Chapter 52: Apology

Shakya left a message for Longsheng on the messaging app.
They agreed on a time and place to meet.
Because the East District had been destroyed, residents were currently being relocated to vacant housing in other districts, and the government provided basic water, electricity, gas, and furniture to those who had lost their homes.
Even though the area where Longsheng's apartment was located had not been directly damaged by the fighting, the nearby roads, utilities, and power lines had been wrecked.
It was impossible for Longsheng to live there even if he went back.
Moreover, since that residential complex was situated within a lockdown zone, returning was entirely out of the question.
"Don't worry, I've already found a better place to stay," Longsheng had replied in his message.
Naturally, he hadn't gone to the government-assigned vacant housing either.
After all, who else had a friend like Bruce?
With the permission of both his parents and Bruce's family, Longsheng had moved into the luxurious mansion where Bruce was holding down the fort.
As for Shakya, she was on her way to Bruce's house.
Having not visited for a while, Shakya was making this trip specifically to apologize to Longsheng, and since she was going to apologize, she certainly couldn't arrive empty-handed.
After exiting the subway station, Shakya bought some snacks and groceries, deciding to show off her culinary skills for Longsheng and Bruce.
Stepping out of the supermarket, Shakya unlocked a shared bicycle using her phone and placed the groceries in the front basket.
She then headed straight for the residential area where Bruce lived.
"Yo, hello there!"
The security guard seemed to remember Shakya; if it hadn't been for the warnings from Shakya and Bruce last time, he probably would have become one of those "zombies" himself.
Seeing Shakya ride up on her bicycle, he proactively opened the automatic iron gate of the complex and greeted her.
"Thanks, mister."
Shared bicycles were generally not allowed inside this residential complex, but since Shakya was his savior—and seeing that she was carrying so many groceries—the security guard let her pass right through.
Her last visit here had been a desperate dash through the night, but this time she finally got a good look at the surrounding terrain.
The landscaping in the complex was magnificent, making it feel almost like living inside a park.
Many of the residents here traveled by car, so the roads inside the neighborhood were quite spacious as well.
Of course, the scars of the recent attack were still visible.
Twisted street lamps were still piled along the roadside, along with smashed railings and decorative statues, and chunks of the lawn had been torn up.
Heaven only knew what had happened out here after Shakya brought Bruce rushing back into the mansion.
"Ding-dong!"
Shakya pressed the doorbell of Bruce's house.
There seemed to be no response, so Shakya pressed it two more times.
"Ding-dong! Ding-dong!"
Still no response.

"?"
Shakya sighed. Were boys really like this...? So much for promising to come open the door the moment they heard the bell; they had totally forgotten.
Placing the groceries on the ground, Shakya had no choice but to take out her phone and call Longsheng.
"Hello, hello? It's me, I'm at the front door."
Turns out these two guys had gotten too deep into a video game upstairs and were wearing headphones.
Well, whatever. Today, Shakya was here to play the servant to them.
Accompanied by a flurry of chaotic and hurried footsteps, the front door swung open.
"Whoa~ Did you really buy this much food!?"
It was Longsheng who opened the door, with Bruce following closely behind him.
"I'm really sorry about the day before yesterday, so today at least let me cook a nice meal for everyone..."
Shakya smiled shyly at Longsheng.
"I..."
"Alright, alright! Come on inside first before we talk!"
Bruce had also heard Longsheng talk about what happened back then. He had been quite worried, and seeing Shakya recover so quickly made him very happy.
"Oh, the front door has been replaced."
Shakya touched Bruce's new front door; it was similar to the old one, just a different color.
"Yeah, there are still some places we haven't had time to repair yet," Bruce said with a wry smile, pointing toward the hallway.
During the recent incident, many of the ground-floor apartments had suffered varying degrees of damage.
"If it weren't for you... I'd be a goner by now... Thank you, Qin... Shakya."
Bruce was wearing casual clothes, and it looked like his injuries had been properly treated, so there was no need to worry.
"Both of us were saved by you last time, and we're both deeply grateful. Seeing you in that state before really broke our hearts," Longsheng said as he proactively carried the large bag of groceries inside.
As expected, when two guys live together—no matter how luxurious the mansion—they always leave behind trails of disorder.
On the sofa in the ground-floor living room, Shakya had once helped Bruce rest.
Perhaps to cover up the bloodstains Bruce had left behind, the sofa was now covered with a dark bedsheet.
Atop the bedsheet were scattered clothes, backpacks, and other luggage Longsheng had brought along for his stay.
It seemed Longsheng had simply hauled his luggage over to Bruce's house, dumped it in a pile on the sofa and in the corner, and gone off to play games with Bruce.
Ah, it's great to be young, truly great...
Shakya didn't even bother helping them tidy up; it would just end up a mess again soon enough anyway.
Today, everyone should just let loose and have fun. Besides, Shakya herself needed to lift her spirits, otherwise, she would be completely consumed by depression and never be able to get back up.
She couldn't afford to fall apart just yet.

"You guys go back to playing, I'll start getting dinner ready."
Shakya carried the pile of groceries into the kitchen and prepared to get to work.
"No, no, you walked all this way, take a break first. We'd feel too bad," Bruce called out to her.
"It's only a little past 11 anyway, we usually don't eat lunch until 1:30," Longsheng said, scratching his nose with a sheepish grin.
"Oh?"
Shakya put down the plastic bags. It seemed these boys had a completely different daily schedule from her own.
"Well then... what kind of game are you guys playing? Let me see."
Had these two guys just been cooped up at home playing games for the past few days?
If getting lost in video games could make worries vanish so easily, Shakya almost envied them.
What was so fun anyway? Shakya was quite curious.
"Sure, I've got plenty of fun stuff in my room," Bruce smiled as well.
The three of them went up to Bruce's room on the second floor. As soon as Shakya stepped inside, her brow furrowed into a knot.
"Ugh... Setting aside what game you're playing... What's with all this trash..."
When Shakya had visited before, it looked like a normal boy's room.
It had simply displayed Bruce's hobbies in an orderly fashion.
But now, an extra desk had been squeezed in for Longsheng's computer, and empty instant noodle bowls and takeout boxes were strewn everywhere.
The air was thick with the sour, pungent stench of leftover food.
Empty beverage bottles were scattered in every corner.
"Uh... we got a bit too immersed these past few days... Hehe," Longsheng laughed awkwardly.
Bruce, on the other hand, felt no embarrassment at all; he didn't seem to think anything was wrong.
"It's fine, I tidy up my room every few days anyway. What's to worry about? It'll be a clean and neat house again by then!"
Fine, perhaps Bruce genuinely had that kind of habit.
If it had been the way Shakya remembered it during her previous visit, she would have simply admired Bruce's cleaning and organizing skills.
"Well, alright then, suit yourselves."
Shakya was in no position to judge others; just yesterday, she had let Ziyuan and Jingci come over to help clean her place, exposing all her own unsightly messes.
Fortunately, Ziyuan and Jingci weren't outsiders—they were people who genuinely cared about her.