545: 9.15 Count Me In

9.15 Count Me In

Lu Yizhou stared at the innocent bread in his hands with a faintly murderous intent. His face turned green when memories of the time when he was still Raphael flowed into his mind all over again. The suffering he had to go through every single day just to pretend to be a human was… incorrigible. Alas, against Zhao Bolin's insistent gaze, could he ever resist?1

Now that he thought about it, he had been through the worst. What was one more if he could make his lover stop worrying about him? Sighing, Lu Yizhou finally resigned to his fate and tore open the plastic package. 

Under Zhao Bolin's stern gaze, Lu Yizhou helplessly brought the bread to his mouth and chewed. His eyes widened when sweetness exploded inside his mouth. 

…Huh? What was this? He could still taste human's food…? 

Misreading that Student Lu was surprised by the bread filling, Zhao Bolin coughed lightly and took the initiative to explain. "It's chocolate bread. I only have five in my office and the one you're eating is the third one. There are still two more…" The more he spoke, the redder his cheeks became. He finally could not bear to meet Lu Yizhou's eyes and grumbled in a quiet voice. "I suspect you might have low blood sugar. Chocolate is very nutritious. If you're still unwell later… come to me secretly. Cough… don't tell others lest they will get angry at you…"

Lu Yizhou could not contain the smile on his face. One part of the reason was because he could still consume human's food and as for the other part…

Zhao Bolin was giving him preferential treatment, wasn't he?

Staring at the red-cheeked and awkward man in front of him, fondness swelled in Lu Yizhou's heart and he could not help but reach out. 

This time, the distinguished Professor Zhao reacted on time and backed away warily, his demeanor was akin to a kitten baring its little fangs to warn strangers from patting its soft body. "W–What do you want to do?!"

Lu Yizhou's hand halted midair. He did it again… His limbs seemed to have grown a will on their own. Just now, he almost rubbed Zhao Bolin's head. Alas, doing such a thing to a professor was not very… appropriate, right? Helpless, he could only pull back and shoved his hand into his pocket. He shook his head and finished the bread in a few large bites. 

He kept forgetting that to Zhao Bolin, he was a mere stranger, a student whom he had just known for less than half a day. He might have retained some feelings for Lu Yizhou in his subconsciousness, but for a scientist like Professor Zhao, how could he believe in gut feelings?

He could feel Zhao Bolin's gaze on him even after he crunched the plastic bag and accurately threw it to the trash bin a few distance away. 

"Are you feeling better?" Zhao Bolin finally broke the silence. "I think it's better if we measure your temperature first…"

Lu Yizhou's identity would be exposed if he were to let Zhao Bolin take his temperature. Such an intelligent man like him, he should be able to guess who Lu Yizhou was. Indeed, Lu Yizhou had intended to send himself to be Zhao Bolin's experiment object but… it was not the time yet. There were still a few people he had to take care of outside. 

He shook his head in refusal and before Zhao Bolin could protest, he moved his hands to sign. His silver eyes held a teasing glint. [Professor Zhao, if you keep acting like this, I will think that…]

Zhao Bolin's expression grew wary. "...What?"

[...you harbor some… unspeakable intent toward me.] 

Even before Lu Yizhou could finish forming the string of words, Zhao Bolin's eyes flew wide, anger brimming in his striking golden eyes. His cheeks flushed angrily. "You… You…!" He fumbled on his words, unable to blurt anything out even after a few moments. Livid, Professor Zhao gritted his teeth and once again stormed out of the laboratory, slamming the door close behind him!

Through the wall, Lu Yizhou could hear a few students inquiring worriedly, "P–Professor Zhao, is there something wrong?!"

"Nothing!!" Even though he said that, everyone could see that he was angered to the point of humiliation. They could not help but speculate. Exactly what was going on behind the closed door? To be able to make the aloof Professor Zhao angry twice in a row… this Student Lu was really not simple!

Li Zhu gazed at his furious teacher and the closed laboratory door, his brows furrowed in contemplation.

Meanwhile, inside the laboratory. 

Lu Yizhou let out a soundless laugh. His lover was really so easy to tease. His flushed cheeks, reddened eyes and the ways he raised his hackles… all of them were so adorable! Lu Yizhou just could not get enough of his bullied appearance!

Unfortunately, he had to pay the price for teasing the prideful little leopard.

After that, Zhao Bolin stubbornly avoided him like a plague. Even when Lu Yizhou deliberately passed by in front of him, the man would pretend he saw nothing and staunchly treated him like empty air. 

A tinge of regret made its way to Lu Yizhou's heart. Had he gone too far? He had known that Zhao Bolin was reserved and introverted but he still teased him so much. A forlorn sigh escaped his lips. It seemed like getting into Zhao Bolin's heart would be more difficult this time…

.

Lu Yizhou was relieving himself in the bathroom when he sensed someone's presence behind him. 

The man coughed. "Classmate Lu, I have something to discuss with you. Can we go somewhere more private?"

Lu Yizhou raised a brow. If his memory did not fail him, this man was Pan Wei, one of the students in Professor Lou's group. It seemed like they could not wait anymore and finally made their move…

He casually pulled up his zipper, washed his hands before gesturing for Pan Wei to lead the way.

Pan Wei's nervous look eased and they quietly went to the stairs where heavy equipment was stacked to prevent zombies from climbing in. If Pan Wei had paid a little more attention to his surroundings, he would have realized that as soon as they got close, the zombies who were gathering downstairs immediately scrambled away in panic as though they had seen their nemesis. Alas, Pan Wei's mind was currently occupied with his own thoughts and missed a crucial clue. 

Once they got to a secluded corner, Pan Wei immediately spoke, "Classmate Lu, I noticed that… you don't seem to get along so well with Professor Zhao?"

Lu Yizhou immediately realized what he was going to talk about. Inwardly he sneered albeit his face showed an appropriate confused look.

Seeing that, Pan Wei became even more confident. He inched closer to whisper, "It's like this, you should have noticed that Professor Zhao is the one who keeps the bread. Yesterday, each person could still get two but today, we only received one! Who can tell what will happen tomorrow? I know you're not familiar with Professor Zhao but let me tell you…" He spoke with genuine distress. "He definitely did it on purpose! Professor Zhao only wants to shield his own students. People like us definitely won't get our share tomorrow! Classmate Lu, if this keeps on, then we will be the first one to die! We can't stay here forever so Professor Lou, a few other guys and I propose a plan. We will grab the bread and run away tonight. After that, we will search for another safe place. What do you say?"

Lu Yizhou had his eyes lowered, preventing Pan Wei from discerning his expression clearly. Thinking that he was still hesitating, Pan Wei added again, "Don't worry. Nothing will happen to the others. Are we that cruel? We will only grab the bread and slip away as quietly as possible."

If Lu Yizhou was really a student from another building who had only heard of Zhao Bolin's infamous reputation, he might have been tempted by the plans. 

Alas, Lu Yizhou had eavesdropped on their conversation earlier. He knew that everything was not so simple. How could these people grab the bread from Zhao Bolin's office without alerting the man himself? In actuality, they were planning to dismantle the barricade on the stairs, lead the zombies up and take advantage of the chaos to break away! In addition, the presence of Lu Yizhou would greatly aid their plans. They had witnessed his fighting prowess and that's why they decided to lure Lu Yizhou into their plans. With him, they would be able to escape the crowd of zombies safely!

All of their plans were laid out crystal clear in front of Lu Yizhou's eyes. He felt disgusted on behalf of his lover. Zhao Bolin had generously shared his food with these people when he could save it only for himself and this was how they would repay him?

The temperature in Lu Yizhou's eyes plunged a few degrees further. Unfortunately, Pan Wei was oblivious of it and hence, his fate was sealed at that moment. 

With a slight curl on the corner of his lips, Lu Yizhou nodded and gave a thumbs up. [Sure, count me in.]

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