20demayo Chapter 41 Lu Mingfei's "Confession"
Chapter 41 Lu Mingfei's "Confession"
Inside the Golden Curtain: The Future World - Kassel College Medical Department
The curtains in the intensive care unit were half-open, letting in the afternoon sunlight that slanted in and cast warm patches of light on the pristine white sheets. The air was filled with a mixture of disinfectant and a delicate floral scent, and the rhythmic beeping of the medical equipment was particularly clear in the quiet space.
Lu Mingfei leaned against the headboard, holding a book titled "Basic Principles of Alchemy" in his hand, but his gaze drifted towards the window.
Nono sat there.
She had changed out of her usual flamboyant red outfit and was now wearing a simple off-white knit sweater and light blue jeans. Her long red hair was casually draped over her shoulders, with a few stray strands falling on either side of her face. She was looking down at a thick ancient book, the sunlight casting a soft golden glow on her, and her long eyelashes casting faint shadows under her eyes.
When Nono is quiet, she has a beauty that is completely different from her usual self.
It wasn't the flamboyant, fiery beauty, but a gentler, more refined beauty, like the mellow depth of ancient jade. Lu Mingfei was so engrossed in watching it that he didn't even notice the book slipping from his hands.
"Clatter".
The sound of a book falling to the ground broke the silence.
Nono looked up at him, raising an eyebrow. "What? Alchemy is too boring?"
"No, no." Lu Mingfei hurriedly bent down to pick up the book, but the movement was too big and aggravated the injury on his chest, making him gasp in pain.
"Be careful." Nono put down her book and came over to pick it up for him. She then sat down on the chair by the bed. "The doctor said your ribs will take at least two more weeks to fully heal. Don't move around too much."
Looking at her face so close to his, and smelling the faint scent of citrus and cedar on her, Lu Mingfei's heart began to race uncontrollably.
A week has passed since the Bronze City incident.
During this week, Nono came to his ward almost every day. Sometimes she brought books to read, sometimes she peeled fruit for him, and sometimes she just sat by the window in a daze—but she was always there.
Lu Mingfei didn't know why she was so nice to him.
Because of sympathy? Because he saved everyone? Or because of... something else?
He dared not ask.
He was afraid that if he asked, this fleeting warmth would vanish. He was afraid that if he asked, he would hear the answer he didn't want to hear—"Because Caesar broke up with me, I'm just bored."
So he simply enjoyed this tenderness silently, like a dying traveler in the desert greedily sucking up a raindrop that falls by chance.
"What are you thinking about?" Nono waved her hand in front of him. "Your eyes are practically glued to the screen."
Lu Mingfei snapped out of his reverie, blushing. "N-nothing. I was just thinking about... the follow-up to the Kuimen Plan."
"The follow-up has been handed over to the Execution Department," Nono said. "The Seven Deadly Sins have been sent to the freezer, and Constantine's urn has been placed under strict guard. As for Norton..." She paused, "it's still under investigation. An empty urn implies too many possibilities."
Lu Mingfei nodded.
He didn't really care about these things. The Dragon King, the urn, the Seven Deadly Sins—these words were too far removed from him, as distant as stories from another world. What he cared about more now was the girl in front of him, what she had eaten that day, the curve of her eyes when she smiled, and whether... she might suddenly stop coming one day.
"Um..." Lu Mingfei mustered his courage and said in a soft voice, "Senior sister, don't you have classes these days?"
"I took leave," Nono said casually. "Anyway, I already know all those classes, so it doesn't matter whether I attend or not."
"To... stay with me?" Lu Mingfei asked more cautiously.
Nono glanced at him, then suddenly smiled, a smile containing a complex emotion that Lu Mingfei couldn't decipher: "Otherwise what? Is there anyone else in this ward worth me watching over every day?"
Lu Mingfei's heart skipped a beat.
worth it.
She said he deserved it.
The word was like a piece of candy, melting in his heart, so sweet it made him panic, and so panicked it was sweet.
A brief silence fell between the two.
Sunlight moved slowly through the hospital room, and dust particles floated in the beams of light. Outside the window, several birds chirped in the sycamore trees, and the distant shouts of students training could be faintly heard.
The world was so quiet, so quiet, like the calm before the storm.
Lu Mingfei looked at Nuonuo's profile, at her slightly pursed lips, at the delicate skin on her neck, and at the red hair that fell over her shoulders.
A thought grew wildly in his mind, like vines coiling around his heart, tightening more and more until he could hardly breathe.
He wanted to say something.
He had to say it.
What was the thing he regretted most when he faced death in the Bronze City?
It wasn't that I failed to complete the mission, or that I failed to rescue everyone, but rather... I failed to tell her in person.
Tell her he likes her.
Tell her that from the first time he met her in Chicago, she was like a ray of light shining into his dark life.
Tell her that even knowing she has a boyfriend, even knowing he is not good enough for her, he still can't help but love her unconditionally, humbly, and desperately.
Now Caesar has broken up with her.
Now she stays by his side every day.
Now...maybe there's even a tiny chance?
Lu Mingfei took a deep breath, feeling a sharp pain in his chest from the deep breath, but compared to the tension in his heart, that pain was nothing.
"Senior sister," he said, his voice a little dry from nervousness.
"Hmm?" Nono turned to look at him.
"I..." Lu Mingfei's fingers gripped the bedsheet tightly, his knuckles turning white. "If I used my privilege of one day of freedom to... to ask you to be my girlfriend... would you agree?"
The moment the words were spoken, time seemed to stand still.
The birdsong outside the window disappeared, the beeping of the instruments disappeared, even his own heartbeat disappeared. In Lu Mingfei's world, only Nuonuo's face and her suddenly wide-open black eyes remained.
He saw that she was stunned.
It's over.
Lu Mingfei's heart sank.
It was too abrupt, as expected. He was rejected, as expected. He shouldn't have had any illusions.
But strangely, the expected sense of loss and pain did not immediately arise. Instead, a peculiar sense of relief washed over me.
It was like finally letting out a breath you'd been holding for a long time.
It's like a secret that's been hidden in my heart for a long time, finally being revealed.
It's like... accomplishing something very important; even if the result is failure, at least you tried.
He's no longer that loser who only knows how to have crushes.
He mustered up his courage and confessed his feelings.
Even if rejected, one can accept it with equanimity.
Lu Mingfei looked at Nuonuo, preparing to force a smile and say, "It's okay, I was just asking," or "Just kidding, don't take it seriously," when she refused.