Qin Chu was taken aback: "You haven't gone back since you arrived?"
“I didn’t have time to go back. I got on the aircraft as soon as I arrived and then went to look for you. I didn’t even see a trace of home,” Levy said.
“…Okay.” Qin Chu paused for a moment before taking a step forward.
His feelings were somewhat peculiar.
Because the current scene is something he experienced when he was fifteen or sixteen years old, and it is more than ten years away from the current Qin Chu, everything is both strange and familiar.
But even after more than ten years, Qin Chu clearly remembered that at that time he did not like others to go to his territory.
The environment here is unusual, and finding a safe place to stay is not easy.
So... this was the first time Qin Chu had brought outsiders to his home.
He met Levy when he was in his thirties.
Now, even though he is thirty years old, he is leading Levi on this road from his memories again. But perhaps because the road is too familiar and the scene is too realistic, Qin Chu feels as if he, at fifteen, has found this person.
They fought and tested each other, then he took the man's hand and led him to his safest little nest.
After walking for a while, Qin Chu stopped and turned to look at Levi, who was carrying something beside him.
“Why did you stop? Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten the way,” Levy said.
Qin Chu didn't answer, but stared at Levi for two seconds: "...What are you laughing at?"
Levy was indeed laughing.
It wasn't the usual casual smile, but a more obvious, pure smile, radiating obvious joy.
"Why can't people laugh?" Levy raised an eyebrow at him.
“...That’s an incredibly stupid laugh,” Qin Chu said.
After many twists and turns, they finally found the underground pipe where Qin Chu lived.
Levi stood in front of the door, looking around, and said with emotion, "It's a good thing you brought this, otherwise I really wouldn't have been able to find it and would have had to sleep on the streets."
Qin Chu glanced at him and subconsciously looked for her keys on her person.
After searching for a while without finding it, he turned to Levi and said, "Hurry up, give me the key."
"Huh, I have the key? I didn't know that." Levi feigned surprise.
Qin Chu squinted as she watched him act.
Levi raised the box in his hand: "Even if I had it on me, I wouldn't have my hands to carry it. Why don't you look for it?"
Qin Chu: "..."
Suppressing the urge to punch someone, Qin Chu stepped forward, took the box with one hand, and then used two fingers of his other hand to pull the key out of Levi's pocket.
Seeing how easily he found the key, Levy sighed with regret.
Qin Chu glanced at him, then pushed the door open and went inside, slamming it shut behind him.
"Hey, hey, this is my home now."
Levi followed closely behind, pushing open the door and looking around the room.
Calling it a room isn't accurate; it's more like an abandoned underground pipe. The ceiling is U-shaped, and except for the middle section, the height on both sides is almost touching.
But it has everything that should be there.
On the right hung a sandbag, several weight plates for weight training, and even a small, restored gravity field. In the center sat a sofa; although somewhat old, its softness was palpable just by looking at it.
Further inside was a small workbench with some unassembled weapon parts on it.
It's clear that even in such harsh conditions, the room's owner is still living life to the fullest.
Levy looked left and right, touched this and that, bypassed the sandbags and gravity field, and walked to the workbench to take a look.
"How old were you when you started assembling this thing yourself?" He picked up a finished energy gun from the top and shook it at Qin Chu.
"There's always a place where it can be used," Qin Chu said, putting the box aside.
He pushed open a door along the side wall of the pipe, revealing a fairly spacious bed inside.
Levi put down the energy gun, but his gaze was drawn to something else on the workbench.
It was a simple photo frame with a group photo inside.
Several children around ten years old huddled together in front of the camera, and you could see the faces of the people they had met that day.
Levy's gaze, however, swept to the side of the photo, to the part that was almost out of the frame.
Unlike the others who flocked to the camera, a young man sat calmly on a nearby rock, holding a box and putting things into it.
He seemed to have been called out, and he subconsciously frowned and looked towards the camera.
His delicate features already hinted at the cold and sharp edge he would later possess, while his jet-black hair was still exceptionally soft, gently draped over his forehead, making his skin appear extremely white.
Compared to his later cold and aloof demeanor, the teenage boy still had some baby fat on his face, and with his serious frown, he looked like a child pretending to be an adult.
Levi ran his fingers along the boy's cheek, staring at him for a while before looking away at Qin Chu: "How come you were so cute when you were little?"
"Is there any difference compared to now?" Qin Chu subconsciously looked at him, her brows furrowing slightly.
The expression was almost identical to the one in the photo, which made Levi chuckle: "It seems there's no difference."
Levy held the photo and played with it for a while before putting it down and walking towards Qin Chu.
There's another window over there, right on the part of the pipe that's protruding above the ground.
Levi instinctively peeked outside and immediately exclaimed "Huh?"
Outside the window was a fairly open expanse of land.
Presumably due to the planet's past history, everything was covered in a layer of gray dust, even the land was gray. But outside, Levy saw a few brightly colored plants.
It has no flowers or leaves, only a bright red rootstock with sharp thorns.
Levy looked at it for a few seconds, then turned his head away to look at Qin Chu.
"What are you doing?" Qin Chu was bewildered by his sudden outburst.
"Is there a mirror?" Levy asked.
“…There’s no such thing,” Qin Chu said.
"Don't you ever comb your hair?" Levy asked in surprise.
"...Who do you think has hair like yours?" Qin Chu glanced at his curly hair.
Levi clicked his tongue, turned around and searched for a while, found a mirrored glass, and looked up at his neck.
“Exactly the same,” he said.
"What?"
Levi climbed onto Qin Chu's bed and sat down, showing Qin Chu the tattoo on his neck. He then pointed out the window: "Did you get this tattoo based on something outside?"
Although the tattoo on Levy's neck has faded to almost invisible, its general outline can still be seen.
"Knowing you as I do, you certainly wouldn't just randomly get a plant tattoo, so what's the meaning behind it?" Levi rolled over, propped himself up, and half-pressed Qin Chu down as he asked.
"I got it tattooed as soon as I remembered..." Qin Chu reached out and pushed his head away.
“If you won’t tell me, then I’ll ask someone else later,” Levy said.
"..." Qin Chu remained silent.
The garbage planet was shrouded in gray, with almost no other vibrant colors except for these red thorn flowers.
Humans always have needs that transcend mere survival. I don't know when it started, but this vibrant plant has become a tool for people on this planet to express their love.
But this thing is quite rare. Qin Chu often saw people traveling far and wide to find this plant in order to express their love.
At first he didn't quite understand, but later he heard that this plant has a flower language—the most sincere love.
Qin Chu still couldn't quite understand, but when he was tattooing Levi, the image that subconsciously came to mind was this beautiful, dangerous, and rare plant.
Knowing that Qin Chu was injured, Levi didn't argue with him for long, and the two obediently lay down on the bed.
"Can this door be closed?" Levy reached out and pushed the outer panel.
"Yes." Qin Chu nodded.
Levy closed the partition, then pushed it open again, asking with some curiosity, "Why did you think of embedding the bed in here and putting up a partition? When it's closed, it looks like a coffin."
“I remember you…” Levi thought of the world of vampires, “You didn’t like this kind of enclosed space.”
"Well, it's not just that I don't like it. When I was little, I was locked in a box, and it didn't feel good," Qin Chu said. "Later, in order to get over that, I would often lock myself up to get used to it."
Levi was taken aback, then smiled somewhat helplessly: "You really don't allow yourself to have any weaknesses."
He turned and saw that Qin Chu looked sleepy: "Want to sleep?"
"Hmm." Qin Chu pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Go to sleep." Levy closed the door halfway to block out the light.
After a while, he reached out and patted Qin Chu again, whispering, "I won't let you have any weaknesses either."
The wound in his brain was still healing rapidly. Qin Chu was so tired that he fell asleep almost without hearing what Levi said.
He was fast asleep and didn't even notice when Levi left.
The days on this planet are long, but when Qin Chu woke up, it was already dusk.
The partition door next to the bed was still half-closed. Qin Chu didn't move, but looked out of the partition door.
Levi didn't go out; from his angle, he could just see Levi's figure through the half-open gap in the partition door.
The bed was a bit too narrow for two grown men to lie on together, so Levi sat on the sofa, probably to avoid disturbing his rest.
The sofa was a bit low, and Qin Chu could see Levi's back from above the backrest.
Although he was leaning back on the sofa, his posture was not relaxed.
Two seconds later, Qin Chu suddenly heard Levi sigh, and then he saw Levi bend over with some distress, supporting his forehead with his hands and running his fingers through his hair.
At that moment, Qin Chu's feelings were hard to describe.
The Levi of the past was free and unrestrained. He would lounge around aimlessly, looking like he deserved a beating. But now, this was the first time Qin Chu had seen Levi's back like this.
Exhausted and distressed, like a caged beast, my whole body is shackled.