Pregnant During An Apocalypse [BL]-Chapter 231 - Not safe enough

Jai didn’t say a word as they left the bathroom.

His hand was still slightly damp from the water... and from Shao’s touch.

Fingers curled around his own palm like he was trying to hold onto something fleeting.

Every now and then, as they walked back toward the dorm building, he could feel the pulse of that touch echo along his skin—ghostly but unmistakable. frёeωebɳovel.com

His eyes stared ahead, but his thoughts were behind—trapped in the way Shao had looked at him, touched him, lingered.

Beside him, Hana and Yuki were quiet too. No teasing. No chattering. Maybe they sensed the shift in the air, or maybe they just respected the silence that Jai was holding tightly around himself.

As for Shao... he stayed close.

Not touching. But always near.

So near that Jai could feel the heat of him at his back.

Shao wasn’t a man of many words, but right now, Jai didn’t want them.

That silent closeness... it said enough.

When they finally reached the room, Hana gently touched Yuki’s shoulder and guided her inside first.

Jai stood at the door, fingers resting lightly on the knob as he pushed it open.

The soft light from inside spilled out into the dark corridor.

He turned to glance over his shoulder—and found Shao standing just behind him.

But he didn’t move to enter either.

Jai blinked. "G–good night," he said softly, almost unsure if he was speaking just to fill the air between them.

Hana and Yuki disappeared into the room, their voices still absent.

The silence stretched again, but Jai didn’t step away from the door.

He kept it open... kept watching Shao.

Shao didn’t turn to leave.

Didn’t look like he planned to walk away either.

He just stood there, eyes locked on Jai, unmoving. Almost reluctant. As if stepping inside would be too much—and leaving would be unbearable.

Jai’s fingers tightened slightly on the door edge. His lips parted, like he might say something—but the words refused to come. His throat felt full. He didn’t want to shut him out. But he didn’t know how to ask him to stay, either.

Then, slowly, Shao lifted a hand.

And placed it gently against the doorframe.

Without a word, he helped Jai guide the door closed.

Their hands brushed again—briefly.

The wooden door clicked into place softly.

Jai stood there for a second longer, staring at the closed door, his heartbeat uneven in his chest. His palm still tingled from that touch.

He pressed his back against the door and slid down until he was sitting on the floor, knees drawn up.

’I’m far gone..... this is bad...’

Outside, Shao remained for a moment, his shadow lingering under the crack of the door.

*******

Shao didn’t return to his room immediately.

He lingered outside Jai’s door for a few long seconds, staring at the grain of the wood, listening to the quiet murmur of Hana and Yuki settling in. Then, without a word, he turned on his heel and walked back to his room.

The moment he opened the door, Yunfeng straightened from the bed. Muchen, who’d been sitting by the window, looked over.

Shao didn’t waste time.

"We need to leave," he said.

Yunfeng blinked. "What happened?"

"The men here," Shao said, his voice low and sharp, "they’re..... there not good people."

His fists clenched by his sides. The blood had been washed off, but he still felt the man’s skin under his knuckles—felt the wrongness of it all crawling under his own.

"I saw one of them attack Jai," he said. "Tried to drag him off. I handled it. But there’s something wrong here."

Muchen was already standing. "We’ll leave," he said immediately. "We’ll find a way out. I don’t care if the outside is hell—we’ve survived worse."

"We need to talk to the others," Yunfeng added, worry blooming across his face.

They called the others quickly.

Soon, the small dorm room was crowded. Jai came in quiet, eyes lowered, still holding his hand as if it carried memory. Hana and Yuki followed behind him, Yuki glancing around nervously. Zei arrived not long after, arms folded tightly over his chest. Kailun was the last, looking confused, like the world had flipped without telling him.

No one sat at first. The room was too tight, too filled with tension. Muchen broke the silence.

"There’s something wrong with this place."

"You said that already," Kailun replied. "But what exactly happened?"

Jai didn’t answer.

Instead, Shao stepped forward. "A man touched him. Cornered him. He was one of them—the soldiers."

"I thought this place was supposed to be safe!" Kailun snapped. "The military rescued us."

"No," Hana said quietly, her voice calm but carrying a strange weight. "They didn’t stay here. I’ve been watching. The women in this place—they look... starved. Hollow-eyed. Like they haven’t slept in weeks."

"Maybe that’s just the stress," Kailun offered weakly, trying to rationalize. "Everyone’s gone through hell."

"I saw a woman kill a cat today," Shao added, gaze steady. "Crushed its skull with a brick. There was no reason. No desperation. Just... detachment. Like she’d already seen too much."

Kailun flinched. "That doesn’t make sense..."

Now Zei, who’d been silent, finally spoke.

"It’s because the ones who saved us didn’t stay here," he said. His voice was calm, factual—almost clinical, but his eyes flickered with something old and heavy. "They all left in the name of closing the tunnel. Its been two days. They haven’t been here again. This isn’t their base."

Silence.

Jai looked up then, eyes wide. "Then... who are these men?"

"Leftovers," Zei said. "Men who volunteered to guard this post. Or maybe just stayed behind because they didn’t want to leave the power they had here. I don’t know. But they’re not clean."

Muchen leaned back against the wall. "So we’re in the lion’s den, then."

"They don’t care about orders," Shao said. "They act however they want. No one is coming to check on them."

"I don’t want to be here," Yuki whispered, clutching Hana’s sleeve.

"We can’t just run," Kailun argued, though his voice was growing unsteady. "What if it’s worse out there?"

"It’s already worse in here," Jai finally said, quiet but cutting. "I’d rather take my chances with monsters I can see than the ones pretending to protect us."

Everyone went still at that.