Help! I Do Not Want to Guide a Disaster

Chapter 145: The Sovereign (2)

Xinyuan didn’t know whether he should feel happy or sad about the news. It felt completely surreal.

The best part was that Elder Suisui hadn’t even tried to pressure or force them into it; she had simply told them they could take their time and think it over.

Frankly, It was almost laughable. The idea that Xinyuan could actually close the Rifts without Wenzhi having to die.

But it didn’t bring Xinyuan any form of relief.

A little while later, they were down in the medical bay. Xinyuan sat silently, his dark eyes fixed on Wenzhi as Doctor Ruixin carefully drew a vial of blood from his arm.

Wenzhi leaned back slightly, adjusting to the pull of the needle as he spoke to the doctor. "I am an S-rank now. Bai Qinian confirmed it. Apparently, Pei Luo also just spontaneously jumped from a C-rank all the way to an A-rank Guide."

Doctor Ruixin stopped mid-motion, looking up with a look of pure surprise. "Really? Do you think he would want to be examined? I would love to run a few checks on him."

Wenzhi pressed a small piece of cotton against the spot where Doctor Ruixin had just drawn his blood. Catching Xinyuan staring at him with a deeply intense, curious expression, Wenzhi didn’t look away. He kept his grey eyes locked onto the Esper’s.

"You can ask him yourself, they are officially joining Sovereign," Wenzhi told Doctor Ruixin. He rose to his feet, tossing the cotton away, and walked straight over to stand directly in front of Xinyuan.

"Well, that’s perfect then," Doctor Ruixin smiled, turning back to label the blood vial.

Wenzhi reached up, reaching out to give Xinyuan’s dark hair a small, affectionate ruffle. "She’s done. Do you think she knows about Yuzhen?"

Xinyuan slowly rose to his feet, and the moment his fingers slid into Wenzhi’s hand, Wenzhi caught the storm brewing in his expression.

"You do not have to think too hard about Elder Suisui’s words, Xinyuan," he said softly, trying to ground him.

"You are too calm about it. I can feel it," Xinyuan countered, his gaze shifting, a rare and fragile tremor in his eyes that made Wenzhi’s face completely fall.

"I’m not calm about it," Wenzhi explained, his voice dropping as he tried to find the words. "I’m just... I do not know how to process it, that’s all. I mean, we have been running away from the absolute fact that they intend to kill me to fix this world. And then suddenly, there is a whole new theory about using your berserk state to close the rifts, and no one has to die."

He laid it out like it was a perfectly logical explanation, but Xinyuan only tightened his grip, his knuckles turning white.

"Exactly," he breathed. "It is a trap. We shouldn’t believe it, right?" He asked it like a child begging for confirmation, just wanting to be absolutely sure they weren’t falling for a lie.

Wenzhi nodded slowly. "Yes. That is why I do not know how to process any of it."

"Because there is a chance," Xinyuan murmured, taking a small step closer, his deep voice distinctly shaky now. "There is a chance that you won’t have to die. That they will stop chasing us. That we can actually go and get that island."

Wenzhi’s breath hitched, completely caught off guard by the raw hope bleeding out of the Esper. Slowly, he raised his hand toward Xinyuan’s face, but his fingers didn’t quite make contact. They just lingered an inch away from his cheek, hovering in mid-air as if Wenzhi suddenly didn’t know what to do with himself at that exact moment.

"Your words are contradicting the tears in your eyes, Xinyuan,"

Xinyuan froze. The realization hit him instantly, and he pulled back, taking a sudden step away from Wenzhi’s hovering touch. "I..."

He looked around the sterile room, desperately wanting to restrain himself.

Wenzhi stared at him in genuine surprise, his hand slowly dropping back to his side. Even Doctor Ruixin, who was still standing by her trays across the lab, blinked rapidly, her mouth parting like she wanted to offer some distraction, but she wisely kept her mouth shut.

"Xinyuan?" Wenzhi took a single step toward him.

But Xinyuan didn’t let him finish. He immediately moved forward, grabbing Wenzhi’s wrist in a bruisingly tight grip. A rush of dark mist bursted from his body, wrapping around them both. In the blink of an eye, they reappeared instantly in a sleek, empty meeting room.

The space was dead quiet, filled with gleaming white and silver walls, dark blank screens, a massive central table, and glowing blue light lines built into the architecture. Before Wenzhi could even grasp himself, he was slammed backward.

Xinyuan pinned him against the wall, crashing his lips against Wenzhi’s. He shoved Wenzhi’s hand flat against the cold surface, intertwining their fingers so tightly it hurt.

Wenzhi was completely caught off guard at first, his mind spinning from the abrupt teleportation. But whatever protest or question he wanted to voice dissolved entirely the moment the Esper’s emotions flooded their bond. It was a wave of pure, unfiltered devastation.

Wenzhi opened his mouth, returning the hungry, desperate kiss with equal fervor.

Xinyuan kissed him as if he were drowning. And fear... sharp, blinding, and overwhelming fear was coursing through the bond, tangled up with a desperate, aching want and a raw desire that left Wenzhi gasping for air against his mouth. But underneath the hunger, the most prominent emotion was that paralyzing terror.

Xinyuan held Wenzhi so close it felt like he was trying to fuse their bones together, pressing his heavy weight flush against his Guide. He released Wenzhi’s hand from the wall, his palms sliding up to grip Wenzhi’s jacket, never once breaking the kiss.

They only parted for a second to catch a ragged breath before slamming back together, clinging to one another in the quiet room.

Wenzhi knew what he had to do. He needed to tell him, with absolute certainty, that he wasn’t going anywhere.

Breaking the kiss with a sharp tug, Wenzhi let a deep, ragged breath escape his lips. He looked up at Xinyuan’s face which was flushed and utterly broken.

"Nothing is going to happen," he breathed, his voice steady despite his racing pulse. "I’m right here."

"I..." Xinyuan started, his chest heaving, looking like he wanted to fiercely rebuke Wenzhi’s words.

But Wenzhi didn’t let him spiral. He leaned up and kissed him again, soft but unyielding. His fingers slid up into Xinyuan’s dark hair, caressing the back of his neck, while his other hand pressed firmly against his Esper’s warm cheek.

"There is nothing to be scared about," Wenzhi whispered against his lips, his thumb brushing over his skin. "She gave us a choice, after all. We can just refuse. We can say no and focus entirely on wiping out the Old Blood. That’s it. There is nothing to be scared about, Yuan’er. I’m here."

The reassurance didn’t seem to instantly break the panic, but it shifted something inside Xinyuan. Fresh tears spilled over, pooling in those warm brown eyes. He nodded slowly, swallowing down Wenzhi’s words like a lifeline, but the tears kept rolling down his face anyway.

Looking at him, Wenzhi couldn’t actually hold back the faint, tender smile that tugged at the corners of his lips. The Disaster-class Esper was actively crying in his arms. And Xinyuan was a beautiful crier. A really, really beautiful crier.

Wenzhi pulled him down into another deep, grounding kiss, using his fingers to gently wipe away the wet trails on Xinyuan’s cheeks.

Eventually, the heavy, frantic energy in the meeting room began to settle. Realizing they needed actual privacy, they retreated deeper into the headquarters, navigating to the private living quarters assigned to them within the building.

The moment the door clicked shut behind them, Xinyuan crawled onto the bed and clung to Wenzhi like a vice, wrapping his arms and legs around the Guide as if the universe might physically tear them apart if he loosened his grip.

Wenzhi just let him, threading his fingers through his hair until Xinyuan eventually drifted into a heavy, deep sleep.

Wenzhi, on the other hand, was completely reeling now. Because what the hell was happening?

He hadn’t expected Xinyuan to be so thoroughly broken by Elder Suisui’s words. Yes, they were going to treat it as a trap and stick to their current plans. It was the only safe play.

But what if they were actually right?

The world was supposed to end with Xinyuan destroying it, or by the unstoppable expansion of the Red Zones. But now, they were being handed actual news that the Rifts could be closed permanently.

But... Xinyuan....

What if Xinyuan still ended up destroying everything?

Xinyuan had accused him of being too calm earlier. Well, Wenzhi wasn’t calm anymore. The reality was finally crashing down, and he was spiraling fast, just not visibly enough to burst into tears like the lovesick Esper who was currently clinging to him and sleeping soundly against his chest.

Wenzhi let out a quiet, heavy sigh into the dim room. He relaxed his hand, ruffling Xinyuan’s dark hair with a slow rhythm, a deep, protective softness melting into his grey eyes. "How did we even get here, Sleeping Beauty?"