Obsessed with a High-Ranking Esper (BL)-Chapter 244: Do you like them?

AN: I had a horrible day today but I still managed to come through. Happy reading!

Yu Xi stirred awake, the faint light of morning filtering through the curtains. He sat up, blinking, and immediately noticed the empty space beside that had long gone cold. Jian Ci was gone.

For a moment, Yu Xi thought he had overslept, but when he checked the time, it was still early. He lay back down, swiping open his communicator. His fingers hovered briefly before he typed a simple message: Where are you?

Usually, Jian Ci would respond instantly. This time, the silence stretched. Yu Xi sighed, setting the device aside, and swung his legs out of bed.

Meanwhile, Jian Ci was being a menace in Jian Wei’s room. Jian Wei had been fast asleep, hungover and groggy, when Jian Ci barged in.

"You are awake," Jian Ci announced cheerfully.

"I was, you dumbass until you came in here," Jian Wei grumbled, his voice muffled against the pillow.

Jian Ci laughed and jumped onto the bed, sprawling beside him. Jian Wei groaned, grabbed a pillow, and smacked him across the shoulder. "Get the fuck out, damn it."

"Why are you so mean to me?" Jian Ci chuckled, unfazed. "I am your little brother."

"Go bother your other older brother, not me," Jian Wei muttered, pulling the bed cover over his head.

Jian Ci sighed dramatically. "I tried." He had went to Jian Rui’s room after taking the clothes to get washed, but Jian Rui didn’t give him access to his room. He wasn’t even answering the door, so he came to find Jian Wei instead.

What Jian Ci didn’t know was that his dearest older brother was currently pinned down under the bed covers by Stannis, their secret rendezvous unfolding just beyond the locked door.

"I already tried," Jian Ci insisted. "Can’t get into his room."

Jian Wei frowned, pulling the covers down just enough to squint at him. "That’s impossible. You sure you tried to open the door?"

Jian Ci swiped open the floating screen in front of him, showing the access log. "I did."

Jian Wei sighed, defeated, and covered his head again. "Fine. Don’t disturb me if you want to stay here."

"Okay," Jian Ci said brightly, settling in as though he owned the space. He pulled up Starnet on his communicator, scrolling idly, while Jian Wei groaned into his pillow, regretting his decision of letting him stay.

He turned away from him, covers pulled over his head in stubborn defiance. The muffled sound of his breathing filled the room, steady and oblivious.

Jian Ci bit his lower lip, restless, and pulled up his communicator. His fingers hesitated before typing: esper relationships.

The search results loaded, and right at the top was his mother’s story. His chest tightened, heart clenching painfully. He stared at the headline, guilt gnawing at him. ’Maybe I shouldn’t be doing this,’ he thought. ’Maybe I should resolve my desire for Yu Xi and not pursue these feelings.’

Esper-to-esper relationships did exist, but happy endings were rare. Too rare. He scrolled further, but the information was vague, unsatisfactory. Nothing gave him the clarity he needed.

Frustrated, Jian Ci switched to a forum. He logged into a throwaway account, his hands trembling slightly as he typed:

I am an esper and I find that I suddenly have feelings for my best friend who is also another esper. How should I handle it? Urgent, waiting online.

He expected silence, maybe a trickle of replies hours later. But almost instantly, his screen lit up with a barrage of responses.

Most were cruel. They were mocking him, cursing him for even entertaining the thought of having designs toward another esper. Jian Ci ignored them, his jaw tightening, his thumb swiping past the venom. Then he saw one genuine reply.

Do you like them, or do you just want to sleep with them?

The question froze him. Jian Ci stared at it, his mind spinning. He thought seriously, deeper than he had dared before.

Yes. He wanted to sleep with Yu Xi, that was an irrefutable fact. He wanted to press him down, hear Yu Xi call him gege sweetly, like in the dream that haunted him. But it wasn’t just that. He wanted more.

He wanted Yu Xi to only look at him. He wanted to hold Yu Xi’s hand publicly, as his boyfriend. He wanted to claim him, not just in desire, but in devotion.

Where this emotion had sprung from, Jian Ci couldn’t understand. It stunned him, shook him to his core. For years, he had never cared about sex, never thought about relationships. And now, suddenly, Yu Xi was all he could think about.

Jian Ci closed his eyes, the glow of the screen burning against his lids. His world felt unsteady, his heart caught between fear and longing. And beside him, Jian Wei slept on, unaware of the storm unraveling in his little brother’s chest.

The day before, Yu Xi had simply been Jian Ci’s best friend. But overnight, something inside him had shifted, like a switch flipped, and suddenly Yu Xi was no longer just his confidant, but the object of his desires.

On the forum, Jian Ci typed out his reply with trembling fingers: I like him too.

Almost immediately, a response came back: Then what are you waiting for? You only live once, so pursue them.

Jian Ci stared at the words, his chest tightening. Was it really that simple? He imagined confessing to Yu Xi, imagined the look on his face. Would Yu Xi curse him? Would he stay away from him, stop talking to him altogether? The thought made Jian Ci’s stomach twist.

He was about to log off when a long, scathing reply appeared on the screen:

Your friend trusted you. They changed in front of you, told you all their secrets, even about dating guides... and now you turn around and want to fuck them? You should be ashamed of yourself. You’re a terrible friend. What do you think they will do when you tell them? All those years of friendship gone. The entire time you were friends, you were thinking of sleeping with them.

The words came rapid and harsh, each one striking like a blow. Jian Ci’s frustration boiled. That’s not true, he thought bitterly. He hadn’t always seen Yu Xi that way. It was new, sudden, overwhelming, but of course, this stranger didn’t know the details. They were just projecting.

Replies began to pile beneath the scolding.

Who hurt you?

So much projection going on.

Spill the tea.

Did you fuck them or did they fuck you?