Although it was already near the end of summer and the weather was gradually turning cooler, with autumn on the horizon, there were still quite a few mosquitoes around.

The residential complex where Su Kun and the others lived was rather old and dilapidated, with mottled and dark walls and poor lighting in the corridors. The buildings were not tall, and each one was surrounded by flower beds where some leisurely elderly folks had planted all kinds of vegetation.

From large fruit trees and flowering plants to small scallions, garlic, and peppers, the greenery was lush and pleasing to the eye, making the landscaping look quite nice. However, this also meant that the mosquitoes in their area were more rampant than elsewhere.

Unfortunately, Comrade Su Kun happened to be someone who attracted mosquitoes.

Geng Zimo would always sit with his legs crossed, patting Su Kun's shoulder and looking at the bites on his body, remarking in an especially mean way, "When I used to live at home, the mosquitoes would only target me, and I thought I had it bad enough. But ever since I started renting with you, I haven't been bitten again... Please be sure to maintain this spirit and physique."

So every summer, Su Kun would be on high alert as if facing a formidable enemy. The window screens were always tightly closed, and when he came home, he would close the door before turning on the lights to avoid attracting mosquitoes from the corridor.

On this day, he still followed his usual habit, closing the door behind him with one hand while using the other to hold onto the wall as he changed into slippers.

The bright yellow light from the neighbor's door lamp was shut out, and the entire apartment was instantly plunged into the deep night. The street lamps below thinly sprinkled light through the balcony windows onto the floor inside, outlining the silhouettes of objects on the balcony and in the living room.

After changing his shoes, Su Kun straightened up and took off the satchel he was wearing, hanging it on the rack by the door. As he reached out to feel for the ceiling light switch, he suddenly heard the sound of a window screen being pushed open.

He paused with his hand ready to turn on the light and looked towards the balcony with a puzzled expression, following the source of the sound. He then saw the window screen on the far end being pushed completely to the side, and a hand reaching in from outside, grabbing the window frame.

Holy shit, a burglar?!

The young and middle-aged people who originally lived in this residential area and had some money had almost all bought new homes and moved to the area south of Li City that had developed in the past decade. Most of those still living here were elderly folks unwilling to relocate or renters like Su Kun who had only worked for a few years and didn't have much savings.

As a result, even burglars wouldn't be foolish enough to take the risk of coming here.

In this place, you wouldn't hear about a break-in incident for several years, so Su Kun would always leave the balcony and kitchen windows open for ventilation when he went out, with only a screen in place.

It had been fine for two years without any issues, but today, with odds like winning the lottery, he had encountered this situation. And it had to be right when he was present, leaving him at a loss for how to respond.

Just as he was hesitating whether to simply go back out to avoid a direct confrontation or crouch behind the sofa and grab his phone to call 110, a figure used the hand gripping the window frame as a pivot point and leapt inside with agility like a muscular and nimble cheetah, landing on the balcony floor without making a sound.

Su Kun: "......" Damn~~~ it's even an expert! Can I still make a run for it?! TAT~

Who knew that just as he had the idea to flee, he saw the figure straighten up with their back to the light, seemingly spotting him at a glance.

The person froze for a moment facing Su Kun's direction and said, "Why are you only getting back when it's dark?"

His voice was deep as water, with a hint of coldness. It was much more magnetic than when he was shrunken. Every time Su Kun heard it, he would feel as if a small brush was gently sweeping from his ear canal down to his neck. This time it seemed even more noticeable, making even his hand gripping the doorknob inexplicably weaken for a moment.

"...Gu Yan?!" Su Kun gaped foolishly, even forgetting to turn on the light. He still limply held the doorknob behind his back as he looked at the tall figure by the balcony, his mind simply unable to process it. "You're back! Ptooey—no, wait... How did you get big again?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he saw the tall figure pass through the open balcony door and step into the living room, walking towards him...

Wait! Why is he walking?! Doesn't this guy always float?!

Su Kun raised his face and looked at the person who had walked up close. Before he could voice his confusion, he was shocked again.

Originally on the balcony, Gu Yan had his back completely to the light. Besides a rough outline, his hair and features couldn't be seen clearly at all. Only when he walked up in front did Su Kun get a good look at his current appearance.

The faint light from the balcony shone on half of his face, making it appear more three-dimensional, with deeper brows and eyes and a more prominent nose bridge. These were all fine... But!

What's with that short hair swaying slightly in the breeze from the open window?!

"No wonder I didn't recognize you at first and thought a burglar had climbed in!" Su Kun widened his eyes and looked up slightly at Gu Yan's new hairstyle, unable to resist reaching out a paw wanting to touch it. "You went to the neighboring city to fight monsters and managed to get a haircut too?"

Gu Yan seemed somewhat averse to the topic of his hair. Hearing Su Kun ask about it, he furrowed his brows tightly and said, "Of course I didn't cut it myself. The body and hair are gifts from one's parents, how could I casually reduce and mistreat them."

Su Kun, who had already mistreated his for over twenty years: "......"

His paw that had been hesitating finally landed on Gu Yan's head, ruffling it fiercely a couple of times. "This world is different! Old pal! In all my life, I can count the number of long-haired men I've seen on my fingers, and nine of them were artistic types I saw on TV. The remaining one is Comrade Mo Bao."

Gu Yan grasped his mischievous paw and removed it from his head. "And me."

Su Kun's gaze was glued to his hand being held by Gu Yan. His heart suddenly leaped along with the slightly cool temperature enveloping the back of his hand. He gave a couple of dry laughs. "You're not human."

Gu Yan: "......" Stabbed.

"Oh right, Mo Bao is the same as you, also not human." Su Kun's gaze was still stuck on their hands as he continued his dry laughter.

Gu Yan: "......"

"Hahaha, you said this haircut wasn't done by you, so what's the deal?" Su Kun felt that besides his captured paw and his increasingly lively heart, he had lost feeling in his entire body, let alone his face that had gone stiff from laughing dryly for so long.

"Why are you smiling so strangely?" Gu Yan looked down at Su Kun, puzzled.

Su Kun continued to force a smile, but his heart was screaming wildly: Damn it, because you're holding my hand and won't let go, and you keep bringing your face close to mine~~! Isn't this testing my self-control _(:з」∠)_

He felt that he was simply too silly to face himself right now. On one hand, he felt all kinds of discomfort due to Gu Yan's actions, wishing his heart, liver, spleen, lungs and kidneys could all do a tap dance together. On the other hand, he was hesitant to withdraw his hand, and didn't want to move his face away either.

It was really difficult... ah

In the end, Su Kun turned his face away and glanced at the tightly closed door, silently thinking with the corner of his mouth twitching: Great, if you don't let go soon, I won't be able to resist kissing you...﹁_﹁

He originally belonged to the type of people who realized things relatively late, and when he did realize, it was in a rather unusual way. As a result, during his high school years after his realization, all his thoughts were focused on how to close up the doors of the cupboard he had opened up again.

He didn't have the time to pay attention to who he liked or disliked. Even if he did, as soon as it sprouted, it would be killed by himself in its budding state. When he got to university, he was a bit disappointed by some people on the forums, so he retracted his head that had poked out. It wasn't until he met Geng Zimo that he gradually relaxed in this regard and truly faced his sexual orientation.

Speaking of which, Gu Yan was the first person he truly relaxed and liked... oh no, the first ghost. So with no experience, and having suppressed himself for many years, Comrade Su Kun was like a flood breaking through a floodgate, unable to hold back.

He was someone who couldn't hide his emotions to begin with. In front of Gu Yan, whose EQ was much higher than his, he was simply transparent.

So Gu Yan quickly noticed some of Su Kun's emotions and didn't pursue the question further. Instead, it was Su Kun who asked him another question: "Who on earth cut the stuff on your head?"

"..." Gu Yan was a bit speechless at the word "stuff", thought for a moment and said, "It's a long story."

Su Kun: "...Make it short."

Gu Yan kept a deadpan face: "It was burned."

Su Kun glanced at him: "Burned? How can it be burned so neatly?" Gu Yan's current hairstyle was neat and sharp, which suited his thin and three-dimensional face shape very well.

Gu Yan's face became even more deadpan: "After it was burned, that painting pressed down and fixed it up for me, cutting a lot more."

Su Kun: "..." Very well, Comrade Mo Bao has gained another title.

Obviously, Gu Yan still couldn't accept the fact that the hair he received from his parents had been cut for the time being, and was unwilling to talk at length about this topic. So Su Kun changed the subject and asked, "How did you grow big?"

Gu Yan recalled for a moment, then said again, "It's a long story."

Su Kun: "..." Can I beat him to death?

"In short, the master took out the wrong talisman paper and threw it in the wrong direction." Seeing that he had the tendency to explode, Gu Yan consciously gave a simple explanation.

"Is your special department really reliable?" Su Kun twitched the corner of his mouth, but then thought that Gu Yan should be quite happy to be able to return to normal size. And for Su Kun, the opportunity to get along with Gu Yan in his normal state was really rare, so the master had done a good thing by mistake. It was just unknown how long this state could last.

Who knew which point this simple question of Su Kun's had poked, but the eternally deadpan face actually raised the corners of his lips and smiled slightly. Although it was very faint, it made his somewhat sharp brows and eyes look much gentler.

"Ow~~ Why didn't I capture this historic moment with my phone!" After being dazzled by that fleeting smile, Su Kun regretted it so much that he beat his chest and stamped his feet.

Gu Yan rubbed his head, a bit speechless. Only then did he seem to remember something. While reaching his hand towards the ceiling light switch on the wall, he said, "Why don't you turn on the light?"

Although he couldn't touch these things before, he watched Su Kun and Geng Zimo reach out and press this square protrusion every day, pressing down the raised end, and the light above would turn on. After seeing it many times, he naturally knew how to use it.

At this time, seeing Su Kun still flailing about, he wanted to turn on the light for him. But as soon as his fingertips pressed that switch, he felt a tingling sensation on his fingertips, as if pricked by something. Then he heard a series of crackling sounds, running wildly along the position of the buried wires in the wall.

The lights in each room flickered twice, then completely fell dark.

Gu Yan retracted his hand silently with a deadpan face.

Su Kun: “...”