【Ruijin】Eye of the Storm

Chapter 30 Extra Story 1

In the fourth month after Kim officially took office as head of Tata, he finally managed to get a week-long vacation.

Completely withdrawn from official duties felt like hell to heaven, Jin sprinted to the desk of the chief sentry, grabbed him up and ran home, not wanting to waste a second.

"I'm going on a trip," Jin yelled solemnly, sitting in the middle of the bed, shaking the holder of a black fountain pen, with several printed couples' tourist attraction guides scattered around him, "I want to relax! Paid vacation !"

Gray stood at the desk by the window to repair the broken curtain rack. It had been broken for almost a week, but because it didn't affect the use, the two of them didn't care at first.As soon as the sentry re-tightened the screw, he received the dissatisfaction from the other end of the link in his mind. He sighed, put down the screwdriver, and turned to look at Jin: "What's wrong?"

"Gerry, you haven't participated at all," Jin said angrily, staring at him half-up with his hands behind his back, "At any rate, let me give you some advice, the beach? Rock climbing in the forest? Or go to the hot spring?"

"We have a week! A whole week!" Jin gestured exaggeratedly, "It must not be wasted! The next time we have such a long vacation, we don't know when it will be."

Gray patted the dust off his hands and said, "Where do you want to go?"

"I don't know." Jin dropped the pen, closed his eyes and collapsed on his back on the bed, the soft mattress bounced up and down because of this large movement, "If you only look at the photos, I feel like I want to go anywhere ..."

Gray didn't respond right away, but sat on the edge of the bed and looked at the guide's face and thought for a while.

After a while, Jin heard his combined sentry suddenly speak: "Dengru."

Jin opened his blue eyes and looked at him. Before he could react, he asked a little dullly: "...where?"

Gray reached out and stroked his forehead hair, and repeated calmly: "Go to Deng Gelu."

So the one-week itinerary was decided by a simple sentence from the sentinel.

They spent the night packing their respective luggage, and because Jin had too many things, they semi-forced them to put some in Gray's suitcase without authorization.

They got out of the tower walls with their passes and headed west, and since King insisted on taking the road trip, they mingled with the general crowd and bought two coach tickets at the station.

The city skyscrapers passing by outside the car window are gradually replaced by the unchanging rural villages on the outskirts of the city.The guide sat by the window and looked out for a while, feeling a little bored, and finally sat on the chair peacefully.Jin's mobile phone was exhausted by the game shortly after he set off, so the bored guide turned to look at Gray. The silver-haired sentinel was wearing a simple T-shirt, trousers and high-top casual shoes today, and a jacket A dark blue long-sleeved jacket, looking like an ordinary college student who just graduated, is browsing with a terminal in one hand while bowing his head.

Jin admired Gray's sharp profile for a while, then leaned over and rested his chin on his shoulder, and asked in a low voice, "What are you looking at?"

Gray glanced at him and tilted the tablet's screen a little towards him.When Jin saw the densely packed work emails on it, he reflexively felt repelled.He took the other party's terminal over, closed the page and started downloading movies online, complaining to the sentinel: "I'm already on vacation, I'll watch those things when I come back, really."

Jin found a suspenseful drama movie, clicked to play it, and put the tablet on the small table in front of him.Kim turned down the hearing sensitivity of his bonded Sentinels, and the two leaned head to head, sharing the same headset.In fact, King himself is not a fan of movies of this kind, but he has long known that his Sentinel has a preference for it.Occasionally, when the plot was complicated and difficult to understand, Jin would raise his head and ask Gray in a low voice, and the sentry would press the pause button to listen to him first, and then give a few simple answers.

When the movie progressed to the second half, Jin's movements became smaller and smaller. When the protagonist finally started to decipher the memory kill, Gray suddenly felt his shoulders sink.The sentinel turned his head to look, and found that the blond-haired youth had fallen asleep by himself.The guide's deep and steady breath hit the skin on the side of Gray's neck warmly. The sentry moved his arm slightly, took off his earphones, and asked Jin to lean on the back of the chair temporarily, and then stretched out his hand He turned down the car air conditioner above him a little, and finally took off his coat and gently covered him.

After doing all this, Gray let Jin's head rest on his shoulder at the most comfortable angle to sleep again, while he straightened his upper body, took back the terminal and continued to resume the work arrangement in the tower.

The overlapping silhouettes of two people leaning against each other are reflected on the glass windows, while the bus is still running smoothly towards the westernmost city of the country.The journey has just begun, but the summer heat waves and lush street trees have already turned into distorted color blocks, receding outside the window.

The inertial effect of the car's brakes jolted Kim out of his slumber.He half-opened his eyelids, and everyone else in the carriage had already stood up to get their luggage on the luggage rack, only he and Gray sat in their positions without moving.The guide raised his head and rubbed his eyes, and in the next second, he saw the coat on his body that slid to his waist.In a daze, he turned his head and kissed the side face of the person beside him, and muttered, "Are you there?"

The voice of the guide still had the sticky feeling in his sleep, and Gray smoothed out his messy lock of curled hair. After a soft "hmm", he also stood up and picked up the luggage of the two of them, and followed Jin along with him. Get off at the end of the passenger line.

When they set foot on the land that belonged to Dengleu again, they felt a sense of familiarity.In fact, this place has changed a lot from many years ago. Tenggaloo is no longer the dilapidated, dirty and chaotic slum city they used to be when they were teenagers. Both the street planning and the level of business are no longer comparable to the ordinary towns nearby. not far.

It was already evening, and they ordered some snacks near the station to fill their stomachs, and then walked along the riverside path in Dengalu all the way to the sunset, following the images in their memory to find their former home.

The empty fields around the ordinary single-storey bungalow have been transformed into a wheat field. They walked through it and walked to the door. They found that the white walls on both sides of the house were covered with colorful graffiti with vulgar words. All have dried up, showing the traces of the years.Gray glanced at Jin who had not said a word since arriving here, walked to the edge of the gate, and removed a flower pot placed there, revealing the copper yellow key pressed under the flower pot.

The silver-haired sentry inserted the key into the keyhole and turned it a few times, and the door immediately heard a heavy rusty sound, and opened inward with a "squeak".

Warm orange light slanted in through the smashed glass windows in the living room, illuminating the billowing dust in the air.

Jin leaned on the door frame and stood in the porch looking at everything in front of him. After a long time, he lowered his eyes again and said softly, "...I'm back."

The house that has not been cleaned for many years has an unimaginable mess. The broken glass on the floor, the beer bottles strewn about, and the thick dirt left by something all prove that this place may have become something in the past. Temporary shelter for homeless people.However, this did not bring the slightest disgust to their "homecoming trip", because every corner of this house will mobilize the familiar images deep in the minds of the two of them.Not long after Jin put down his luggage, Gray sent him to the town center to buy necessities. The silver-haired sentinel showed him the damp and moldy bedding in the cabinet, and the blond guide, who was trying to be lazy, shut up instantly.

"Actually, tonight we can go out and find a hotel to spend the night at random," Jin suggested without giving up. "Even if it is Gray, one person has to pack so many things, surely one night is not enough time?"

The sentinel remained unmoved, and turned back after testing the water pressure of the faucet. While wiping his hands, he said, "Clean up the room first, there's still time. I have other things to do."

"Oh——" Jin dragged out the end of the voice, and grinningly stuck to Ge Rui's side and smiled at him, "Could it be that you have prepared other 'surprises' for me?"

The sentinel raised his eyebrows, curled his index finger and tapped him on the head: "Go quickly, don't talk nonsense."

"Okay, okay, I'll just go." Jin stuck out his tongue, put on his mobile wallet and walked out the door.The sentry watched his back disappear within reach before slowly retracting his gaze. He stood in the center of the living room and sighed. He slowly rolled up the cuffs of his coat on both sides, revealing the smooth muscle lines of his forearms.

The task of purchasing is actually not complicated. Large mattresses and blankets will be delivered directly to the door by the courier in the near future.Jin walked around the market for a while, turning his head from time to time to look at the street scenes on both sides.He vaguely remembered that this street used to be the only way he and Gray went out. The basic shape of the street has not changed, but there are fewer poor people moaning and falling on the side of the road, and there are more bright street lights on both sides. .Jin was holding the freshly bought dinner ingredients in his hands. When his eyes casually swept across a small stall on the side of the road, the guide's pace slowed down instantly.

He walked slowly to the side of the stall, stood behind a group of children and looked at the stall owner who was surrounded by the middle.It was an old man who was skillfully wrapping handmade candies into colorful transparent sugar wrappers, then pouring them one by one into the prepared small bags, sealing them and handing them to the long-awaited little guests beside him.The children bought their favorite snacks, said "thank you" in a childlike voice, and ran away cheering.

Jin looked at those glass candies as beautiful as stars, and couldn't help but buy a pack with his heart moved.After unwrapping the candy wrapper and throwing the candy into the mouth, the sweet taste with a little bit of mint bitterness spread from the tip of the tongue to the bottom of the heart, just like their childhood.

The guide deliberately slowed down and walked home without haste.Seeing the lights in the house from a distance, Jin walked to the door and reported his itinerary to Gray in the link, and it took a long time before he got a response from the sentinel.Before he knocked on the door, the doorknob was turned from the inside and it was opened. Lie Zhan put down his front paws on the handle, turned around in a circle, and sat down with a sweep of the fluffy wolf tail. In front of Jin, he even tilted his head at him.

Jin burst out laughing with a "puchi", raised his hand and rubbed the gray wolf's head, and released his mental body in the next second, allowing Lie Zhan to take the little panda out of the door to play.

The appearance of the house is completely different from when I first went out. The garbage in the living room has been cleaned up, and the floor has been cleaned again.There was a new tablecloth on the only table, and the musty smell in the air was replaced by the fresh scent of lemon.Jin couldn't help but let out a short exclamation, ran over and hugged Gray who had just come out of the kitchen, and his palms touched a little bit of sweat oozing from the fabric of the other's back.

"You're amazing, Gray!" Jin praised enthusiastically, his big blue eyes filled with surprise and admiration, "How did you do it? It's so strong! It's almost like magic!"

Gray didn't say anything, reached out and patted his lower back, and took the shopping bag from the guide.

Jin grabbed his wrist, took the candy out of his pocket, and stuffed it into Gray's mouth before he could react.The sentinel was stunned for a moment, and after tasting the familiar taste, he obediently held his mouth.

Jin Chao's own combined sentinel showed a mysterious smile: "This is a reward!"

During the whole preparation process of the dinner, although Jin can't cook, he still has to graciously come up to help this group from time to time.Handing the water in a plate is not sloppy at all.After finally finishing the simple dinner, both of them subconsciously sat in their own seats when they were teenagers.

A chair at the front of the dining table was empty, where Qiu had originally been.

"……what is this?"

Jin sat on the edge of the bed where the new quilt had just been laid, holding a piece of folded cardboard in his hand, and was pulling his short-sleeved collar to fan the wind desperately—the old house had no air-conditioning, and in midsummer The temperature at night is still high, which is unbearable.He watched as Gray carried an old-fashioned player to a cabinet facing the bed in the room, plugged it in, and then bent down to adjust it. Jin had no idea where Gray found it. machine.

"I'll show you something." The sentinel said with his back turned to him, and after confirming that the machine was working correctly, he turned and walked to Jin.

"It's about Sister Qiu." Gray looked at Jin, his purple eyes filled with emotion.

"..."

Jin stared back at him blankly, as if he hadn't reacted, until he saw the sentry take out a small roll of film from his pocket.

Gray spread his palms: "This is what was originally placed in the necklace."

Jin raised his face: “Have you seen it already?”

The silver-haired sentinel slowly shook his head and said, "No."

Jin heaved a sigh of relief, scratched his hair and took the roll of film, climbed out of bed with bare feet, and put it into the player with his own hands.

The screen flickered, and after a few seconds, Qiu's face suddenly appeared on it.

Qiu seems to be sitting on a chair, wearing a simple top, and the background of the picture is what the backyard of this house looks like.Jin and Gray looked at each other, seeing a hint of surprise in each other's eyes.

"Jin," Qiu said suddenly in the video, "and Gray, my brothers."

"If you have seen the content of this roll of tape, we should have not seen each other for a long time. This also means that you already know all the secrets about the tower," the young female sentinel looked at the camera with blue eyes Guang Guang, "The process must have been very hard. As a sister, I can't share it with you. I'm really sorry."

"The formula is the mistake I made. I shouldn't let anyone make it up for me, even my dearest brother."

"Kim, I'm so happy—to see this video, to prove that you've grown up safely, maybe even an older adult than I am now. Did you get along well with Gray? Seriously?" Eat, go to bed early? The training in the tower is very strict, did you make more reliable friends when you worked hard?" Qiu seemed to think of something, and suddenly smiled softly, "I always feel incredible, I really want to see See what you, a silly boy, look like when you become an adult."

Jin choked up, lowered his head and quickly wiped his eyes with his sleeve.After feeling Gray's gaze, he stubbornly turned his head away to prevent the other party from seeing his face.

Qiu on the screen continued to say: "Now I still have no way to tell you what I have done, what I am doing and what I will do soon. You are a born S-rank, there is no doubt about it. But like I told you on the first day of awakening, you are not a monster."

"...Genes, it's not the essential issue that determines everything," Qiu looked directly at the screen, "You are a complete person first, with courage, faith, and compassion. Apart from these, you are the one who has A guide with special abilities."

"Kim, silly boy, it's hard to accept that you're different. But I believe in you, because you're my brother, so you can do it."

Qiu looked up and glanced somewhere outside the frame, and casually pinned a lock of long golden hair hanging from her temples behind her ears, and said with a smile in her voice, "It's already three o'clock in the afternoon in Dengaru, the two of you I played outside for another day. Since Grey came, I no longer pestered my sister to ask me to play with you. To be honest, I am still not used to it. I will never be able to make up for what Grey lost, so I just hope that you can become the most special people to each other, no matter what your role is. Tolerate and protect each other, if you can—" She took a deep breath, "I also hope that you will never be separated."

The female sentinel paused: "Maybe it's too late to say goodbye to you when we part. I don't know if there will be a day of goodbye in the future. I don't want to be a nagging sister, but after thinking about it, I decided to say it myself. Come out - I will always, always miss you."

"—As long as you have this longing, it doesn't matter how far away you are."

"This is 'family'."

"—Gerry, have you ever thought about how our lives would change if you weren't a sentinel and I wasn't a guide?"

The summer night in Dengeru was very quiet, and they lay side by side in this bed which was obviously too small for them now, covered with the same thin blanket.In the darkness, Gray heard the blond guide suddenly ask such a question. He slowly opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling of the bedroom where a small piece of wall had fallen off.

"If that's the case, we wouldn't have met at that time." Gray replied in a deep voice.

Jin was stunned for a moment, then took a deep breath, and then let it out slowly: "... also."

"—perhaps a little later."

The blond young man turned his head and looked at the profile of the sentry lying beside him: "What did you say?"

"It's nothing."

"I still don't understand why my sister didn't tell me earlier," Jin turned sideways, her cheek pressed against the soft pillow, "if she had told me earlier, I would have been able to help her sooner. Turn around Come, I have grown up, and neither kept my sister nor found her again."

The sentinel's body moved, and in the next second, Jin was once again drawn into the familiar embrace by his powerful arms.

He pressed his forehead against Gray's chest, and he could clearly hear the steady beating of his heartbeat there.Jin put his hands around Gray's waist, and pressed himself closer. Just at this moment, the sentry's voice came clearly from above his body: "You have done a good job."

These words seemed to open an emotional gate that had been suppressed for a long time. As soon as the words fell, Ge Rui felt a wet and sticky touch from a small piece of clothing on his chest, as if he was fainted by water stains.The sentinel didn't say a word, just pinched the back of Jin's neck gently with his hand, leaving enough time for the person in his arms to vent wantonly.

Early the next morning, Jin was awakened by the sunlight outside the window.After taking office as tower chief, he hadn't experienced the feeling of waking up naturally for a long time.

The guide stretched, sat with his eyes closed for a while, and then slowly lifted the quilt and walked out of the room to wash.Gray didn't stay in the living room, nor was he in the kitchen. Jin was a little strange, walking around the room looking for him with his toothbrush in his mouth.After searching to no avail, just as he was about to directly use the link to ask the other party, there was a sudden noise from the small garden behind.

Jin dropped the toothbrush without hesitation, turned around and ran to the backyard.As soon as he opened the back door, he was shocked by the scene in front of him and stood still.

Lavender hydrangeas, one after another, cover the entire garden layer by layer.The morning sun hits the flowers, and the round petals are like summer snow, showing a gradient color from dark to light.Gray was standing in the middle of the flowers, holding a small watering can in one hand. Seeing him coming in, his eyes turned to him from the ground.

Jin stepped over and stood with the sentinel: "...I thought that the seeds we planted that year were already dead."

"It's hydrangeas," Kim murmured. "They're so beautiful."

"August is the last flowering season," Gray said.

Jin couldn't help smiling, and took the initiative to hold Gray's hand.The guide raised his face and looked at Ge Rui's eyes, which were as bright as jewels, as if the sun and stars had fallen into them together: "But there is still next year, and next year, every summer, it will be there."

"You promised me, remember, Gray!" Jin shook their interlocking hands excitedly, blinked his eyes, and pointed to the purple hydrangea in full bloom behind him, "—we have to take another shot A photo."

END