Liang’s mother also heard that her son would be bringing his boyfriend home today, so she happily prepared a whole table of dishes.
She didn’t know about Ji Qiu’s situation, though Ji Qiu had been to their house once before, so she had some impression of him. Carrying out a dish of fish, she said to Liang Chen:
“Isn’t this the same young man who came over for dinner last time? You even told me he was your most admired Omega student… Huh? Yan Yan, where’s your boyfriend then?”
Liang Yan pointed at Ji Qiu again.
“Him.”
The couple once more fell into silence.
Liang Chen silently picked up an orange, peeling it with meticulous care, as if forcing himself to calm down.
He thought that, in fact, he should be calm.
Someone like Ji Qiu—if he were an Alpha—would absolutely be worthy of his son.
In fact, he felt it was only natural for Ji Qiu to be an Alpha, and not just that, but one of the best among them.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have insisted on pulling him into his research project back then.
But if he couldn’t get an explanation…
Liang Chen pressed hard at his own philtrum.
“Uncle Liang.” The almost-silent Ji Qiu, since entering the house, finally took a step forward. “It’s my fault. I’m sorry.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry or not sorry for.” Liang Chen’s expression darkened. “If it were any other Alpha, we’d still be sitting down to this meal today. And maybe, if it’s you, I’ve actually saved myself some time.”
After all, aside from his secondary gender, he had once been the student Liang Chen admired most in his year.
But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t hold him accountable.
Liang Chen even began wondering if it had been a mistake to have Ji Qiu look after Yan Yan in the first place.
But truthfully, during this time, Liang Yan had become more lively than before, speaking more as well.
If he had to do it all over again, he probably still would have chosen the same.
Which meant the whole issue boiled down to the matter of secondary gender.
Ji Qiu stood tall. Apart from the nerves when he first entered, his face showed no trace of fear—if anything, there was a kind of calm, almost like someone prepared to die heroically.
When you look at someone again with new eyes, everything about them feels new.
Liang Chen pressed his lips tightly together and looked deeply at Ji Qiu for a long moment before finally speaking:
“Xiao Ji.”
“Yes.”
“When I told you to look after Yan Yan, is this how you looked after him?”
“No.” At this crucial moment, Ji Qiu was no longer nervous. “But even if you hadn’t asked me to, I think I still would have fallen for him. Maybe, no matter what, the person standing here today would still be me.”
He braced himself mentally: worst case, he’d take a beating. It wouldn’t be the first.
Liang Chen hadn’t expected him to speak this way. “When did Yan Yan find out you were an Alpha?”
“Pretty early on.”
“You—” Liang Chen suddenly recalled how Zhou Jiapeng had nearly tried to use pheromones to suppress Liang Yan during his heat. Ji Qiu had been the one who reacted so strongly and accused him at the time. And when the surveillance footage had been checked later, it only showed the corridor. Before the incident, other students had walked by there, so it was impossible to tell who the Alpha protecting Yan Yan had been. But because of the pheromone sampler’s confirmation, Zhou had been unable to deny it.
“Zhou Jiapeng’s incident—was that you?”
Ji Qiu nodded.
“And later on… you even insisted he tried to molest you.”
Ji Qiu blinked. “Well… better I take the blame than let it fall on Yan Yan, right?”
Liang Chen gave a cold snort, though his words had lost some of their sharpness.
“Dad,” Liang Yan finally spoke up, cutting in, “maybe we should tell you something else… Do you remember I mentioned KB when I called you last night?”
Liang Chen hadn’t expected the topic to change so abruptly. “What about it?”
He remembered that Liang Yan had been using KB’s inhibitors. “Are you out of inhibitors?”
“No,” Liang Yan said. “It’s just… before I met Ji Qiu, their inhibitor was actually the most effective at suppressing heat.”
“But also the one with the most severe side effects afterwards.”
“I didn’t think it was that serious, so I didn’t tell you—didn’t want you to worry. And I did go through pheromone and gland checkups at the hospital with you before, nothing unusual came up. But then…” Liang Yan paused. “There was a senior named Ji Yang. Have you ever heard of him?”
Liang Chen thought for a moment before recalling.
There had indeed been such a student. He’d had an accident during the holidays. Since it wasn’t directly school-related, the case had simply been recorded and his student status deregistered.
Liang Chen remembered the name, but with so many students sharing surnames, he hadn’t thought much of it. Now, looking at Ji Qiu beside him, he made the connection—
“That was my older brother,” Ji Qiu said, finishing the thought for him. “I’m sorry for keeping it from you for so long.”
Over the course of that meal, the story’s details gradually came into focus.
“I know you could say my motives for approaching Yan Yan weren’t pure,” Ji Qiu admitted, “but I still want to thank you for giving me the chance to meet him earlier.”
Liang Chen almost choked on a fishbone.
So this was how an Alpha spoke—bolder, more forceful.
Dean Liang thought angrily.
But after hearing the truth about KB, he felt that instead of staying angry at Ji Qiu, perhaps he ought to reflect on himself first.
He began to wonder if he had really been a successful father.
He’d thought that since his son was obedient and never caused trouble, fulfilling his requests without beatings or scoldings was enough.
But he had neglected communication.
Back then, both he and his wife had been at the peak of their careers, constantly working night and day shifts, traveling on weekends, endlessly busy.
He had even said to his wife that their son was so well-behaved, never worrying them at all.
Except he was just a little too quiet.
Now looking back, hiding the side effects of the inhibitors probably wasn’t because he didn’t care, but because he thought his parents were too busy and didn’t want to burden them.
If Ji Qiu hadn’t been there, would his son have kept hiding it until something truly serious happened?
“At the affiliated hospital, I’ll handle things. We’ll put our cooperation on hold for now, but don’t make too much noise about it,” Liang Chen said coldly, staring at the fish soup that had long gone cold. “As for the lab, if you still need it, you can keep it for now. If you run into anything, talk to me. Your dad has some influence.”
“If necessary, we can even strike first—raise the questions ourselves before they do. But of course, that will require solid evidence. I can put you in touch with one or two trustworthy medical journals and media outlets.”
Ji Qiu’s eyes lit up.
In the end, when Liang Yan took Ji Qiu home that evening, thanks to his father’s support, they had already taken a big step forward.
At the door, Liang Chen handed Ji Qiu the orange he had peeled earlier, as if offering a subtle compromise.
“Xiao Ji, you really are an outstanding Alpha. But as for you and Yan Yan…”
This time Ji Qiu rushed to answer: “Uncle Liang! I’ll take good care of him, I promise!”
Liang Chen glanced at the orange in Ji Qiu’s hand, then at Liang Yan.
Some things, after all, were beyond his control.
“Go on home,” Liang Chen said. “I’ll send you the contact information later.”
Because compared to the fact that his son was dating his own student, what weighed on him more now was his own need for reflection.
Ji Qiu bit into the orange Liang Chen had given him, then waved firmly at him.
“Thank you, Uncle Liang!”
His cheerful tone was so bright that Liang Yan felt he could probably change the way he addressed him on the spot.
But in the end, Ji Qiu didn’t finish that orange.
Instead, he carefully separated every segment of membrane, then smiled as he handed it over to Liang Yan. “I already tried it—it’s really sweet.”
All in all, things had turned out fairly well. By the time they left the house, both Liang Yan and Ji Qiu were in high spirits.
When they reached the elevator lobby and were waiting for the elevator, Liang Yan suddenly called Ji Qiu’s name.
“Do you remember what happened in the elevator back then?” Liang Yan suddenly asked as he pressed the elevator button.
Ji Qiu’s face stiffened. “Uh…”
Of course he remembered.
Ji Qiu tried to recall it from another angle. “Didn’t I just go with you to pick up a package…”
“And you said you were going to give me a bottle of pheromone blocker.”
“……”
“And then the elevator malfunctioned, and you got so scared you threw yourself into my arms.”
“…I—I really was scared at the time.”
“Didn’t look like it.”
Liang Yan thought back to that moment. Ji Qiu had probably just been trying to follow his father’s advice and get closer to him.
Maybe the elevator’s malfunction had been the perfect chance, so he’d pretended to be weak and helpless just so it wouldn’t arouse suspicion.
So foolish.
As the two walked into the elevator, Ji Qiu had no idea what Liang Yan was thinking. Instead of continuing to question him, Liang Yan just started smiling.
“Yan Yan?” Ji Qiu asked nervously, wondering if he was about to be sent to his grave again.
Liang Yan said nothing, just pressed the floor button and waited for the doors to close.
Ji Qiu’s mind spun out a thousand possible ways to die, uneasy and restless. “…Yan Yan?”
It’s over, looks like I’m about to die again.
Nervously, Ji Qiu shut his eyes tight, bracing for a fist—or claws.
The elevator doors closed.
When elevators descend, there’s always that brief feeling of weightlessness.
But the storm he had expected never came. Just as Ji Qiu was wondering if he should open his eyes, in that fleeting moment of weightlessness, Liang Yan pushed him against the elevator wall and kissed him.
When your eyes are closed, every other sensation sharpens. Ji Qiu instinctively kept his eyes shut, letting the cool touch of Liang Yan’s lips sink clearly into his own.
Liang Yan’s kiss was light, like the softest feather drifting in a midnight dream.
He didn’t even know why he had such an impulse—only that, in that moment, it came naturally.
At that time, you were the unexpected surprise in my life, unlike anyone else.
And now, you are no longer the heartthrob in everyone else’s eyes, nor the genius Omega.
You are the little nightingale, clutching a rose dyed with love—silly and clumsy, but holding a heart that’s true.
Liang Yan kissed him, thinking amid the elevator’s downward pull:
I hear the beating of its wings.
And I am soaring in the clouds.
[mfn] If you enjoy my translations, you can show your support by leaving a comment or donating to my Ko-fi. It will be much appreciated. Thank you! [/mfn]
