The large white dog scanned its surroundings, its eerie scarlet eyes gleaming in the pitch-dark living room.

Then, it twitched its nose, sniffing, and finally fixed its gaze on the ajar bedroom door.

With effort, it carried the tentacle and walked towards the crack in the door.

The darkness within the bedroom was more profound than the darkness outside the door, and a richer, more intoxicatingly cold scent emanated from inside, spreading outwards with the tentacle.

The bedroom door was pushed open easily, making a barely audible soft sound.

Upon entering the room, the dog tilted its head, looking at the bed:

The young man, clad in pajamas, was asleep on the bed.

Several streaks of pure moonlight leaked through the curtain gap, generously illuminating the young man’s tall, beautiful body.

He lay on his side, half of his cheek nestled in a soft pillow, his neat black hair spread across it.

His sleeping face was beautiful, gentle, and moving, with long eyelashes and red and soft lips.

Beneath his slender neck, exquisite collarbones were bathed in moonlight.

He held half a blanket in his arms, the other half draped over him.

The dog loved this beautiful person and eagerly anticipated the reward it would receive for bringing the young man what he wanted.

It held the tentacle, excitedly spun a circle, then pranced forward and gently placed the unconscious, cold tentacle on the young man’s slender ankle…

The moment it touched the young man’s skin, the cold tentacle moved slowly, like a snake emerging from winter hibernation, wrapping around his pale ankle.

The sleeping young man’s delicate brow furrowed.

He let out a soft “Mm.”

His toes wiggled, and he instinctively drew his foot under the blanket. But the tentacle relentlessly snaked upward, slipping through the gap in his pajama bottoms, coiling around the young man’s fair calf, and then continuing higher…

The young man’s brows furrowed even tighter, and a thin layer of sweat beaded on his clean forehead. He subtly arched his back, his long, pale fingers instinctively gripping a corner of the blanket he was holding, his knuckles faintly flushed.

The rich, cold scent instantly filled the entire room.

Something seemed to strangely ripple beneath the young man’s thin pajamas; a button popped off, silently falling onto the bed.

The dark blue tentacle now seemed devoid of intelligence, acting purely on instinct.

It haphazardly coiled around the young man’s soft waist, then clumsily went around behind him, continuing upward to wrap around his slender, fragile neck, then exploring into the young man’s slightly parted mouth…

“Mmph!”

Tao Xiu’s flushed cheeks were like an apple, his expression a mix of discomfort and pleasure. He instinctively struggled gently, but his entire body was too soft, unable to exert any strength.

The cold scent seemed to permeate his body.

The icy tentacle touched the young man’s tongue tip, about to greedily continue downward.

It was feeding; its instinct craved more…

The darkness in another space outside the room abruptly froze at that moment.

The tentacle’s movements halted, suddenly rigid. It seemed to have abruptly regained consciousness, slowly withdrawing from the young man’s body, as if summoned by something silent.

Before reluctantly leaving, it covered the young man with the blanket and stole the button that had fallen onto the bed.

The Samoyed suddenly looked into the door opposite the outer room—Oh no, its master seemed to be showing signs of waking up!

Awoo, it looked like it would just have to ask for its reward later QAQ

It quickly followed the retreating tentacle, jumped into the door, then jumped up, cleverly yet clumsily using its front paws to grasp the doorknob and close it.

…

In the bright morning sunlight of the next day, the alarm clock rang on time.

Tao Xiu’s eyes snapped open, and he sat up halfway, his hair disheveled.

After a long moment, he pulled back the blanket, his face beet red, then twitched his lips and covered his face: he seemed to have had a very strange and erotic dream last night.

He got out of bed, walked towards the bathroom, and thought: It was all his friend’s fault for talking about boyfriends and girlfriends before he went to sleep!

The sound of water quickly splashed.

Twenty minutes later, Tao Xiu finished showering and drying his hair.

He came out of the bathroom and smartly put on his formal clothes.

His alarm was set very early today, so he had plenty of time before work.

So he stood in front of the utility room door again, mentally chanting his work address before pushing it open.

As expected, it was still that same room.

He really shouldn’t have expected that miracle of furniture improving itself to happen to him.

Tao Xiu sighed, looking into the room. He could still only see that small patch of indigo carpet under his feet.

The dark room was quiet, seemingly empty.

The dog from yesterday was also gone, probably playing somewhere else in the house.

However, there was a clean plate in that small patch of indigo.

Tao Xiu bent down and picked it up, smiling: Did the dog’s owner wash it?

It seemed the other party had already discovered the door.

They hadn’t opened it themselves or left a note, yet they had washed the plate and left it here as a sign of goodwill.

Perhaps they were cautiously observing?

It seemed the dog’s owner was a kind, gentle, and cautious person.

Tao Xiu thought for a moment, put the plate away, turned towards the shelf, picked up a pen and a sticky note, and swiftly wrote down his contact information, stating that he could be contacted anytime to discuss compensation.

He also picked up an apple and walked to the door.

He placed the note on that small patch of indigo carpet not swallowed by darkness and weighted it down with the fresh, red, fragrant apple.

With a “bang,” he gently closed the door and turned to leave, heading for the morning rush hour.

…

Today’s work went as smoothly as ever.

The cluster of white roses still bloomed beautifully, showing no signs of wilting.

The “Black Baccara Roses” nameplate was gleaming among the leaves.

Although not many young people came on weekdays, older people loved to visit at this time, quietly looking at the flowers and plants and enjoying nature.

Tao Xiu’s botanical garden still had considerable foot traffic.

Moreover, the job postings he’d published had worked, and people were coming in for interviews today.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t found a suitable employee yet.

Tao Xiu wasn’t in a hurry, just more meticulously sifting through resumes.

Soon, another day passed smoothly.

During the pre-closing inspection, Tao Xiu was surprised to find that the young man with the black bracelet had returned to the botanical garden today.

Today, he seemed to be still hiding in that corner, neither touring nor interacting with anyone.

Two consecutive weekdays, spending time at the botanical garden, and the young man was so thin—had he encountered some difficulty?

Tao Xiu was about to ask, but the young man looked up with a startled, fearful face.

His dark circles were heavy, and he looked even more haggard than when Tao Xiu first met him.

Tao Xiu softened his voice: “Hello, do you need any help?”

The young man’s pupils constricted.

He parted his chapped lips but said nothing.

He looked at Tao Xiu with a complex expression for a while, then abruptly stood up, passed Tao Xiu with his head down, and hurried away.

Tao Xiu watched his retreating back, blinking in confusion.

…

On his way home, Tao Xiu bought dinner at his favorite hamburger-steak bento shop and then took the subway.

After getting off, he was about to head straight home, but suddenly remembered something and walked towards a large supermarket.

He soon emerged from the supermarket with a bag containing imported dog food and some dog treats.

After walking back to his community, Tao Xiu once again encountered the elderly man who often walked his dog in the park, and his golden retriever.

The old man saw the dog food in his hand and asked, “Xiao Tao, are you getting a dog too?”

Tao Xiu smiled, “No. It’s for someone else’s dog.”

The old man “Aii’d” then moved his little golden retriever behind him for Tao Xiu to pet.

That golden retriever used to be very fond of Tao Xiu.

Whenever it saw him, it would eagerly run up, wag its tail, and rub against his legs.

Tao Xiu took out a bag of dog treats, about to feed it, but found that the usually lively and friendly golden retriever fearfully followed the old man, hiding behind him and not daring to even look at Tao Xiu, with its tail between its legs.

Tao Xiu was a little dumbfounded: “?”

The old man jovially patted the dog’s head and chuckled, “Sweet Potato, you rascal, weren’t you the fondest of Xiao Tao? Usually, you’d leap at him from three miles away. What’s wrong today?”

Tao Xiu smiled, remembering something: “It’s okay. Maybe because I petted another dog yesterday, it doesn’t like it.”

With that, he generously handed the treats to the old man: “You can feed it.”

The old man took them with an “Aii.”

Tao Xiu bade him farewell and left.

He only heard the old man muttering to himself behind him, “How strange, this silly dog never used to mind other dog smells before.”

The golden retriever, hiding behind the old man, looked at the young man’s retreating back with longing and caution: Whine, that smell is so scary QAQ

…

Upon returning home, Tao Xiu entered and was stunned as soon as he turned on the light.

The utility room door was wide open, and inside was still a profound, bottomless, silent darkness.

The door obediently crouched the person-sized white dog.

It still kept its mouth tightly closed, its scarlet eyes excitedly looking at him, its fluffy white tail sweeping back and forth flat against the ground.

“Grrrrr…”

A happy growl came from its throat: It had already “given” its master to this beautiful person for an entire night yesterday! And even helped clean the food dish! Could it get a food reward now?

Tao Xiu blinked in disbelief: “?”

Was this dog a bit too familiar?