683: What Do You Mean?

What Do You Mean?

Zeke jolted out of his trance as soon as the realization dawned on him. His entire body stiffened and he almost shot up sitting if not for the solid reminder that Lu Yizhou's arms were still wrapped around him — Lu Yizhou, who was supposed to be severely injured. Lu Yizhou, whose heart had briefly stopped beating just a short few hours ago. Whenever he recalled that moment, terror immediately seized his heart, chilling him down to the tip of his fingers.2

He did not want to move casually only to aggravate the man's wounds. No – in the first place, how the hell did Lu Yizhou sneak his way here? Where was Dr. Xiao and Dr. Feng who were supposed to keep watch over him?! 

Zeke strained his ears to listen to any movements outside, yet aside from the erratic thumping of his own heartbeat and Lu Yizhou's steady and deep breathing, he could not hear anything else. It was as if the whole world had shrunk rapidly to encase only the two of them alone.

Unwilling to rouse Lu Yizhou from his sleep, Zeke carefully held his breath and opted to rake his gaze all over Lu Yizhou's features instead. It was very seldom for him to see Lu Yizhou in such a defenseless state, even inside the simulator. In his earliest memory with this person, Lu Yizhou had not closed his eyes when he fell asleep and when he awoke, Lu Yizhou's eyes were already open. Sometimes, it gave off the impression that this man did not need any sleep at all. 

It was not until they had gone through more and more simulation that Lu Yizhou began to let himself relax. Zeke could still remember vividly how emotional he felt simply by waking up to see that Lu Yizhou was fast asleep beside him. Such a sight was undoubtedly more rare than a blizzard on the peak of summer. What he knew about Lu Yizhou was only bits and pieces that the man willingly divulged to him, as well as… what he had witnessed with his own eyes. But that alone was already enough for him to imagine what kind of burden this person had been carrying on his shoulders.

That's why, seeing Lu Yizhou sleeping so peacefully like this had Zeke's heart swelled in a sweet ache. His nose turned sour and he blinked his eyes rapidly to keep his tears from overflowing. He had cried so much today that his eyelids turned swollen. He did not want to get any uglier than this!

He was too engrossed in his own thoughts that he failed to notice when the arm curled around his waist started to move. All of a sudden, a cool and familiar palm cupped his face, wiping the traces of moisture from the corner of his eyes while measuring the temperature on his forehead. "How are you feeling?" a deep, husky voice still tinged with drowsiness drifted close to his ears.

Zeke's body tensed in surprise. Slowly, he peered over his lashes to find that Lu Yizhou was gazing down at him with those mesmerizing and gentle silver eyes of his. Moonlight spilled from the window behind him, casting a shadow that made his features look deeper and softer. For some reason, Zeke sensed that something was different with him. How to say it? There was an air of ease and languidness on Lu Yizhou that he had never seen before. It was as if… he had truly put down the burden on his shoulders to take a fresh breath of air for the first time.

Guilt crept into his heart, and his voice was quiet when he asked, "Did I wake you up?"

Lu Yizhou hummed, his fingers had not ceased trailing all over Zeke's face, touching here and there as if he could not help it. "I sensed the change in your heartbeat."

Zeke's face turned dark when he heard that. How could this person notice such a subtle change like his heartbeat? It meant that he was not sleeping as deeply as Zeke had thought! "You…" he finally muttered the question he had been wanting to ask with an angry tone. "Why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be in the medical cabin? Your wounds…" Zeke's words faltered as he swept his gaze over Lu Yizhou's body. However, because Lu Yizhou was wearing a long-sleeved and loose sweater, Zeke could not see anything aside from the slight redness peeking out of his collar. 

"It's okay," he said while gently tipping Zeke's chin up so that he would not look as closely at his body anymore. He flashed a reassuring smile to comfort the other. "It only looks horrible at first glance because of the blood. In fact, everything is only skin wounds."

Fuck your 'skin wounds'. Then how could your heart stop beating if they were only skin wounds?! Are you fooling a child or something?! Zeke thought angrily.

However, he did not have the heart to confront Lu Yizhou about his lousy lie. Perhaps, it was because of how at ease the man looked right now, or perhaps it was the tranquil and warm atmosphere around them. Whatever it was, Zeke found himself grateful enough that he could snuggle with Lu Yizhou again after everything that had happened. He did not want to bother with the inconsequential past anymore.

However, Lu Yizhou must have thought that he did not believe him and then started to explain, "I was not actually that close to the source of the explosion. Back then, 666 – my system, if you still remember it – drew out emergency electricity from the institute to stun the enemy. I robbed their cannons before rushing to take shelter. However, I didn't expect that the shock wave of the crystal ball would be so powerful…"

Zeke pursed his lips, upset. Lu Yizhou had elaborated it in an almost carefree manner but he knew how close the man had hovered between the line of life and death at that moment. If only… If only he was slower a beat, then the crystal ball would have blasted his body to bits! By then, they could not even find his corpse even if they wanted to!

Just the mere thought of seeing Lu Yizhou's mangled corpse had his heart wrenched in agony. He took in a shaky exhale, "You really scared me…"

"I know… " Lu Yizhou leaned in to press his lips on Zeke's forehead and lingered there. His eyelids fluttered shut as he murmured hoarsely, "I'm sorry, sweetheart…" 

Everything had been too chaotic ever since Zeke woke up. They were not even given the chance to have a proper reunion before the institute was ambushed by the former Crown Prince's people. It was not until now that the situation settled down and Lu Yizhou could finally have his lover in his arms again. How could he contend with being kept inside the medical cabin?

He had lots, lots of things he wanted to talk about, yet he had no idea where he was supposed to start…

"Are you really okay being outside the medical cabin?" Zeke asked anxiously. He still could not be rest assured. "Where is Dr. Feng and Dr. Xiao anyway?"

"I'm fine, they have gone back to settle some matters." Lu Yizhou replied, distracted by the churning thoughts in his mind. "I told them that we will be fine on our own." In the end, he could not hold back the gnawing curiosity anymore and decided to bite the bullet. 

"Sweetheart, back then… when the former Crown Prince was talking about…" his throat worked. He could not bring himself to say 'royal assassination' out loud, and hence he decided to gloss them over. "What do you mean when you said that… you were with me?"

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A/N: update on our GT progress: 206/850

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