Since they had decided to take refuge in the Kowloon Walled City for a few days, dressing up in suits and leather shoes was clearly too eye-catching, so in the afternoon the two of them went to the trendiest shop in the Walled City.

Heavy metal rock music was playing in the shop, with neon light tubes running along the walls, casting red and green light across walls covered in leather jackets and distressed jeans, radiating a trendy vibe of wild nineties growth.

In this place where even sunlight was sparse, anyone who could afford to run a proper storefront like this must have had serious connections backing them, otherwise the local gangsters would have shaken them down for protection money until they did not even have their underwear left.

Looking after the shop was a voluptuous beta woman with an afro perm and flaming red lips, crossing her legs as she cracked melon seeds while checking a small mirror to touch up her makeup.

Hearing footsteps, the woman casually looked up, just about to call out “feel free to look around,” but when she clearly saw the two men walking toward her, she suddenly bolted upright, her eyes heavily lined with eyeliner widening into perfect circles as she bowed:

“Bo…”

Before the word “boss” could leave her mouth, she was stopped by Sanqianwan’s glare.

The woman was a sharp person who had survived long in the Walled City, and that single glare sent a chill down her spine, so she forced her bow into a stretch, twisting her thick waist along with it to put on a worldly, welcoming smile.

“Oh, wild kid! Long time no see, where are you making your fortune these days?”

Shen Yanzhou walked in behind him, not paying much attention to the change in their expressions, holding his nose with a look of pure disgust at the clothes on the racks covered in sequins and rivets.

“Sister Xia, skip the fake hospitality.” Sanqianwan returned to his reckless manner, casually picking up a floral shirt to size it against his body, “I brought my boss here to buy some clothes.”

“Oh, this handsome boy is a new face.” Sister Xia’s sharp eyes, which had judged countless people, swept up and down Shen Yanzhou several times as she marvelled, “This physique, these looks, truly magnificent.”

She sidled up to Sanqianwan and nudged him with her elbow, lowering her voice, “Not bad, boss, no wonder I haven’t seen you around lately, turns out you hooked up with such a handsome boy? Wow, with a rear like that, he must be incredible in bed, right?”

“Shut up.” Sanqianwan pushed her away irritably, warning her with his eyes, “Get him the best you have.”

“I know, I know, guarding your food so fiercely.” Sister Xia twisted her waist and disappeared into the back.

Shen Yanzhou stood amid a pile of fake designer brands, asking, “What on earth is all this…” His fingertips picked up a t-shirt printed with a large logo that said “gui” but was spelled “gucic,” his brows tightly knit.

“Try these on. Although it’s not real silk, the material is ice silk, so it won’t chafe your skin. This is the best we can do given the conditions here, so just make do for now.”

After saying that, he handed him an oversized black t-shirt, a pair of ripped jeans, and a studded motorcycle leather jacket.

“…Where is the fitting room?”

“Over there.” Sister Xia gestured with her chin toward a corner.

The so-called fitting room was nothing more than a frame welded from two rusty water pipes, with an old bedsheet serving as a curtain, and that curtain happened to be missing a corner, making it impossible to pull fully shut.

Shen Yanzhou took a deep breath, telling himself to endure it just a little longer.

He wanted to draw the curtain but found it stuck, meaning anyone outside could see everything inside just by turning their head slightly.

“How am I supposed to change?” Shen Yanzhou asked.

“I will block it for you.” Sanqianwan strode over, completely blocking the gap with his body.

“No one will see.”

Looking at his broad back, Shen Yanzhou finally began to strip off his clothes.

Inside the cramped space, the rustling sound of fabric rubbing together was magnified infinitely.

His hearing was far too sharp, sharp enough to clearly register the faint sound of Shen Yanzhou undoing his buttons, the sound of his clothes sliding down to his ankles, and he could even envision how enticingly criminal his pale body looked under the dim lighting.

“The pants are too tight.” Shen Yanzhou’s nasal complaint drifted out from inside.

“Those are slim fit.” Sanqianwan’s voice was somewhat raspy, “Just pull them up with some force.”

He could already picture it, Shen Yanzhou leaning against the shaky partition, hopping awkwardly on one foot because of his unstable balance, getting angry as the coarse denim chafed the reddened skin of his inner thighs, yet having no choice but to arch his snowy waist, struggling to squeeze himself into the pant legs.

He looked exactly like a Ragdoll cat being forced into a cheap, tiny pet bed.

The harder it was to get in, the more anxious he became, and the more anxious he became, the more that thin layer of skin flushed a delicate pink.

“Are you done yet?” Sister Xia chuckled outside, “Taking this long, you guys are not fooling around in there, are you?”

Just as she spoke, Shen Yanzhou stepped out from the enclosure.

“Wow, wow, wow…” Her eyes locked onto him, and she could not help but let out a rogue whistle, “Handsome boy, it is a good thing you are in the Walled City. If you walked down Central looking like this, the police stations would have to lock you up.”

“Why?” Shen Yanzhou asked.

“For committing assault with your deadly looks.”

Shen Yanzhou ignored Sister Xia’s teasing, pointing at the rips over the knees and thighs of his denim pants, “What is wrong with these pants?”

“Can I change into a pair that is not torn like this?”

“You do not get it, do you?” Sister Xia cracked her melon seeds, her gaze glued to Shen Yanzhou’s thighs, “Everyone outside dresses like this nowadays. The more torn it is, the more stylish, and the more rugged it looks, the more people want to dote on you.”

“Everyone dresses like this?” Shen Yanzhou’s brow furrowed even deeper.

With his movements, a few loosely connected white cotton threads swayed gently, completely failing to hide the pampered, pale, and tender skin underneath.

Feeling somewhat self-conscious, he reached down to straighten the threads in an attempt to cover the chilly skin on his thighs, muttering in a low voice, “Are you sure these were not chewed up by rats? It even lets the wind in…”

He looked incredibly attractive like this.

Even though he had an elegant, cold, and abstinent face, he wore the wildest motorcycle leather jacket, with a tight black tank top framing his lean, slender waist, looking as cool as a biker who had just finished tearing up the streets.

Yet, ironically, because of a few holes in his jeans, he stood there with a totally aggrieved face pulling at the loose threads, looking like a little white cat forced into a wolf skin, dangerous yet making one want to squeeze him fiercely.

“Stop pulling.” Sanqianwan knelt down and cuffed the jeans for him, “The more you pull, the bigger the holes get, and then even more will show.”

“Are there no better pants?” Shen Yanzhou looked up to see Sister Xia shaking her head, then glanced at his surroundings.

The other pants hanging on the wall were either fishnets, tight leather pants with a shockingly low rise, or even avant garde designs with two massive holes cut right out of the rear.

By comparison, the jeans he was wearing, which only had two holes at the knees and thighs, were practically conservative.

“Let us go with this for now, I will take this one.” His tone sounded like a young master from a noble family forced into an undignified trade, yet still desperately trying to maintain his final shred of decency.

Sister Xia cracked her melon seeds loudly beside them, “Alright, handsome boy! Walking out like this now, absolutely no one would dare treat you like a fat sheep to be fleeced, they will only think you are a newly promoted enforcer from some street!”

Shen Yanzhou ignored her teasing, buying a few pieces for himself and a few for Shen Xici.

Leaving the clothing store, they heard waves of electronic sound and noisy chatter coming from the adjacent shop. Through the glass window, they could see several bulky arcade cabinets lined up. Inside sat students cutting class, gangsters who had just finished collecting protection money, and bare-chested middle-aged men whose fingers clicked rapidly against the buttons, as if they were punching not at a game, but at this wretched life itself.

He glanced at the fighting character on the arcade screen throwing energy blasts, swallowed his saliva, and stole another glance.

“What? Never played before?” Sanqianwan asked.

Shen Yanzhou snapped out of it and shook his head.

Most of his childhood had been spent in piano rooms and under the watchful gaze of countless private tutors, memorizing dry business etiquette and social scripts.

Let alone these arcade machines found in streets and alleys, he had never even touched Tetris.

That was a happiness belonging to wild kids, it had nothing to do with him.

“Want to play?” Sanqianwan enticed him.

“No.” Shen Yanzhou turned his head away with a trace of dislike, “Too noisy.”

Sanqianwan looked at his reddened ear tips, thinking how someone could be so stubborn yet so endearing.

“Yeah, it is indeed a bit noisy, but I want to play.” Sanqianwan grabbed Shen Yanzhou’s wrist without taking no for an answer and pulled him inside.

There were quite a few people in the arcade, and after looking around, only this single seat was left. Just as Shen Yanzhou sat down, the primary school kid next to him who was violently shaking his joystick rolled his eyes over, completely dropping his combo sequence.

“Handsome brother, looking for a challenge?” The kid spoke in terrible, broken Mandarin, flashing a mouth with missing teeth, mimicking Sister Xia’s street talk perfectly.

Shen Yanzhou had no idea what “looking for a challenge” meant, but looking at the “VS” symbol lit up on the screen, he could generally guess what was going on.

Mimicking what others did, he gripped the red joystick. He had never heard of this game, King of Fighters 97, let alone played it, so he randomly picked three characters that looked decent enough.

“Round 1, ready go!”

Accompanied by the intense music, the school kid next to him instantly turned into a berserker, making the joystick click and clack violently under his grip.

Meanwhile, before the Kyo Kusanagi chosen by Shen Yanzhou could even strike a cool pose, he was pinned to the ground and utterly destroyed by the opponent’s Iori Yagami.

Uh, it was nothing but getting beaten up, over and over.

Shen Yanzhou lost his composure. He had never played this sort of thing before, so his fingers mashed the buttons randomly and his movements on the joystick were completely chaotic. The more he tried to fight back, the stiffer the character on screen became, either punching the air or mindlessly jumping straight into the opponent’s ultimate move.

“Oh, big brother!” The school kid next to him taunted while relentlessly dealing damage, “Brother, do you even know how to play?”

“K.O.!”

A cry of defeat echoed as Shen Yanzhou’s character collapsed to the ground, his health bar completely emptied.

“It is fine, let us try again!” He slotted in another coin.

The result was another crushing defeat.

The kid fought with increasing vigor, and Shen Yanzhou matched his intensity. No matter when or what happened, Shen Yanzhou always carried a stubborn streak that refused to admit defeat.

“Want to do it together?”

As the words fell, a warm, burning body pressed up against him.

Sanqianwan pulled up a chair and sat flush against Shen Yanzhou’s back, spreading his long legs to enclose Shen Yanzhou along with his stool inside his embrace. He leaned down, his large hand covering Shen Yanzhou’s pale hand.

“You need to relax your wrist, do not be so stiff.”

Sanqianwan’s palm was massive, entirely enveloping Shen Yanzhou’s hand, guiding him as he rotated, pushed, and pulled the joystick.

“Down, forward, punch.” The man muttered softly, but the movements of his hand were blindingly fast.

Kyo Kusanagi on the screen suddenly seemed to spring to life, reversing his previous weakness as raging flames erupted around him, executing a dragon punch move that blasted the opposing Iori straight into the sky.

“See that?” Sanqianwan’s chin rested on Shen Yanzhou’s shoulder, his stubble faintly brushing the delicate skin on the side of his neck, “You have to go with its flow, do not force it. The more rushed you are, the less cooperative it gets.”

“Back, down, forward, heavy punch!” He pressed down firmly with Shen Yanzhou’s wrist once more.

Because the movements were so large, his thigh unintentionally bumped against the outside of Shen Yanzhou’s thigh, rubbing against the bare skin exposed by the ripped holes.

“Once you catch them, overwhelm them completely, do not give your opponent a chance to breathe.”

Shen Yanzhou’s fingers passively followed his lead, feeling the joystick spinning and slamming wildly in his hand. This intensely rhythmic sound somehow began to overlap with a certain primal cadence.

Fast, it was too fast.

The inputs became increasingly dense, the man’s fingers fluidly weaving through the gaps between his own, the sweat from their palms blending into a slippery sheen.

“Execute inputs quickly, keep your style sharp.” The man chuckled softly, the tip of his tongue lightly brushing against his earlobe, “Master, your hand is so soft.”

Shen Yanzhou felt the man rubbing against the rip in his jeans even as he spoke these words.

Was it deliberate, or an accident?

He glanced at the profile of the man’s face, wanting to give him a look of protest.

“Focus.” Sanqianwan whispered in his ear, “Look at the screen, do not look at me.”

“See, he is jumping again.” He continued his serious commentary, “At a moment like this, you have to drag him down.” The man’s large hand forcefully yanked the joystick downward.

On the screen, the combo counter soared continuously.

Hit! Hit! Hit!

The school kid next to them was totally dumbfounded, his hands stopping completely as he stared open mouthed at these two big brothers pressed tightly together, trapping his character in the corner and pummeling him without even letting him touch the ground.

“The final hit, here comes the climax.”

With the final heavy punch button pressed, a massive “K.O.” appeared on the screen.

The game was over.

But Shen Yanzhou felt as though he was not quite finished yet.

“Thrilling?” Sanqianwan leaned in close, asking in a voice only the two of them could hear, “So good at it on your very first try, master, you are highly talented.”

Shen Yanzhou turned his head and glared at him fiercely, this man was absolutely teasing him, seducing him, he was definitely doing it on purpose, even if he lacked proof.

Bad guy.

Shen Yanzhou mercilessly lifted his foot and stamped hard on Sanqianwan’s instep, twisting his heel to grind down further for good measure.

The man, however, seemed to feel no damage at all, watching his huffy expression as a low, muffled chuckle vibrated from his chest.

The school kid snuffled up his runny nose and looked at the two of them, “Wow! Brother, how did you pull off that move just now? Teach me, will you?”

Sanqianwan straightened up, glancing at Shen Yanzhou’s angry expression, a wicked smile playing on his lips as he told the school kid, “You are too young, you cannot learn it.”

Just as he wanted to seize the chance to sneak another hug from Shen Yanzhou, a pair of short little hands suddenly wrapped around his neck from behind like a koala without any warning, hanging entirely onto his broad back.

“Boss! When did you get back!” It was a childish voice, yet it carried an arrogant, rough edge.

“Let go.” Sanqianwan reached back with one hand, plucking the human accessory from behind and hauling him to the front like lifting a little chick.

It was a little boy around five or six years old with a bowl cut, wearing an Ultraman tank top washed to a faded yellow. His face was filthy, making him look exactly like he had just rolled out of a coal pile, except for his eyes, which were bright black and filled with a sharp intelligence.

The little boy was not scared of Sanqianwan’s cold face at all, instead sniffling the clear mucus dangling beneath his nose as he said excitedly, “Boss, are you coming home for dinner tonight?”

“Jiang…”

The extremely sensitive surname  had barely surfaced when the little boy’s mouth was covered by the man, but his eyes were not idle, fixed on Shen Yanzhou.

Suddenly stared at by such a filthy little tot, Shen Yanzhou leaned his body back slightly.

But the little boy used all his might to break free from Sanqianwan’s hand, his mouth forming a perfect O shape, completely unbothered that his snot was about to run into his mouth.

The little tot let out a gasp of sheer amazement, like someone who had never seen the world.

“Wow… so pretty…” He extended a tiny paw, wanting to touch but not quite daring to, before finally gathering his courage to lightly tap the long silver hair cascading over the leather jacket.

“So smooth…”

Shen Yanzhou froze.

In his entire life, he had never been offended by this kind of creature at such close proximity.

Yet before he could lose his temper, the little tot acted like a puppy discovering a new world, leaning into the crook of his neck to take a deep sniff, his tiny face instantly turning rosy.

“Smells so good…”

“It is not toilet water, it is the smell of White Rabbit milk candy…”

Right after that, a soft, pale little finger darted forward with lightning speed, poking Shen Yanzhou’s fair, glamorous cheek.

He poked it once.

It was soft.

Then he pinched it, completely fearless.

It was tender enough to squeeze water out.

“It is a real person!” The little tot’s eyes widened like brass bells as he turned to shout at Sanqianwan, “Boss! It is alive! It is not a doll!”

Shen Yanzhou: “…”

The little tot cupped his face with both hands, his eyes gazing obsessively at Shen Yanzhou’s large silver eyes, saying in a childish voice:

“Pretty brother, your eyes are so big, so big…”

“Just like the one boss hangs in his room…”

“Mph!” Before he could finish his sentence, his mouth was covered by Sanqianwan again, forcefully stuffing the remaining half of his words right back down.

Sanqianwan covered the little tot’s mouth with one hand while tucking him under his arm with the other, his movements so practiced it was almost pitiful.

“Mph mph mph! Let me go!” The little tot kicked his short legs in midair.

The man remained completely unfazed, using his other hand to violently ruffle the dark little head, turning the already messy bowl cut into a bird’s nest.

“Talking so much, watch out for rotten teeth.”

“Why are you covering this little fellow’s mouth?” Shen Yanzhou’s gaze fell upon Sanqianwan’s hand, then slowly drifted upward to meet the man’s slightly evasive eyes.

“And…” He extended a finger to poke the little fellow’s cheek.

“Why does he call you boss? And why did he ask if you were coming home?”

“Sanqianwan, it turns out you actually have a place to live in this Walled City?”