Come Daybreak

Xue Yang (xi)

The next morning, Feng Xinya finally relaxed a little more at the prospect of being able to revert to his original mindset upon exiting the world.

After breakfast, he went up to the library to set up some books that could jog Xue Yang's memories albeit extremely discreetly. He just put the confidential military records of Shadow's transactions from the past twenty years until recently in a less than hidden location so that Xue Yang would probably have a higher chance of picking them up or glimpsing at them as he passed them by.

It was obviously confidential information, and Feng Xinya already knew that Xue Yang was very sensible so he wouldn't willingly read it. That was why he left it open to the page of their kidnapping transactions.

He was hoping the boy would recognize one of the client's names, and the trauma would cause him to involuntarily remember bits and pieces of his past.

As someone who hated being manipulated like how he was doing to Xue Yang more than anyone, he knew he was being extremely hypocritical. It was even more laughable that he himself wanted to forget his own memories yet he was trying to get someone else to remember theirs for his own benefit.

Those were also the reasons he had not resorted to such means in the beginning.

But, that no longer mattered to him. He would make it up to Xue Yang by not leaving him in this lifetime at the very least. That in itself was already a large concession on his part since he was the type to prioritize himself over others what with the way he grew up.

He decided to stay behind to clean up the mess he would undoubtedly create out of forcibly making the boy remember things he had locked away. It wouldn't be a pleasant sight. That, he could already foresee. Besides, no time would pass in his original world anyway.

Even though he disdained himself for his own actions, Feng Xinya needed to ensure the success of the mission. For Xue Yang's unintentional efforts in helping him, he would offer himself to the boy in exchange. Whatever the boy wanted to do with him, he would have no complaints. In fact, he would appreciate it if his life wasn't so comfortable so that he wouldn't have to forget his time in this world.

Feng Xinya would rather continue living a cruel life than to experience the light only to fall back into the darkness. Those mental ups and downs were impossible to hide from him, after all.

After having placed all of the documents and books in the right place and order, Feng Xinya returned to his room to make a short call to his team.

Their operation against Shadow would only pick up around the last month when all of Shadow's side branches had been whittled away. In the last month, the special forces would then go all-out and get rid of the criminal organization in one fell swoop.

The reason he was calling was simply to tell them to speed up their progress by a month. Whereas the original time line required six months to annihilate Shadow, with Feng Xinya's interference he knew they could shorten the period by a month and with Xue Yang's presence the extra month would be asking for trouble.

If Xue Yang remembered everything or just bits and pieces, Feng Xinya wanted more than anything to just leave the protagonist as the mission to protect him from the male lead was just too unreasonable. They were naturally attracted to each other and even if the protagonist had fallen deeper in love with Feng Xinya, that did nothing to change the boy's original nature, which could easily leave the one he "loved" for another man.

On the other hand, protecting Xue Yang was much simpler no matter what kinds of problems would arise mainly due to the fact that Feng Xinya would not have to worry about any other protagonist halos and "fate" playing the part in dragging characters together.

After the other side confirmed that they could indeed speed up their progress, Feng Xinya hung up the call and saw that ten minutes had already passed.

When he left the dinner table earlier, Ye Xia was only half-way through his cereal while Xue Yang had already gone up to his room to change into his day clothes. Now that a substantial amount of time had passed, it was about time that Xue Yang would venture into the library for the next three or four hours.

Speaking of Ye Xia, he had been relatively quiet after the first month was over. He still cooked dinner and occasionally sat in the jacuzzi but for the most part he was busy on his phone.

Feng Xinya already knew he was in contact with Qin Luofeng. Of course, Ye Xia had no idea of Qin Luofeng's true identity. He only regarded Qin Luofeng as a very considerate online friend that he would like to meet.

One day during the third month, he asked Feng Xinya if he could hang out with a friend or if his friend would be allowed to come over. Of course, Feng Xinya denied both. He didn't care if Ye Xia gave away their location as even Shadow could not touch the district they currently resided in.

Although Ye Xia was disappointed, he misunderstood that Feng Xinya was playing hard to get the entire time and was just jealous that he wanted to meet with another man so he relented. That night, he made an especially enticing meal to appeal to Feng Xinya in order to "console" him that he was still number one in his heart.

Feng Xinya really paid no heed to anything the boy was thinking in his strange head, and just ate like usual. He had no particular feelings towards Ye Xia. He only felt that the boy was troublesome as a mission target and could not wait to have his hands freed from him.

Back to Xue Yang, when Feng Xinya returned to the library, he saw the short boy standing on a stool trying to reach a book at the top of the bookcase. Even with the stool, though, he still fell a little short and could not reach whatever book he wanted.

Walking up wordlessly, Feng Xinya casually reached a hand out to the book with a black leather cover as his other hand steadied the boy by his slender waist.

Looking at the title of the book, he realized it was one of the original's favorites, Sanctum.

It was a part of a series of three books about a man who gradually learned of life and its greatness, only to fall back to his original place to watch the one he loved live in happiness. But he felt no negative emotions because he was back where he belonged. He was never supposed to have ventured out from his hell in the first place but had a taste of happiness. As bittersweet as they were, he was content with the memories he had gained and simply lived his robotic life in the shadows like he always had in the past.

Sanctum was the first book. It told of his experience with the one he loved. It ended with him dying and returning to hell.

Feng Xinya slightly envied the man in the series as he only had hell to worry about. But, it was just a book.

Handing the book over to the boy who was now standing in the flat ground, Feng Xinya inwardly pondered over lowering the books on the top shelf.

It would not take much time and effort so he decided that he would later that day.

"Thank you," Xue Yang bypassed Feng Xinya, heading for his usual spot near the window. There was a cushioned black loveseat that he would lay on while reading his books every day. The natural light from the sun would be enough for him to be able to read the words on the pages for hours.

On his way to his seat he passed by the desk that Feng Xinya had set up earlier.

Feng Xinya was watching the boy from afar. Suddenly, Xue Yang stopped and dropped the black book in his hands onto the hardwood floor. His fingers shook, and a small tear slid down his smooth white cheek.

"Oh," was all he softly breathed out before breaking out into a quiet, heartbreaking laughter, his right hand covering his face as he dropped to his knees and lowered his head.