Chapter 25 Chaotic Morning

Chapter 25: A Chaotic Morning

The two were locked in a fierce struggle, neither giving an inch...

The next morning, sunlight filtered through the mottled rain canopy, casting its rays on the teenagers lying every which way on the ground. The light bathed them in a golden outline, and the noise and exhaustion from the previous night had vanished, leaving only their peaceful sleeping forms.

But this serene moment was shattered by a piercing scream: "Ahhh—Oliver! Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

Bai Suizhi woke up and glanced toward the source of the noise, instinctively covering Kahn's ears. Kahn stirred, murmuring sleepily, "What's going on…"

Bai Suizhi replied, "It's nothing. Go back to sleep."

Bai Suizhi's palm was warm, and it felt comforting against Kahn's cool ear, so Kahn drifted back to sleep: "Mmm, okay…"

Bai Suizhi watched the two figures tangled up not far away and couldn't help but smile. Somehow, Oliver had rolled over to Gu Ze's side during the night and ended up lying right on top of him.

Thanks to Gu Ze's rough handling the day before, parts of the bedsheet had shredded like fringe, which now tightly entangled the two of them.

They looked like a giant golden cocoon, squirming endlessly on the ground. Trapped like two silkworms in a single cocoon, both struggled to break free first, but their efforts only tightened the fabric around them.

Oliver tried to reason with him: "Gu Ze, let me go first."

Gu Ze thrashed wildly: "I should be the one to go first! Why did you roll over to my side anyway?"

Oliver: "How are you going to get out from under me? Can you be reasonable?"

Gu Ze: "Reasonable? You’re the one who started this, and now you’re blaming me? Have you got no shame?"

Oliver stopped struggling, exhausted. Trying to untangle the fabric while also keeping Gu Ze pinned down was too much for anyone without superhuman powers.

He relaxed his body, letting his full weight press down on Gu Ze.

Gu Ze gasped for air: "Are you trying to crush me to death?"

Oliver said nonchalantly: "You untangle it then. Go ahead, since you want to get out first."

Gu Ze’s face flushed with frustration: "Get off me!"

Oliver: "So you’re done fighting?"

Gu Ze turned his face away, clamming up.

Looking at Gu Ze’s pouting profile, Oliver felt a twinge of guilt, as if he were bullying a minor. After all, he was the one who caused this mess. But that guilt vanished completely after Gu Ze’s outburst.

With Gu Ze quiet, Oliver worked faster. Bai Suizhi came over to help, and Oliver pouted: "Big Brother Bai, why did you take so long?"

Gu Ze: "Hmph."

Oliver: "..." Fine, no point arguing with the young master.

Bai Suizhi deftly loosened the fabric around Oliver: "Alright, you can get up now."

Before Oliver could move, Gu Ze impatiently shoved him aside and shook off the fabric tangled around himself.

Bai Suizhi helped Oliver up from the ground and said, "Go to the helicopter to get water for washing up, then have something to eat. We’ll set off soon."

At the mention of water, Gu Ze took off like a shot. Oliver called after him: "Don’t use it all up! We still need it later."

Gu Ze didn’t look back: "Do I look that selfish to you?"

Oliver didn’t dare say another word, afraid of provoking the young master into wasting all the water in a fit of anger.

Meanwhile, Kahn had woken up and was sitting on the ground, still dazed and looking utterly adorable.

Bai Suizhi gently pinched his sleep-flushed cheek: "Awake yet? If you are, let’s head over too."

Kahn replied reflexively: "Oh, okay." But he remained seated, unmoving.

Bai Suizhi knew he wasn’t fully awake yet and teased him: "Want me to carry you?"

Kahn: "Huh? Is that okay?"

Bai Suizhi said in a coaxing tone: "Of course."

Kahn obediently looked at him, waiting to be picked up.

Bai Suizhi’s heart melted, and he reached out to lift him.

Just then, Kahn’s brain finally booted up. He snapped out of it, and his face flushed bright red.

He scrambled to his feet: "Ah, well… let’s just go."

Bai Suizhi regretfully withdrew his hand and followed him, insisting: "Let me carry you."

Kahn shot him an embarrassed glare, and Bai Suizhi thought even a flustered Kahn was incredibly cute. He wished he could just tuck Kahn into his pocket and carry him around 24/7.

Before they even reached the helicopter, they could hear noisy arguing inside. Bai Suizhi suddenly felt nostalgic for the awkward silence when they had first met.

Relationships between people can change in an instant. No one can pinpoint exactly when strangers who were once reserved and distant suddenly become close friends who share everything, or when two people who were at each other’s throats suddenly reconcile. These changes are unpredictable, full of the unknown and surprises, and both puzzling and fascinating.

By the helicopter door, Gu Ze was pouring a bottle of water over his head. Oliver fretted nearby: "If you use water like that, we’ll run out no matter how much we have."

Gu Ze, his head buzzing from the noise, snapped: "Shut up."

Chen Yi, who had been woken up by the commotion, stood between them with his eyes still closed, already playing peacemaker: "Stop arguing. Gu Ze, save some water. It’s not ours to waste."

Gu Ze was about to retort but fell silent when he saw Bai Suizhi approaching.

Oliver acted like he’d found a savior and complained to Bai Suizhi: "Brother Bai, I told him to just dampen a tissue to wipe his face, but he wouldn’t listen. He insists on pouring the whole bottle over his head."

Bai Suizhi patiently advised: "Gu Ze, try to be patient. We haven’t reached the base yet, so we need to conserve water."

Kahn directly snatched the remaining water from Gu Ze’s hand. Gu Ze stood there with dripping wet hair, fists clenched tightly, his eyes looked a bit red.

Oliver panicked: "Hey, hey, don’t tell me you’re about to cry over this?"

Gu Ze wiped his face and walked away without looking back.

Chen Yi hurried after him: "Hey, Gu Ze, you can use my water. Don’t be like this."

Oliver also chased after him: "Alright, it’s my fault. Use the water however you want, okay? I won’t drink any water for the next few hours if I have to."

Gu Ze suddenly stopped: "Everyone, shut up!"

Chen Yi and Oliver, rushing forward, couldn’t brake in time and slammed into Gu Ze’s back.

Bai Suizhi and Kahn only had time to shout: "Watch out—"

But it was too late. With a loud thud, Gu Ze was sent flying by the combined force of two burly guys weighing over 200 pounds. At the last second, he managed to break his fall with his hands, avoiding a disfiguring injury. Gu Ze lay there helplessly, staring at the sky and wondering what sin he had committed to deserve such a day.

Several people quickly gathered around, looking concernedly at Gu Ze lying on the ground, all talking at once: "Are you okay? Can you get up? Are you hurt anywhere? Did you hit your head?"

Gu Ze looked up at the circle of people above him and asked sincerely, "Doesn't anyone want to help me up?"

Everyone: "..."

The next second, countless hands reached out toward Gu Ze. Overwhelmed by the attention and fearing further injury, he said, "Just let Chen Yi help me up."

After Chen Yi helped Gu Ze to his feet, Bai Suizhi frowned and said, "Move your arms and legs to see if you’re hurt."

Gu Ze moved his feet and twisted his wrists. "No."

The others breathed a sigh of relief. Then Oliver looked Gu Ze over, lifted his arm, and said, "You’ve got a scrape here."

Kahn said, "There’s iodine and gauze in the backpack. Let’s bandage it up quickly."

Kahn added, "I’ll go get them. You guys don’t know where it is."

Oliver and Chen Yi ended up each holding one of Gu Ze’s arms and waiting in place for Kahn to return.

Gu Ze shook his hands in annoyance. "Let go. This is so awkward."

Oliver and Chen Yi ignored him. They were both overwhelmed with guilt. In a zombie apocalypse, instead of uniting against the common threat, they had caused injury to one of their own—an unforgivable mistake.

But their guilt didn’t stop them from teasing him loudly: "Why did you suddenly stop like that?"

Gu Ze replied, "Because you two were being noisy."

Oliver, taking advantage of their control over Gu Ze, kept nagging: "It’s because you ran off without a word. And also, a grown man crying just because he couldn’t wash his face..."

Gu Ze retorted, "Who's crying?!"

Chen Yi said, "Alright, alright, you didn’t cry. Then why did you run off?"

Gu Ze sneaked a glance at Bai Suizhi before reluctantly admitting, "I felt really embarrassed just now." So he wanted to find a place to hide...

Once he started talking, the rest was easier to say: "I know water is precious, so I originally just wanted to use a tissue to wipe my face. But my skin was so itchy, I couldn’t help it."

Bai Suizhi looked closely at his face and noticed some red spots. "It might be an allergy."

Oliver said, frustrated, "Then why didn’t you just say so? Do you think we wouldn’t have let you use it?"

Gu Ze shot back, "You just said no."

Oliver replied, "Because you didn’t have a good reason then. And feeling so embarrassed that you have to hide—that’s really childish."

Gu Ze turned to Chen Yi and said, "Get him away from me, or I won’t be able to stop myself from hitting him."

Chen Yi laughed awkwardly, "Ha ha."

Fortunately, just as Gu Ze was about to snap, Kahn returned with the supplies. He expertly disinfected Gu Ze’s wound and carefully wrapped it with gauze.

Gu Ze mumbled, "Thanks."

Bai Suizhi took out a blister pack of allergy pills from the backpack. "These might help with your allergy."

Gu Ze took them and said, awkwardly, "Thanks again."

Chen Yi elbowed Oliver’s shoulder and whispered, "I’ve never seen Gu Ze act like this. Tsk, it’s like..."

Oliver said, "Like a house cat—aloof and elegant with strangers, fierce with enemies, but purring for its owner."

Chen Yi nodded in agreement. "That’s spot-on."

Gu Ze snapped, "Do you think you can't hear you?!"

Oliver looked at Chen Yi in surprise. "He heard us. What do we do?"

Chen Yi pretended to be scared. "I’m so scared."

The two of them started laughing. Teasing the "cat" was one of life’s great pleasures.

Gu Ze gritted his teeth. "Today, it's either your funeral or mine."

Bai Suizhi rubbed his forehead. "What an eventful morning."

Kahn added, "More like complete chaos." Under Oliver’s influence, Kahn had picked up some idioms and now used them even more naturally than Oliver.