Chapter 3075: After Divorce, Forced to Compete with My Ex-Husband 05

Guest room.

The news of Chenshu's return to the Main Star was no longer a secret after tonight's banquet ended; a large volume of information flooded into his optical computer—former subordinates, military colleagues, and people he had interacted with—he replied to a few important ones, marked the rest as read, and then turned off the optical computer.

He took off his shirt and entered the washing area. In the mirror, the man was tall and broad-shouldered; the shower's water streamed down, flowing over the wound and eliciting sharp pain.

As that wave of pain hit, Chenshu's brow and eyes actually relaxed a little, letting the water carry away the pale red blood; after washing, the wound stopped bleeding, but it still looked frightening.

He turned off the shower, and the room suddenly fell silent.

In contrast, a tinnitus sounded in Chenshu's mind.

The continuous high-frequency noise sounded like countless insects flapping inside his skull, followed by a rapidly accelerating heartbeat, as if someone were hammering his ribs.

Chenshu closed his eyes, and before him appeared the boundless blood-red hue of the fringe star systems, the ruins illuminated by explosive fire, the faces of souls forever stranded on alien worlds, and many scenes from frontline star systems that ought not to have existed—more terrifying than the war against the star beasts, making Chenshu tremble all over.

Chenshu grabbed the edge of the wardrobe, his breathing quickening; relying on experience, he searched his clothes for the medicine bottle, found it empty, and then recalled that before returning to the Main Star, the last box of medicine had already been finished on the way; he had originally planned to have his aide bring more after he came back tonight, but after running into Jin Chen in the living room… he completely forgot about it.

Chenshu lowered his face, leaning against the wardrobe for a moment; the veins at his temples jumped, he clenched his teeth and gasped, trying to ease the wave, but his dizziness did not lessen—it worsened, and a dark shadow began to blur at the edge of his vision, as if something were devouring his sight.

Just then, a knocking sounded outside the door.

——

Jin Chen tossed and turned on the bed, flipping pancakes for half an hour, yet still threw off the blanket and sat up.

He stared at the wall in a daze, his mind filled with the bloody smell he had just noticed in the entryway; that person's complexion was terrible—so bad he couldn't conceal it—yet he kept saying it wasn't a serious injury.

Jin Chen frustratedly grabbed a handful of hair and went downstairs.

Despite several knocks, he didn't open the door; he simply pushed it in and saw that the guest room had only the bedside lamp on—Chenshu sat on the sofa at the foot of the bed, hunched over, weary and restrained, like a string stretched too long, already at the brink of snapping.

Jin Chen grimaced, placed the medical kit on the bedside cabinet, and said, "Turn around."

Chenshu opened his mouth, but the words died at his lips.

He lingered in this moment; this longing made him unable to utter words of refusal, yet he dared not fully expose his back.

The wound on his left shoulder blade was just one of many; his back bore numerous other old scars, some healed into ferocious marks, and he wasn't sure how Jin Chen would react to seeing them.

Thus Chenshu only loosened his bathrobe slightly, exposing his shoulder and the tip of the wound that was still seeping blood, while most of the bathrobe remained draped over his body, covering the rest of his back.

Jin Chen glanced at him, inwardly humming with resentment.

Before, this person would have loved to walk around naked in front of him, relying on his age and constantly spouting twisted logic that could corrupt a child; now he won't even take off his shirt to apply medicine, as if guarding against thieves.

Jin Chen pursed his lips, didn't press further, opened the medical kit, took out the spray and healing gel, moved over, and applied medicine to Chenshu.

As the scent of agarwood drew near, Chenshu's originally tired, unfocused gaze darkened; during those hardest days, he had countless times in the deep night recalled that fragrance and those indulgent, vivid expressions—now it twined around his nostrils, enveloping him completely.

Jin Chen lazily lowered his eyes, after applying the healing gel he tore open the dressing and stuck it on, then hooked the edge of the bathrobe downward, wanting to see if there were any other wounds on his back.

Just as he was about to pull down, with a snap the room plunged into darkness.

Chenshu suddenly turned off the light.

?

Jin Chen's brain crashed for an instant; in the darkness he grabbed Chenshu's chin and turned him to face himself, his tone annoyed: "What do you mean, you just don't want me to touch?"

This person avoided him for three years—didn't show up at the divorce, didn't explain when he came back, stayed silent when injured, and now even applying medicine has to be hidden, as if he were some flood beast!

In the darkness, Chenshu seemed to sigh lightly, groping to cover Jin Chen's side cheek, his fingertip lightly rubbing the arc of the cheekbone; a messy, scorching breath blew over, and in the dark, his eyes—unable to discern emotion—fixed on him.

"Xiao Chen, like this… I find it hard to keep my distance."

Once I allow myself to get close, I can't help wanting more.

Those three years of suppressed longing and desire, the obsessions from countless brushes with death, all press upon this thin restraint.

Jin Chen suddenly found he couldn't stay harsh; in the darkness he fell silent for a few seconds, then deliberately rubbed Chenshu's nose tip, his breath intertwining provocatively: "You're hurt like this, and you still want to do what?"

Chenshu's eyelashes trembled slightly, as if enduring some unspeakable torment; he only barely leaned forward, and the motion slipped the bathrobe's collar further open, his chest muscles faintly visible in the dark, the pulled-down collar barely covering anything.

Jin Chen gradually grew accustomed to the darkness; in that blur he saw Chenshu's chest, stared for two seconds, then felt that doing so made him seem overly concerned, so he turned back and tossed the remaining medicinal preparation into Chenshu's bosom.

"No thinking about it—you apply it yourself."

Jin Chen stood up, walked out of the guest room without looking back, and casually pulled the door shut.

This time he really left.

Chenshu sat alone in the darkness; the room still bore traces of Jin Chen's presence, he hadn't taken medicine, yet his tinnitus and palpitations miraculously subsided.

Chenshu raised his hand, fingertips lightly touching the dressing on the back of his neck, but he still couldn't bring himself to tear it off.