Chapter 25: Notice

When Ming Ci returned to the dormitory, there was only Miao Nianchun inside.

Miao Nianchun was wearing headphones, completely focused on watching an online calculus lecture video, unaware of someone entering the room.

Ming Ci gently closed the door, silently walked back to his bed at number 2, and unloaded his backpack.

The box of throat lozenges was still on the table. Ming Ci picked it up, walked over to the bed at number 3, and placed the lozenges on Qin Shuyi’s desk.

Miao Nianchun sensed something, turned his head, and was startled.

He recovered, closed his laptop, took off his headphones, and stood up: “When did you come back? You didn’t make a sound, like a ghost.”

Ming Ci remained calm: “Just arrived back at the dorm. I saw you studying, so I didn’t make any noise.”

“Study? Nah, I’m just watching some videos randomly. Classes haven’t started yet, what’s there to study?”

Miao Nianchun pretended to be lazy, smiling, “Wanna play games later? Since tomorrow is the opening ceremony and nothing urgent, my friends and I planned an all-nighter gaming session, wanna join?”

Ming Ci shook his head, opened the wardrobe, took out two sets of clothes and towels, neatly folded them and packed them into his backpack, then stuffed his laptop and charger in as well.

Miao Nianchun watched and couldn’t help but ask, “What’s this? You’re not staying in the dorm tonight?”

“Yeah.”

“Ming Ci, can I ask? What’s going on between you and Qin Shuyi? Did you guys know each other before? Had a falling out? Are you going out tonight because you don’t want to be in the same room with him?”

Ming Ci picked up his bag, looked up at him: “Don’t you think your curiosity is too much?”

Miao Nianchun shrugged, his handsome face showing a harmless smile: “I just wanted to tell you, if you’re trying to avoid Qin Shuyi, you don’t need to go out, because he’s not coming back to the dorm tonight.”

Ming Ci stopped moving: “Are you sure?”

“Positive.” Miao Nianchun raised his eyebrows, “Why don’t you ask me how I know he’s not coming back to the dorm?”

Ming Ci wasn’t interested in that, he said nothing and put his backpack back on the table.

Actually, he didn’t dislike Qin Shuyi that much, it was just that the monster couldn’t stay in the same room with him.

The monster’s hatred towards Qin Shuyi was so obvious that if Qin Shuyi fell asleep in the dead of night, it couldn’t resist going on a killing spree, which would be disastrous.

Although the monster’s self-control had improved somewhat, human lives were at stake, and he didn’t dare to take any chances.

But since Qin Shuyi wasn’t coming back tonight, there was no need to waste money staying in a hotel.

Half an hour later, after Ming Ci had taken a shower, he sat down at the table and turned on his computer.

He opened a video streaming website and found a classic documentary on social sciences to watch.

Miao Nianchun had just started a game and was in matchmaking mode, so he glanced over at Ming Ci’s computer screen during the waiting time.

Unexpectedly, he was watching 《All Life Forms》.

“… “

He was a bit speechless. Wasn’t this the documentary that elementary and middle school teachers often showed to students?

Miao Nianchun looked away and focused on his game.

He wore over-ear headphones, which had excellent noise isolation, so he could hardly hear any external sounds, only the stimulating sound effects of the game in his ears.

On the other side, Ming Ci loosely wore a single Bluetooth earbud, with the monster perched on his earlobe, listening to the voice in the documentary together with him.

“In the long river of time in the universe, human life is so short, like a flash of light, fleeting…”

“Human beings are typical social animals… Spiritual needs are as important as survival needs. Family, friends, and partners are the three most important roles in a person’s life. Affection, friendship, and love are…”

The narrator’s voice came along, narrating the opening remarks, then naturally transitioning into several typical and real-life experiences, describing how different people grow, change, and grow old in society.

This documentary lasted for over four hours. Ming Ci had watched it three times from elementary school to junior high, and he had no interest in watching it for the fourth time.

“Xiao Hong, you watch carefully first. If you have any doubts after watching, you can ask me directly.”

He whispered to the monster, then leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes to rest.

The monster’s intelligence had improved a lot compared to before, so watching this introductory-level documentary in social sciences was basically no problem for it.

As time passed second by second, with the deepening of its understanding of humans, its mood became heavier and heavier.

Halfway through the video, it saw how a lonely and introverted boy opened up, made friends, got to know girls and started dating, and eventually entered into marriage, forming a family of three…

Did Ming Ci want this too?

Just imagining it, its thoughts began to boil, extreme and paranoid thoughts pulling back and forth. For a moment, it almost wanted to grow up regardless of everything and keep Ming Ci hidden in the deepest part of its body forever.

“What’s wrong?” Ming Ci seemed to sense something and asked softly, opening his eyes, “Is there something you don’t understand?”

“Ming Ci, love…is love a very important and wonderful feeling?”

The documentary was still playing, but the voice seemed to disappear, only its words entered his ears word by word, particularly clear, faintly revealing a strange emotion.

“Would you, for this kind of feeling, be with other humans, engage in the most intimate union?”

Ming Ci was stunned for a moment, seemingly not expecting it to ask such a question.

He fell into silence for a moment, but the monster’s voice became more urgent, even a bit aggressive: “Ming Ci, would you, for love, form that kind of intimate relationship with other humans, achieving that mind-body unity? Would you?”

Ming Ci had never considered this question before.

Before the college entrance examination, all his energy was consumed by life and study. He didn’t have those romantic fantasies or any heart-throbbing moments.

And now, with the monster entangled with him, keeping his distance from others, how could he possibly fall in love?

“No.” Ming Ci answered softly, “Not now, not in the future. I might…”

He paused, a hint of obscure melancholy flickering in his eyes. “I might find it difficult to fall in love with someone.”

Perfect.

Ming Ci wouldn’t fall in love with humans, wouldn’t be taken away by anyone else, and would only be very intimate with it.

The monster got the answer it wanted, and its boiling and anxious emotions stabilized again, those extreme and terrifying thoughts once again subsiding.

But, love should be a very important thing, right?

At this moment, the monster vaguely understood something, a strong desire unlike anything before surged from its soul, burning deep inside its body.

At this moment, it finally knew what it desired more than flesh, blood, and bodily fluids.

It was the genuine love from the host.

“Ming Ci,” the monster spoke without hesitation, “you don’t need to love humans, love me instead, only me, okay?”

“…”

Ming Ci took a deep breath, unable to speak for a moment.

The monster slipped down from his earlobe, wriggling and growing larger in the shadow under the table, tightly grasping his hand.

“Ming Ci, I want your love.”

A complex and sour taste surged in Ming Ci’s heart. He opened his mouth, only able to squeeze out a weak and feeble voice: “Don’t be like this.”

The monster, self-taught, molded a humanoid form, lying on his legs. It lifted its crimson face, calling him in a low and lingering voice: “Ming Ci.”

Ming Ci covered his face with one hand, muffling his rapid breathing.

“We are the closest, no human can surpass us. Ming Ci, love me, okay?”

In this dimly lit dorm room, with only two closets separating them, was his roommate wearing headphones playing games.

And now, under his desk, a humanoid monster intimately lay on him, repeatedly asking for expressions of love.

This scene was too dangerous, too absurd, too bizarre.

Ming Ci lowered his eyes, his black pupils reflecting its strange appearance.

Rationality and emotion repeatedly pulled back and forth. Ming Ci trembled all over due to the survival instinct as a human being, but the emotions surging in his heart made him unable to resist.

Ming Ci struggled to remain calm, pulling himself away from the tug-of-war between two emotions, slowly lowering his right hand and stroking its face.

The monster tilted its head up, rubbing its cheek against his palm, then slightly turned its face, its soft lips pressing against his palm, leaving a gentle, warm, and immensely affectionate kiss.

“Be obedient.” Ming Ci’s voice trembled involuntarily, “It’s dangerous to behave like this when there are others around. Hide back in me now.”

“Be good, Xiao Hong.”

·

It was almost midnight.

The documentary was still playing, the screen glowing dimly in the darkness, casting a mingled light and shadow over Ming Ci, making his cold-white cheeks and dark eyebrows appear even more ghostly beautiful.

Miao Nianchun finished his three-game set and turned his head to see this scene.

As a pure straight male, he didn’t have any romantic thoughts, but his heartbeat skipped a beat, a faint electric current surged through his nerve endings, and his whole body was covered in goosebumps.

The other person sat in the chair, his face illuminated by the faint light, his body immersed in darkness, inexplicably reminiscent of some eerie and terrifying scenes.

Miao Nianchun’s throat rolled, he swallowed a mouthful of saliva, tentatively called out, “Ming Ci?”

Ming Ci slowly turned his head, meeting his gaze. “What’s up?”

Their eyes met for an instant, and Miao Nianchun’s scalp tingled, his palms sweating.

He was still wearing headphones and couldn’t hear Ming Ci’s voice. It took him several seconds to react, and he quickly took off the headphones.

“Uh…” he stammered, took a long time to squeeze out two sentences, “Did my gaming affect you? What time do you usually sleep?”

“No effect.”

“That’s good. I’ll play two more rounds.”

Although he said so, Miao Nianchun didn’t retract his gaze, just watched as Ming Ci turned off the video and closed his laptop.

“Um, are you going to sleep now?”

Ming Ci nasally hummed in response, climbing onto the bed from the ladder between the two beds.

Miao Nianchun sat up straight, rubbing his face vigorously.

The dormitory returned to silence, and the inexplicable feeling of anxiety dissipated with it. He put his headphones back on and started the fourth round of the game.

“Ming Ci, since I’m so obedient, you should reward me.”

Ming Ci stared at the dim ceiling, barely audible as he asked, “What reward do you want?”

“Love, I want your love.”

Ming Ci felt it spreading to his neck, the moist and warm sensation too noticeable to ignore.

“Love isn’t something that can be given as a reward.” He paused for a moment, then smiled, “Xiao Hong, you don’t even understand what love is, yet you’re blindly demanding it from me.”

“I understand.”

It caressed his neck, touched his cheek, gazed into his eyes. “When I was trapped in the fire, or even earlier, on the day I was born, I knew what love felt like.”

“Only at that time, I didn’t know that humans called that feeling love.”