Chapter 15

Chapter 15

“What are you doing?”

He Xu raised an eyebrow slightly.

He had just been getting some air on the rooftop, his body still carrying a faint chill. As he descended the stairs and passed by the restroom, he heard some commotion inside and casually glanced in, only to witness this unexpected sight.

The sight of several underlings piled together was utterly baffling, especially with the addition of a teary-eyed, delicate-looking curly-haired boy standing nearby.

Something glinted across the tiled floor beneath his gaze, instinctively drawing He Xu’s attention. But upon closer inspection, there was nothing there—just a few random water spots.

The stains were colorless and transparent, smeared flat across the floor as if something had spread them. If viewed against the light, faint, twisting lines could be seen, like something alive had slithered through.

But He Xu stood by the door, his back to the light, his tall frame blocking most of the illumination from outside. Thus, he didn’t notice those lines at all, simply assuming the water had dripped from the faucet onto the floor.

He glanced briefly before looking away, not giving it another thought—and completely missing the fleeting look of guilt that flashed across Zhang Yu’s face not far away.

Zhang Yu kept his head lowered, sneaking peeks at He Xu by the door, his stomach in knots. He’d been having too much fun and hadn’t noticed He Xu’s approach. Had he been caught?

After a few surreptitious looks and seeing no reaction from He Xu, he quietly sighed in relief. He probably hadn’t been noticed.

Of course, the underlings wouldn’t dare ignore their boss’s question. The one on top of the pile hastily answered while trying to stand. "Brother Ran said—"

He was immediately cut off.

Zhang Yu darted in front of He Xu, looking up at him. "They said I made you angry because you stared at me the whole class, so they wanted to beat me up."

When he had first taken human form, he’d taken the system’s advice and set his appearance based on the average height of human boys his "age." Among his "peers," he wasn’t short, but standing before He Xu—who was nearly 1.9 meters tall in shoes—he looked downright small. Even with his fluffy hair added in, he only came up to He Xu’s chin.

So when standing this close, to properly see the human’s face, he had to tilt his head up. His soft, curly hair fell back against his cheeks, his eyes slightly red and shimmering with tears welling up. Paired with his fair, still-babyish face, he looked heart-wrenchingly vulnerable.

He Xu looked down at him, his eye twitching slightly.

Though it was obvious his underlings had misunderstood… what's with that *look* like you were about to tattle?

Still, he didn’t comment on Zhang Yu’s actions. Instead, he turned his gaze to the underlings picking themselves up.

Without Zhang Yu’s interference, the delinquents finally managed to stand.

Chang Jie adjusted his glasses. As one of the few in the group with half a brain, he immediately understood his boss’s unspoken question and spoke up to explain.

"Brother Ran said you stared at Zhang Yu for too long and thought he must’ve pissed you off, so he wanted to teach him a lesson to vent your anger."

Though the gist was the same as what Zhang Yu had said, his words carried a subtle bias toward his own people.

He Xu, of course, caught it. He also knew exactly what kind of person Sun Ran was—ride-or-die loyal, but when it came to brains… he made bricks look smart.

Sun Ran, having been at the bottom of the pile, was the last to stand. Rubbing his still-sore nose, he blurted out indignantly, "Yeah! Boss, don’t worry, I’ll make sure this kid never dares to mess with you again!"

He Xu: "…"

He let out the tiniest sigh and waved a hand. "Enough. Get lost, all of you. He didn’t do anything."

Sun Ran blinked. "He didn’t? Then why’d you stare at him the whole— Hey, Lao Chang, why’re you tugging my shirt?"

Chang Jie gripped his sleeve, glancing at the barely 8 inches between the two at the door—and at his boss, who usually hated people getting too close but wasn't even annoyed now. His glasses flashed knowingly.

He gave the others a look, then hooked an arm around Sun Ran’s neck, forcibly hauling him out of the restroom while flashing a perfectly polite smile. "Boss, you two talk. We’ll head back to class first."

The remaining underlings, though not as sharp, caught the hint and quickly chimed in. "Right, right, we’ll go ahead."

Once the delinquents had all left, only Zhang Yu and He Xu remained in the restroom, left standing there awkwardly.

Looking into the curly-haired boy’s watery eyes, He Xu’s lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but he held back. Instead, he reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out a cigarette pack and lighter. After a brief glance, he put them back and dug into his pants pockets instead.

After checking all his pockets, he finally fished out a crumpled tissue and handed it to Zhang Yu.

Zhang Yu cocked his head. "?"

He’d already forgotten about the water in his eyes.

Well, back in the ocean, everything was water. Before coming ashore, his entire body—let alone his eyes—had been submerged.

Seeing him not take the tissue, He Xu thrust it closer. "Wipe your face."

His gaze flickered away briefly before returning, looking uncomfortable. After a pause, he added, "I’ll talk to them later. They’ll leave you alone."

Had the underlings still been here, they would’ve lost it.

Since when did their boss speak to anyone like this? With such a gentle tone and expression?!

He Xu didn’t want to either.

Logically, he’d always hated seeing people cry—especially guys. It felt weak and unmanly.

But with Zhang Yu, it seemed perfectly natural. It was as if him crying wasn’t strange in the slightest.

He studied Zhang Yu.

The boy’s skin was fair, his features delicate, and his hair incredibly soft and fluffy. He looked almost otherworldly—like a beautiful doll, or perhaps a flower fairy or elven prince, making you want to protect him.

Besides, this kid had technically done him a favor once. He was just repaying the favor by cutting him some slack. That was normal, right?

He Xu quickly convinced himself. When Zhang Yu still didn’t take the tissue, he simply reached out and dabbed at his tears himself.

Zhang Yu blinked, puzzled by why the human’s voice had suddenly gone soft again, even more than it had on Friday night.

It sounded strange to his ears—like that time a clownfish had swum past him, its tail fin lightly brushing against his skin, soft and fleeting, that left him feeling itchy.

Zhang Yu didn’t brush off the odd sensation, instead focusing nervously on the human before him.

Last time He Xu’s voice had softened, he’d soon developed a fever. Was he about to get sick again?!

He scrutinized the other carefully, glad to see his face wasn’t turning red like that night. Remembering He Xu’s words, he asked hesitantly, "So… your underlings won’t hit me anymore?"

He Xu chucked the tissue into the nearby trash bin. "Yeah, I’ll talk to them later. Stop crying."

"What about you?" Zhang Yu ventured, a glimmer of hope in his voice. "Will you still hit me?"

He Xu crossed his arms lazily. "Relax, I won’t hit you either."

"And if…" He shifted awkwardly, clearing his throat. "If anyone else gives you trouble, just tell me."

Zhang Yu: "…"

The light in the marine creature’s eyes dimmed bit by bit, as if his world had ended.

What?! Was his game of pretending to be a weak human who gets bullied ending so soon?

He wasn’t done having fun yet!

The curls on his head drooped limply as Zhang Yu drooped his shoulders pitifully.

After a while, he suddenly remembered something and managed to rally some spirit. "Then, can you promise me one thing?"

He Xu: "What is it?"

"It’s about my deskmate, Xiang Yiming," Zhang Yu said. "Can you tell your crew not to bully him anymore either?"

He Xu thought for a moment about who he was referring to, then raised an eyebrow. "You want to help him? You can hardly look after yourself, and now you’re trying to help others?"

"You said it yourself—you won’t hit me anymore. And he’s not just anybody," Zhang Yu replied, looking at him.

His ocean fantasy might have collapsed, but he still needed his own big, independent space, right?

The boy gazed at him expectantly, his eyes, washed clean by tears, shining darkly. His expression was unexpectedly serious, as if the Xiang Yiming he mentioned wasn’t just his deskmate but someone very important to him.

For some reason, He Xu felt a strange discomfort. His brows furrowed slightly before relaxing again. "If you want me to stop bullying him from now on, it’s not impossible, but..."

He deliberately left the sentence hanging, and sure enough, Zhang Yu immediately pressed, "But what?"

He Xu curled his lips into a mischievous grin. "That depends on your performance."

Zhang Yu froze. Performance? What performance?

The class bell rang. He Xu reached out a hand, placed it on the boy’s head, and mussed up his hair—right in front of Zhang Yu’s widened eyes. "Go back to class first. I’ll tell you what kind of performance I expect after school this afternoon."

With that, he withdrew his hand and left, his fingers twitching slightly at his side as he walked away, his steps light and his mood inexplicably cheerful.

Zhang Yu clutched the curls on his head that had poofed up in delayed reaction, his eyes wide with indignation.

Why did he suddenly touch his little tentacles again? Didn’t he know he almost exposed himself?!

Damn human!

Seething, he returned to his seat and hauled out the textbook for the next class.

Out of the corner of his eye, he seemed to catch a subtle, scrutinizing gaze. Zhang Yu turned his head, but there was nothing there.

Suspicious, he stared at the classmate beside him, muttering inwardly, *Why does the classmate keep stealing glances at me?*

Ever since last class, he’d been stealing looks at him from time to time—especially when he was secretly eating. Did he really think Zhang Yu didn’t notice?

Recalling the many campus videos he’d scrolled through on his phone recently, Zhang Yu suddenly grew alert. *Was he planning to report him for eating in class?!*

His eyes widened in disbelief as he glanced at the classmate beside him, then reluctantly put back the corn snacks he’d just picked up.

Ever since he’d joined this class—aside from the first day—the classmate had been unusually quiet. But TV dramas always said it was the seemingly nice, quiet students who were the most likely to tattle.

He’d planned to snack on corn snacks this period and sip Sprite the next, but now he couldn’t do either.

Damn human!

The sea creature pouted angrily, mimicking He Xu by crossing his arms and glaring sulkily at the teacher on the podium.

Beside him, completely unaware that he’d just been labeled a "stupid tattletale human," Xiang Yiming stole another glance at the boy’s slightly reddened eyes.

Those jet-black eyes still held traces of lingering moisture—clearly, he’d been crying not long ago. His fair cheeks were tinged with grievance (from being denied snacks) and a hint of suppressed anger.

Xiang Yiming’s gaze swept over the exposed skin of the boy’s neck—clean and unmarked. But beneath his clothes, who knew how many bruises lay hidden?

His clothes only had dust from his fall this morning, no additional footprints or anything. But the way he was hugging himself—was he in pain?

Xiang Yiming’s grip on his pen tightened. His other hand dug into his desk, rummaging through his bag until his fingers brushed against a cool glass bottle.

The bottle had embossed patterns that pressed into his palm. He hesitated for a moment, glancing at the boy’s profile, then quietly put it back.

...

To prevent any humans from having a chance to snitch, Zhang Yu resisted the urge to eat during class all morning. As a result, the snacks stuffed in his bag remained largely untouched.

Finally, lunchtime arrived. The moment class ended, he sprang up, grabbed his bag, and dashed out.

Snack time!

Weaving against the flow of students, he ran up to the rooftop. Sitting on the ground, he unzipped his bag and turned it upside down—

*Crash!* A mountain of snacks tumbled out onto the ground: spicy strips, milk, chocolate malt balls, chips... the works.

The sea creature, who had picked up the bad habit of substituting meals with snacks not long after coming ashore, eagerly ripped open a bag of chips, shoveled half of it into his mouth in one go, and crunched away with chipmunk cheeks.

One bag of chips disappeared quickly, followed by shrimp chips, then pickled eggs, milk, spicy chicken feet...

As each snack was devoured, the pile of empty wrappers grew. The wind on the rooftop was strong, and with a gust, the topmost wrapper went sailing.

The wrapper drifted and swayed, nearly sailing over the green railing toward freedom—when suddenly, a dark shadow shot through the air. A round sucker mercilessly latched onto the wrapper’s surface and *whoosh*—snapped it back.

The foiled wrapper: ...

Escape failed.

At the same time, He Xu, who had been sleeping at his desk all morning, sat up and stretched with a yawn.

His crew gathered around. Sun Ran asked, "Boss, want to get lunch together?"

He Xu: "No."

The crew weren’t surprised and were about to leave when He Xu suddenly reached out and grabbed Sun Ran by the collar.

Sun Ran: "??"

Craning his neck awkwardly, he turned to see his boss wearing a thoughtful look. "Do I usually... look scary?"

Sun Ran: ...

*Like, scary enough to make children cry at night?*

Before he could answer, He Xu abruptly let go, pushed his chair back, and stood up, shooing them off. "Never mind, it’s nothing. Go eat."

As he walked out the door, the group looked at each other confused—except for Chang Jie, who adjusted his glasses, a faint, knowing smile playing on his lips.

Once they were gone, Xiang Yiming, who had been pretending to organize his belongings, finally relaxed.

He set down his book and pulled out a small patterned glass bottle from his bag, filled with a pinkish liquid.

After placing it deep inside his deskmate’s desk, he hesitated, then took it back out. Tearing off a blank sheet of paper, he used his left hand to scribble a messy line of text—

“Bruise ointment, no smell, works great—just massage it in.”

Sliding the note under the glass bottle, he tucked both deep into the desk. The skinny kid in black-framed glasses then left his seat, went down the school steps, and headed toward the cafeteria.

Walking along the path, he was the same age as those around him, yet he kept his head bowed, his back slightly hunched, as if weighed down by something heavy that prevented him from straightening up.

...

He Xu climbed the stairs while pulling a pack of compressed biscuits from his pocket. He tore open the packaging and took a bite.

His cravings had been all over the place these days, changing unpredictably. One day he might crave fish intensely, only to find the smell revolting the next day. Foods he once enjoyed no longer appealed to him, while those he disliked had become frequent choices.

Like these compressed biscuits, for example. In the past, he wouldn’t have given such dry, bland food a second glance, but today, it tasted surprisingly good.

He wolfed down the palm-sized biscuit in seconds. He tore open another pack, one hand in his pocket, the other holding the biscuit, eating as he walked.

His appetite had grown too. These were high-calorie survival biscuits—one pack could sustain an adult for a whole day without hunger. Yet after eating them, he hardly made a dent, even craving more.

It was as if... something inside him was devouring all the food he ate, digesting it at an unnatural rate...

The thought of the ruptured eggs inside his body made He Xu slow his chewing. His chest churned, his back turned cold, and a cold wave of dread shot down his spine.

His hand in his pocket fumbled slightly before gripping the folded pocketknife inside. The cold, hard metal against his palm helped steady his racing heart.

He swallowed the biscuit slowly, the gritty crumbs scraping his throat. Logically, he knew it was just food, but his mind uncontrollably flashed back to the visceral sensation of being force-fed liquid.

His body even warmed slightly at the memory, a familiar yet loathsome restlessness stirring within him.

Now his stomach turned.

He Xu clenched his fist, crumpling the wrapper and biscuit into a ball before shoving it roughly back into his pocket. He took the stairs two at a time.

Soon, he reached the rooftop. The door was slightly ajar, and a faint scuffling noise came from inside.

He Xu frowned. Someone was there?

This rooftop was *his* spot—for smoking, napping, or just being alone. Everyone knew it was his spot, and nobody messed with it.

It wasn’t even the start of the semester. Who would be bold enough to barge in now?

His expression darkened further, his bad mood went from bad to worse. Without a word, he kicked the door open.

The metal door slammed against the outer wall with a loud *bang*. Just as He Xu stepped out, something whip-thin flashed past his vision at blinding speed.

It moved too fast—just a streak in his peripheral vision, impossible to identify.

What was that? He Xu froze for a second.

Stepping outside, he looked up and immediately locked eyes with a blank stare.

That baby face. That mop of curls.

He Xu: "...You again?"

Zhang Yu wanted to ask the same thing.

Why him again?!

This morning, and now—every damn time he let his tentacles out, He Xu just *had* to show up.

Zhang Yu stiffly tilted his head up, studying the other boy warily before relaxing slightly.

Whew. No suspicion yet.

Looking at the curly boy’s dopey look, He Xu’s anger fizzled out for no reason. He closed the door behind him and asked flatly, "What are you doing here?"

Zhang Yu answered honestly, "Eating."

He Xu glanced at the pile of snacks and the dozen or so empty wrappers scattered on the ground, his frown deepening. "You’re having this for lunch?"

Zhang Yu tore open a package of sachima, took a big bite, and mumbled through stuffed cheeks, "It’s tasty."

No wonder he’s built like a twig—living off junk, He Xu thought.

Selectively forgetting the fact that Sun Ran and the others were about the same height as Zhang Yu, he leaned against the rooftop railing and lit a cigarette.

Amid the drifting smoke, his face blurred slightly, his expression growing distant.

Zhang Yu munched on his sachima, side-eyeing He Xu’s cigarette. Gradually, his chewing slowed, his gaze fixated on the cigarette.

He Xu took a drag and glanced at him. "What, want a drag?"

Zhang Yu blinked eagerly. "What does it taste like?" Was it good? He’d seen many humans smoking, but the smell always seemed harsh.

"Like smoke."

Zhang Yu shuffled closer, eyes shining with curiosity. "Can I try?"

He Xu eyed him. "You even old enough?"

Zhang Yu almost nodded before catching himself. "I’m seventeen."

His real body was adult-sized, but his human ID said seventeen.

"Then no. Brat." He Xu scoffed. "Stick to candy, kid."

Zhang Yu pouted. "So I have to be an adult?" Maybe I should’ve lied.

Still unwilling to give up, he pressed, "Did *you* wait till adulthood?"

He Xu blew smoke rings, smug. "Nope."

Zhang Yu’s eyes widened. "Then why can’t I?"

"Because," He Xu grinned, all teeth and malice, "I feel like it."

Zhang Yu: !!!

Watching the curly boy’s stunned, indignant expression, He Xu’s mood lifted unexpectedly. He reached out and pinched Zhang Yu’s cheek—soft as a peeled egg.

The texture was so pleasing he couldn’t help rubbing it twice before realizing how inappropriate the gesture was.

Seeing the boy clueless as ever, He Xu withdrew his hand casually and coughed awkwardly. "Alright, go finish your food."

Zhang Yu huffed, flounced back to his snacks, plopped down with his back to He Xu, and tore into his snack like it owed him money.

Jerk!

Next time, he’d wreck him until he couldn’t even whimper!