Chapter 322: Confession

Chapter 322: The Kiss

Ye Wang’s brain short-circuited.

The touch against his lips was warm, soft. Jiang Qi had closed his eyes and tilted his head up. This close, Ye Wang could even see the faint tremble of his lashes.

Jiang Qi was nervous.

He clearly didn’t know how to kiss, yet he stubbornly pressed forward, burrowing into the commander’s coat. Their lips stayed pressed together forever before he hesitantly, tentatively licked.

As he did, he cautiously opened his eyes to gauge the commander's expression—only to meet Ye Wang's gaze head-on.

The commander's features were sharp and profound, his dark eyes lowered to watch him, eyes dark as mirrors, filled with nothing but Jiang Qi.

Jiang Qi's lashes fluttered, and he squeezed his eyes shut again, as if retreating.

—Screw it. He’d already gone this far.

And the commander never closed his eyes. Around them, couples who had sneaked out for midnight dates filled the air with the restless energy of youth. The dim lighting of the observatory became a hideout for stolen moments, and Ye Wang suddenly thought—this really was a perfect place for romance.

For a moment, it was as if the commander had returned to his university days, turned back into that clueless, impulsive kid. All he wanted was to wrap the person he liked in his coat and kiss him beneath the vast expanse of stars.

So Ye Wang raised a hand, cupping the back of Jiang Qi's head, and deepened the kiss himself.

They embraced, kissed, exchanged breaths. For a while, in the quiet of the observatory, the only sound was the soft sound of swallowing. At some point, Jiang Qi found himself pressed against the telescope's support by Ye Wang, his back against cold metal while burning heat seared his chest, as if he were entirely enveloped by Ye Wang’s presence. He could only yield, tilting his neck back, his waist arching against the metal frame, arching into a graceful line—until the commander lifted him onto the telescope's base.

Jiang Qi was drowning in it.

But he clung to the commander's neck, unwilling to let go, even actively deepening the kiss. Just as Ye Wang was about to press further, someone rapped a wooden stick against the third-floor observation room's door.

A gravelly voice barked: "Who's violating curfew again, sneaking into the observatory to mess with the equipment? Caught means points docked!"

The observatory was closed at night, usually locked, with security patrols enforcing penalties for trespassers.

Instantly, hurried footsteps erupted across the stargazing platform. Couples hidden in corners emerged, scattering in all directions to escape.

As the academy's legendary dating spot, the observatory housed at least a dozen people at any given night. Couples bolted through the corridors under the guard's approaching footsteps, fleeing in every direction.

This was a military academy—you had to get creative dodging guards. Some slid down lampposts, others leaped onto nearby trees. One couple rushed past Ye Wang, the girl hiking up her skirt to vault over the balcony while the boy sprinted past, tossing a wink at Ye Wang and Jiang Qi: "Move it, man! You wanna lose credits?!"

Those words lit a fire under the commander. Amid the tension, Ye Wang suddenly recalled his own university days of being chased by security, the long-dormant fear surging back, adrenaline spiking.

So, for some reason, he grabbed Jiang Qi's hand and took off like a shot.

Jiang Qi: "...Wait—"

He barely got the word out before Ye Wang dragged him.

They blended into the crowd of young lovers. Ye Wang hurdled the railing, reaching back to help Jiang Qi—just as the boy nearby steadied his girlfriend in her heels—only to see Jiang Qi leap over effortlessly, landing light as a cat, his movements even more agile than the commander's.

Jiang Qi outpaced Ye Wang, skidding to a halt, eyebrows raised: "Sir—we *are* running, right?"

"..."

—Of *course* he’d still call him ‘sir’ now.

Ye Wang: "Run."

Having served as a commander for so long, Ye Wang was forced to recall the grueling days of physical training. He slid down a lamppost and met up with Jiang Qi, who had descended from the treetops. The two of them sprinted several hundred meters without a word, leaving the observatory far behind.

They didn’t stop until they reached the aircraft.

Jiang Qi pointed behind them. "Sir, was running necessary? I have a teacher’s pass, and you have a major general’s pass."

Even if they had been caught, security couldn’t touch them.

Ye Wang: "..."

The commander looked up at the sky. "Yeah... probably?"

After a moment of thought, Ye Wang came up with an excuse—he might not care about academic credits, but he cared about his dignity! Especially since Jiang Qi was a teacher at the school. Being caught with an outsider at the observatory in the middle of the night—how bad would that look?

Leaning against the aircraft, the two of them caught their breath for a while and eventually started laughing.

Ye Wang reached to open the door and grab a bottle of water when he suddenly realized—he was still holding Jiang Qi’s hand.

He wasn’t sure when they’d started holding hands or how long it had been, but now, he didn’t want to let go.

He turned his head slightly. "Hey, Jiang Qi, after being a teacher for so long, do you know what one person would say to another in our school if they went stargazing at the observatory together at night, got chased off by security, and escaped together?"

Jiang Qi, whose life revolved around a strict routine and who kept to himself, clearly hadn’t paid attention to campus gossip. He blinked and shook his head. "No, what would they say?"

Ye Wang replied lightly, "They’d ask, ‘Do you want to be my boyfriend?’"

His tone was casual, making it hard to tell if he was serious or joking. Jiang Qi held his breath and didn’t respond.

The next second, the commander tightened his grip on Jiang Qi’s hand, fingertips brushing against his palm, and asked with utmost sincerity, "So, Jiang Qi, do you want to be my boyfriend?"

Jiang Qi held his breath again.

He squeezed back hard, resolute. "Yes!"

*

How would life change now that they’d gone from rivals to boyfriends?

Ye Wang didn’t know.

In any case, he still went grocery shopping with his rival, picked his rival up from work, went home with his rival, warmed milk for his rival, and threw a towel at his rival’s head when he came out of the shower without drying his hair—ordering him to dry off properly before turning up the air conditioning.

His rival was no longer afraid of fire, so he started learning to cook for Ye Wang—things like baking bread and frying steak. His rival never blew up Ye Wang’s kitchen again. His cooking wasn’t gourmet, but it was edible.

Oh, and Ye Wang’s bed now started sprouting a rival.

The commander’s villa was huge, with a master bedroom and multiple guest rooms, yet his rival only ever appeared in his bed at night. Ye Wang was used to sleeping alone, but now, he found the feeling of holding someone else way too good to pass up.

He loved messing up his rival’s fluffy hair, stroking his smooth neck and slender waist, and kissing his pale lips—because his rival loved strawberry-flavored milk, his lips seemed to carry a hint of strawberries.

With certain ulterior motives in mind, during one grocery trip, Ye Wang quietly slipped two boxes of fruit-flavored nutritional supplements into the cart. He didn’t explicitly tell Jiang Qi to mix them—just left them at home.

Life during leave was almost too perfect.

But in a month and a half, the commander would be deployed to the front lines, and Jiang Qi also had to complete his review within that time.

So, Jiang Qi took a break from teaching and, accompanied by Ye Wang, walked back into the Federation’s interrogation room.

The setting was the same—quiet, enclosed, with windowless walls, metal chairs, and glass partitions. But perhaps because he wasn’t alone this time, Jiang Qi was much calmer than last time.

He didn’t resist, pretend, or force a smile. He simply completed the investigation with steady composure, just like he did when teaching a class.

In addition to the qualification screening, there was also an examination specifically for PTSD.

The battlefield is a place soaked in blood and scorched by fire, and someone with blood- or fire-related PTSD would naturally be unfit for duty. In this test, Jiang Qi was required to confront the very things he once feared, allowing the investigators to assess his psychological state.

For the fire-related portion, staff instructed him to pass through a small chamber simulating a fire scene, complete with smoke, heat effects, while flames were replaced by electronic screens.

Jiang Qi, wearing monitors for his breathing and heart rate, stood at the entrance of the simulated fire. He took a deep breath and stared into the sweltering, claustrophobic space.

Ye Wang knew that Jiang Qi not only had PTSD related to fire but also to enclosed spaces.

So, the commander gripped Jiang Qi’s hand, suddenly tensing up—even more nervous than Jiang Qi himself.

Ye Wang's palm grew clammy with sweat, unsure whether he was comforting Jiang Qi or himself: "It’s fine. The flames are virtual, the temperature won’t reach harmful levels, and the smoke has been treated to be harmless—no toxic gases, just irritating at worst. You have an alarm on your wrist. If you can’t get out or feel scared, press it, and I’ll come get you right away—"

A finger pressed against his lips, stopping Ye Wang’s next words.

Jiang Qi looked at him, his eyes crinkling slightly. "Sir, it won’t come to that. I’ll make it through smoothly. I will."

He might have once been dispirited, might have once been lost in despair, but he had always ranked first among over three thousand test subjects.

Earning the Imperial Star was never by luck.

Fastening the monitoring bracelet, Jiang Qi walked straight into the fire chamber.

Inside, smoke swirled around numerous obstacles—regular cameras couldn't get a clear view, so his position was tracked via the bracelet’s signal. Ye Wang sat behind the monitoring screen, watching the signal move swiftly through the simulated fire.

Jiang Qi nimbly bypassed every obstacle, smoothly charting his path and advancing at a steady pace. The staff observing the screen remarked with some surprise, "Commander, he's recovered remarkably well—almost too well."

Judging by the trajectory on the screen, Jiang Qi showed no signs of PTSD related to fire or enclosed spaces. He moved faster and with more composure than the average soldier, and even after testing a few wrong paths, he showed no panic or hesitation but quickly corrected course.

Without a doubt, even compared to professional soldiers without PTSD, Jiang Qi was among the fastest.

By the time he stepped out of the fire chamber, the staff hadn’t even finished writing his evaluation report.

Dusted with soot, Jiang Qi accepted the water handed to him by the staff and glanced at Ye Wang, a slight smile tugging at the corners of his eyes and brows, as if saying, "Well?"

For a moment, Ye Wang felt as if he were seeing the Jiang Qi he had first met—regal and striking.

The commander said, "Exceptionally well."

And so, the smile at Jiang Qi’s eyes widened.

Once the evaluation was complete, Ye Wang took his former rival and current boyfriend—now completely soot-covered—back home, shoved him into the shower to wash up, and then the commander’s smile vanished.

Even for Jiang Qi, charging through an obstacle-filled simulated fire chamber had left him with injuries.

His skin was covered in bruises large and small, along with scrapes and blunt-force wounds. A one-inch gash on his arm was still bleeding.

Jiang Qi, however, brushed it off, only to be sternly escorted by the grim-faced commander into the Treatment Pod.

And so, certain long-stored nutrient solutions finally found their use.