Moon Theory (ABO)Ch73 - unmistakably, empty words

The silver-haired young man emits a low chuckle. Such an odd reaction out of him – a slight huff of air, lips quirking up, and when he regains his composure a brief moment later, there is more complication that dances on his elegant features. Noah’s hands rest on the mattress. A subtle posture to hide his mildly quivering fingers.

When he speaks, his words are tinged in resignation. “In retrospect, I am aware the… siege was not your doing.” Noah licks his chapped lips and looks down at the blankets, suddenly too self-conscious to maintain eye contact. “It was a simple military operation headed by the Nexus and carried by General Xie, and the man is not one to hold sentiments. He can singlehandedly massacre thousands without blinking an eye. Yet, I cannot help but wonder if the event is no mere coincidence – impeccable timing, Colonel Yang, for you to be there.” TNZ2Ya

Yang Rong only closes his eyes. “It really was a coincidence, Noah, and I’m sorry you had to witness.”

Noah chuckles again – the airy sound does not match his despondence. “Colonel Yang,” he whispers, “You should have left earlier when I told you to. Perhaps then, I would not have to associate you with that man. And perhaps then, I would not have to feel so…”

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He trails off, his face scrunched in pain. Uncertainty and resignation all in one.

Yang Rong remains quiet. Still, Noah can feel the weight of his gaze. And how quickly the both of them reverse positions – the colonel is no longer avoiding him, but Noah is pressed down by an unknown force, unable to maintain his indifferent façade. He supposes the both of them are equally as botched, unknowing how to carry any form of conversation. Unknowing what their relationship is at this point, fueled by some kind of push and pull, and then too much repel. nCRejd

Noah continues, “General Xie is a man of many contradictions. A man who loved his wife yet abhors his son who reminds of her. A man who raised his friend’s infected child yet cannot bring himself to care for his own kin. Perhaps he saw no hope in my recovery. His wife had grown demented and his son, too, was doomed to die.”

He turns to Yang Rong. In hindsight, it was a mistake to make eye contact. He wasn’t expecting for Yang Rong to be so rooted with sorrow – green eyes softening into an almost pale gray, brows knitted together in certain apology. And Noah is… emphatic enough to let it affect him.

“Tell me, Colonel Yang,” he whispers. “Why does he fancy you, yet forsake me?”

“He doesn’t fancy me,” the man says quietly to match. “He only feels certain obligation to care for a dead friend’s child. It is only utilitarianist that he hadn’t reported my level of radioactivity. Perhaps he believes my value is better observed on the battlefield. He has monitored my constitution since young, and I was carefully shaped into a soldier. Perhaps… also a dead friend’s wish. As for you, Noah…”

Colonel Yang studies his expression. Cracked. “I hadn’t ever heard your name from his mouth. However, I am aware that Shi Luo has been forced into his studies since age five. The time frame checks out with your birth.”

“…General Xie is a man of many contradictions,” Noah whispers. “But I suppose the biggest contradiction is why he hasn’t killed me.”

“…None of his actions warrant justification.” Yang Rong’s lips quiver – Noah might not have seen such weakness if not for the candlelight that casts golden on his skin. “And neither do mine.”

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

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As for why Noah craves the touch – he may be a tad broken.

Yang Rong says quietly, “…The things you’ve lost, I cannot regain for you.” 4qHIYC

In stirring delirium, Noah lunges forward and grabs the colonel’s wrist with all the strength he can muster. His trembling hands cannot do much harm, and neither can his nails dig deep at all into firm skin. He is simply too fragile in comparison to this man, this alpha who can overpower him in one flick. Yet, he is pressed to maintain power – rather, to maintain the very last shred of sanity he has.

“What more do you want from me, Colonel Yang?” Noah thinks he has said it with a snarl, but the break of his last syllables gives away vulnerability. “I have nothing for you to take. Nothing of value to you or the military. Dissect me and you’d find I am just as human—only, some parts of me are more broken.”

He hardens his grip (as best as he can, anyway, but each tremor is close to undoing him). His body buckles from pain, and he may have reopened a wound or two, but Noah refuses to yield despite his laggard breathing. Colonel Yang doesn’t stop him either.

The more he speaks, the more strained his voice becomes. “Such a peculiar appearance I have – you must think I am something interesting. I have deciphered the way you look at me, Colonel Yang, but you mistake interest with lust, physiology with sentimentality and…” GIqyFL

He ignores how distorted his vision is again. Everything is a blur and the man in front of him makes zero movements. With searing heat in his eyes comes a slow slide of a single tear (hardly noticeable, for it blends with his ghostly apparition). He lets go of the colonel’s wrist. “…And it is fatal. My omega is undeniably attracted to you. You have me in your grasps, Colonel Yang.”

His next words are said in the most drowned out of whispers, so quiet even the white noise can muffle. “So what more do you want from me?”

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The contortion on the colonel’s face indicates he did hear him. Yang Rong is rooted in position, completely motionless until another small bead rolls down Noah’s cheek – and Noah is never one to show weakness either, not this clearly. The colonel hesitantly leans forward and very, very slowly reaches to touch his cheek. Not rough at all despite the callouses on Yang Rong’s thumb.

Noah, too wrung out, doesn’t recoil backward. A rational part of him tells him to leave as far away as he can, but the more instinctive part of him wants to lean into the soothing rubs. He opts to do neither, merely staring at the duvet that’s crinkled under his fingertips. cJ0fGR

Yang Rong treats him as fragilely as he would porcelain, rubbing soothing motions on his skin, streaking away a few wet patches. Their proximity has gotten closer and soon, Noah is focused on the calming scent of sandalwood, the residue heat of the colonel’s fingertips on his hair. He doesn’t notice when he’d plopped his head onto Yang Rong’s chest, slumped sideways in exhaustion.

Then, a murmur by his ears that travels in soft vibrations.

“You have deciphered incorrectly for once.” Yang Rong may have sighed when he said it – and the revelation is nothing but a few empty words. “I am unmistakably in love with you.”

Resignation is clear in his tone. There are millions of things left unsaid, millions more emotions left unexplored, and neither of them will address. They spend minutes locked in place, Noah closing his eyes and resting his cheek on the moistened fabric of the colonel’s shirt. Their proximity is so close and yet it isn’t, for there is some sort of invisible boundary that Yang Rong dares not cross. tLmroq

Calloused hands gently knead his hair – in apology, perhaps, else Yang Rong wouldn’t indulge him like so. The colonel, after all, is clearly helpless around him – firm muscles tensing up under the military uniform, posture stiffened to a rock, his hands wanting to touch but never straying further.

“Little prisoner,” Yang Rong whispers at last, his warm breaths ghosting on the top of Noah’s head. “You are free to go.”

And Noah gives him the most heartrending expression ever seen. Like a tumultuous wave, the silver-haired young man crashes into anger, frustration and hurt all in one. His hands ball into fists on Yang Rong’s shirt and then Noah stares at the man with pure, unbridled sadness.

Noah would have liked to lash out at him. Perhaps drag him down and pummel him, stab him with the black dagger he always carries. Unfortunately, he is so distracted by the sincerity in Yang Rong’s voice, the distress that escapes through his syllables. He is also unfairly distracted by the magnetism of his green eyes. u Wewt

Noah can only respond shakily, “Colonel Yang, where would I go?”

“…Wherever you want to go, I will take you back,” he tells him – and Yang Rong, too, is reaching heartbreak. “Perhaps a place out of radar, where you wouldn’t ever be bothered again. Perhaps the Arctic, the place where I met you, would suit your temperament well. If you’d prefer, I’ll bring you to a different continent.”

When Yang Rong leans down, their faces are only some inches apart. The colonel waits for an affirmation before sliding a hand up the side of his ears, caressing a sensitive spot by the midriff of his skull.

The colonel brushes his lips against a silver tuft of hair. The action is testing, hesitant and so restrained – if Noah could see how the other looks, he’d be sent more into delirium. PH71po

Yang Rong murmurs, “Little fox… wherever you want to go, your Rong-ge will take you there for the last time.”

He pulls back. Noah lets go of his shirt as well.

The boundary between them only grows wider but neither of them moves. They do not make eye contact either – the two staring at the duvet, the mattress, at the empty spot between them. Yang Rong may not be waiting for a reply, but Noah, compelled by a sudden impulse, gives him one anyway.

“Take me to the city.” 6ydvXe

Noah speaks to thin air, his gaze rooted on the bandages on his body, a certain spot where it blossoms pinker than the rest. The gauze is meticulously tied – but he knows it wasn’t Yang Rong who’d done it, for there is a certain quality in the way he does things. Rough and yet, indescribably tender.

“Alright.” Yang Rong doesn’t ask why. “I will take you to the city.”

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“Block A, unit 10-01,” Noah says. “It is the place I’d lived in.”

Yang Rong says, “Then I will take you there.” iJuPOw

“It is not there anymore.” Noah tugs absent-mindedly on the bandages. He hardly feels the hole by his stomach anymore. It may be that the painkillers have settled, or he may be numb again. “General Xie had it deconstructed.”

Yang Rong observes his actions. “I see. Noah, where would you like to go?”

“…” He shakes his head. A tad disoriented. “I will visit a friend, and then…”

“Then?” g 7fcx

“Uncertain.”

He breathes out, feeling himself cave to slumber once more. His words are lagged and slurred. Noah isn’t aware he’s being held upright by a pair of firm arms. “Anywhere, I suppose. But Colonel Yang… I don’t have anything left.”