Duan Baisui had taken five days off. It was his Omega’s first time experiencing heat, and he was supposed to stay by his side without leaving even for a moment.
With the temporary mark in place, Zuo Nian had calmed down a lot, though his body temperature was still a bit high, and his pheromones were out of control, filling the entire room with his scent.
Duan Baisui held him in his arms, kissing his face over and over. Zuo Nian was utterly exhausted. The restless heat had tormented him all morning, and he had just cried for a long time. Now, he had finally drifted off into a groggy sleep.
This fool was far too easy to coax, far too soft-hearted. Even when he cried from anger, the only “punishment” he could muster was kissing his face. Duan Baisui reasonably suspected. Did he even know how to be angry?
Later that evening, Auntie Liu came up to deliver dinner. Hearing the knock at the door, Zuo Nian also woke up. He blinked drowsily at Duan Baisui, and Duan Baisui kissed his eyes and said, “I’ll go get the door.”
“Mm,” Zuo Nian responded lazily.
On the small dining cart were three dishes, one soup, and some fruit for dessert. All of it was light and mild. Auntie Liu had probably guessed Zuo Nian’s condition.
The door opened only halfway. Her professionalism kept Auntie Liu from looking inside. She asked with concern, “Is Mr. Zuo feeling better?”
Duan Baisui nodded. “He’s fine, don’t worry.”
Auntie Liu let out a breath of relief. “That’s good, then.”
He took the cart from Auntie Liu’s hands and closed the door again.
Zuo Nian was already sitting up. He wasn’t wearing anything. His upper body was bare, with the blanket barely draped over his hips, just enough to cover that tempting allure of spring.
“Was it Auntie Liu?” Zuo Nian asked, eyes still hazy.
“Mm.” Duan Baisui pushed the food cart over to the tea table in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, carefully arranging the dishes and fruit one by one, then turned back to the bedside.
He wrapped Zuo Nian tightly in a plush blanket, bundling him up snugly, then bent down and picked him up.
“Gege, you wrapped up Nian Nian’s hands,” the little caterpillar·Nian protested softly. “Now Nian Nian can’t eat.”
“Says who?” Duan Baisui asked.
He sat down on the sofa and placed Zuo Nian on his lap. Duan Baisui picked up a small bowl and used chopsticks to lift a piece of sweet and sour fish to Zuo Nian’s lips. “Like this, you can eat.”
Zuo Nian looked at him, his face serious. “I don’t care who you are, get off my gege right now!”
Duan Baisui: …
“Talking nonsense again.”
“I’m not!” The fish was taken into the Omega’s mouth, and he squinted his eyes, smiling. “It’s just… it doesn’t feel real.”
“What feels unreal?” Duan Baisui asked.
Zuo Nian said, “You suddenly became so gentle. You’re being so nice to Nian Nian. It’s just like those TV dramas. The domineering CEO who spoils his one and only!”
“That’s not a good thing?”
Zuo Nian tilted his head and thought for a moment. “Right now it is, because Nian Nian is really happy. But Nian Nian is also really scared…”
“Scared of what?” Duan Baisui coaxed gently. He hoped that through conversation, he could understand Zuo Nian better. He wanted Zuo Nian to share his truest thoughts.
“Scared that it’s all fake. Scared that Gege is just caught up in the moment, and one day, when he realizes Nian Nian isn’t that great, he’ll stop caring. If that happens, I’ll be really, really sad.”
Duan Baisui gave the person in his arms a little pat and laughed. “Silly.”
Zuo Nian mumbled, “You’re not allowed to call Nian Nian a sillyhead…”
“Alright.” Duan Baisui tilted his head and kissed his ear. “I don’t want to make you any verbal promises, because empty words mean nothing. But I want you to know that you’re really, really precious to me. Right now, I’m so infatuated with you. I think… this infatuation will last until we grow old together. Do you believe me?”
Zuo Nian was a little touched. He had never heard Duan Baisui say such sweet things before. Yet today, he’d heard so many. The joy in his heart was impossible to describe. He said, “I believe you.”
No matter what Duan Baisui said to him, he believed it, just like when he was a child.
“Then have you forgiven me now?” Duan Baisui took the chance to ask.
“Ah?” Zuo Nian was caught off guard by the sudden change in topic.
“Who was it just now that said, ‘Ask me again later’?” Duan Baisui chuckled.
Zuo Nian scrunched his nose. “Actually… I wasn’t even angry. I forgave Gege a long time ago. But Gege forgot his promise, so he should be punished a little. That’s how it should be.”
“So… just letting me kiss your cheek is your punishment for me?”
Zuo Nian said, “Nian Nian also said he wouldn’t forgive you, didn’t he? You must’ve been sad just now, huh?”
Why was he so cute?
“Mhm.” Duan Baisui lowered his head so their noses were touching. “I was really sad just now. So now… am I still only allowed to kiss your cheek?”
Zuo Nian’s pheromones spread again, filled with emotion. He tilted his face up, offering his lips, and said, “You can kiss lots of places.”
During an Omega’s heat, their appetite usually isn’t great. The auntie had brought over dinner, but he only took a few small bites before turning his head away, refusing to eat more. This was a normal physiological reaction. Duan Baisui didn’t want to force him to keep eating, so after coaxing him into having a bit of fruit, he let it go.
Dinner ended in a hurry. Duan Baisui pushed the food cart outside the door. Someone would come to collect it later.
Zuo Nian lay on his side on the bed, his legs clamped around the blanket, unconsciously rubbing against it. His snowy white, slender legs were draped across the sheets, a sight that made one’s heart itch unbearably.
Duan Baisui sat at the foot of the bed and reached out to grab his foot. His fingertips teasingly scratched the sole twice. Ticklish, Zuo Nian instinctively tried to pull his foot back, only to be held even tighter.
“What are you doing?” he asked with a soft pout.
“Still feeling uncomfortable?”
Zuo Nian shook his head, then nodded again. “It’s not exactly uncomfortable… It’s just that my body feels really strange. Really hot, and…”
He couldn’t find the right words. After all, this was his first time experiencing heat. So he changed the subject: “Gege, can you give Nian Nian a little more of your pheromones?”
Duan Baisui asked with a half-smile, “Are you sure?”
“Is it a bother? If it’s too much trouble, then never mind,” Zuo Nian said considerately.
Duan Baisui’s eyes darkened. “It’s no trouble. Of course I can.”
He didn’t tell Zuo Nian that at the early stage of an Omega’s heat, a moderate amount of calming pheromones from an Alpha could have a soothing and stabilizing effect. After a deep temporary mark, the Omega could even get through the entire heat safely just with the help of that mark. But if he kept soaking in the Alpha’s pheromones, then he would only become more uncontrollable.
An Alpha’s pheromones would turn into the most intense aphrodisiac, driving him out of his mind, making him sink completely into it.
But Duan Baisui had no intention of refusing Zuo Nian’s request. After all, this was his Omega’s first time going through something like this. He ought to fulfill all his needs and make sure he wasn’t disappointed.
The scent of tequila slowly began to spill out, transitioning from faint, wispy traces into a richer, more intense fragrance.
Zuo Nian seemed bewitched. He sat up, taking deep breaths, and stretched his arms around Duan Baisui’s neck. Resting his chin on Duan Baisui’s shoulder, he said, “It smells so good. Nian Nian really likes it.”
Duan Baisui’s large hand gently smoothed down his smooth back again and again. Zuo Nian, as if overwhelmed by stimulation, began trembling in his arms again.
“Something feels wrong…” Zuo Nian said hoarsely.
“What feels wrong?” Duan Baisui asked in a low voice.
“Nian Nian… Nian Nian…” He sounded like he was about to cry. “Why… why am I peeing from my butt?”
After Zuo Nian’s gland had fully recovered, his rank had, unsurprisingly, risen to S-class. The compatibility between the two of them had also increased from eighty percent to at least over ninety percent. As a result, he had become very sensitive. Just a little teasing was enough to make him lose control.
Duan Baisui reached out to touch him, but Zuo Nian squirmed away to avoid it. “Don’t… It’s dirty… Nian Nian wet the bed…”
Duan Baisui pressed in regardless. His fingers touched that soaking wet spot, and he said, “This isn’t bed-wetting. It’s a normal physiological reaction. Don’t be scared.”
“It’s never happened before…” he mumbled.
“I know. It’s because you’re in heat. And also… because you really, really like me. That’s why this is happening,” Duan Baisui gently comforted.
“Really?”
“Really.”
Duan Baisui raised his fingers in front of Zuo Nian’s eyes. On the pale fingertips clung a strand of clear, sticky fluid. His expression remained calm as ever. “See? It’s not what you thought.”
“Gege!” Zuo Nian called out in flustered embarrassment. “Don’t say it, don’t say it!”
He buried his face in the crook of the man’s neck, as if doing so could somehow erase the shame of that moment.
Duan Baisui picked him up and settled him on his lap, straddling him, then began planting fervent kisses along his chin and neck.
Zuo Nian arched back deeply, exposing his vulnerable throat and lifting his pale chest, willingly offering himself up like a sacrifice.
When he felt a strong suction against his chest, Zuo Nian gasped, his mind instantly going blank. Trembling, he climaxed again.
Duan Baisui felt a wave of warmth against his thigh. The place where Zuo Nian was sitting had become wet and sticky.
“What now? You dirtied my pants,” Duan Baisui said, gripping his waist, his breath hot against Zuo Nian’s ear.
Zuo Nian’s delicate Adam’s apple bobbed up and down a few times. It took him a long moment to recover before he said, “I’m sorry… Nian Nian will make it up to gege.”
“But now I don’t have any pants to wear tonight.”
Zuo Nian knew he was doing it on purpose. Obviously, his closet was full of pants. Most of them even looked the same. Rotten gege, he was just making things difficult for Nian Nian on purpose.
“Then… then don’t wear any,” Zuo Nian said. “Nian Nian doesn’t have any pants either, anyway.”
He thought he was being fierce, that saying this would make Duan Baisui back off. Unexpectedly, Duan Baisui’s smile widened, his gaze meaningful as he looked at him and said, “Okay.”
Zuo Nian: Huh? Something’s not right.
Their clothes ended up scattered all over the floor. This was the first time they faced each other completely, without anything to hide.
Zuo Nian marveled at Duan Baisui’s incredible physique. His sharply defined abs were already enticing enough, but on top of that were the deeply etched Adonis lines and bulging veins snaking above them. It was outrageous. How could someone have such a cold, ascetic face, yet once stripped down, reveal a body this overwhelmingly arousing?
“What are you looking at?” Duan Baisui’s gaze swept over him from top to bottom.
Zuo Nian quickly pulled the blanket over himself and ducked under the covers, saying, “Wasn’t looking, wasn’t looking.”
Someone moved in behind him—muscles taut and brimming with power, strong arms wrapping around him, and something even more shocking pressing in, completely opening his eyes to a new world.
“Gege…” he murmured softly.
“Mn?” The Alpha’s voice was faint, a stark contrast to the burning heat radiating from his whole body.
“Nian Nian, did you dirty your little undies again?”
“Mm.” He answered, “You were too wet.”
Zuo Nian turned to look at him. That cool, distant face was still as cold as ever, but the words spilling from his lips were so uninhibited. Yet somehow, he didn’t sound like he meant anything by them, as if he were merely stating a most ordinary fact.
“I didn’t mean to…” Zuo Nian said, stunned.
“I know,” came the succinct reply, but his movements continued to slowly advance, rubbing against him without a hint of urgency.
Zuo Nian couldn’t take it anymore. He thought for sure the air conditioner must be turned up too high. It was way too hot now. His body was sweating again, and his breathing grew ragged in response to the other man’s slow, deliberate movements.
The Alpha was like a predator that had caught its prey—not in a hurry to devour, but rather to toy with it, wanting the prey to submit on its own, to invite him in. He had such patience, wearing down Zuo Nian’s rationality little by little, making him vividly aware of the tingling numbness crawling up from the base of his spine.
“Gege, aren’t you… going to come in?” Zuo Nian asked in broken, breathless fragments.
The fiery scent of the Alpha’s pheromones had him utterly drunk, and his lover’s affection had him completely lost in the moment.
“Go in where?” the Alpha asked, feigning ignorance.
Zuo Nian thought, Gege is so bad. Even a fool like Nian Nian knew where it was supposed to go at a time like this, yet he still asked on purpose. Was he trying to embarrass him?
“Hmm?” Seeing he didn’t respond, the Alpha even pulled away slightly in a mean-spirited way, but the pheromones only surged toward him more intensely.
Zuo Nian’s eyes were red at the corners. He bit his lower lip and gave him a complaining look.
Perhaps realizing that the Alpha had no intention of relenting and would genuinely keep dragging this out, Zuo Nian gave in. He kissed the Alpha’s lips in a coaxing, sweet tone and said obediently, “Please… completely mark Nian Nian.”
“Do you know what a complete mark means?” Duan Baisui smiled.
“I know…” Zuo Nian closed his eyes, enjoying the mingling of their breaths. “It means… it means forming a knot, having a baby… Nian Nian took biology class, Nian Nian knows everything…”
This kind of “torment” went both ways. His lover’s surrender was, for him, a kind of seduction too.
The tightly drawn string in Duan Baisui’s mind finally snapped. He gripped Zuo Nian’s jaw and fiercely sealed his lips with a kiss. This mouth—so good at whispering sweet nothings, so good at calling him gege. If he didn’t shut it up, it would drive him insane.
Their pheromones merged. Zuo Nian began crying again, kicking his legs and crying that it hurt, saying it felt too full, saying he was a bad gege.
Duan Baisui didn’t move. Under the clear, bright light, he admired his lover. Zuo Nian was crying in a tiny, kittenish whimper, like a baby cat freshly weaned, sobbing with soft sniffles, utterly disheveled and made a complete mess.
Most Omegas probably thought this would make an Alpha soften. But in truth, it was the exact opposite. In love, tears were the best aphrodisiac; they only stirred the desire more, especially tears shed from eyes as beautiful as his.
—
Zuo Nian stared blankly at the ceiling, eyes unfocused. His waist was lifted high, legs pinned between the Alpha’s thighs. The light above him swayed in and out of view. He couldn’t describe what he was feeling. It was pain, tearing pain, and yet from within that pain, a strange pleasure began to bloom.
He saw desire in Duan Baisui’s always-cold eyes. The Alpha stared at him with unwavering intensity, tracing over him inch by inch, as if mapping every part of him. So this was what it meant for someone’s gaze to feel predatory.
The sticky sound of skin against skin echoed again and again. Zuo Nian had been crying for too long. His throat was dry, and his eyes ached. He clung to Duan Baisui’s arm, trembling as he begged, “Gege, please… spare Nian Nian. I really can’t take it anymore… wuwuwu… Nian Nian’s going to die…”
Duan Baisui pulled him into an embrace, holding him face-to-face. He kissed Zuo Nian’s tear-streaked cheeks with tender affection and said, “Didn’t Nian Nian ask for a complete mark? If I pull out now, we won’t be able to knot. Is that really okay?”
Zuo Nian was coaxed into submission again. As he was rocked up and down, he sobbed, “Then… then thank you for your hard work, Gege…”
“Relax, baby. Don’t you like it?”
Zuo Nian’s eyes flew open wide. That tightly sealed, sacred place was slowly being opened. Only then did Duan Baisui realize why men liked to whisper sweet words in bed. Because in return, they received the most sincere, unguarded responses from their lovers.
“Who… who’s your baby?” Zuo Nian’s voice broke into scattered syllables with each thrust.
“You are,” Duan Baisui replied softly. “Nian Nian is my baby.”
Another wave of heat poured down. The Omega’s final stronghold was completely breached. There was no way back now. He was pressed down entirely, conquered by the Alpha, leaving no room for escape.
He let out the shyest, most delicate cries. His fingertips carved red trails along the Alpha’s back. In that moment, he finally realized. They had completed the most sacred of rituals. They truly, fully belonged to each other now.
The Alpha’s knotting was slow, so very slow. It was so hot that Zuo Nian thought he couldn’t take it anymore, on the verge of fleeing. But the person in front of him cradled his face gently, leaving soft kisses on his brow and the tip of his nose, whispering quiet words of love. For that, he was willing to endure it all and sink even deeper into this sweetness.
Just before he lost consciousness, the last thing Zuo Nian saw reflected in his eyes was Duan Baisui’s thoroughly satisfied face.
The heat lasted five days. Zuo Nian drifted in and out of consciousness, again and again. For the first time, he realized just how astonishing an Alpha’s stamina could be. Every time he woke up, Duan Baisui was full of energy, relentless, never willing to let him go.
This was someone who used to be as cold as an iceberg. Now, he was practically melting him down. But what did it matter? He liked Duan Baisui like this—liked being the one he poured all his possessiveness, all his love and desire, all of his firsts into.
They had given themselves to each other, becoming the most important person in each other’s lives.
—
Once that wild, absurd stretch of time passed, Zuo Nian gradually sobered up.
Duan Baisui no longer teased him with pheromones. He knew Zuo Nian had already been pushed to his limit. Now, the moment he saw him, Zuo Nian would hide under the covers like a little turtle.
Realizing how overboard he had gone these past couple of days, Duan Baisui finally reined himself in.
He carried Zuo Nian into the bathroom. In the double massage tub, Zuo Nian sat in front of him. The back of his neck was swollen and red, covered in dense bite marks.
So this was what it meant. When faced with someone you liked, all restraint, all pretense completely collapsed. In that moment, all he had wanted was to tear him apart and swallow him whole, to fuse him into his bones and blood, so they would never be apart. To make him entirely his, untouchable by anyone else. That was the Alpha’s pathological possessiveness.
Duan Baisui gently touched the side of his neck and asked, “Does it hurt?”
Zuo Nian leaned back against him, utterly exhausted, and replied, “Yeah… it hurts…”
“I bought you some medicine. I’ll put some on for you later.”
“Okay~”
Right now, Zuo Nian’s entire body was steeped in his scent—a clear declaration of ownership to the outside world. From now on, no matter who got close to him, they would know: he belonged to an Alpha, and he was not to be coveted.
Duan Baisui scooped him out of the tub and carefully dried him off with a towel. Zuo Nian then crawled back into bed.
This time, he finally had pajamas on. No longer being handled bare and exposed.
Duan Baisui brought over the ointment and gently applied it for him.
Zuo Nian curled up into a tiny ball, hugging his stuffed Abei Bei, mumbling, “Bad gege… Nian Nian was supposed to open shop today, but because of you, I couldn’t even get out of bed. Nian Nian’s lost another day of business…”
Duan Baisui chuckled. “Then, how about I take care of you today and buy something? That way, it still counts as doing business.”
Zuo Nian puffed up his cheeks. “But Nian Nian doesn’t have anything to sell you right now.”
“Yes, you do.” Duan Baisui screwed the lid back on the ointment and, as he said that, started leaning down toward him again.
Zuo Nian reacted fast, blocking him with the plushie. “Nian Nian’s not selling! Nian Nian can’t sell! Gege’s going to wear me out again!”
Duan Baisui seized the moment to kiss his wrist and said, “That counts too. How much, Boss Zuo?”
Zuo Nian blinked a few times and tested cautiously, “That… counts?”
“It counts.”
Zuo Nian thought about it and said, “Then… five yuan?”
“How much?!”
Duan Baisui felt that kissing Zuo Nian could be worth five thousand, fifty thousand, even five hundred thousand. But absolutely not five yuan!!
Zuo Nian asked, “You think that’s too expensive?”
Duan Baisui replied, “That little shop of yours, how much can you usually make in a day?”
How can someone doing business have so little concept of money?
Zuo Nian answered proudly, “When business is good, I can make a thousand yuan!”
“And when it’s bad?”
“…Five yuan…”
Duan Baisui: 6[mfn]In Chinese, it is homophones for ‘smooth’, so like, someone is being smooth in their actions, or something like that[/mfn].
—
That afternoon, Duan Baisui had an important meeting he had to attend, so he had no choice but to leave home.
The whole way there, his mind wandered. Assistant Luo reminded him that there was a social dinner that evening, something that had been scheduled long ago and couldn’t be canceled.
Duan Baisui responded with a distracted “Mm,” and then sent Zuo Nian a message: “I might be home late.”
He hadn’t realized it himself, but he simply wanted to let him know. Just in case Zuo Nian might wait for him.
Very quickly, Zuo Nian replied: “Okay~ Nian Nian was planning to sleep in the guest room tonight anyway. Gege doesn’t have to worry about me.”
The Alpha, who had been lounging lazily in his seat, suddenly sat up straight and typed furiously: “Why are you sleeping in the guest room?”
The screen showed that the other party was typing. Duan Baisui stared at it, waiting patiently.
After a long while, Zuo Nian finally sent a message back: “Gege hits people really hard at night!”
Duan Baisui, completely baffled: “When did I ever hit you?”
Zuo Nian: Spanking counts as hitting, too!
Moonlit: That was unexpected =͟͟͞͞(꒪ᗜ꒪‧̣̥̇) (っ º – º ς)
lmao niannian is so cute