Let Me Love Him a Little Longer

...

...

Warmth.

It was Aqi's embrace.

Once again, I was still in his arms.

It felt so good.

My face was pressed against his chest, my ear resting right over his heart.

Thump, thump, thump...

The heartbeat from within his chest beat against my eardrums, one after another.

Steady.

Powerful.

Like some ancient drumbeat, striking rhythmically in the darkness, pulling my memories...

Pulling them back from the abyss, bit by bit.

I looked at Aqi once again.

Silver hair was still scattered on the pillow, tangled with his black hair.

The way Aqi held someone was always so comfortable.

I blinked twice, letting my vision focus.

The curtains weren't drawn tightly, and light squeezed in through the gap.

Another early morning.

But today, there was a tiny difference.

The corner of the bedroom was empty.

The charging pod was not there.

He had left the charging pod in my small room and wouldn't allow me to move it over. He wanted to use this method to rule out the suspicion that the charging pod was causing the "resets".

I couldn't help but curl the corners of my mouth.

Aqi, you are truly adorable.

Even if there really was something wrong with the charging pod... how could I possibly let it hurt you?

You are in my arms. Other than me, no one can touch you, no one is able to touch you.

So cute.

I buried my face in his chest once again.

He was still sleeping very deeply, even deeper than last time.

He had already experienced consecutive resets several times.

With each reset, he would become more drowsy, more exhausted, and the time he spent awake would become shorter.

It was all caused by me.

And it was what I wanted to see.

Making him fall asleep repeatedly in the cycle, making the rules of the world become sluggish, fatigued, and numb, giving the "ignorant me" a chance to open my eyes on my own.

Very good.

I am going to succeed very soon.

I looked at Aqi's face again.

Aqi was now so sleepy that even my moving around couldn't wake him up.

So...

I could be a little bolder.

Just a tiny bit bolder.

I propped myself up on my arms and shifted upward from his embrace.

My knees pressed against the mattress, my palms resting on either side of his head, propping myself above him as I looked down at his face.

Aqi is so handsome.

I lowered my head, and my lips gently touched his forehead.

Once.

Then his brow, the bridge of his nose, the tip of his nose...

And finally, his lips.

Very soft.

My touch was also very light.

I didn't dare use force; I was still afraid of waking him up.

Even though he slept deeply and was hard to wake, I still didn't dare.

I lingered on his lips for a few seconds...

Then I lifted my head and looked at his lips.

Still the same color, pale pink and dry, exactly the same as before.

Hmm...

Still a bit dry.

That won't do.

So I kissed him again.

This time, for longer.

Then I lifted my head, tilted it, and looked again...

Still no good.

I continued to kiss him.

I don't even know how many times I kissed him.

It wasn't until Aqi's lips became rosy again, even a bit swollen, that I curled my lips in satisfaction.

I buried my face back into his embrace, closed my eyes, and continued to feel his heartbeat.

Listening to the heartbeat, counting how many times I had kissed him, counting how much longer... we could stay like this.

I didn't know.

But his heartbeat sounded truly wonderful.

I am not Xiaoyue; I don't want to hear his final heartbeat.

I want this heartbeat... to continue forever.

I reached out, found his hand, and slipped my fingers between his, interlocking them.

His grip wasn't tight, but mine was.

This way... even if he dreamed, there would be someone holding his hand in his dream.

It would be me.

I couldn't meet him while he was awake, but I would enter his dreams.

No one else was allowed in Aqi's dreams, only me.

The sunlight continued to creep slowly through the gap in the curtains.

It was still early.

I tightened my fingers, clasping his hand even tighter.

Let me love him a little longer.

...

...

I "awoke" once again.

When the memories flooded back, I wasn't on the bed, nor on the sofa.

Instead... I was in the backseat of a taxi.

My back rested against the leather seat, my shoulder pressed against Aqi's, my thigh touching his.

His head was slightly tilted, resting on my shoulder, his black hair brushing against the side of my neck, tickling slightly.

His eyes were closed, and his warm breath fell rhythmically on my collarbone, causing a tingling sensation.

He had fallen asleep in the taxi.

On the way to find "Twilight".

Twilight, huh...

I turned my head slightly to look out the window.

The street scenery was moving backward.

The shadows of the street trees swept across the car window piece by piece, alternating between light and dark.

That old shopping mall was not far ahead.

The grayish-white, square building stood at the intersection just ahead.

It was already visible.

We were almost there, two or three minutes at most.

Fortunately.

Fortunately, Aqi had fallen asleep at this moment.

I lowered my head and looked at Aqi resting on my shoulder.

He was sleeping very deeply, deeper than any previous time.

The continuous resets had already drained his energy.

There were faint dark circles under his eyes, and the vertical crease between his brows was tight, not completely relaxing even in his sleep.

He was very tired, as well as confused and troubled.

Yet he was still moving forward.

For me, for us, for that promise to "be together forever."

I raised my hand, my fingertips gently brushing across his brow.

That vertical crease smoothed out under my touch, only to slowly tighten again after I let go.

It couldn't be smoothed out anymore.

It really couldn't be smoothed out...

I lowered my eyes, looking at his peaceful face.

Aqi, he was still worrying about me.

He thought that his resetting after falling asleep was because I had "gone crazy."

He thought I couldn't control myself, thought my emotional core was on the verge of collapse, thought I would hurt him after he fell asleep.

He thought it was my instability that caused his repeated resets.

But...

He surprisingly didn't think it was my fault.

He was even... still worrying about me.

So, he was rushing to find Twilight, wanting them to... give me a physical examination?

Wanting to confirm if there was something wrong with my red eyes, wanting to confirm if my emotional core was really on the edge of losing control.

He wanted to protect me.

Aqi, you are so good.

But you want that group from Twilight to examine me...

That's not good.

I am Aqi's, completely and entirely, belonging only to Aqi.

I won't allow others to examine me.

Not even An Lian.

Besides...

"Aqi."

Amidst the noise of the taxi and the street, I whispered in his ear.

"How could I ever hurt you?"

"These past few resets... I've been digging at my own core."

His eyelashes didn't flutter. His breathing remained steady.

He couldn't hear.

I curled my lips into a smile and continued to murmur softly in his ear:

"The first time I bit your finger, that was just an accident..."

"But later, I knelt and apologized to you, knelt for a very, very long time."

"I even kowtowed on your knees."

My voice shattered in the bumps of the taxi, shattered in the wind sweeping past the car window.

He didn't hear, nor did he need to hear. He only needed to...

Wait for me.

The street scenery outside the window slowed down more and more.

The entrance to the old shopping mall had already appeared in sight.

We were arriving, one minute at most.

Sigh...

This awakening came so quickly.

I turned my head to look out the window, watching that shopping mall getting closer and closer.

The shops at the entrance had already started business, but there were only a few scattered pedestrians.

Dusk is right inside there.

Xiaoqing. Xiaoyue. And... Aqi's cyborg second uncle.

Those awakened AIs, those cyborgs, those...

The ones who want to drag Aqi into their group.

I narrowed my eyes.

Dusk.

You lot... are no good.

You want the secrets on Aqi, you want the technology in the Liguang core, you want to...

Drag him into your quagmire.

But Aqi still foolishly thinks that you can help him.

You cannot help him at all, you will only ruin him.

Only I can help Aqi.

Only me.

I tilted my head, looking back at Aqi resting on my shoulder.

His eyelashes were still drooping so quietly, his breathing still so steady.

He does not know the secrets behind Dawn and Dusk.

He only knows to keep moving forward for my sake.

So...

I must also strive to move forward for Aqi.

Right now, only I can protect Aqi.

Only me.

And it can only be me.

I raised my hand, my fingertips reaching around my shoulder to touch the back of my neck once more, pressing against the seam of my bionic skin.

Click.

A soft sound.

I looked at Aqi.

Aqi, wait until the ignorant me understands everything... I, Liguang, your crazy woman, will become your greatest help.

When that time comes, you will not have to walk on alone like you are doing now.

You will have even less need to ask others for help.

Because you are mine, you only need to ask me for help, and you can only ask me.

I slightly raised my face and gently kissed his sleeping cheek again.

Then I looked back out the window.

The old mall was already close at hand.

"Hello, we have arrived."

"Do you want to go in, or should I stop outside..."

The driver's voice came from the front seat.

...So we are finally here.

I gently pursed my lips.

The time I spent awake was really short this time.

It is all because of this damn Dusk.

Aqi, the next time I wake up...

I hope to see you lying in bed, with me held tightly in your arms.

I do not want to wake up in a taxi, and I definitely do not want to see...

You coming to find Dusk once again.

Do not do this, Aqi.

Otherwise...

I will get angry.

The consequences of my anger...

Are very severe.

My fingertips pressing against the back of my neck...

Pushed down hard once more!

Aqi...

Wait for me.