Chapter 52
"Does Lixin want to shave?[1] Big Brother Song will help you." Song Haoran said warmly without a trace of his previous temper and ruthlessness in the bathroom as he held the child’s tilted head.
Lin Wenbo had wanted to say the same thing, but was beaten to it by his friends. He instead took the soap and other things from the bag into the bathroom and neatly arranged them.
"No. I’ve never used this before, so I was just taking a look at it." Gong Lixin looked up and shook the razor in his hand in front of Song Haoran.
Song Haoran carefully looked at his white and delicate face. His fingertips repeatedly rubbed over his lower jaw and the side of his face, and he was stunned by the incredible smoothness beneath his hand. He said, "You have no facial hair, your face is so smooth. Looks like Lixin hasn’t grown up yet, you’re still a child!" He sighed low even as his hatred for Gong Xiangyi ran deeper.
Gong Lixin is not too young, but his body is different. At the age of sixteen, he should have reached the age of getting facial hair, but because of his pure yin physique, body hair, whether in the past or the present life he was unable to grow any. Even if he turned twenty-six years old, he still wouldn’t be able to use these things.
He was curious though about facial hair. He debated in his heart before reaching out to touch the dark shadow on Song Haoran’s chin. He was naughty and didn’t stop after rubbing it twice. His smooth fingertips slid along the groove of Song Haoran’s chin and down towards the Adam’s apple, gently stroking it in circles.
There was no special feeling involved in between these movement, However, Gong Lixin’s expression was pure and flawless and his movements were soft, unintentional and careless. It seemed more like a teasing touch rather than deliberate curiosity.
Song Haoran’s throat gulped up and down and a heat wave flowed down to his groin. He immediately grabbed the child’s fingertips that kept igniting the fire within, and held it tightly in the palm of his hand. What floated into his mind was the delicate white body of the child and his lovely, pink place. As a result, the heat in his body burned even brighter.
"Don’t just casually touch a man’s throat without permission." His voice was a little hoarse and Song Haoran’s breathing was also heavy.
"Why?" Gong Lixin looked up and asked curiously.
"It’s rude." Song Haoran slammed down the dark fire at the bottom of his heart and added in a low voice. "It’s okay if you do it to me, but you must not do it to others."
"Okay, I know." Gong Lixin nodded obediently, naturally making himself comfortable in Song Haoran’s embrace, as he rubbed his cheek on his shoulder. The intimate gesture carried the intent to coax him. He felt that Big Brother Song seemed a little uncomfortable, or maybe he was a little angry because of his impolite behavior.
Song Haoran glared at Gong Lixin, his face showing a helpless expression, but his heart couldn’t help but feeling satisfied. Leaning over to the side, he dropped a soft kiss on his jade white cheek. His lips barely grazed the corners of the child’s mouth and Song Haoran’s eyes darkened as his line of sight was glued to those beautiful lips.
When Lin Wenbo came out of the bathroom, and he saw the scene where his friend leaned over and kissed Gong Lixin. The tall and handsome man embracing a small and cute young man, it was the perfect image of unspeakable happiness, enveloped by a touching and pleasant atmosphere. The picture could be said to be beautiful and the atmosphere was full of warmth. But somehow, Lin Wenbo put his hand over his chest and felt a subtle soreness in his heart. It was not very uncomfortable, but it wasn’t clear why. It was very troublesome.
"Everything is unpacked. If Lixin still has some stuff missing, Big Brother Lin will help you get it." The smile was somewhat forced as Lin Wenbo interrupted the two. He sat on the other side of Gong Lixin and reached out for his soft hair. There was a trace of gentleness in his eyes.
"No, I’ll help Lixin get his things back when I enter the city." He didn’t want that woman’s things. The latter sentence was left unsaid, but Song Haoran’s expression turned somewhat ugly. In front of Gong Lixin, he suppressed showing his dislike of Gong Xiangyi. Although the relationship between older sister and younger brother is broken, it was better to isolate them and prevent their conflict from escalating further. Otherwise, Uncle Gong will have a difficult time.
"Alright, these will have to do for the time being," Lin Wenbo nodded, his face became cold for an instant. When he thought of Gong Xiangyi planning for nearly a year, in order to send Xiaoxin down the road of death, his heart felt like it was pierced by a knife, blood flowing out.
The atmosphere in the room became stagnant due to the topic. Right then, the ’ding dong’ of a ring came. Lin Wenbo immediately reigned in his emotions as he got up to open the door.
He Jin’s tall and straight figure came into view. Lin Wenbo first frowned before putting on a gentle smirk and asking, "Are you looking for Xiaoxin?"
"Yes, aren’t you going to invite me in?" Seeing Lin Wenbo, He Jin put on a fake smile, the gentleness on his face disappearing as he asked, his lips stretched tight. He also saw Song Haoran in the room and his dark eyes became even darker and could not be read.
"Big Brother He, come in quickly." After leaving Song Haoran’s arms, Gong Lixin walked up to the door with a smile and pulled on He Jin’s big hand.
Lin Wenbo smiled lightly and stepped aside to let He Jin enter the room. He Jin took the white hand of the child and squeezed it. His normally cold face unconsciously smiled.
Towards Song Haoran, he nodded slightly, saying hello before he took the child and sat down beside him. He saw the open closet full of clothes and his eyebrows jumped up. He seemed to ask with a smile. "How come you sent Lixin some clothes? I already know you knew about the apocalypse in advance. Were you too slow in getting ready? How come these clothes seems to be too big for Lixin to wear?" Lin Wenbo’s and Song Haoran’s face went dark, their eyes becoming sharp like knives.
At the most critical time, they were not able to accompany him to protect him and take care of him. Both of them regretted it and felt embarrassed, but most of all, they blamed themselves and couldn’t vent it anywhere. He Jin enjoyed trampling on their wounds and, from time to time, also spread salt on it. He, Lin Wenbo, and Song Haoran all had strong personalities, making it difficult to get along and, naturally they became enemies, making it difficult to live in peace.
He Jin didn’t care about the bad state of the two. He took hold of Gong Lixin’s shoulder and carefully opened his mouth. "Lixin, Big Brother He will be leaving early tomorrow. You should take care of yourself in the future, don’t run around casually, so you don’t get lost and can’t find the way back home. This is the satellite communicator your father gave you. I already entered my number in it. You just have to press one button. You can talk to me directly by pressing the 1 button."
He had just gone to meet Father Gong and had been given some benefits. They were in the apocalypse, the world had become more difficult than ever, and he was afraid that he would lose contact with the child. At the mere thought, He Jin had wanted to abandon his brothers in Kyoto several times and stay with the child in these desperate times. Even if he was not resolute, he was still very principled and had gone to speak with Gong Yuanhang.
Hearing He Jin was going to leave, the tightness in Song Haoran’s heart loosened and the distortion in his face eased up. Moreover, seeing the sudden redness in the child’s eyes and the obvious disappointment in his face, he couldn’t congratulate the other and just sent him far away, never to let him come back again. On the other hand, after hearing the news, Lin Wenbo was sincere and courteous.
"Big Brother He, you also take care of yourself. Don’t forget to call me when you safely reach Kyoto." Gong Lixin tugged on He Jin’s clothes as he reluctant said so.
"I know." Seeing that the child didn’t want to leave with him, He Jin felt lost. But thinking of the child’s well-behaved temper that didn’t force him to stay, his heart felt comfortable again. In short, no matter how Gong Lixin treated him, whether he stayed with him or chased him, or even if the boy showed him indifference, he could accept it all.
"Actually, if you’re in a hurry, I can have someone send you overnight." Song Haoran glanced at the communicator that the child was holding in his hand. His eyes darkened and he turned to look at He Jin as he opened with enthusiasm.
"True, we can send two pilots and they could take turns driving. We promise to send you safely to Kyoto tonight." Lin Wenbo said with a smile.
The scar on the left side of He Jin’s face distorted for a moment before he refused with a cold face. "No, the head of Gong family has already arranged everything. At 10 o’clock in the morning, someone will send us there. Right now, Lu Yun can’t function, let alone walk."
Even if it was urgent, leaving now wouldn’t let him catch up in time either way. Moreover, the more Song Haoran and Lin Wenbo wanted him to leave as fast as possible, the more he wanted to stay a second longer and stay longer with the child.
Lin Wenbo and Song Haoran nodded in disappointment but still felt at ease. It’s assumed that Lu Yun heard Gong Xiangyi’s words and was currently trying to come to terms with the news.
He Jin sat for a while and did not bother to tell Gong Lixin all these trivial matters and repeatedly told him that he shouldn’t run around when he was alone, so as not to get lost again. This made Song Haoran give him an impatient stare. If it wasn’t for the unreliable Lu Yun, He Jin would have been happy to stay in the child’s room for the whole day. Even if Song Haoran glared countless small holes into him, he didn’t mind.
After sending He Jin away, Song Haoran immediately took the communicator in Gong Lixin’s hands and changed the shortcut key No.1 to his own number. After that, Lin Wenbo took the phone and changed the No.2 button to his own number.
When the two men finished this operation and looked at the child’s ignorant eyes, they couldn’t help but feel awkward. Only then did they find how silly their actions were, as if they were two big babies competing for a delicious candy.
***
Lu Yun was having a difficult time accepting Gong Xiangyi’s prophecy. After helplessly returning to the new recruit’s dormitories, he aimlessly wandered around the vast playground until Ling Yu saw him from far away and who took him back to her room where she called his soul back.
Looking at Ling Yu cleverly smiling, Lu Yun still found the heart to enjoy the warm fragrance of his goddess, only to coldly push her away, telling the other party that he would be leaving the base soon and heading to Kyoto and hurriedly left.
Maybe his father wasn’t dead, maybe he wouldn’t die and maybe he wouldn’t let others get killed. Maybe Gong Xiangyi’s prophecy was also mistaken. Lu Yun kept comforting himself, but after all, he understood that it was just self-deception. His instincts told him that all of it was true.
Like a lonely ghost who lost his ties to the world yet couldn’t enter reincarnation, Lu Yun walked towards his room in vain. Right then, there was helplessness in his heart and fear of death, but there was no resentment against He Jin. The incident of stealing Lu family’s firearms wasn’t instigated by He Jin. He had a head after all and was indebted to the man. Aside from Zhao An, he didn’t hate him either. On the contrary, he was actually very grateful to He Jin and thanked the other party for not abandoning him at such a difficult time, even after knowing that his father, who had been calling the shots, had passed away.
In the hallway, he met Wu Ming who was anxious as he heard the news that they would be leaving tomorrow morning. Lu Yun gave a low response before closing the door and rolled up in his quilt, wrapped his shivering body and passed out. It had only been a couple of hours since he’d lost his soul.
Right then, the door was knocked on and Lu Yun opened his door with a grim face. He saw Ling Yu, who he’d just bid goodbye to, standing outside the door with tears in her eyes and looking at him with sorrow.
"Young Master Lu, you’re leaving without me? If you leave, I’ll be afraid!" Ling Yu whispered into Lu Yun’s arms, like a pet abandoned by its owner, which made people feel both pity and love.
When people are at their most vulnerable point, they don’t need the comfort of the mind, just a simple hug would do. Lu Yun squeezed the soft body in his arms and the fear in his heart gradually subsided. Dazed, he ignored the other’s chilly body temperature and black blue face.
[1] AutumnBreeze: Kyaaa become an adult <3