Obsessed with a High-Ranking Esper (BL) Chapter 13: First Sight

He glanced up at the door knob and saw a sar of blood. He quickly wiped it clean with the cloth, fingers trembling.

Satisfied, he peeled off the bloodied shirt, the fabric clinging to his skin like a second wound sticky and soaked with the evidence of what he had just done. Each breath ca in shallow bursts, scraping against the inside of his ribs like broken glass. His body ached still, but he had to leave.

He crawled back into the vent, the tal groaning beneath his weight, echoing through the shaft like a dying animal mourning its own decay.

Halfway through, he paused. He balled up the shirt and shoved it deep into a crevice, a place no one would ever think to search. No one would ever know what happened here today.

His knees scraped against the ridged floor, each movent a whisper of pain. His fingers trembled as he reached the end, pushing open the vent cover with a grunt. He slipped into the cell like a shadow returning to its cage, dragging the vantacite alloy sheet back into place. It clicked with a soft hum like nothing had happened. Yu Xi collapsed onto the cold floor.

The silence was tranquil, almost sacred. He sat there, legs folded, eyes unfocused, his mind drifting between numbness and exhaustion. The cell was dim, lit only by the flickering light of the suppressant collar that buzzed like a dying insect.

His hoarse voice suddenly broke the stillness, low and brittle, like a thread unraveling in the dark.

"Mum... I did what you asked. Xiaobao is safe. Can I join you now... please." The words hung in the air like incense smoke fragile, sacred, fading into the silence.

He uncurled his fingers, revealing the blood-slicked makeshift knife. Its jagged edge caught the dim light, glinting like a cruel promise etched in steel. He stared at it, hollow-eyed. He didn’t want Gander’s legacy to live through him. He didn’t want to be a vessel for that darkness. His fingers trembled.

A faint smile ghosted across his lips. "Little Bao... sorry. Brother broke his promise."

The blade touched his throat, cold and unforgiving. A single bead of blood welled up, trailing down his neck like a tear shed by the soul itself.

And then there was a ripple. Not sound. Not light. But a strong presence. Yu Xi froze.

A strange aura pressed against the edges of his mind foreign, deliberate, watching. It wasn’t hostile. But it wasn’t familiar either. His dulled senses flared to life, like a dying fla catching wind.

He shoved the blade back under the mattress, breath hitching. Soone, or sothing was coming.

The sealed door exploded inward with a thunderous crack, tal shrieking as it tore from its hinges and skidded across the cell floor like a dying beast. Dust and debris billowed into the air, choking the dim light and painting the room in chaos.

Yu Xi didn’t flinch. He remained seated, legs folded and his eyes hollow. His breath was shallow, his body unmoving, as if he had already beco part of the wall.

Then ca the blinding yet pure light. It was impossibly bright. It flooded the cell like a divine intrusion, painting the cracked vantacite walls in gold and silver, chasing the shadows into corners where even rats dared not linger.

Yu Xi didn’t look away.

He couldn’t. Sothing inside him was drawing him towards it.

A deep, husky and warm voice followed. "Hey... hey. Are you okay?"

Yu Xi blinked. From the light erged a silhouette. It was a man in full tactical gear, visor lifted, plasma gun holstered. He crouched in front of Yu Xi, his movents slow and deliberate, like approaching a wounded animal. His fox-like sharp amber eyes t Yu Xi’s. And sothing within him stirred.

Yu Xi’s heart, long frozen in grief and rage, lted just enough to ache.

The man turned his head and called out, "We have another one here!"

Then he reached out, gloved hand held Yu Xi’s arm with a gentleness that felt warm.

Yu Xi looked down, dazed and disoriented. The glove resting on his arm was thick, its surface scuffed and stained but the warmth that seeped through was comforting. It traveled up his arm like sunlight lting frost, a sensation so foreign it nearly undid him.

"Can you walk?" the man asked his voice soft and careful like he was afraid to break sothing already shattered.

Yu Xi parted his lips, but no sound erged. It was as though his speech was strangled and he couldn’t utter a single word. The man’s gaze dropped to Yu Xi’s hands, sared with dried blood and trembling.

"You’re hurt," he murmured, already shifting to lift him. "Let carry you."

Yu Xi recoiled, flinching as if struck. "No." The word was barely audible, but the force behind it was thunderous. He couldn’t let such a dazzling person touch his stained and rotten self. This man was too bright, too clean, too angelic.

"I... I can walk," Yu Xi rasped, voice cracking like old glass.

The man paused, then chuckled a low, warm sound that curled around the edges of the silence. "Oh? I thought I slled bad or sothing. I have never been rejected like that before."

Yu Xi blinked, startled. "Co on," the man said, rising and extending his hand again to help him up. "Let’s get you looked at."

Yu Xi hesitated, then reached out for his hand to steady himself. His legs trembled beneath him, fragile as reeds in wind but he still stood. For the first ti in his life, he didn’t feel like he was standing alone.

***

A few hours earlier, Jian Ci stood in the stealth spacecraft, fully geared and practically vibrating with anticipation. His energy was infectious, if not mildly exhausting. He bounced on the balls of his feet, eyes gleaming with excitent, like a child about to unwrap a long-awaited gift.

Jian Rui rubbed his temples. "Will you just sit down?"

To his surprise, Jian Ci obeyed instantly. "Oh," he said, plopping into the seat with exaggerated compliance.

Jian Rui sighed, the tension in his shoulders easing slightly.

Across the cabin, Jian Wei worked silently at a floating screen, fingers dancing across holographic keys. Without looking up, he muttered, "I told you this wasn’t a good idea."

Jian Rui replied, "You can’t protect him forever. He is not a kid anymore."

Jian Ci, already unwrapping a snack cake, chid in with mock offense. "You do know I am right here."

Jian Wei glanced over. "You’re eating again?"

"I’m still growing," Jian Ci said between bites. "I have to eat."

"If you grow any bigger," Jian Rui teased, "you will be a fucking giant."

Jian Ci grinned, cheeks puffed with cake, savoring it like it was the finest delicacy in the galaxy.

"How do you feel after the shots?" Jian Rui asked.

Jian Ci nodded, swallowing. "Good," he said, reaching for another bite.

Jian Rui leaned in, voice gentler. "If you feel uncomfortable, don’t hesitate to tell . And don’t push your luck. If you feel sothing—"

"Say sothing, I know, I know. Stop nagging," Jian Ci interrupted, waving his hand.

Jian Rui smiled faintly. "Good."