Shang Nan couldn't stop coughing, moist redness spreading from the inner corners of his eyes to the tails. He glared at Yu Zhibai, his throat aching from being strangled. Usually, one couldn't tell at all from Yu Zhibai's appearance that he had such great strength.

Yu Zhibai propped himself up with his arms, looking down from above. The room was very dark, making his brows and eyes look even deeper. "I didn't know it was you; I thought it was Yu Xiaoyu."

"If it was her, you would have torn her apart?" Shang Nan couldn't see Yu Zhibai's expression clearly; because he couldn't see clearly, he couldn't grasp the other party's current mood.

"It would be the same even if it wasn't her." In Yu Zhibai's eyes, the Paper People he made himself and humans were no different.

But Shang Nan was different. Shang Nan was his friend.

Shang Nan was very beautiful. When facing a nearly perfect work of art, anyone would suppress the thought of wanting to destroy it.

Shang Nan was pressed underneath. Yu Zhibai's bed was very hard, digging painfully into his shoulder blades, and Yu Zhibai's quilt was also icy cold. The cold room, the smell of paper pulp and ink, the Paper Person with a blurred face—Shang Nan reached out and pushed Yu Zhibai's shoulder. "It's Zhang Hu's birthday, are you going?"

Yu Zhibai tilted his head. "You are going?"

"Mn, I promised before. I've already bought a gift."

"Why buy one?"

"It's Zhang Hu's birthday."

"He's having a birthday, why do you have to buy him a gift?" The bit of strength Shang Nan landed on Yu Zhibai's shoulder was negligible. The Paper Person remained motionless, completely unaffected. It lowered its body, getting closer and closer to Shang Nan, its lips almost touching the tip of Shang Nan's nose.

Shang Nan blinked. He looked at Yu Zhibai's eyes which were close at hand, pitch black. The fine hairs on the back of his neck slowly stood up. "Are you... angry?"

[14: To be precise, it's jealousy.]

[14: Blackening value 40, Love value 10.]

"You are my friend," Yu Zhibai leaned down, cold blood-red lips grazing past the side of Shang Nan's face. Its hands passed through Shang Nan's back, lifting Shang Nan up from the bed and hugging him into its arms, like embracing some hard-won treasure. At an angle Shang Nan couldn't see, its face became a bleak, bloodless paper white. "You can only be mine."

Shang Nan was about to be crushed in Yu Zhibai's arms. He frowned slightly. "Didn't we promise Zhang Hu that day? If we go back on our word, he will also be angry."

"Besides, I already bought the gift. I just bought it casually. Next time it's your birthday, I'll buy you the best one."

"Zhang Hu and I are classmates, but with you, we are friends." Shang Nan patted Yu Zhibai's back.

After a long time, Yu Zhibai slowly let go of him. He cupped Shang Nan's face and scrutinized it with pitch-black pupils for a long time before curving his lips into a smile. "Okay. If Nannan lies to me, I will make Nannan into a Paper Person to accompany me forever."

After Yu Zhibai finished speaking, he covered Shang Nan inside the quilt, tucked in the corners, and got up to wash.

Shang Nan stared blankly at the hand-painted flowers and grass on the wallpaper for a good while before suddenly sitting up from the bed. "It's a Paper Person, why does it still wash its face and brush its teeth? Isn't it afraid of water?"

[14: When it had the car accident, the body was still intact. It is not an ordinary Paper Person. Except for the eyes, its other parts are not afraid of water. You can understand it as, it is waterproof.]

[14: How could an ordinary Paper Person be qualified to become a monster?]

[14: However, I want to go off-topic. Its possessiveness is so strong. Even though it doesn't count as a biosphere monster, I always thought only those from the biosphere would have such strong possessiveness.]

Shang Nan struggled to sit up from the bed and smoothed out the quilt. "There are also ones from the biosphere?"

[14: The database shows it, but didn't provide detailed information. Paper Life is not a biological system; this world's classification is non-human supernatural.]

Shang Nan didn't find it particularly strange, because from the beginning, Yu Zhibai had shown a cognition different from humans. In his understanding, friends were unique, exclusive, and exclusionary. His way of handling 'betrayal' also did not fall within the scope of human behavior.

"My world here revolves around him anyway. As long as he is happy. Only when he is happy can I go to the next world." Shang Nan sat in front of Yu Zhibai's desk, waiting for Yu Zhibai to return.

Not long after, Yu Zhibai returned from the bathroom. His hair was wet, simply wiped with a towel; Shang Nan could tell at a glance. Accumulated water droplets dripped down from his hair tips. Crystal clear water droplets fell to the ground following his brow bone, nose bridge, and the seam of his lips.

"Because the eyeballs fade, I took them out when I washed my hair." Yu Zhibai noticed Shang Nan looking at him unblinkingly and lifted a finger to point at the position of his eyes. He had no eyeballs; the two eye sockets had become two round black holes. "Nannan, are you scared?"

Actually, a little.

Shang Nan scratched his palm. "It's okay," he answered, steadying his voice. To say he didn't feel scared at all would be a lie. Usually, Yu Zhibai looked no different from a human, even more handsome and refined than humans. Sometimes, it would even give Shang Nan the illusion that it was a human, so when Yu Zhibai revealed a corner of the monster side, it would cause a strong impact on him.

Yu Zhibai heard Shang Nan's voice trembling slightly. He wiped the water stains off his face, turned around, and walked out.

The sound of a hairdryer operating rang out from outside.

When he came in again, Yu Zhibai had already installed the eyeballs. "Light brown, just like yours."

Shang Nan sat still. "It looks good."

Light brown pupils made Yu Zhibai look much more gentle and kind than pure black ones, just like Shang Nan.

Shang Nan was naturally gentle like the sun in early spring, with just the right amount of brightness and heat, while Yu Zhibai... it was all an act.

......

Zhang Hu's family bought a corner unit in the villa district next to Shang Nan's family's. It didn't face the lake, but the yard was wide enough. Zhang Hu usually had good popularity; he knew people in the same class and different classes, and got along pretty well with all of them.

For this birthday, he invited sixty or seventy people in total, not including those who only congratulated him on the phone. More than half of the class came, as well as his junior high classmates, close elementary school classmates...

When Shang Nan and Yu Zhibai arrived at Zhang Hu's house, the yard was brightly lit. Several large dogs were chasing each other around the yard. The barbecue grill had been set up long ago, smoke curling up, and the smell of roasted meat could be smelled from far away. Zhang Hu wore a big red woolen hat, walking and saying, "Eat and drink well, eat and drink well."

He looked up, saw Shang Nan and Yu Zhibai, and ran over feeling flattered to welcome them in. "You two are the only ones missing."

Shang Nan handed the scarf from his schoolbag to Zhang Hu. "Happy Birthday."

Even if Zhang Hu couldn't recognize the brand of the scarf, he knew that the Young Master of the Shang Family wouldn't give anything bad no matter what. The smile on his face immediately widened. His gaze fell on Yu Zhibai's face, and he exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, Yu Zhibai, are you wearing colored contacts?"

Shang Nan and Yu Zhibai looked at each other, and Shang Nan answered, "I picked them for him, looks good, right?"

"Really handsome," Zhang Hu praised sincerely, followed by a more careful scrutiny than before. "I've felt for a long time that Yu Zhibai's pupil color was too deep and looked too scary. Now this is just right."

"Let's go, let's go inside first. By the way, let me say this first, there's no formal dinner. If you want to eat, you can wander around. There's barbecue in the yard, fruits and desserts in the living room, and a chef my dad specially hired in the kitchen making Japanese and Western food. Just go take whatever you like to eat."

Zhang Hu's attitude towards Shang Nan was obviously different. He leaned very close to Shang Nan, looked around, and asked in a low voice, "Insider news, Lu Yang's dad took Lu Yang home. I heard he's going to transfer schools."

Shang Nan looked at Zhang Hu strangely. "How did you know?"

"My family and him..." Zhang Hu's expression looked a bit difficult, "have some convoluted relationship. My cousin's husband's aunt's daughter is his dad's, well, mistress."

"..."

"Anyway, don't let this affect your mood. Him leaving is a good thing for Yu Zhibai, isn't it?" Zhang Hu said.

Zhang Hu led the two to sit on the sofa in the living room and had someone pour tea for them.

Sitting around here were all classmates. Usually, they weren't particularly familiar with Shang Nan or Yu Zhibai, especially Shang Nan. Although Shang Nan was good-looking and rich, for some reason, his presence in the class was always terribly low. It wasn't until recently that he gradually appeared frequently in the mouths of everyone at school.

"Want to play Truth or Dare?" The sports committee member held a wine bottle and asked Shang Nan and Yu Zhibai.

Shang Nan sat next to Yu Zhibai and blinked at him. Yu Zhibai pursed his lips. "Play."

"Okay, the rules are simple. Including you two, there are eleven of us here. I'll spin the bottle on the table. Whoever the bottleneck points to has to choose between Truth and Dare to perform. For Truth, you can't lie; for Dare, you can't renege."

No one objected to the rules. The sports committee member pressed the wine bottle on the table and spun it. After spinning rapidly for a few seconds, the wine bottle slowed down. The bottleneck pointed directly at Shang Nan, who was still rubbing his fists and wiping his palms, ready to watch the show.

Yu Zhibai immediately turned his head to look at Shang Nan. "It's you."

Shang Nan: "Truth."

The sports committee member asked very directly, "Is the person you like still Yu Zhibai?" A very smart boy; if this question were divided into "Do you have someone you like?" and "Who is it?", that would be two questions, and it was unknown whether Shang Nan would be picked next time.

Actually, people in the class had been quite concerned about Student Shang Nan's relationship issues recently. Rich, standing up for Student Yu Zhibai, that showed his character was not bad, but they just weren't very clear if he still liked Student Yu Zhibai now.

Shang Nan thought for a while and answered tentatively, "Does the kind of like between friends count as liking?"

The few people who were holding their breath waiting for the answer instantly breathed a sigh of relief, beaming with joy. "It counts, it counts."

Yu Zhibai heard the answer he wanted to hear and smiled shyly, but at the same time he was a bit puzzled. Shang Nan liked him, why were they happy?

At this moment, a boy tried to change seats; he wanted to sit next to Shang Nan. However, he wasn't careful when standing up, and his elbow knocked over the juice. The juice with ice spilled all over Yu Zhibai's pants along the table surface.

Although there was heating in the room, it was still cold in the middle of winter.

That boy's face immediately flushed red with embarrassment. "So-sorry, I-I-I'm sorry."

Yu Zhibai looked at the juice blooming on his pants. Red. The white pants were instantly stained beyond recognition. Red, slowly spreading into a whole patch. Red.

"It's okay." Yu Zhibai whispered.

Yu Zhibai stood up. "I'm going to the restroom." He lowered his eyes, his expression unreadable.

He walked somewhat stiffly to find the restroom. The red juice slowly spread on the white fabric, becoming a large puddle, dripping onto the floor down the pant leg.

Its face was as white as a sheet of paper, the light brown pupils listless and dull.

It remembered. Remembered mother. Mother's red skirt. The blood slowly oozing from under mother's body was much brighter than the color of this juice.

Shang Nan looked at Yu Zhibai's retreating figure, not very assured about him being alone. He put down his cup. "I'll go with him, you guys play first."

Before the group of people could even stop him, Shang Nan chased after Yu Zhibai.

Someone muttered softly, "Shang Nan still likes Yu Zhibai, right?"

Another person answered, "Obviously. Look how nervous he got. It was just an accidental spill, did Yu Zhibai have to be so unhappy? Such a killjoy."

Yu Zhibai ran to the backyard. There was no one in the backyard, nor were there electric lights. The pitch-black lawn, the biting wind like knives, the noise was all left behind.

Shang Nan watched Yu Zhibai stumbling, and without thinking, chased up and reached out to grab Yu Zhibai's wrist. "Yu Zhibai, you're going the wrong way."

The boy held by Shang Nan slowly turned his head. There were two red streaks of blood on its face. The newly replaced light brown eyeballs were still there, not yet faded. Its eyes were filled with watery sheen, but the tears flowing out were pale red. "Nannan?"

Shang Nan felt as if his whole body was frozen. Even the fine sound of the wind seemed to be roaring in his ears. "It's me."

"I hurt so much." Yu Zhibai backhanded Shang Nan's wrist and dragged the person into its arms.

Its whole body turned paper white, lips a magnificent blood red, the voice emitted blurred and choked with sobs. "I hurt so much, my eyes hurt so much..."

Shang Nan was wrapped in the cold aura of the other party. He also became cold all over, his face turned pale from freezing. Shang Nan stiffly raised his hand and patted Yu Zhibai's back. "Yu Zhibai, it's okay now, don't be afraid."

The choking in Yu Zhibai's throat was clearly audible, more painful than the wind scraping against the face. Its body temperature was terribly low.

Hearing it say it hurt, a place in Shang Nan's heart also became depressed and heavy.

"It's okay, I will always accompany you in the future."

After a long time, Shang Nan felt that Yu Zhibai had slowly calmed down. It even suddenly laughed. While Shang Nan felt baffled, his scalp tingled slightly.

[14: Blackening value 60, Love value 30.]

Shang Nan hadn't figured out why the blackening value suddenly rose when Yu Zhibai slowly straightened up. Its moist eyes stared tightly at Shang Nan. Giving Shang Nan almost no time to react, it pinched Shang Nan's chin and bit heavily onto Shang Nan's lips.

Yu Zhibai bit very hard. Shang Nan pushed the other party away immediately in pain. After pushing him away, Shang Nan raised his hand to touch the bitten area. In the dim light, his mouth was bitten broken, and Shang Nan had already tasted the salty and fishy taste in his mouth.

"What are you doing?" Shang Nan lowered his head to look at the fresh blood stained on his fingertip.

Yu Zhibai stared at the blood on Shang Nan's lips without blinking. "Just now inside, you said you liked me. This is my return gift. I like you too."