When Shen Buqi arrived at the cafeteria, the crowd had already scattered into the corners, leaving only that single, lonely figure standing by the food service counter.
His head was bowed. Seemingly hearing Shen Buqi’s footsteps, he turned around abruptly. His eyes were red, the corners rimmed with a watery mist. He looked at Shen Buqi, opening his mouth as if to speak, but closed it again.
Meanwhile, the Alpha serving the food was still cursing. “I despise idiots like you the most. Damn it, what else can you do every day besides crying to others and looking for someone to back you up? Too bad that idiot Shen Buqi isn’t here…”
Shen Buqi strode forward. He felt as though a fire had been lit in his chest, a fire that burned relentlessly, making his entire body boil and choking the breath right out of him.
Catching sight of his figure out of the corner of his eye, Yuan Zhuo’s breath caught, and his words cut short.
It had taken him two full months of recovery to get well. Now, the mere thought of Shen Buqi made his teeth itch with hatred. But he wasn’t a fool after all, he knew this man was not to be trifled with. He had no choice but to endure it and keep from lashing out, even going so far as to skip his shifts just to avoid him.
It wasn’t until he heard that Shen Buqi was keeping an Alpha that he began plotting to find an opportunity to vent his frustration. Even though Shi Xi and the others had warned him multiple times not to underestimate that Alpha and even less to underestimate that Alpha’s position in Shen Buqi’s heart. Yuan Zhuo refused to give up.
Today, he had spotted the identification bracelet on Ji Weishi’s wrist. By his count, it had been over three months. Influenced by the customs of District 7, he didn’t believe Shen Buqi wouldn’t be tired of playing with him after more than three months.
So, he had taken over a colleague’s shift, intending to humiliate Ji Weishi. Who could have guessed that Shen Buqi would still come to back him up?
A wise man knows when to back down to avoid immediate disadvantage. He changed his face instantly and softened his tone. “Haha, Brother Shen, I was just joking. Wasn’t I just looking at, holy shit, are you fucking crazy?”
The burning pain on his face made him lose his composure. Retracting into the back kitchen, he cursed as he ran. “Go pamper your little Alpha, you idiot! I’m done playing with you. Frankly speaking, if it weren’t for your identification bracelet, I wouldn’t have bothered tracking this pretty little thing down anyway. After all, I’m not into homosexuality.”
Shen Buqi suppressed his anger and was about to give chase when a slight weight settled on his shoulder. Qin Che advised, “Uh, look, I don’t think it’s necessary to go to all this trouble. Besides, I don’t think Ji Weishi is that fragile of a person.”
Beside them, Ji Weishi sniffled, tugged at Shen Buqi’s sleeve, and also pleaded, “He’s right, Xiao Yi. I’m fine. He just cursed at me a bit, that’s all.”
The surrounding temperature seemed to drop a few degrees. Shen Buqi looked at Qin Che and said, “Let go.”
Biting Lu Dongbin, failing to recognize a good person’s kind intentions. Qin Che raised an eyebrow, clicking his tongue inwardly. But remembering that he still needed something from the man, he had to pretend to be ignorant of Ji Weishi’s true nature. Changing his tone, he said.
“What I mean is, your partner is pretty shaken up. Comfort him for a bit first. I’ll handle this matter. You watch from here, and if you’re not satisfied, you can take action then. How about it?”
Shen Buqi looked at Ji Weishi, whose tears were falling like broken strings of pearls. Those clear black eyes seemed to have lost some of their luster. A pang of heartache struck him, and he nodded.
Holding Ji Weishi again after so many days, the young man seemed to have grown thinner, though he still carried that familiar, crisp, cold fragrance.
Soften his voice, Shen Buqi slowly patted his back. “Don’t be afraid, A-Shi. I’m here, I’m here.”
On the other side, Qin Che didn’t stay idle either. He walked straight into the back kitchen, only to find that the security system had been activated. Micro-defense mechas, crackling with electricity, completely blocked the path.
Raising an eyebrow slightly, he smiled. “If you guys won’t open it, I’ll open it myself.”
With that, he lightly pressed his finger onto the biometric scanner. Bizarrely, the mechas automatically dispersed.
Inside, Yuan Zhuo was startled, and Shi Xi cursed under his breath as five or six men assumed fierce expressions.
Qin Che remained smiling, reaching out to flash an ID card. “Hello. This is League Arbitrator No. 1. I am executing a cross district mission, so I ask for your understanding.”
“Now, everyone, please head to the District 1 Arbitration Department to face judgment.”
Shen Buqi didn’t wait around for Qin Che to finish handling the matter before coming out, because Ji Weishi was pressing against him, wanting to go home.
Once they arrived home, he comforted him for a good while and cooked some food. It wasn’t until they finished eating that Ji Weishi agreed to rest.
With this incident, he didn’t dare leave Ji Weishi alone in a room anymore, so that thin bedding was moved back in.
Watching his busy figure, Ji Weishi curled his lips into a smile where he couldn’t be seen:
He’s back. He’s back. He’s mine again.
He held Shen Buqi tightly. Originally, he had just wanted to lie down and pass out, but surrounded by that crisp scent of green grass, he gradually fell asleep.
But while he could sleep, Shen Buqi could not.
Held so tightly, he didn’t dare move an inch. Yet, Yuan Zhuo’s words kept flashing through his mind over and over again.
If it weren’t because A-Shi wore his identification bracelet, he wouldn’t have encountered these troubles, nor would he have been hurt.
Perhaps he should let A-Shi leave.
District 7 was always so dangerous.
And he didn’t love A-Shi, and A-Shi probably didn’t love him either. It was just that having no one to rely on in District 7, he needed him. But that wasn’t love, it was merely dependency.
Shen Buqi turned on his side, gently lifting his arm to trace those delicate features in the air.
He was reluctant to let go, of course he was.
A-Shi was his Alpha, and he really liked A-Shi. But if they were in a relationship, it would make A-Shi uncomfortable…
Shen Buqi thought about it and mournfully realized that it would make him feel terrible.
He could no longer keep A-Shi as his Alpha.
Just like the roses in the garden, they bloomed so beautifully, but every time A-Shi picked them to give to him, those roses would slowly wither away.
They probably didn’t belong to him after all.
Thinking of this, Shen Buqi struggled to sit up. As if by a twist of fate, his fingers naturally brushed against Ji Weishi’s wrist.
The fluorescent blue and silver intertwined. Shen Buqi’s eyes darkened, a flash of inner conflict crossing his heart. Closing his eyes, he slowly unclasped the bracelet he had personally put on him.
This way… this was the only way A-Shi could leave.
He got out of bed and went into the garden, opening his optical computer. He didn’t actually like or excel at using this device, but he had learned relevant knowledge during his school days and knew how to operate it.
Last time, when Ji Weishi fainted during his susceptibility period, he had used his optical computer to add Qin Che to examine the gland more easily. However, fearing that A-Shi would overthink things if he found out, he had specifically used a method taught by his teacher to hide Qin Che’s private contact.
Now, he carefully opened the private chat and sent a message to Qin Che.
“I can help you find the person. The condition is that you must take A-Shi out of District 7 back to his own district, and you cannot let your colleagues continue to bully him.”
Almost instantly, Qin Che replied:
“?”
“Whatever floats your boat. Let me know when you need him picked up, and I’ll prepare in advance.”
His words were more than a simple yes or no expression. Shen Buqi studied them carefully for a moment and concluded that he had agreed, which allowed him to breathe a sigh of relief.
Storing the identification bracelet away, he wandered aimlessly around the yard, but the restlessness in his heart gradually grew beyond its confines.
Shen Buqi had originally intended to wait for Ji Weishi to wake up to tell him they could break up, and simultaneously contact Qin Che to pick him up. But he waited and waited, and the wait stretched on.
He had no choice but to lock the door first, leaving a message on the optical computer for Ji Weishi to reply to as soon as he woke up, stating that he would return shortly.
Then, Shen Buqi slowly strolled down the street.
After the apocalypse, not only did human time zones widen, but different rates of time flow emerged. The natural light of the past had degraded rapidly, the other six districts all utilized artificial light.
Only District 7, owing on one hand to a lack of funds due to its lawless state without an Arbitration Department, and on the other hand to its status as the original Earth, possessed relatively more abundant natural light.
But that natural light had been severely weakened. District 7 no longer had a sun or a moon, and even the distinction between day and night had diminished, leaving every day in a foggy haze.
Later on, even the seasons were lost.
Because plants had gone nearly extinct.
The plants of today were all modified mutant species, those that needed to be green remained lush year-round, and those that needed to bloom remained undefeated for a hundred years.
The sky was painted a desolate blue by these plants.
The clouds had lessened, but the mist never dispersed.
Everywhere craved vitality, yet everywhere was suffocatingly stagnant.
Amidst this rolling, toxic air, Shen Buqi walked a full circle around District 7.
After the apocalypse, there were few habitable places left on Earth. The suitable land in District 7 wasn’t even one percent of what it used to be.
The secret pain in Shen Buqi’s heart was like a stone thrown into a lake, rippling with bitterness.
He felt a swelling ache in his head, as if some sort of program was running throughout his body, forcing that bit of agony back down into his throat until not even a trace of it remained.
Gradually, those black eyes turned calm and bottomless once more, like an ancient well.
He thought for a moment, and suddenly felt a strange sensation that he should go to work.
This thought took dominion over his body, and he lifted his feet, walking slowly toward the workshop.
When he arrived at the workshop, however, he found only the boss alone, calculating accounts. Seemingly hearing the sound, the boss looked up and raised an eyebrow at him. His emerald eyes carried a hint of mockery. “We have the afternoon off today. Didn’t I tell Xiao Xuan to run to the cafeteria to tell you?”
Shen Buqi racked his foggy brain and recalled that this did seem to be the case. Chen Zixuan had shouted something while running past right before he left the cafeteria.
No wonder his subconscious felt like he didn’t need to come to work this afternoon.
Shen Buqi turned on his heel, about to leave again.
Outside the high windows, black clouds were gathering. Casper let out a soft tsk. “Don’t go wandering around outside. Didn’t you see the forecast? The D+ toxic gas and acid rain are coming in a moment.”
Acid rain and toxic gas were also categorized by levels, from A to E. However, their sorting method was reversed compared to the rest of the League, the further down the alphabet, the more severe it was.
D+ was only slightly better than E+. If Shen Buqi went out recklessly right now without wearing specialized clothing or taking blocker pills, he would definitely fall ill.
Shen Buqi nodded and sat down next to Casper.
Sure enough, in barely half a quarter of an hour, the rain began to fall outside. The black rain gurgled and bubbled as it hit the ground, looking like a dying fish thrashing its tail, a sight that turned one’s stomach.
Shen Buqi stood up again, watching the pattering black rain descend from the doorway.
He felt a bit sad, he shouldn’t have come out.
If A-Shi hadn’t woken up yet, what would happen to the roses in the yard?
There had been very little acid rain over the past few months, mostly ordinary rain, but those delicate and precious roses couldn’t even withstand ordinary rain and dew.
Then his thoughts shifted, it might actually be better if A-Shi didn’t wake up. If he woke up to tend to the roses and got caught in the rain, it would be even worse.
All those roses added together could never compare to the preciousness of his single rose, after all.
Regrettably, this rose was about to no longer belong to him.
Melancholy wrapped around the rain like a poisoned blade, cutting into his chest with an even sharper pain.
Casper glanced at the lonely figure by the door and said, “Shut the door tightly. The toxic gas will be here in a moment.”
Shen Buqi said alright. Just as he was about to close the door, his optical computer suddenly lit up.
He opened it, it was a message from Ji Weishi.
“Brother Shen, this is Zhao Er. Something happened to Brother Ji. We are at Core District, Area B, 13th Street. Come quickly.”