Su Heting started preparing his instant noodles. He was full of anticipation for the new cup noodles he'd bought, biting his chopsticks to free up his hands, wanting to squeeze in another round of a game during this short five-minute wait. But the Communicator rang. He endured it for a moment, then slammed his fist on the screen to light it up and asked indistinctly, "What?"

"The madman is still attacking my system," Yan Junxun said, sitting in the cold air. "Tell him to calm down."

"Am I his dad?" Su Heting took the chopsticks out of his mouth. "If he listened to me that well, I'd have him go tap dance at the Supervisory Bureau."

"You can be his dad," Shi Shanyan leaned forward and turned off the AC in the car. "Hurry up and order him. We all want world peace."

"No, no way, I'm still very young." Su Heting unilaterally deleted the memory of himself boasting. He pressed his chopsticks down on the lid of the cup noodles and said, "You guys have always been living under surveillance, so what's one more person? You're being watched either way."

"If he enters my system again," Yan Junxun leaned closer to the Communicator, enunciating clearly, "I'll deactivate the defense wall for the Black Panther files and invite him to browse Black Panther's complex structure."

"Go ahead," Su Heting poked a curled-up corner of the cup noodle lid. "What's it to me."

"Back when you were undercover in the Southern Front Alliance, how much money did you scam from Fu Chenghui under the excuse of 'repairing equipment'?" Yan Junxun's expression was serious, but his tone was light. "Did you keep a record yourself?"

"Say one more word," Su Heting looked at the screen, "and I'll have the madman find you tonight."

"You try it," Yan Junxun turned his head to the side and said to the Communicator. "Let's see which of us dies faster."

Su Heting fell silent. His instant noodles were now over-steeped. He didn't like to work for free; rather, his principle was to only work for a fee. In Black Panther, he was the type to just aim for a passing grade, not caring much about rankings, as long as his number stayed within his comfort zone. He was used to his own pace; even Fu Chenghui couldn't spur him on. Only he himself knew just how capable he was.

"No matter how I look at it, I'm the one getting the raw deal. Stop pretending. You just want to take this opportunity to have me patch your system vulnerabilities, kick the madman out of your private space, and free up a place for you to play games," Su Heting lifted the lid of his cup noodles. "And then continue to have me work for you. Fine, okay, I agree, but I'll be keeping a tab, Yan Junxun." He slurped down a few mouthfuls of noodles and said casually, "You'd better not return to the Light Rail District, or I'll make you understand just how high my interest is."

"Okay," Yan Junxun said. "I hope that wherever I am, he doesn't show up."

Hope. Su Heting drank all the broth from his cup noodles. 'What the fuck, do you think I'm a wishing well?'

"7-001 is under review," Shi Shanyan seemed very interested in this old-fashioned car AC, fiddling with it a couple of times with his finger. He didn't notice his shoulder had already crossed the boundary and was about to touch Yan Junxun. "You can switch the communication to my number."

"SN 01AE86," Su Heting tossed his chopsticks into the trash and started typing. "Who would've thought of this number? Fu Yun actually agreed to it. The prison's racing god."

Apart from the '01', which was a mandatory number from Guangtong Prison, the rest of Shi Shanyan's serial number was modified by him personally.

"He liked it a lot," Shi Shanyan deliberately misinterpreted Fu Yun's exasperated rage at the time. "He also admired it, and was very envious."

"And the password," Su Heting paused. "What's your password?"

Shi Shanyan recited a long string of letters, glancing inadvertently at Yan Junxun, as if asking him to confirm the password's correctness.

"You're a genuine pervert." Su Heting recoiled in disgust and typed out the password with one finger.

Yan Junxun always met Shi Shanyan's gaze. He even suspected that Shi Shanyan was staring at him every single moment. The sun outside was intense, and the temperature of his body, which had just cooled down, was rising again, creating a sticky sensation. Yan Junxun wanted to take a shower, to fill his old, broken bathtub with cold water. He couldn't rein in his racing thoughts in time; they flooded the entire car, stuffing every detail back into his head. Including those related to Shi Shanyan.

Yan Junxun was very thirsty. The remaining half bottle of water was right by his hand, but he couldn't touch it. He couldn't restrain his thoughts, just as he couldn't stop his mind from being filled with the sound of Shi Shanyan swallowing water.

'What the hell.'

Yan Junxun averted his gaze, no longer looking at Shi Shanyan. He rolled down the car window, needing fresh air to distract himself.

"It's a normal human need, don't tell me you don't have any kinks," the seatbelt was like a Restraint Lock, restricting Shi Shanyan's movements to a certain extent, otherwise he could have gotten even closer. "When you're hiding under the covers and taking care of yourself, you adjust your technique, don't you?"

Shi Shanyan had a clear understanding of his own desires. He was the type of person who would follow his own preferences one hundred percent. This was different from Yan Junxun; the little genius had never even thought about "kinks." To Yan Junxun, sex was just the procreative need described in textbooks.

"The madman can't find this number," Su Heting said while browsing the contents of Shi Shanyan's serial number. "The clearance level is too high, even the Docking Area's Supervisory Bureau can't look it up. You two can use this number to talk, I guarantee no one can listen in, it's useless even if the madman is on the same level as Fu Chenghui. The perks of a Lead Dog are really something," Su Heting saw the mission page for this serial number. "You can see everyone's mission details."

The Special Operations review only periodically announced summaries of completed missions. Information on many missions that exceeded a certain clearance level would not appear on Black Panther's main page, but on Shi Shanyan's number, not only could he see everyone's mission details, he could also see the real information of the "Power Dogs".

"What the fuck..." Su Heting was speechless for a moment, then made a bold guess. "...Are you assassinating disobedient Power Dogs for Fu Chenghui?"

"Stop describing everyone as 'dogs'." Shi Shanyan retracted his hand, his black eyes bottomlessly deep. He didn't answer Su Heting's question, but continued to look at Yan Junxun and said, "Are you willing to use my number? I mean, at home. For convenience, you could open your indoor permissions to me. It would be safer that way."

'Don't listen to his bullshit.' Su Heting thought. 'He'll just barge right in and make a mess of your place. Hurry up and refuse him, Yan Junxun, don't fall for this pervert's trap!'

The mere thought of Shi Shanyan being able to see the Power Dogs' information while in Black Panther made Su Heting's skin crawl. But he was destined to be disappointed. Yan Junxun couldn't use his own number, and the Communicator Jiang Lian had given him could be monitored by the madman at any time. Yan Junxun needed this number, and Shi Shanyan was perfectly clear on that.

"Fine," Su Heting consoled himself. It wasn't him getting invaded, anyway. "Now let's see, what information are you looking for?"

"When did the madman first appear in the Docking Area?" Yan Junxun felt like his T-shirt was covered in Shi Shanyan's scent. He had just stuck his hand into his pants pocket when a cigarette was offered to him from the side.

Yan Junxun wanted to refuse; he was trying to quit smoking. That's what he thought in his head, but his fingers involuntarily scraped against the side of his leg inside his pocket.

"This is a bit tricky, who the hell knows when he arrived, I might not be able to find..." Su Heting said while typing on his keyboard.

The fingers Shi Shanyan was using to hold the cigarette suddenly lowered a bit. He tilted his head as he looked at Yan Junxun, as if trapping him in the narrow driver's seat. Su Heting's voice was still audible in the background, and Yan Junxun saw him mouth the words: Don't want one?

Yan Junxun slowly rubbed the side of his leg with the pad of his finger, feeling a slight tingle through his jeans. He quickly answered Shi Shanyan: Not smoking.

Shi Shanyan put the cigarette between his lips and said something, but Yan Junxun didn't understand.

"...Can you provoke him? That way he'll pop up again. There's too little information right now. I can help you lower your system defenses, you can go curse his ancestors..."

Shi Shanyan knew Yan Junxun hadn't understood. He understandingly moved closer again, almost pressing against Yan Junxun's ear, "Got a light?"

That puff of warm breath lingered around Yan Junxun's ear. The residual warmth traveled down from the base of his ear, causing that subtle tingle to stir up a tempest within his body. In that instant, Yan Junxun thought of too many things. He'd had sex education, he just wasn't interested in it. What was there to look forward to in the human act of procreation? An orgasm makes one lose control, and Yan Junxun's thoughts were already losing control every day. He hated losing control.

'Stay away from me.'

An alarm was blaring in Yan Junxun's head. He wanted to return to a safe place. The small blackboard, Artemis, Huo Qingjun, anything—just take his attention away, quickly! Yan Junxun tried to think of the sound of rain, a blocking sound that made him unhappy, but all he could think of was the sound of Shi Shanyan swallowing water.

'Fuck!'

"You should go talk to Jiang Lian at the Supervisory Bureau. I think they might have some useful information, but catching the madman will be difficult, his intel is very fragmented," Su Heting said, tapping his Communicator. "Give me a reaction, guys. Are you even listening?"

"I know." Yan Junxun pulled his hand out and gripped the steering wheel. Without looking at Shi Shanyan, he said, "Let's go now."

Shi Shanyan had the taste of tobacco on the tip of his tongue. He'd only had a little, but it was enough. He was well-versed in the art of the hunt; it was important not to press too hard all the time. A step-by-step approach was also important.

Today was a good opportunity, in every sense of the word.

Shi Shanyan knew some of Yan Junxun's information like the back of his hand. The Special Operations review hadn't been wrong: Yan Junxun couldn't adapt to missions in hazardous environments. His body was abnormally sensitive to temperature. This kind of weather would make him sweat, and even staying in the car with the AC on was no help.

Fate was fair. It had given the genius a brain that surpassed ordinary people, but it also kept him in a constant state of work. He rarely got to rest, and sleep was a problem. Who could stand having their thoughts endlessly constructing scenarios in their head? The body would grow tired along with the process.

Shi Shanyan was a sniper. He knew the consequences of prolonged, high-level concentration. None of Yan Junxun's expressions could escape his eyes; he even understood certain signals better than Yan Junxun himself did.

Stress needs an outlet.

Unfortunately, Yan Junxun didn't know how to vent. He simply didn't know how to examine his own needs. He understood some methods of release, but he couldn't do them, because he couldn't guarantee he'd be able to regain his sanity afterward.

The little genius had probably never even masturbated.

The Author has something to say:

AE86 is Takumi Fujiwara's license plate in Initial D. Shi Shanyan is such a veteran otaku.