[COD] Newbie's Rise to Power

Keigo emerged with slightly damp hair and only a gray bath towel wrapped around his lower body.

He saw you sitting quietly on the edge of the bed, having taken off your coat, and a pleasant smile appeared on his face.

You looked up, met his gaze, and then asked him somewhat awkwardly.

"Is it my turn?"

You mean, it's your turn to take a shower.

Keegan didn't respond. He walked slowly to you, knelt on the edge of the bed beside you, lifted your face, and kissed you.

He only responded to what you had just said after you were pinned down by him.

"No, I like your scent, it makes me..."

What will it give you?

Before you could even voice your question, it was cut off again.

Through your blurry vision, you can only see those grey-blue eyes, locked on you at extremely close range...

ch.225: Connection between flower and branch

[Newbie ID 224, has already left~]

In the dimly lit room, two people, close together, were sleeping peacefully in a warm bed.

Keegan opened his eyes first, and what he saw was the girl's smooth back and a head of loose, jet-black hair.

His arms were still tightly wrapped around the other person, leaning very close, and the faint scent of jasmine wafted in front of him.

Keegan raised his hand, cupped a strand of black hair in his palm, brought it close to his nose, and lingered to smell it.

It had only been a few months, but he already couldn't bear to part with it.

Whether it's the various uncontrollable emotions I feel, or the girl in my arms.

But no, he had his duties and had to leave her side...

Keegan's move to leave startled you from your exhaustion.

"Don't move anymore, I'm so tired..."

Keegan paused, then his deep, husky voice sounded in your ear.

"No, I'm just going out, kid."

You strained to keep your eyes open after a whole night without much rest.

Once you regain your senses, you realize that Keegan is leaving today.

You instantly regain consciousness, and as you lie on your side, you try to turn over, but suddenly stop.

The flowers and leaves complement each other perfectly, as if they were born to be together.

You are like that at this moment...

Seeing that you had realized what was happening, Keegan asked you again.

"Kid, can I leave now?"

You immediately pulled the blanket over your head and responded with a muffled groan.

"Come on!"

Keegan chuckled very softly, then slowly parted from you.

You're under the covers when you hear the sound of water coming from the bathroom, followed by Keegan's footsteps.

He sat on the edge of the bed, wrapped his arms around you through the blanket, and whispered:

"You rest a little longer, I'll go and bring you some food."

You nodded repeatedly, then pulled the blanket down a bit, revealing your eyes as you looked at him.

Then, tell him what you want to eat.

The food at the base is always the same, and you can only get used to a few of the dishes.

Keegan nodded, placed a gentle kiss on your forehead, then put on his coat and went out.

Only when everyone leaves and you are alone in the room do you have the mind to pay attention to other details.

The faint scent lingering in the blankets made it impossible for you to stay any longer, so you simply got out of bed.

After quickly washing yourself, you picked up the clothes that had been scattered around you.

Aside from being close-fitting, it's still wearable.

After getting dressed, the feeling of thirst became unusually strong.

You are severely dehydrated. You finished the bottle of water last night, and even drank an extra one afterwards.

So you walked to the table in the room.

Recalling where Keegan got the water yesterday, you hesitantly pull open a drawer.

There was no water inside, but there was a familiar jewelry box lying there.

You carefully pick up the jewelry box and gently open it.

Inside are two identical rings that emit a faint glimmer when illuminated by light when you open the box.

There was also a photo pasted inside the lid of the jewelry box.

The photo is a bit blurry because it was taken at night. The black-haired girl has a cluster of wild chrysanthemums behind her ear and her head is lowered with a peaceful expression.

You look at the photo in surprise, because the person in the photo is you. It must have been taken that night in Montepulciano after Keegan received the phone call.

He actually put it here.

You can't quite put your finger on how you feel.

Keegan is always very quiet, and he never expresses his thoughts directly.

So even before seeing this photo, you couldn't be sure what kind of existence you were in his heart.

You are still uneasy, uneasy about his unclear feelings.

But until this moment, seeing the ring you returned here, and your photo hidden in the jewelry box.

You've finally realized that he truly loves you.

You look at the wedding rings in the box and suddenly notice that the rings seem to have been deliberately angled; they're not arranged horizontally or vertically as usual, but rather in a shape somewhat like the Chinese character "入" (ru).

The angle may seem random, but it actually requires a special indentation to be cut into the securing cotton underneath in order to hold the ring in place.

You didn't understand why Keegan arranged things this way until you slightly lifted the jewelry box, and the shimmering light reflected from the rings fell onto the photograph.

The photo, which was originally quite dark, now features a girl's face gently touched by soft light, creating a hazy and beautiful effect.

A sudden pang of sadness welled up inside you. He seemed to cherish you, yet he never revealed it, leading you to doubt his sincerity.

You carefully closed the jewelry box again and put it back in its original place.

Since this is his secret, let it remain hidden quietly.

You open the next drawer and, sure enough, you see the remaining two bottles of water.

You take out a bottle and eagerly drink several mouthfuls to relieve your dry throat.

In the end, you still didn't get to see Keegan return.

The constant beeping of your phone alerts you.

After clicking the link, you see a message from Blizzard urging you to hurry up.

Where have you been again?!

[You didn't come home all night. I thought you were with Zimo, but I saw him during my morning exercise!]

He asked me why I didn't go for my morning exercise. Do you know how my mind was racing?!

I told him you weren't feeling well, and he was even planning to go to your dorm to see you, but I brought him to the cafeteria first.

I don't care where you are right now, even if you're in a man's arms, jump up and get back to your dorm right now!

You didn't dare linger any longer, so you immediately opened the door and ran to your dormitory.

Although Wang Zhiqiang said he doesn't insist on having only one, he would still be unhappy if he knew that.

Moreover, Keegan is about to leave the base. If Wang Zhiqiang finds out, he'll definitely nag you again, saying you've lost your mind by having a relationship with someone who's about to leave.

So, let's try to keep it a secret for now.

Before leaving home, worried that you might run into other acquaintances on the fourth floor, you put on your coat hood, lowered your head, and quickly ran downstairs.

I had just run to the stairwell when I heard a door open, followed by Koenig's voice.

“yn?”

But you didn't respond to him; instead, you kept running down the stairs.

Koenig, feeling 'neglected' by you, frowned deeply.

That figure just now really looked like YN.

But why is she here? And why is she ignoring me...?

When you ran back to the dorm, there was no one there.

You should quickly lock the door from the inside and then change your clothes.

I had just put on my coat when I heard the sound of a blizzard outside.

You immediately stuffed the clothes you had changed out of into the suitcase under the bed, zipped up your coat all the way, and hurriedly ran to the door.

Click.

Before they opened the door, he took the initiative to open the door that you had locked from the inside.

Then he met the gaze of the blizzard outside the door and Wang Zhiqiang carrying a takeout box from the cafeteria.

Wang Zhiqiang frowned as he looked at you.

"If you're in such a hurry, where are you headed?"