Chapter 121: Parallel World (2)

by exiledrebelsscanlationsupdated on June 21, 2022Leave a Commenton I Can Read Minds Chapter 121: Parallel World (2)

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16 min read

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: KarateChopMonkey

Lin Han was caught in a panic and didn’t have time to react, while someone who was pretending to be asleep beside him was still rigorously continuing his self-analysis.

【His fingers are so soft.】

【He’s so cute. Does he really like me?】

【Otherwise, why does he always touch me quietly?】

【So it doesn’t seem impossible?】

【But he might not.】

【I’m such a boring person.】

The word “frustration”, which didn’t match his appearance at all, was felt by Lin Han. Lin Han slightly turned his head sideways to look at him, the other party’s ability to pretend to be asleep was unexpectedly good, he was able to continue to keep breathing as usual, while also seriously considering this matter.

【He can’t possibly like me, right?】

The tone of voice was full of confidence.

At these words, Lin Han’s fingers curled.

【I came here to ask him not to send me away.】

【But even though I’m here, I still can’t even speak.】

【I don’t think he’s afraid of me.】

Lin Han didn’t feel that He YunTing was noisy, and after thinking about it, he found that he really wasn’t afraid of him.

From the time Shen XiuNan said he was mean, he never was.

He didn’t know how to communicate with him, and even when he heard such a voice a little subtle emotion sprang in his heart.

It turned out that this person had some secrets.

——It was all about him.

【The more I think about it, the farther I get.】

Lin Han heard a little bit of sadness in his voice.

【But I… But I’m not really mean.】

Lin Han froze.

It was as if something had struck his chest, and the slight vibration made him freeze in place, while the aftermath of the vibration diffused in, rattling the original regular heartbeat.

His throat was inexplicably a little dry, and if he gurgled a few gulps of his favorite soda down, he wondered if he could hold it down.

He used to wonder why his mother every time she made a small dessert on a whim either too much sugar or overbaked, Wen Zhao would eat it with a helpless face, but without changing his expression; she actually had quite good physique, but always frowned and handed her nutrition to Wen Zhao, said she couldn’t unscrew, and every time the other party would laugh lightly, helplessly asked for it, telling her that even if he opened it for her it wouldn’t taste better. The Queen, who was always gentle and decent in front of the public, would always show a winning smile and nod her head, saying “Yes, that’s true”.

Now Lin Han suddenly had some weird thoughts.

For example, he also didn’t like to drink nutrition, if he followed his mother’s example and handed it to He YunTing to open, would it really be less unpleasant as she said; or if He YunTing could make dessert, Lin Han thought, then even if it was as bad as his mother’s, he would still try to eat it all.

Lin Han was halfway through this absurd idea when he remembered that he and He YunTing didn’t have that kind of relationship. But his heart was still beating fast, and his throat was still dry. Lin Han guessed that if he went on like this, his fingertips would probably tremble and then he would reveal the fact that he could hear his mind.

He withdrew his hand gently and slowly.

His mouth was thirsty and he was a little nervous.

Lin Han, desperate to distract himself from his current distractions, stood up in a panic and prepared to walk towards the door while class was still in session. But just as he stood up, the major, who had been pretending to be asleep, woke up at this second and grabbed his finger at the same time.

The two of them looked at each other at this moment.

Lin Han flashed his eyes, a little confused, “…”

【I’m not going to reveal myself.】

There was no revelation, the details have never been presented from the start.

Although Lin Han thought so in his heart, his fingers were grasped by the other, and his brain, which could deal with data cleanly, couldn’t analyze anything at the moment.

His eyelashes trembled twice, as he pursed his lips, “You…”

He heard He YunTing’s but began to be nervous.

【Shouldn’t have pretend to sleep, he was almost leaving.】

“I…” He wanted to say he wasn’t.

The last thing that came out was, “I’m going to get a soda, do you want one?”

“…Oh.” Realizing that Lin Han wasn’t going to leave, the other man’s heart relaxed.

“I’ll go get it for you.” He YunTing also stood up.

Lin Han was worried that his red face would be seen, so he nodded, “Okay.”

“Ice soda.” He looked up and told He YunTing very seriously.

Otherwise, my palms are so hot that you will find out.

He YunTing seemed to be really here to listen to the lesson, even if the lesson was really obscure and difficult to understand, he still sat very straight, as if the next second he was going to change into his uniform before training. Then someone pulled the corner of his coat.

The cold aura that he brought with him was quickly dissolved by half, although he still didn’t have any obvious expressions, his eyes were focused. The teenager had a cold half bottle of ice soda in his hand, and because he had been squeezing the glass bottle, the condensed water droplets dripped down his palm, haloing a small trace on his clothes.

He seemed a little nervous, but under He YunTing’s watchful eye he took out a nutrient from his bag, “Can you open it for me?”

Just after finishing, he realized that his hands were covered with water, so he wiped his hands and handed it over again.

“Okay.” He YunTing touched his cold fingertips.

【His hands are so cold.】

【He even wants me to open his nutrients, does he really like me?】

He YunTing didn’t notice that Lin Han’s eyes started to dodge after hearing these words, and he just opened the nutrient for him easily and handed it back. Lin Han lowered his head and began to take small sips of the nutritional supplement like never before.

The taste still hasn’t changed. Why would mom say that? Lin Han thought to himself in confusion. But if there was a next time, he still wanted He YunTing to unscrew it for him. The supplements weren’t good, but the ice soda was.

Before Lin Han could figure out if he really liked He YunTing’s proposition, his mother told him about his coronation. This was, after all, a big event in his life, and no aspect of it could be missed, so the preparations began to be intense up and down the palace.

The task of overseeing the ceremony fell to the Empress, as Wen Zhaoge wasn’t a particularly formal person, so all arrangements were made according to the family’s preferences. Lin Han also listened to his mother’s arrangements with confidence and didn’t have much objection to either the costumes or the ceremony.

Even after his identity was made public, he would continue to study at school and do what he wanted to do, without any interference because of his identity. In fact, Lin Han couldn’t help but be nervous, not knowing what would happen to the students he had been spending time with after knowing this, especially He YunTing. Would he act different?

He YunTing still came over occasionally during this period, he still didn’t say anything, but every time Lin Han quietly touched him, he always carried a lot of emotions in his heart. Lin Han thought about how to respond to him, but he himself had no experience in this area.

“By the way, there’s another ceremony,” his mother remembered and said to Lin Han, “And Han Han can choose whether he needs it or not.”

In the most traditional royal customs, their heirs would enthrone their knights on the day of their coronation, and although these customs had been passed down for too long and there was now no special stage of knightly discipline and upbringing long ago, the royal family could select the most valiant general from among the professional soldiers to be their knights. The chosen party would be accompanied by a lifetime of loyalty.

“Your father said to tell you that if you didn’t want one, he would simply omit that ceremony.” The woman said with a smile, “Of course, Han Han can also think about it himself.”

Almost in an instant, a cold face flashed before Lin Han’s eyes.

“Mom,” he didn’t hesitate to point to the first name in the top row the moment the woman handed over the selection list, “then I want to choose him.”

The identity of the prince wasn’t announced for the time being, but the news that a knight would be knighted at the coronation spread first. When they couldn’t guess who the prince was, everyone started buying shares feverishly to find out who was the knight the royal family had appointed for the prince.

The prince had just come of age, the knight shouldn’t be too old, but in any case, he must be a very, very good soldier to be awarded this honor. Everyone coincidentally thought of a person.

Especially young and so dazzling, the most up-and-coming light of the base. This time the forum began to take a turn for the worse.

“It’s over, I haven’t squatted to the end, I stumbled upon a BE.” (bad ending)

“So why has a month passed and the two of them haven’t made much progress?”

“Words can’t say that, I think there’s still progress, but it must be in places we can’t see.”

“However, Major He still looks so cold ah! How can there be progress and breakthroughs like this?!”

“Hey, I think it should just be him to do the knight…”

“I’m not sure, there are so many soldiers! In case the Emperor wants to pick an older and reliable one for His Royal Highness!”

“I’m really conflicted, on the one hand I feel that the prince of the Empire should be paired with someone like a major, and on the other hand I feel that if he does go on to be the prince’s knight, Han Han will be sad.”

“Yes, I don’t mean anything else, it’s just that if it’s really him, he must have a lot less time to spend with Han Han, right?”

“I can’t see Han Han being aggravated!”

“Oooooooo anyway if that’s really the case, I will cry.”

Since they had to keep it a secret, Lin Han saw Shen XiuNan in the past few days when talking to others about this matter several times wanting to speak out, and several times held back. He YunTing has been very busy recently and hasn’t been able to come to school for half a month. The more he didn’t come, the more worried Lin Han became.

He wasn’t worried about exposing himself to the public eye, but only about what He YunTing would think after receiving such news. He had a pang of guilt in his heart because not disclosing it before adulthood was chosen by him a long time ago, but then again he did set the list secretly on account of his status.

The teenager may not quite understand the true meaning of like, but has begun to become reluctant to let him go.

But He YunTing still didn’t come to him.

As the days got closer and closer to his coronation, Lin Han finally began to get anxious.

Everyone thought that being chosen as a knight was a supreme honor, but Lin Han became overwhelmed with anxiety and wanted to ask He YunTing if he had something else in mind. If, if he didn’t want to… 

Lin Han thought that he shouldn’t push him either. He finally found the opportunity three days later.

Their research group had cooperated with the Research Institute, and this time it happened to be the day when a new batch of mecha was sent for overhaul. When the Institute was too busy, it would often ask students to help, and when some mecha didn’t have particularly serious problems, the instructors would let the students follow them, counting them as internships and operating directly on the mecha.

Lin Han’s talent in this area far exceeded that of his peers, so when he proposed it, his teacher didn’t hesitate at all and simply agreed to his request to come along to the base. When he stepped off the public flying machine and walked into the base, he noticed the first person he hadn’t seen in a long time.

He was standing at the front of the training field, his eyes and expression not changing in the slightest, only his half-wet training uniform told people that he had endured for a long time.

Lin Han’s teacher followed his gaze, “It’s just as well that you took the major through the mecha test last time, so you’ll be in charge of his station as well.”

The teenager nodded hastily, glanced back at the man still training, and fled into the other man’s mecha. He hoped that He YunTing would notice him soon, but he also hoped that he would see himself a little later.

What a contradiction.

After getting into the mecha Lin Han’s apprehension and nervousness lessened, and he relaxed again, following the teacher’s instructions to try to overhaul it step by step. The mecha was different from the one He YunTing had tested last time, with obvious signs of use and wear in some places, so he could tell it had been through a lot of combat or training.

But there was nothing major wrong with it, and Lin Han quickly fixed a few minor glitches, and the mecha was as good as new. He wasn’t sure if He YunTing had seen him earlier, but didn’t want to leave so soon.

Lin Han turned on the mecha’s display to try to see the people on the ground, only to find that the camera couldn’t shine right through the training ground, and he couldn’t see the people he wanted to see.

Should I wait for him, or should I simply walk right up to him?

More than anything, Lin Han wanted an answer, but avoided thinking about it.

For example, the real purpose of coming here. He wanted an answer, wanted the other side to be able to say exactly what they wanted without thinking about it. What was the reason he came to him so many times, trying to grab him when he was ready to move away.

Lin Han found himself asking the same question as He YunTing’s heart.

Does he like me?

Lin Han thought that since it was almost evening, he would soon hear the call for the end of training and began to pace around the mecha in boredom without being able to come up with a conclusion. The mecha was so ordinary that it wasn’t even his own mecha.

There wasn’t much space, and the console was a bit old, so the latest batch of new systems might not even fit in.

It would be best if he had a new one.

Lin Han wrote down the problems with the mecha in turn, and when he had memorized all the problems, he began to sit in the driver’s seat and stare at them, while the training was still going on not far away.

So he had to train for so long every day.

Then how did he find time to meet with me?

Lin Han looked at the sinking night and thought about it until, for some time, the cockpit opened with a very soft click. He YunTing was still wearing his training uniform, his hair was a bit messy, and there was still a bit of residual wetness on his cheeks.

It was already very late, and Lin Han could only see the dark sky through the porthole, and there wasn’t a single star. He scratched his hair and didn’t know what to say for a while.

But before he could say anything, He YunTing suddenly walked to the hatch again, said “Wait a minute” and left again quickly.

Lin Han sat in the driver’s seat and stared at him blankly.

It took about half an hour for the other man to return, and when he did, he had changed back into his regular uniform, his post-training fatigue seemingly suddenly non-existent, and there was an extra bottle of opened ice soda in his hand. There was no way such a thing could be sold inside the base — or at least around the training grounds — and Lin Han wondered just how far he had traveled or what methods he had used to get it.

When he received it, the water droplets on the outside of the glass bottle had already been wiped clean. Compared to the iced soda sold in the freezer, this drink was more like the soda that had been bought after a long journey and had become less icy when held in hand, and Lin Han could even feel the faint warmth of the bottle being warmed by the other’s palm.

He drank a sip under He YunTing’s watchful eye. The soda wasn’t that cold, and the original sugar content became more apparent, like it was a drink of a different flavor.

Lin Han’s mouth had a little soda stain stuck to the corner of it, and he was just about to ask for something to wipe it off when the major who was originally standing in front of him ghostly reached out his hand and gently rubbed the corner of his mouth with his finger, wiping it off the side of his mouth.

【Why is him drinking soda so cute?】

【Why is this stuff sticky?】

【Is it really that good?】

He was stunned in place, inexplicably hoping He YunTing would put his drink-stained finger in his mouth and taste it.

You’ll know when you taste it, it’s delicious and sweet. Lin Han thought.

So the last conclusion should still be changed.

The nutritional supplements weren’t good, but the sodas were good whether they were iced or not, as long as they were handed over by him.