Chapter 81 - The Night Before

The next day, Intron came early in the morning as usual, in his suit and leather shoes, and waited in front of his door. Even though he mentioned in the beginning that he was only giving him a ride out of convenience, it actually wasn’t because Zhong Yan wanted to pick him up. And he knew that too. Right now, he was “Specimen’s” second-in-command, and there were issues with his security. So, he did not argue or refuse Zhong Yan when he offered these arrangements. It seemed quite unreasonable for a Representative Councilor to pick up his assistant to and from work each day, and they would not have done so in order to avoid any suspicions. But now…

Intron stood below his own apartment block, watching the cars go by while he thought absently in his heart, who cares about that now, right? The bill to impeach “Butterfly” was officially put on the agenda. Anyway, the votes would be coming in in a couple of days. Even though there were still many Representative Councilors who were against the bill, there were already people—naturally, “Specimen’s” men—who have broken the news anonymously to everyone in the virtual community. The people cheered, and they all flooded the Supreme Council’s official website and homepage to ask about its progress, putting the council at an even more difficult position. If they did not allow the bill to continue, they worried that a greater rebound awaited them.

Zhong Yan’s affordable four-seater stopped by him. After Intron opened the back door and got inside, he was just about to greet Zhong Yan like usual when he suddenly realized that the person sitting beside him was not Zhong Yan. Instead, it was a young bodyguard.

Zhong Yan who usually sits in the back seat was sitting shotgun today, while the person driving was a bodyguard wearing shades—Hold on, why did he need to wear shades while driving? Moreover, the half of the man’s face that was revealed looks rather familiar somehow…Intron tried and tried again to think while he stared at the driver through the rearview mirror, but he could not recall who that face belonged to. He could only greet Zhong Yan in a muddled state.

“Good morning,” Zhong Yan responded warmly to him. Even though he did not respond to him any differently—and was pretty nice to him after their identity as fellow brethren were revealed—Intron still felt that Zhong Yan seemed to be in a better mood than usual.

However, the young guard sitting at the back was in a complete opposite state to Zhong Yan. For some reason, this young man who looked just about twenty or so years old had on an expression almost as if he had seen through the vanities of life itself. Intron attempted to greet him and tried to ask what caused the strange atmosphere in the car, but he received a ghastly gaze in response.

Intron, ?

They quickly arrived at the council house. After the car stopped, Intron was just about to get down when he heard Zhong Yan say to the driver, “Drive slowly on the way back and don’t use the Central Commercial Street. Traffic tends to be heavy there at this hour.”

Intron had never heard Zhong Yan speak in such a gentle tone. He looked up in surprise at the front and heard the man wearing the large shades respond, “Got it. Don’t worry, I’m more familiar with the roads at the Capital than you are. I’ll be fine.”

His tone was filled with indulgence. it was not his usual style of speaking, but from what he could see of the half of his face that was revealed, Intron was able to deduce who that voice belonged to, and he was so shocked that he even forgot to get off the car.

“Well, I’ll be heading to work then,” Zhong Yan told him.

“Hold on a second.” Adrian held his hand to stop him and took off his shades, turning to the back seats. “You two get off first. He’ll catch up soon.”

Intron looked at his rarely-seen silver irises and nodded dumbly. Meanwhile, the young guard beside him asked doubtfully, “Commander, why am I getting off as well?”

Adrian responded in dissatisfaction, “You get off if I tell you to. What are you asking all this nonsense for?”

Zhong Yan quickly tugged at his sleeves and coaxed the two at the back in a gentle voice. “You two are about the same age, right? What a coincidence. Wouldn’t it be nice if you two could have a chat and maybe become friends?”

There’s such a high probability of being the same age! How was that a coincidence?!

With Intron and the young guard both being kicked out from the car, the two of them stood silently by the road. After a moment, the guard awkwardly began, “So you’re 23 as well? Haha, it is quite a coincidence, huh?”

Intron responded, “No. I’m 24.”

…Things got even more awkward.

Fortunately, Zhong Yan joined them soon after, ending the awkward conversation. Intron breathed a sigh of relief and followed Zhong Yan into the council house. The usual unaffected expression returned to Zhong Yan’s face as he asked, “Is the speech finalized?”

“Yes, Sir Zhong.”

“Good. Pass it to me later.”

“Yes, sir.”

While Intron talked with him about work, Zhong Yan did not look any different from usual. Only by looking closely would anyone realize that his lips were more bright and moist than usual, almost as if…he had just been kissed.

“I’ll send you back first. Give me the address,” Adrian said to the guard who had returned to the car.

The guard had a start, and he quickly responded, “No need, commander. Let me change seats with you. I’ll drive. The captain will have my head if he finds out I let you drive while I just sit around.”

He was the one who accidentally accused his commander as a rapist because he had not seen the situation properly, and he had received a long nagging from his captain after returning because of it.

“Does it matter who drives? What’s more, this should be your first time in your Capital, isn’t it? I’m more familiar with these parts than you are. Hurry up, there’s somewhere else I need to go after sending you off.”

Before the guard could say anything to refuse him, Adrian had already found where he stayed from the recent navigation addresses recorded in the car and began heading over.

He had long heard of the rumors that Adrian did not put on any airs in his private life, and would always treat even the lowest ranking soldiers as brethren. He finally saw it himself today. Only…The young guard was sitting in the front passenger seat at the edge of tears, recalling what happened this morning.

He and another guard drove to Zhong Yan’s garage as usual, waiting for him to come down. But unexpectedly, two people showed up. Adrian said he needed to go out for something. So, in order to disguise himself, he had to exchange clothing with one of the guards. It just so happened that the older guard wore clothes more similar in size to Adrian, so it was him who exchanged clothes with Adrian. That resulted in Adrian driving, Councilor Zhong Yan sitting shotgun, while he alone sat at the back, thinking about why he was even there in the first place.

To put their relationships into perspective, they were a legal, newlywed couple. But if you were to call him Zhong Yan’s bodyguard…It did not seem like there was any protecting to do when the man nicknamed the Single Strongest Human Soldier, Adrian, was sitting at the front.

He thought it was awkward enough being the third wheel in the car, but he never expected that that would be over after Zhong Yan got off. But now, Adrian seemed to have become his driver. The guard felt like he was sitting on pins and needles the whole ride through. He didn’t even think about asking Adrian where he was going, and what he was going to do.

That night, Zhong Yan brought home a full set of kitchen utensils when he returned. The sounds of pots and pans could be heard for the very first time in his bachelor’s apartment. The small home was now filled with the smell of food. Adrian lifted his head up from his work, his attention caught by the aroma and the sight of Zhong Yan’s busy back. He couldn’t focus on his work anymore, and instead went over to Zhong Yan’s side and paced back and forth behind him.

“Don’t eat the ingredients,” Zhong Yan slapped away his mischievous hands that were reaching over and laughed, “Why don’t you chat with me instead? That’ll keep your mouth engaged.”

Adrian whose hands moved so quickly that his enemies could hardly see what was coming to them was actually caught by Zhong Yan, who had no combat experience whatsoever. You could tell he didn’t really intend to snatch a bite, he just wanted to play around.

Adrian hugged Zhong Yan who was currently cooking from behind. When they were still staying together in the dorms, he only dared to hold his shoulder for fear that Zhong Yan would see through his feelings, but he could openly circle his arms around Zhong Yan’s waist now. “The last fight is tomorrow. Nervous?”

What he was talking about was the notice released by the Supreme Council just this afternoon. Due to “Butterfly’s” illegal issuing of the “Honor Decree”, as well as the military order for the crackdown that ended up injuring some students, the Supreme Council has decided to start an impeachment bill. A vote will be held at the round table tomorrow, and in good faith, the process will be broadcast live throughout the entirety of the Federation.

“We’ve already come this far. We’ve done all we needed to.” While stirring the pot with one hand, he let his free hand rest on Adrian’s arm that covered his waist. “Things were still going fine today. We managed to negotiate the general process of everything just before work hours were over. Otherwise, we may have had to start a late-night meeting.”

This morning, the most senior member of the Twelve, Bard Pearson, his presence long overdue, entered the room just when the meeting was about to begin. If there was no meeting, then he may not even appear in the council until the afternoon. The entire council was already used to this.

After this meeting, however, Pearson who still adamant on not agreeing to the impeachment vote actually nodded. However, he brought up wanting to host the vote himself. But Zhong Yan was resolute in inviting Stalvern Yate to reside over it instead. Right now, Zhong Yan’s standing was different. He held a certain amount of weight in the round table. The two sides were in a deadlock over the matter, but the matter was finally settled when the neutral party, led by Vahl Cayman, leaned over to Old Yate’s side.

Zhong Yan covered the pot and turned around to embrace Adrian. He said, “I thought things would definitely drag on until the day after, but it seems your work was successful today.”

Adrian did not answer him directly. They always spoke with much caution within the Capital, and they tried as much as possible to avoid talking about the specifics of their plans. So, Adrian had only tightened his hold around that man and said in a warm voice, “Everything’s going swimmingly for me these past few days. The lucky charm you made me must be effective.”

As he said that, he took out the white ball from his pocket. As soon as he saw that, Zhong Yan grinned. “You’re really bringing that around with you?”

“Of course. This is my lucky charm.” Adrian put the ball into Zhong Yan’s hands and said solemnly to him, “I’ll lend this to you for a day. After you’re done with it tomorrow, remember to hand it back to me.”

With a smile, Zhong Yan agreed. “Okay.”

While watching him, it seemed like Adrian had something to say to him, but he kept stopping. Sensing that, Zhong Yan asked, “What’s wrong?”

If they lose tomorrow, then he will forcibly take Zhong Yan away from the Capital. He knows that Zhong Yan likely won’t agree to that. He would definitely stay behind to deal with the aftermath. Even if they can’t get away, Zhong Yan’s safety was still the most important to Adrian, and that was also the purpose of his secret trip to the Capital.

“If…” Adrian’s words cut off at his lips, but he still managed to say, “If you lose it, then you have to make me another one. This time, I want a wolf’s tail.”