Later that same morning inside Xu Chen's bedroom.
Xu Chen stared at Aum for several long seconds.
Then laughed helplessly into the pillow.
"You know what the terrifying part is?"
Aum looked at him immediately.
"What."
"You actually sound serious every time."
A faint pause.
"I am serious every time."
God.
Xu Chen closed his eyes briefly because there genuinely was not enough emotional stability left in his body to survive this conversation before noon.
The morning sunlight had grown warmer now, filling the room completely with pale gold while mountain wind drifted softly through the cracked-open window.
The blankets remained tangled around both of them.
Their hands were still linked beneath the sheets.
And somehow neither of them seemed remotely interested in changing the situation.
Xu Chen realized with dangerous clarity that this already felt routine.
Not unfamiliar.
Not awkward.
Routine.
The realization should have frightened him more than it did.
Aum watched him carefully.
"You became quiet again."
Xu Chen opened one eye slowly.
"I'm deciding whether your existence counts as a psychological hazard."
"That assessment appears emotionally biased."
"It absolutely is."
Warmth softened Aum's expression immediately afterward.
Xu Chen felt his pulse react on instinct again.
Hopeless.
Absolutely hopeless.
Aum shifted slightly closer beneath the blankets without seeming consciously aware of doing it.
Xu Chen noticed immediately.
So did Aum apparently, because he paused halfway through the movement.
Then asked quietly:
"Would you prefer more distance."
The question hit Xu Chen softly.
Because even now—even after everything last night—Aum still checked.
Still gave him room to choose.
Xu Chen's chest tightened warmly.
Instead of answering verbally, he moved closer first.
The reaction in Aum's expression happened instantly.
Not surprise anymore.
Relief.
Xu Chen was beginning to think he could identify that specific softness in Aum anywhere now.
"You really need to stop looking at me like that," Xu Chen murmured quietly.
"How am I looking at you."
Xu Chen laughed softly.
"There's no way you still don't know."
Aum thought about it seriously.
Then answered with complete honesty:
"I think I look at you the way humans look at things they are afraid to lose."
The room fell silent.
Xu Chen stopped breathing properly again.
God.
Morning conversations with Aum were genuinely life-threatening.
Xu Chen turned onto his side fully to face him now, their bodies already close enough that almost no space remained between them beneath the blankets.
Sunlight touched the side of Aum's face softly.
Xu Chen reached up unconsciously and brushed his thumb lightly beneath Aum's eye.
"You know what's dangerous?"
Aum looked at him immediately.
"What."
"I think hearing you say things like that stopped scaring me."
The silence afterward became impossibly gentle.
Aum's fingers tightened faintly around his hand.
"You are less afraid now."
Xu Chen nodded slightly.
"Yeah."
"Why."
Xu Chen smiled faintly.
"Because you never make love feel unstable."
The sentence entered the room quietly.
Aum became very still afterward.
Xu Chen watched the meaning reach him slowly.
Then Aum asked softly:
"Humans usually associate love with instability."
Xu Chen laughed quietly under his breath.
"Unfortunately, yes."
"But not with me."
Not arrogance.
Genuine carefulness.
Xu Chen's chest physically hurt.
"No," he whispered honestly. "Not with you."
And that was the terrifying truth of it.
Aum never made Xu Chen feel emotionally unsafe.
Overwhelmed sometimes?
Absolutely.
Ruined constantly?
Without question.
But never unsafe.
Not even once.
Aum touched his wrist gently beneath the blankets.
"I think I understand now why your emotional responses changed so rapidly around me."
Xu Chen blinked once.
"Oh?"
"You stopped anticipating harm."
The words landed directly inside Xu Chen.
Sharp.
Precise.
Completely true.
Silence filled the room afterward.
Not heavy.
Understanding.
Xu Chen looked at him for several long moments before speaking quietly.
"You really do see everything, huh."
Aum answered immediately.
"Everything involving you."
God.
Xu Chen laughed softly in defeat and buried his face briefly against Aum's shoulder.
"This relationship is genuinely unsustainable for my cardiovascular system."
Aum's hand slid slowly into his hair immediately.
The familiar gesture melted Xu Chen almost on contact.
"There," Aum murmured softly near his ear.
Xu Chen groaned weakly.
"You absolutely know what that does now."
"Yes."
The confidence in the answer sent warmth flooding straight through Xu Chen's chest.
Dangerous.
Everything about this was dangerous now.
The room remained wrapped in warm late-morning quiet while the city below continued waking fully for the festival day ahead.
Xu Chen could already hear distant music somewhere beyond the mountainside roads.
Sanyuejie had begun outside.
And somehow neither of them had left the bed yet.
Xu Chen realized suddenly what time it probably was.
Then immediately decided he did not care.
Aum's fingers continued moving slowly through his hair while Xu Chen remained tucked against him beneath the blankets feeling more peaceful than he had in years.
Then Aum spoke softly into the quiet.
"Xu Chen."
"Mhm."
"I believe humans would classify this as domestic."
Xu Chen laughed helplessly against his shoulder.
"Yes," he murmured quietly.
"I think they would."