Little Pink Starfish

The next day, Su Liang woke up later than usual.

By the time he opened his eyes, the other side of the bed was already cold. The spot where Lu Pan had been was empty—clearly, he’d been up for a while.

After such an awkward night, being able to avoid Lu Pan in the morning should’ve been a relief. But as Su Liang stared blankly at the bed for a while, he realized he didn’t actually feel that relaxed at all.

His mind was a mess. One moment, he was thinking of Lu Pan’s whisper from last night, filled with emotion, and the cool scent on his body. The next, he was remembering how back on the cruise ship, that man had shielded him through their escape. Then, the day he first arrived in Lu Family Village—how Lu Pan had made him a fried egg…

Even Su Liang himself wasn’t sure how he felt. He felt a bit drunk, like he was in a dream. Naturally, he was flustered, but beneath the panic, there was a trace of… something he’d tried hard to hide—was it… happiness?

Su Liang suddenly covered his face, instantly feeling like it was burning.

He lay in bed for a while before taking a deep breath and forcing himself to calm down. After all, Lu Pan hadn’t said anything clear yet. If he hadn’t sorted out his own feelings, then so be it—there was no need to lay everything bare just yet.

For now, he would just pretend nothing had happened.

Su Liang tried hard to convince himself, then got out of bed and put on some clothes. He opened the bedroom door and walked through the courtyard to the dining room. The smell of cooking oil mixed with the morning air and carried a hint of warmth.

Following the sound, Su Liang quickly found Lu Pan.

Lu Pan clearly hadn’t slept well either, but unlike Su Liang, who had faint dark circles under his eyes, Lu Pan looked like he’d just drunk deer blood wine. He radiated heat and vitality, his eyes dark and bright, like a hungry wolf. He was only wearing a tank top, revealing well-defined muscles on his arms, a sheen of sweat glistening on his tanned skin, and bulging veins under the surface. Who knew what kind of intense training this former special ops demon had put himself through this morning to burn off all that extra energy?

To Su Liang, seeing the powerful and heroic Captain Lu cracking eggs in the kitchen made him feel unexpectedly nervous.

Without thinking, he rushed into the kitchen.

“Lu… Brother Lu, let me do it. What would you like to eat? I’ll cook.” Su Liang offered. As soon as the words left his mouth, he bit his lip and added, “You let me stay the night—I feel bad just standing around.”

Lu Pan had just taken a fried egg out of the pan.

As usual, it was greasy and burnt black.

When the youth’s cool and gentle voice entered his ears, Lu Pan suddenly felt his throat go dry. That desire he’d been barely suppressing stirred again. He coughed lightly and tried to compose himself before turning to look at Su Liang.

The famous Captain Lu was momentarily stunned when he saw the dark circles under Su Liang’s eyes.

“Didn’t sleep well?” he couldn’t help but ask.

“Ah… ah, it was okay.”

Su Liang nearly bit his tongue.

That heated, tangible gaze landed on Su Liang’s face. His eyelashes fluttered, and to his embarrassment, he blushed again.

For a brief moment, the kitchen was quiet.

A strange, subtle, sticky atmosphere rippled between the tall, strong man and the fair, slender youth.

Faintly visible.

Almost illusory.

But it only lasted a second—so short it felt like an illusion.

Then Lu Pan coughed lightly.

“My cooking skills really do need work.”

He said it sincerely, though it didn’t sound like he was especially embarrassed about it.

He kept glancing at Su Liang, and when he saw the tips of the youth’s ears turn pink, he chuckled softly and stepped aside to let him take over.

Once Lu Pan backed off to the doorway and that powerful, overbearing presence was a little farther away, Su Liang finally let out a breath of relief.

“Act-actually it’s not…”

Su Liang mumbled.

He’d originally meant to comfort Lu Pan and say his cooking wasn’t that bad, but when he glanced at the freshly burnt egg, the thin-skinned university teacher couldn’t bring himself to lie.

“Mm, Teacher Xiao Liang can teach me later.”

Lu Pan gazed at the gentle, pretty teacher bathed in morning light, feeling as if a fuzzy little animal was bouncing around in his chest, making him—a grown man—feel strangely warm and ticklish inside.

Hearing Lu Pan call him “Teacher Xiao Liang” again and again made Su Liang blush to the tips of his ears. He felt something was off about how Lu Pan was speaking to him—it sounded different from before—but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Thinking back to last night, even if he tried to comfort himself by pretending nothing happened, he was still so flustered he couldn’t lift his head.

He pressed his lips together and said nothing more, lowering his head to focus on cooking breakfast.

Just as he said before, Su Liang really wasn’t some pampered young master. Even though the village stove was rustic, he quickly got the hang of it after a brief clumsy start.

And this time was different from before—he didn’t hold back from moving things around in the kitchen.

Breakfast was still eggs, but this time they were scrambled with scallions and salt. He used lard in the pan, making the blackened bottom shimmer with oil. With a flick of the wrist, he spun the pan and poured in the eggs.

One golden pancake after another.

Then, using the leftover oil in the pan, he fried up the crispy bits from the lard, added chopped fried dough sticks, red chili flakes, snowy garlic, and green onions, stir-frying everything into a fragrant topping. He poured it over plain noodles with a dash of sesame oil and soy sauce, making a rich, chewy, flavorful bowl.

Of course, there was also tofu pudding. That bowl had been specially sent by Auntie Wang at the village entrance, at Lu Pan’s request. He figured Su Liang wouldn’t like eating dry food in the morning, so he thought ahead and made arrangements during his morning run.

Lu Pan had planned to add some brown sugar syrup to the tofu pudding—soft and sweet, perfect for winning favor.

But Su Liang hadn’t realized it was a special treat for him. He lifted the lid, didn’t think much of it, and just added some pickled mustard greens, dried chilies, salt, and a splash of sesame oil, turning it into a steaming bowl of savory tofu soup.

When Su Liang turned around, he saw that Lu Pan hadn’t left while he cooked. The man just stood stiffly at the doorway, those dark eyes fixed on him.

He looked unusually gentle—and happy.

Those eyes seemed to hold only Su Liang, filled with some indescribable emotion.

Su Liang figured his brain must’ve been short-circuited after last night. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be so flustered just from one look from Lu Pan, heart racing, unsure what to do… And was it his imagination? Why did this scene feel so familiar?

After a while, he suddenly remembered—wasn’t this just the typical scene of a married couple cooking breakfast together?

The only difference was, if a normal wife saw a big man just standing in the doorway smiling like an idiot, she’d probably frown and scold, “Shoo, don’t get in the way.” But Su Liang, meeting Lu Pan’s gaze, just felt his heart skip another beat.

“All right. Bring the food out—we can eat now. I just made something simple. Don’t mind it.”

Su Liang lowered his eyes, cheeks slightly red.

“Teacher Xiao Liang’s cooking smells and looks amazing. How could I possibly mind?”

Lu Pan replied quickly, clearly in a great mood.

He helped Su Liang carry the dishes to the table, then picked up an egg pancake and took a bite, followed by a spoonful of soup. With every bite, he sighed in genuine delight: “Delicious!”

He looked so happy it was like he was about to float, leaving Su Liang wondering if they were even eating the same food.

That day, Lu Pan took Su Liang to school again. This time, though, there was a new class added, and when the students saw the two arrive together, they couldn’t help poking their heads out to sneak glances.

“Good morning, Teacher Su!”

That was for Su Liang.

“Boss!”

That was for Lu Pan.

“Teacher Su, Boss, why did you two come together?!”

That was… the kids’ curiosity.

Su Liang didn’t know why he felt so flustered by these innocent little brats’ questions. Thankfully, Lu Pan had high prestige among the children. With just a calm glance and a cold, “This is grown-up stuff. Don’t ask,”

All those overly curious kids immediately shrank back, not daring to press further.

But the Lu Pan who was so cold to the kids would immediately soften when he looked at Su Liang.

He handed over the lesson plans and, seeing the shy, blushing young teacher before him, ground his teeth silently. Then, in a low, husky voice, he said, “I’ll come pick you up tonight.”

“Ah?”

Su Liang blinked, not quite catching on.

“We’re going to the Xue family. That little punk stole my snake last night to scare you. I know you’ll want to handle it,” Lu Pan explained softly. “You care about your students, so let’s go together. That’s what it’s called, right? A home visit.”

“Right, a home visit.”

Su Liang replied awkwardly.

“You’re not familiar with the village. I’ll take you.”

“Okay.”

Seeing how obedient Su Liang was, Lu Pan couldn’t help but smile.

…So well-behaved.

He thought.

But in the end, Su Liang never got to complete his first home visit with Lu Pan.

Because by the time he finished his evening classes and arrived at Xue Yinhua’s house, the aunt told them calmly: Xue Yinhua was missing.

To be fair, the kid had quick thinking. That morning, when he caught sight of Su Liang and Lu Pan leaving the same house, he immediately realized he was screwed.

Messing with the boss meant his days were numbered.

He regretted it deeply, and in his panic, didn’t even dare go home. He ran off into the mountains. This wasn’t the first time he’d done something like this, so when Su Liang and Lu Pan arrived, even his parents had no energy to get mad. They just promised to drag the kid back to school and break his legs if needed (Su Liang quickly said that wasn’t necessary), and then offered practiced apologies to Lu Pan for the snake incident. Lu Pan said nothing, and on the surface, the matter seemed settled.

Everyone except for the still-anxious Su Liang seemed convinced that once the kid ran out of supplies, he’d come back—just like every time before.

No one expected that night, a storm would hit Lu Family Village.

It rained for two days and nights without stopping.

And Xue Yinhua—was never seen again.

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Pinky says: Almost threw my computer because AI kept messing with the names.