Insectoids: The Job of the Males

Chapter 38.1

His Ambivalence, Their Sadness

Translated by boilpoil
Edited by boilpoil

For all his conflicting thoughts, the Squadron Leader is still the stoic Squadron Leader, walking briskly and expressionlessly for Cheng Zhaoci; keen observers here would notice that his steps are wider and slightly more frequent than before.

“You should not have come alone as a male. There are too many shemales around,” and now Wei Zhuo wants to sew his own mouth shut. Look at the kind male waiting for you to get off work. You’re so touched that you’ve decided to say something so stiff and damning to the male.

“They’re all soldiers, disciplined. I didn’t wait for long, either,” Cheng Zhaoci doesn’t seem to take offence at all, however. Instead, he sees it as protectiveness at work. If Wei Zhuo didn’t care for his wellbeing, he would not have said a thing at all.

The soldiers also getting off work can’t help but glance their eyes this way. Even married ones.

Mostly for the spectacle of Squadron Leader Wei standing together with a male. Is this some extraordinary day? Maybe the insectoids have finally conquered the galaxy?
Many are noting the redness on Wei Zhuo’s face. Is he at his limits? About to storm off?

Wei Zhuo and Cheng Zhaoci stand opposite each other for quite a while; when Wei Zhuo saw Cheng Zhaoci at the entrance, quite possibly waiting for him, some kind of invincible rush surged forth from within him. He felt that such a good male shouldn’t be squandered by other shemales. No other shemale is good enough.

Though when he stands in front of Cheng Zhaoci now, all the bravado, like the air in a balloon punctured by a needle, deflates to nothing.

Suddenly, he finds he has not the courage to speak. He does not speak, nor does Cheng Zhaoci. The two insectoids just stand there, staring.

Cheng Zhaoci isn’t being silent on purpose, though. He’s just lost himself staring at Wei Zhuo’s face, wholly taken in by how handsome Wei Zhuo is, imagining how popular he’d be if he were in his past life.

And that face of his that wouldn’t lose to any game character model. Then Cheng Zhaoci’s thoughts trend downwards alongside his gaze. If Wei Zhuo is a shemale, doesn’t that mean he could be impregnated? Would he, would he lactate milk?!

Then his gaze slides downwards to his waist, and his straight, slender legs. Pr-pregnant? And, and he’d…

“Mr Cheng?! What’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?” Wei Zhuo’s sudden voice reins Cheng Zhaoci’s mind back in.

Cheng Zhaoci is all red right now, red like a tomato. Normally, he’s quite pale, so this makes him look quite like a cooked prawn. It’s like he’s sick… Well, if his thoughts could be seen, they would certainly be ‘sick’ in some sense of the word…

“Oh, I’m fine. I’m better than I’ve ever been,” Cheng Zhaoci declares loudly as he quickly takes a step back; Wei Zhuo’s extended hand is now floating in the air, frozen. They stare, and the mood turns even more awkward.

Finally, Cheng Zhaoci clears his throat, asking, “uh, well, Squadron Leader, do you mind hanging out with me?”

“Are you in the mood to play virtual mecha fights?” Apparently, that’s all that’s on Wei Zhuo’s ‘hanging out’ list.

“Oh, I don’t mean that. I just mean having a walk,” Cheng Zhaoci says, “it’s a bit embarrassing to say, but I want to know you better.”

Know him better? What is there to know about? Wei Zhuo does not know. He thinks his life boring, entirely devoid of colour. That said, Wei Zhuo is not one to refuse Cheng Zhaoci… Except for high volume virtual mecha fights, that is.

Cheng Zhaoci still has three days of lessons per week, and a career drawing comics besides his lessons. It’s really squeezing what time he can to help secure a happy future for himself.

Unfortunately, in insectoid society, there aren’t such things as ‘dating spots,’ and the movies are a no-no. All he can settle for are artificial lakes, so Cheng Zhaoci takes Wei Zhuo to one such lake for a stroll by the lakeside right off of work.

The lake is quite large, and Cheng Zhaoci is walking very slowly. Wei Zhuo has to take time to adapt.

It’s quite odd. If it were Meng Yuele, or any other insectoid under his command moving at this snail’s pace, he’d give them a good hard kick in the buttocks without question. Walking so slowly just irritates him.

But he finds that he feels no such thing behind the male. Not just that, but he even finds that the tired old artificial lake beautiful and calming, especially the part with his reflection right behind the male.

“Where did you get the scar on the eye?” Cheng Zhaoci asks. The medical technology of the insectoid society is advanced enough that these scars won’t even need medical pods; a grade S shemale must have also seen far graver wounds.

Hmm, speaking of which, there’s a similar slash scar on Sun Wushe’s wrist as well, wasn’t there?

Wei Zhuo reflexively touches his right eye with his hand on the remark. He cannot see from his right eye, and there is an uneven wound across his eyelid, “my father did it. He was angry I was going to split from the family.”

“My dad died when I was very young, because of my father. He is one of those with less appropriate interests,” Wei Zhuo’s hand is now curled up into a fist by his side, “I saw once, how my father cuffed a concubine with a custom-order cuff which can electrocute them. The electricity at such a current that it is painful but not enough to make us faint.”
“From what I’ve gathered, the concubine angered my father somehow. He was stripped naked and cuffed, and forced to his knees in front of everyone at the mansion, and ordered to crawl a lap around the premises,” Wei Zhuo then bitterly smiles, “it was demeaning, but that shemale being punished was still convinced it was his own fault.”
“Apparently, my dad thought the same,” Wei Zhuo says, slumping a little. Not even his granddad could convince his dad otherwise, not to mention his young self.

“But, why slice your face with a knife just for splitting from the family?” Cheng Zhaoci’s mood has soured deeply. He thought there was a story behind the scar, some unforgettable past, but definitely not something unrelated to battles.

A grade S shemale soldier with a scar he does not want erased. It had to have been from some great battle, or to remember the sacrifice of an important comrade, as a memento, hadn’t it?

It turns out his father sliced it on him. What a farce. Cheng Zhaoci is rightly furious, but there is nothing he can do, either.

Nothing he can do against the scar that signified not glory from the battlefield, but shame from leaving his family.

Cheng Zhaoci deeply resents the fact he cannot go into the past, give Wei Zhuo’s father what for, and then proudly take Wei Zhuo away with him.

“It wasn’t much of a story,” Wei Zhuo lowers his head, “I know it’s dull.”

“Your father was not a good father at all. He mistreated you and the family,” Cheng Zhaoci moves closer to Wei Zhuo, “I don’t think it’s dull. I just feel so sorry for you.”

Wei Zhuo really is the classic ‘pretty, strong, tragic’ archetype, but Cheng Zhaoci doesn’t think it’s a good thing. It’s still got the word ‘tragic’ in it.

“I’m different from him,” Cheng Zhaoci declares, “I will treat the insectoid I like with care and love.”

“I believe it. You are different,” Wei Zhuo smiles. If it wasn’t for that difference, he would not possibly have held him up as his clutch in his mind.

“I also think I would make a very good father for our children,” Cheng Zhaoci continues blurting out.

“I also believe you will be a good… huh?!” Wei Zhuo’s eyes widen as Cheng Zhaoci freezes stiff where he stands.