The campfire burned brightly, illuminating the hovering insects around the fire and the dark, dense forest within a few meters. The young man sat cross-legged by the fire. The special forces soldier walked back and forth setting up a hammock, repeatedly turning back and staring unblinkingly at his casual side profile.
The soldier set up the hammock and tested its stability. The young man watched his busy back contentedly, propping his chin.
The soldier laughed, walking over to ruffle the young man’s hair.
“I don’t want to sleep in the hammock,” the young man said, turning over by the fire with a berry pit in his mouth, speaking indistinctly.
“Why? Uncomfortable?”
“Cold.”
“Can’t be helped.”
The young man twisted around the campfire, surprisingly agile, dodging the soldier’s attempt to carry him to the hammock.
“Little classmate!” the soldier was helpless, touching his forehead: “What exactly do you want?”
In the firelight, the young man’s glass-like bright eyes rolled around, and he laughed: “I’ll sit here and keep watch. Give me the gun, you go sleep.”
Before he could finish, the soldier plopped down by the campfire and beckoned: “Come here.”
“What?”
“I’ll show you a magic trick.”
The young man leaned closer, pulled into the soldier’s arm. The camouflage-clad long legs firmly enclosed him. Before he could struggle, he was wrapped in a warm tactical jacket, even his neck stuffed tightly, not a breath of wind could penetrate.
“Trick’s done,” the soldier said briefly. “Sleep.”
The back of the young man’s head was pressed, his head resting on a broad, solid chest, momentarily stunned.
He could hear the other’s steady, powerful heartbeat and the soft crackling of the campfire, with distant night forest winds whistling beyond.
But the cold wind whistling through the treetops suddenly seemed very far away, having nothing to do with him. The warm embrace isolated the cold, dangerous, lonely world.
He carefully took a breath, the Alpha pheromones in his nasal cavity mixed with a hint of sweat.
This was the first time he’d felt secure in such an atmosphere.
“…I haven’t asked your name yet,” the young man murmured, half-asleep.
The soldier, one hand on his gun, warily surveying the forest night: “Hm? Exchanging names between contestants and hostages violates the rules.”
“Tell me…”
