This Is Even Harder to Endure Than Pain — 3-in-1
Back when Jun Yueyue had been King Kong Barbie in the apocalypse, very few men ever showed interest in her. After all, she was a relatively low-level mutant, and a woman at that. After mutating into that appearance, she was honestly rather difficult to desire. Besides, even feeding herself was hard enough. She had no extra food supplies to support another person.
Aside from going out on missions, she basically did not go out much either. Even if there were people who wanted to cling to ability users in order to survive, their target generally would not be her.
But there were always a few who had reached the end of the road and crashed right in front of Jun Yueyue. During that long survival career, it was not as if there had never been the slightest interlude for Jun Yueyue. She had once casually helped a man who begged her. Unfortunately, she had only protected him for a few days before she went out on a mission and died.
Jun Yueyue had only done it casually. She had never thought of gaining any benefit from that man. Even when she died, she had not thought of him. She helped him only because she was an ability user, while the person that man had offended was an ordinary person. Ordinary people did not dare provoke ability users, even if Jun Yueyue was only a very low-level ability user. That was all.
Jun Yueyue still remembered that before she went out on that mission, that man had held her hand like this too and said, “When you come back, I’ll definitely repay you.”
The repayment he meant was not hard to guess. With his looks, in that kind of world, what else could he use except himself?
Jun Yueyue had stood in the vehicle expressionlessly. She did not need it, and besides, he was not her type. She had only coldly pulled away her hand, which was two sizes larger than his.
Honestly, even if he really did repay her, their sizes were clearly also a problem. Jun Yueyue’s heart had not fluctuated at all. She had even been thinking about how to reasonably and safely get rid of this person once she returned. She had not even asked for his name.
And then…
And then there was no then. She died on the mission.
After dying and opening her eyes again, she was in this world. Jun Yueyue had never thought that after dying and living again, she would still be able to see this man. He was still holding her hand with the same expression, just as excitedly, saying who knew what.
Jun Yueyue looked at the man in front of her, who was the same soft little white rabbit type as Fang Anyu, even softer than Fang Anyu. She felt as if she were still standing in that vehicle before her death in the apocalypse, looking down at this little white rabbit who had no ability to protect himself at all, filled with irritation.
Probably because she had already experienced the previous two shocks, one with her enemy and one with her captain, seeing someone exactly the same as someone from the apocalypse again had left Jun Yueyue almost calm. Aside from being stunned, she did not have any overly intense emotions.
However, she was stunned for a rather long time. Wu Zhenfei saw that she did not push him away, so of course he would not let go. As a result, the two of them held hands for a little too long. Long enough that Fang Anyan sneered, and Fang Anyu stared at the two people looking at each other and not letting go, already biting his lip.
“Young Master Wu?” Fang Anyan saw that these two shameless people had started acting out a “reunion after a long separation” scene and really could not keep watching. He was just about to reach out and pull them apart when a sweet, delicate voice came from not far away.
“Zhenfei, what are you doing here? The reception has already started.”
This woman’s voice was far too sweet, at least four plus signs’ worth of sweetness, so sweet it made people’s skin crawl. This person was none other than the other person named on the big balloon arch at the entrance, the only treasured daughter of the Ming family, a jewellery merchant family in Qiuhai City: Ming Zhen.
She had come down to see off a close female friend who had something to do and needed to leave. She had not expected to see Wu Zhenfei here. When she saw Jun Yueyue standing beside Wu Zhenfei, Ming Zhen did not recognise her at first. After all, Jun Yueyue had always deliberately dressed in a plain, watery style before, with long straight black hair. At night, if she wore a white dress, she looked like a female ghost and could scare half the children on the street.
Unlike now, with light-coloured curls and a casual outfit that still showed her curves, she was so flamboyant that just standing there, even the colourful balloon arch was not as eye-catching as she was.
The instant Ming Zhen recognised Jun Yueyue, alarms sounded throughout her entire body. Wu Zhenfei had liked Jun Yue to the point of life and death. This was something everyone in Qiuhai City knew. It was only after Jun Yue got married that Wu Zhenfei became disheartened and agreed to his family’s arrangement to get engaged to Ming Zhen.
Now the two of them were holding hands. Ming Zhen’s eyes almost popped out. She quickly abandoned her friend and ran over to them in tiny steps.
As soon as she arrived, she pulled Wu Zhenfei backward. Wu Zhenfei reluctantly let go of Jun Yueyue’s hand, but his eyes were still fixed on Jun Yueyue, full of unwillingness to part.
Ming Zhen looked at Jun Yueyue with a very unfriendly gaze. “Why are you here?”
Ming Zhen was somewhat flustered and exasperated. Her foot stomped lightly against the ground. This woman had clearly said that she did not like Wu Zhenfei and told Ming Zhen to rest assured, because she would absolutely not contact Wu Zhenfei again in the future!
Jun Yueyue felt utterly baffled. The only reason she had not pulled her hand away in time was because he looked exactly like that man from the apocalypse.
What exactly was going on with this world? Jun Yueyue could not help falling back into confusion. Meanwhile, Wu Zhenfei could not hide his happiness as he said, “Yueyue, since you’re here, don’t leave yet. We were friends once, after all. Today, I invited many of our old friends. They all said they haven’t been able to contact you recently. You got married… and once you got married, you no longer wanted us friends anymore?”
Jun Yueyue frowned slightly. But Wu Zhenfei looking like this had truly exceeded her expectations. If this world really was connected to the apocalypse, then could the original body’s so-called friends also all look the same as people from the apocalypse?
She hesitated. She heard Fang Anyan’s sneer, but did not see Fang Anyu lowering his lashes behind her.
He knew this person. Because when he and Jun Yue had first married, she would often go out to play in the middle of the night, and the person who picked her up was this man. Fang Anyu was not stupid. His reactions were just a little slow. This man liked her. Anyone could see it.
He slowly bit his lip. But Jun Yueyue really did hesitate because of what Wu Zhenfei had said. The original body’s friends were people she had originally had no interest in meeting. But now, she had to find a way to figure out what exactly was going on with this world. She might as well take this chance to meet all the original body’s disreputable friends at once. Maybe she could find some kind of breakthrough…
Just as Jun Yueyue was hesitating, Wu Zhenfei saw her waver and became even more excited. “Yueyue, let’s go upstairs! The dance has started. It’s full of the desserts you like. Also, that fish you wanted—after everything ends, I’ll have someone catch them all for you!”
Jun Yueyue’s hesitation instantly came alive.
He would give her the fish. And it was true that she could not find another opportunity to meet all of the original body’s friends at once. She quickly turned her head and pulled Fang Anyu’s hand, then lifted her chin in the direction of the hall, signalling for him to follow her inside.
Ming Zhen’s face turned deathly pale. She gritted her teeth, but it was not appropriate for her to say anything. She pulled Wu Zhenfei and walked into the hall first. But Wu Zhenfei said to Jun Yueyue, “Yueyue, come quickly!”
Even while being pulled inside by Ming Zhen, he did not forget to tell the doorman, “Don’t stop her. She’s an honoured guest!”
Wu Zhenfei was dragged into the elevator first. Fang Anyan immediately said, “You are not allowed to go up. You and my brother are going home right now. Jun Yue, don’t forget that you haven’t divorced my brother yet. If you dare do anything to wrong him, I won’t let you off.”
The male lead was the male lead after all. These words were domineering enough, and the angle and tone of his threat were just right. But those two tufts of hair sticking up from his head made his rage look like a Teletubby’s, especially ruining the atmosphere.
Jun Yueyue’s heart did not fluctuate at all. She even felt like laughing a little.
She ignored Fang Anyan completely and took out her phone to send Fang Anyu a message:
I need to go up for a bit to meet some people. I’ll also get you the fish while I’m there. Are you coming?
Fang Anyu lowered his head to look at the phone. The bright sparkle in his eyes had already lost its light, like the moon in the sky covered by dark clouds. But Jun Yueyue really did have to meet them. She needed a lot of evidence to prove whether this world was truly as she guessed, what exactly it had to do with the apocalypse, and whether the apocalypse… would one day suddenly arrive.
This mattered too much. She had to figure it out as soon as possible, because she was no longer alone now. She also had a little fool.
She could see that Fang Anyu was unhappy. Ignoring Fang Anyan behind her, who was so irritable he almost jumped and even reached out to tug at her, she reached out and pinched Fang Anyu’s cheek. Then she typed again:
How about you let the driver take you home? Wait for me at home. I’ll be back soon.
Jun Yueyue did not really want to take Fang Anyu up. She was afraid that if she really saw too many familiar faces, or if something developed beyond her expectations, she would not be able to look after Fang Anyu. Fang Anyu could not speak or hear. Even if Fang Anyan was there too, she would have to socialise like a butterfly. Jun Yueyue did not want Fang Anyu to feel wronged.
But Fang Anyu lowered his head and looked at the message for a long while without reacting. In the end, it was Fang Anyan who fiercely stuffed him back into the car and told the driver to send him home. Jun Yueyue watched him press against the car window and look at her. His gaze made her heart ache. She smiled and comforted him. Through the glass, she drew a time for him and sent a message telling him:
By this time, I’ll definitely be home.
There was even a little red heart beside the time. Fang Anyu was barely comforted.
Under Fang Anyan’s almost three-hundred-and-sixty-degree barrage of eye daggers, Jun Yueyue entered the main doors. She took a deep breath, preparing to face the storm.
But just as she and Fang Anyan entered the elevator together, a huge clap of thunder suddenly scared both of them into shivering at the same time.
“Fuck!”
“Fuck!”
For a moment, the sound made both of them think the damn building had been bombed. But very soon, the second and third thunderclaps followed one after another. Amid the rumbling, they finally realised it was thunder.
The two of them leaned against opposite corners of the elevator, still shaken, and looked at each other with mutual disdain. Fang Anyan’s mouth was vicious. “Hmph. Guilty conscience, huh? Scared, are you? The way you’re treating my brother, you’ll get your retribution sooner or later.”
Jun Yueyue originally wanted to retort, but the thunder was rumbling so loudly that it felt as if it were exploding inside her head. She remembered again that before the apocalypse in her previous life, there had always been inexplicable thunder like this, followed by endless heavy rain…
What exactly was going on with all this…
Seeing Jun Yueyue not talk back, Fang Anyan moved his lips. In the end, he was too lazy to say anything more. After all, he could not watch this woman and did not have the energy to watch her either. Whatever tricks she wanted to pull would be useless. In a few days, he would persuade his brother to divorce her.
At that moment, the rising elevator dinged and arrived. The thunder continued without stopping. When the elevator doors opened, directly opposite was an enormous private hall. It was the dance party for the engagement banquet. The door had auspicious engagement phrases written on it in glittering gold paint, looking especially beautiful under the lights.
Cheerful music slipped through the cracks of the door. Jun Yueyue slowly walked toward it. Thunder continued rumbling by her ears. She could not describe what she felt. It was as if she were walking toward a long, pitch-black unknown tunnel filled with danger and the roars of monsters. She could see light ahead, but she did not know whether it was a safe escape exit or the entrance to a monster’s lair.
Fang Anyan opened the door first and walked in. Jun Yueyue followed behind him. The moment she entered, it happened to be during a song change. The sound of the door closing attracted everyone’s gaze. Jun Yueyue stood at the entrance in casual clothes that were completely out of place at the dance, like a Cinderella who had accidentally wandered into the prince’s banquet without changing clothes.
However, she had changed too much. Not many people recognised her at first glance. She calmly received all the scrutinising gazes and searched through the crowd one by one, looking for familiar faces.
When Wu Zhenfei saw Jun Yueyue come up, he wished he could shake off Ming Zhen and run over from the dance floor. But Ming Zhen was wrapped around him like a snake, so he simply could not come over.
From this angle, she could not see everyone. Jun Yueyue stepped further inside. The music started again, and the crowd became lively once more. Those who recognised Jun Yueyue had strange expressions. Those who did not recognise her lost interest in such a person and continued chatting with the people beside them.
Jun Yueyue walked inward. Outside, there was suddenly a massive flash of lightning. Two girls standing by the floor-to-ceiling windows exclaimed, “How beautiful!”
Jun Yueyue only wanted to sneer.
Beautiful?
If this really was connected to the apocalypse, then perhaps in the future, they would associate the exposed brains of zombies with the beautiful lightning they had marvelled at tonight.
Before she could reach the centre of the reception, two girls in formal gowns walked toward her. They were dressed especially exquisitely, each wearing a strapless gown. The moment they reached her side, one of them clicked her tongue in amazement. “Oh, I wondered who it was. So it’s you, you little bitch!”
As one girl spoke, she bumped Jun Yueyue’s shoulder and even winked at her. Jun Yueyue could still distinguish between insult and intimacy. These two people were clearly familiar with the original body. The slightly shorter one reached out and looped an arm around Jun Yueyue’s shoulders, smiling as she said, “We saw you come in with Fang Anyan just now. What’s the situation? Did you hook up with him? You’ve got the advantage of being close to the water—did you finally get the moon?”
Jun Yueyue looked at the two girls and searched her memory. Then she was somewhat disappointed to discover that she had no memory of them.
She casually shook off the arm around her shoulders and continued walking inward, answering offhandedly, “Soon, probably. He grits his teeth every time he sees me now.”
The three of them walked inward together. The taller girl looked at Jun Yueyue and clicked her tongue. “This look suits you so much better. I told you, men all like the sexy type. You’ve got that seductive vixen look, but you insisted on copying your sickly little sister. With that pair of D-cups, can you really pull off pure and innocent? Hahaha…”
The shorter girl laughed too. Jun Yueyue agreed with that statement. Her gaze kept sweeping over the faces in the room as she vaguely dealt with the two girls beside her. At the same time, she picked up a glass of wine and downed it in one go.
No familiar faces. Only Wu Zhenfei.
“Hey, look. The moment Wu Zhenfei saw you, he almost started drooling. If his little delicate wife weren’t holding onto him, he’d crawl over here. Believe it or not!”
Jun Yueyue gave a vague hum and did not answer. She had already more or less looked through everyone in the room, but she had not seen any familiar faces.
The thunder outside the window was still continuing. Many girls had gone to watch the lightning. One after another, people who recognised Jun Yueyue came over to talk to her, but she ignored all of them, carrying her arrogance and disregard for others to the end. In any case, she did not know these people and had no need to know them. After looking over everyone in the room and confirming there were no familiar faces, she prepared to leave. But before leaving, she had to ask for the fish.
So she walked straight toward Wu Zhenfei. Under Ming Zhen’s hostile gaze, under the watching eyes of the crowd, and under Wu Zhenfei’s expression as if he was about to bubble over with joy when he saw her actively walk toward him, Jun Yueyue said directly, “Have someone catch two fish for me. Red ones, with big bellies and round eyes. Bring an oxygen pump and a fish tank too while you’re at it.”
Wu Zhenfei’s smile froze.
Jun Yueyue said, “You’re getting engaged today. Congratulations. I’ll go downstairs and swipe my card in a while. I’ll pay for the fish and the gift money together. I won’t stay long. My husband is still waiting for me at home. I’ll wait downstairs for the fish. Tell them to move quickly.”
After Jun Yueyue finished speaking, she turned around and walked toward the door under everyone’s various gazes. But when she reached the door, Wu Zhenfei broke free from Ming Zhen, ran over, and grabbed her.
“Yueyue, you’re leaving so soon? Won’t you stay a little longer? Did you change your SIM card? Why couldn’t I get through when I called you? You…”
“Wu Zhenfei,” Jun Yueyue frowned and lowered her voice, “your fiancée is about to cry. Let go of me.”
Wu Zhenfei was intimidated by Jun Yueyue’s gaze and subconsciously let go. Jun Yueyue added, “Quickly have someone catch the fish for me. I really did change my SIM card. I’m married, and you’re engaged. Don’t call me again in the future.”
Wu Zhenfei opened his mouth. He kept feeling that something about Jun Yue had changed. It seemed like everything had changed. But she was indeed still the Jun Yue he had liked for several years.
Indeed, she was married. Even if she had not married, the person she liked had not been him. He was engaged… The marriage alliance between their two families involved too many interests. There was no room to turn back.
Jun Yueyue’s direct, merciless chain of blows today seemed to wake him up. In the end, he only opened his mouth and said, “Only red fish? Recently, I also got a new batch of black ones that swim very fast…”
Jun Yueyue suddenly went around Wu Zhenfei and walked back into the hall. Her strides were long, and within a few steps, she reached a group of giggling girls. She precisely pushed the crowd aside, snatched the glass of wine from one girl’s hand, pulled open the girl’s collar, and poured it all down the front of her chest—cold straight to the heart, flying high.
A sharp, piercing scream rang through the entire room.
Jun Yueyue said with absolutely no sincerity, “Sorry. My hand slipped.”
Jun Yueyue pushed Jun Yu, whose face was dripping with wine, out from the crowd and to the window on the side. She squatted in front of Jun Yu’s wheelchair, looked up at her as she wiped herself in embarrassment, and asked, “Didn’t you say it was a friend’s engagement? You come to a friend’s engagement party and get bullied?”
Jun Yu looked at Jun Yueyue in a bit of a daze. That woman just now had indeed done it on purpose. That woman also liked Fang Anyan, but her family did not have much money. She herself was someone trying to climb up the social ladder. Before, she had been jealous of Jun Yu but did not dare show off. Now, who knew how she had heard the news that Jun Yu would no longer inherit the Jun family and that the matter between her and Fang Anyan had also fallen through. So today, she had gathered a group of her little sisters to embarrass Jun Yu and vent her anger.
This kind of plot was far too common in novels. But Jun Yu was, after all, disabled. These girls deliberately spilling wine on her was very malicious.
The girl who had wine poured on her screamed and wanted to come find trouble with Jun Yueyue. But when she clearly saw Jun Yueyue’s expression, she stood not far away and did not dare come over.
Her gown was completely ruined. But rumours spread quickly in this circle. Jun Yueyue would be the future person in power of the Jun family. She could not afford to provoke her. Besides, Fang Anyan had come over at this moment.
After frowning and glancing at Jun Yu, he took a handkerchief from his suit pocket and handed it to Jun Yu. “Wipe yourself.”
That girl had liked Fang Anyan to begin with. Being so embarrassed in front of him made her feel so ashamed and angry she wanted to die. She quickly covered her face and ran to the bathroom.
Jun Yu accepted the handkerchief and wiped her face. Only then did she smile at Jun Yueyue and say, “Sister, I’m fine.”
At this time, Ming Zhen ran over. She had been too busy clinging to Wu Zhenfei and had not paid attention to Jun Yu’s side. Now she felt both guilty and embarrassed. “I’ll have those little pheasants thrown out right now!”
After saying that, she turned and ran off. There was not too much wine on Jun Yu, and her gown was dark, so it was not very noticeable. The three of them fell into a strange silence for a while before Jun Yueyue said, “How about I take you home?”
Fang Anyan quickly spoke. “I’ll take her. Aren’t you going back? Didn’t you promise my brother you’d be back by nine-thirty? You even drew…” Fang Anyan seemed unable to say it, looking at Jun Yueyue with eyes full of condemnation.
Only then did Jun Yueyue remember. She took out her phone and glanced at it, discovering it was already 9:15.
Shit!
Strangely, there was not a single message on her phone. Jun Yueyue panicked a little. After handing Jun Yu over to Fang Anyan, she hurried downstairs.
Fang Anyan was reliable. Although he always seemed like a tyrannosaurus, he was very responsible. No matter how one looked at it, Jun Yu’s situation today partly had to do with him. He would responsibly send her home.
After Jun Yueyue went downstairs, she went to the lobby and asked the cashier to swipe her card. She had promised the gift money and fish money. Wu Zhenfei also kept his word and had already prepared the fish for her. The full set of equipment was at the entrance, and it had even been loaded onto a small pickup truck. The people inside the truck were waiting to deliver it at any time.
But he had probably instructed them not to accept money. No matter what Jun Yueyue said, the front desk would not let her swipe her card. They did not want money for the fish either. It was already 9:29. Like Cinderella whose time was almost up, she looked at the time, stamped her foot anxiously, and thought she would deal with it later. For now, this would have to do!
Jun Yueyue knocked on the window of the pickup driver and explained things to him. She discovered there were several people inside, including the doorman from before. Wu Zhenfei had probably given instructions. These people were here to help her move the things.
That person was actually quite good. When he got married, Jun Yueyue would definitely give a generous gift.
The moment she came out of the lobby, before Jun Yueyue could reach the car, the sky, which had been rumbling with muffled thunder for a long time, finally opened.
The heavy rain poured down without any warning. In the span of just a few steps, it soaked Jun Yueyue completely through. Fang Anyu had been sent away earlier by a car arranged by Fang Anyan. Jun Yueyue would go back in the car driven by the same driver who had brought her and Fang Anyu out. The pickup driver followed behind them.
On the way back, the rain became heavier and heavier, so heavy that the driver slowed the car to the lowest speed. The windshield wipers kept moving, but they still could not see the road clearly. Jun Yueyue’s heart was anxious and panicked. This kind of rainy night made her think of the apocalypse. At a time like this, she desperately wanted to see Fang Anyu.
He must be especially obediently waiting for her. Across two lifetimes, this was the first time someone was waiting for her. This feeling was too strange, both heart-gripping and sour.
But the more anxious she became, the heavier the rain fell. The car speed was impossibly slow. On the way here, the journey from the hotel to the Fang family villa had taken a little over twenty minutes. On the way back, it took an entire hour and a half. When they reached the Fang family courtyard and got out of the car, the accumulated water on the ground was already up to their calves.
Past eleven at night, Jun Yueyue returned with people carrying the fish. The fish were too large, and the fish tank was also big. Moving it upstairs took another half an hour or so. During this time, Jun Yueyue went upstairs three times. She searched everywhere in the room but did not see Fang Anyu. She asked the servants, and they had not seen him go out either.
After the fish tank was placed in the middle of the floor, Jun Yueyue forcibly stuffed money into the hands of the delivery guys. After they all left, she kept calling Fang Anyu’s phone, but no one answered. She kept sending him messages, but no one replied. She even braved the heavy rain to go to the security room and check the surveillance cameras. Ever since he was sent back, there had been no footage of him going out. He was inside the villa. But because of privacy, there were no surveillance cameras inside the rooms. Jun Yueyue and the servants searched every room and found no trace of Fang Anyu.
She had already called Fang Anyan. Fang Anyan was rushing back too, and he had not even had time to send Jun Yu home!
Jun Yueyue was truly frightened to death. She had never been this worried before. She circled the house several times and even began blaming herself. She should not have left him behind. Where could he have gone? Where could he…
There was still one place at home they had not searched!
Jun Yueyue opened the balcony door in the heavy rain and felt her way to the storage room. Sure enough, the door was open. She fumbled to turn on the light in the balcony storage room, and her breath almost stopped.
Fang Anyu was sitting in the innermost corner, hugging his knees, his head buried in his legs like an abandoned stray dog.
He was clutching his phone. Because the rain was too heavy, the water accumulated on the balcony could not drain away through the drain holes in time and had flowed back into the storage room. Fang Anyu was sitting entirely in the dirty water, which had already risen past his ankles.
“Anyu…” Jun Yueyue was soaked all over and looked terribly miserable. Seeing him like this, she instinctively called out to him.
He could not hear her, but he sensed the movement of the water and the light. He raised his head and looked toward Jun Yueyue.
That look was something Jun Yueyue had never seen in his eyes before. Through Fang Anyu, she almost saw her own self from the time she had been abandoned.
There was not much pain or violent fluctuation in it. There was even calmness, a calmness so empty it was hollow.
Jun Yueyue instantly cried from heartache. She quickly waded through the water to his side, crouched down, and hugged him tightly.
“I’m sorry…” She knew Fang Anyu could not hear. In her phone, she had sent countless messages, all saying this phrase. But facing him like this, Jun Yueyue still softly apologised beside his ear and kissed his icy cold side profile, letting him see that she was apologising.
Only after quite a while did Fang Anyu react. He reached out and hugged Jun Yueyue so tightly that her bones hurt.
“I came back late…” Jun Yueyue hugged him and said it both to him and to herself. “It won’t happen again.”
Who knew how long Fang Anyu had been soaking in the water? His entire body was icy cold. Jun Yueyue pulled him up, afraid he would get sick, and quickly took him back into the room, stripping off his wet clothes and pushing him into the bathroom.
Hot water could quickly warm someone up. Now that Jun Yueyue had finally found him, her heart settled. Only then did she belatedly realise that she was freezing too. Trembling, she wiped both of their damp phones. The phones were really fucking tenacious. One of them actually had water pouring out of it and still stubbornly lit up.
She pushed Fang Anyu into the bathroom, planning to call Fang Anyan and let him know not to worry too much. But although her phone screen had not gone dark, she could no longer make calls…
She had just picked up Fang Anyu’s phone when the bathroom door opened. Fang Anyu, dripping wet, leaned against the doorway and looked at her. Jun Yueyue did not even have time to explain that she only wanted to make a call… before he pulled her inside.
Hot water poured over their heads. The sudden switch between cold and heat made goosebumps rise all over her body. Jun Yueyue thought she would rinse off, soothe Fang Anyu a little, and then go call Fang Anyan to report they were safe. But every time she headed toward the door, Fang Anyu grabbed her.
He could not speak and could not hear Jun Yueyue speaking. Both phones were outside the bathroom, so they could not communicate. There was no little notebook in the bathroom either. The two of them had no way to communicate at all.
Jun Yueyue gestured like a monkey and slowly mouthed words, trying to communicate with Fang Anyu. But outside of a specific context, he could not guess what she was saying. And in an uncharacteristic way, he stubbornly held on to Jun Yueyue. He used a lot of strength, yet his eyes were full of pleading and fear.
Who could withstand that?
Jun Yueyue gave up on the idea of going out. She properly stayed with him under the water, thinking she could call after they finished washing. But under the rising steam of the hot water, their bodies did indeed warm up, and they had finished washing too. Yet Fang Anyu still held her and refused to let go. His eyes had not looked right this whole time, like a small animal terrified of being thrown away again.
“Let’s go out. I won’t leave, I…” Jun Yueyue saw his confused gaze and gave up communicating. She sighed and hugged him, her hand continuously stroking his back in comfort.
Fang Anyu rested his head on top of Jun Yueyue’s. The bathroom was already unbearably warm. She reached out to turn off the circulating warm air beside the mirror, but unexpectedly, she was pressed against the sink.
Through the somewhat blurred mirror, Jun Yueyue looked at Fang Anyu standing behind her. In the mirror, he met Jun Yueyue’s gaze once, hugged her from behind, tilted his head, and kissed the side of her face. It carried a very slow and lingering meaning.
It was the same meaning as that day in the hotel, when Fang Anyu had trapped her between the bed and the wall. Jun Yueyue understood instantly. As always, he was carefully begging. But compared to that morning, their current state was far too convenient.
It was not really the right time, Jun Yueyue told herself.
But Fang Anyu seemed truly frightened. She had not returned at the time she promised, and he was so scared. This was not a bad way to soothe him.
Besides, she was already together with him. She had no reason to refuse, did she…
The mist in the bathroom gradually dispersed, but a long watery handprint had been dragged across the mirror. Not only that—the bathroom wall and sink were also marked with these seemingly silent yet forceful imprints.
Jun Yueyue had never been a delicate person. Even when she had been torn apart by zombies, she had not screamed that heartbreakingly. After all, at that time, compared to pain, her fear of death had been deeper.
But this kind of thing, experienced while clear-headed, was truly a first for her. She had not expected that this would be even harder to endure than pain.
More accurately, under Fang Anyu’s handling, so completely different from his usual gentleness, she could not endure it at all.
Even gritting her teeth could not suppress her voice. She was so embarrassed by her own sounds that she nearly cried.
The room, even the living room door, was open. Through the small piece of frosted glass on the bathroom door, one could see the warm colour of the light inside. At the bathroom doorway, the two sets of wet clothes were piled together, tangled inseparably, still spreading water stains outward. On the bed, both phone screens were unusually bright. The little location arrows pointed at each other. The two big-bellied fish that had been moved back overnight as love-token fish stared with four huge eyes, overlapping in terror in one corner as they observed their new environment.
The clock in the room pointed to one-thirty. The room was so quiet that only the soft ticking of the second hand could be heard. From the direction of the bedroom bathroom, a brief sound resembling panic occasionally leaked out.
Fang Anyan came back through rain that looked as if the world were ending. He only had time to hand Jun Yu, who was as soaked as he was, over to the servant auntie who had been woken in the middle of the night. Then he took the stairs two or three at a time and rushed up to the second floor.
He had been frightened to death. Jun Yue had called him and said his brother could not be found. He had rushed back anxiously, and halfway through, he discovered that Jun Yue’s phone could no longer be reached either!
Running up the stairs, he reached out and pushed open the half-closed door to his brother’s room. Fang Anyan’s steps were huge. He was so anxious he was about to go mad. But before he could reach the bedroom area, the sound coming toward him made his footsteps stop—
“Anyu… don’t… this won’t work…”
Jun Yueyue’s miserable voice, unable to stop herself from negotiating and pleading, yet unsuccessful because Fang Anyu was deaf and could not hear her, reached Fang Anyan’s ears perfectly.
Fang Anyan was not someone who understood nothing. The instant that sound reached his ears, he understood what was happening inside the bathroom.
His forward steps came to an abrupt stop. Because his movement had been too large, he accidentally did a split on the spot, pulled something painful, and knelt on the floor for a long while, unable to get back up…
**Nomad: I’m dead, hahahaha! Fang Anyan was so shocked that he resorted to acrobatics. (≧▽≦) *
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