The communication line connected. In the brief silence that followed, there was only the soft sound of breathing from the other end of the terminal, like a small animal holding its breath, listening intently.
After a moment, a soft, gentle voice spoke. “Hello?”
“Mm.” Lu Mingjin responded in a low tone. “Looking for me?”
“There really is a sound!” A rustling noise came from the earpiece, like someone scrambling up from a bed, followed by an exclamation of wonder. “Wow, it’s really your voice!”
The voice held a little bounce of excitement, undisguised delight, and it softened Lu Mingjin’s tone in turn.
“What is it?”
“Uh…” Bai Ruonian seemed to stall on the other end, apparently a bit embarrassed. Finally, hesitantly, he confessed in a breathy voice, “I… I just wanted to try out this new ‘box’… I didn’t think it would actually work.”
He probably poked the terminal, too, as a faint tapping sound came through the speaker.
Lu Mingjin’s tone was flat. “Just for that?”
“Ah, not really… I also wanted to hear your voice.”
“Have you heard it now?”
A cruiser glided past outside the window as Lu Mingjin asked indifferently.
This omega was acting overly familiar, so much so it felt almost fake, which sparked a desire to tease him.
“I did! This is the first time I’ve seen something so advanced!” Bai Ruonian said excitedly. “Adjutant Zhang said I could hear your voice from this thing, so I tried it out… I really like this… thing. Can I consider it a toy you gave me?”
The word ‘toy’ was rarely used to describe a terminal. A flicker of oddness crossed Lu Mingjin’s mind.
“A toy…?”
Bai Ruonian didn’t seem to find it inappropriate. He paused, his voice laced with a cautious test and a hint of hope, like a kitten reaching out a paw, wanting to touch but not quite daring. “Then… in the future… can I ‘call’ you often…?”
Lu Mingjin’s long fingers unconsciously toyed with the thin metal chain connected to the terminal. The cold touch sharpened his thoughts. He had intended to directly refuse this meaningless interruption, but the words on his lips took a turn, becoming a purely businesslike sentence: “Call if you have something.”
“Oh…” Bai Ruonian responded, then asked with a soft, worried tone, “Will I be interrupting your important work?”
“You won’t get through when I’m working.” Lu Mingjin asked patiently, “Anything else?”
Bai Ruonian’s drawn-out tone was like melting caramel.
“Yes.”
“What?”
Bai Ruonian asked seriously, “Are you coming back today?”
Back when he was a kitty, his master would pat his head every day and tell him if he was coming back.
But his master hadn’t told him today.
He had left with decisive, emotionless efficiency.
Bai Ruonian felt quite lost.
He hesitated, then added another sentence. “I want to wait for you.”
The breathing on the other end was soft and shallow; the call hadn’t been hung up, as if truly waiting for his answer.
Lu Mingjin, on his end, didn’t know what Bai Ruonian was thinking, but this omega was getting into his role a bit too quickly.
But in the end, after a pause, he still answered, “I’ll be back tonight.”
“Yay!! Then I’ll wait for you!!”
Having received the desired answer, Bai Ruonian hung up the phone, completely satisfied and without any worries, focused solely on waiting for his master to come home. Lu Mingjin, however, stared at his terminal and tugged at the corner of his mouth.
It was as if he really wanted to wait for his return.
Although it was fake, it felt very real.
Shen Zeyi walked out of a side door of the assembly hall, his face ashen. He spotted Lu Mingjin making a call not far away.
He narrowed his eyes, ground his teeth, and whispered to the adjutant beside him, “Ever since he brought that omega home, even his poll numbers have started to rebound. Which side are the Bai family people on? Go ask Bai Shouyi what’s going on.”
The adjutant nodded in acknowledgment and offered words of comfort. “Your Highness needn’t worry too much. Major General Lu’s poll numbers were never high to begin with. Besides, even if he surpasses you, so what? The Empire follows lineal succession anyway.”
Shen Zeyi’s expression instantly turned incredibly ugly, as if a lung had been punctured. The words “lineal succession” were like the sting of a venomous scorpion’s tail, accurately piercing Shen Zeyi’s most sensitive and taboo nerve.
He stopped abruptly and whirled around.
“Watch your tongue. Next time, I’ll cut it out and feed it to the dogs. Understood?”
The adjutant, having no idea what he’d done wrong, didn’t dare say another word and just meekly agreed.
Shen Zeyi’s mood was at rock bottom. “Also, tell the people on Planet Zeruita to move the laboratory, fast. Don’t let Lu Mingjin catch them red-handed.”
==
Military Command.
Both the antique clock and the terminal’s time display showed that it was already past midnight.
In the 10th Division, the lights were out and activity had ceased in both the offices and the training ground. Lu Mingjin looked at the intelligence report on Planet Zeruita in his hand. It was supposedly a trade planet, but there was virtually no starship traffic or presence of forces, an obvious front.
He said to Zhang Huaijin, “Assign someone to watch Planet Zeruita. Report immediately if there’s any large-scale relocation activity.”
Zhang Huaijin agreed readily but didn’t rush out. Instead, he checked the time and asked hesitantly, “Major General…”
“What is it?” Lu Mingjin disliked it when Zhang Huaijin hemmed and hawed like this.
“Well… Boss, if I may be so bold, at this hour, you’re not planning to sleep in the office, are you?” He lowered his voice. “Wouldn’t it look bad from the outside?” There was, after all, a beautiful omega he’d just matched with waiting at home.
Lu Mingjin knew what he was referring to. He glanced at the time and realized he’d completely forgotten about that little omega.
He’d told him he’d return tonight, but judging by the hour, it was already early morning.
Lu Mingjin stared at the second hand of the clock. Bai Ruonian surely wouldn’t be so foolish as to actually wait for him.
“Noted. You’re dismissed.”
=
When Lu Mingjin pushed open the door, he wasn’t met with the expected darkness. Instead, the lights were blazing, a rare sight. Even the little robot, usually in standby mode, bumped against his leg as if welcoming him.
His gaze swept the room, and Lu Mingjin found the reason.
The beautiful omega was curled up on the sofa, eyes slightly closed, pillowing his head on a massive tome he’d found from who knows where. A button on his shirt collar had been undone, revealing a pale, delicate collarbone. He hadn’t covered himself with a blanket and had fallen asleep just like that.
Lu Mingjin’s breathing unconsciously softened. As he stepped forward, the youth in front of him wrinkled his nose first, his eyelashes then fluttering before his eyes slowly opened.
“You’re back.” Bai Ruonian rubbed his eyes instinctively, his voice still laced with drowsiness. After a moment, as he clearly recognized who was before him, his eyes flew wide open. His deep blue eyes brimmed with light, and his voice was soft, filled with irrepressible joy. “Master, you’re back…”
Lu Mingjin, who had been about to bend down to pick him up, froze mid-motion.
They stared at each other for a second. Then Lu Mingjin asked slowly, “What… did you call me?”
“Mas…” Bai Ruonian only then realized his slip of the tongue. But his vocabulary was limited, and he didn’t know how to cover it up. He could only blink his eyes and point at his own ear. “Didn’t hear clearly…”
“You didn’t hear clearly, but I heard perfectly well.” Lu Mingjin didn’t dwell too much on the title, dismissing it as some strange fetish of those spoiled rich kids. “So young, yet so kinky.”
Bai Ruonian lifted his chin defiantly. “I’m only two years younger than you now!”
“So you admit you called me Master?”
Bai Ruonian was annoyed. His master was teasing him. He clearly knew he couldn’t explain, yet he still wanted to provoke him. If he hadn’t been drowsy from waiting for his master, he wouldn’t have let it slip.
In a fit of pique, he turned his head away and ignored him.
Lu Mingjin nudged him a little, like teasing a kitten. No response.
“Then I’m leaving,” Lu Mingjin said flatly.
“Where are you going!”
Bai Ruonian immediately whipped his head around, only to find Lu Mingjin standing before him with an unhurried expression. Even with his limited experience, Bai Ruonian knew he’d been tricked again. This time, he turned away and completely ignored Lu Mingjin.
Even a cat had its pride!
“I’m really leaving.”
Bai Ruonian buried his face in the sofa cushion, refusing to look up, only letting out a muffled grunt.
Lu Mingjin patted his shoulder. “The sofa is cold.”
The youth shook his head, made another muffled sound, and still ignored him.
In the end, Lu Mingjin didn’t leave him alone on the sofa. He bent down, picked him up, and carried him to his own room. The omega was very light and instinctively clung to Lu Mingjin’s neck. It was only after a moment that he realized what he was doing, and his ears flushed red. Sullenly, he rested his pointed chin on Lu Mingjin’s shoulder, very docile.
