Heal These Battle Scars | MxM

Chapter Thirty - Train Wreck

Three days skipped by in the blink of an eye.

Wang Yi promised Xiao Fang he would seek out the bastard soldier and end his miserable life before the pictures could be released. Yet, despite his reassurance about fixing everything – reassurance that everything would be all right, Xiao Fang forced himself to watch on in pity while his lover slowly broke down every time Wang Yi returned to their room after he secretly searched another one of the soldiers' dorm rooms, hoping to find something – anything that might lead them to discover the bastard responsible for the pictures sent to Wang Yanzhen. And Xiao Fang, wallowing in self-loathing, refused to tell his young lover it was Zichen all along.

It was another secret.

It was another wrong thing to do, especially since Yi trusted him. And though he knew sometimes he allowed his emotions to get the best of him – sometimes he worked on impulses, his feelings, his desires; this time, he thought it was necessary to keep this a secret. This time, choosing not to tell Yi about the soldier seemed far from allowing his emotions to get the best of him.

Xiao Fang foolishly deeply believed so because his heart shattered over and over in a span of three days, and couldn't bear to put more strain on his young lover's crushed spirit. Yi was a walking corpse, having gotten little to no sleep – even his fingers were jittering, and his words were slurring. It caused his fears to rise over his lover's health, and his blood to boil with a maddening rage knowing Zichen was the root of it all.

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Four hours before midnight on a quiet Wednesday evening, Xiao Fang lay in bed alongside his young lover, admiring how Yi's eyelashes fluttered in his sleep. He must've been dreaming of childhood memories, perhaps a peaceful life with Xiao Fang up in the mountains of Chongqing. Or his thoughts must've been flooded with nightmares of gunfire and screams, and unnecessary deaths and all. Perhaps their deaths? Perhaps.

A frown quickly appeared on Xiao Fang's once-smiling face, and he sighed deeply before kissing his young lover lightly on top of his forehead. Yi seemed so peaceful, so soft, so special, and perfect. It pained Xiao Fang to leave his side, to move his warmth away from his lover since it was the only thing keeping Yi calm. It must be done, though. So he got up and quietly walked over to the door.

With one last glance over his shoulder, he whispered in the quietest of tones, "I'll return to you later," to Yi's sleeping form after grabbing the young commander's nearby coat hanging on the doorframe and shrugging the woolly fabric over his tall frame.

Right now, he must find Zichen and do something to stop the bastard from releasing those pictures. And although he had thought about beating the pompous soldier and force him to hand over the evidence all bloody and bruised. He had also thought about dropping to his knees to beg if Zichen so desired. It was a pathetic decision on his part. Xiao Fang didn't have it in his heart to take another man's life. Not anymore.

On noiseless footsteps, he sauntered past the upper corridor undetected, making his way to the soldier's bunker on the west side of the same barrack Yi stayed in. Once he reached Zichen's dorm room, he planned to have a civil conversation with the soldier. He hoped they might come to some conclusion – some agreement. Yet, the closer he appeared, his heart stuttered and hammered ten times over. His palms turned sweaty, too, fearing he might've put too much fate in the bastard soldier who wanted nothing more than to watch him wither and die in the most painful of ways.

Breathing in a heavy breath, he knocked on the door twice.

When the footsteps behind the door approached, they were heavy with annoyance. Yet Xiao Fang straightened his shoulders and tilted his head upright, braving himself to face the bastard responsible for causing himself and his young lover distress.