Chapter 027: A Beautiful Misunderstanding
After a night of insomnia, the four roommates had poor spirits when they got up in the morning and met in the dining room, after a simple greeting, they each headed to their training departments.
Lin Yuan walked into the training room, and Baker immediately came up to him and asked: "Squad Leader, you and Caesar went back early yesterday afternoon right? The instructor said you were not feeling well, what's wrong ah?"
Lin Yuan smiled and said: "Bad headache, I asked Caesar to send me home early.”
Karl also walked up to Lin Yuan, smiled and asked: “Was everything okay yesterday?"
Lin Yuan shook his head, "It's nothing.”
Next, Bossa walked over to him and asked: "Squad Leader, are you feeling better?”
Lin Yuan said: "Much better, thank you.”
Standing close by, Caesar secretly clenched his teeth, Lin Yuan being on good terms with so many other people was not a bad thing, but when he saw so many people crowding around Lin Yuan, Caesar still felt an odd….. an odd sense of crisis!
No, Lin Yuan was really too popular, especially with the class' Beta, they all worshiped him, maybe someone had a crush on him! Those Beta girls always look at Lin Yuan with bright eyes, one must certainly be thinking of chasing Lin Yuan!
Thinking of this, Caesar immediately moved closer to Lin Yuan and stood ram rod straight, with a cold face.
The class' Beta who wanted to get closer to the Squad Leader suddenly looked somewhat depressed - What's up with this Caesar guy? Standing next to the Squad Leader with a cold face, blocking everyone’s way, even glancing over the crowd with sharp eyes….. Do we owe you money?
Completely ignoring all the Beta inwardly cursing him, Caesar stood next to the Squad Leader, dutifully acting as his bodyguard.
In the eyes of outsiders, Caesar's behavior was just like a beast, swiping his tail and drawing a circle around his prey, penning it in….. Unfortunately, the circled prey was still ignorant, happily chatting with the hunter.
***
When the afternoon military training ended, Caesar temporally left his post for a moment. Seeing Caesar finally leaving, Karl took the initiative to invite Lin Yuan to supper, Lin Yuan happily nodded, and walked with Karl to the canteen.
They walked to the fifth floor, Lin Yuan, his eyes still shiny, filled a large plate and walked back to the table, eating with relish.
Karl looked at the Lin Yuan intently engrossed in eating, and couldn't help but ask: “Have you been feeling sick lately?"
Lin Yuan said: “Not really.”
Karl continued, "Was it really just a headache yesterday?”
Lin Yuan smiled and said: "Ay, a terrible, sudden headache. Maybe I haven't been sleeping well.” Lin Yuan paused, and looked up at him somewhat doubtfully, "Why did you suddenly ask?"
Karl was silent for a moment, then he said: “Actually, Uncle Fornt contacted me yesterday and told me to pay attention to your physical condition. He said you have a special constitution, and he'd prescribed some medicine to help. Have you been eating it on time?”
“Oh.” Lin Yuan smiled in realization, "Then help me tell Dr. Fornt, I take the medicine on time every day, and my physical condition has been very good, there's no problem, no need to worry."
Seeing Lin Yuan returning to his plate, Karl didn't question further.
To tell the truth, he originally tried to get closer to Lin Yuan because of his Uncle Fornt’s request.
When Fornt heard that he was admitted to San Romia Military Academy, he told him that a child from Rennes planet was also admitted to the school, his neighbors' child named Lin Yuan, and asked Karl to take care of him.
At first, Karl approached Lin Yuan with the idea of "making friends with his uncle’s acquaintance”, but the longer he stayed with him, the more baffled he felt – Lin Yuan was excellent in all aspects, he didn't resemble a Beta from a normal family background, rather, he was like a child born from the finest Alpha and Omega combination.
In addition to his uncle's request to pay attention to Lin Yuan, especially Lin Yuan’s physical condition, almost every call from his uncle brought up the topic of Lin Yuan's body. Lin Yuan looked very healthy, he didn't seem to be seriously ill, why did his uncle always ask him if the other boy was feeling sick? And why did he ask him to not only keep Lin Yuan away from any Alpha, but also repeatedly urged him to remind Lin Yuan to take his medicine on time?
What kind of disease needed medication every day? This was too bizarre, right?
Even more bizarre, every time he saw Lin Yuan, Karl couldn't help but think of his younger brother – Karl’s brother was an Omega, unfortunately, he was sent to Cepheus' Omega academy when he was 13, and he hasn't seen him in four years. But he still vividly remembered his brother’s characteristics, after all, they grew up together.
Lin Yuan had many similar characteristics to his Omega brother, and sometimes when he looked at Lin Yuan, Karl would even briefly feel that he was looking at an Omega. A lean body, flexible waist, long and straight legs….. Although he was still growing into his body, Lin Yuan's physique was really Omega-like.
Thinking of this, Karl smiled and said: “Lin Yuan, you actually remind me of my brother. But my brother is an Omega."
Lin Yuan looked up at him, incredulous: “Hey, are you praising me or insulting me? You're saying I look like an Omega, does that mean I look too fragile? Come on, after dinner, we're going to spar!"
Karl: “…”
His expression didn't seem like he was worried, and eyes were also very calm, why didn't he look like someone whose secret had just been exposed?
Was it really his own misperception?
Lin Yuan finished eating, and Karl also put away his plate, then the two left the canteen.
Lin Yuan’s temperament was very resolute, when he said they would spar he meant it, on the journey to the dormitory, he straightforwardly dragged Karl to an uninhabited corner, and confrontationally beckoned him, “Come on ah, saying I look like an Omega, I'll show you how powerful I am!”
Karl: “…”
Because of a tentative comparison, he inexplicably provoked Lin Yuan’s fighting spirit, seeing Lin Yuan's energetic appearance, Karl didn't want to let him down, he smiled helplessly and said: “Fine, come on, stop on contact.”
They took off their heavy uniform coats and threw them aside, then began to seriously spar.
Lin Yuan’s movements were very agile, his hands and legs coordinating vigorously, the strength of his fists was not insignificant, after nearly having his knee kicked out, Karl immediately became more vigilant. He'd thought Lin Yuan was only playing around, he didn't expect him to actually attack seriously, and unexpectedly, his fighting level was actually not bad!
The two spared, Karl was an Alpha, he was naturally strong and robust, and he'd also received formal training, if he was fighting a regular Beta, they wouldn't be able to exchange ten blows with him. But Lin Yuan took an alternative route, in order to win by skill, his feet movements were extremely agile, and his hands were lightning fast.
Although Karl wasn't losing, he also couldn't gain an advantage!
He was clearly an Alpha, why couldn't he subdue a Beta?
Thinking of this, Karl no longer held back, he used his advantageous height and strength to directly seize Lin Yuan’s wrist, and forcedly twisted….. Lin Yuan’s arm was twisted to his back, and his right foot immediately kicked back, but unexpectedly hit empty air. Karl had dodged his kick, simultaneously sweeping out his foot, tripping Lin Yuan to the ground!
Seeing Lin Yuan’s face about to hit the ground, Karl immediately reached out to hold him up.
The result, Lin Yuan unexpectedly hadn't given up attacking Karl, when his right kick hadn't connected, he immediately gave a follow up kick with his left foot. The kind-hearted Karl that had move forward to support Lin Yuan, was caught unprepared by this kick, his footing unstable, he directly fell on top of Lin Yuan’s body.
“…..” Lin Yuan was pressed to the ground, stifled by Karl's bulk, he couldn't help but grimace.
But before he could open his mouth, the weight was suddenly taken off him –
Caesar directly came up behind Karl and lifted him up, Karl instantly looked back, puzzled, and received a sharp punch.
Bang!
Karl was beaten to the ground!
Caesar pulled up the shocked Lin Yuan and asked in a heavy voice: "Are you alright? Who's bullying you?”
Caesar clenched his fist and glanced at 'Lin Yuan's Bully' with cold eyes, but only saw the blameless Karl climbing up, clutching his black eye.
Caesar: “…”
Karl: “…”
After a long, stiff silence, Karl smiled gracefully, looked at Caesar and said: “Are you misunderstanding? I wasn't bulling Lin Yuan."
Lin Yuan also stared at Caesar, “What are you doing? I was sparing with Karl! Why did you suddenly jump in?"
Caesar: “…”
Lin Yuan walked around Caesar and went up to Karl, looking at Karl’s black eye, he suppressed himself for a while, but still couldn't help but laugh, “Cough, Caesar's punch is too heavy ….. You….. Are you alright?"
Karl smiled and rubbed his eye, "It's nothing.”
Caesar awkwardly apologized: “Sorry, I thought you were …..”
Karl shrugged, "Doesn't matter, it was just a misunderstanding.” Then he picked up his uniform coat, looked back at Lin Yuan and smiled, “Lin Yuan, I'll head back first. Remember to tell me right away if you start feeling sick, this is uncle Fornt's special request."
Lin Yuan immediately nodded and said: "Got it, don't worry!”
After Karl left, Lin Yuan walked back to Caesar and said: “Caesar, why did you hit so heavily? Fortunately, it was just Karl, if it was someone weaker, you could've ruined their eye."
– A black eye is still a light punishment, if he was really bulling you, I'd knock him out!
– Even if it was just sparing, he shouldn't have pinned you to the ground, couldn't he have let you go after you admitted defeat?
Caesar coldly glanced at Karl’s retreating back, the looked back to Lin Yuan, noticing that his face was covering in dust, and there was even a scratch, Caesar couldn't help but feel distressed: "Your face, it's skinned …..”
Lin Yuan smiled, quickly wiped his face clean with the back of his hand, and said, "It's nothing, just a small scratch."
Seeing him unharmed expect for the little scratch, Caesar finally calmed down, then sullenly said: “Lin Yuan, you should stay away from that Karl."
Lin Yuan: “…..”
What's going on? Karl says stay away from Caesar, Caesar says stay away from Karl, just how much do these guys hate each other?
Lin Yuan found it ridiculous, he looked at Caesar and said: “You needed me for something?"
Caesar's expression eased a bit, "You forgot that we agreed to train with the mecha today."
Lin Yuan's eyes brightened, “Right, I almost forgot! Come let's go!"
Lin Yuan picked up his discarded uniform coat and turned toward the mech center, but Caesar suddenly grabbed his hand, "We're not going to the mech center, there's too many people, we'll head to a private training room."
“Oh!” Immersed in his excitement of personally meeting a mech, Lin Yuan didn't notice…..
Caesar was still holding onto his hand.
Caesar was holding Lin Yuan’s hand, contentedly thinking in his heart, this was what it felt like to like someone, right?
He gently gripped the other boy's slender fingers, the warmth passing through his skin was slowly soaking into the bottom of his heart.
Holding hands and walking down the campus road, it felt like even his heartbeat was suddenly speeding up. Caesar wished this section of road could stretch on for more than a dozen kilometers, they could slowly go on, walking forever.
In reality, it didn't even take half a minute to arrive…..
Why was the school so small?
***
White Feather was very depressed, very very depressed.
Its Master actually made it, a magnificent S-Class intelligent mecha, disguise itself as a C-Class mecha, to help someone else train.
……Train?
What a joke! If the other mecha learned that it disguised itself as C-Class to help someone with basic training, they would die laughing!
But its Master threatened, if it didn't change into a C-Class, he'd have Brian dismantle its numerous systems, artificially downgrading it to C-Class. That's right, S-Class were the only mechs that could morph, all the mech's joints could be independently adjusted and changed.
So White Feather had to endure his desire to vomit blood and temporarily disguise itself as a C-Class mech.
It not only had to hide all the nerve connections in its cockpit, but also turn its console into an ordinary C-Class mech controller, shrink itself by five times, and silently hang itself in an empty room in the first school building, thinking about it, it felt so stupid!
The empty room White Feather was in wasn't just any mech training room, it was a dedicated training room for the students participating in the competition, the space was very wide open. The reason Caesar had immediately left after the military training ended was to sign up for the month away mecha competition, and conveniently lease this unused training room.
When Lin Yuan walked into the training room, he saw a ten-meter-high man-model mech standing in the middle of the room.
The mech's entire body was snow white, glowing with a faint metallic sheen under the light. Its chest cockpit was layered with thick protective armor, like fine-tuned muscles, its face, sharp like metal-wire, resembled a handsome warrior!
Its body proportions were very coordinated, the ten meter high man-model mech didn't look even slightly bloated, its limbs and joints were also structured very finely, it was obvious, when it moved, it would be very agile!
The pure white mech standing under the light indeed looked extremely beautiful!
Lin looked up at it, and couldn't help but admire: “This is your mech? It's really beautiful ah!"
White Feather: “…”
Hey? It’s the Prince Consort! He praised me!
Its depressed mood immediately swept away, White Feather felt ecstatic, it eagerly bent down, offering a large palm to Lin Yuan, like a gentleman inviting a partner to dance at a ball.
Lin Yuan froze for a moment, stunned, but Caesar just smiled and said: “Go on, it's inviting you into its cockpit."
“Oh!” There's actually a mech that can invite a driver in this way! Lin Yuan excitedly followed Caesar onto the palm, and White Feather steadily lifted the two people into its cockpit.
In the spacious cockpit, the familiar 26 C-Class mech controller buttons, plus the 0-9, ten digit keys were neatly arranged on the steering platform. Each button looked new, as if they had never been touched, even the balance pole was smooth as ever.
Lin Yuan couldn't help but reach out and gently touch the clean steering platform, he asked curiously: “This mech is new? What's its name?"
Caesar said: “It's called White Feather.”
Lin Yuan smiled and said: “White Feather, as in a white feather? That's nice, did you name it yourself?”
Caesar nodded: "I did.”
He praised me! He praised me again! He not only called me beautiful, he also praised my name!
White Feather almost wanted to roll around on the ground in happiness, it instantly ignored his Royal Highness the Prince’s "You're not allowed to project your image out and scare him” command, and projected itself as a primitive, small, virtual white feather, drifting to Lin Yuan's side. It floated around his body and said: “Hi, my name is White Feather!”
Lin Yuan saw White Feather floating in front of him, and couldn't help but smile and say: “Hi, my name is Lin Yuan."
White Feather directly floated up and landed on top of Lin Yuan's shoulder, then excitedly said: “From now on, you can borrow me any time you want! It's okay, you can do whatever you want in my cockpit! If you have any questions, you can ask me." Then it lowered its sound, and leaned into Lin Yuan's ear, "Of course, that includes any gossip about my Master!"
Lin Yuan asked in amusement: "You know gossip about your Master?”
White Feather fluttered proudly: “I've been with him since he was tiny! I know everything about him! I have thousands of photos of him as a kid, do you want to see?”
Lin Yuan curiously said: “Okay, I'll take a look.”
White Feather immediately began searching for the photos in its data storage center, "Hold on, I'll bring out a few for you to see. Okkaaay….. here, this is from when he was three years old, very fat right? Look at him, he's a meatball! This is his first day of school when he was five, still very fat, he really ate too much when he was a child!"
Caesar: “………………”
Caesar: White Feather, are you tired of living?
White Feather: But Master, I'm obviously helping you win favor with him ah? Don't you like him? If he looks at your childhood photos, and thinks that you were very cute, it'll certainly add extra points to his impression of you!
Caesar: …
Are you sure it’s extra points, and not minus points?
Caesar glanced at his chubby childhood photos, then silently turned away.
Thus, after Hobby began to earnestly carry out the mission of selling his master, White Feather also embarked on the brilliant path of "Selling Master”, going farther and farther, unable to turn back.
===========================
T/N:
Didn't want to let him down-舍命陪君子- she ming pei jun zi, an idiom meaning- make sacrifices for the sake of keeping company with gentlemen.
Stop on contact-漢語拼音diǎn dào wéi zhǐ - A principle for when sparing with someone with kung fu, you have to stop after touching the body, to avoid seriously injuring your opponent.
Couldn't he have let you go after you admitted defeat-就不知道讓讓你嗎？ Unsure of this translation.
Metal-wire-金屬線- Jinshuxian- looks like some kind of wired metal used to make jewelry.
White Feather, as in a white feather- He said Baiyu( White Feather) meaning Baise Yumao(white feather)? Doesn't translate well to English.