Then he stepped back, simultaneously closing the door to the private room once again.
Tong Sui gradually regained his composure. He was actually cried by Jiang Hua’s kiss; how embarrassing was that? Tong Sui wanted nothing more than to find a crack in the ground to hide in.
As he lowered his hands, he noticed a few light-colored strands of hair caught between his fingers—hair he had pulled from Jiang Hua’s head in the heat of the moment.
His eyes brightened; this was just what he needed as evidence!
Tong Sui carefully tucked those strands of hair into his pocket and raised his head to meet Jiang Hua’s concerned gaze.
Jiang Hua asked, “Are you okay?”
Tong Sui’s face, which had just cooled down, showed signs of flushing again. But it was his first serious kiss, and he didn’t want to leave Jiang Hua with a poor impression.
He forced himself to say, “Of course, it was just a few kisses.”
“But I saw you crying quite hard,” Jiang Hua replied. “Your eyes are all red.”
“Who said that? I didn’t!”
Tong Sui opened his eyes wide and lied, “You just saw it wrong.”
Jiang Hua’s straightened lips curled slightly into a smile as he chuckled, “I saw it wrong.”
Tong Sui nodded in satisfaction.
His attention was drawn to the dishes on the table; he hadn’t appreciated such ingredients before the apocalypse, and it had been ages since he had seen anything like them.
Jiang Hua washed the bowls and chopsticks clean and handed them to him, “Let’s eat.”
“Thank you.”
Tong Sui picked the nearest dish, took a bite, and his eyes squinted in happiness, “Delicious!”
Instead of immediately eating, Jiang Hua rolled up his sleeves to reveal his well-defined arms. He washed his hands, his fingers deftly peeling half a bowl of shrimp, which he presented to Tong Sui.
“Here.”
Tong Sui was taken aback, “For me?”
The sweet shrimp from the Arctic was peeled perfectly, and the meat was plump and glistening.
Such ingredients were prone to spoiling. They could only be stored in cold storage or a special ability user’s space, making them quite expensive; even the canteen in the Northern Base wouldn’t supply them.
Tong Sui grabbed a peeled shrimp, enjoying the sweet, fresh flavor that was pleasantly bouncy.
With Jiang Hua taking care of him, Tong Sui instantly pushed aside any lingering unhappiness from being bullied, feeling as if this was the best meal he had had since the apocalypse began.
After dinner.
The two of them walked side by side, taking their time to digest.
Even though they were walking slowly, they soon reached the end of this stretch of road.
Tong Sui stood in front of the research institute.
“I’ll go in first.”
Jiang Hua nodded.
Tong Sui stepped up the stairs, but just before the glass doors opened, he suddenly turned back and planted a quick kiss on Jiang Hua’s cheek.
His stealthy attack was successful.
Jiang Hua was momentarily stunned.
Tong Sui, feeling guilty for his sudden act, dashed into the research institute.
Jiang Hua raised his hand, running his fingertips over the spot where he had been kissed.
Like his chest, it felt hot.
Once inside, Tong Sui greeted his colleagues.
“Come, come, come, sit down.”
A few curious researchers pushed Tong Sui down at the table, “Hey, junior, spill the beans about what’s going on.”
“Are you and that handsome guy who came to find you together now?”
Tong Sui placed his hands on his knees, “I don’t know…”
“Don’t know? So that means you haven’t confirmed your relationship yet.” One of the researchers said, “Have you kissed?”
Tong Sui nodded.
Another round of teasing erupted, and he nervously grasped his pant legs.
The same researcher continued, “What about the next step? Did you go all the way?”
Tong Sui shook his head.
“Really? Tsk, tsk, how did he manage to restrain himself? If I were dating a handsome guy like you, I’d—”
“Shut up and don’t air your ridiculous thoughts,” another cut in.
“What, pretending to be pure?”
Taking advantage of their bickering, Tong Sui slipped away.
He sighed with relief.
Tong Sui chose an empty laboratory and used his mental abilities to implant a concept of shielding into everyone’s minds.
Everyone would subconsciously avoid entering this laboratory.
With this barrier in place, he could ensure that his experiments wouldn’t leak out.
So, Tong Sui entered the laboratory, took out the hair strand from Jiang Hua, and began his research with peace of mind.
Time flew by.
By the time Tong Sui realized, it was already time to get off work.
He temporarily set aside his experiment and placed the separated samples into an incubator.
Since experiments could fail, a large amount of material was needed.
These few strands of hair wouldn’t last long.
He needed to figure out how to obtain more samples from Jiang Hua; anything besides hair would do.
Tong Sui changed his clothes and walked out of the research institute, seeing Jiang Hua waiting outside.
He quickly walked over, “How long have you been here? Why didn’t you ask anyone to come get me?”
“Not long,” Jiang Hua replied. “I was afraid you were still busy, so I didn’t disturb you. How was your work today?”
“It was fine, but I won’t know the results of the experiments until tomorrow.”
People were trickling out of the research institute and glancing at them.
Tong Sui said, “Let’s head home.”
They walked side by side through the crowd.
The sky had already darkened, and Tong Sui’s courage grew a bit.
He secretly glanced at Jiang Hua’s hand resting beside him.
Since they had already kissed, holding hands seemed perfectly normal, right?
Tong Sui subtly moved his hand and gently brushed his fingertips against the back of Jiang Hua’s hand. The next moment, his hand was firmly grasped in Jiang Hua’s palm.
Tong Sui’s heart raced for a moment.
Looking at their intertwined hands, he leaned closer to Jiang Hua.
The two walked in silence, their warmth transferring completely to one another, expressing an unspoken affection.