The protagonist who hates losers is so sweet to me.

The maritime safety zone was expanding, and nearby, various safety zone alliances were being established. High-quality ability users from outside were flocking to the area frequently, and the safety zone’s population had reached its peak.

After spending two months outside clearing out zombies with Song Xinqi, Yu Qing almost didn’t recognize his home safety zone when he returned.

As he walked through the mission area, which had expanded two to three times in size, he noticed the newly roofed houses and the bustling streets filled with many unfamiliar faces, including several fourth-level ability users. These were all people who had recently sought refuge here.

Due to their mental link, he could use some of Song Xinqi’s abilities, making it easy for him to deal with ordinary zombies. However, Song Xinqi still wouldn’t allow him to go out alone, so he went back to his old job—hauling bricks.

Under the blazing sun, amidst a group of muscular men, he stood out. He saw the person walking in front of him suddenly buckle at the knees and fall, causing a small cart to slide down a slope right in front of him.

Yu Xiaoxue immediately stood sideways to stop the cart from sliding further.

Yu Qing ran to the fallen ability user and blocked the glaring sunlight: “Are you okay?”

Sweat dripped from the man’s forehead, forming a small puddle on the ground. Shaded by Yu Qing’s figure, he looked up to see a glowing young man.

Yu Qing learned that this was a newcomer to the safety zone, a fourth-level lightning ability user who was supposed to be out clearing zombies. However, he hadn’t managed to grab a mission tag and was forced to haul bricks for a living.

To express his gratitude, the man wanted to give him a few high-quality crystals. After much refusal, Yu Qing had no choice but to bring out his trump card: “My boyfriend doesn’t let me accept things from people I just met.”

The man paused and reluctantly put the crystals away, trying to find more topics to talk about with him.

Yu Qing was friendly and talkative about ordinary subjects but immediately declined any topics involving benefits, repeatedly saying, “My boyfriend doesn’t allow it.”

The man frowned and said, “It’s just a regular task with a friend, right? Do you have to do whatever your boyfriend says? You’re too obedient.”

“Yes,” Yu Qing replied naturally. Song Xinqi was always looking out for him, so of course, he’d listen to him.

The man persisted, “You can’t live like this. He’s controlling you. You’re a free person, not someone else’s puppet. Even if he’s your boyfriend, you can say no if he violates your will.”

“But I’m quite free,” Yu Qing said, confused. “He hasn’t violated my will; he’s very reasonable.”

“No, no, this mindset is dangerous. He’s clearly controlling you.” The man, trying to be earnest, was interrupted by a now wary Yu Qing.

Yu Qing countered, “Are you trying to badmouth him and ruin our relationship?”

The man, who had been imagining himself as a righteous hero guiding a misguided youth back on track, paused. “…I’m telling the truth. Think about it carefully. He’s limiting your right to make friends, stopping you from doing tasks alone, and requiring you to report when meeting strangers. All these signs point to him controlling you, keeping you close to maintain a tight grip on you.”

Yu Qing debated, “But not letting me go out is for safety reasons. In the apocalypse, there are more bad people than good, so being cautious is understandable.”

The two argued for half an hour about whether he was being controlled.

Finally, Yu Qing, now angry, said, “You don’t know anything. Don’t talk about him like that!”

The man looked at him as if he were a victim of a controlling relationship, stuck in a deep mire. “Why can’t you see his true colors?”

“Yu Xiaoxue, let’s go,” Yu Qing said, standing up in a huff, refusing to speak to this person any longer.

He thought they’d never cross paths again, but that evening, the man spotted him at the beach. Yu Qing had two large and small snow-white fluff balls on his left side; the smaller one was half as tall as a person, its fluffy fur swaying in the sea breeze.

On his right side sat a man, the two of them close together, with a long fishing rod beside them, its line submerged in the sea with no movement.

“Why haven’t we caught anything yet?” Yu Qing poked the fishing rod.

“Be patient,” Song Xinqi said, catching his restless hand in his own.

The man squatted in the weeds, watching from afar.

The person next to Yu Qing was likely the controlling boyfriend. He wanted to see how the two interacted.

After a long time, the man’s legs grew numb from squatting, but there was no movement from the pair on the beach.

Even Yu Qing began to doubt. “Do you really know how to fish?”

Song Xinqi turned and gave him a blank look that said it all.

A minute later, Yu Qing felt a tug on the fishing rod. “A fish is on the hook! Reel it in!”

A fish the size of half an arm was pulled from the water, its tail still thrashing in the air.

Yu Qing, who had been gripping Song Xinqi’s arm tightly the whole time, shouted meaningless words of encouragement. Once the fish was caught, he was more excited than Song Xinqi, who had actually caught it: “Song Xinqi, you’re amazing!”

Song Xinqi kept a straight face, but the corners of his mouth curled up slightly.

The man in the weeds heard Yu Qing’s voice and looked over at the tall man next to him.

Yu Qing’s boyfriend was actually Song Xinqi? Wasn’t that the name of the safety zone leader?

The man was startled as he realized: Yu Qing was the partner of the safety zone leader!

He had heard of Song Xinqi’s reputation—moody and not someone to be trifled with. It seemed his controlling tendencies extended to his relationship.

But as a newcomer and a fourth-level ability user with some pride, he didn’t yet understand the full extent of his terrifying dominance within the safety zone. He only felt that Yu Qing was pitiful, subdued under hos tyranny.

The gentle sound of the waves washed away the exhaustion of two months in the wilderness. After thinking for a moment, Yu Qing decided who the fish would go to: “Give it to Yu Xiaoxue.”

Song Xinqi removed the fish from the hook and tossed it up. Yu Xiaoxue opened her fierce mouth and caught the fish mid-air, swallowing it in two or three bites.

While reeling in the line, Song Xinqi casually cleared his throat, prompting Yu Qing to shift uneasily. “I know, I know. I’ll keep my word.”

Looking around, Yu Qing made sure no one was nearby, then closed his eyes, lashes trembling, as he quickly stood on tiptoes and pecked him on the lips.

“That’s it?” Song Xinqi seemed unsatisfied.

“There are still a lot of wishes to fulfill, so we have to take it step by step,” Yu Qing mumbled, his face growing hot.

During their two months clearing out zombies, Yu Qing had once mentioned that what he loved most about this world was having a healthy body that allowed him to do many things he couldn’t before. Song Xinqi had then promised they would do everything he wanted to do together.

Of course, Song Xinqi hadn’t worded it that way—Yu Qing had translated it. Song Xinqi never did anything for free; there were always rewards involved.
“Wait.” Yu Qing suddenly questioned, “You didn’t use your ability to make the fish bite the hook, did you?”

Song Xinqi dropped his smile and responded with silence.

“Wow, you cheated!”

Song Xinqi gave up resisting and lay down on the beach, but Yu Qing wasn’t ready to let it go. He leaned over and wiped his lips. “That kiss doesn’t count. Give it back.”

Song Xinqi turned his head away, but Yu Qing gently turned it back.

The feared tyrant of the safety zone was now pinned down by his little boyfriend, wiping away the “dirty” kiss he’d gotten by cheating.

“What do you want to do next?” Song Xinqi asked.

Lying on the beach with him, Yu Qing squinted at the pure, unpolluted sky. “I want to go surfing.”

Song Xinqi frowned. “That’s too dangerous.”

Here it comes, the controlling nature of someone in power, the man thought as he eavesdropped on their conversation. Someone like Song Xinqi might fulfill his partner’s small wishes, but the moment those wishes crossed his boundaries, he’d be completely unreasonable.

“But I want to go.”

“No.”

“Please?”

“I said no, and I mean no.”

“Song Xinqi…”

“Whining won’t work.”

“…”

Song Xinqi waited for a while but didn’t hear Yu Qing speak again. When he turned to look, he saw him pouting, his face turned away.

“Yu Qing,” he called out.

Yu Qing turned back, his long eyebrows knitted into a pitiful expression. “You promised you’d help me fulfill all my wishes.”

Song Xinqi sighed internally and extended a hand to him.

Yu Qing was pulled up and walked along the beach hand in hand with him. “What are we doing?”

“You said you wanted to surf. We can’t just go barefoot.”

Yu Qing’s eyes brightened, and he quickly walked side by side with him.

See? Song Xinqi was always easy to talk to. Even before they were officially together, he would do his best to fulfill his requests. Now, even more so.

He felt like he was being spoiled.

“But it’s getting late. Is it a good idea to surf now?” Yu Qing asked.

“You realize that now?” Song Xinqi glanced at him.

Yu Qing playfully swung their joined hands. “Then how about we go tomorrow?”

Song Xinqi let out a short hum from his nose.

Yu Qing couldn’t help but laugh. The more time he spent with him, the more he noticed his endearing qualities.

They already had a certain level of understanding between them. He quickly noticed Song Xinqi seemed distracted and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Song Xinqi replied, “Someone was watching us earlier.”

Yu Qing immediately turned around. “Where?”

“They were there when we were fishing, but they’re gone now.” Song Xinqi said. Since the person hadn’t made any moves or followed them, he hadn’t mentioned it earlier. “Did you get involved with someone?”

“I don’t think so,” Yu Qing tilted his head, thinking. “Maybe there was one person. This morning, while I was moving things…”

He told him about the incident and the man’s warning to stay away from his boyfriend.

“And what did you say?” Song Xinqi asked with a leisurely smile.

Yu Qing immediately reassured him. “Of course, I defended you. I said…”

He repeated what he had told the man. “I won’t listen to other people’s nonsense.”

Song Xinqi smiled and pinched his cheek. “But there’s one thing he got right—I do control you.”

“That’s only because you care about me,” Yu Qing said calmly. “You’d never harm me.”

Song Xinqi looked into his eyes, full of trust, and suppressed the turmoil in his heart. He said in a low voice, “Don’t trust anyone too much, not even me. In the apocalypse, you have to rely on yourself.”

“You’re my boyfriend. If I can’t trust you, then who can I trust?” Yu Qing hugged his arm. “I don’t care. Even if you use me, it doesn’t matter. I don’t have much to use anyway.”

He liked their current dynamic. Song Xinqi had never truly forced him into anything, and if he stood his ground, he wouldn’t do anything to him.

He could see the care Song Xinqi had for him, even if others couldn’t understand it.

He said, “We’ll surf tomorrow. What should we do tonight?”

“Sleep,” Song Xinqi replied.

“But it’s not completely dark yet. Sleeping is boring. I heard Uncle Wang raised a batch of mutant sheep. How about we go feed them?”

“…”

“Song Xinqi…”

He pressed his temples, his attitude visibly softening.
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