Chapter 66
Yomi had a dream.
In the dream, he and Anxius were walking hand in hand when the ground suddenly began shaking again. Before either of them could react, they were both buried together inside a crack beneath the earth…
Everything around them was pitch-black. Yomi could not move. After the initial fear passed, he unexpectedly calmed down.
In such a situation, he did not actually feel despair. Yomi even felt grateful that the two of them were still holding hands, stuck close together. If they were together, then even if they died, it somehow felt like it would not be so frightening.
It was too dark around them—Yomi could not see anything. He felt Anxius holding him, and he held Anxius back with all his strength too.
It was so dark, so dark, as if the whole world had come to an end.
Yomi’s heart was beating fast. The endless darkness gradually made him panic… For one brief moment, amber from a textbook flashed through his mind. Amber could preserve insects for ten thousand years without decay.
If only he had a piece of amber. Then, if the end of the world came, he could take someone and hide inside the amber with them… No, that would not work. You could not breathe inside amber. He had to think of something better.
As he thought like this, his whole body began to tingle. Yomi felt himself growing light, as if he were really floating. He saw his soul spreading out like the Milky Way. Then he felt as though he had turned into a bubble, and finally he tentatively brushed against another soul…
Suddenly, he saw an enormous golden circle, so huge it was almost like the sun. His whole body became warm and comfortable… After that, Yomi lost all awareness entirely.
Ugh, my head hurts.
That was Yomi’s first thought when he woke up.
Thankfully, the headache only lasted for two seconds. When he opened his eyes, he saw nothing but a vast white blur in front of him. Although he was not very clear on where exactly he was, instinctively he felt as though he were lying inside a silkworm cocoon.
And in fact, it really was a cocoon. Arlound him was soft silken thread, white and clean.
He turned his head and at once saw Anxius in human form lying there too.
The other man was still asleep, but even in sleep, the two of them were still tightly holding each other’s hands.
Yomi blinked in confusion…
Could it be that they really had been buried underground?
But if they were underground, then even a cocoon should not be glowing with white light, should it?
What exactly was going on? Surely it could not be that they had somehow both reincarnated into baby silkworms, right?
Even though he knew that was impossible, his mind still automatically conjured up the image of two caterpillars, one large and one small, living together…
Yomi tilted his head and stared at his sleeping boyfriend, completely immersed in that adorable fantasy, when he suddenly heard footsteps.
At once, Yomi pricked up his ears.
With a creak, a door was pushed open.
Then it seemed someone stood by them and looked for a while. Finally, a familiar voice spoke.
“This is already the third day. Why are they still like this? Was the surgery really a success?” It was Karl, and his tone was full of anxiety.
Yomi immediately relaxed.
“Of course it succeeded. If it had failed, what would be lying in front of us now wouldn’t be this cocoon, but two corpses…” Yexi let out a sigh. “Mr. Karl, there’s no need to worry so much. Yomi has the shapeshifting skill. Before the surgery, he transformed into a cocoon because of stress from the tremors. During the operation, perhaps he sensed the bleeding and remained in a state of high alert the whole time. Once the surgery ended, the limits of his skill became much higher than before, and subconsciously he used the cocoon to wrap both himself and His Highness inside. This is a protective response… Post-surgery recovery also takes time. This kind of thing can’t be rushed.”
“But if they stay like this for so long and don’t turn back, won’t something happen?”
“No. Let’s wait until they wake up first. I’ll give them nutrients every day. ” Yexi paused, then continued, “If they still haven’t woken up after ten days, that’s when it becomes dangerous… For now, there’s nothing we can do except wait.”
Karl fell silent.
As the footsteps moved farther away, broken sobbing could also be heard from outside. It seemed to be Lynn.
Yomi felt muddled through the entire thing. He wanted to respond, but the sensation was like sleep paralysis. He was conscious, yet his whole body was weak, and speaking up to call out to them was even more impossible.
After trying once and finding he had no strength to speak, Yomi stopped insisting. He lay there obediently and began thinking over those words.
Surgery? Cocoon? What exactly was going on?
He remembered clearly that they had gone into the mountains to gather herbs, then run into an earthquake. But in the end, they had all gotten out safely and even rescued many people. Afterward… afterward he had fallen asleep in his boyfriend’s arms.
So why was there surgery? Even if anyone had needed surgery, shouldn’t it only have been Anxius, who had gotten hurt?
But Karl had said the surgery had been done on both of them together, and that they had been unconscious for three days?
And as for the cocoon and the shapeshifting skill…
Surely it was impossible that he had transformed into a cocoon, wrapped Anxius inside, and then somehow gotten packed up together with him for surgery? That was far too absurd.
In this mix of shock and confusion, Yomi drifted into a dazed little sleep. This time it was short. He felt movement around him and forced his eyelids open.
A familiar face was right in front of him, but the eyes were still closed.
Yomi froze.
Anxius’s deep, handsome features were partly wrapped in silken thread. His face was rather pale, and it was coming closer and closer. Just as it was about to press against his, Yomi parted his lips and called softly, “Darling.”
No response.
“Anxius.”
No response.
“Darling Anxius.” Yomi rubbed hard against his chin.
The face moved slightly, squishing Yomi’s own cheek crooked in the process.
Taking advantage of that motion, Yomi pressed his forehead against Anxius’s. Though his boyfriend still had not woken up, just feeling the warmth of his body made him feel deeply reassured.
After sticking close to his boyfriend like that, Yomi once again sank into overwhelming fatigue. He yawned hard, puffing warm breath all over Anxius’s face. His sleepy eyes glanced at the white silk all around them, his lashes drooped shut weakly, and he fell asleep again.
This sleep seemed to last a very long time. Yomi slept especially deeply, and by the time he was close to waking, much of the aching exhaustion in his body had faded away. Just as he was about to open his eyes, he heard his boyfriend’s burning, anxious voice at his ear:
“Mimi?”
“Baby?”
“Mimi baby?”
“…”
Yomi: We really are so in sync!
Gathering up his strength, he snapped his eyes open and smiled at the stunned Anxius. “Darling, I’m awake!”
Although their bodies were still restrained by the silken cocoon, Anxius hugged him tightly anyway, as though he really were some fragile baby silkworm. His voice was hoarse. “Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?”
“No, I feel great.” Yomi looked up at him. Compared to all the doubts he himself had felt when he first woke up, Anxius looked much calmer, as though he found their current bizarre situation not strange at all.
“But look, this cocoon seems to be something I transformed into,” Yomi said, nestling against his boyfriend and lowering his head to point at the silk. The cocoon felt almost like part of his own body, which made it feel very strange. “But right now I can’t turn it back.”
Anxius did not think there was any problem at all.
“People who’ve just had surgery can barely even get out of bed. It’s normal that you can’t turn it back yet.” He wrapped his arms around Yomi and glanced at the IV tubes connected to their wrists. “For this period, Yexi will be giving us nutrient infusions, so even if we don’t eat, it’ll be fine.”
That night, because of the jolting of the vehicle, Yomi had gone into a stress response and subconsciously believed there was another earthquake. In order to protect both himself and the person beside him, he had actually transformed into a fake form—a cocoon that was soft but very sturdy…
That was Yomi’s limit.
After exhausting all his strength, Yomi fell into a deep sleep inside that transformed form. If they had not performed the symbiosis surgery immediately, no one knew what might have happened afterward.
At the time, everything had been far too rushed. The underground operating room had not even been fully set up yet, and Lynn—the assistant Yexi had originally hoped to use—had come down with an illness. The only fortunate thing was that Anxius had already long since prepared all the medicine and surgical materials they would need.
Under the emergency circumstances, Yexi and Linda disinfected the operating table and tools and had no choice but to begin the operation.
To prevent Yomi from waking up during surgery, they first gave him anesthesia.
When it came time to anesthetize Anxius, he refused. He could not set his mind at ease, and he could not accept the possibility of any error during the procedure. He insisted on staying conscious and watching the operation succeed with his own eyes.
Yexi had no choice. Secretly, he administered only local anesthesia. Since they had enough anesthetic, he could not bring himself to let a patient endure unnecessary pain during surgery.
Symbiosis surgery was different from human-form surgery. The latter had never had a successful case before Anxius, but the former was already considered a fairly mature procedure on Snar. Even under the poor conditions of Junk Star, Yexi did not think it would fail. The only thing that truly made him nervous was Yomi’s cocooned state.
Thankfully, Anxius had remained conscious enough at that time to precisely identify the location of Yomi’s heart.
Just before dawn, both Yexi and Linda in the operating room finally let out a breath of relief.
At that time Anxius’s consciousness was already hazy, but he still had not lost consciousness. Only after hearing Yexi’s words—“The surgery was successful”—did he finally allow himself to close his eyes.
As he slipped into sleep, he saw endless white silk spreading toward him and instantly swallowing him whole…
He liked the scent of Yomi that the silk carried.
…
“Surgery?!” Unable to get out of the cocoon, Yomi could only gather information from his boyfriend. He was incredibly shocked, and his eyes held deep worry too. “Why would we have surgery together all of a sudden? Did we get hurt together on the way back?”
“…Mm.”
Yomi looked at him suspiciously. If he himself had been injured, how could he not feel anything at all?
In the silence, Yomi looked at the silk connected to his body and began once again recalling everything that had happened after awakening his skill… He remembered Bruel saying that he should try not to use his skill too much, because it would consume energy… Could it be that he had gotten hurt because he had suddenly turned into a cocoon?
But why had he turned into a cocoon in the first place?
Since Yexi and the others were all safe and sound now, that meant nothing had happened on the way back…
Surely that earthquake in the dream could not have been real, right?
Yomi’s expression turned grave. “Did we run into another earthquake on the way back?”
Anxius tightened his grip on Yomi’s bun-like hand wrapped in silk. “…No.”
Yomi: So it really was a dream!
He had meant to keep pressing for answers, but the moment he caught the taut expression on his boyfriend’s face from the corner of his eye, he froze and instinctively pressed his lips shut.
The two of them were leaning together inside the enclosed cocoon. After a long while, Yomi finally made up his mind and asked in a low voice, “Anxius… um… do I have cancer?”
In his understanding, even if using his skill consumed energy, that should not require surgery. Resting for a while ought to have been enough. Especially since his body really had felt very strange lately. Every day he was lazy and weak, and doing only a little bit of work made him feel tired. He had been especially sleepy too. Clearly he had not been sick, and yet Anxius had Yexi check him every day…
Yomi was reminded of the melodramatic TV dramas he used to watch with his mother when he was little. When the protagonist got cancer, their lover and family would always hide it from them.
Before Anxius could answer, Yomi had already started imagining a tragic life-and-death romance scene of Anxius embracing his dying self by the seaside while they watched the ocean together.
The more he imagined it, the more a layer of moisture appeared in his eyes… Too horrible. He refused to star in this kind of melodrama!
Clearly startled by his question, Anxius frowned at once. “No. You’re very healthy.”
But Yomi’s mind was full of the ending montages of those melodramas. His little heart had already started trembling. Stammering, he said, “Y-you don’t have to keep lying to me… I can bear it. I’m not afraid.” No, he was afraid. He absolutely did not want to die.
He wanted to live to old age, earn a great deal of money, and live each day well alongside his lover and friends.
In the silence, Anxius bent down and lowered his head, his eyes full of tenderness as he looked at his adorable boyfriend-baby.
This surgery had been far too rushed. Anxius’s original plan had been to tell Yomi the truth slowly, under perfect circumstances—when Yomi’s body was in its best possible condition, when there was no threat around, when every piece of equipment had been fully prepared, when everything was absolutely foolproof—and then proceed with the operation.
But fate had caught him completely off guard.
Now Yomi was still weak. Even if he could transform back right now, Anxius would not allow him to expend himself at a time like this. He wanted Yomi’s body and mind both to remain in the best possible state, so originally he had not planned to mention the symbiosis surgery while Yomi was still recovering. But looking at Yomi’s grief-stricken face… rather than letting him continue making wild guesses, it would be better to simply tell him everything.
“You’re not sick,” Anxius said helplessly, pressing a kiss to his cheek. At last he confessed, “We had symbiosis surgery.”
“…Symbiosis surgery?” Yomi stared at him in shock. “Why did we suddenly need a surgery like that?”
When Lynn had been studying medicine with Yexi, Yomi had vaguely heard him mention this kind of procedure before. It was a surgery that would cause two people to share one life. Normally, only married couples who were both healthy would undergo it.
Human lifespan was only a few decades, true—nothing compared to the lifespan of Snar natives. But Yomi was only nineteen right now. It was not yet the age to start worrying about lifespan at all, was it?
Seeing what Yomi was thinking, Anxius wound both arms around his waist and began slowly, calmly explaining everything—from how Yomi had awakened his skill on Leia Continent, to how Bruel had revealed the effect of skill activation on a human’s lifespan…
Humans could not withstand the drain caused by skills. If they did not undergo symbiosis surgery, their natural lifespan would be drastically shortened.
And the reason the surgery had been performed so suddenly this time was because, on the way back, the vehicle had jolted…
Everything after that, Anxius no longer even needed to explain. Yomi already understood it all.
He stared blankly at the silk connecting his hands and feet, and at the cocoon enclosing the two of them. What was there left not to understand?
In his sleep, he had mistaken the jolting of the vehicle for an earthquake, and instinctively used his skill to transform into a cocoon, thinking he could preserve both himself and the person beside him the way amber preserved insects. Instead, he had drained all his energy away…
If they had not done the symbiosis surgery, he likely never would have woken up again.
“…”
Yomi had not even fully recovered yet from the shock of his boyfriend discovering he was human. And now there was this—skills, lifespan, and symbiosis surgery—all of it cramming into his brain at once.
Yomi felt as though his head were buzzing. Although it was not cancer, it somehow did not feel all that different from being told he had cancer. The only difference was that this “cancer” had already been cured.
No wonder… no wonder he had been so sluggish ever since awakening the skill.
But there was no time to dwell on that now. Yomi looked at Anxius. He had no idea that the surgery was tied to human-form surgery, but even the symbiosis surgery alone was enough to make him anxious. His eyes swept over his boyfriend’s body. “Will this surgery be bad for you?” Would it be like a kidney transplant for humans? But if someone donated a kidney, how could losing one kidney not affect their body?
“It won’t,” Anxius said. “If I can live to three hundred, then after the symbiosis surgery, we can both live to three hundred. This surgery has no effect on me at all.”
Even if it had affected him, he would rather live only a few decades with Yomi than spend centuries alone.
“…Really?” It sounded too beneficial and too harmless. Yomi looked at him with lingering suspicion. “Can something this good really exist?”
The more he thought about it, the more impossible it seemed. If that were true, then when someone was about to die, could they not simply find a healthy person to perform symbiosis surgery with and extend their life that way?
No, that was not how it worked. Yomi had heard Lynn talk about this surgery before. Alien average lifespans were already long, and no one could accurately predict how many years another person’s body would naturally live. Apart from married couples who wanted to grow old and die together, almost no one underwent such an uncertain operation.
For instance, if a wife could naturally live to three hundred, but the husband could only live to two hundred, then after symbiosis surgery, if both of them only lived to two hundred, would that not be a terrible loss? And if someone with a terminal illness underwent symbiosis surgery, what if both lifespans ended up becoming limited to the sick person’s remaining years? Wouldn’t that harm someone else for no benefit?
By now Yomi’s brows had nearly tied themselves into a knot. “Can this surgery be undone? What if your lifespan ends up becoming the same as mine? Mine is very short…”
No, if that happened, he would cry even after becoming a ghost.
Anxius was heartbroken to see him this way. Cradling Yomi’s face, he kissed him once. “It won’t. Humans can’t share out their own life. They can only receive.”
“Really?” The eyes that had been slightly red began to brighten, and his brows slowly relaxed.
“Really. I’m not lying to you.” There was laughter in Anxius’s tone, the kind that put people at ease.
Just like that, the frightening problem vanished. Yomi felt a sense of unreality. Yet after staring at Anxius for a long time, he could not find the slightest flaw.
Anxius was not lying.
The great stone in Yomi’s heart finally dropped into place. Then he suddenly remembered that he could now live for several hundred years, and after a moment’s delay, let out a soft, surprised sound. “Ah.”
“What is it?”
“Nothing… It just feels like a dream…”
“It isn’t a dream.” Anxius gently stroked Yomi’s back, and the warmth and dryness of that hand gradually calmed him down.
“That day… you said you’d always known I was human…” Yomi lifted his face to look at him. “How did you discover it?”
Even though his boyfriend already knew, the very words human still made Yomi’s heart pound in fear.
Anxius looked steadily at him. “Aside from combat, I have another skill used for reconnaissance. It lets me see through disguises.”
“…”
“The very first time I saw you, I knew you were human.”
“…”
The moment he heard that, many scenes from the past rose involuntarily before Yomi’s eyes: Anxius watching human documentaries and reading books about humans, Anxius on the very first day meeting him acting almost like he was teasing a cat, handing him all sorts of things, telling him to be the Empire’s little treasure and personally taking care of him…
All of it had left traces.
Before long, Yomi had drooped his head and pressed his lips together without saying a word.
Anxius had originally thought that once he explained everything completely, Yomi would finally be able to rest and recover at ease. But seeing the little man like this only made him even more worried…
A little at a loss, he asked, “What’s wrong?”
A few seconds later, Yomi, curled into himself like a little shrimp, mumbled hesitantly, “So… do you only like me because I’m human?” Isn’t it not because of my charm and handsomeness?
“…”
Anxius had never expected that to be what Yomi was hung up on. He pulled him directly into his arms. “Before you, I had no interest in humans at all. No—not even the slightest.”
It was because of Yomi that he had gone and learned everything about humans.
Being kissed and hugged like this, Yomi raised his eyelids and gave him a look of mock annoyance.
So cute it was unbearable.
Anxius could not help kissing him hard once more. Rubbing against his cheek, he said, “Whether you’re human, or a little sheep, or even if you were just a cocoon… I’d still like you. I only like you.”
Yomi was so thoroughly coaxed by his boyfriend that the corners of his mouth nearly lifted all the way to his ears. All the uncertainty in his heart dissolved away, and immediately he was in the mood to joke again. “Then once my body recovers, should we go swear brotherhood? Aren’t there always those scenes on TV where people say, ‘Though we were not born on the same day, in the same month, in the same year, may we die on the same day, in the same month, in the same year…’”
“No!” Lovers turning into sworn brothers? Never in death.
“I was joking, darling.” Yomi, with very keen instincts, rubbed his face lightly against Anxius’s.
That rub sent Anxius’s heart pounding wildly. He wrapped Yomi even tighter in his arms, as if he wanted to rub him right into his heart.
Inside the enclosed space, their limbs were intertwined. It was as intimate as intimacy could possibly be.
Anxius loved this feeling. Breathing in Yomi’s scent, listening to the rhythm of his pounding heartbeat, he lowered his head and kissed the place above Yomi’s chest too.
Even his heartbeat was this adorable.
Yomi quickly drifted off to sleep.
When he woke up again, he found that it was bright outside the cocoon. Beside him, Anxius was using his fingers to comb through his hair.
“Did another day pass?” Yomi asked.
“Mm.”
Yomi reminded him, “When Yexi and the others come later, we have to tell them we’re awake.”
Anxius said, “They already know. They came by earlier, but you were still asleep. They said they’ll come check on you again at noon.”
“They already came?! Though I guess there was nothing for them to see except the cocoon…” Yomi said awkwardly. “Sigh. Even an escape pod sounds more impressive than this.”
“No. It’s very impressive. This is the most unique cocoon I’ve ever seen.” Anxius praised his boyfriend-baby without the slightest restraint.
“Really?” Yomi looked at him, then looked at the cocoon again, and suddenly felt it was indeed quite remarkable. “Not only does it look good, it’s very practical too. Isn’t it soft to sleep in? Too bad they can’t experience it.”
Just as he was speaking, a flurry of footsteps came from outside.
Yomi instinctively fell silent.
The door opened.
“Your Highness, Yomi, it’s me, Yexi. Are you awake?”
In the room, before Yexi stood a plump white cocoon lying on the bed and connected to all kinds of instruments, while behind him stood four young men, their faces full of worry.
From inside the cocoon, Yomi immediately replied, “I’m awake!”
Anxius gave a low hum in response too.
The people in the room were overjoyed. Lynn was the first to run to the bedside. Looking at the huge white cocoon, he fought back tears and asked, “Mimi, you’re finally awake… Are you and Anxius all right?”
Yomi nodded. “We’re very well. Don’t worry. We’re recovering.”
Next came Arlo’s voice. “Are you in pain?”
Yomi said, “Not at all. What about you all? Have you recovered from being sick?”
This time it was Meikai who answered. “We’re all fine. The herbs you brought back that time were really effective. Pretty much everyone on the farm and nearby has recovered too, so don’t worry.”
Harvey added, “Right, and we even opened a new vegetable patch just for planting the herbs you pulled up by the roots.”
That surprised Yomi. “You actually knew those were for planting…”
“Of course,” Lynn said. “Apart from the ones you uprooted, none of the other herbs had roots. It was obvious at a glance that you intended to replant them. If they can be successfully grown, then we won’t have to go so far in the future.”
“That’s right!” Yomi nodded in Anxius’s arms, and then heard Meikai continue, “Lately, because of the earthquake, people haven’t really been going out anymore. A few hunters who dared to go out even brought part of their catch to the farm, saying it was to thank Lord Sheep Asura… Yomi, the story of how you and the lord of Skull State joined forces to save everyone has spread everywhere now…”
It was good that it had spread. If something like that happened again in the future, at least everyone would know what to do.
Yomi had not seen anyone in so long. He listened eagerly as his friends chatted about everything that had been happening lately, and he listened for a very long time, until Yexi finally told them to let the patients rest properly and led everyone away.
Once the room was quiet again, Yomi hugged his boyfriend and, drowsy, fell asleep yet again.
When he woke the next day, Yomi felt he had more strength than yesterday, and his whole body felt fine—except he was rather greedy for food.
The daily infusions meant he was not starving, but his mouth felt terribly bland… Before Anxius woke, he tentatively reached out a hand and prodded at the cocoon.
Since the silk was connected to his body, Yomi had been afraid it might hurt. At first he moved very lightly. But gradually he realized that the silk was more like hair—no matter how he fussed with it, it did not hurt. So he dug harder, finally opening up a hole.
At once, a shaft of sunlight poured in.
Yomi quickly narrowed his eyes and raised a hand to cover them.
After he adjusted to the light, Anxius woke as well. The moment he saw the opening in the cocoon above them, his face turned deathly pale, and he immediately looked toward Yomi.
Yomi had already adapted to the light and was grinning foolishly at him. “I was just picking at it to try, but who knew it would really open.”
Anxius was so frightened he nearly lost his soul. He immediately gathered Yomi into his arms and checked him from side to side. “Does anywhere hurt?”
“It doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t hurt.” Yomi shook his head. “Even though the silk is part of my body, I think this silk probably belongs more to the hair part, right? Cutting hair doesn’t hurt, so of course fiddling with it is fine.”
His tone was light and breezy, but Anxius was frantic with worry.
Anxius was just too afraid that something would happen to Yomi. Looking over his face and head once was not enough. He even lifted his clothes and carefully checked further, afraid there might be some hidden wound he had overlooked.
In Anxius’s hands, Yomi was like a crab that had already been cooked through red. He was turned over and examined cleanly, yet did not dare make a sound.
Only after checking him from head to toe—without even sparing the parting of his hair—did Anxius finally breathe a little easier. He looked up at the hole in the cocoon, then back at the shy Yomi. “You want to go out?”
“Not exactly in a hurry,” Yomi said in a small voice. “I was just so bored, so I tried it. But after poking at it, I found I really could make a hole. In that case, there’s no need for us to keep getting infusions, right?”
Being able to eat, of course, was better than living on infusions—but only if Yomi’s safety came first.
Anxius frowned at the opening. “When Yexi comes, let him examine you. If there’s no problem, then no more infusions.”
Sure enough, happiness had to be fought for personally!
Yomi was delighted. “There definitely won’t be any problem. When that happens, we can open the hole wider. Then not only can we eat, we can also see everyone.” Just imagining his little friends peeking curiously through the opening while he lay there with his eyes shut looking all solemn and frightening them was already funny enough.
Seeing how happy he was, Anxius’s mood brightened too. He immediately pulled Yomi into a thorough session of rubbing and massage, then hugged him tightly. “All right.”
