You don't want your boyfriend to die, do you?

Since he had decided to try a real connection,

Then the Number One red luan before him was naturally the most suitable candidate.

Chen Yu's fingertips rested on Deng Yuxin's back and began to move.

Through the thin JK uniform shirt, his finger pads traced the line of her slightly arched spine, vertebra by vertebra.

The pressure was light, almost imperceptible.

"Mmm..."

Deng Yuxin let out a nasal hum in her sleep.

Her breathing seemed to quicken... until Chen Yu's warm palm left her back and moved to the front.

"Mmm... Hmph..."

"Zihao, stop it..."

Deng Yuxin's body suddenly shuddered as if struck by an electric current, and she curled herself completely into Chen Yu's embrace.

But then... she seemed to realize something and suddenly turned her head—

In the dim light... what met her eyes was not the familiar face of her boyfriend, Zhang Zihao!

"!!!"

Deng Yuxin's pupils constricted, and a wave of intense shame left her whole body stiff!

She opened her mouth to scream, but remembering her boyfriend was downstairs and her classmates were next door, she quickly shut it!

"Chen Yu..."

"I... I didn't... I didn't know, I thought you were..."

She stammered, about to push Chen Yu away.

But Chen Yu steadily wrapped his arms around her, pinning her even more firmly in his embrace.

"Thought I was Zhang Zihao?"

Chen Yu finished the sentence for her, his tone flat. "You climbed onto the bed yourself and curled into my arms. I didn't move an inch the entire time."

Deng Yuxin didn't dare to struggle too hard; she could only squirm slightly, trying to break free from Chen Yu's hold.

"I... I was too tired, I forgot there was someone else in the room... Please, let me go first. If Zihao sees us like this, or if anyone else..."

She couldn't finish her sentence.

Chen Yu shook his head. "I can let you go, but Zhang Zihao will die."

"?"

Deng Yuxin shuddered violently and looked up at him. "What... what do you mean?"

Chen Yu spoke calmly, "During the day today, he was grabbed by the wrist by a zombie, right?"

"No!"

Deng Yuxin reflexively retorted, "Absolutely not! Zihao... he was just scratched on the back of his left hand by a piece of protruding sheet metal! I saw it, he showed it to me!"

Chen Yu interrupted her, "He was lying to you."

Deng Yuxin frowned. "Lying to me? How could that be..."

Chen Yu continued, "The edges of that wound are turning black. It wasn't a scratch at all, but a claw mark from a fingernail. On the way here, he probably rarely used his left hand and didn't dare to move it, right?"

Deng Yuxin was stunned. Chen Yu's description was so specific that she couldn't help but start reminiscing.

Still shaken from the day's events, she hadn't looked that closely, but Zihao indeed kept his left hand tucked away.

Could it be... Chen Yu spoke calmly, "He's afraid of being treated as a source of infection and being ostracized, so he just made up an excuse."

"Unfortunately, he can fool others, but he can't fool me."

Everything Chen Yu said was, of course... fake.

The matter of Zhang Zihao's left hand wound was purely a pretext to deceive Deng Yuxin.

As for him rarely using his left hand and not daring to move it... in reality, if you were injured, you'd pull back too.

But as someone involved, it was difficult for Deng Yuxin to realize this.

"How could you possibly know so clearly?"

Deng Yuxin's voice began to tremble. "Zihao... was he really scratched by a zombie?"

Then, she suddenly thought of something, and her eyes widened abruptly.

precognition?

Chen Yu looked at her look of realization and nodded. "I can see certain fragments, including how he will develop a fever after dawn, become delirious, and finally turn into a zombie!"

Deng Yuxin's tears instantly broke through, rolling down in large drops.

She gripped Chen Yu's clothes tightly and looked up. "Chen Yu! You're so capable, you can see the future, you must know how to save him, right?"

"Chen Yu, we're all classmates, and we're assigned to the same Vehicle. Please, save Zihao! As long as you can save him, I'll do anything!"

Chen Yu remained silent and didn't answer immediately, merely watching her cry with calm eyes.

After a long while.

Chen Yu slid his finger to Deng Yuxin's chin and tilted her face up. "You're right, I have a way to keep him alive, but it comes with a price."

Deng Yuxin's eyes widened in curiosity. "Wh... what price?"

Chen Yu spoke flatly, "I need you to be obedient."

"I'll be obedient! I'll definitely be obedient!"

Deng Yuxin expressed her stance impatiently.

"No,"

Chen Yu shook his head, his thumb pressing against her soft lips. "Not this kind of verbal obedience."

Chen Yu's gaze moved slowly from her tear-filled eyes down to her lips, then further down, sweeping over her neck and slightly open collar.

"From now on, you will listen only to me, completely and utterly. Do you understand?"

Chen Yu's voice dropped even lower. "If you can't do it, then just wait to collect Zhang Zihao's corpse. I can't help him for no reason, can I?"

Deng Yuxin's eyes were watery.

Biting her lower lip, she spoke with a hint of humiliation, "Okay... I... I'll listen to you, Chen Yu..."

Just then—

"Clack."

"Clack."

"Clack."

Clear footsteps came from downstairs.

They were heading up the stairs.

No one but Zhang Zihao would be coming here from the first floor.

Clearly, he wasn't comfortable with his girlfriend being alone with Chen Yu.

Deng Yuxin's eyes panicked, and she instinctively tried to spring out of Chen Yu's arms.

However, Chen Yu's reaction was faster and calmer than hers.

"Shh—"

His arm around Deng Yuxin suddenly tightened, and his other hand covered her mouth just as she was about to cry out.

Then, using his waist, he exerted force.

Before Zhang Zihao could push open the door, he rolled toward the bathroom.

"Creak—"

The door opened.

In the dim light, Zhang Zihao stood at the door, scanning the room with a frown.

His gaze fell upon the slightly messy but empty double bed, where the sheets still bore the indentations of someone having lain there.

"Yuxin?"

Zhang Zihao called out tentatively, "Are you in here?"

No one answered.

Only the sound of his own breathing.

Zhang Zihao's frown deepened as he stepped inside.

The room wasn't large and was almost entirely visible at a glance.

The bed was empty, and the wardrobe door was closed.

His gaze could only eventually turn toward the glass door of the bathroom.

Theoretically, with no water or electricity, Yuxin shouldn't be in there.

But this room was so small that... other than the bathroom, there was nowhere else to hide.

Zhang Zihao walked to the bathroom door and knocked gently.

"Yuxin? Are you in there?"