Chapter 30

It was cold, but it made Su Lin feel safe.

Now, however, Medises's pale, silver-like eyes brimmed with intense emotions that Su Lin desperately wanted to avoid. As a straight man, Su Lin really wasn't good at analyzing another male's gaze, but whenever he discovered someone looking at him like that, his instincts naturally started sounding the alarm.

The last time he had seen a similar look was when a seemingly gentle, adorable, perfectly normal male "friend" dragged him into a dark little room. The man, who should now be serving time in an Alliance prison, had nearly cut off Su Lin's limbs.

["Don't cry. Don't worry, I'm very skilled. You won't feel any pain. I'll treat you very, very well afterward, too. Look, if I keep you in a petri dish, you won't look at anyone else anymore, will you? It'll be better for everyone. You'll never fool me again, and I'll never have to worry about you leaving me..."]

Su Lin still remembered the man's nervous whisper.

At the time, he had thought the man must have been driven completely insane by his doctoral dissertation to become such a pervert. But now, the look in Medises's eyes was exactly the same as that lunatic's.

Su Lin shuddered and quickly realized that he was probably at a critical moment of life and death.

A powerful desire to survive made him incredibly bold in an instant.

"Senior He."

He firmly abandoned the title "Master" and called out Senior He's name in exactly the same tone he had used back then.

"I've always wanted to tell you I'm sorry."

As soon as he finished speaking, Su Lin keenly sensed the sharp insect limb pressed against the side of his neck apply a little more pressure. He felt a faint sting, accompanied by a slight numbness and itch.

Something warm trickled slowly down his neck. Su Lin had no doubt that he had probably been wounded again.

After all, he was a Zerg, and Zerg used their insect limbs as weapons.

He didn't lose heart. Instead, he continued, his voice trembling slightly.

"Senior He, I'm so glad I got to see you."

"Shut up. I'm not your 'senior' at all. I'm warning you, don't call me that again!" Medises's face darkened as he roared viciously at the young man beneath him.

He looked very fierce, very cold, and very frightening.

If their current position hadn't been so awkward, Su Lin thought he could have dropped to his knees and clung to Medises's leg to beg for mercy right then. Unfortunately, all he could do now was take a deep breath and look his former classmate straight in the eye, tears glistening in his own.

The crucial moment had arrived.

He told himself that, then opened his eyes wide, trying to convey the exceptionally sincere feelings he felt at this very moment through his gaze.

"But you are Senior He."

Su Lin steeled himself and repeated it.

"I know you're probably still angry with me. I really was the one who wronged you first back then, but I've regretted it all these years. If I'd properly apologized to you at the time, maybe you wouldn't be so..." Su Lin hesitated, desperately searching for the right words.

"So lonely."

In the end, he used the all-purpose word the teacher had endorsed in the textbook.

After saying all that, Su Lin carefully watched Medises's expression. Even though his eyes had filled with tears from the pain in his back, he didn't dare blink.

His fraud teacher had said that when you wanted to convince someone, you must never look away. A shifting gaze would make you seem guilty and insincere.

And that was exactly what Su Lin needed to avoid right now.

After all, he really was flustered and lacked confidence now-after leaving the Border Planet, he hadn't thought of He Zisen in years.

"If I didn't know you were Senior He, I couldn't have done those things just now. You know that very well too, don't you, Senior? If it were any other Zerg, I wouldn't have dared go near them."

Su Lin added, striving to sound sincere.

Medises: ...

The silver-haired Zerg was silent for a long time.

So long that Su Lin began to tremble inwardly, wondering whether he really had mistaken him for someone else.

Should he just change what he was saying? Was there still time to call him "Master" again?

The moment he had that thought, Su Lin heard Medises respond in a hoarse voice.

"Coming to apologize to me now, don't you think it's too late?"

...I passed!

If his feelings could be given tangible form, Su Lin thought his background sound right now should have been fireworks and electronic applause.

Of course, Medises's attitude toward Su Lin was still quite hostile, but Su Lin had already relaxed considerably.

He even dared to raise his hand and slowly reach for the side of his neck. No, he wasn't touching himself; he was stroking the insect limb the Zerg had pressed against his neck.

Compared with his earlier efforts to sound sincere, Su Lin's tone now seemed more affected than before.

"Senior, could you let me go first? This thing on my back is way too fucking sensitive. When I hit it just now, I nearly pissed myself..."

At first, what Su Lin stroked was still Medises's cold, hard Zerg carapace, like some kind of metal. But as Su Lin complained, the Zerg's sharp forelimb changed into its human form. Su Lin's palm finally rested against a warm, firm human arm again.

"...Your fledgling wings!"

Medises's expression changed slightly, and he quickly picked Su Lin up off the floor.

Before Su Lin could resist, the Zerg had already

easily

torn his clothes open.

Although Medises had already seen the wings on Su Lin's body during the earlier bloodline screening, he really hadn't thought about them before-this was probably partly because the person he dreamed of day and night was too deeply associated with being human. Or perhaps it was because, given his current status, he hadn't encountered a being as fragile, pitiful, and delicate as the present Su Lin in many years.