Dominic suddenly sat up and staring at him with sharp eyes.
Maybe Dominic thought Shiao Yi was an innocent child. If so, Shiao Yi felt sorry for that.
He even felt a little sad that he couldn't give Dominic someone pure and untouched.
He didn't understand why he felt this way.
The ability users like him were nothing more than tools, even lower than humans. They had no rights.
The ability users who looked attractive, whether male or female, were often ordered by their superiors to serve as companions. They had no right or freedom to refuse.
For example a girl named Susu, she was very beautiful girl and so she was often ordered by the high-ranking people in the military to serve them. It was pitiful. They placed restraints on her to suppress her strength, leaving her with no choice but to be used like a toy.
Shiao Yi had also been ordered to serve them many times. But there was never any pleasure in it.
No matter what they did, he never reacted. He stubbornly refused to show any response.
Like a corpse, he just lay there, which seemed to disappointing those people who used him. None of them ever called for him again after that.
The top leaders of the military were all rotten people.
They never fought themselves. They only sent soldiers like pawns onto the battlefield.
It was always the ability users and soldiers like him who fought and died.
For them, it was nothing more than a game.
"I don't know why, Dominic, but... I really don't want to disappoint you. It feels like it would hurt too much."
Shiao Yi whispered as he wrapped his arms around Dominic' back.
At that moment—
I don't want him to hate me.
The thought suddenly filled his mind.
What if, after being held like this, Dominic never wanted to touch him again?
A sharp sense of panic washed over him, and cold sweat ran down his back.
Dominic who smiled at him for the first time.
Dominic who spoiled him like a precious child.
Dominic who risked his life to protect him from the monsters.
Dominic who kissed him with warmth and tenderness.
If Dominic knew his true self, would he still treat him the same?
Or would he end up looking at Shiao Yi with those same cold eyes the officers always had?
"No! Dominic! No!"
Shiao Yi pushed Dominic away, rejecting him. He escaped from Dominic' arms and stood by the wall near the window.
"I don't want you to touch me!"
He was shocked to feel tears running down his cheeks.
He was crying? Even though he had never cried before—not even when his comrades died, not even when he was tortured and his body was remade through cruel experiments.
"Shiao! Why are you crying? Come here, please come to me!"
Dominic who is looking confused, he reached out his hand toward him.
But Shiao Yi shook his head while crying.
Dominic stood up and slowly approached him.
Shiao Yi activated his teleportation ability.
He escaped from Dominic.
...
Shiao Yi rejected him.
It felt like his heart was pierced by a thousand blades.
He didn't understand why Shiao Yi suddenly pushed him away.
Just moments ago, Shiao Yi had accepted his touch.
Even though he seemed a little confused, Dominic believed that Shiao Yi was feeling it too, that he was enjoying it.
When Shiao Yi told him about his past experiences of being touched, it was shocking.
But it was clear that those acts hadn't been what Shiao Yi wanted. They were likely forced upon him, it part of his painful past.
But even knowing that, Dominic could never hate him.
There was no way he could ever turn away from Shiao Yi.
Shiao Yi was his one and only.
It felt as though Shiao Yi had come into this world just to meet him. Compared to his love, the things that happened in the past didn't matter at all.
But still, Shiao Yi cried, rejected him, and vanished right before his eyes.
It was as if he disappeared into thin air.
He was gone in an instant.
Dominic stood there, staring at the spot where Shiao Yi had just been, unable to believe what had happened.
Was it teleportation magic?
No, it was different.
This was something else entirely.
It must be the special power Shiao Yi had spoken of — his own unique ability.
How dare he disappear from me like this!
No... I won't let him escape!
Shiao YI's belongs to me!
I will bring him back with my own hands!
Dominic rushed into his office.
But Louis was already gone after having finished his work.
Dominic went straight to Louis's room and woke him up by force.
"I just fell asleep, you know…" Louis complained in a sleepy, irritated voice, but Dominic ignored it.
"Shiao Yi has disappeared. I need to search for him and bring him back."
"Disappeared? Why? How did he disappear?"
"He vanished suddenly. It must have been his special ability."
"Do you know where he went?"
"No. I have no idea."
Dominic felt frustrated. He had no clue where Shiao Yi might have gone. He knew it was an impossible order to give: to search blindly for someone without a single lead.
But he could not afford to lose Shiao Yi.
"Don't tell me you want us to go into the forest right now? We just fought off a huge pack of monsters not long ago. Even without that, searching the forest in the middle of the night without any direction—that's just crazy."
Dominic was at a loss for words. Louis was right.
He realized that he was not thinking clearly.
"Shiao Yi is far more capable than he looks. And if he can teleport like you say, he should be fine even in the forest at night. We'll start searching at first light. You need rest too, Captain."
"…Yes, you're right. And he might come back on his own."