Moon Theory (ABO)Ch77 - escalation, going further

Water droplets roll from his hair down to his cheeks.

A towel is draped on his bare shoulder. Noah walks barefoot out of the shower room, his movements laggard, his expression lost. Down the hallway, into the living room – there is nothing here sans a flickering kerosene lamp propped inconspicuously on a wooden table. Noah’s head is splitting painfully, and he walks not a single meter before his surroundings start blurring in front. oTKH8k

Belatedly, he wonders how long he had been in the shower, how long he’d been awake. Perhaps just for an hour or perhaps for half a day – nothing is certain. Time distorts in waves of dizziness, his fever breaking him away from continuity. The lingering pain in his abdomen reminds him he needs to patch up his wound, but the medicine cabinet, some little meters away, suddenly seems dreadfully far. And his body… suddenly so tired.

He frowns and leans against the wall, closing his eyes to recover. It may be the pills he had downed in the last day, or two days, or maybe three – again, he has no sense of time. He lifts his hand to massage his temples, but every small movement sends numbing throbs below his ribs.

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Noah looks downward. The stitches are neat. Handiwork of a certain raven-haired man – that suturing is so skilled it’s unmistakable. The discolored patch by his stomach has yet to fade, however. The skin around it is cracked and unsightly, though he supposes it does blend in with the rest of the scars on his body.

The place lacks a clock, and everything is pin drop silent. tweU4d

Noah is settled in lull – and not the kind that he’s familiar with, not the lull that he’s comfortable with either, for the place is so quiet he finds himself overwhelmed. Even the amber backdrop, the soft lamp on the table, does nothing to calm him.

Then, echoes all around him. Low noises – all of them jumbled – bounce off the walls, reverberate across the room that is neither big nor small. Neither big nor small, but also too spacious for a single person to stay in.

“—Noah,” someone calls out to him.

A male voice, though it rings with some eerie undertone. Noah snaps his gaze upward, only to find nothing. His towel flops down his bare toes – even this little noise seems deafeningly loud.

“Noah. I guess I am alone here, and so are you.”

He breathes out shakily. He is aware he is hallucinating, conjuring up strange entities in his head, hearing voices from specters that take on the forms of the deceased. Aware, but no less affected.

Hyun, half a head taller than Noah, manifests right in front.

“Perhaps we can form a kind of friendship.” 6oQAad

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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And Noah doesn’t know when he’d started panicking, sliding down onto the floor, heavily gasping for breath – it may be the medications he’s taking, or it may be some unknown weight that’s crushing him under.

He looks again and there is no one here. The voices are gone – but of course, he knows he’s alone here. y7uhgZ

Unfortunate that the thought doesn’t soothe him one bit.

In hyperventilation, the silence becomes unbearably loud. His eyes are scrunched in distress and his fingernails are scrabbling at his exposed wound, hoping to distract.

Then, when the entrance door creaks open, when the gale billows its way inside, Noah jolts upward in a frenzy.

In comes a familiar raven-haired man with soot-stained cheeks. His left sleeve is in tatters and his military uniform is drenched in rainwater. When it had started raining is uncertain – but everything is uncertain for Noah, who is still gasping heavily on the floor. HgPYOI

Colonel Yang tosses his equipment away and rushes toward him, uncaring as the contents clatter brokenly behind.

“What’s wrong?” the man says as he reaches tentatively for him. Then, as Noah’s breaths get raspier, Yang Rong more anxiously takes ahold of his hand, stopping him from injuring himself any more. Yang Rong’s other hand cups his cheek – and if Noah were any less delirious, he would’ve seen the thick residues of blood on the man’s arm. Not washed even by heavy rain.

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The colonel’s movements are hesitant but firm, and Noah is still bowed forward, his mouth parted to take sharp inhales. His ears are ringing shrilly, his eyes are unfocused, his senses blocked, and all he can make out is the scent of sandalwood and light petrichor. The pain on his stomach doesn’t snap him out of reverie, and he doesn’t calm down either when Colonel Yang cradles his head, holds him so he won’t topple downward.

“—Fuck, what’s wrong, Noah… Look at me, hmm?” Yang Rong sounds distressed, incredibly so, and his whispers are filtered in helplessness. The man rubs soothing motions on his damp hair, repeats himself perhaps ten more times before Noah finally hears. “Shh… look at me…” El7Iym

But in contrast to his tender words, the colonel’s heart is pounding abnormally fast. At such a proximity, Noah can hear every beat and irregular thump. The pattern of them matches his own.

“It hurts?” Yang Rong asks him, guiding his hand away. “Let Rong-ge take a look… We’ll patch it up again, hmm?”

Every part of him is quivering in unknown panic. Suddenly, when Yang Rong leans to hold him closer, Noah is hit with the desperation to touch. The colonel’s warmth is a remedy to his cold, and no matter how fever-induced he is, Noah is giving out uncontrollable small shivers.

In an epileptic spur, he yanks the colonel down by the collar and crashes their lips together. FPCD03

The kiss is zero percent romantic and one hundred percent desperate. It is even more feral when Noah tilts himself forward, biting and sucking on Yang Rong’s lower lip, closing the distance between them until their chests are pressed together.

The kerosene lamp does little to soothe the atmosphere – Noah’s cheeks are abnormally pale despite the warm tones. His lips are chapped, cold, and the only warmth that radiates is from Yang Rong’s sturdy frame. Noah is still gasping heavily for air as he deepens the kiss, sliding his tongue in for dominance. His hands ball into fists on the colonel’s bloodstained, rain-soaked clothes. His eyes are squeezed shut and he might not even be aware of any of his actions – desperate and with no coherency whatsoever.

And Colonel Yang, stunned, lets him have his way. It may have been five minutes before the man lets out a soft, shuddering sigh and kneads the back of his head, tending to him in kind. Yang Rong reciprocates gently, deepening the kiss like he’d wanted, catering to his every soft gasp and whine. But Yang Rong does it incredibly slowly – not at all like the way Noah is preening to be touched.

A bead of saliva trails between them when they part – but only for a millisecond before Noah crashes their mouths together again. Exhales turn into broken gasps, low grunts and then Noah lets out a particularly raw whimper. N0kcCm

Yang Rong pauses abruptly and nudges him gently away – just enough for the lip lock to be broken, but not enough for their bodies to part. Noah, absolutely distraught, panics immediately at the loss of warmth. With all the strength he could muster, he pushes the colonel violently downward – and if not for Yang Rong’s reflexes, his head would collide roughly against solid cement.

The colonel also supports his weight as he falls along – not like Noah is rational enough to even register their bodies buckling in strain. Yang Rong is straddled on the floor, bound roughly by the younger man’s knees, his wet shirt stretched beyond propriety – again, not like Noah is rational enough to see the blood still trickling from his left arm.

All thoughts discarded and all emotions thrown in whiplash, Noah leans forward and kisses him yet again. Long lashes quiver upon contact and he hadn’t stopped shaking yet, but at the very least, he feels less cold. When Yang Rong glides a hand on the curve of his back, Noah reciprocates with a needy moan, grinding their bodies together in heat.

“—Noah,” Yang Rong calls his name softly. A flicker of candlelit amber in his pupils before he shakes himself back to alacrity, holding Noah in place. Green eyes trace over the younger man’s blank, unseeing expression, his silver hair concealing most of his porcelain skin. There’s a subtle flush on Noah’s cheeks, but it is offset by the paleness of everywhere else. Yang Rong holds him closely and murmurs by his ears, “What is it, Noah? What do you need?” L0ckwQ

Noah doesn’t respond, merely letting out softer, pained whines. Every sign of distress is apparent from body language alone.

“What’s wrong?” Yang Rong murmurs again. Then a softer, tender tone. “Tell me what you need?”

Noah’s expression cracks into one of utter sadness and finally he responds, his voice shaking just as much as his body. “Yang Rong, I am so cold.”

One look and it’s clear he’s torn. Reliance paints such tragedy on the young man’s features – Noah, always independent in nature, breathtakingly beautiful, is broken into such a state. And Yang Rong is the only person he can latch onto. ZbJEdP

Nevermind that Colonel Yang, military man, is the same person who he fears.

“…” Yang Rong breathes out. “…I’m sorry, Noah.”

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

But Noah, at this point, only cares to satiate his crave. Suddenly, the air is engulfed in pheromones so thick they can suffocate – seeping vanilla, sweet lingering floral, a note of snowdrop. Yang Rong’s eyes dilate in response.

“—!” lnXcrp

He doesn’t get a single word in before Noah crashes their mouths together again, biting and sucking with abandon. The young man rolls his hip, and per every grind of their bodies, the pheromones exude more and more intensely. Noah takes control, dipping his hands underneath the colonel’s shirt, pulling the buttons apart so they’re both skin-on-skin. He hardly cares that rainwater and blood may be seeping into his raw wound.

His heat slams in so suddenly, mixing with absolute frenzy, sending him into overdrive. Yang Rong’s breaths are ragged beneath him and soon, the alpha is also numbed by the intensity of his scent.

With a low grunt, Colonel Yang wraps a firm arm around his body and returns the kiss more heatedly. The alpha vies for control and Noah subconsciously submits, allowing his neck to be littered in marks. Yang Rong, thrown astray, sucks roughly on his tender skin, leaving patches of red that won’t fade for days. Pure, heavy vanilla fuses with alpha musk, stimulating them both beyond reason.

Greedily, he cranes his neck for Yang Rong to bite at. The latter makes a low noise of appreciation – a subconscious growl – and licks his scent gland, traces his teeth over the area and… then Yang Rong stops, suddenly regaining a sliver of rationale. Mwib2p

His eyes are dark and tinged with lust, his hair is disheveled, and his lips bitten red. Still, he is in a more sober state than Noah who is desperate to be filled.

“Little fox, I…”

Yang Rong is entirely ignored. Noah slides his hand below the colonel’s navel, traces below the waistband of his military trousers and cups his clothed erection. Yang Rong’s brows furrow in distress. He immediately sits up and takes ahold of Noah’s wrist, guiding him away.

“You’re unaware,” he whispers, pressing his lips on Noah’s forehead. He repeats the action a few more times, kissing the sensitive spot under his eye, the flush on his cheek, tracing down to the mole below his vermillion. “Don’t go any further, Noah… I am not good for you.” Uc1ZJP

Noah, still distraught, doesn’t hear him.