Rebirth of a Mercenary: The Ace Mercenary Forced to Be the Beloved of the Group

Bai Ye sat under the poplar tree furthest inside the training field.

He leaned against the tree trunk, one leg bent and the other straight, holding a water bottle in his hand, taking small sips of water.

Then he heard footsteps, which stopped in front of him.

Bai Ye opened her eyes.

Xuan Xiao stood in front of him. He looked at Bai Ye, then fell straight down.

Bai Ye had no time to dodge. Xuan Xiao's body, like a wall that had been pushed down, pressed down solidly on him, heavy with sweat and heat. His shoulder slammed into Bai Ye's chest, his head buried in Bai Ye's shoulder, and his two arms passed through Bai Ye's waist, resting weakly on the ground.

Bai Ye's back was slammed against the tree trunk. The rough texture of the bark pressed against his shoulder blades through his training uniform, and the weight of another person pressed against his chest, compressing his breathing by a third.

He frowned.

"What are you doing?"

Xuanxiao buried his face in the crook of his neck, his voice muffled.

"Replenish energy."

Bai Ye's brows furrowed even deeper.

"stand up."

"I won't get up."

"stand up."

"I won't get up."

Bai Ye's face darkened. He raised his hand, pressed down on Xuan Xiao's shoulder, and pushed him outward.

Xuanxiao's shoulder was pushed a few centimeters away, then his arms tightened, holding Bai Ye's waist even more firmly.

Ye pushed it twice, but it didn't budge.

Xuanxiao was stronger than him, and with his already larger frame than Baiye, when he pressed down on him, it felt like a bag of water-soaked cement, incredibly heavy.

"Let me lean on you for a bit." Xuanxiao's voice came from the crook of his neck, tired and hoarse from overexertion. "I'll treat you to candy another day."

Bai Ye's hand rested on his shoulder.

There was silence for a moment.

He put his hand down.

Five minutes.

Xuan Xiao's lips curved slightly at an angle that no one could see.

He buried his face deeper into Bai Ye's neck. His nose brushed against the skin of Bai Ye's neck, skin damp with sweat, slightly salty and warm. Then the scent washed over him.

blueberry.

It smells so good.

Xuan Xiao's breathing unconsciously slowed down. Each inhale became deep, as if he wanted to take in all that flavor and store it in his lungs.

His arm was still wrapped around Bai Ye's waist, his fingers resting on the fabric of the training uniform, and he could feel the curve of the waist under the fabric.

Bai Ye's body temperature emanated from his chest and waist, warm and even through two layers of sweat-soaked training uniform.

Xuan Xiao had his eyes closed, but the smile on his lips was impossible to hide.

-

the other side.

Li Mo stood in the corridor on the second floor of the office building.

The training manual in his hand was crumpled and deformed, the cover folded into a sharp corner, and a small tear appeared in the binding. He was completely unaware of it.

Lu Xiao was walking up the stairs, carrying two bottles of water and humming an off-key tune. He walked up to Li Mo and followed Li Mo's gaze to the edge of the training field.

The singing stopped.

Beneath the poplar tree, Bai Ye sat leaning against the trunk. Xuan Xiao lay sprawled on top of him, his face buried in Bai Ye's neck, his arms wrapped around Bai Ye's waist. Bai Ye's hands were at his sides; he didn't push him away.

Lu Xiao's Adam's apple bobbed.

Before he could even speak, Li Mo slammed the training manual on the windowsill and turned to walk towards the stairwell. His boots pounded on the terrazzo floor, each step carrying the air of someone about to tear someone from Bai Ye's body.

Lu Xiao threw the two bottles of water on the ground, pounced on Li Mo from behind, hugged him around the waist, and pulled him backward while hanging on him.

"Old Li! Calm down! Calm down, calm down, calm down!"

Li Mo paused for a moment as he was pulled, but continued walking forward. Lu Xiao's feet left two marks on the ground.

"Let go."

"Calm down!"

"I am very calm."

"You're always at your most irrational when you say 'calm down'!"

Li Mo broke free from Lu Xiao's arm and continued walking forward. Lu Xiao pounced on him again, this time going around to the front, placing his hands on Li Mo's shoulders, and pinning him against the wall of the corridor.

"Listen to me. That's a comrade-in-arms. What's wrong with comrades leaning on each other? After a whole afternoon of shooting, my arms are so sore I can't even lift them. It's normal to lean on a comrade-in-arms. We used to go on missions and when we were exhausted, we would lean on each other to sleep. You leaned on me, I leaned on you, the whole team leaned on each other."

Li Mo's jawline was taut like a fully drawn bowstring.

"That's Xiaobai."

"Xiao Bai is a new recruit, and Xuan Xiao is his comrade-in-arms. Your comrade's tired, lean on him for a bit, is there a problem?"

"His face was buried in his neck."

Lu Xiao paused for a moment.

"That's—that's the angle. He just happened to be in that position when he lay down, it wasn't intentional—"

"Hands wrapped around waist."

"That's because he was holding the gun so long that his arm wouldn't obey him anymore, and it just happened to hang down there—"

"Five minutes have passed."

Lu Xiao opened his mouth, only to find himself at a loss for words.

He glanced back at the edge of the training field. Under the poplar tree, Xuan Xiao was still lying on Bai Ye, in the same position as before, perhaps even more relaxed.

Bai Ye's hand was raised at some point and placed on the back of Xuan Xiao's head, her fingers lightly touching it, neither patting nor stroking, just resting there.

Lu Xiao turned his head back and found that Li Mo had also seen it.

Li Mo was like a volcano about to erupt. Beneath the calm surface lay churning magma, and smoke was already rising from the cracks.

"Old Li, Old Li, look at me." Lu Xiao cupped his face, turning his gaze away from the training field. "Comrades. They are comrades. The camaraderie of recruit training. After recruit training ends and they are assigned to different companies, it's uncertain whether they will ever see each other again. It's only three months; just bear with it."

Li Mo's Adam's apple bobbed.

"Besides, you know what kind of person Xiaobaicai is," Lu Xiao continued, speaking rapidly. "The fact that he lets people lean on him means he approves of that person. If you rush down and grab Xuanxiao right now, what will Xiaobaicai think? He'll feel like you're interfering with his friendships. He hates being told what to do most."

These words were like a needle, precisely piercing the point that Li Mo cared about most.

His shoulders relaxed slightly.

Lu Xiao noticed this slight change and immediately pressed his advantage.

"Look, didn't Xiaobaicai put his hand on it? That was voluntary. If he hadn't wanted to, Xuanxiao's arm would have been broken long ago. Don't you remember how that thief in the square was thrown over the shoulder?"

Li Mo didn't speak, but his clenched fist loosened a little.

-

Five minutes have passed under the poplar tree.

Bai Ye gently tapped Xuan Xiao's head with his finger.

"Time is up."

Xuanxiao didn't move.

"Xuanxiao".

Still nothing.

Bai Ye looked down. Xuan Xiao's breathing became long and even, his gray-haired head resting in the crook of Bai Ye's neck, his shoulders rising and falling slightly with his breath.

Fell asleep.

Bai Ye's hand hovered in mid-air for a moment before finally landing back on the back of Xuan Xiao's head, without waking him up.