☆、Ye Xi, I like you
No one wants to die, especially since Ethan had many unfulfilled wishes. Besides rescuing his companions, another important wish of his was to confess his feelings to Ye Xi. Although the Ye Xi of today was very different from the Ye Xi of his memories, Ethan instinctively believed that deep down, the beautiful Ye Xi of the past still lived there. Reality had made her seem unapproachable on the surface, but it could never distort that serene girl—after all, this was the belief that kept Ethan alive after the deaths of his parents and relatives.
He could not denigrate this almost sacred belief.
Now, hearing that he might still be alive, still able to live in the world of his beliefs, rekindled his hope, like grasping a lifeline from a spider.
However, without instruments, without medicine, and without enough time, antibodies simply could not be produced. The spider silk that Ethan was grasping was nothing but an illusion.
sad.
Ye Xi knew it would be better to tell him the truth, but the words stuck in her throat. Perhaps Ethan's insistence was right; at least Ye Xi herself wasn't completely cold-hearted, because that was something she instinctively upheld. So, after choking for a while, the words that came out were distorted: "There are usually emergency medical stations next to highway toll booths, with basic equipment. We can find them. Although I don't know where the highway exit is, we will definitely find it before the T-virus spreads throughout your body."
As if to reassure herself, Ye Xi emphasized twice that they could find an emergency medical station. Emergency medical stations were set up to rescue people involved in highway accidents, so their equipment was relatively complete. However, Ye Xi didn't know if they had the power to operate the equipment or the medication needed to produce the antibodies, nor did she mention it.
Ethan wasn't stupid; he understood this perfectly well, and he knew that if he couldn't find an emergency medical station before the T-virus spread, he would surely die. However, as if by unspoken agreement, he didn't say any of this—he didn't want to burden Ye Xi too much; after all, she was already carrying too much.
So he and Ye Xi set off in silence. The stars still shone brightly against the dark sky, their faint light illuminating the pitch-black road ahead. So faint was Ethan's vision that he could barely see, just as his fading hope could not illuminate his cruel fate. Ye Xi walked ahead, guiding him, holding his hand tightly. She could feel his cold body temperature, and then he returned her grip with a gentle yet firm handshake.
Feeling his comfort, Ye Xi felt a lump in her throat for some reason. She immediately took a deep breath and swallowed the bitterness in her heart. She tried to calm herself down and keep her mind clear. She seemed to have grasped some clue, but it was as if she hadn't grasped anything at all. Everything that had happened recently made her feel strangely uneasy. Her intuition told her that she was walking into a trap step by step. This was based on no evidence, just intuition.
"Ethan, what happened to you in Alaska?" Ye Xi asked naturally as she walked ahead without turning around.
"What did I encounter? Aside from reaching the Pure Land only to discover it was just an Umbrella conspiracy, and then being captured, nothing else happened," Ethan replied casually, but Ye Xi clearly heard the coldness in his voice. She paused slightly, then continued, "You escaped from Umbrella?"
"No, well... how should I put it... at first, I wasn't caught by them. I fought back and hid in the chaos—you know, Umbrella Corporation fooled a lot of people; there are countless planes there. Then I tried to sneak into Umbrella's aircraft carrier to rescue people, but I was discovered. When I woke up from the anesthesia, I found myself in a moving armored vehicle, handcuffed. Luckily, I learned how to pick locks at the police academy—detective is my identity after graduation. After I freed myself and dealt with the driver and assistant escorting me, I found that I was the only one being escorted, and the others were nowhere to be found. Finally, as you can see, I was bitten while all alone, and then I met the junior schoolmate."
Ethan smiled faintly, simplifying his account to avoid annoying Ye Xi. However, Ye Xi, who was always being captured and then escaping, naturally understood how difficult the process was. "Did anyone else escape? I mean Carlos and Nikola—they're well-trained mercenaries, after all." Ye Xi remained outwardly calm, but inwardly she was in turmoil.
From an ordinary person's perspective, one would probably assume that Umbrella would use different transport routes to send those captured in Alaska to their base here. Ethan thought so too; of course, this was only one aspect of Umbrella's plan. On the other hand, Ye Xi couldn't help but think of the mysterious man she had suddenly encountered and fought with a few days ago.
Ye Xi initially thought that the person belonged to another organization that was the opposite of Umbrella, but considering her recent encounter with Ethan and Ethan's easy escape from prison—after all, it was Umbrella, they couldn't let someone escape so easily unless it was intentional—Ye Xi felt that all of this was definitely not a coincidence.
Someone like Wesker, who always employs coercive and even authoritarian fascist methods of rule, would make enemies anywhere, let alone an ambitious organization like Umbrella? Ye Xi frowned, feeling a mix of emotions. Looking at the red dot ahead, Ye Xi's eyes grew increasingly somber.
“They… well, of course they all got away. The first time, the three of us hid together. But I don’t know what happened after that.” Ethan’s voice suddenly became muffled. Ye Xi, lost in thought, didn’t notice and nodded somewhat perfunctorily: “Then there’s no need to worry too much. They won’t be caught by Umbrella so easily.”
As she spoke, Ye Xi stopped and turned around to look seriously into Ethan's slightly dim eyes. She said, word by word, leaving no room for refusal, "Ethan, when you're better, take me to the armored vehicle that brought you here. Consider it an agreement."
Ethan paused for a moment, then nodded gently, his complex eyes filled with tenderness.
“Good.” Ye Xi patted Ethan’s arm. “Now, my senior Cap, move to my right. There’s another horde of zombies ahead, but luckily there’s an exit to the right. If I’m not mistaken, it should be the highway exit. If we move quickly, we shouldn’t run into them. Just in case, if we do, I’ll deal with them. You run. Anyway, those cute zombies pose no threat to me.”
Seeing Ethan's expression, Ye Xi immediately added coldly, "Don't hold me back." Ethan opened his mouth, but ultimately shook his head helplessly. He obediently walked to Ye Xi's right side, took her right hand, and forcibly intertwined their fingers. Then, with a sunny smile—despite his pale face and lips—he still maintained his initial cheerful demeanor, lazily saying, "Okay, senior, I definitely won't hold back the genius junior, but," he shook his intertwined hands to indicate, "I also definitely won't let go... cough cough cough... I... cough cough... I'm fine..."
Ye Xi pursed her lips, glanced at her right hand that was being held, then at Ethan, whose orange area had expanded and whose wound had turned red, and said nothing. Sometimes, if she could, Ye Xi would rather not have this ability to see the T-virus, this ability to see death slowly descending—it was just too disgusting.
Ye Xi and Ethan walked quickly toward the exit. Ethan's leg was bitten and he couldn't run, but he managed to keep up with Ye Xi's pace thanks to his long legs. He felt his breathing becoming heavier and his body getting colder, but Ethan didn't say anything and tried to keep his breathing as soft as possible.
As they drew closer to the exit, Ye Xi drew a dagger from her leg pouch and gripped it tightly, warily watching the approaching zombies. They had caught Ethan and Ye Xi's scent and became agitated, charging towards them. Although the horde of zombies wasn't moving quickly, their overall red coloration was still quite intimidating.
“Ye Xi, cough cough…you should have seen it, right?” Ethan pointed with his left hand at the zombie in front of them. It was so close that Ethan could see its trembling figure.
"Ah, of course," Ye Xi replied calmly, her dark eyes icy cold. Watching the zombie get closer and closer—or rather, closer and closer to him, bleeding—Ethan didn't draw his gun. He trusted Ye Xi, trusted her to the point of disregarding his own life.
Just as the zombie reached out to grab Ethan's neck, Ye Xi took a big step forward to the right with her right foot, turned her body to the side, raised her left hand and stabbed it in the forehead, then raised her left foot and kicked it in the abdomen. At the same time as pulling out the dagger, she also knocked down the zombie that was approaching them from the left.
“Nice,” Ethan laughed, then raised his foot and side-kicked the zombie in front of him in the chest, knocking it to the ground before striding past it.
They maintained their pace, dealing with the zombies blocking their path. Gradually, the zombies moved further away, while they drew closer to the so-called emergency aid station. "It's just ahead," Ye Xi tightened her grip on Ethan's left hand, encouraging him who knew nothing about the situation, "Hang in there."
Ethan took a deep breath and nodded somewhat reluctantly. He could feel it himself—it was too late, everything was too late. But he didn't want to say it, he didn't want Ye Xi to leave him like this.
Time was of the essence. Ye Xi cursed under her breath, then dragged Ethan along, quickening her pace. She roughly kicked open the emergency room door, settled him in the operating room, and rushed out, only to have Ethan, sitting on the operating table, gently grab her wrist. "No need, Ye Xi, I know it's too late," Ethan smiled gently, his soft golden eyes tracing Ye Xi's face. "Come, sit down and keep me company." He patted the empty seat beside him.
Ye Xi froze, her legs unconsciously walking over to Ethan and sitting down beside him. "...I'm sorry..."
“You know what?” Ethan interrupted Ye Xi, speaking in his characteristic optimistic tone, “When I first spoke to you, I always thought you were so petite. Even though I hit you with a basketball, and even though you panicked over the scattered documents on the ground, you didn’t show it. You just coughed like a kitten… and glared at me. Those big, watery black eyes were really lethal.”
Ye Xi listened quietly without speaking. If she didn't give him a chance to speak now, she might never hear his voice again. Ye Xi lowered her head, thinking, and sighed silently.
Ethan's face held a serene expression that seemed incongruous with his ashen complexion, as if he were lost in some beautiful memory, a happy smile playing on his lips. "I often saw you, but you rarely looked at me. Even if you did, you probably didn't remember me, the one who caused you trouble. Cough cough cough… Then, I graduated, and I never saw you again. At that time, I was in a period of uncertainty about the future, not knowing what to do or what kind of job to look for. So, I thought of you…"
"……I?"
“Yes, you, my genius… cough… junior.” Ethan laughed happily, his eyes lighting up. “God knows why, but I thought of you. I thought of how much you looked like you needed protection—even though you’re actually incredibly strong… cough cough… incredibly strong, and I thought of how there are probably many people in the world just like you… so, I went to the police station.”
“Being a policeman is especially tough, especially with a biohazard outbreak… Thank God I found you. Even though you don’t need my protection, seeing that you’re alright is enough… Cough cough cough cough…” Ethan coughed violently, his ashen face becoming even more pronounced, and even his fingernails turning purplish-black.
Orange-red.
Ye Xi stiffened for a moment as she looked at Ethan coughing violently, then gently patted his back—though it was pointless. Ethan's cough, tinged with a wry smile, echoed in the quiet operating room until an even louder commotion came from outside the window.
A helicopter?! Ye Xi immediately straightened up, and Ethan also suppressed a cough, looking out the window at the light with his bloodshot eyes. "Heh...heh..." He closed his tired eyes, his voice hoarse, "So...all of this was just a trap...cough...Ye Xi, don't stay there, let's go!"
Ye Xi frowned, looking at Ethan who was just a hair's breadth away from turning red. She gritted her teeth, helped Ethan up by the head, placed him on the operating table, and solemnly said, "Don't worry..."
"Hey, junior, you know what..." Ethan, lying on the bed, had an exceptionally peaceful and serene expression. His voice was very soft, so soft that Ye Xi could hardly hear what he was saying.
"You know what... I used to deliberately hit you with a basketball..."
"You know what... after meeting you... I don't care about anything anymore... whether I was bitten or not, it doesn't matter anymore..."
"Do you know...do you know..."
"Ye Xi, I like you..."
I like you, from the moment I met you.
Author's Note: Hey, I thought I wouldn't be able to write anything, but the word count is actually pretty high (digging nose). Actually, I've realized I'm terrible at writing tragedies OJZ. Ethan...tsk tsk...As someone who's never been in a relationship, I find romance dramas so hard! QAQ I have a feeling that if Uncle Wei doesn't show up soon, Ye Xi will be snatched away by some other man (shrugs).
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