Chapter 7: The Answer

A week passed in the blink of an eye, and nothing happened. Things were so peaceful that even Shen Li's separation anxiety was improving.

The ship cruised along smoothly, and through the viewport a blue planet swam into view.

Planet FGC197, also known as Mylancori, lived on tourism. The ocean wrapped nearly the whole globe; land made up less than a tenth of it, scattered in loose archipelagos across the blue.

The native inhabitants were few and unhurried, and extraction of natural resources had always been light. Later the Federation passed a battery of ecological protection statutes banning all heavy industry from landing, so the atmosphere here has stayed pristine to this day.

Stella, the main island, held the planet's only real city—and the destination of this trip.

"Big city" was generous. There were no towers here; the tallest buildings ran a dozen-odd floors. It felt more like a large market town.

Some of the outlying islands had even built thatch-roofed wooden cabins, where tourists could sample the castaway experience.

Xu Yan ran ahead dragging his suitcase, took a deep breath, dropped the handle, spread both arms, and tore off to whoop at the sea.

"I can already smell the ocean! See? Told you this was the right place."

Qiu He scooped up the abandoned suitcase and griped, without heat:

"And what is the hype squad so smug about? The one who just cheered from the sidelines while someone else bought the tickets?"

To keep order and protect the visitor experience, everywhere holding a Triumph Day festival caps attendance. The authorities release a fixed number of ferry tickets and private-ship landing slots; land without authorization and you get forcibly escorted off.

Xu Yan, far ahead now, suddenly turned and hollered back at Shi Wei:

"Shi-ge! You're the fastest Alpha I've ever seen (at grabbing tickets)!"

Under the side-eye of every passerby, Shi Wei rolled up his sleeves.

"I advise you to retract that sentence before I get hands-on."

The shout floated back from a distance.

"It's live voice, bro! Can't retract!"

Qiu He looked at Shen Li, who now had a second suitcase in hand, and felt an odd kinship—as one babysitter to another.

"Xu the Menace really does court death on an indiscriminate basis."

Then Shen Li, of all people, said:

"Since when are those two this close?"

Qiu He had the feeling that if the man had a handkerchief on him, he'd have chewed it to shreds by now.

"Boss Shen... you can't get jealous over everything."

Qiu He quietly sidestepped a few paces. The man smelled sour these days; best to keep clear of the splash radius.

The farce ended with Shi Wei putting two kicks into Xu Yan. But judging by Shen Li's face, Xu Yan had better keep his eyes on rotating guard duty tonight—or he might find himself the main course of a very thorough one-man hotpot.

First, the hotel: drop bags, wash up, breathe. Even a smooth voyage leaves people tired, and the festival wouldn't start until nightfall anyway.

Beyond the floor-to-ceiling window stretched the sea, endless. Shi Wei stood at the glass, glancing back at Shen Li, who was tidying their things.

"I've been meaning to say this since you booked the rooms. One double, two singles—isn't your little scheme a bit obvious?"

Shen Li's hands paused—then resumed, perfectly composed.

"What's wrong with it? Me liking you isn't some shameful secret."

"Oh? Then why won't you look up at me?"

Shen Li never registered Shi Wei closing in; the breath at his ear made him jolt.

Shi Wei found his expression hilarious.

"Come off it. The other week you burrowed into my bed and I didn't even kick you out, and now you're playing the blushing maiden."

Shen Li defended himself with a stiff neck.

"You used to sleep with me all the time. What's wrong with good brothers sharing a bed?"

Shi Wei rolled his eyes. The man was clinging to him like an octopus—and still talking about brothers.

"Meaning you're now plotting something improper against me?"

Shen Li turned coy all of a sudden.

"May I?"

Shi Wei: ...

Some people's thought processes are genuinely hard to follow.

He flopped back onto the bed and spread his arms wide.

"Go ahead, then. Show me exactly how improper you're planning to be."

"Don't provoke me."

Shen Li delivered the reproach out loud while his body, ever honest, leaned right in.

Shi Wei: auto-collected. One (1) human-shaped body pillow.

Shen Li said nothing, but he wasn't behaving either—fiddling with Shi Wei's hair one minute, patting his hand the next.

Expressing displeasure. In a very, very childish way.

But if the trick works, use the trick. Shi Wei was, admittedly, a sucker for it.

"All right, all right. Once you've worked out whether what you can't let go of is the past, or something else—when you get there, I'll give you my answer."

A long silence settled over the two of them.

Listening to the even breathing by his ear, Shen Li belatedly realized the man had fallen asleep.

He looked at that face and felt oddly deflated.

Sleeping this defenseless at my side—you do still trust me, don't you.

So stop indulging me like this...

Of course he knew Shi Wei wasn't the same person he'd been as a child.

He'd noticed it these past weeks: Shi Wei seemed to be deliberately keeping others at arm's length, and even when contact happened, it stayed thin and light.

But so what?

Would he file for divorce just because his wife had turned solitary?

Truthfully, Shi Wei's state was common enough in the Federation. Plenty of people who had lost teammates went through the same thing.

Losing someone close to you and losing a nameless comrade are different orders of pain.

People sort their closeness and their distance. It's only human.

"Some things get lighter once they're said out loud. But if you won't say them, then I'll keep waiting. However long it takes."

Shen Li murmured it and drew the man a little tighter.

He had long since settled on his own answer. And he was willing to wait for Shi Wei to settle his.

By the time the two of them woke, dusk was already settling in.

Stella lit itself with soft ground-level lamps; many of the outer islands had no lighting at all. With no light pollution, this was prime stargazing country—on a lucky night, you could see the entire sea of stars.

But it was Triumph Week, so the main island carried extra lights, especially along the shore. Festival nights don't get to go dark.

Qiu He had been sitting in the hotel lobby for a while; he waved the two of them over as they came downstairs.

"Where's Xu Yan?"

Qiu He pointed at the main doors.

"Him? Oh—there he comes now."

Both gazes followed his finger to a figure sprinting toward them in floral swim trunks, hair still dripping wet.

Clearly the man had skipped rest entirely and gone straight into the sea for a full swim.

The terror of high-energy people.

Shi Wei couldn't help murmuring:

"Youth is wasted on the young."

Shen Li went on instant alert.

"I'm young too."

Shi Wei pushed his face away.

"Save it. Go on, shoo."