CNS | Chapter 7

Chapter 7, Beautiful Dream

Shen Ze had a relaxed smile on his face, and he looked perfectly natural, as if he did not think there was anything inappropriate about it.

“But……”

The sudden kiss was like a bullet flying straight at the center of his brow. Shen Run’s thoughts malfunctioned like a broken program, confused and in disorder.

How could this be? This was not right, was it?

They lived in an East Asian community in Alicia, and most of the students at Shen Ze’s school were East Asian too. He had grown up there, shaped by that cultural atmosphere, and politeness and restraint were the standards for how one conducted oneself.

Unlike the passionate, uninhibited Yalan culture, in Shen Run and Shen Ze’s minds, they had never once thought of kissing as a form of greeting.

He widened his eyes and said in a voice that sounded almost like self-muttering, “This is… is not right.”

“Why isn’t it right?” Shen Ze raised an eyebrow. “When we were little, didn’t you kiss me too?”

Shen Run covered his face. “That’s different! I kissed your face!”

“What’s the difference?” Shen Ze tilted his head, a faint, wicked smile on his face.

“Of course there’s a difference. This is something only couples can do. Do you understand what a couple means?”

Shen Run felt like he was a kindergarten teacher explaining to little kids that boys and girls should keep a proper distance.

His head was spinning. He suspected that Shen Ze had gotten involved with some kind of circle he should never have touched during college, which had turned the child, who used to be so shy and reserved, into someone so…

Uh, loose in his behavior?

Just as he was thinking that, he heard Shen Ze’s answer.

“I do understand, it means people who are extremely close to each other, right?”

He turned around and walked to the entryway, turning the lamp back on in the old-fashioned way. The room suddenly flooded with light, and Shen Ze looked toward Shen Run, who was standing by the window.

“I think I’m closer to Brother than that kind of relationship, so, can’t I kiss you once?”

And he was even speaking so matter-of-factly!

Shen Run frowned, feeling that his guess was probably correct. While he was away, with nobody keeping an eye on this kid, Shen Ze must have learned bad things from other people.

Just as he was preparing to properly correct Shen Ze’s wrong idea, he saw the child sit down on the living room sofa in a huff, head lowered so that his expression could not be seen.

“So Brother is angry? Just because I kissed you once.”

“What do you mean, ‘just kissed you once’? Shen Ze, are you doing this because you think teasing me is fun?” Shen Run gave a cold laugh in irritation, his tone unconsciously growing heavier.

As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted them.

That seemed a little too much.

It was the first day of their reunion. Did he really have to make the atmosphere this stiff?

The child definitely had not done it on purpose. Maybe, just as he said, he really had done it because he missed him too much.

And to be fair, did he really have no fault at all?

Shen Run, are you sure you are not just being too sensitive?

In the short minute of silence between them, Shen Run had already gone through the full process of anger, self-reproach, and guilt in his head.

“Brother, I was wrong.”

Shen Ze buried his head in his knees, his voice somewhat muffled. “Don’t hate me.”

He turned his head to look at Shen Run, tears in his eyes sliding down his cheeks, his pretty face full of grievance and guilt.

A scorching sense of guilt crawled up from the bottom of his heart, and Shen Run wanted to slap himself.

Look at you. Why did you have to say something like that to the child?

Would it kill him to let him kiss him once?

He hurried over to the sofa, crouched down in front of Shen Ze, and grabbed those silver-white mechanical hands. “Hey, you brat, what are you crying for?”

“I don’t want you to hate me.” Shen Ze looked like a little kid throwing a tantrum, his brows tightly knit, his mouth slightly pouting.

“How could Brother hate you?”

Shen Run rubbed the top of his still-wet head. “And I’m not blaming you. I just want you to know that this is very precious, so don’t give it to other people lightly.”

“Brother is not other people.” Shen Ze blurted it out without hesitation.

Shen Run was speechless, not knowing whether to cry or laugh.

He simply changed the topic. “Alright, alright, enough about that. The hair dryer is in that drawer over there. Dry your own hair. I’m going to take a shower.”

Like he was fleeing, he rushed into the bathroom and turned on the shower. Water mist poured down, and in the bathroom mirror, Shen Run saw two inexplicable blushes on his pale cheeks.

Damn it, what was all this?

Scene 9

“You sleep here.”

Shen Run threw the thick blanket onto the sofa.

He ignored Shen Ze’s dissatisfied look. “There’s only one bedroom in the house. Who told you to insist on coming back with me?”

“Isn’t there another room over there?” Shen Ze raised his hand and pointed toward the end of the hallway.

“That room is the storage room. There’s no bed.”

Shen Ze showed that pitiful expression again. “Then can’t I sleep with Brother?”

“Cut it out.” Shen Run raised a hand to stop Shen Ze’s little combo of acting cute and crying. “Look at your build. If you lie down there, will there still be room for me to sleep?”

“Either sleep on the sofa, or go back to your hotel. Don’t expect me to soften.”

After saying that, he walked toward the bedroom without looking back.

After closing the door, Shen Run threw himself onto his bed.

“Fuck… it hurts…”

He did not like sleeping on beds that were too soft. The mattress he had chosen was on the firmer side, and his face hit it painfully.

“How did it become like this…..” he muttered.

In just one night, how could so many things happen? First, his disciple had had his skull smashed by the so-called “City Ranger,” and he had gone after them, only to fail to catch the person. Instead, he ran into Shen Ze, whom he had not seen in years and who had once been like a younger brother to him.

Shen Ze seemed as if nothing had changed. He was still as pretty as ever and still loved to act spoiled like before.

But he also seemed to have changed a lot, with his unexplained military-grade cybernetic limbs and that inexplicable kiss……

Headache, really. Physically and mentally, all of it.

He took a pump-type injection drug from under the pillow and hesitated before giving himself a shot in the neck.

Shen Run had a special constitution and rejected the ingredients in many drugs. Under normal circumstances, he would not even touch these sleep aids of unknown composition.

As Jiede put it, “It’s hard for me to tell whether you fell asleep because this drug really worked, or because you couldn’t tolerate the ingredients and passed out.”

But today was special. If he did not rely on outside help, there was no way he would be sleeping tonight.

“I really need to teach that brat properly. He’s already this old and still acts like a child. Would any girl like a boy like that?”

The sleep aid took effect very quickly, and Shen Run’s consciousness began to blur.

“What does his situation count as, a mama’s boy?”

“Ha… why am I worrying about this for him? With that face, even if he were a drooling idiot who only knew how to grin stupidly, someone would still like him, right……”

The rain in the city grew heavier and heavier. Raindrops struck the window, and Shen Run gradually fell asleep amid the ticking sound.

In his dazed state, Shen Run felt something watching him.

That gaze was hot and fierce, like it was studying prey and thinking about how to tear that prey apart and devour it. Unfortunately, Shen Run was that prey.

He could not move at all. The beast staring at him was itching to act, and in the end it could not suppress its hunting instincts and pounced, biting down on Shen Run’s neck and sucking at the blood gushing from his veins.

The blood in his body was slowly draining away. Shen Run shivered and felt as if he had come to an icy snowfield. Then he fell into a scorching embrace.

The scent of orange filled the air around him, mixed with the freshness of the ocean.

The beast that kept biting at his neck held him tightly, no, this could not even be called an embrace. It was a one-sided plunder.

So painful… so painful…

“Does it hurt?”

He heard the beast ask softly.

It hurts, really.

“Then beg me, and I’ll let you go.”

Don’t bite me anymore, I’m begging you.

For a brief moment, the Shen Run in the dream was dazed, not understanding why he would be asking a beast for mercy. It could not understand human speech anyway.

Strangely enough, after he said the words of surrender, the beast biting his neck really did loosen its fangs. It held Shen Run’s face in its hands and gently kissed Shen Run’s cheek.

Hey, that’s ticklish!

The beast let out a low laugh, and Shen Run did not understand what was so funny.

In his daze, Shen Run frowned. Just now it had been cold, and now it was too hot.

Hot, let go of me…

He was plunged into a blurred, hazy state, as if his soul had left his body and was floating in midair. His limbs, on the other hand, felt as heavy as if they had been filled with lead, tightly bound in place, unable to move.

Under normal circumstances, he would call this sleep paralysis.

Shen Run did not resist this state. It was a sign that he was about to fall into deep sleep.

Do whatever you want……

He gave up resisting, his whole body going soft. At the same time, the heat entangled on his cheeks and lips began to move downward. That savage thing lifted the sleepwear on his body and pressed against him. His waist and abdomen began to stir restlessly.

You… don’t…

“Don’t what?”

That savage thing gave a muffled question.

Shen Run’s waist and abdomen trembled, and he could no longer speak. He felt the area between his collarbone and lower abdomen being occupied in turn, and in his ear there was the faint sound of sucking.

A wet warmth spread over his heart.

You… you’re too much…..

“How am I too much?”

Just… too much…….

Another low laugh came. The savage thing lowered its head, and a soft touch came again.

A field of cold blue light burst before his eyes, and his thoughts were like a piece of garbled code, flickering in the hazy void.

After who knew how long, Shen Run could feel that this dream was about to end.

Let me sleep, I’m really tired.

That savage thing spoke again, but Shen Run did not want to listen. He only wanted to sleep.

This dream was like a brief out-of-body experience. Before losing consciousness again, he heard a hoarse voice by his ear.

“I originally wanted to play the little hide-and-seek game with you for a while longer.”

“But I really couldn’t bear to leave you alone on such a sad day……”

“Ah Run.”

The savage thing gently called Shen Run’s name. Unlike its rough behavior, its voice was very soft, like a gentle sea breeze.

“Happy birthday……”

Birthday, today was my birthday?

Before losing consciousness, Shen Run had only one thought left in his mind.

Ah, so it really was a sad day.