Shen Mo stayed in the end.

Inside the dim tent, the orange glow of the fire was faintly visible from outside. A small, pale hand rested softly on his chest. Shen Mo felt no inclination to sleep at all.

Occasional murmurs drifted in from outside — mostly the others discussing the maze, the minotaur, the lice…

Shen Mo listened, and listened, and without realizing it, his gaze drifted downward to the little hand on his chest.

He quietly closed his fingers around it.

So soft…

So gentle…

Her skin was smooth and cool to the touch, yet where they made contact he felt a faint warmth spread — like rose-petal tofu, fragrant and tender.

As though moved by some mysterious pull, he lifted that small hand to his face and quietly inhaled.

And then…

And then…

He licked it.

The moment he did it, he became immediately aware of the change that had come over him.

Shen Mo’s heart plunged.

He released Bai Youwei’s hand with the most careful, measured movements he could manage and prepared to leave.

Bai Youwei suddenly let out a peal of clear, silvery laughter — she must have been dreaming of something — and turned over, her back to him, using his arm as a pillow beneath her face.

Shen Mo’s entire body went rigid.

Slowly, slowly, he lay back down, intending to wait until she was sound asleep before slipping away.

This was undeniable torment.

The sweet, intoxicating scent surrounded him on all sides, rousing every hungry cell in his body. He needed only to turn his head to catch the fragrance of her hair. He needed only to stretch out his hand to draw that soft, pliant prey into his embrace. He needed only to open his mouth…

Shen Mo clenched his jaw.

His temple throbbed with a relentless pulse. His heart slammed irregularly against his ribs.

He lay perfectly still, yet a cold sweat had broken out across his entire body.

Shen Mo was nearly at his limit.

He seized a strand of her long hair and buried his face in it, and before he could stop himself, pressed a kiss to it.

As though compelled by some irresistible force — once started, there was no reason to stop. He bent forward and pressed his lips gently against her back, her arm, her hand… deliberately avoiding his teeth, fighting down the urge to take more, while he stole what warmth he could — and simultaneously despised himself for it with every fiber of his being.

Why…

Why was she so unbearably tempting…

Bai Youwei let out a soft string of laughter, shifting in his arms, eyes still closed. “Oh, that tickles~”

Shen Mo didn’t answer.

Sensing the pressure at her back growing stronger, Bai Youwei began to feel uncomfortable. She finally opened her eyes and said, “That hurts a little…”

The first time she said it, Shen Mo didn’t seem to hear her. He seemed lost in himself — his teeth grazing her skin from time to time, not quite biting, leaving her with a faint, stinging sensation.

So Bai Youwei said it again: “Shen Mo, I’m in pain…”

Shen Mo snapped awake and shoved away from her.

Bai Youwei pulled her collar up and turned around to face him, looking at him in silence.

She said nothing. Shen Mo said nothing.

The air between them was strange.

After a moment, Bai Youwei let out a deliberately easy smile and said lightly, “Are you hungry? Were you dreaming and mistook me for food?”

Shen Mo gave a single nod.

He was, in fact, hungry.

Bai Youwei pulled her backpack over and rummaged through it, finding some crackers, which she held out to him.

“Eat something. There’s a long way to go — we can’t have you wasting away from hunger.”

Shen Mo’s instinct was to refuse. He had no desire whatsoever for this kind of food. Like a tiger or wolf confronted with grass — no matter how green and lush it might be, it stirred not even a flicker of appetite in him.

But Bai Youwei was insistent. She pressed the packet of crackers into his hand and said, word by word:

“You’re hungry. You have to eat. Otherwise… you won’t be able to sleep.”

She said: you have to eat.

Shen Mo looked at the crackers in his palm, uncertain how much Bai Youwei had guessed. He drew a long breath, tore open the packaging, took out a piece, and forced himself to swallow it.

It tasted like chewing wax.

—