Chapter 89: Don’t forget me too soon

For a moment, Xu Lin truly believed he was going to die. His vision blurred, the world spun, and everything went black.

The heavy impact momentarily stole his sight. For two or three seconds, he could see nothing. Then, slowly, faint light crept back into his vision, and the world came into focus.

Above him was an irregular hole in the ceiling, its edges crumbling and expanding, sending down a steady trickle of dust and debris.

Above that, the fire had spread into a sea of flames.

This place wouldn’t hold much longer.

As his vision returned, so did the pain in his body, waking his stiff limbs. He wiggled his fingers, then his feet. Thank goodness. He could still move. He was still alive.

He tried to get up but couldn’t. Something was wrapped tightly around his waist, pinning him down.

He looked down and froze.

Two arms were locked around him, shielding his entire body.

He realized he was lying on top of Ji Jinxuan.

Ji Jinxuan’s eyes were closed. Blood streamed from a wound on his head, covering half his face and soaking his hair. Drops of red dripped from the ends of his hair.

Xu Lin’s face went pale. “Ji… Ji Jinxuan!”

He shook him, but there was no response. He slapped his cheek. “Wake up!”

Because of the explosion, the floor that looked intact was actually as fragile as an eggshell. Xu Lin had felt it give way the moment he stepped on it, but it was too late. In that split second before he fell, Ji Jinxuan had grabbed him and twisted in midair, using his own body as a cushion beneath Xu Lin.

They’d fallen from the sixth floor to the fourth, landing in a room that hadn’t completely collapsed. Two stories wouldn’t kill a person, but the room was filled with exposed rebar and sharp broken stones. One wrong move could be fatal.

When Xu Lin couldn’t wake him, he checked his breathing. The warm air against his fingers made him blink for the first time in what felt like forever. He quickly checked Ji Jinxuan’s body—no foreign objects impaled him. Aside from the head wound, he seemed uninjured elsewhere. Xu Lin let out a small breath of relief.

But before he could fully relax, the floor beneath them lurched and began to tilt. Xu Lin grabbed Ji Jinxuan as he started to slide, gritted his teeth, and hoisted him onto his back. Then he ran.

His right ankle screamed in pain—it was swollen, probably injured in the fall. He ignored it and ran faster.

The fourth floor had also been hit by the explosion. It was in worse shape than the sixth. Ceilings could collapse at any moment, sending debris crashing down on them.

Xu Lin was desperate but not reckless. He’d learned his lesson. He searched for an escape route while staying alert.

The unconscious man on his back was heavy, and his injured ankle made every step a struggle.

The institute was huge, with countless rooms on every floor. The complex layout was now a labyrinth of rubble. Navigating through it was nearly impossible.

If only Ji Jinxuan were awake to guide him.

Just as Xu Lin stepped onto a tile, he heard a sharp crack. His scalp prickled. He pulled his foot back just as the floor caved in, revealing the level below.

He swore under his breath. Behind him, smoke was spreading, and the fire from above was moving down. Trapped, he pushed open a nearby door and entered.

It was a storage room. Tables, chairs, and cabinets were overturned. The large floor-to-ceiling window was warped, its glass cracked like a spiderweb.

Xu Lin set Ji Jinxuan down against a cabinet.

The blood from his head wound was still flowing. Xu Lin parted Ji Jinxuan’s hair and found a deep gash on his scalp. It would need stitches.

The blood kept coming, and the metallic smell was overwhelming. Ji Jinxuan’s face, already pale, was growing whiter from blood loss.

Xu Lin searched his own pockets and found only the handkerchief Ji Jinxuan had given him. He pressed it against the wound, but it was quickly soaked through.

This wouldn’t stop the bleeding.

Xu Lin began searching the room. It was a storage room—maybe there was something useful. But after a quick scan, his face darkened. All he found were testing equipment, incubators, and machines he couldn’t name.

Frustrated, he kicked a fallen metal cabinet. The door swung open, spilling its contents. Inside was a toolbox and a coil of nylon rope. Probably left by a maintenance worker.

Xu Lin’s eyes lit up.

He glanced at the hallway. Smoke was pouring in, the fire closing in. No time to hesitate. He closed the door to hold back the smoke, but it still seeped through the cracks.

He grabbed a chair and smashed it against the cracked window. The glass shattered.

He tossed the chair aside and peered out. The building was leaning dangerously. Rescue vehicles were arriving in the distance, their lights flashing. But they were still far away. If they waited, they’d be crushed before help arrived.

He couldn’t stay put.

He assessed the building. Despite his injured foot, four stories was manageable.

He tied the rope around a heavy machine, testing its strength. Just as he was about to secure it to Ji Jinxuan, Ji Jinxuan’s eyelids fluttered and opened.

Finally.

Xu Lin spoke quickly. “I’ll lower you down first. Once you’re out, get a doctor for your head. I’ll follow!”

He looped the rope around the machine and tightened it. “Most of this stuff is broken, so it’ll only hold one person. If we go together, it might not hold. We’ll go one at a time. There’s still time. Don’t worry.”

But Ji Jinxuan grabbed Xu Lin’s hand and pulled the rope away, wrapping it around Xu Lin instead.

“You go first,” he said, his voice barely a whisper.

Xu Lin tried to stop him. “I’m not hurt, you are! Stop wasting time!”

Ji Jinxuan looked at Xu Lin’s dirty face, then at the blood-soaked handkerchief on the floor.

“I gave you that so you could wipe your face.”

Xu Lin fumbled with the knot, annoyed. “There are plenty of handkerchiefs! Why are you so stubborn?!”

Ji Jinxuan used his clean sleeve to wipe the dust off Xu Lin’s cheek.

“Why didn’t you leave me behind?” he asked. “Without me, you’d already be out.”

“I’m not that heartless.”

Ji Jinxuan had been injured protecting him. Leaving him behind was unthinkable.

“I thought you hated me. I thought you wouldn’t care.”

“Just shut up already!” Xu Lin was exasperated. With everything falling apart, why was Ji Jinxuan saying these things?

He tied the rope around Ji Jinxuan’s waist. Ji Jinxuan didn’t resist. When it was done, Xu Lin helped him to the window.

The wind blew in, hot and full of dust.

Ji Jinxuan said, “Can you give me a hug before you go?”

“Now? You’re—”

Xu Lin stopped mid-sentence. The look in Ji Jinxuan’s eyes was gentle, peaceful, as if he were trying to memorize every detail of Xu Lin’s face. He couldn’t finish his protest.

Ji Jinxuan leaned in and embraced him, holding him so tightly it was hard to breathe.

A long moment passed. Xu Lin finally came to his senses and pushed back. “Ji Jinxuan! Have you lost your mind?!”

Ji Jinxuan looked at him deeply, then pressed a soft kiss to his forehead.

Xu Lin froze.

“I’m sorry for lying to you,” Ji Jinxuan said, cupping his face. “I hurt you. I made you suffer. I made you adapt to being an Omega. I kept you away from home.”

He paused, then added, “I made you unhappy.”

Xu Lin tried to interrupt. “What are you—”

“I have so much I want to say. I want to apologize. I want to make it up to you. But nothing I do can heal the scars in your heart or make you happy. And now I’m out of time.”

“I wanted to stay with you until the end. But it’s come sooner than I expected.”

He smiled, almost wistfully. “Maybe that’s for the best. You hate me, so you won’t miss me.”

What was he saying? It sounded like a final goodbye.

Xu Lin struggled harder. “What are you doing?! Are we leaving or not?!”

He clawed at Ji Jinxuan’s back, trying to pull him off. Then he noticed something wrong. Ji Jinxuan’s back was drenched. But it wasn’t sweat.

He looked at his hand. It was covered in thick, red blood.

Ji Jinxuan’s blood.

“What happened?!”

He lifted Ji Jinxuan’s shirt and saw it—a gaping wound on his stomach. A long, jagged tear, as if something had pierced through him from back to front. The blood was still flowing.

Xu Lin’s mind went blank.

This was the source of the metallic smell. Ji Jinxuan’s black shirt had hidden the blood completely.

When had this happened? The fall. When Ji Jinxuan had shielded him, the exposed rebar must have pierced him. That was why he hadn’t woken up.

And Xu Lin had been carrying him, jostling the wound, making it worse.

“Why didn’t you tell me?!” Xu Lin’s voice cracked. “You need to go down!”

He pushed Ji Jinxuan toward the window, but Ji Jinxuan was smiling. Xu Lin looked down. The rope he’d tied around Ji Jinxuan was now around his own waist.

He’d been stalling. He’d switched the rope while hugging him.

Xu Lin tried to undo the knot, but it wouldn’t budge. His hands were shaking.

“What are you doing?! Is this a game to you?!”

“I’m sorry. I don’t have much strength left. You go first.” Ji Jinxuan held Xu Lin’s hands to stop him. “This time, trust me.”

“When I said I love you, I wasn’t lying.”

He pushed Xu Lin backward out the window. As Xu Lin fell, he saw Ji Jinxuan standing at the window, calm and still.

He watched Xu Lin, his lips moving silently.

The rope snapped taut. Xu Lin hung there, desperate, trying to undo the knot. But it wouldn’t give.

“Xu Lin!”

Li Mu ran to him, pulling away the rubble and helping him untie the rope.

Xu Lin tried to stand. “He’s still up there!”

The building was collapsing. In the dust and smoke, Xu Lin saw the fourth floor window. He didn’t see Ji Jinxuan.

The building gave way, crashing down like dominoes.

Li Mu grabbed Xu Lin and ran. “Move!”

Xu Lin twisted his neck to look back. “He’s still—”

Flames engulfed the fourth floor, and the building fell.

They were thrown to the ground by the shockwave. Li Mu shielded Xu Lin from the debris.

When the dust settled, Li Mu looked back. The building was a pile of rubble.

He looked at Xu Lin, who was propped on his elbows, staring at the ruins. Slowly, unsteadily, he stood and walked forward.

Something fell from his pocket—the hard drive. And a silver chain, its end caught on his pocket.

He pulled it out. On the chain hung two rings, a matching pair. They swung in the air.

He saw Ji Jinxuan’s face in his mind. He saw the words he’d mouthed.

“Yes,” Ji Jinxuan had said. “Don’t forget me too soon.”

Thump.

Xu Lin felt his heart slam against his ribs. The world went black.

“Xu Lin!”

Before he lost consciousness, he saw Li Mu rushing toward him, his face etched with worry.