The whole nation is trying to survive on the cable car; I'm choosing one of three options at ea

"I'm sorry," Lin Yuwei said softly.

"It's nothing," Su Mu said. "Without any ties, I can live more freely in this world. I don't have to worry about whether they're doing well or not, and I don't have to put too much pressure on myself to find them."

Lin Yuwei didn't say anything.

Looking at Su Mu's profile hidden in the dim light, she suddenly felt a strange, indescribable feeling welling up inside her.

This person is ridiculously strong, yet he always seems exceptionally lonely at certain times.

"Go to sleep," Su Mu said.

"Um."

Neither of them spoke again.

Occasionally, sounds of attack could still be heard from outside, hitting the outer walls of the cable car like raindrops falling on sheet metal, so faint they were almost background noise.

Lin Yuwei closed her eyes, and her breathing gradually calmed down.

The waterbed rose and fell slightly with her movements, occasionally making a faint, almost inaudible sound.

She no longer felt embarrassed.

Sleepiness washed over her like a tide. In her hazy consciousness, she seemed to smell a very faint scent.

The scent wasn't strong, but it seemed to seep out from the depths of the waterbed, from the air in the cable car, or from somewhere very close, carrying a strange, reassuring temperature.

In her half-awake state, she unconsciously leaned closer to that direction.

very warm.

It felt like having a hot water bottle in your blanket when you were a child, or like the warmth that emanates from your skin when you're leaning against someone.

Unconsciously, she moved a little closer.

Then she fell into a deep sleep.

......

Su Mu was awakened in the early morning by an unusual sense of oppression.

It's not about weight, at least not the kind that makes you breathless.

It felt more like something warm was pressed against half of his body, soft and light, rising and falling with his breath.

The feeling was so comfortable that he didn't even want to move while half-asleep, only instinctively wanting to get a little closer to the source of that warmth.

Until he felt something pressing against his chest.

Su Mu suddenly opened his eyes.

The first thing you see is the metal plate at the top of the cable car, with pale blue waterbed light strips quietly glowing at the edges.

His throat was a little dry, and he slowly and very slightly tilted his head.

Lin Yuwei lay on top of him.

To be precise, most of her body was pressed against his left chest and shoulder.

One arm was wrapped around his waist, and the other was draped over his chest.

Her face was buried in the hollow of his shoulder and the side of his neck, her breathing even and warm, a few strands of her hair clinging to his jaw and collarbone.

Su Mu froze.

He could feel her body temperature.

I could feel the very slight rise and fall of her body as she breathed.

He felt the softness of another person when she was pressed against him.

What's worse, his own body was already somewhat out of control in the morning, and now it reacted instinctively because of the close proximity of the two of them.

My mouth was dry and my breathing became heavier and heavier without my noticing.

He could feel his heart racing, and judging from the position of their contact, he even suspected that Lin Yuwei could feel it too.

He subconsciously shifted his position, trying to break free from this state.

But the nature of the waterbed meant that any movement would be amplified and transmitted... Just as he was about to pull his arm out from under Lin Yuwei, the surface of the bed rippled noticeably with his movement, pushing Lin Yuwei even closer to him.

Lin Yuwei woke up.

She shifted uncomfortably at first, then slowly raised her head, looking sleepily toward the source of the sound and vibration.

The first thing I saw was Su Mu's face, very close.

She was so close that she could see the lines of his jaw, the slight movement of his Adam's apple, and the tense expression in his eyes, as if he were suppressing something.

Then she belatedly realized that she was lying on top of him.

One hand rested on his chest, the other around his waist, and one leg was even bent and embedded in his body.

She could feel the heat of his body coming through his clothes. She could also feel a certain tactile sensation.

She instantly regained her senses.

"I...you..."

Her face looked as if it had been set on fire from the inside out, turning red from her ears to the base of her neck.

She instinctively tried to sit up, but the waterbed offered no support. Just as she placed her hand on Su Mu's chest for leverage, the soft surface sank in, and she fell back down, landing heavily on top of him.

This time the fall was even more substantial.

Her chin rested on his shoulder blade. She could almost hear her own heart pounding, and she could hear his. The two of them were pressed together like that, trapped in an overly intimate position by this overly soft waterbed.

"Don't...don't move." Su Mu's voice was a little hoarse.

Lin Yuwei froze.

She dared not move. Nor dared she look at his face. She could only bury her face in the side of his neck, her voice so soft it was almost inaudible: "How...how could this happen..."

"It's probably because this bed is too soft," Su Mu said through gritted teeth. "The more I move, the more I sink in."

Lin Yuwei didn't speak, but she could clearly feel the temperature coming from where the two of them were pressed together, as well as the undeniable presence below.

Her breathing became shallow and rapid, and her fingers unconsciously gripped the fabric on his shoulder.

I don't know how much time passed. Maybe a few seconds, maybe longer.

Su Mu finally regained his balance, bracing himself on the bed with one hand and gently supporting her waist with the other, slowly pushing her away from him a little.

His movements were light, but his strength was steady, as if he was afraid that any exertion would trigger another ripple in the waterbed.

Lin Yuwei rolled off him and lay down about an arm's length away from him, facing the cable car wall, curled up in a ball, her ears as red as if they were about to bleed.

Su Mu also turned over, facing away from her, and sat on the edge of the bed with his legs dangling over the edge, looking down at the floor.

His breathing was heavy. The dryness in his mouth hadn't subsided; in fact, it had become even more pronounced after the struggle.

Neither of them spoke first.

The entire cable car was eerily quiet, except for the waterbed, which was still undulating slightly from the two people's movements, making a very faint sound, like a bubble bursting.

Su Mu rubbed his face, took a deep breath, and then spoke, his voice still a little hoarse: "Um... have you seen today's intelligence?"

This is clearly a change of topic.

Lin Yuwei froze for a moment, then shook her head very slightly: "We...we haven't had time yet."

"Let me see." Su Mu said, standing up and taking two steps toward the control panel, forcing himself to focus his attention on the panel. "I'll take a look too."

He opened his intelligence interface.

Lin Yuwei paused for a few more seconds before sitting up on the bed, her legs together, her hands on her knees, her fingers intertwined.

She tried to make her expression look normal, but the blush on her face still lingered on her ears and neck and wouldn't go away.

She also opened her own intelligence panel.

.......