Restrictive Zone

RA 11 - Tease

When it neared two in the afternoon, inmates slowly streamed out of the library, heading towards the factory area for their afternoon labour.

No one noticed that there was one person who stayed seated opposite Jiang Chijing, neither reading a book nor intending to leave.

After all the inmates in the library left, Zheng Mingyi carried his chair to stand in front of Jiang Chijing's office desk, meaningfully calling out, "Officer Jiang."

Jiang Chijing huffily said, "Just sit out there."

Zheng Mingyi said, "But I need to see the market trend."

Exactly. The warden had actually allowed Zheng Mingyi computer access. Jiang Chijing had never seen a more preposterous thing.

There were several data trend lines on the screen, but it wasn't convenient to change the direction of the monitor. Further, Jiang Chijing had to keep an eye on Zheng Mingyi to make sure that he didn't misuse his computer access, thus could only agree to Zheng Mingyi sitting next to him.

From the time that Jiang Chijing started working here until today, no one had ever entered his work area, let alone touch his computer.

But now, two adult men were crammed in the tiny fan-shaped work area, and if Jiang Chijing wasn't paying attention, his knees would bump into Zheng Mingyi's.

They were too close. Outrageously close.

Before this, Jiang Chijing and Zheng Mingyi were always separated by an 8-metres-wide road. This road represented a safe distance, allowing Jiang Chijing to be completely at ease.

Now, don't even start on safe distancing. Even the normal interpersonal distance in day-to-day social interactions couldn't be preserved, wholly breaching into the range of intimacy. Only God knew how much Jiang Chijing wanted to drive Zheng Mingyi out of his work area.

"Officer Jiang, what is this?"

Zheng Mingyi's voice disrupted Jiang Chijing's thoughts. He followed Zheng Mingyi's line of sight and glanced at the screen, only to find that the cursor was stopped above a software icon, which when opened, would bring up the surveillance video of the recreation room.

"It's none of your business."

Jiang Chijing hurriedly snatched the mouse back from Zheng Mingyi's hands, his fingertips brushing Zheng Mingyi's fingers and the back of his hand. They still carried the remnants of the scabs left behind from Zheng Mingyi's fight a few days ago, rough to the touch.

"Other than pages relevant to stocks, you're not allowed to touch anything else," Jiang Chijing said.

"Got it."

This time, it was Zheng Mingyi who took the mouse away from Jiang Chijing. His palm covered the back of Jiang Chijing's hand, their complexions overlapping like oatmeal colliding against milk, looking inexplicably harmonious.

As if scalded by an iron, Jiang Chijing hastily drew his hand away. At this moment, he heard Zheng Mingyi speak again, "You can start reading the book now, Officer Jiang."

The veins on Jiang Chijing's temples bulged. "Aren't you studying the stock trends?"

Zheng Mingyi turned his head towards Jiang Chijing. "What does that have anything to do with me listening to you read?"

This was the first time that Jiang Chijing met Zheng Mingyi's eyes from such close proximity. The bright light from outside the window illuminated his irises into a pale brown, the precise shade of what Jiang Chijing had seen through the monocular back when Zheng Mingyi was drinking water by the second-floor window.