Chapter 498: Day 26 into the Alien War Story

Chapter 498: Day 26 of Transmigrating into an Alien War Novel

An Yi handed the paper bag to him: "These are gifts from Yiduo for us. Take them back to the dorm and hand them out."

The bag was heavy—Zhang Yuankai's arm dipped noticeably when he took it.

"Holy crap, that's a lot!" Zhang Yuankai's eyes lit up as he looked at Lin Yiduo: "Thank you so much! I'm forever in your debt!"

Lin Yiduo laughed at his exaggerated tone and waved her hand: "What's the fuss! You're An Yi's roommates, after all!"

Zhang Yuankai said a few more words of thanks, then sensibly added: "Well, you two enjoy your stroll—I'll head back to the dorm! An Yi, make sure you take good care of your old classmate!"

He hurried off with the bag, but after a few steps, turned back and gave An Yi a wink.

Lin Yiduo watched his retreating figure and said to An Yi with a smile: "Your roommate's pretty entertaining."

An Yi: "...He's got a way with words."

"I'm forever in your debt?" Lin Yiduo laughed even more heartily: "Yeah, he really does."

The two of them kept walking.

An Yi took Lin Yiduo to the library. She stood at the entrance, tilting her head back to look up, her eyes full of longing: "So this is the famous national top-tier library... I'm going to live in here every day from now on!"

Next, they hit the gymnasium, taking a look at the pool and the indoor basketball courts.

Lin Yiduo was thrilled and whipped out her phone to take a bunch of photos.

"An Yi, An Yi, take a picture of me!" When they reached a tree, Lin Yiduo shoved her phone into An Yi's hands and ran over to stand beneath it: "Make sure you get that lab building behind me in the frame! This is the iconic building of a top-tier university! I'm posting this on my Moments!"

An Yi took the phone and framed the shot—he needed to fit Lin Yiduo, the tree, and the brick-red lab building behind her all in one frame.

Lin Yiduo smiled brightly and threw up a peace sign at the camera.

An Yi snapped the photo.

After snapping a few shots in a row, he walked over and handed the phone back to her: "Check if these came out okay."

Lin Yiduo took the phone and leaned in to look.

Her shoulder gently grazed An Yi's arm, and the ends of her hair brushed against his wrist, with a faint hint of shampoo.

"This one's perfect!" She pointed at a photo, saying excitedly: "You made me look really good! An Yi, you're pretty good at taking photos!"

An Yi smiled: "It's because you're already beautiful."

"Oh, you smooth talker!" Lin Yiduo laughed even more happily, then looked down and kept scrolling through the photos, her finger swiping across the screen.

But she didn't notice the figure lurking in the shadows nearby.

An Cheng stood there, gripping a book in his hand, silently watching in that direction.

He watched An Yi take the phone from Lin Yiduo, watched An Yi's focused profile as he looked down at the screen, watched the smile on An Yi's face as he handed the phone back to Lin Yiduo.

He watched Lin Yiduo casually lean into An Yi, shoulder to shoulder, hair brushing across his wrist.

He watched them stand side by side under the tree, watched Lin Yiduo laughing so joyfully, watched the gentleness in An Yi's eyes.

Watched them chatting and laughing together, then turn and head off in another direction.

Their figures gradually faded into the distance.

An Cheng's fingers clenched hard, his knuckles whitening from the pressure.

The thick pages of the book were wrinkled from his grip, the paper caved in, but he was completely unaware.

His eyes were glued to that direction, even though the spot was now empty.

In his chest, something was churning, searing, and ripping apart.

Lin Yiduo.

He knew her.

The girl who had grown up alongside An Yi since they were kids—his desk mate in elementary school, and sat in front of or behind him in middle school.

She always had her hair in a ponytail, had two deep dimples when she laughed, had a clear, crisp voice, and loved following An Yi around calling out "An Yi, An Yi."

An Cheng remembered so many little details about her and An Yi.

He remembered one time in elementary school when An Yi took a day off, Lin Yiduo called his house three times that day, each time asking in her little kid voice "When's An Yi coming to school?" and "Can I come see him?"

He remembered the day of the middle school graduation ceremony, Lin Yiduo with red-rimmed eyes, clutching the graduation gift An Yi had given her, choking back tears as she said: "An Yi, make sure you stay in touch. Don't you dare forget me."

He remembered in high school, even though they went to different schools, Lin Yiduo would send An Yi holiday greetings on every holiday, and sometimes even sent him little gifts in the mail.

They were friends.

Really good friends.

Childhood sweethearts, innocent and close, a bond built from growing up together.

But watching that scene from a moment ago—the look in An Yi's eyes as he took photos for Lin Yiduo, the casual ease with which Lin Yiduo leaned into An Yi, the harmonious sight of them walking away side by side—

The taut string in his heart suddenly snapped.

An Yi likes girls, right?

Lin Yiduo was so lively, so cheerful, so full of sunshine. She'd known An Yi forever and understood him so well, had so many shared memories with An Yi.

When she stood next to An Yi, it looked so natural, so perfect together.

Matched so well it was blinding.

Matched so well... it drove him crazy with jealousy.

An Cheng tipped his head back and shut his eyes.

Through his thin eyelids, the sunlight was a burning, stinging red.

He tried to take a deep breath, to push down the surging emotion in his chest that was about to swallow him whole.

But when he breathed in, the air felt like it was full of tiny ice shards, scraping his throat raw and making his lungs seize up.

He suddenly realized he just couldn't accept it.

He couldn't accept An Yi being with anyone else.

Whether it was a guy or a girl, whether it was Lin Yiduo or anyone else.

Just the thought of An Yi flashing that gentle smile at someone else, letting someone else get that close to him, forming a bond even closer than the one he shared with him...

It felt like his entire heart was being crushed.

What "going back to just being his brother"?

What "keeping his distance"?

What "holding himself back"?

What "watching over him silently"?

It was all just lying to himself.

There was no way!

From the second he realized his feelings for An Yi had shifted, from the first time he jolted awake in the dead of night after dreaming of An Yi, from the moment he watched An Yi's back and ached to drag him into his arms and hold him close, wanted to kiss him, wanted to possess him, wanted to be the only thing in his eyes—

There was no going back.

No returning to that pure, brother-only place.

An Cheng opened his eyes, bloodshot and burning red.

He dropped his gaze to his fingers clenched around the book, to the knuckles gone white from the pressure, to the deep wrinkles crushed into the pages.

Then, bit by bit, he unclenched.

An Yi—he refused to be An Yi's brother!

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In that dark red world, there was no such thing as day or night.

When An Yi showed up at the familiar lake, the massive beast was dozing on a giant black rock across the water.

Its colossal body rose and fell with each slow breath, the thick scales along its hide lined with razor-sharp edges that glinted like cold metal.

The moment An Yi's presence seeped into the space, the beast's massive frame shifted.