No Time

When we got back, family members waiting by all greeted and hugged. The ones who were curious since they hadn't been out yet asked about what happened and what it was like after the apocalypse struck.

I didn't encounter Xingxing's family. They hadn't bothered to come to pick him up. I would later have to inform them of their son's misfortunate incident.

Everyone left fairly happy, but the team members all looked guilty and in discomfort.

I dismissed them all with a look of, "It's ok, you can go."

Shane lingered and Andrei stood beside him as Shane wanted to speak to me.

Shane opened his mouth and closed it several times, not able to get out the words he wanted to relay.

I patted his back and told Andrei to go cheer him up. Andrei nodded and took him away.

I reached home and I held Xiao Lai's hand as he came out slowly from my space.

He looked numb and his eyes were puffy and red from crying.

I led my little brother to my room and sat him down on my bed. The light wasn't too bright and my room was cozy and warm.

Xiao Lai collapsed onto my bed.

"...What did I do wrong?"

He wasn't going to cry again. But he looked as sad as when he did.

"Nothing. You did nothing wrong."

"..."

We stayed silent like that for a while.

"I'm hungry."

Xiao Lai reverted to being a spoiled child whenever he was in a bad mood.

"Alright, what do you want to eat?"

"Hotpot."

"Ok, wait in the living room."

I cooked and every so often looked at the tired figure lying on the sofas.

Maybe because he became tired from crying and all the things that happened today, he fell asleep.

I sighed and meditated with the calm sound of the knife hitting the cutting board as it sliced through the ingredients.

After some time, it was ready.

"Xiao Lai, wake up."

Xiao Lai groaned a little and groggily woke up.

We ate in silence.

Only the sound of spoons and chopsticks clacking against the pot or bowls were heard.

And it went on like that until Xiao Bing arrived.

"I smell hotpot!" she exclaimed giddily when she came in.

She didn't notice the mood in the atmosphere and sat right next to Xiao Lai, and grabbing a set of chopsticks, she gorged herself.

Xiao Lai took one look at her and set his utensils down.

"...I lost my appetite. I'm going to your room Yu Ge."

As he went upstairs, Xiao Bing turned to me with a curious look on her face.

"What's wrong with him?"

I sighed.

"Don't bother him for a couple of days."

"Why?!" she fumed and stuffed her mouth with more meat.

"I'll tell you later. Finish eating the hotpot. And wash the dishes. Actually, just put them into the dishwasher."

Xiao Bing's quiet, delayed "ok" made it into my ear as I went upstairs.

Xiao Lai was in the same position as before, but he looked more relaxed.

"Yu Ge, I like your room. It's so warm."

"Yu Ge, you know, I probably didn't even have a chance. He didn't like me. You heard him, right? He said he hated me."

"No, Xiao Lai. If he hated you, why would he stay friends with you?"

"He didn't have any other friends."

"..."

I couldn't say anything back.

"Do you want to go on a ride?" I asked. He might feel better when he's around his favorite sports cars.

"No, I don't want to go outside."

"Then what would you like to do?"

"...I'm tired. I want to stay at home."

"Alright."

And so he did.

After a couple of weeks of Xiao Lai staying at home, doing work at home, and dawdling at home, it clicked in my mind that Xiao Lai really wasn't planning on going outside at all.

But I wasn't too worried.

Partially because I knew that at least he would stay and not leave me.

Also, there was a lot of new laws established, and one of them was about another person taking up the role of the person who was supposed to go out. The person taking up the role could be anyone, and it could be done for free or with a cost, determined by the relations of the two persons.

There was also an additional law that elders and children couldn't participate in these outings. The age group started from 14 to 64, decided by the delegates who interviewed everyone. The younger generation needed experience and 64 seemed like a reasonable age apparently. And it was required once a year, so there wouldn't be any problems with people not going out. Instead, there might be people going out as hunters professionally in the future, and then the laws would change once more.

So, I decided that I'd take up Xiao Lai's role in the future if he still stayed at home all day.

Xiao Lai agreed, and he decided to help me with my documents in exchange.

I told him that I didn't need help and that I was going to get some more office workers soon, so he told me that he'd do it until they arrived.

He already was working on hacker stuff through all-nighters, so I didn't want him to become tired from all the work.

I actually had plans to hire but put it off for later, so this time, I hired people the very next day.

The workers I hired, were personally interviewed by my secretary and then sent to me for another interview.

Some of them were excited, some nervous, and others serious. But they all had good work ethics I suppose since Mr. Jing sent them to me.

Now, Xiao Lai stays at home. He's either in his room, coding and discussing things with other hackers through chats or lying on my bed.

Zhang Xing's zombie form had been stowed away in one of the labs and as it had abilities, I didn't permit others to get too close. The zombie was put away into a room that had thick glass that wouldn't break. The room was also soundproof, and the glass was the type where you could see into the room but not from the other side. The zombie wasn't aware that there were presences around it, so it stayed quiet besides its meal time.

Xiao Bing said it was a little harsh of me to call Zhang Xing, "it". But I had discerned these kinds of things far longer than anyone.

Zombies couldn't be turned back.

There were vaccines made before, but as they were injected into zombies, zombies would briefly turn into humans and then die as their bodily functions had already corroded and rotted. They were dying and nothing could change that.

Zombies could evolve though. They would take their original human form again, except in a much more paler and poker-faced look. They could talk too, and they had emotions as well. They also had the ability to survive on nothing. But they wouldn't be able to remember anything from their past. And the human-like zombies only originated from zombies with abilities. All regular zombies would evolve but never reach that stage.

These days, Xiao Bing looked annoyed.

She yelled at me, "Why can't you just tell Lai Ge to deal with it?"

In my last life, Xiao Bing was like a fairy, gentle, calm, and lovely.

In this life, she was a quick-to-anger, peppy, and rash.

...Well, in her last life, she was never an assassin.

I sat her down and asked her, "What would you do if I died?"

"...That's different."

I shook my head.

"Xiao Lai thought of Zhang Xing as family. This is his way of coping. You don't know what he feels. If it were me, I wouldn't be able to deal with it as calmly as he's doing. On top of that, his feelings weren't accepted by Zhang Xing. Would you be able to stay this quiet if the same thing happened to you?"

"...fine. But hang out with me some more, don't just stay with Lai Ge."

I could only helplessly coax the 13-year-old girl with promises of spending time with her more.

By the end of a month, Xiao Lai and Xiao Bing started to drift apart and only stayed together during meal time.

Xiao Lai barely said any words these days. Xiao Bing was still mad at him for turning this way for a stupid reason, called "love".

She even vowed that she would never fall in love since it made people so stupid.

"What about Ge? Isn't he happy?" I asked her.

"But it made him too gushy. I don't want to be like that," she pouted.

"And what if you do fall in love?"

"I'll kill'em."

She said that with such a determined look that I chuckled and tousled up her hair.

She smoothed her hair and faced me with eyes filled with grievance, asking 'What'd you do that for?'

Time passed, and there was good news.

Ge became pregnant.

He was very excited and came to announce it with his husband.

They were smiling so happily and hugging and holding hands when they rang the doorbell.

Xiao Bing squealed as she exclaimed, "I'm going to be an aunt! I'm going to be an aunt!"

Xiao Lai said his congrats and went back upstairs.

I asked Ge how he was feeling and if he needed anything.

He said they were receiving all kinds of help from Lu Han's parents and both clans.

I was happy for them and Ge asked me to think of a name for the child.

I promised Ge that I'd think of a name and he and Lu Han left in content.

I really was happy that Ge could have a family but I was still worried about Xiao Lai.

As I suspected, Xiao Lai was lying on my bed when I came upstairs.

He was staring at the ceiling, watching the fan rotating.

"Yu Ge," he called out.

"Mm."

"You know, I would've been willing to be pregnant for Xingxing. Although, I still would've topped him."

"...You're only 15."

"I just meant that I could've done it."

"...Alright."

"But now I don't even have that chance. And I don't think it would've happened since Xingxing didn't like me that way. First love never working out, it's real for me at least."

I stayed quiet and waited for him to finish.

"Yu Ge, I feel angry at myself. For being jealous of Jing Ge. For being so stupid. For being like this."

I was about to interrupt him, but he interrupted me instead.

"Yu Ge, I'm pretty pathetic, aren't I? Even Xiao Bing, that girl, is saying that. I'm afraid. What happened in my past life, I know it."

"So what are you going to do?" I asked.

"I don't know. I just want to rest currently. Maybe I'll go out in the future and meet some guys."

I frowned.

"No. You're not going to be stuck in this house. You still need to go to school."

Xiao Lai laughed.

"Yu Ge, you know how smart I am. Do you really expect me to go back where it'll be like kindergarten for me?"

"Are you really not going to go out of the house anymore? You're still affected by Zhang Xing's turning aren't you?"

"I am. I don't want to let that drag me down, but it is. And I need time to deal with it."

"Then that's ok. But when you're fine, don't go around searching for boys."

I didn't mean it as a joke, but apparently, it seemed like one because Xiao Lai laughed over it for a long time.

I just hope that he can get over it soon.