QT: Don't fall in love with the Male Lead

Chapter 102: Don't lose your cargo

Xi Zirui doesn't know what to tell him.

Lying doesn't seem any better than telling the truth.

He didn't even ask Ni Ni who Han Yu was supposed to be delivered to because he never had any intention of doing it in the first place.

Someone out there is going to be short an illegal Android, and they're just going to have to deal with that.

"Uhm," Xi Zirui starts, tapping his fingers rhythmically against his thigh. "It's a funny story, actually."

Han Yu observes Xi Zirui's flustered stalling for a moment before a pleased smirk tugs the corner of his lips upwards. "Did Xi Zirui steal me?"

Xi Zirui's eyes fly towards Han Yu's face, he's not imagining the smugness written all over his sculpted features.

It's such a good look on him, it makes Xi Zirui's heart do funny things inside his chest.

Indulging Han Yu comes easy to him. "Yeah, I stole you. That's why the police can't catch up to us, they'd lock me away."

Han Yu nods, very serious now, all traces of amusement wiped off his beautiful face. "Don't worry, I won't let them catch Xi Zirui," he reaches across them to take Han Yu's hand in his. 

He looks down into Xi Zirui's eyes, his dark eyes flashing coldly, "I'll kill anyone who tries to take Xi Zirui away from me."

Xi Zirui goes very still.

O...K....

That's slightly alarming, but unfortunately for Xi Zirui he has been wired to find it hot.

He lists towards Han Yu involuntarily, his eyes growing half-lidded.

All the wants to do is climb into Han Yu's lap and ride him until he short-circuits or Xi Zirui dies -- whatever happens first.

He shakes his head, pulling away from Han Yu's touch. 

He needs to be clear-headed here, Han Yu doesn't fully understand the implications of what he just said.

"Let's go to back to bed, we're safe for now, we can rest," Xi Zirui says, getting up to his feet. "All good Ni Ni?"

"Ship cloaked and travelling at cruising speed to the nearest delivery point, Host," she says, sounding as if her voice is coming from the Irregular's guts.

Xi Zirui stretches his arms above his head and yawns loudly. "Good, let's go."

Before he can take another step, he feels strong arms coming up around his shoulders and under his knees lifting him up from the floor.

With a yelp, he throws his arms around Han Yu's neck, and hangs on.

"Xi Zirui fainted just now, I'll take him to bed," Han Yu says, before Xi Zirui can ask him what prompted the princess carry.

Eventually, Xi Zirui will have to sit down with Han Yu for a conversation regarding boundaries and what they mean for humans, but that can wait for another day.

For now, he's content to hide his face into Han Yu's warm chest, and close his eyes, letting himself be carried off to bed.

---

The next morning Xi Zirui wakes up with the feeling of having barely slept. He has the vague impression of chaotic dreams, a blooming plum orchard, red blossoms underfoot as he runs after someone.

He sits up in the narrow bed, trying to recall any other details, but the more he strains his mind the further away from him the dream slips.

Han Yu is nowhere to be seen, his side of the bed having long gone cold.

Xi Zirui finds him in the kitchen, steadfastly wiping the kitchen counters.

He turns around as soon as he hears Xi Zirui walk in, "The kitchen was dirty," he says, turning back to his task. "It's not healthy for humans to spend time in dirty environments."

Xi Zirui can't argue with that.

The takes a seat at the table and digs into the breakfast of congee  and youtiao Han Yu has made for him.

"Is Xi Zirui going to make another delivery?" Han Yu asks, after an indeterminate amount of time passes and Xi Zirui is almost done with his breakfast. 

Xi Zirui hums around the last mouthfuls of youtiao.

"Can I go with Xi Zirui?" Han Yu asks, putting away the last of the cleaning utensils on the cupboard under the sink.

There are several reasons why that would be a bad idea, but Xi Zirui doesn't want Han Yu to feel like a prisoner inside the Irregular.

He worries at his bottom lip while considering his options.

Outwardly, there is nothing that immediately gives Han Yu away as an Android, his human appearance is flawless. 

Except for the string of numbers tattooed on his inner wrist. 0011. 

Xi Zirui gets up from the table and walks up towards Han Yu. "Give me your hand."

Han Yu does and Xi Zirui turns it around, inspecting the metallic numbers etched on Han Yu's synthetic skin. "You can come with me, but this stays covered at all times," he says, pulling Han Yu's sleeve down over the numbers.

Han Yu nods in acquiescence. "Because I'm stolen."

Xi Zirui grins. "Because you're stolen."

---

The next delivery is in Teta-Pi, a residential space station on the outer reaches of the solar system.

From what Xi Zirui has gathered, the furthest away from Earth, the fancier and more modern the space stations.

Teta-Pi is a massive circular strip station, rotating in its own axis to generate a permanent gravitational field. 

As soon as Xi Zirui lands on the nearest commercial docking pad, he's hit over the head with the smell of money.

Everything around here reeks of it, from the shiny sleek constructions, to the atmosphere with its teal sky speckled with vivid pinks and purples near the horizon -- carefully curated to look beautiful from every angle of the station.

Han Yu can't stop looking up at it. "It's stunning," he says, almost bumping into a passerby in his awe.

Xi Zirui is less impressed, especially when he remembers the dismal bleakness of Gamma-Tau.

They're delivering package 6891, a medium sized crate that Xi Zirui pulls behind him on an anti-gravity net. 

The address they're delivering it to seems to be located in one of the station's most exclusive neighborhoods, according to the information on Xi Zirui's tracking pad.

Their plain jumpsuits mark them as outsiders, and everyone they come into contact with gives them a wide berth, some people make it a point to cross to the other side of the street.

There's being a rich snob, and then there's whatever these people have going on.

"Informing Host, in recent years, there has been a faction of people who believe space travel is beneath them, and that spending a lot of time aboard a spaceship is unhealthy. These people are mostly wealthy stationers who boast about never having left the station they were born in," Ni Ni says, into Xi Zirui's ears.

It's a very predictable and knee-jerk reaction to having been forced out of Earth due to global warming. Now the 'elites' want to distance themselves from the people who caused the exodus by claiming they have 'put down roots', that they would never 'abandon their birthplace'.

Xi Zirui gives it twenty years, tops, before there's a large scale war between what remains of humanity.

If the previous pattern holds, he won't be around to witness it.

More's the pity.

He chances a look at Han Yu from the corner of his eye. 

Even the end of the world is bearable in good company.

---

Xi Zirui follows the tracker all the way to a neat row of houses with identical manicured lawns and a single plum tree growing near their front door.

He and Han Yu have barely stepped towards the house's gates when someone comes rushing from the inside, a long curtain of black hair whipping in the wind behind her.

Bai Mi doesn't look any different, still beautiful, still haughty.

"Order 2676?" she asks, opening up the gate for Xi Zirui and Han Yu.

"Yes," Xi Zirui says, sliding over the package towards her. "Please input your fingerprint here."

He extends her the terminal and she presses down on the touchpad with her thumb, too excited about her package to pay attention to anything else.

Without waiting another second she tears through the packaging until she gets at the carefully packaged contents. 

It seems to be an assortment of antiques, the kind of items that would be priceless in Xi Zirui's time, let alone this odd future.

One of the items draws Xi Zirui's eyes.

A fine bamboo hairpin with a plum blossom carving and a faded engraving that Xi Zirui can just barely make out: "lazily waving my white fan..."

His breath catches, he's certain that's one of the hairpins Han Yu bought for him in the previous world.

"Where did young miss get that?" Xi Zirui asks, pointing at the hairpin displayed inside a glass case.

Bai Mi quirks an eyebrow at him. "I don't see how that's any of your business."

Of course, why would she cooperate? When has she ever without massive amounts of cajoling and ingratiation?

"I think I've seen it before, that's all," Xi Zirui says, affecting nonchalance.

Bai Mi snorts, a crude inelegant sound that sits at odds with her pristine white suit and sleek hair. "I doubt that, I got these items from a closed-door auction. Only those invited were able to see the inventory."

That doesn't tell Xi Zirui why it's showing up here.

Is this future the continuation of the cultivation world Xi Zirui just left? But if that were the case, shouldn't there be cultivators here as well?

"What's the name of the auction house?" Xi Zirui asks, hoping that with a name he'll be able to shed some light as to how the hairpin ended up here.

Bai Mi crosses her arms in front of her chest with a derisive smirk. "Don't you think you have bigger problems?"

Xi Zirui shadows her posture. "No, not at present."

She examines her manicured fingers. "Maybe you should reassess that, because your colleague wandered off about five minutes ago."

Xi Zirui looks behind him and around the street where Bai Mi's house is, and indeed doesn't see Han Yu anywhere.

He only really panics when Bai Mi smirks, and adds, "You should find him as soon as possible, non-residents of Teta-Pi, can only remain in station grounds for work related purposes." 

She points at the tracker in Xi Zirui's hand and the identity tag hanging from it. "Seeing as you're the only one properly identified as a deliveryman you should probably find him as soon as possible. Otherwise station police will do it for you."