Falling into the Abyss

Both Ethan and Roland agreed not to make any publicity about their being together. After all, the Earth Alliance government has always disapproved of public officials dating foreigners, and they may even be deducted three to five points of moral value. Affects the year-end assessment.They didn't meet many times in the Energy Bureau, but sometimes Roland would deliberately take a detour and pass by Ethan's office. The two of them didn't speak, but just smiled at each other when their eyes met.Ethan would also take a few more glances into those laboratories when passing by. If he saw Roland in a white coat concentrating on playing with some equipment, he would be in a very happy mood throughout the afternoon.

Even his assistant secretaries were whispering, saying that Ethan had become a lot more friendly during that time, even if he made a serious mistake, he was not scolded by him.

And after get off work in the afternoon, as long as Roland didn't work overtime or have meetings with other researchers, he would knock on Ethan's door around dinner time.Sometimes Ethan cooks dinner, and sometimes they order takeaway. Both of them like movies and ancient history very much. They chat for hours, and at night they have unrestrained sex on Ethan's bed.Roland was very gentle to him, and his skills were quite good.It's just that Ethan secretly hopes that he can be more rough.

Of course, he couldn't express such a shameful wish.

They also occasionally go to restaurants or movie theaters farther away from where Ethan lives, so as to avoid being seen by people they know and reporting to their superiors.Ethan didn't feel wronged at first, and even liked the feeling of cheating.Roland sneaked a kiss on his cheek when no one was around, hooked his calf with his foot under the table when he was in a meeting with the chief, and slapped his butt indiscriminately when he passed by, all these Every little move made his heart beat faster, he was embarrassed and excited.

But as time passed, he gradually lost his sense of loss.

During the month of the breakthrough in the synthesis of new metals, the Bureau hosted a dinner to which all concerned researchers and administrators were invited, and each was allowed to bring a dancing partner.Obviously, everything from choosing the venue to determining the menu, arranging the security and contacting the band was all handled by Ethan, and he, the main person in charge, naturally had to participate.He didn't take any partners with him, thinking he didn't have time to dance anyway.

However, he soon regretted it.

He saw Roland walking in slowly in a well-tailored indigo suit. Beside him was a handsome and lovely Omega youth holding his arm. His smile was as bright as a spring breeze. From time to time, he stood on tiptoe and whispered something to Roland. , and that Alpha would laugh loudly.The two people were so matched in height and appearance, they were particularly eye-catching in the crowd, arousing envious admiration.

Ethan was standing on the second floor listening to the person in charge of the hotel check the number of people present with him, but he didn't hear what the other party was saying at all.His eyes wandered back and forth between Roland and the new engineer from the Energy Bureau in his arms, and a big hole suddenly appeared in his heart.

"Mr. Eldridge?" The person in charge called with some confusion, pulling him back to the duties in front of him.He tried his best to calmly confirm the late guest list, and then went back to the second floor along the stairs.

At this time, the band has already played a classic and cheerful pop song, and people soon came to the center of the dance floor in pairs, twisting their bodies between the light rhythms.Ethan stood by a dimly lit colonnade outside the dance floor, watching Roland and the engineer dance lightly in the middle of the dance floor.Even though there was no spotlight, Ethan felt that those two people seemed to be able to shine.Their dance steps were so harmonious, and the smiles flowing between their brows were so touching, even the people around them applauded.

Ethan has never been good at dancing. On the dance floor, he often moves stiffly, his face is embarrassed, and he will slip away quietly after less than 10 minutes.He could never dance so harmoniously with Roland.

At this moment, he suddenly hated himself a little bit, but he hated the young man with a bright smile who was circling Roland even more.

The rest of the night Ethan was in a low mood, except when necessary to communicate with the chef and the director, or to help guide the guests when they couldn't find the bathroom, the rest of the time he silently held a glass of champagne and sat back. Beside the tall bay window, I occasionally glanced at the crowd talking and laughing at Yanyan.He had already arranged everything in the banquet in an orderly manner, when to serve the first main course, when to serve the second course, and when to invite the chief to speak, everything was proceeding according to the schedule, and nothing would happen without him trouble.Looking at the couples of lovers around him, he felt more and more redundant.

He thought about leaving early on the excuse that he was not feeling well, but in the end he stayed until the end of the banquet.He didn't know why he had to torture himself, he kept watching Roland joking with many men and women Omega and Beta around him, and even Tai Feng, who was always indifferent, was amused by his jokes.He could see how popular that Alpha was, and how could such a popular man fall in love with him alone?

Ethan was in a mess and suddenly lost all sense of security.He wanted to catch Roland, but he didn't know what to do.

When the banquet finally ended, Ethan stayed with a few people to help the hotel staff clean up the venue as usual, and he was busy until two o'clock in the morning.He put on his coat and gloves, wrapped himself tightly, and stepped into the cold air outside the gate with his head down.The winter on the space station was frighteningly cold. He just wanted to go home quickly and bury himself in the soft bedding, wrapping him up layer by layer.He walked towards his aircraft, but suddenly found a person standing in front of it.

It's Roland.

"Can you take me in for a night?" The man smiled charmingly.

Ethan let him get on the plane, sat in the driver's seat and turned on the automatic navigation system.The aircraft automatically ascended into orbit and quickly glides across the long street of the space station, which is still bustling and lively even at night.Ethan didn't say much, watching the bright neon lights outside the window silently.

"Unhappy?" Roland asked.

"No, I drank a little too much and felt dizzy."

"You're just unhappy. I can tell." Roland stared at him quietly with blue eyes, "Is it because I came to the banquet with Yanni?"

Being talked about, Ethan felt like something was stuck in his throat.He really wanted to punch the man in front of him, so what the hell is there to ask? ?Even though he was with him but brought another person to the banquet, won't he be jealous when Ethan's heart is really made of steel?

But he always felt that he seemed to have no position.

Although they are lovers in private, after all, they have never let anyone know.Ethan didn't even tell his family.This always made him feel that his relationship with Roland was shameful and might end at any time.

He knew that Roland would leave the Earth Alliance sooner or later, and he would have to part ways at that time.Their so-called romantic relationship can only last until then.Ethan thought he didn't mind, anyway, who is now in love or for marriage?Don't they all meet by chance, get together when they like each other, and break up when the fate is over?

So now I don't seem to have any confidence to lose my temper.

"Who you bring has nothing to do with me."

Although I wanted to say it in a calm and waveless voice, the words sounded so sour.

Roland suddenly took Ethan's hand on his thigh and squeezed it lightly, "We are just friends. He said that day that he didn't have a dance partner, and I didn't have one, so we might as well come together. I've been watching you, but I dare not come to you, the moral value system of your Earth Alliance is too horrible, I am always afraid that it will hurt you."

Ethan snorted, and was about to sarcastically retort, but suddenly something happened.An aircraft obliquely in front seemed to have a problem, suddenly forcibly changed lanes, and collided with the aircraft in front of them.A sharp siren sounded in Ethan's aircraft, and the autopilot system began to brake suddenly, but it was too late.Their aircraft collided with two aircraft in front of them.

At that moment, Roland only heard something shouted, and then rushed over, holding Ethan tightly in his arms.Immediately afterwards there was a violent impact, and Ethan heard a loud bang, his head hit the glass heavily, and he lost consciousness.

He was not seriously injured in the car accident, except for a few stitches on his forehead.Apparently most of the impact was absorbed by Roland who was protecting him. Alpha broke a leg and had to recuperate for more than a month before he could walk on the ground.

Ethan no longer cared about whether others would gossip, and even neglected his work, running to the hospital every day.He brought food for Roland, helped him to wash in the bathroom with his handicapped legs, and brought him a few books from his own family to relieve his boredom.Roland smiled and said that if he knew that breaking a leg would allow him to live a life where he would open his mouth and stretch out his hand, he would have broken his leg earlier.

But Ethan couldn't laugh.He still clearly remembered the shocking power when Roland's body tightly surrounded him, preventing him from all coming disasters.He still remembered the pain and fear in his heart as if he was being torn apart when he saw Roland unconscious in the hospital with blood all over his body.

He had never been so afraid of losing someone.I'm afraid I didn't even have such a strong fear when I learned that my mother had contracted cancer.

It was that car accident that made Ethan realize that he probably fell in love with Roland.He wanted to be with him, rightfully so.

After Roland was discharged from the hospital, the plaster cast on his leg had not been completely removed. In order to take care of him conveniently, Ethan took Roland to his home for a temporary stay.The Energy Bureau seemed to be doing everything as usual, but the director called him into the office and asked him why Roland was in his car when the car accident happened, and why it was rumored that Roland had moved to his house.The reason for Ethan's prevarication was that Roland lent the aircraft to a friend that day, and he kindly gave him a ride.Taking Roland home was just to repay him for saving his life.The director nodded, asking him to pay attention to his words and deeds, and not to follow the truth, so he began to discuss with him about sending the next batch of researchers to Mars to continue the Zero Project, and told him to sort out the news from Mars. The more than a dozen research results reports that came were briefly summarized into a key report. He was going to report to the State Council in the future, and Ethan got it until ten o'clock at night. The patient who can walk hasn't eaten much yet... Ethan hesitated for a while, but decided to take the materials home and sort them out.

Ethan has never done this kind of thing before, because the top secret of Project Zero should not leave the director's office.But he thinks that he only brought back the last few copies, and the smart computer at home has been heavily encrypted, so it is very safe and there should be no problems.He then stored the data in his own pocketbook and hailed a taxi home.

In the distant future, when all the truth came to light, Ethan recalled that perhaps it was from that time that Roland cracked his encryption program in some way after he fell asleep, and got his identity verification number and password, and then started Collect research data on Project Zero and send it back to the Ophiuchus Alliance.

He even began to wonder, was the car accident really accidental?