—

Twenty-something minutes later they reached the Military Base. The sky had gotten overcast. Wen Ran got out, did the visitor check-in, and handed over his Mobile Phone, Computer, and work badge. Cheng Duó gave him a visitor's tag and led him toward the Hangar.

Cheng Duó had originally been walking between Wen Ran and Gu Yunchi, but after just a few steps he stopped, pretended to mutter something to the soldiers behind them, then caught up—and now Wen Ran was between the two of them.

Wen Ran didn't understand what Cheng Duó was thinking. He just felt really on edge walking next to Gu Yunchi. To distract himself, he asked Cheng Duó: 'Colonel Cheng, has that design proposal been implemented yet?'

'Oh, actually two aircraft upgrades have already used your proposal,' Cheng Duó said. 'But it's still classified. Once we can make it public, I'll invite you back. How about we look at other stuff today?'

Completely forgetting to wonder why Cheng Duó had used the design discussion as an excuse to lure him here, Wen Ran immediately nodded happily: 'Thanks, Colonel Cheng.'

'Why are you thanking me.' Cheng Duó glanced at Gu Yunchi, repeating meaningfully, 'Why thank me.'

The heavy hangar door slowly slid open. Wen Ran's eyes went wide as he stared at the Hangar—roughly the size of two football fields—and the massive transport aircraft parked inside. For a moment he forgot to speak.

'E16R Transport Aircraft,' Cheng Duó introduced. 'You visited the Military Base before and saw the E16, right? This is its improved version. It's currently semi-classified—not much info out there yet.'

'Yeah, I've been waiting for its video and detailed specs.' Wen Ran excitedly clenched his fist, following Cheng Duó further in. But the right side of his body, which had been tense for a while, suddenly relaxed on its own. He turned around and found Gu Yunchi hadn't come in with them.

The lower deck of the transport aircraft was open at both ends, forming a massive interconnected space over seventy meters long that could hold two main battle tanks. They went up the interior stairs to the upper deck. With Cheng Duó's permission, Wen Ran climbed into the cockpit and examined it carefully, occasionally muttering—whether to himself or discussing with Cheng Duó, unclear.

'When I was in college, the textbooks were still using the E16's power system.'

'I heard the E16R Transport Aircraft's engine is the VF95-70Q3—1.5 times the power, but fuel demand also went up. Each hour of flight costs over a hundred thousand more.'

'The control stick and throttle have been improved, but the buttons don't seem to have changed much.'

...

Talking and talking, he hadn't heard any response from Cheng Duó for a while, but he could sense someone standing at the cockpit door. Only then did Wen Ran remember Cheng Duó was air force, not an engineer—their specialties didn't actually overlap, no need for him to talk so much. He scratched his ear and turned around: 'Sorry, Colonel Ch—'

His voice cut off. Wen Ran stared in surprise at Gu Yunchi, arms crossed, leaning against the doorframe. Cheng Duó was long gone.

After a few stunned seconds, Wen Ran looked away, as if he hadn't seen anything, and walked forward, trying to slip past Gu Yunchi through the narrow gap and out of the cockpit.

Inevitably blocked. Gu Yunchi pressed his right hand against the other side of the doorframe, his arm across Wen Ran's chest, and asked: 'Pretending you can't see me?'

Wen Ran looked at the black Wristband on his wrist and said: 'No.'

'You can write a whole paper talking to other people, but with me it's just hanging up and leaving notes.' Gu Yunchi sounded quite calm. 'You hate me that much?'

'…' Wen Ran raised his head and answered a different question: 'Where did my old appliances go.'

'Scrap yard. Five yuan a jin.' Gu Yunchi lowered his hand.

The instant his hand came down, Wen Ran stepped forward to leave. Gu Yunchi, unsurprised, grabbed him, pressed his waist, and pushed him toward the radio console in the corner of the cockpit.

Wen Ran's lower back pressed against the edge of the console, his upper body forced to lean back. Even though none of the instruments were running, he didn't dare casually rest his hands on those buttons. Unable to advance or retreat, he could only grab the shirt at Gu Yunchi's waist to keep his balance. He tilted his head back, his brow creasing with urgency: 'What are you doing!'

Today he was still wearing an ordinary white tee and a plaid shirt, a pair of faded loose jeans—standard engineer attire. The visitor tag hung around his neck on a deep blue smooth polyester cord, making his skin look especially pale, while also faintly flushing with urgency.

Gu Yunchi boxed Wen Ran in completely, both arms reaching around his sides to press against the console edge. He stared at Wen Ran's tear mole for a moment before speaking unhurriedly: 'Who told you to be so uncooperative. Can't say two sentences before running off.'

'I didn't run. I was walking just now.' Having this kind of intimate conversation in the sacred space of a transport aircraft's cockpit made Wen Ran feel a shame like desecrating his faith. He gripped Gu Yunchi's shirt and pushed him: 'Let go of me first.'

'You've lost credibility.' Gu Yunchi's face was blank, unmoved.

Struggling was useless. Wen Ran turned his head away to avoid their breaths tangling together. After a few seconds, he gritted his teeth and said: 'You're not acting normal right now. Haven't you noticed yourself?'

'I noticed. But it's not now.' Gu Yunchi raised his hand and turned Wen Ran's face back, making him look at him. He said slowly: 'Seven years ago I wasn't normal.'

His originally urgent breathing suddenly stopped. Wen Ran looked into Gu Yunchi's eyes—compelling deep black. He couldn't tell whether the 'not normal' they were talking about meant the same thing, so he could only use very direct words and asked: 'Are you here to sleep with me?'

He saw Gu Yunchi had been smoking. If that wasn't a cigarette but the same medicine as before, it meant Gu Yunchi's x-addiction hadn't disappeared. Back then Chen Shuhui said Gu Yunchi's illness was cured—maybe she was only referring to the Pheromone and compatibility issues, not the x-addiction.

After hearing this question, Gu Yunchi was still looking at Wen Ran. His expression didn't change much, but the veins on the backs of his hands pressing on the console edge became more pronounced. He said: 'That's what you think.'

Unable to find an answer in his expression or declarative sentence, Wen Ran pressed his lips together to steady his breathing: 'Aren't you already cured? You can find other high-compatibility omegas. There must be plenty of people willing to date you.'

As for how Gu Yunchi would date other people—that wasn't his jurisdiction. Wen Ran wouldn't imagine it either, because thinking about it would only make him sad, like the emotions that came when he missed Gu Yunchi—useless and self-consuming.

Gu Yunchi felt he was calmer than he'd imagined at this moment. His voice had no fluctuation as he asked: 'You want me to date other people, sleep with them, and then get married?'

Wen Ran didn't understand why Gu Yunchi was asking this. It was his business, not subject to Wen Ran's will. Wen Ran's wishes wouldn't have any effect. He paused and said: 'You've always had the power to decide anything about yourself.' Like changing the subject, or maybe genuinely afraid someone would come up and see, Wen Ran pushed at Gu Yunchi's lower abdomen: 'Can you step back a little.'

Just as he finished saying this, he heard talking and footsteps coming up the stairs. Wen Ran's head burned. He lowered his voice and pleaded: 'Gu Yunchi!'

Gu Yunchi looked down at him. Just as the voices reached the outside of the cockpit, he finally let go. Wen Ran immediately broke free and dodged to the side.

Cheng Duó appeared at the door, looked at Gu Yunchi's wrinkled shirt and Wen Ran's extremely unnatural expression, stalled for a second, then turned sideways and raised his hand to introduce the person with him: '...Ah, Engineer Li, this is someone from our technical department. You two can continue the tour together—you have topics to discuss anyway.'

Saying this, he dragged Gu Yunchi out. Walking toward the passenger cabin, he said angrily: 'I'm reporting you. This time I have to report you. Your conduct is seriously problematic. I kindly created alone time for you two, and you just went straight for it? If Engineer Li had...'

'I was engaged to him seven years ago.' Gu Yunchi coldly cut him off. 'Any other questions?'

After a full tour, it was already evening. A light rain had started to drizzle. Wen Ran declined Cheng Duó's invitation to eat dinner at the cafeteria together, saying he'd intruded too long today and would head home first. Very sorry.

'No no no, not at all.' Cheng Duó's forehead was sweating. He turned around and carried out a big transparent Model Box. 'Oh right, Engineer Li, this is the Air Force's anniversary commemorative model from this year. Only one of each type. That guy... he picked out the best-looking one for you. If you don't mind, take it home to collect.'

From the moment he saw the model, Wen Ran basically couldn't hear what Cheng Duó was saying anymore. His brain only had 'so big so big so cool so cool is it for me is it for me...' The insincere pleasantries couldn't come out. He just wanted to grab it and run home.

'You'll sit in that car later, the driver will take you back...' Cheng Duó said a whole string of things, then noticed Wen Ran's eyes hadn't moved at all. 'Engineer Li?'

Wen Ran came back to himself, still staring unblinkingly at the model: 'Thank you, thank you, thank you Colonel Cheng, thank you.'

'Oh, don't thank me.' Cheng Duó put the model on the back seat. In the blink of an eye, Wen Ran had already opened the car door and was sitting properly on the other end. Cheng Duó glanced at the driver's seat. 'Alright then, Engineer Li, go home and rest early. You worked hard today.'

'Not hard at all.' Wen Ran's hand on the seat secretly moved over to touch the Model Box. 'Thank you Colonel Cheng for inviting me to visit, and for the model.'

Cheng Duó smiled and shook his head, waved at him, closed the car door, then turned around, closed his eyes, and made the sign of the cross on his chest.

The car slowly started moving. Wen Ran stared at the model for a while, then suddenly sat up straight and looked out the car window for someone. Fine rain, a hazy white—couldn't make out any figures.

A voice came from the driver's seat in front: 'Looking for someone.'

Wen Ran jerked in surprise, turned back, tilted his head slightly, and saw the hand wearing the Wristband resting on the steering wheel.

Turns out the driver's surname was Gu.

The military vehicle's rearview mirror was on the larger side. In it Wen Ran saw his own entire face and Gu Yunchi's eyes. The Alpha's gaze came through the mirror. Wen Ran turned to look at the model. After a while, he said: 'Thank you, Lieutenant Colonel Gu. Sorry for the trouble.'

Gu Yunchi didn't answer. He drove toward the Military Base gate.