Chapter 494: Day 22 into the Alien War Story
Chapter 494: Day 22 into the Alien War Story
Chapter 494: Day 22 in the Alien War Story
A very professional-grade model—black body, with a satisfying heft and powerful magnification.
It had been delivered this morning. When An Cheng ripped open the packaging, his fingers traced the cool metal body, and a wave of self-loathing so intense it nearly swallowed him whole surged up inside him.
What was he doing?
Like some lowlife creep, buying a telescope, renting an apartment facing the dormitory building, and standing here, getting ready to spy on his own little brother.
But...
He couldn't help himself.
From the moment An Yi turned and walked onto campus, from the moment that figure disappeared around the corner, he felt his soul being torn clean in two.
One half, rational and cold, told him: Let it go, An Cheng. Keep your distance. Be a normal older brother. Xiao Yi has made it perfectly clear—you're brothers. You were in the past, you are now, and you should remain so in the future. Stop overstepping. Stop embarrassing yourself, and stop making things awkward for Xiao Yi.
But the other half... the other half was screaming like a junkie: Get closer, just a little closer. If you can't see him, you don't know where he is, you don't know what he's doing, you don't know if he's okay. That uncertainty had him by the throat, so he could barely breathe.
In the end, that side won.
He bought the telescope, chose this apartment facing the dormitory building, and then, like the lowest kind of peeping Tom, stood here, hunting for that figure inch by inch through the lens.
At 2:03 in the afternoon, he spotted him.
In the lens, An Yi walked out of the dormitory building with a tall male student.
That guy... had to be one of the roommates An Yi had mentioned.
Chen Heguang? Or Shi Luo? Or Zhang Yuankai?
All he knew was that the guy was grinning ear to ear.
In the lens, the guy's face was clearly visible—clean-cut features, a dazzling smile, eyes crinkled into crescents, lips moving as he talked, flashing white teeth.
He kept talking, waving his hands around, looking super animated.
An Yi walked beside him.
He tilted his head slightly, listening.
And then... An Yi smiled.
Not that polite, obligatory smile, but a smile with real amusement in it.
His eyes curved, his lips curving up more than usual—a look An Cheng knew all too well. It was the face An Yi only made when he genuinely found something funny.
That smile. An Cheng knew it all too well.
Over the past ten years, he'd seen it a thousand times.
When he cracked a joke, when An Qionglan told a funny story, when something funny was on TV... An Yi would smile like that.
Eyes sparkling, lips curved up, the whole person wrapped in a soft glow.
But now, that smile wasn't meant for him.
It was for some stranger he'd known for less than two hours.
"Bang—"
The telescope slipped from his fingers and slammed into the floor.
The metal body hit the wood floor with a dull thud.
An Cheng didn't reach for it. He stood there, hands gripping the windowsill, head hanging, shoulders shaking just a little.
Outside, the sunlight was so bright it hurt to look at, the campus full of life—clusters of freshmen, laughter ringing out, everything so perfect, so full of promise.
And he stood here, in this empty, cold room, alone.
He blinked once, then slowly bent over and picked up the telescope.
The lens wasn't cracked, but there was a faint scratch on the body now.
His fingers clenched around it, knuckles going white from the grip, veins standing out on the back of his hand.
Why is he walking that close to Xiao Yi?
Where are they going?
Countless questions churned and collided in his mind. Through the lens, he watched the guy lean in to speak to An Yi—that angle, that distance, almost intimate.
An Yi tilted his head, listening quietly, then nodded and said something.
The view through the telescope was trembling.
An Cheng clenched his jaw, a sharp pain shooting through his gums.
He forced himself to lower the telescope. The moment the lens left his eyes, his vision returned to normal.
The two distant figures became blurry specks, mixed into the flowing crowd, almost indistinguishable.
The campus was still the campus, the sunlight still just as brilliant. Nothing had changed.
He took a deep breath.
Once. Twice. Three times.
The cool air filled his lungs, slightly calming the burning fire in his chest.
He told himself: You can't do this, An Cheng. You can't lose control, can't fall apart like a madman—because your brother is walking too close to someone else.
You're his older brother.
You're just his older brother.
He raised the telescope again, his fingers steadier now.
But in his view, they were gone.
People came and went through the dormitory entrance, in and out, but that figure, that dazzling smile, that tall guy... all gone.
They had disappeared.
An Cheng stood there, telescope raised, watching for a long, long time.
Until the sun set in the west, the sky dyed in a blaze of orange-red, until the campus lights flickered on one by one, until no familiar figure ever appeared in that direction again.
He slowly lowered his hand, turned, and walked back into the empty living room.
The telescope was tossed carelessly onto the sofa, its body reflecting the last glimmer of daylight from outside the window—cold, silent.
Outside, night was deepening.
----------
An Yi's college life was off to a smooth start.
This time it was truly normal—so normal that he almost felt relieved.
His previous attempt at university was, well, his previous attempt—at Saint Imperial Royal Academy, which had left him with major psychological trauma and introduced him to some real lunatics.
In comparison, this place was practically a haven.
Friday morning, 10:20 a.m.
On the tree-lined path across from the teaching building, a figure stood in the shadow of a camphor tree.
An Cheng wore a hoodie, the hood pulled low over his face.
His hands were shoved into his pockets, leaning slightly against the rough tree trunk, looking like an ordinary student waiting for somebody.
But his eyes were fixed on the entrance to the teaching building.
His gaze was obsessively focused.
The bell for the end of second period had rung a few minutes ago, and students were now pouring out of classrooms.
An Cheng's gaze swept across the crowd.
He was looking for that familiar figure.
Nine days.
Nine whole days since move-in day, and he still hadn't seen An Yi face to face.
He'd called, he'd texted, but every message took forever to get a reply—either "busy, I'll text you later" or "I'm fine, don't worry about me." Always polite, always gentle, and always so... distant.
And that "bro" at the end—it stung.
So this was his only option.
Like a shadow lurking in the dark, like a nocturnal creature afraid of the light, he lingered at every place An Yi might show up.