He Yan slipped into a bathroom stall, planning to make a paper doll substitute for himself.

He rummaged through his backpack for the talisman paper left over from making the array a few days ago, folded a pale yellow double-layered little paper man, plucked a few strands of hair, cut a small segment of his white spiritual power thread and stuffed it inside the paper man's body, then smeared a bit of fingertip blood on the top of its head. When he released his hand, the paper man floated down lightly.

However, this paper man didn't collapse on the ground like an ordinary piece of paper. Strangely, it stood on the ground with both feet, supporting its thin paper body. Then its form slowly stretched and transformed. In less than half a minute, it turned into a "person" identical to He Yan in every way, from physique and appearance to clothing.

But upon careful inspection, some subtle differences could still be discerned. For example, the eyes of the "He Yan" made from paper were dull and lifeless, and his face had an imperceptible stiffness. Someone who had prolonged contact with him would definitely sense something off.

Unfortunately, Han Ziyu was innately a loner. He didn't have any close friends at school. Even his former roommate who had recently been very enthusiastic about getting close to him was far from intimate enough to notice such slight discrepancies.

Leaving the substitute in the bathroom, He Yan exited the stall first. After he left the school later, this substitute would naturally emerge from the bathroom to complete his afternoon classes for him.

The bathroom stall was too small, so Xuan Qi, who had guessed his lover's intention to make a substitute, didn't follow to watch the fun. Instead, he stood obediently by the sink waiting for him.

It had only been a dozen or so minutes since school let out. There were still a few students lingering in the bathroom. However, those students all acted as if they couldn't see the man in khaki pants standing by the sink with his hands at his sides. They washed their hands and looked in the mirror as usual.

But influenced by their subconscious, the few boys all chose by unspoken agreement to go to the sink far from the man to wash up. They would rather wait a few seconds than consider using the empty sink next to him. A vacuum zone thus appeared around the man.

When He Yan came out of the stall, he saw this strange scene.

He was still angry at the man's "inconsiderate" behavior in class and didn't really want to pay attention to him now. So he went straight to the sink far from the man. The man just stood there, his dark eyes quietly watching him, exuding a docile air. Seeing He Yan walk away, a hint of aggrieved dejection even flashed in his eyes.

He Yan: "......"

Looked at by him, He Yan inexplicably felt a sense of guilt welling up inside. Halfway there, on some strange impulse, he changed direction and went to the sink beside the man.

He placed his hand on the faucet, about to twist it to the right, when his hand was pressed down. Without deliberately turning his head, he raised his eyes and watched the man's actions through the huge glass mirror in front of the sink.

The man removed his hand and turned on the faucet himself. He held He Yan's hands, gently rinsing them under the water, carefully avoiding his fingertips that still had traces of blood. Then he took out a handkerchief from who knows where and wiped his fingers clean, even between them.

Finally, he grasped He Yan's right index finger. His thin lips pursed and lightly touched it. The tiny wound on He Yan's fingertip completely disappeared.

The people beside the sink had all left. He Yan stood there letting the man attentively serve him, his expression not even fluctuating.

Only starting to put on an act of fawning when it was time to settle scores, where had he been just now?

He Yan wanted to pull his hand out of the man's grasp, but the man's hands, a size larger than his, tightly clutched his palm, impossible to budge.

The man even bent down and kissed his forehead in an ingratiating manner, his thin lips moving downward.

"...Wait," just as he was about to be kissed on the corner of his mouth, He Yan leaned his face back as much as possible and stared at the man, rejecting seriously, "I don't want to kiss here."

Although their school bathrooms were cleaned spotlessly every day with basically no odor, as someone with a slight physiological cleanliness quirk, he still couldn't accept doing intimate things with his partner in this kind of place.

The man paused, belatedly realizing this indeed wasn't a suitable location. He could only straighten up in disappointment and release the youth's captive hands. He looked down at him, his eyes full of hope as he asked, "Shall we go home?"

He Yan looked at his unperturbed manner as if nothing had happened and rolled his eyes at him, coldly saying, "No, I'm going home by myself. Since Director is so fond of attending class, keep going with that one inside."

The moment he finished speaking, one of the bathroom stalls was pushed open from the inside. A face identical to He Yan's poked out, staring straight at the man.

Xuan Qi: "......"

Meeting the somewhat hollow gaze of the fake with the same face as his lover, the usually steady man inexplicably felt a chill in his heart. He averted his eyes and apologized to his mischievous lover with utmost sincerity, "I was wrong, dear..."

What he wanted to hold in his hands was this person's soul, not an empty shell with only an exterior.

He Yan's lips curved into a kind smile, "Do it again and you can go play with this fake, understand?"

The man hastily nodded. He tentatively took one of He Yan's hands. Seeing he didn't pull away, he held it firmly in relief. "Go home...no, go eat?"

He Yan nodded slightly.

With the paper doll substitute, they didn't need to rush to afternoon classes, so time felt ample. The two leisurely ate lunch on the street. Xuan Qi then suggested returning to the rental place.

Being able to sleep for a few thousand years in the depths of hell was sufficient to claim he was actually very much a homebody. Rather than going out, he felt happier staying at home with his partner.

But He Yan refused. He glanced at the house viewing text that had just arrived on his phone not long ago and said something Xuan Qi didn't expect, "Let's go look at houses."

The man froze for a moment before hesitantly asking, "You're planning to buy a house?"

Hearing the youth bring up the topic of "house hunting", he realized his oversight—he had actually let his partner endure being crammed in that little broken-down place for so long!

Actually, there are advantages to having a small house. For example, because the small bed in the room is too narrow to fit two grown men, the young man has no choice but to curl up in his arms every night, or directly sleep on top of him, with his face obediently pressed against his chest like a well-behaved little hamster.

He is infatuated with this feeling of being relied upon, and enjoys the intimacy of every inch of skin tightly pressed against the young man's.

Perhaps it is precisely for this reason that he subconsciously never considered changing houses.

But now that he thinks about it, they definitely can't continue like this!

Seeing the man's pensive expression, He Yan's heart stirred and he skillfully glossed over the topic in his words: "Renting or buying a house, let's put that aside for now. We don't know where we'll go in the future, so let's not consider that for now."

Fake!

He had long decided that he would directly buy a house in B City in the future, and he wanted to buy a small villa with a garden, just like the front courtyard of the Mo family's old house where they lived in their first life.

B City is a very convenient city. Not only is it one of the most economically developed cities in the country, but many metaphysical organizations have also set up branches here. The only branch of the Court of Ghost Prison in the human world is also located in this city. Settling here would be very convenient for the man's work.

However, before getting the house, this matter must not be made known to the man.

With Xuan Qi's temperament, if he knew of his plan, he would definitely buy the house before him.

He had saved up his energy to buy a house and put this man in it, so he couldn't let someone else take the lead before he saved up enough money!

When the time comes to throw the new house keys in front of the man, the man will definitely show a surprised and regretful expression.

Thinking of that scene, He Yan slightly curled up the corners of his mouth, looking like he was in a good mood.

Xuan Qi nodded understandingly, "Okay."

His movements are not restricted by the space of this world, and he can come and go between various places in the void at any time, so it doesn't matter where he lives. But as a human, the young man will definitely have to consider various factors when settling down in the future, so it is indeed difficult to decide now.

Once he determines the young man's wishes, he can start making arrangements for their house.

Thinking of the young man living in a house that he personally selected and arranged, and even the bedsheets that he would sleep next to the young man's body at night being personally chosen by him, Xuan Qi couldn't help but feel a secret sense of satisfaction in his heart.

...He wanted everything the young man came into contact with to be filled with his scent.

The two were each making their own little plans in their hearts, exchanging a brief glance.

The location for viewing the house was not far from the small restaurant where they ate, only five bus stops away. Since they were not in a hurry anyway, the two went directly to the bus stop to wait for the bus.

Today, the man had changed out of that serious black suit and instead wore a set of light and casual clothes, the khaki-colored outfit that he had actively picked out that day in the clothing store.