Chapter 16 Friendship That Allows Sleeping Together
No. 88 Courtyard.
Andrew crouched by the window of the house on the left, scanning Emily's room with wide eyes. "Still not back this late?"
From the house on the right, Alexander shouted, "Can you come over and help? Did I invite you for a tour?"
"Stop yelling, I'm coming," Andrew replied listlessly, turned around, crossed the courtyard, and walked into Alexander's room, "It's just a rental house. You only come back to sleep. Are you planning to turn it into a palace? That's enough."
"I live here, and I should keep it clean," Alexander said, fanning his nose with his hand. "Help me mop the floor. It's all dusty."
"You want a deputy team leader to mop your floor? Alexander, you're a bit full of yourself," Andrew commented.
"I'll treat you to dinner later," Alexander said.
"That's more like it," Andrew, inherently lazy, rarely helped with chores, so it was quite a rare occasion for him to help Alexander today.
The two worked together, with Andrew mainly giving instructions and Alexander doing the work. They kept busy until around 8 or 9 PM, but Emily still hadn't returned.
"Why isn't she back yet?" Andrew was mainly there to see Emily.
"Stop looking. She's not your type." Alexander rolled his eyes. "Let's eat."
"Alright, let's go to that restaurant," Andrew suggested.
"No, I'll go out and get some snacks," Alexander said.
"What snacks?" Andrew asked.
"Instant food, it's convenient," Alexander replied.
"I helped you move, and you're giving me this to eat?" Andrew was speechless.
"Instant food is cheap. Take it or leave it. If you don't want it, go home. We've been working all night. It's tiring," Alexander replied with a sidelong glance.
"You're really heartless." Andrew was disappointed.
"I'll get you a hot dog, too, deal?" Alexander laughed and left the house.
The courtyard had five households in total. The landlady lived inside the iron gate of the inner courtyard and rarely came out. The other four households had Emily and Alexander living on either side of the main gate. The last two families lived in the side rooms, which had no water or electricity supply and were usually unoccupied.
After Alexander returned with the food, he boiled some water. He and Andrew had a simple dinner and planned to go to bed early to continue interrogating Robert and Daniel the next day.
"Alright, we're done eating. You should go home," Alexander said, taking off his coat.
Andrew burped. "Forget it. I'm not going home. I'll stay here tonight."
"Andrew, there's only one small bed. How are we going to sleep?" Alexander asked.
"I'll cuddle you." Andrew, too lazy to clean up the leftovers, flopped onto the bed and kicked off his smelly shoes.
"Are you crazy?" Alexander asked, feeling a bit uneasy. "Are you here for Emily or for me?"
"Have you ever had sex with a man?" Andrew asked curiously from the bed.
Alexander was stunned and momentarily speechless.
"I'm asking you, have you?"
"Have you?" Alexander retorted.
"I... I've seen others do it. They say it can stimulate the prostate..." Andrew began to ramble.
"Shut up!" Alexander felt nauseated. "Are you going home or not?"
"No, it's too late. I'll stay here." Andrew yawned and haphazardly took off his clothes.
Alexander had no choice but to wash up quickly and get into bed, too. But there was only one set of blankets, so he felt a bit awkward, especially with Andrew's earlier words still lingering in his mind.
"Did you catch the drug dealers?" Andrew asked, facing Alexander with his eyes closed, already drifting off to sleep.
"Yeah." Alexander nodded. "Caught two leaders."
"William must be thrilled," Andrew sneered. "That bastard, always preaching morality but doing meaningless things."
It wasn't the first time Alexander had heard Andrew say such things. "You seem to have a problem with the first team."
"It's hard to explain in a few words, but I should remind you. When you're working, keep your personal life separate..." Andrew said.
"Move your leg. It's touching me," Alexander interrupted.
"I didn't move my leg," Andrew replied.
Alexander added, "Yes, you did. It's touching me."
"That's not my leg," Andrew said with his eyes closed.
At that moment, there was a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" Alexander called out.
"It's me, Emily... Are you back?" Emily asked.
"I'm back." Alexander answered.
"Do you have warm water? I just got back from overtime, and the water's out. I can't wash up," Emily said, leaning against the window and knocking, not knowing Alexander was inside. She vaguely saw Alexander get out of bed.
"Yes, wait a moment." Alexander, without pajamas, put on a coat and opened the door.
"Sorry to bother you. Are you already asleep?" Emily, dressed in a woolen coat, had a face flushed from the cold.
"No worries. I still have some warm water left." Alexander smiled. "I'll get it for you."
"Thanks," Emily replied politely, not barging in.
Alexander turned to get the water. "Your job seems exhausting. Getting off so late?"
"Just started getting used to it," Emily said, stretching her neck. "Sitting all day, I have my neck stiff."
"Emily, we don't have much warm water left." At that moment, Andrew suddenly sat up from the bed, grabbed his underwear, and shouted, "Wait, I'll go to the well and get some cold water for you to heat up. Just wait!"
At the door, Emily's eyes widened in shock as she saw Andrew putting on his underwear on the bed. She stiffly glanced at Alexander, her expression confused, and stammered, "Is... is your partner here, too?"
Alexander stood there with the kettle, completely dumbfounded.
Outside No. 88 Courtyard, an electric motorcycle was parked. The person in the back seat glanced at the main gate and said, "Donald White said a colleague of his lives here, too."
"Two people?" the rider asked.
"Yes."
"Alright, let's wait for Alexander to come out on his own before we move," the rider demanded.
With that, the motorcycle quietly disappeared down the street into the night.
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