The sun was out.
Which didn't mean much in a world where half the sky was smoke and the other half was suspicion.
Yin Yue was walking three steps behind the others on what was optimistically called a "supply run." He carried a too-heavy backpack, wore a too big hoodie, and had a dented frying pan as his only weapon.
"It's symbolic," he explained.
"You're not hitting anyone with that," the clipboard woman Jiang muttered.
"I could. Under the right emotional circumstances."
> 💻 SYSTEM 520:
🍳 Weapon Equipped: Frying Pan of Delusion
💬 Host Motivation: Impress the hot team leader
📉 Combat Skill Rating: 2.5/10
They entered the remains of a corner market. Shelves half-toppled. Broken jars everywhere. Something furry in the freezer.
"Spread out," Jiang said. "Ten minutes."
Yin Yue wandered to the snack aisle.
Found a box of crackers.
Looked over his shoulder.
"Okay, hero arc begins now."
That was when he heard the sound.
Low. Wet. Wrong.
He turned.
Two zombies, maybe three, shuffled into view. One crawled over a shelf. One was chewing a boot.
"Okay," he whispered, "minor setback."
He reached for his frying pan.
Then immediately dropped it.
The clatter echoed.
The zombies turned.
And started coming.
Yin Yue bolted. "HELP! I AM NOT EMOTIONALLY EQUIPPED FOR THIS!"
He ran toward the exit but its too late.
One zombie cut him off.
Another lunged from behind.
He screamed and then someone yanked his hoodie so hard he flew backward like a kite in a wind tunnel.
He hit the floor, rolled and cursed.
Looked up.
Liang Yu.
Standing over him like a very annoyed thundercloud, covered in blood, holding a knife.
Again.
Two clean kills later, the hallway was quiet.
Yin Yue sat up. "You ripped my hoodie."
"You wandered."
"I was CONTRIBUTING!"
"You were contributing to my headache."
Yin Yue stood, brushing dust off his sleeves. "I almost died."
"You tripped over a vending machine."
"It attacked me!"
> 💻 SYSTEM 520:
🛑 Romantic Rescue Executed
💘 ML Affection: +4
🎯 Bond Deepening: Hoodie Grab Level 2
🧃 Comment: That was kinda hot tho.
Liang Yu stared at him a moment longer.
Then muttered, "Stay close."
And walked away.
Yin Yue touched the torn collar of his hoodie.
Smiled.
"Next time," he whispered, "you could just ask to hold hands."
The mission briefing took place over a half-functional map taped to a folding table.
Jiang circled a spot in red marker. "This used to be an access tunnel for the metro line. Still partially intact. Emergency cache might still be down there."
Scar-Jaw grunted. "That station's collapsed. We'll be crawling through metal teeth."
"It's our best shot," Liang Yu said.
Yin Yue hovered behind everyone else, trying not to look like a useless ornament in an oversized hoodie. The frying pan was tucked under one arm like a shield of shame.
"I can go too," he offered, trying to sound casual.
Everyone turned.
Jiang raised an eyebrow. "You want to go into a flooded rat pit full of bite-happy corpses?"
"I want to contribute," Yin Yue said. "I've been doing recon. Silent recon. Valuable observations."
"Like what?" Scar-Jaw asked.
"There's a vending machine on the second floor that still works."
Jiang groaned. "No."
"Still no," added Scar-Jaw.
Then—
"He comes with me," Liang Yu said.
Everyone stopped.
Yin Yue blinked.
"…Sorry, what?"
"You said you want to help," Liang Yu said, not looking at him. "You help me."
Jiang crossed her arms. "You're assigning him to your team?"
"He stays close."
"You mean you want to babysit him."
"No," Liang Yu said flatly. "I mean I trust him more than I trust most of you."
The table went very quiet.
> 💻 SYSTEM 520:
💘 ML Affection: +6
💬 Subtext Detected: "I care about him but I would rather eat sand than say that out loud."
🎯 Host Heart Rate: 132 BPM
☠️ Fluster Risk: Lethal
Yin Yue opened his mouth.
Closed it.
Then whispered, "I need to go lie down."
Jiang muttered, "That's basically a proposal."
Yin Yue turned bright red. "It is not!"
Liang Yu was already walking away.
Yin Yue followed him.
Still holding the frying pan.
"Do I get a gun?" he asked.
"No."
"A knife?"
"No."
"A... forehead kiss if I don't die?"
Liang Yu didn't turn.
But he did smirk.
The tunnel entrance was barely wide enough for one person, and smelled like mildew, old smoke, and someone's long-dead shoe.
Yin Yue followed closely behind Liang Yu, gripping his flashlight like it could save him from poor life choices. His oversized hoodie kept catching on broken tile and rusted poles. His boots squelched in something he really didn't want to identify.
"This is romantic," he muttered. "Smells like our first date if you'd taken me to a sewer."
Liang Yu didn't respond.
> 💻 SYSTEM 520:
💬 ML Mood: Focused
🫶 Proximity to Host: 1.2 meters
🧠 Romantic Potential: 70% (If you survive the next 15 minutes)
The tunnel twisted sharply. Flashlights bounced off cracked tiles and dark puddles. Ahead, the rest of the group spread out into the collapsed station platform, scanning for supplies.
Yin Yue stepped over what looked like a skeleton.
He did not look back.
"Still no weapon?" he whispered.
"No," Liang Yu said.
"I could use the pan."
"You'll hit yourself."
"I'm willing to take that risk for comedy."
Liang Yu turned to glare at him.
Yin Yue promptly tripped over a broken bench leg.
And into a body.
A fresh one.
The corpse twitched.
Yin Yue let out a very undignified shriek and threw himself backward, right into Liang Yu, who caught him without hesitation.
One arm around his waist.
One hand gripping his shoulder.
Yin Yue froze.
So did Liang Yu.
The flashlight clattered.
Their bodies pressed together in the dim light, every breath shared. Yin Yue's head tilted back slightly. Liang Yu's arm was still around his waist. Too firm to be polite. Not enough distance to be friendly.
"Um," Yin Yue breathed. "You can let go now."
"You're still stepping on something."
Yin Yue looked down. And shrieked again. "Oh my god, is that a thumb?!"
He practically jumped out of Liang Yu's arms.
Liang Yu stepped back without a word. Calm. Quiet.
But his ears were pink.
> 💻 SYSTEM 520:
💘 ML Affection: +4
💬 Host Grip Strength on ML's Shirt: Logged
💥 Contact Duration: 3.7 seconds
💬 Emotional Impact: "Unnecessary and difficult to forget"
Yin Yue recovered with the dignity of a fallen spoon.
"I don't suppose you caught that," he said to the ceiling.
"I caught you," Liang Yu muttered.
Yin Yue blinked. "That was almost flirtatious. Are you okay?"
"Keep moving."
Yin Yue grinned the whole way down the tunnel.
The ceiling came down with a deafening crash.
Dust, brick, and rusted smell collapsed between Yin Yue and the rest of the group. A cloud of gray swallowed the tunnel in seconds.
"Liang Yu?!" Jiang's voice from the other side.
"We're fine," Liang Yu shouted back, already checking the edges. "We'll loop around. Stay put."
"Define fine!" Yin Yue hissed, wiping grime from his hair. "We are two hot men trapped in a zombie subway with one flashlight and no emotional boundaries!"
"Stay close."
"YOU STAY CLOSE."
Liang Yu looked at him, one eyebrow raised.
"…Don't say it."
Liang Yu didn't say it. But he smirked. Again.
> 💻 SYSTEM 520:
🧠 ML Mood: Alarmingly Calm
📈 Host Fluster Level: Spiking
💘 Affection: +3 (He liked the yelling.)
They made their way into a narrower side tunnel barely wide enough to walk shoulder-to-shoulder. The air grew colder. Every echo snapped like a warning.
Then, the groan.
A lone zombie stumbled out of a maintenance closet ten meters ahead. Its mouth dripped. One eye was missing. The other locked straight on Yin Yue.
Yin Yue pulled out his frying pan. "Okay. This is it. My anime redemption arc."
"Don't.."
But Yin Yue was already charging.
He swung wide, but missed.
The zombie lunged.
He screamed. Swung again, managed to hit it.
It stumbled back and rebalanced.
Yin Yue gasped. "I hit it! I hit something!"
It growled and came back harder.
Yin Yue's confidence broke immediately. "NOPE NOPE ABORT."
He stumbled, and the pan slipped.
And before the zombie could land a bite—
Liang Yu was there.
One clean motion. Knife to temple and the zombie dropped.
Yin Yue hit the wall, panting.
"You had that," Liang Yu said.
"I almost had that!"
Liang Yu stared at him. "You almost got bitten."
"I almost got cool. There's a difference!"
"Stop trying to get yourself killed."
"If you keep saving me like this," Yin Yue snapped, "I'm going to fall in love with you!"
Silence.
The tunnel rang with it.
Yin Yue realized what he'd said.
Too late.
Way too late.
> 💻 SYSTEM 520:
⚠️ OH NO
💘 ML Affection: +5
🎯 Emotional Honesty Achievement: UNLOCKED
🧠 Suggestion: Run, confess, or marry him. No fourth option.
Liang Yu didn't move. Didn't speak. Just looked at him. Not angry. Not even surprised.
Just—
Quiet.
Still.
And… knowing.
Yin Yue folded in on himself. "That was a joke."
"Was it."
"A really bad joke."
Liang Yu stepped forward.
Yin Yue stepped back.
Liang Yu stopped. "Don't run."
"I don't have any other coping mechanism."
They stood in silence.
Then Liang Yu said, "We should keep moving."
And Yin Yue blushing from head to toe still followed.
In silence.
But maybe not regret.