Are You Addicted?

As the sun goes down, night dropped in the room like a heavy curtain, hiding everything. The darkness that swept over this confined s.p.a.ce swallowed every object in sight as it took control. The absence of light was so complete that, not even, the shadows survived.

And, in the darkness of this remarkable night, restlessness, lived on and squirmed it unwanted hands on Bai Luo Yin"s tense frame. Uneasiness wrapped itself securely around his seemingly broken body as he continued to tossed and turned about on the bed. Several times, his movements were so wide that it pulled Gu Hai"s right out of sleep.

With weary eyes, Gu Hai tentatively called out to Bai Luo Yin. But in the end, no matter how many times his lips sounded of those three syllables, only silence greeted him back. No sooner did he discovered that Bai Luo Yin had not awoken. Gu Hai tugged at the quilt that sheathed their two bodies in warmth, dragged it toward their shoulders and gently placed Bai Luo Yin"s exposed arm back into the quilt.

A moment later, not only did Bai Luo Yin suddenly moved again, but his eyes also shot open.

"Why aren"t you sleeping?" asked Gu Hai.

Bai Luo Yin was in a complete daze. Those earthen eyes were streaked with obscurities as his hands explored and ferreted around beneath the quilt. As if afflicted by some mystery force, it searched, hunted for something.

Is he sleepwalking?[1]

Gu Hai thought that it was a bit humorous. His hand slithered and gently alighted on Bai Luo Yin"s head before softly caressed his hair.

A slight sense of panic and anxiousness penetrated into Bai Luo Yin’s eyes. They widened, much more than usual, so that, whoever gazed upon it, would undoubtedly be scared out of their skin.

Not soon afterwards, his once downcast head, lifted. As if spelled bound, several strands of hair flurried in the air, dancing wildly in the silence of the night before they plastered themselves on his forehead. "Baby, what are you looking for huh?"

Gu Hai pressed lightly down on Bai Luo Yin again.

As Bai Luo Yin closed his eyes, his brows furrowed together. Those lines between his brows paralleled each other and this perpetual opposition at length created a visible inquietude, and excited a degree of impatient that induced them to separate. Induce him to wear upon his striking stature, a dazed expression.

He mumbled a few incoherent words beneath his breath, that Gu Hai couldn"t particularly descry.

Within seconds, his hands began to sought out, hunt again in anguish, beneath the quilt. Several times, his hands struck rather harshly at Gu Hai"s belly.

What"s wrong with this boy today?

Bewilderment slowly eased its way into Gu Hai"s slightly tightened chest as he felt around for Bai Luo Yin"s shoulder. As if it was second nature to him, he allowed his hand to tenderly pat down said boy"s shoulder, lightly, softly, lovingly. He prolonged this adoring movements until he felt that Bai Luo Yin, himself, had gradually calm down, even if it was just a bit.

After Gu Hai patted his shoulder a few more times, sensing that Bai Luo Yin"s breathing had slowly become a bit more even and followed in the same rhythm as his own breath, he placed his own arm back into the quilt.

But, unexpectedly, and to his own surprise, Bai Luo Yin"s hand latched firmly onto his hand, as if unwilling to let it go, even in his seemingly unconscious state.

After a while, Gu Hai faced Bai Luo Yin. His eyes fluttered in the darkened room and drew in every feature that made him, Bai Luo Yin, who he was. His voice softened, almost a faint whispered, "Yin Zi, I"m right here."

And in that very moment, as if a promise was made, Bai Luo Yin"s body suddenly loosened. Relaxation crawled onto the tip of his toe, made its" way pa.s.s his belly, and strutted slowly, yet surely, onto his fingertips. It was barely perceptible, as he voiced with a "yes,". It was vague but it resounded in this, otherwise, quiet s.p.a.ce. And, it was in this way that his movements ceased.

But then, it was Gu Hai, who felt a faint throbbing in his chest. As if there were invisible strings pulling at his heart, it tightened exponentially and lingered in that state for the longest of time.

He, undoubtedly, needed you so much…cared about you so much…

Why didn"t you feel it sooner….at an even earlier time?

If you"ve given him a bit more patience and trust, how could that course of event, that kind of pain……. that kind of suffering, happened, between the two of you?

………Gu Hai continued to harshly criticize himself.

Fortunately……luckily, he realized it now. It is not too late. They still had a long road ahead of them, one that they can walk together through. He can still love him, for a long time, for a really long time…. love him, even more than ever……

Gu Hai placed his hand against Bai Luo Yin"s warm cheeks, his fingers softly felt the smooth skin beneath, caressing it. His eyes focused devotedly, as he obsessively stared at Bai Luo Yin. He was infatuated, moonstruck, as if bewitched by some sort of magical incantation…….no matter how much or how many times he looked, he stared, it was never enough. He looked until his eyelids became heavy with sleep, until he could no longer delay drowsiness from infiltrating his mind.

——

This slumber lasted into the afternoon of the next day. It"s been a long time since either of them had a good night rest. For today, they can finally seize this great opportunity, so what else were needed to be done besides sleeping?

Gu Hai woke up first. After he had fully awakened, he took a closer glance at the alarm and placed it back down.

Still in a daze, Bai Luo Yin faced Gu Hai and asked him, "What time is it?"

"It"s still quite early. Just turned four o"clock."

Gu Hai"s arm snaked its way into Bai Luo Yin"s armpit, grasped his back, and pulled him to toward his own body.

Bai Luo Yin"s drowsy eyes squinted as he turned and glimpsed outside before he muttered, "How can it only be four o"clock, isn"t it a bit light outside already?"

"Maybe it snowed."

Once he heard the word, "snow," Bai Luo Yin"s sleepiness immediately increased by tenfold. When it snows, that"s the best time to be sleeping. With that thought swimming around in his brain, his head fell back down onto the soft pillow, and he proceeded to sleep some more!

Around six o"clock, Gu Hai glanced outside again. The sky was still dark! Why does it feel like we"ve slept longer than an entire night? f.u.c.k, slept so long my stomach is crying out in hunger.

Reluctant to give up the warmth of the quilt, Gu Hai, once again fell into a deep sleep.

Finally, Bai Luo Yin was awoken by the need to urinate, and having no other choice, he unwillingly pulled himself out of the quilt. He sauntered lazily toward the bathroom. By the time he pa.s.sed by the window again, the night sky was remained pitch blacks as it was before.

Bai Luo Yin remembered clearly that when he went to sleep, it was only a little past one o"clock. He even remembered that he dreamt several times afterwards, so why hasn"t the sky brighten up yet? He weaseled his way back into the warm quilt, picked up the alarm and peered down on it. It was already half past eight. According to basic reasoning, the sun should have already risen. Even if it was a cloudy day, it"s not likely to be completely dark like this, right?

An ominous premonition suddenly danced its way into Bai Luo Yin"s head as he picked up the cell and glanced down at it.

"20:26" (8:26PM)

Nighttime had already descended upon them again; the first round of sleep had already swiftly pa.s.sed by. His eyes peered down at the pig lying beside him, completely unconscious, and unaware of even the slightest sound. This person slept more soundly and even deeper than he, himself, was. Bai Luo Yin"s head fell back onto the pillow. He clenched his teeth, as the back of his foot hit the soft bed.

Forget it, just bare with it a bit longer.

If he remained awake at this moment, he won"t be able to fall back asleep later. He might as well, heartlessly, without any worry at all, sleep until tomorrow morning. He must absolutely not disrupt his own biological clock work.

In the end, it was Gu Hai who couldn"t bare it any longer. In the middle of the night, he crawled out of bed. And, just like a thief cloaked by darkness, he felt his way into the kitchen. He opened the refrigerator as his eyes rummaged through it, searching for some sort of substance, but there was nothing. In desperation, he overturned everything in there and thoroughly searched with keen eyes. Finally, he found two package of noodles. He proceeded to cook it, add some seasonings and topped it off with some thinly sliced pickled mustard tuber. Within seconds, he shoved the noodles into his mouth, devouring it like a hunger stricken animal.

Humans, once they"ve been deprived of food for a period of time and become extremely hungry, anything and everything becomes the world"s most delicious dish.

When Bai Luo Yin made his way into the kitchen, Gu Hai was in the middle ravenously devouring the food in front of him. Gu Hai placed the last chopstick full of noodles into his mouth and slurped. He was just about to pick the bowl up and drink the soup, when he then saw Bai Luo Yin"s frame, at the doorway of the kitchen.

Bai Luo Yin waited anxiously, a type of need scrupulously drawn in his eyes, as he stared straight at Gu Hai, "Give me a bowl."

Gu Hai"s Adam"s apple bobbed around for a few seconds. After what seemed like the longest time, he replied back, "There"s nothing left."

Bai Luo Yin choked on his own spit, tears seemingly welled up in his eyes as a painful expression wormed its" way onto his face.

A rather awkward smile groveled at the corner of Gu Hai"s lips, "I thought that I was the only one that was starving in the middle of the night and couldn"t sleep. Probably because for the last few days, I didn"t eat anything so today my appet.i.te suddenly came rushing back. Eating half the sticky rice dumpling didn"t really do anything for me. I…….if I"d know that you weren"t full either, I would have kept a bowl for you. The sky is about to lighten any time now. You……just endured it for a bit longer."

Motherf.u.c.ker, I"ve f.u.c.king endured it all day already.

Clearly wounded, Bai Luo Yin"s head hung low and with a disheartened stature, he returned to the bedroom.

In the end, feeling rather guilty, Gu Hai put some clothes on and drove down several streets in the depth of the night. He searched until he eventually found a twenty-four-hour restaurant. He bought some take outs and hurried his way back to Bai Luo Yin.

—-

Early the next morning, or to say it more precisely, early on the morning of the third day, Gu Hai took Bai Luo Yin along with him to the army base. After sleeping for more than twenty hours, their energy has been revitalized. So much so that they both felt exceptionally animated. If they were to put on those military uniforms, and stood in procession with the troop, they would definitely not look inferior to any of those other soldiers.

Bai Luo Yin followed Gu Hai to the military area where the dormitories were situated. On their way there, they b.u.mped into several military veterans who all greeted Gu Hai.

One particular person intentionally came to a halt, looked at Bai Luo Yin several times and asked Gu Hai: "Who"s this?"

Gu Hai kicked that person"s calf, and with a stern voice, he shouted at him to clear the way.

"Why do you care who he is huh? Go do whatever it is you have to!"

That particular person"s eyes widened as he breathed cold air into his circulatory system. He even stole another glance at Bai Luo Yin as he lowered his head and took his leave.

Bai Luo Yin could see the strength in Gu Hai"s arrogant and despotic demeanor. He even thought that Gu Hai was intentionally displaying his own fearsomeness and reverence, in front of him. He couldn"t help but to tease, to ridicule him.

"You"re truly fit to be the general"s son!"

"No, that"s not it, didn"t you notice the expression in his eyes when he looked at you?" said Gu Hai calmly.

Bai Luo Yin didn"t pay any attention whatsoever.

Gu Hai"s hand slightly stretched out and pushed Bai Luo Yin"s head a few seconds and with the utmost meaningful and heartfelt words, he said, "Stupid boy, be a bit smarter okay. Men can change after they enter the army. Out of ten guys, there will always be one that are "like that"."

"I see! No wonder, before, you always stayed here all that time!"

Gu Hai didn"t hear the hidden meaning behind Bai Luo Yin"s words. And he even snorted to himself, "It"s because you made me mad."

"I made you mad, so you ran here to find that one out of ten probability?"

"You f.u.c.king……" Gu Hai suddenly looked at Bai Luo Yin"s rear end and kicked it, "Besides you, I"m not even the least attracted toward any other guy."

As the two of them bickered about, unknowingly, they finally arrived at the room that Gu Hai had previously resided.

"Come in."

After he went in, Bai Luo Yin"s eyes swept throughout the inner surroundings of the room. He was a bit astonished, everything inside was quite neat and clean; not even a piece of crumb was on the floor. The quilt was folded neatly into a rectangular shape and the bed sheet was pulled tightly alongside the bed frame, that not even a crease could be seen.

Seeing such neatness, made him thought back to the bed in their apartment. Then, he thought back to his own family"s environment. His heart couldn"t" help but sigh a bit.

Does this soldier style of work depend on the situation?

Gu Hai could see through Bai Luo Yin"s innermost thoughts, so he especially gave said boy a concrete explanation, "A quite diligent guard cleaned it up."

Bai Luo Yin thoughtfully nodded his head, an idea conjured in his mind, "How about you invite him to our house too?"

"You dare!"

Gu Hai picked up a gun and point it at Bai Luo Yin"s temple. But, because he didn"t know whether or not there were bullet in there, Gu Hai"s handled the cool weapon with extreme care, afraid that it might go off.

Bai Luo Yin took the gun, laid in flat in his own hand and began to fiddle with it for a short period of time. This was the first time, in his life, that he had ever felt a real genuine gun. It was hard to avoid the excitement and the thrill that came with holding such a powerful object. He lifted it up, aimed it towards the window, and pulled the trigger.

Only the sound of a BANG! echoed in the room.

Spider web cracks suddenly appeared on the surface of the gla.s.s.

At that moment, Gu Hai was in the middle of packing up his belongings and, the second he heard the sound go off, fear quickly slithered its way onto his face.

There were actually bullets in there huh?

Fortunately, Bai Luo Yin didn"t use him as a shooting target. That shot……was quite unexpected.

Bai Luo Yin placed the muzzle of the gun towards himself and examined the inner details of it. This action frightened Gu Hai causing his heart to skip a beat. He hurriedly pulled out the ammunition case, before he turned to face Bai Luo Yin.

"Firstly, don"t play with it anymore. Later, I"ll get you an even better gun. "

"I don"t want it." Bai Luo Yin patted down on his own legs and stood up. His eyes glanced around the room at the various items that remained still and silent.

"Why don"t you want it?" asked Gu Hai.

Bai Luo Yin"s puckered his lips and laughed as amus.e.m.e.nt beautifully kissed his cheeks, "I"m afraid, one day when I can"t bare it any longer, I"ll shoot you."

Translator"s Note:

[1] Sleepwalking –  also known as somnambulism or noctambulism, is a sleep disorder belonging to the parasomnia family. Sleepwalking occurs during incomplete arousal in NREM sleep, predominantly during slow wave sleep (SWS). It typically occurs in the first third of the night when there is the greatest preponderance of SWS.

Sleepwalking can include simple behaviours, such as sitting up in bed and appearing awake while remaining asleep, walking around the bedroom, and more dangerous activities such as leaving the house, falling out of windows, and attacking others.

Are you Addicted?