Luo Li froze for a few seconds, his fair little face flushing hot. He blurted out without thinking, “Even if you can’t help it, you can’t! You’re not allowed to do that to me anymore… Hmph!”
He pulled his legs free from the tentacles and imperiously commanded, “Get out now. I want to sleep.”
Agamemnon rose to his feet. The pitch-black tentacles slowly retracted into his body, and the terrifying hardened shell-like skin gradually returned to normal. Once again, he looked like a tall, stern soldier.
He badly wanted another kiss from Luo Li, but he’d already promised not to touch him again. So Agamemnon held back.
He reached out and somehow produced a box from somewhere, handing Luo Li the black rabbit plushie he’d left behind at the hospital.
“You used to love this the most. Take good care of it from now on—don’t lose it again.”
Luo Li hugged the rabbit, a flicker of emotion crossing his face, but he quickly schooled his expression into indifference and huffed.
“If you’re scared, you can come find me anytime. Daddy’s right next door, watching over you.”
Luo Li rolled over on the little bed, ignoring him.
He wasn’t scared at all. The scariest thing here was obviously this guy!
The man left the room and closed the door behind him.
Only after the surroundings had fallen silent for a long while did 007 speak up. “You really know how to put on a show when you’re mad—it was pretty convincing. How come you never act like that with other people?”
Luo Li sensed something off in his tone. “What’s that supposed to mean? I’m always pretty fierce, you know.”
007 chuckled, the teasing obvious.
Luo Li usually projected the image of a sweet, obedient boy—soft and pliant most of the time, with only the occasional spark of temper.
Sure, Agamemnon had impure intentions, but other players had done far worse to Luo Li, and he’d never really gotten angry before. He’d even let them take liberties without a peep.
This time, though, his reaction was completely out of character.
Luo Li himself had no idea why, and he didn’t dwell on it.
Just then, a new task popped up.
【Task Five: Find a way to make the virus fully erupt, seal off the hospital, and prevent the players from escaping and clearing the instance.】
Staring at the task, the boy suddenly realized a major problem. “Crap, I forgot to make him promise not to restrict my freedom anymore.”
If he couldn’t get out, he couldn’t complete the task.
It was the most important thing, and he’d completely spaced on it. Luo Li hurriedly hopped off the little bed, hoping to catch Agamemnon off guard with his guilt and add that condition too.
But when his hand touched the door, he froze.
His bedroom door had been locked—from the outside, at some point.
Agamemnon stood outside Luo Li’s door and said in a low voice, “Good night, Lili. I’ll unlock it for you in the morning.”
~~~
A night of pounding rain.
The next morning, Agamemnon straightened his shirt collar in front of a full-length mirror. It was his day off from the hospital, so he could spend the rare holiday with Luo Li.
When he opened the bedroom door, the boy—dressed in pure white pajamas with red-rimmed eyes—glared at him furiously, teeth gritted.
Luo Li said nothing as he brushed past and sat at the dining table. Agamemnon followed, ruffling his long hair. “What do you want to do today? Read, or draw?”
Luo Li ignored him and sat there poking holes in his fried egg with a silver fork. It took him ages to get any food into his mouth.
After just a few bites, he slammed down the fork. “I want to go out.”
Agamemnon’s expression didn’t change. “All right. I’ll come with you, okay? Where do you want to go?”
“I said I want to go out—by myself.”
Luo Li enunciated each word firmly.
For some reason, Agamemnon was fixated on trivial matters right now, and the entire instance seemed to have ground to a halt.
If things kept going like this, Luo Li wouldn’t be able to finish his task.
He needed to figure something out.
Agamemnon replied, “It’s dangerous outside. You can’t go alone.”
The man ate in silence. After that, his lowered eyelids never lifted again. Luo Li realized there was no room for negotiation.
He clenched his little fists. “Are you planning to lock me up in here?”
“I’m not locking you up. I’m keeping you by my side. As long as I can see you, anything’s fine.”
Luo Li’s brows furrowed. Staring at the impassive old man seated across from him, a nameless fire rose in his chest.
This was infuriating!
Why couldn’t anyone put this guy in his place?
Though he put on a confident front, Luo Li spent the entire day racking his brains to no avail.
As dusk approached, he paced the living room in circles when he suddenly heard a knock at the door.
Agamemnon was in the study. Besides the two of them, who else would come to the top floor?
Luo Li approached the door anxiously. “Who is it?”
Dead silence from the other side, then a familiar male voice: “Lili, it’s me.”
Fu Shiyue…!
Luo Li panicked a little. He took a deep breath to steady his heartbeat and whispered, “H-how did you get here?”
Fu Shiyue’s voice was hoarse. “To see you, of course.”
“Not convenient to let me in?”
The game could only be cleared by killing the boss leader, so players would inevitably find their way to the top floor. It wasn’t unexpected.
But should he really open the door?
Luo Li hesitated for a moment.
His fingers hovered over the doorknob, then twisted the lock open.
~~~
Agamemnon’s fingers paused mid-page as he flipped through an old book.
He heard the door open, followed by the intruder’s footsteps. With his absolute control over the top floor’s space, he could sense even the slightest disturbance.
He’d detected the man’s intrusion earlier but hadn’t acted immediately.
He wasn’t ready to end the game yet. He wanted more time with Luo Li, even if it was just a few short days.
But now, this man had the audacity to waltz right in.
“Where’s Dean Sir?”
The boy who’d opened the door for him wore fluffy loungewear. Tilting up his fair little face, he said softly, “Father’s in the study.”
He emphasized “Father,” as if proving their relationship was perfectly innocent.
Fu Shiyue chuckled lowly and took the boy’s small hand in his.
While Luo Li poured him tea, Fu Shiyue took in the top floor’s furnishings.
The teaware on the table, the shoes in the entryway cabinet, the chairs—all came in pairs.
And these chairs. So new; they must get replaced often.
Probably because the boy was growing taller, his legs getting longer, and the old height wasn’t comfortable anymore.
Fu Shiyue roughly gauged the chair legs’ length, then glanced at Luo Li’s slender, pretty calves.
He knew his adopted son’s height and inseam that precisely?
Even the most attentive guardian wouldn’t go to such extremes. It was downright creepy.
There seemed to be only one explanation: Agamemnon treated him like a cherished wife.
Naturally, Luo Li never considered that angle.
To him, it was just what Agamemnon was supposed to do. After all, living together meant knowing these details.
Beyond that, it felt like a warm home. Fu Shiyue searched every corner but found no cameras or surveillance.
Luo Li sat at the dining table, and Fu Shiyue joined him. He picked at the hem of Luo Li’s snowy-white shirt and sniffed it delicately.
What a pampered young master—everything about him was so clean, even the fabric carrying a faint sweet scent.
If only Agamemnon hadn’t bought the clothes.
They were perfectly normal, but in Fu Shiyue’s eyes right now, everything seemed off.
The shirt was too thin. So sheer, you could almost make out the soft pink hue beneath.
The shorts were too short, the legs loose. With such slender thighs, anyone with bad intentions could peek inside.
Agamemnon surely hadn’t had pure motives when buying these.
With a creak, the study door swung open.
Agamemnon had his suit jacket draped over his shoulders, his stern face utterly calm.
Fu Shiyue curved his lips at him. “Dean Sir.”
Agamemnon glanced at him but said nothing.
He silently prepared dinner and sat across from the two young men.
Fu Shiyue lowered his gaze. The meal in front of him looked ordinary enough, but when he speared a piece of steak with his fork, a thick, black sludge—like rotten brain matter—oozed out from underneath.
He kept up his calm facade and smiled warmly at Luo Li.
Luo Li squirmed under his gaze. “What?”
“Nothing. You just look so cute when you eat.”
Luo Li found it baffling.
He glanced at Agamemnon. The man was calmly eating, his dark green eyes reflecting the silver glint of knife and fork, making his face seem even more aloof.
Luo Li forked a small bite of chocolate tart into his mouth, scowled, and said deliberately, “I don’t like this. I want strawberry cake. No strawberry cake, and I’m not eating.”
Only then did Agamemnon look up. “Naughty children don’t get cake.”
Luo Li had never been refused by him before. He wanted to throw a tantrum right then, but with Fu Shiyue there, he held back.
He shoved the chocolate tart toward Fu Shiyue. “You eat it then. I’m done.”
The exquisite dessert had only been nibbled once or twice, the fork still resting atop it.
Fu Shiyue’s gaze darkened slightly. He lifted the fork and slipped it into his mouth.
The young man’s lips closed around the tines, and he licked and suckled them carefully for a moment before drawing the fork out again. His tongue tip then circled the prongs, lingering in lazy swirls.
Agamemnon watched every bit of it, including the hand Fu Shiyue had slipped under the table—now quietly resting on the boy’s thigh.
It had ventured slightly up the loose leg of his shorts, kneading that patch of delicate, sensitive skin.
Luo Li shivered from head to toe, his ear tips burning hot. “Eat properly!”
Only then did Fu Shiyue slowly set the fork down.
“Sweet,” he said.
Luo Li clenched his fingertips, staying silent.
Fu Shiyue gave him a meaningful smile. “The fork’s got chocolate on it. Of course it’s sweet, right?”
The rotten chunks of meat on his own plate gave off a pungent, fishy stench, but the young man set down his knife and fork without a care.
Agamemnon asked, “Will Doctor Fu be staying here tonight?”
“How could I impose like that? Though with the downpour outside, going back wouldn’t be convenient…”
Agamemnon turned to Luo Li. “Lili, what do you think?”
Luo Li’s teeth ground tightly into his lower lip.
“I don’t see anything wrong with it.”
By now, he had reached the door to his own bedroom.
The boy’s back was slender, his pure white loungewear hanging loosely on his frame. His long hair framed a stretch of delicate neck, and he clutched that black rabbit plush doll to his chest.
The seemingly cozy top floor was filled with corrupted, bloody horrors—nourishment for the Dean Boss, that virus-ridden entity.
And the innocent young boy standing before him seemed even more like bait that Agamemnon had deliberately set out.
Who knew if stepping into that bedroom would mean instant death.
Luo Li tugged at the hem of his clothes. His watery almond eyes gazed uncertainly at Fu Shiyue as he asked in a soft, clingy voice, “Would you like to sleep with me?”
Fu Shiyue instinctively glanced at Agamemnon.
The officer’s expression remained unchanged, but his hands clearly paused in their movements.
Agamemnon said, “I don’t think that’s appropriate. You’re still young. Don’t let people stay over so casually—it’s not safe.”
“What’s inappropriate about it?”
Luo Li narrowed his round eyes and said boldly, “I’m already an adult. I can do whatever I want.”
He tested Agamemnon’s reaction, but a single glance at the soldier seated at the table sent a chill creeping up his spine.
The words had already been spoken, though. There was no turning back now.
With no escape, under that terrifying pressure, he still found himself stepping backward a few paces involuntarily.
Fu Shiyue rested a hand on his shoulder.
Then, surprisingly, he spoke up. “Dean Sir, don’t worry. I’ll take precautions.”
He enunciated each word deliberately, his voice ringing clear. “I guarantee it’ll be very safe.”
