Chapter 6 – Couldn’t Forget
Novel Title: 长夏醒迟 (Long Summer, Late Awakening)
Author：麦香鸡呢 (McChicken)
Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)
Protagonists: 余炀 (Yu Yang -MC/Gong), 靳吾栖 (Jin Wuqi -ML/Shou)
*Please read at Novels Space.space, the original site of translation. TQ*
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The headlights cast a mottled brightness as Jin Wuqi stood in the beam, surrounded by countless floating dust particles. His gentle gaze pierced through the brightness and smoke, meeting Yu Yang’s gaze.
Back then, Yu Yang was also enchanted by those eyes. He fell headlong into them, offering up all his youthful passion.
It’s a pity. It was just a mistake.
Yu Yang expressionlessly turned on the high beams, the dazzling light illuminating the person in front of the car with great clarity. Jin Wuqi seemed like an elusive phantom, gently raising his hand to shield his eyes, revealing a smile. His bright lips curled up, his half-exposed face more radiant than the light.
Jin Wuqi smiled and said something. His lips slowly closed and opened like flower petals where Yu Yang could see his soft, moist tongue.
Yu Yang couldn’t hear what he was saying but he knew it clearly that Jin Wuqi had said, “Yu Yang.”
Yu Yang guessed that the voice must be soft, with a rising tone at the end. It was like drawing a circle in the air, then gently drifting into his heart, as if he could taste a hint of sweetness.
Because Jin Wuqi always called him that way, Yu Yang didn’t want to remember. But he really couldn’t forget.
The headlights suddenly dimmed, leaving the surroundings pitch black. Yu Yang turned off the engine, opened the door, and got out of the car.
Only the moonlight above and the distant streetlights remained. Jin Wuqi’s eyes reflected a faint light in the darkness, with a watery hue, like gems shimmering at the bottom of a lake.
Yu Yang no longer considered the issue of parking. He closed the door, brushed past Jin Wuqi without a word, and walked towards the entrance.
Jin Wuqi reached out and grabbed his wrist.
On this late summer night, a cool breeze blew. Yu Yang was wearing only a shirt, with the sleeves rolled up. Their skins touched. He could feel the warmth from Jin Wuqi’s palm on his wrist. The scent of roses lingered around him and intertwined into his breath.
How long has it been since he last touched this omega?
More than four years ago, right?
“I’m standing at your doorstep, and you still won’t say a word to me?” Jin Wuqi’s voice, coupled with a smile, was close, soft, and charming. Each word felt like a step on Yu Yang’s heart. “Little one, do you really hate me that much?”
It really resembled the scene when they first met. Jin Wuqi approached him step by step, using sweet words to tease Yu Yang. Meanwhile, Yu Yang remained awkwardly silent, unwilling to respond.
However, the silence back then was due to shyness and inner conflict. Now, Yu Yang was truly resisting his approach.
The stubbornness of youth had been polished by hatred and longing over more than four years. It turned into the indifference of their reunion now and everything was noticeable.
“Do you feel like you haven’t had enough fun yet?” Yu Yang slowly spoke with his tone flat, “But I’ve had enough. Please, don’t come looking for me again.”
“I’ve only been here once.” Jin Wuqi always had an air of indifference, as if no matter how you tried to persuade him, it wouldn’t work. He lightly rubbed the skin on the inside of Yu Yang’s wrist with his thumb, looking innocent. “Why are you so stingy?”
Emotions were like wild vines, raging barbarically in his chest, intertwining into his veins and heart, strangling into the flesh. Yu Yang almost collapsed at that moment. He wanted to shake off Jin Wuqi’s hand fiercely and ask him why he could be so indifferent and why he had the right to say such things.
But just imagining it made him feel exhausted. He didn’t want to argue, didn’t want to question. He just let the emotions rush to the peak in his body. And then, like a punctured balloon, shrivelled into a dry lump, falling into any corner, not bothering to seek attention, waiting for it to turn to ash on its own.
After all these years, Yu Yang had lived like this. His heart was already filled with too many shrivelled balloons. One more didn’t matter.
Yu Yang slowly reached out his other hand and placed it on Jin Wuqi’s arm, unmistakably pushing away the omega’s hand.
“I really hate your indifferent attitude,” Yu Yang turned his head slightly, lowering his eyes to look at him as he calmly spoke, “If you’re looking for someone to sleep with, there are plenty of alphas waiting in line for you. There’s no need to cling to me.”
The slightly cool evening breeze scattered Jin Wuqi’s dishevelled hair. He gazed intently at the alpha before him under the moonlight.
His little one had changed, shedding the fervour, shyness, impulsiveness, and awkwardness, becoming calm and indifferent. He had grown taller, become thinner, dressed in a well-tailored suit. There was a hint of fierceness in his gaze when he looked up. But the sunny and passionate boy from before was truly gone.
He destroyed it with his own hands.
When they first met, Jin Wuqi was buying coffee at a café. As he walked out, he saw a very tall alpha standing next to his sports car, carrying a backpack and wearing a vibrant school uniform, with a bicycle beside him.
The morning sun was clear and bright, as if casting its most dazzling light on the boy. Yu Yang frowned as he looked at the faint mark on his sports car left by his bicycle. When he looked up and saw Jin Wuqi approaching, his expression changed instantly.
It was because of that look in Yu Yang’s eyes that Jin Wuqi’s heart was moved, in just a moment.
His eyes looked clear, without any desire. They just contained pure astonishment and focus, triggering the subconscious release of alpha pheromones, with a slightly stunned expression.
That was probably the most sincere and genuine look coming from a young person. He was bathed in sunlight, not hiding, not concealing anything. It was so straightforward that it was heartwarming.
That expression only lasted for a few seconds. In the subsequent conversation, Yu Yang began to deliberately avoid eye contact, stuttering out apologies and promises of compensation, blushing with embarrassment, and finally almost fleeing under Jin Wuqi’s teasing smile.
But truly, it was so moving.
He was pure and bright, honest yet shy, straightforward yet inexperienced. His clear eyes showed a purity that could be seen through to the bottom. And his fluttering affectionate thoughts could be easily seen through. Yet they were so innocent and captivating.
That was probably the best version of Yu Yang. However, now standing before him was the best version of an alpha.
Rational, calm, stable, and restrained.
But he was not yet 23 years old. If it weren’t for the torment of the past four years, he could have remained as youthful as Zhou Zhou and Cheng Che. Well, at least, not as cold as he was now.
“I’m not trying to cling to you,” Jin Wuqi looked up at Yu Yang, meeting his gaze. “I just want to hold you.”
As he spoke, he reached out and embraced the alpha’s lean and firm waist. He gently rested his face against Yu Yang’s chest, listening to the familiar heartbeat, smelling the fresh lemon soda pheromones and the elegant perfume. He closed his eyes, quietly indulging in the embrace he had longed for years.
His few stray hairs were blown by the wind, gently scratching against Yu Yang’s chin. Yu Yang smelled the strong scent of roses. In his arms, there was the soft body of an omega with his smooth brown hair. He couldn’t hear his own heartbeat anymore. Nor could he sense any emotions.
Yu Yang only knew that the gap between them could no longer be filled or resolved by a simple embrace. No matter how close they were, everything was futile.
He couldn’t return the embrace. He had finally grasped a lifeline and was determined to climb out of the abyss. He really didn’t want to fall back in.
He was no longer the impulsive and naive high school student he was at eighteen. He had come this far step by step, not to offer himself again to become the boy from four years ago.
“Let’s just leave it at this,” Yu Yang’s hand hung heavily at his side. He looked up at the crescent moon in the night sky and whispered softly, “It can really end now.”
Since I couldn’t say goodbye face to face back then, it was better to bid farewell completely today.
The leaves rustled in the wind as Yu Yang decisively pushed Jin Wuqi’s shoulder and walked up the steps without looking back.
The scent of roses gradually disappeared and drifted away with his steps. Yu Yang unlocked and opened the door, entering the darkened house.
Jin Wuqi stood still for a few seconds. He then gently adjusted his coat, smelling the lingering lemon soda pheromones on the collar. He turned and left.
The wind blew his hair off his forehead, revealing a face more pale and radiant than the moonlight, with long eyelashes drooping, covering his moist eyes.
Yu Yang leaned against the door, looking up at the empty darkness. His eyes were so sore, so dry, yet not a single tear would fall.
That young alpha, who used to wear his emotions on his face, truly died four years ago.
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*Translator’s Note: Arghhh this chapter really breaks my heart. -K
Next update: 2024.04.11
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Link to Chapter 7: https://freenovels.net/long-summer-late-awakening-chapter-7/
