Chapter 310: Chapter 310: Romance in the Diary
Star Calendar 4005.5.13
We’re evacuating soon.
After our colleagues who went to study the Xenobeasts left, only a few of us remain in the entire lab.
The coastal environment doesn’t help our experiments in any way. Although nothing’s been confirmed, everyone knows this place will soon be abandoned.
Director Donovan’s experiment has made significant progress. The simulation data has peaked, and in theory, it should be viable.
But the conditions are extremely demanding.
We need human test subjects, but Planet C14 is too peaceful. There are almost no Betas who meet the criteria.
We need someone with extraordinary endurance and an incredibly strong body.
And for a group of research Betas like us, that’s clearly out of the question.
Practically all of us are in a state of sub-optimal health.
—
Star Calendar 4005.6.9
Today, the decision to transfer was finally made.
This lab, which has supported us for over two years, is finally going to be sealed and preserved.
We don’t know if we’ll ever have the chance to come back.
This is where my dream began, and it’s where I found my life’s purpose.
I cherish it more than anything.
And now I have to leave it.
The mandatory departure date is July 1st. I have 20 days left to say a proper goodbye to this place.
Of course, I’ll also say goodbye to Alec.
He confessed his feelings for me today, but he said outright that he doesn’t plan on being with me.
’I never would have imagined someone could fall for me.’
’A prim, serious, not-too-disagreeable Beta girl, with plain looks, who talks about nothing but experiments.’
That’s what people said about me back in school. I heard it and immediately put it out of my mind.
But now, after his confession, it’s all come flooding back.
He said we were people with the same dreams and ideas.
He said he understands me, and I understand him.
That we have things far more important than love.
He told me he’d noticed me ever since I transferred to Director Donovan’s team. He said he loves the way I look when I’m excitedly explaining my thought process to everyone.
He finds it endearing when, after getting frustrated over a difficult problem, I just bite my lip and keep calculating.
He loves my persistence, my worn-out face, and the stubbornness in my eyes.
I was stunned.
So stunned that this is the first time I’ve ever written his name. Before now, he was just represented by a single word: colleague.
’Who falls for their own coworker?’
’Just imagining it feels awkward.’
I asked him why he liked me. If it was because of our ideals, then everyone in this lab has made it this far sustained by their ideals.
He said it was from the very first glance, that he just started caring about me for no logical reason.
Everyone is different. According to him, when I’m a little frustrated, I spin my pen. When I’m more frustrated, I chew on the end of it, my brows furrowed.
He’s been quietly observing me all this time.
And he never told me.
He said he found that side of me very cute, and it made him want to help me solve my problems.
And in fact, he has done just that on more than one occasion.
It was only then that I suddenly remembered all the times he’d helped me. But he was so subtle about it that I always just thought of it as a colleague helping another colleague.
Only after he said all this was I truly certain that he likes me.
In that moment, it was hard not to be moved.
I have my ideals, but I also long for an ordinary love. And through all the little things over these past two years, he has successfully made himself unforgettable to me.
I remembered the coffee he handed me. I remembered him taking the spreadsheet I couldn’t figure out and studying it with me. I remembered the time I was so overworked I missed several days at the lab, and how he silently took on my work after finding out.
Now, I truly realize that I simply never dared to even consider the possibility.
Lying on my bed, I record all of this, my mind filled with images of him.
Perhaps it’s because we’re about to transfer and I no longer have complicated work to do that I’m able to think about these minor details.
Alec is a mixed-race Beta boy. His father is from The Empire, but his mother is from The Federation.
He was born on a Border Planet, has brilliant blond hair, and is far more handsome than the average Beta.
Someone like him would definitely have been chased by everyone back in school.
If we had met on campus, I don’t think our paths ever would have crossed.
But we met here, in this lab.
He said he’s going to a Border Star to study Xenobeasts after this. He said he just wants to be a little reckless for these last 20 days.
I don’t know what to say. Maybe I should agree to it. To be reckless for these last 20 days.
—
Star Calendar 4005.6.15
We kissed where no one could see us.
Our hot breaths mingled, our bodies wrapped in an embrace.
Like kindling set ablaze.
Constantly erupting with heat.
I initiated it. His expression was one of shock, but he immediately pulled me in and kissed me deeply.
Our eyes met, and we both understood.
One last act of recklessness.
—
Star Calendar 4005.6.20
Only ten days left. We’ve become even more intimate.
Last night, I had him stay over.
I love how sexy he is when sweat trickles down his back muscles, and I love the longing in his voice as he whispers my name in my ear.
When it comes to this, I could write so much.
Maybe it’s because I’ve been writing in this diary so much, but I feel like my writing has improved.
I love the intimacy of the two of us becoming one in bed.
I understand now why some literary masterpieces describe love so romantically.
While he’s fast asleep, I trace the lines of his eyes and brows and kiss his thin lips.
This won’t be the only time we are intimate.
I know that. But this one night is enough for me to remember forever.
—
Star Calendar 4005.6.25
I suspect Director Donovan and the others all know about Alec and me.
But they haven’t tried to stop us.
So I’ve grown even bolder. We might never see each other again after five days. I don’t want to hold back.
—
Star Calendar 4005.6.29
The last night.
Goodbye, Alec.
Goodbye, C14.
From now on, I will carry my love for you both as I move forward.
*
There were no more entries in the diary.
Why this notebook was left behind, Zoe Pierce had no way of knowing.
It could be seen as the work journal of a Beta girl whose name remained unknown, or it could be the history of her brief love affair.
The warmth of the words seemed to radiate from every page.
It was as if one could truly feel the writer’s surging, overwhelming love.
Even though Zoe Pierce knew the earlier work logs were more important to them, she couldn’t help but flip through the last few pages about the love story several more times.
’Will the two who were separated ever meet again?’
’It was a pointless question, really, but she couldn’t help wondering.’
Zoe Pierce put down the notebook, only to see Aaron Xavier looking at her, lost in thought.
"You like the diary?" he asked.
Zoe Pierce smiled. "It just made me a little sentimental. We should go check the next area."
