Iris 17

Though Zhou Yue had called him handsome, Mu Qin couldn't bring himself to smile. He still couldn't suppress his emotions, and he looked at Zhou Yue with sorrow in his eyes. Zhou Yue, who had once shone as brilliantly as a campus prince, who ought to have been standing on a stage that belonged to him.

"I'm sorry." Though Zhou Yue had told him not to apologize, Mu Qin apologized anyway. His spirits low, he lowered his head and said, "It was my fault for leaving without saying goodbye. If I hadn't left... maybe we wouldn't have ended up like this today."

Mu Qin's apology left Zhou Yue silent for a moment. Then, out of nowhere, Zhou Yue suddenly said in a strange, mocking tone, "That's right. It's because you left that I became like this!"

Zhou Yue's sudden change in attitude caught Mu Qin off guard. Mu Qin thought Zhou Yue was blaming him, and his heart ached even more. His chest even clenched with pain.

Yet Zhou Yue smiled brightly at Mu Qin instead. Hidden beneath the gauze, his smile wasn't obvious, but the corners of his eyes revealed its gentle warmth. "Look, after you left, I followed you into the army. I ended up getting this solid and strong. I've got eight-pack abs now. Want to feel them?"

Zhou Yue's words made Mu Qin laugh at once. He couldn't keep up his usual calm expression at all, and the corners of his mouth curled into a delighted smile.

Having said that, Zhou Yue seemed quite serious. He even lifted his shirt to expose his stomach and said to Mu Qin, "Count them. There are definitely eight!"

Mu Qin laughed even harder. Amid his smile, he couldn't help really glancing at Zhou Yue's abdomen. The abs were indeed perfect, and below them ran an alluring Adonis belt.

"Mm, your abs are very nice... but you've tied me up. How am I supposed to feel them?" Mu Qin indicated the restraints on his body.

Zhou Yue lowered his shirt and looked at Mu Qin hesitantly for a while. After a long pause, he shook his head. "I can't untie you. You'll run away."

"I won't run." Mu Qin looked at Zhou Yue gently. "I'll stay with you."

Zhou Yue seemed bewitched by Mu Qin's promise. He looked at Mu Qin with sparkling eyes. "You really won't run away?"

His anxious manner left Mu Qin both helpless and heartsore. Mu Qin thought Zhou Yue must have been deeply hurt by the way he had left without a word back then, which was why he kept worrying that Mu Qin would run away. So he patiently comforted him, saying, "I absolutely won't leave you again."

Zhou Yue seemed to trust Mu Qin's promise. He moved closer, crouching in front of Mu Qin, and said in a low voice, "You said it. You absolutely can't leave me again."

Zhou Yue was a little too close to Mu Qin. His whole face was right in front of Mu Qin's, and his breath slipped through gaps in the bandages over his face and fanned across Mu Qin's own, making his skin itch a little.

Then something happened that slightly surprised Mu Qin. Zhou Yue suddenly leaned in and kissed him on the lips. It was brief, no more than a fleeting touch.

Mu Qin's face immediately burned. He sighed inwardly that he was already a grown man, yet such a simple kiss could still move him. He asked Zhou Yue, "Why did you suddenly kiss me?"

Zhou Yue spoke about taking such liberties with perfect righteousness, as though it were only natural. "When I untie you later, you definitely won't let me kiss you anymore. So I have to seize the chance and kiss you properly while I can!"

At the end, Zhou Yue looked at Mu Qin with pleading eyes. "You don't like it when I kiss you?"

Mu Qin turned his head away, unable to look at Zhou Yue's pitiful expression. In a soft voice, he said, "No... kiss me if you want."

The moment Mu Qin said that, Zhou Yue brightened. He leaned in and pecked Mu Qin's lips again, then looked at him tenderly and longingly. "Mu Qin... I'm sorry. I didn't recognize you just now, so... well, I beat you up. If you're angry, you can hit me later. Mm... you can beat me however you want. I'm very sturdy."

Mu Qin was amused by him again. He realized that Zhou Yue's personality was still the same as it had been back then. He had always been an understanding, gentle young man with grace.

He had always been able to see through Mu Qin's thoughts at once, understand what Mu Qin was thinking, and then comfort him in his own way.

Seeing Mu Qin keep smiling, Zhou Yue's heart itched. Unable to hold back again, he pecked Mu Qin's lips once more... It didn't feel like enough, so he kissed him again...

Only after dawdling for ages did he finally start untying Mu Qin, releasing the restraints on his hands and feet. At last, Mu Qin could get up and leave the old chair that had been creaking nonstop.

Oddly enough, once he had undone the restraints, Zhou Yue, who had been so eager to take liberties just moments ago, no longer dared approach Mu Qin. He instinctively took two steps back and stood far away, head lowered, looking like a pitiful child who had done something wrong.

Mu Qin found his behavior even more amusing and couldn't help stepping closer. To his surprise, Zhou Yue stepped back too. Unconvinced, Mu Qin continued approaching him, and Zhou Yue could only keep retreating until he reached the wall. This tall, broad man had been backed into a corner by Mu Qin, who was half a head shorter than him. The sight was hard not to laugh at.

"Why do you keep backing away? Am I that scary?" After backing him into the corner, Mu Qin pulled off the classic move of bracing an arm against the wall beside him. Zhou Yue turned his head away, not daring to look Mu Qin in the eyes, and stammered, "Are... are you going to hit me?"

Mu Qin considered it. "You hit me pretty hard just now. I ought to get even."

Zhou Yue nodded obediently and offered his face to Mu Qin, looking pitifully as though he were waiting to be hit.

Mu Qin found it even more hilarious. He reached out and touched Zhou Yue's face. Thinking he was about to be hit, Zhou Yue flinched on reflex. Even that timid recoil looked rather cute.

Of course Mu Qin would never hit him. He stroked Zhou Yue's cheek and the bandages wrapped around his face. Then Mu Qin touched Zhou Yue's eyes. As Mu Qin touched him, Zhou Yue involuntarily closed his eyes, letting Mu Qin feel his thick lashes, dense like little brushes.

"You've grown up." A faint ache welled up in Mu Qin's heart. "You're not that boy from back then anymore."

Zhou Yue didn't respond to Mu Qin's sentiment. He wrapped an arm around Mu Qin's waist, held him close, and buried his face in the hollow of Mu Qin's neck.

"I died on the battlefield in the end." After holding Mu Qin for a long time, Zhou Yue suddenly spoke. "Back then, in order to get leave approved by my instructor sooner, I trained desperately hard. My scores in every category were too outstanding, so after I graduated from boot camp, I was promoted. Not only did I lose the leave I'd been longing for, I was directly recommended to a special forces training unit. When my parents heard, they strongly opposed it and demanded that I retire from the military and come home."

Zhou Yue continued, "But the instructor who trained me had treated me well and was very eager for me to join the special forces. Besides, I wanted to escape my parents' control. So I went. I stayed there for five years, then died during a mission against terrorists."

Zhou Yue's account left Mu Qin somewhat dazed. After thinking for a moment, Mu Qin asked him, "Which military district were you in?"

Zhou Yue replied, "Military District B6703."

B6 was the military district's code name. There were roughly seven military districts in the country where special forces units were stationed. People in the units generally didn't use their full names, only simple letter-and-number designations.

After saying that, Zhou Yue sighed. "Thinking about it now, it's really awful. I was always thinking about going to see you, but somehow I only ended up farther and farther away. And training and all those missions kept piling up. I was busy to death and had no mind for anything else, so... I missed every one of the many chances I had to see you."

Without waiting for Mu Qin to speak, Zhou Yue took his hand and said gently, "But I can still see you now. That's wonderful."

Mu Qin didn't know what to say to Zhou Yue. Hesitantly, he said, "Was this really worth it? You gave up everything to follow me into the army, and then you died in battle there. Something like that..."

"Wasn't it?" Zhou Yue smiled at Mu Qin. "I lived for you, and I died for you."

The words carried a hint of romance, and Mu Qin's face reddened as he heard them.

Zhou Yue said regretfully, "Actually, after I joined the special forces, I did try to find you. I used every excuse I could think of to ask around about the military district and unit you were assigned to. But when I went looking for you later, I found out you were already gone. My superiors told me you'd left the service."

Mu Qin recalled what had happened back then. He decided not to hide it and told Zhou Yue the truth directly. "I could have stayed in the army. The officer who trained me thought I had a chance at promotion. But an accident happened then, so I had no choice but to leave the service early."

"What accident?" Zhou Yue asked instinctively.

Mu Qin said, "I went home on leave and was wandering around outside when I came across a gang of robbers holding up a jewelry store at gunpoint. One of them was about to shoot and kill an employee, so I disarmed him and shot him dead. Then the other robbers opened fire on me too, but I took them out one by one... After that, I was brought before a military court. They said I'd used excessive force in self-defense. I didn't go to prison, but they stripped me of my NCO status."

"That's not fair!" Zhou Yue immediately thought something was wrong. "When every one of them was armed, any counterattack you made couldn't possibly have been excessive."

"Maybe someone in the military was targeting me at the time... and I don't think I handled it very well either." Mu Qin shrugged as though it didn't matter. "Don't bring it up. It was a long time ago, and leaving the service early was probably for the best. I really... wasn't cut out to be a soldier."

Mu Qin was too fragile. He had always known that deeply.

By fragile, he meant that he couldn't face battle actively and with the proper attitude. Yet for a soldier, fighting was essential.

In fact, after Mu Qin killed those jewelry store robbers, he had nightmares for a long time. It was the first time he had taken someone else's life with his own hands, and he found that he simply couldn't get past it. Then he was brought before a military court and accused of using excessive force in self-defense, which made Mu Qin repeatedly question whether what he had done had been right. After leaving the service, he had even become a little obsessive, and spent a long time seeing a psychologist.

Time is the best medicine. As he busied himself each day with making a living, Mu Qin gradually forgot those trivial, wretched things from the past and focused on living his life.

But heaven refused to let Mu Qin go.

"What do you think of this game? I mean..." After talking with Zhou Yue about some things from their past, Mu Qin chose his words carefully. He had wasted quite a bit of time here with Zhou Yue. Now he looked through the door at the surroundings outside. The sky was still pitch-black, and after the rain had stopped, the air seemed to carry a damp, chilling smell.

Mu Qin was very blunt. He got straight to the point and asked Zhou Yue, "Zhou Yue, what is your identity in this game?"

Zhou Yue hadn't expected Mu Qin to ask so directly. Mu Qin seemed certain Zhou Yue wouldn't conceal it. And of course... Zhou Yue wouldn't.

So Zhou Yue narrowed his eyes and smiled. "I'm a killer."