The two stopped at first contact and fought to no decision, to the deep disappointment of everyone watching.
Military academy students, young and hot-blooded—competitive to the bone was only natural. Sadly, the two parties concerned refused to cooperate: they not only stopped precisely on the bell, they fled the scene at speed.
They left behind a crowd of unsatisfied spectators staring at each other, feeling like they'd become part of someone's show.
"So why are we hiding?"
Shi Wei kept his voice down, asking in a whisper.
Shen Li answered in the same hushed tone.
"If they catch us, I'll get challenged endlessly. Tedious."
They had been in the changing room about to switch out of their gear when Shen Li heard the door and dragged Shi Wei into a stall.
The Federal Military Academy encouraged students to spar with one another and improve together, so as a general rule, a challenge could not be refused.
Fighting was glorious when you were the challenger; being challenged constantly was a nuisance. Shen Li was exactly this kind of hypocrite.
The stall was cramped. Two tall men squeezed into it, breaths tangling. Shi Wei's back was against the cold wall—Shen Li had cupped a hand behind his head a moment ago so he wouldn't crack it, and now their faces were very close.
Shi Wei suddenly felt that the frequency of close contact between them over these two days was getting a little high. This didn't seem great. It might genuinely lead to...
Voices drifted through the door, mixed with the rustle of changing clothes.
"What was that about? They fight halfway and run. Since when does the Demon King know mercy?"
His companion chimed in. "Give it a rest. Talk trash about the Demon King and he finds out, you're done for."
"So what? Sooner or later I'll put him on his back."
"Ooh, look at the big man. Go say it to his face, then."
"It's noon."
Shi Wei wondered whose expression would be better when that door opened—those guys', or Shen Li's. He held in his laughter, suppressed the urge to stir up trouble, but couldn't resist one prod.
"You can stand for that? Shouldn't we show him who's the king and who's the joker?"
"Every second wasted on them is a second less stuck to you."
Warm breath fell on his ear, tickling. Shi Wei's heart tickled with it.
"Don't you think this feels like having an affair?"
Shen Li went on high alert. "An affair? You have some other dog out there?"
He wore the expression of a man beholding a faithless lover. Shi Wei rolled his eyes and poked him lightly in the waist. "You haven't even secured the position and you're already acting like the official wife. What happens once you do? You planning to climb on top of me for good?"
Shen Li, internally: He called me the official wife. He's got me in his heart.
Yesterday's Shen Li had restrained himself; Shi Wei's reappearance felt like a dream he was terrified of breaking—do one thing out of line, and the dream would end.
Today's Shen Li had begun to believe. He wanted to slap yesterday's self: yesterday's lapses could be blamed on reunion and a scrambled mind; today's could not be excused.
Though getting slapped by Shi Wei wouldn't be so bad either. Before the slap would come the scent of his wife, hehehe... he was getting carried away.
Seeing him silent for so long, Shi Wei turned his head slightly to study his face—and found his eyes glazed and the corners of his mouth crooked upward. Shi Wei narrowed his eyes. Which wire had short-circuited this time?
"What are you thinking about?"
The young man's lips were almost on his ear. Red climbed Shen Li's ears at lightning speed, his whole body going taut, his fingers moving on instinct to the back of Shi Wei's neck.
"Thinking about when I get to kiss you."
"Oh? Then how about now."
The drawn-out syllables were a soft hook. At the words, Shen Li whipped his head around—and his lips grazed something soft. Shi Wei was watching him, a smile playing at the corner of his mouth.
"There. Kissed you."
Shen Li deflated instantly, mouth pulled down, gazing at him in silent reproach. Shi Wei leaned against him, laughing so hard his whole body shook. Shen Li folded the man into his arms.
"Stop laughing."
Shi Wei soothed him—and didn't stop.
"Not laughing. Not laughing."
Shen Li sighed, helpless. "Keep it up and they'll find us."
"Then we get found and we come out, simple." Shi Wei said it offhandedly.
Seeing that Shen Li actually looked tempted, Shi Wei hastily pressed him down. The man took everything literally. He needed to rein it in.
People came and went outside the door, never once sensing their presence.
"Shen Li. You smell salty."
Shen Li paused, then realized he meant his pheromones.
"You don't like it?"
"Not that I don't. But if you don't rein it in, we're compromised. Also, I'm pretty sure I'm covered in your scent now."
At the second half of that sentence, Shen Li stopped mid-retraction.
Who could have guessed—instead, it gave him an idea.
It took a head butt before Shen Li reluctantly reeled his pheromones back in.
By then it was long quiet outside. The two climbed out of the stall, still avoiding the main door—swiftly, expertly, out the window.
"Looks like you've done this a lot."
Shen Li shrugged. "Out the window, a few steps, and you're clear of the combat zone. Take the main door and get mobbed, and you're not going anywhere."
To hear Shen Li tell it, Federal Military Academy students were weak yet game. They couldn't beat him, but whenever classes were out, a fresh batch would come to challenge him without pause, and they loved fighting him in relays.
The old Shen Li had relished it. The current one was a different man. Lone wolf, or the wife's hound—was that even a question?
Shi Wei tilted his head and posed the question of the century: "Then why didn't we just go out the window in the first place?"
Shen Li blinked, caught. "That—I just, on instinct... I mean, the window was closed just now."
Shi Wei looked at him, suddenly smiled, reached out, and ruffled his hair into chaos—then turned and bolted. Shen Li stood a moment under his own ruined hair, until the fleeing Shi Wei turned back and pulled a face at him. Only then did he start after him.
"Hey! You little—!"
The two walked into the dining hall together—and Shen Li stopped, hesitating.
"You think history might repeat itself?"
Shi Wei had spotted Xu Yan too, gesturing wildly at something to Qiu He. He hesitated as well.
"Maybe... you should beat him up again?"
And so, having failed for the second time to read Qiu He's warning looks, Xu Yan was once more caught red-handed on the spot by his Boss Shen.
Xu Yan's face switched to an ingratiating grin at maximum speed. He rose and pulled out the chairs across the table.
"Heh, Boss Shen, Shi Wei—you two got here so fast! Sit, sit!"
Shen Li set down his tray and looked at him with a smile that wasn't a smile.
"Funny. So did we."
Shi Wei exchanged a glance with Qiu He; both looked away in unison. How does this fool still not learn? One stumble after another.
Xu Yan's eyes darted; he pulled Shen Li aside and whispered a few words—and somehow, whatever he said calmed Shen Li down.
Peace treaty achieved, the four of them got through a meal without incident.
Plates cleared, Qiu He suddenly raised a topic.
"By the way, Triumph Day is almost here. Any plans?"