One word—”boyfriend”—and the entire single group of Team Seven received a heavy blow early in the morning.

Knowing that their captain, who had always had a macho, homophobic image, suddenly started a relationship with another guy was one thing, but witnessing it firsthand was something else entirely. If before they could still joke and tease about it, now they truly felt the ambiguous and intense atmosphere between Captain Song and Consultant Ji.

Even though they hadn’t done anything overtly intimate, and both of them looked no different than usual, just standing there together made it impossible for the others to ignore the fact that they were now a couple.

Tang Le was stunned: “How did it become ‘boyfriend’?”

Zhou Mingxuan added, “Consultant Ji, are you sure you don’t want to reconsider?!”

Ji Yushi took small bites of the hot egg pancake and replied between bites, “Didn’t you all remind me that Captain Song is in high demand?”

His words were light and casual, as if he were saying, “I heard the price of vegetables is going up, so I thought I’d buy some.”

Song Qinglan crossed his arms, wearing a self-satisfied expression that spoke of his confidence: “Thank you all for your help.”

The group: “Damn!”

Having missed the process from the beginning, they felt like they had helped out for nothing!

Li Chun roared in frustration, “What did we miss?! Weren’t you supposed to take a day to think it over?! Everything seemed fine during the game, but what the hell did you two sneak off and do while we were all asleep last night?”

Finding a partner was a good sign—it meant the curse of Team Seven’s singleness had been broken. Li Chun had even planned to start a love diary for the team, starting with Captain Song finding a partner!

His question was on point.

Just now, Song Qinglan had said things like, “I saw you were sleeping soundly when I left,” and “Next time, go to bed earlier.” It really made people’s imaginations run wild.

Everyone’s expressions were rich with meaning, as if they were imagining that things moved differently for gay couples, and that even someone who had just recently come out could immediately hit a home run.

Song Qinglan had no doubt that if it weren’t for Ji Yushi’s reserved nature, these rascals would have already voiced these thoughts. He scoffed, “What could we have done? Spending the night in a public place—do you think I’d disrespect Consultant Ji like that?”

The group felt somewhat reassured—they hadn’t rocketed ahead, and Captain Song was still the lowly virgin.

They switched to mocking mode.

“Can’t do it, can’t do it!”

Song Qinglan, now with a partner, remained calm and composed, “It was just because it was too late, so I stayed in my boyfriend’s room and held him while we slept.”

Ji Yushi finished his egg pancake and chimed in at the right moment, “It was a single bed; it was a bit cramped for two people.”

Song Qinglan reassured him, “No worries, once we’re home, it’ll be better.”

The group: “???”

The group: “Damn!!!”

They continued to grumble and complain, but the two of them were actually telling the truth.

The private training room only had a single bed meant for one person, so squeezing in two grown men was indeed a bit tight. Especially since Song Qinglan was tall and broad-shouldered, there was a risk of falling out of bed with even the slightest movement. He didn’t mind and didn’t plan to leave, so he just held Ji Yushi tightly in his arms and spent the night that way.

At first, they couldn’t sleep.

Ji Yushi had always had trouble sleeping, and having someone else in the bed made it even harder for him to relax.

As for Song Qinglan, he was too restless to sleep, as the saying goes—when someone you’re attracted to is in your arms, how could you remain indifferent? Especially when the person in his arms, usually cold and distant, was now soft and warm. He stared at Ji Yushi’s peaceful sleeping face in the darkness, and only fell asleep in the early hours of the morning.

So, one could be considered as experiencing love for the first time, and the other had no experience at all.

Although they no longer had as many reservations after expressing their feelings, in reality, they were much more innocent than their teammates imagined.

When it was time, the group headed towards the medical center.

In the spacious hallway, the tall and strong Guardians were jostling each other, reminiscent of school bullies running rampant on campus.

As they passed by a platform, Duan Wen suddenly said, “Is that Team Nine over there?”

Everyone stopped and looked in the direction he indicated.

Outside the platform, in the woods, Team Nine was spread out, bending over and searching through the bushes and grass, as if looking for something.

Sensing the gazes from the platform, Lin Xinlan straightened up and looked over at them.

Seeing the tallest figure among the group, Song Qinglan, Lin Xinlan squinted and smiled at him, then made a heart shape with his fingers from a distance, as if deliberately.

Everyone: “……”

They had been away for so long that they almost forgot about this.

It seemed that the affection of Team Nine’s captain for Team Seven’s captain had become a daily occurrence at the Jiangcheng branch.

No wonder everyone was wary of Lin; someone was even said to develop PTSD from his persistence. Lin Xinlan was far more obsessive in this regard than he appeared to be.

Tang Le asked, “What are they doing?”

Tang Qi responded, “No idea.”

The group continued walking.

Ji Yushi said, “Looking for a die.”

“A die?” Song Qinglan detected something unusual, remembering that someone had been looking for a die last night as well. “How do you know?”

“The die you gave him at the cadet training camp,” Ji Yushi replied calmly, looking ahead. “We chatted a bit here last night. I told him to throw it away, but maybe he regrets it now.”

Realizing what was going on, the group burst into laughter.

Ji Yushi certainly held grudges.

The news of the two of them being together would eventually spread, becoming known in both Jiangcheng and Ningcheng. So, Ji Yushi openly held onto grudges, making sure everything was handled clearly and precisely. His personality was really something else.

All of Team Sky Vault Seven was back together.

The medical center had specially dispatched personnel, with several experts conducting psychological evaluations for them, along with post-mission psychological counseling.

The evaluation took the entire morning.

Afterward, they were informed that they were allowed to go home early for rest, with the vacation time to be determined after the psychological evaluation report was completed.

This meant that their seemingly endless mission had finally come to an end.

No more Ouroboros, no more Chaos, no more indistinguishable bubble worlds, and no more baffling Rubik’s Cubes. Despair, pain, bloodshed, and confusion were all sealed off in another time and space. They had returned to their own timeline, to a safe and peaceful harbor.

Minister Wang came to Team Seven’s training ground and warmly told them that they had worked hard.

After a few words of comfort, Minister Wang asked Ji Yushi, “Xiao Ji, have you considered transferring to Jiangcheng and officially becoming a member of Team Seven?”

Team Seven’s previous observer, Lao Yu, had retired due to injury, so it was within everyone’s expectations that Minister Wang would extend this invitation.

Unlike Minister Qi in the bubble world, Minister Wang’s approach was more gentle, without any sense of pressure for Ji Yushi.

Minister Wang added, “If you decide to come to Jiangcheng, I believe you’ll get along well with your teammates. You don’t know this, but Xiao Song was full of praise for you in his mission report. His attitude towards you when you first arrived in Jiangcheng is completely different now—it’s like night and day!”

The group burst into laughter.

Even Ji Yushi couldn’t help but smile, standing out among the group.

Minister Wang, unaware of the truth, continued to expose Song Qinglan: “Before you came, his nose wasn’t a nose, his face wasn’t a face—he insisted that you record-keeping desk workers were useless, nothing but decorative pillows! He even said that if you were really assigned to the team, he’d immediately leave!”

Song Qinglan was struggling to maintain his composure: “…”

“Oh, I know,” Minister Wang said, “He was just worried about what happened last time. He’s very responsible, and whenever someone on the team gets hurt, he blames himself, afraid that he won’t be able to protect a non-combatant, leading to their sacrifice. And it turns out his concerns weren’t unfounded. If it weren’t for your abilities exceeding everyone’s expectations, this mission, given its dangers, could have ended badly.”

In fact, everyone understood.

The reason they were selected by the Sky Vault system as a “team with a higher-than-average success rate” was because Ji Yushi had joined.

Minister Wang continued, “When two strong individuals meet, one plus one is greater than two. If Team Seven had you, it would be like adding wings to a tiger—you could become the strongest team in Jiangcheng, or even in the entire Time Management Alliance, a sword protecting time and space.”

The female leader’s passionate encouragement made all of Team Seven put away their relaxed and self-satisfied expressions.

They were Guardians of Time and Space.

They protected the peace of time and space.

This belief had never changed since they joined Sky Vault.

Ji Yushi said, “I’ll think about it.”

He noticed that all eyes were on him, especially one particularly intense and burning gaze.

Everything was different now.

Ji Yushi formally responded to the invitation: “Once I’ve taken care of my personal matters, I would be happy to join the Guardians and become a member of Team Seven as an observer.”

The Tang brothers, Tang Qi and Tang Le, were in charge of retrieving everyone’s personal items, including their phones and clothes, which had been handed over before the mission.

Ji Yushi changed into the regular clothes he had brought with him when he arrived in Jiangcheng, and soon after, there was a knock on the door.

Song Qinglan walked in.

The scene felt familiar.

Ji Yushi was dressed in a simple white shirt and black pants, the shirt tucked into his pants, outlining his slender waist and straight back.

Under the lights of the training room, his fair skin and delicate features exuded a cold, distant aura, like a pine tree by a snowy lakeside.

It was almost like the first time they met.

“What’s up?” he asked Song Qinglan, with a tone that carried a familiarity only noticeable to those who knew them well.

Yet everything was completely different from their first meeting.

Song Qinglan walked over, grabbed his arm, and pulled him into a hug, taking a deep breath as he said, “I don’t want you to leave.”

Song Qinglan had also changed into casual clothes, completely different from his usual domineering presence, now looking more like a laid-back, carefree young man from a wealthy family. Without the title of Sky Vault’s Team Seven captain, he was just an ordinary 26-year-old.

Ji Yushi was momentarily stunned. So, this was what saying goodbye felt like.

He had never been used to feeling attached to anyone, not even when he moved out to live alone before college.

But now, he understood this emotion, even though he knew they would see each other again soon.

They had been missing for an entire month, and now they both needed to go home.

When Ji Yushi turned on his phone, there were many missed calls and unread messages, all from his family.

Some of the messages were exactly the same as those in the bubble world, but many were different—this time, Ji Minyue had taken leave and was driving from Ningcheng to pick him up.

Leaning on Song Qinglan’s shoulder, Ji Yushi grabbed his shirt: “I’ll wait for you.”

This understanding made Song Qinglan smile slightly, and he mischievously asked, “Wait for me to do what?”

Ji Yushi followed along, “Wait for you to come to Ningcheng to see your grandfather.”

Song Qinglan laughed, “Damn.”

They hugged for a while, and before the farewell emotions grew too strong, Song Qinglan asked, “Consultant Ji, can I stay at your place again this time?”

Ji Yushi agreed, “Yes, you can.”

“Are you sure?” Song Qinglan said in a low voice, “I mean the kind where we sleep in the same bed.”