doing before coming here?” He Yue drawled, pretending to think for a moment. “Inspecting, was it?”
Koeyle tensed up and nodded.
“Do those new female insects at the base know that the colonel they admire looks like this?”
Koeyle shuddered.
He couldn’t stand hearing these words. The contrast between his dignified status and his lascivious reaction and appearance, the immense humiliation brought about by this stark contrast, made his ears burn.
But He Yue loved saying these things.
He insisted on linking the colonel’s epaulettes with this moment of humiliation, giving the colonel’s status a new meaning.
“Do they know that Colonel Koeyle is a disobedient bad dog who gets excited like this as punishment?”
He spoke these words in a teasing tone, as if it were a casual joke. But every intonation, every word, was like kindling, making Koeyle’s ears burn even redder.
He trembled violently, both because of the tormenting iron ball and He Yue’s words.
He Yue instantly saw through the insect’s desire to give up and lose control, retracting his teasing tone, his voice turning icy cold: “If you dare to soil your clothes without my permission, be prepared to be locked up for these three months.”
Koeyle didn’t understand the meaning of “locked up,” but He Yue’s cold voice brought him back to his senses.
He had been able to endure it even while running, so why was he performing so poorly here?
Just because of a few teasing words?
Koeyle didn’t continue this line of thought, but He Yue clearly wasn’t going to let him off the hook.
“Getting so excited after just a few words, you’ve truly opened my eyes, Colonel.”
