It's half past ten in the evening, and the night is already deep.
In Yoyogi Park, although a few street lights or floor lamps are still on, the whole park has long since returned to tranquility.
The same is true near the park.
In the quiet, a sound of splashing water suddenly sounded from a bathroom in a certain high-end apartment building.
"ha……"
After wiping it on, there was still water dripping on his face. Naruse's eyes widened and he kept breathing.
He fell asleep in the bathtub.
"Almost drowned..."
After the shock subsided, he splashed water on his face again to make himself more awake.
When he soaked in the bathtub, due to some strong physiological impulses, he kept letting himself clear his mind and clear away distracting thoughts.
Then……
“The shorting has gone too far.”
It is very comfortable to soak in hot water, and it is not strange to fall asleep.
What's more, he was very tired today.
Wow——
After wiping some water on his face, Naruse moved back, leaning against the bathtub and looking at the overhead light on the ceiling.
"Speaking of which, when I first came home, I seemed to be planning to have dinner at seven o'clock and go to bed at eight o'clock..."
As a result, it was already past ten o'clock as we sat there.
After soaking for a while, Naruse quickly came out before falling asleep again.
Back in the living room, Shangzi and Haixing were leaning to one side on the sofa, both already asleep.
They were already sleepy, and when he went to take a shower, he lost his concentration and soon drifted into the ocean of sleep.
Sitting between the two of them, Naruse wiped his hair, looked at them, and watched TV for a while.
When the cleaning was almost done, he picked up Shangzi and prepared to take her back to the room to sleep.
As soon as he straightened up, she woke up.
"Well... Harumi..."
"Naoko is asleep. Go back to your room and sleep."
"Okay..." She smiled, hugged his neck, and suddenly saw Starfish still lying on the sofa.
"starfish!"
"...Wow."
Starfish trembled, turned his head, woke up, and looked around blankly.
"..."
Meeting her gaze, Naruse glanced down again. Naoko tilted her head and leaned in his arms, already "asleep".
"Hello……"
She didn't react, just breathed evenly.
"...It's time to sleep." Naruse said to Haixing.
"oh……"
She sat up, looked at him and Shangzi in his arms, and rubbed her face again.
After sending Shangzi back to the room and laying her down on the bed, she opened her eyes and stretched out her hand to him.
Hold hands together.
"Good night, Chunhai."
"Good night."
She looked at the door again, "Why hasn't Haixing come in yet..."
"She's probably still confused." Naruse held her hand, "I won't carry her in anyway."
Shangzi smiled, "Yeah."
"Go to sleep."
She was a little reluctant to let go of his hand, but her sleepiness was not false. The brief closing of her eyes in his arms almost made her fall asleep.
She comforted herself with the fact that she would have a lot of alone time after returning home.
"Haruhai also goes to bed early."
"good."
After leaving the room, Haixing did not fall asleep again, but had already sat up.
Naruse walked over and picked up the towel, "Go to bed yet."
She yawned and stared at him blankly.
Naruse ignored her, sent the towel back to the bathroom, returned to the living room and packed up the things on the table.
He threw the pizza box, sushi and dessert packaging into the trash can and wiped the table a little, but Haixing still didn't go to sleep.
When Naruse turned around, he found that she was lying down on the sofa again.
"starfish."
She closed her eyes, "Yeah."
"Go back to your room and sleep."
She said nothing, turned her head slightly, faced inside, and arched her legs again.
"What?"
"...I have no strength left."
"Then you lie down."
"..."
She opened her eyes, stared at him, and sat up.
Naruse ignored it and packed the garbage bags, "Good night."
Haixing ignored him and quickly got up and went back to the room.
After clearing the table in the living room, Naruse sat on the sofa and looked at his phone.
It's almost eleven o'clock.
After taking a bath and struggling for a while, he felt quite awake.
After turning off the lights and TV in the living room, he was about to go back to his room to rest. After taking two steps, he turned and walked to the balcony.
Looking at the deserted street below and Yoyogi Park opposite, he sent a message to Matsu Chiaki.
Her reply was a video.
Naruse clicked on it.
She was already in a seaside park in Tokyo Bay.
It’s approaching eleven o’clock, and some wandering figures can still be seen in the park.
The camera is looking at a place not far away, where some crew members are busy.
"The staff over there are debugging the equipment." Song Qianqiu's voice rang out.
"The situation is more optimistic in the evening. We can probably start shooting in advance. The initial time is 11:05. I am taking a walk here now to find my status... Can I shoot?"
Another female voice rang: "Eh?"
"I want my son to see my co-star who, like me, couldn't sleep in the middle of the night and was taken to the beach to film."
"Hahaha, okay."
The camera turned and a somewhat familiar face appeared on the screen.
"Hi...ah, what is the name of Miss Song's son?"
"Spring Sea."
"Hello, Harumi~"
"Hello, Maki." Matsu Chiaki greeted him on his behalf.
"I heard from Miss Sato that Miss Matsu's son looks very similar to you. He should also be a handsome boy."
"Very handsome."
"I really want to meet you."
"The day after tomorrow, I will bring him to the studio to have a look."
"real?"
The female artist smiled slightly at the camera and said, "I'm looking forward to it."
"..."
A standard business smile.
The video is not long, only a short paragraph, but it is enough for Naruse to understand Matsu Chiaki's state at this time.
Knowing that she had already started working, he didn't say anything more, replied a few more sentences, and prepared to go back to the room to sleep.
As a result, when he turned around, he almost threw the phone away.
"Ah, sorry..."
Seeing his whole body trembling, Haixing, who was holding on to the floor-to-ceiling window, also knew that he appeared too quietly and scared him.
"I wanted to say hello just now, but you seemed to be busy..."
"...Sooner or later, I will be scared to death by you."
Naruse took a deep breath, his back felt warm and his legs were still a little weak.
"What are you doing when you're not sleeping?"
"I just came back from the bathroom and saw you on the balcony, so I came over to take a look... I seemed to hear auntie's voice."
"Well, I asked her about the situation there, and she sent a video."
"Ah, let me see."
Naruse glanced at her and handed the phone over.
She went in with her cell phone in hand.
"Hello……"
"Huh?" Haixing sat on the sofa.
"It's okay." Naruse also returned to the living room, sitting a little distance away and sitting next to him.
Haixing has already clicked on the video.
After watching for a while, she suddenly shouted: "Ah, Yoshimura Maki!"
"It is indeed her." Naruse also remembered the full name of the female artist.
"So auntie wants to film a scene opposite her..."
"Um."
After watching the video quickly, Haixing returned the phone to him, "Thank you."
"go to sleep."
"Well...what about you, do you still want to play games?"
"No, I'll go to sleep right away."
"oh."
Haixing responded, still huddled on the sofa and didn't move.
Naruse looked at her.
"Is Naoko asleep?"
"Asleep...she seems very tired."
"I'm very tired too," Naruse said.
Starfish muttered.
"What?"
"nothing."
"If you don't tell me, I won't take you to Disneyland tomorrow."
"why is it like this……"
She looked at him in the dark for a while and finally confessed.
"I mean...you obviously still have the strength to carry Shangzi back to the room."
Naruse was silent for a few seconds, then leaned back and said, "That was the last bit of strength I had."
She doesn't believe it...
Starfish only muttered in his heart.
Darkness and silence enveloped the living room, with only a little light coming from outside.
When the conversation ended, neither of them spoke again and sat on the sofa in silence.
What is more reassuring than a warm night is the silent companionship of each other.
But it's getting late after all.
When she was vaguely aware that he was planning to end this short companionship, Haixing spoke.