For an instant, a streak of light flashed through Yan Qiu’s eyes, brightening his gaze.
After coming back to his senses, he very skillfully took off his coat and wrapped it around Lu Qiao.
Lu Qiao shivered violently. After all, unlike the last time he had appeared in the conference room, they were outdoors now. The wind blowing against his completely naked body was far too cold.
In fact, although the planetary time in this region was synchronized with the Alliance’s standard universal time, and it was seven o’clock at night, the season here was not summer in June but early spring, so the temperature really was quite low.
The adjutant and several officers from the First Legion stood not far away. They had originally intended to see their leader off, but unexpectedly got to witness this entertaining scene. One by one, they immediately became excited.
“Bro, bro, is this the one you were talking about—” One desperately tugged at the adjutant’s clothes.
“Damn, he really is good-looking!” Another stretched his neck to get a better look.
“So, should we greet ‘Madam’ now?” someone asked excitedly, rubbing his hands together.
The adjutant saw Lu Qiao burying his head against Yan Qiu’s chest in the distance, with an unmistakable air of “embarrassment turning into anger” that could be felt even from behind. He coughed and knocked several of them on the head.
“Behave yourselves!” he lowered his voice. “Pretend you saw nothing! If Madam gets angry, you guys won’t have a good time either!”
“Yes!”
The few men answered in unison, then whistled and looked up at the sky, pretending to admire the scenery.
Lu Qiao: “……”
He had heard everything!!!
Seeing this, a faint smile appeared on Yan Qiu’s face. He bent down and directly picked Lu Qiao up in his arms.
Lu Qiao let out a startled cry. Before he knew it, he had already been stuffed into the back seat of the aircraft, while the man followed him inside and closed the cabin door.
Outside the cabin, the officers still shouted mischievously:
“Have a safe trip, Boss and Madam!”
Lu Qiao ground his teeth. “Does your legion have way too little discipline?!”
“Mm. I’ll tighten up military discipline when we get back.” The man answered calmly, taking the towel handed over by the pilot in front and helping Lu Qiao wipe the foam off his body.
Lu Qiao hurriedly took over. After all, going further down… was a rather embarrassing place. He simply wiped himself a little, then buttoned up Yan Qiu’s coat and solemnly reminded him, “You really have to crack down on them…”
“Mm, I will.” Yan Qiu replied teasingly.
Only then did Lu Qiao pout and let the subject go. He merely complained, “How did I get locked again? Could it be that the virus never disappeared at all? What did the C1 Star Region Administration say?”
“They don’t have any leads yet. We’ll probably have to wait until tomorrow, after they decipher the virus, before we can know the result,” Yan Qiu said. “But judging from the current situation, it should be following a pattern of being unlocked during the day and locked at night.”
And the period during which he was locked should be between seven o’clock at night and six o’clock the following morning.
“Oh…” Lu Qiao responded, then fell silent.
The aircraft took off.
He adjusted the towel and covered the area around the top of his thighs. Then he stared blankly ahead, looking somewhat dispirited.
Yan Qiu raised an eyebrow slightly. “What’s wrong?”
“Hm?” Lu Qiao seemed distracted.
“Are you in a bad mood?” He used his fingertip to wipe away a drop of water that had slid down from Lu Qiao’s temple, his voice gentle.
“…Not really. I’m just a little tired,” Lu Qiao said listlessly. Before Yan Qiu could speak, he continued, “I want to sleep for a while. Wake me when we get to your place.”
Yan Qiu looked at him deeply. “Okay.”
He then had the pilot raise the temperature of the air conditioning.
Lu Qiao really was exhausted. He slept in a hazy state, yet his sleep was restless.
In his dreams, he even dreamed about the sarcastic things Chris and Ellie had said to him, which made him extremely irritated.
Lu Qiao even felt somewhat aggrieved, but he had no idea whom he could vent his grievances to.
He wondered if Yan Qiu also thought he was being too presumptuous.
Come to think of it, it seemed that from the very beginning, he had been the only one who had unilaterally declared Yan Qiu his rival. Yan Qiu had never shown any similar intention.
Of course, Yan Qiu had a cold personality and probably would not say such things anyway. But precisely because of that, Lu Qiao could never be certain what Yan Qiu really thought.
Lu Qiao hated those people online calling him a “brain-dead fan.” He did not think he worshiped Yan Qiu, and he was even less willing to think about just how great the gap between him and Yan Qiu actually was now.
He really disliked the feeling that there seemed to be such a distant gulf between him and Yan Qiu.
Becoming rivals and walking side by side—that was the wish he had always held in his heart.
By the time Lu Qiao fully woke up, Yan Qiu had already carried him into the bedroom.
Being carried in a princess carry twice within such a short period of time—what kind of treatment was this? Lu Qiao had never experienced anything like it.
He hurriedly asked Yan Qiu to put him down, his voice still hoarse with lingering sleepiness. “Didn’t I tell you to wake me up…?”
Yan Qiu said nothing more and took him to the bathroom. “Wash yourself clean first.”
Lu Qiao’s brain was a little slow to process things. He had initially wanted to say something to refuse, but then he thought that if the two of them continued being locked together like this, it would be impossible to completely avoid bathing together.
Besides, the foam had already dirtied Yan Qiu’s coat and the aircraft. He already felt terribly embarrassed about that. He certainly could not dirty Yan Qiu’s bed too.
Thus, he sheepishly followed him into the bathroom.
Once they entered the shower stall and stood there, Yan Qiu began taking off his clothes, his movements extremely efficient.
One piece of clothing after another was removed, revealing his strong physique.
Lu Qiao secretly stole glances at the naked body in front of him.
Muscles… muscles!
His muscles really had become much more massive, rising and falling with every movement. Compared with his own muscles, which at most were only slightly harder than they had been back when he was in school, Lu Qiao’s physique really did look rather shabby…
And looking farther down…
It made him look even more shabby.
No. He gave up.
He wasn’t looking anymore!
At the same time, however, Lu Qiao noticed the scars covering Yan Qiu’s body.
Although there were no major wounds, there were plenty of small scars. They should have been left behind during training and on the battlefield.
Lu Qiao could not help staring blankly.
Even someone as formidable as Yan Qiu could get injured.
He was not a god after all. He was human, and still fragile.
And how many dangerous situations had Yan Qiu gone through without Lu Qiao knowing?
Lu Qiao pursed his lips, his feelings complicated as he untied the coat around his body.
The two stood naked facing each other, and for a moment, there was silence.
Lu Qiao felt as though his entire body was about to burn.
They had not even turned on the shower yet, so why did it feel as though steam had already filled the entire bathroom, making it difficult for him to breathe?
“Haha…” Lu Qiao gave an awkward laugh. “Let’s wash… Hurry up and wash…”
Yan Qiu glanced at him, his gaze deep and intense.
He turned on the shower, and water poured down.
Lu Qiao’s body was quickly drenched. He turned around and, for some reason, nervously rubbed his body, quickly trying to wash away the slippery sensation left behind by the foam.
There was always one place where his skin was pressed against Yan Qiu’s. Now, that place had also become slippery, making him particularly sensitive.
“Lu Qiao,” the man’s voice sounded behind him, “why didn’t you answer your terminal all day?”
“…Ah, I was training the whole time. I took off my terminal and didn’t see it,” Lu Qiao answered vaguely.
He knew that Yan Qiu had called twice more afterward, both times missing him. But he had really been in no mood just now. He had originally intended to call back after showering and ask what was going on.
The man paused. “The first call was cut off by you.”
Lu Qiao: “……”
Lu Qiao: “I was busy at the time. I didn’t have time to answer.”
Yan Qiu: “You didn’t have time to call me back at any point before you went to shower?”
Lu Qiao pursed his lips and did not answer.
He remembered what Chris had said again, and his chest felt somewhat heavy. Thus, he said nothing and merely continued scrubbing himself.
As the water washed over Yan Qiu’s body, he reached up and ran a hand through his hair. Looking at the person with his back turned toward him, he narrowed his eyes slightly.
“What happened during the day?”
Lu Qiao’s grievance from being mocked by Chris surfaced again, but he stubbornly refused to say anything. He only answered stiffly, “I’m done washing. Hurry up.”
“Lu Qiao—” Yan Qiu was about to speak.
The next second, Lu Qiao suddenly cried out in pain as though he had been struck hard. His body staggered, and he abruptly fell.
Yan Qiu was pulled down with him, his pupils suddenly contracting.
He quickly stepped forward, turned around, and caught Lu Qiao in his arms, preventing him from hitting the floor.
Lu Qiao collapsed against Yan Qiu, gripping the man’s shoulders and arms tightly. He curled up his body, accompanied by pained groans.
Suddenly, two lumps protruded from the inner sides of his shoulder blades.
Immediately afterward, pure-white wing tips tore through his skin and began growing wildly. Flesh split apart, and two enormous, pure-white wings appeared behind him.
Yet the pure-white feathers were covered in blood.
The wings were completely beyond Lu Qiao’s control. They hung limply behind him, soaked by the water. Soon, the blood dissolved into the water, spreading outward and flowing onto the tiles.
Lu Qiao gasped for breath, his entire body trembling, his face deathly pale.
Yan Qiu picked him up and carried him out of the shower stall. He used the towel to dry Lu Qiao’s body, then quickly helped him back to the bedroom and onto the bed, making him lie on his stomach.
Lu Qiao clenched his fists and closed his eyes, groaning in pain as he tried to retract his wings.
However, the more he tried to retract them, the more wounds appeared on the wings, causing the situation to become even worse.
“Lu Qiao, Lu Qiao!” Yan Qiu tried to focus Lu Qiao’s attention. He braced himself over Lu Qiao and pressed his hand against the skin between the wings, saying in a deep voice, “Don’t force your wings back. Stop!”
“It hurts so much…” Lu Qiao pressed his forehead against the pillow. He could not hear Yan Qiu at all and continued sending commands to his own body, yet his body completely refused to obey him.
“Stop!” Yan Qiu’s voice became stern. “Don’t try to control them anymore!”
The veins on Lu Qiao’s arms bulged visibly.
Why? Why?!
Why were they his wings if they would not obey his control?!
What exactly was lurking inside his body and preventing him from controlling them?!
His heart was filled with pain and confusion.
“Lu Qiao! Do you want to destroy your own body?!” Yan Qiu’s words were like a thunderclap, breaking into Lu Qiao’s mind.
Lu Qiao suddenly drew a deep breath and opened his eyes.
Very quickly, the rate at which new wounds appeared between the wings slowed.
However, Lu Qiao’s trembling did not subside. He lay there silently, continuing to tremble slightly.
Yan Qiu’s taut nerves relaxed slightly.
The air in the bedroom seemed to freeze.
Yan Qiu looked at Lu Qiao. After remaining silent for a moment, he slowly bent down until his forehead touched Lu Qiao’s hair. His voice was so gentle it was almost a whisper.
“It’s all right now. Don’t be anxious. It’ll get better. It definitely will.”
“It doesn’t hurt anymore. It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
The man spoke in a low voice, soothing him as though he were comforting a child.
Lu Qiao’s ears twitched slightly, and he slowly closed his eyes again.
Everything that had happened just now had come completely without warning. Under the intertwining of pain and helplessness, his emotional state had completely collapsed.
Over the past two years, the same thing had happened several times. On several occasions, he had relied on himself to endure it. Back then, it had never been this painful…
Was it because Yan Qiu was beside him this time?
Because the person who saw him at his most embarrassing was the very person he least wanted to see him like this?
But Yan Qiu’s words were simply too gentle. Lu Qiao’s emotions quickly calmed down.
He really was just like a child. After being comforted by an adult, he felt better, and even the pain in his wings seemed to lessen…
Lu Qiao sniffed. Although he tried hard to hold it in, a few tears still welled up at the corners of his eyes from the pain.
He felt somewhat annoyed with himself and decided that next time he would try even harder to hold them back.
In any case, he absolutely, absolutely would not let these two lousy wings actually make him cry!
Wings or whatever—just get lost!
Once he had settled his thoughts, he moved slightly.
Yan Qiu’s soothing continued. With a slightly nasal voice, Lu Qiao whispered,
“…Put your pants on first.”
Yan Qiu’s words abruptly stopped.
“……”
How should he put it?
They had touched each other.
Although they were both men and both had the same equipment, it was still rather awkward.