extra ko-fi chapter for Banananim (1/2) Thank you so much~ 🍌🫶
Xu Ze looked at Lu Heyang’s profile. His mind was blank, but at the same time, he tried to concentrate on the voices around him.
“It was to attend an elder’s birthday,” Lu Heyang said blandly, keeping his eyes on the road.
“And on the way, you were taken to meet the omega. Otherwise, why would it take a whole week to come back?” He Wei gossiped, “Is it true? Is it?”
Gu Yunchi frowned, “Can you shut up for once?”
“What? Am I not allowed to care about my brother’s love life? Didn’t the omega come specifically to Heyang’s birthday party last year? The hint is pretty obvious, right?” He Wei sighed, “I’ve told you to gain more dating experience, but too bad you never listen. I bet you’ll be engaged as soon as you get to college.”
“Even Xu Ze said he likes cute omegas. Lu Heyang is a completely heartless machine.” He Wei turned to Xu Ze, “Xu Ze, I advise you not to get too close to him, or you might become sexually frigid as well.”
Xu Ze didn’t make a sound. He slowly withdrew his hands that were gripping the seat and put them on his lap. His palms were covered in cold sweat.
Lu Heyang drove in silence. He Wei finally stopped causing trouble when he saw him like this and asked, “Will you still be in the prep school next semester? Weren’t you supposed to go abroad after finishing the second year of high school?”
“No idea.”
He Wei plunged into grief, “I’ve only been back in the country for half a semester, and I’m going to be separated from you again.”
The car fell silent, with only the faint rumble of the tires rolling on the road. About half an hour later, the car stopped in front of Xu Ze’s community. He Wei leaned on the car window to look outside, “It’s so dark. Xu Ze, go carefully.”
Xu Ze raised his head, his neck was sore from sitting in the same position the whole ride.
“Mn,” Xu Ze pushed the car door without looking at Lu Heyang and said, “I’m leaving.”
“Bye!” He Wei waved his hand.
As the car door closed, at the same time, the driver’s door swung open. Lu Heyang unbuckled his seatbelt and said, “Yunchi, you drive.”
Gu Yunchi hummed in agreement but didn’t get out of the car right away to switch seats, as Lu Heyang didn’t walk to the passenger side but instead headed toward Xu Ze.
“Where’s Heyang going?”
“I can understand why Chi Jiahan ignores you,” Gu Yunchi said.
He Wei’s old wounds were inexplicably reopened, he exclaimed, “What’s your problem?!”
“Xu Ze.”
When Xu Ze heard Lu Heyang call his name, he suddenly shivered. He realized that he hadn’t heard the footsteps behind him.
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.
He stopped in front of the building and turned around as if nothing had changed, maintaining his usual tone as he asked, “What’s up?”
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The grass was filled with chirping insects, and the light fragrance of gardenias drifted over. After a while, Xu Ze whispered, “I don’t want it.”
Rather than answering Lu Heyang, it was more like he was urging himself: I don’t want it, we shouldn’t do this.
He had been too absorbed in creating memories for the future, without taking the time to think things through properly. Some things shouldn’t be desired, even if Lu Heyang was willing to give them. He couldn’t blindly accept them and keep crossing the line with insatiable greed.
After a few seconds, Lu Heyang said, “Okay”. Then he raised his hand to touch the side of Xu Ze’s neck, using his thumb to gently brush against his jaw, and said, “Go to bed early.”
Xu Ze silently nodded and walked upstairs, executing the instructions like a robot, without displaying any emotion or making any requests. Lu Heyang stood in place and watched him for a while, then walked out of the hallway.
Once he got back into the car, He Wei became serious after Xu Ze’s departure and inquired, “Did Uncle Lu really take you to meet that omega?”
“I thought it was to attend an elder’s birthday party, but later he also took me to meet a few principals.” Lu Heyang leaned back in the seat. “I went to dinner last night, but didn’t realize that such a meeting had been arranged until I got to the restaurant.”
He Wei remained silent. He couldn’t comfort Lu Heyang with words like: “It doesn’t matter, it’s still early anyway, don’t worry.” Deep down, everyone knew that while many things had no set schedule, they never knew when they would be placed in a position that was fully orchestrated by someone else.
The corridor was pitch black as Xu Ze walked up the stairs one step at a time without thinking about anything. As he reached the final step, he tripped as his shin collided with the edge of the stairs, causing him to drop to his knees. Xu Ze had climbed these stairs in the dark countless times, but today was the first time he had stumbled.
It hurt, but it was within Xu Ze’s pain tolerance. He slowly got up and limped to the door, taking out his key to open the door. After entering the house, Xu Ze went into his room. He sat down at the desk and opened the drawer to take out the medicine bottle.
While Xu Ze was applying the medicine, his gaze remained fixed on the metal box. After cleaning his hands, he returned the medicine to the drawer and pushed the metal box further inside until it was no longer visible.
On Tuesday, the swimming class had its final exam. Lu Heyang arrived late. Everyone was already standing in line with Xu Ze in the middle. After being divided into groups, Lu Heyang went to the pool on the opposite side to warm up. When Lu Heyang saw Xu Ze walking, he noticed that he was limping as if he had an injury.
Xu Ze quickly completed the exam and left, whereas Lu Heyang finished twenty minutes later. On the way to the locker room, Lu Heyang walked past one of the locker rooms and someone called out his name, “Heyang.”
It was an alpha from the same class. He was getting dressed and said, “Xu Ze asked me which locker room you are in.”
“When was that?”
“About ten minutes ago. I told him your locker number.” The alpha discreetly observed Lu Heyang’s expression, curious about his reaction.
But Lu Heyang didn’t seem to react, he just nodded, “Okay, thanks.”
There were not many people left in the pool. Lu Heyang went to the locker room, but Xu Ze was not there.
Lu Heyang noticed a bag hanging on the hook in front of his locker. He went over to pick it up and opened it. Inside the bag was a pair of brand-new boxing gloves, a folded T-shirt, and a wristband wrapped in bubble wrap.
Xu Ze returned the items he had received in the exact same condition as he had gotten them.
A phone call came in from He Wei.
“I just got out of class. Wanna have dinner together?”
“No.” Lu Heyang leaned against the locker, holding the bag in his hand. His eyes fell to the ground. “The driver is waiting at the school gates. He will pick me up from school every day from now on.”
He Wei clicked his tongue a little irritated, “What the? What’s with this sudden strict supervision again? Is it necessary?”
“I don’t know,” Lu Heyang’s tone didn’t reveal any emotion.
In the evening, Lu Heyang came out of the bathroom after taking a shower. While drying his hair, he looked at the bag on the sofa that Xu Ze had returned to him. After half a minute, Lu Heyang picked up his phone to make a call.
Seven or eight seconds later, the call was answered. Xu Ze’s “Hello?” sounded faint and distant. Lu Heyang sat down on the sofa and asked, “What happened to your leg?”
Perhaps not expecting this question, Xu Ze paused before saying, “I accidentally bumped into something.”
“Did you apply medicine?”
“Mn.”
After that, there was a long silence. The faint electric hum on the phone seemed to represent the distance between them.
“Why did you return the stuff to me?” Lu Heyang asked.
Xu Ze didn’t answer for a few seconds, and Lu Heyang continued, “If you don’t want them, there’s no use for me to keep them. I’ll just throw them away.”
Xu Ze was clearly taken aback, “Throw them away?”
Hearing Lu Heyang’s “Mn”, Xu Ze immediately asked, “Throw them where?”
“Are you going to pick them up?” Lu Heyang smiled, “I threw them in my room. If you’re going to pick them up, just let me know first.”
Although Xu Ze knew he was being teased, he breathed a sigh of relief because Lu Heyang wouldn’t really throw those things away.
“Xu Ze,” Lu Heyang suddenly called his name.
“What’s wrong?” Xu Ze’s voice sounded cautious and tense as if he feared hearing bad news.
“Don’t keep your distance from me,” Lu Heyang leaned back, looking at the still lamp above, and said slowly.
Xu Ze’s breathing suddenly got heavier. He remained silent for a long time, then asked Lu Heyang, “Are you leaving next semester?”
He wouldn’t have posed such a question before; rather, he would have silently returned to the position where he should be without intruding or probing, being the Xu Ze who wasn’t acquainted with Lu Heyang.
“If I’m leaving next semester, do you plan to distance yourself from me from now on?” Lu Heyang asked calmly.
Xu Ze replied quietly, “I didn’t mean to distance myself from you.”
People living in two different worlds couldn’t be said to be distanced from one another. Under normal circumstances, they would never have the chance to meet. Of course, Xu Ze knew that Lu Heyang would eventually marry someone else. Maybe three or four years later when he was in university, or maybe six or seven years later when he had a successful career. It was only after He Wei reminded Xu Ze that he realized there was prior contact before marriage, something that should start at an early stage, at least in Lu Heyang’s circle.
Furthermore, Lu Heyang might transfer to another school next semester, which caught Xu Ze off guard.
Lu Heyang retorted, “Still saying you didn’t.”
“Then will you leave?” Xu Ze asked again, persisting for once.
“It’s still uncertain.”
Although Xu Ze got an ambiguous answer, he still said, “Okay.” He added, “Go to bed early.”
“Mn.”
Lu Heyang ended the call first, knowing that Xu Ze wouldn’t be the first to hang up.
In the following days, Lu Heyang was picked up from school by his driver. The final exams were next Thursday, and the summer vacation would officially begin after the exams on Friday.
Today was Friday. During the day, Xiao Feng sent a message to Lu Heyang and told him that Seventeen would be fighting tonight. At 9:30 pm, Lu Heyang thought that the match should be over, so he sent a message to Xiao Feng to ask if Seventeen was injured.
Xiao Feng: Ah, Seventeen is still fighting, it’s the sixth match now.
Lu Heyang was doing homework, but after seeing the message, he furrowed his brow, put down his pen, and asked: What do you mean?
Xiao Feng: I only found out when the match started. The boss made Seventeen wear a skirt and fight in the ring for ten matches today. If Seventeen doesn’t win, he won’t get paid tonight… I heard that someone bet 500,000 on him in one match last week, but the prize money is being held by the boss, and he still hasn’t received it.
Lu Heyang asked: Is he injured?
Xiao Feng: Yes, he’s injured and keeps on bleeding. The boxer he fought against in the last fight was tough. Everyone is saying that the boss deliberately drained Seventeen’s energy and saved the strongest opponent for last. So he clearly wants him to lose.
Lu Heyang turned off his phone, grabbed his car keys, and left the study. As he drove out of the garden, he saw a flash of light in the rearview mirror. The bodyguard’s car had already caught up with him from the other direction.
Lu Heyang arrived at the club after ten, which was the busiest time of the day. Making his way through the crowd, he fended off hands that tried to grasp his shoulders until he reached the boxing ring. Lu Heyang took a look at the entrance. Xu Ze was no longer fighting inside. He turned and headed backstage.
Xu Ze was not in the changing room either. Lu Heyang proceeded through the side passage, the route Xu Ze typically took when leaving.
There was no one in the corridor, and it was quiet. Despite not hearing any noise or noticing any indications, Lu Heyang paused as he passed the door to the stairwell and took a step inside.
There was another door in the stairwell. It was partially open, revealing a shadowy corner with no light. In the corner, there was a pile of cardboard boxes and plastic bags, and something seemed to be curled up on top of them.
Lu Heyang slowly walked in and smelled the stench of blood and an indescribable burning odor.
The one huddled in the garbage was an alpha. A light resembling a silver blade appeared out of nowhere and slashed the alpha’s face, revealing a trail full of smeared blood. The alpha had closed his eyes and seemed to be resting from exhaustion.
Lu Heyang’s fingers twitched. He was about to step closer when he suddenly saw a hand reaching out in front of the alpha—it was blocked by the other half of the door, and the owner of the hand was not visible. The hand twirled a lit cigarette and pressed the glowing tip against the alpha’s body.
The alpha choked out a groan from his throat and moved a little. The plastic bags beneath him rustled, but that was all he moved as he had no strength left to react in any other way.
The indescribable burning smell in the air grew stronger.
Lu Heyang: (ノ｀Д´)ノ彡┻━┻
ooohhh….the angst is angsting. my chest hurts so much im so sad for xu ze…being with heyang was like a safe space for him probably and now :((( AHHHHHH I HATE IIIITTT
thank you for your work!!
he wei will you please shut that mouth omg!!!
Thank you for the chapter!
唐贱人😭 For what ueueue Xu Ze deserves sm better my god…
I shouldn’t be reading this during working hours T_T
(Thanks for the translation)