Huijian: [We’re terribly sorry for the incident! We’ve already dismissed the waiter who followed you, and the police have been contacted. We’ll be handling this matter very seriously.]
…
Huijian: [Shang Sui has agreed to your request.]
Lin Yan still felt unsettled as he thought about what had just happened. He was about to ask how Shi Qi was doing, but when he turned his head, he saw Shi Qi smiling at his phone.
This kid was usually cold, but now his large, cat-like eyes were gently curved. He looked like a completely different person from just half an hour ago.
While they had been nearing the school gate, a random Alpha had suddenly jumped out, chasing after Shi Qi and demanding to know why he’d been rejected. Lin Yan had been stunned.
Shi Qi remained indifferent, which only made the Alpha more agitated. A few passing students noticed the commotion and quickly called for security, who restrained the Alpha.
The police were contacted immediately afterward. For now, the Alpha was being held by the school’s security and would soon be handed over to the authorities.
Not wanting to waste time, Shi Qi had directly contacted Huijian to demand an explanation. Their response had been appropriate: they apologized repeatedly, contacted the police to help register Shi Qi for Omega protection, and promised that the Alpha would not be able to harass him again.
However, registering for protection required Shi Qi to personally complete the process in the database after the formalities were done. In the meantime, Huijian also promised to offer compensation.
After confirming that Shi Qi wasn’t smiling out of anger, Lin Yan asked, “How much is the restaurant compensating you?”
For something to make Shi Qi happy, it had to be a significant sum.
Shi Qi: “They gave me a free meal.”
Lin Yan: “?”
Lin Yan: “A meal was enough to buy you off? …No, Shi Qi, be honest. You don’t seem that angry. Normally, wouldn’t you have cursed that Alpha into another dimension?”
Earlier, Shi Qi had only muttered, “Idiot. Remember to look in the mirror on your way in,” which was uncharacteristically mild for him.
Lin Yan had been friends with Shi Qi since they were kids and knew him well. Back in their first year of university, a video of Shi Qi practicing in front of a mirror at the dance club had gone viral. A talent agent had even come to their campus, asking if Shi Qi was interested in debuting.
The agent worked for a major entertainment company that managed a famous boy group. When Shi Qi turned them down, Lin Yan had asked in disbelief, “Why? Don’t you love dancing? You even worked part-time as a model—you’re definitely good in front of the camera.”
“Forget it. If someone pisses me off, I have to hunt them down and return the favor.”
“?”
“Otherwise, I can’t sleep at night.”
Which, honestly, made a lot of sense. Shi Qi was already prone to insomnia; if he ever entered the entertainment industry, he probably wouldn’t sleep a wink.
…
Given Shi Qi’s personality, just one insult today?
Lin Yan thought it over and still found it strange. Snapping out of his thoughts, he heard Shi Qi say, “He didn’t actually do anything. It’s over. No point wasting time on him.”
Lin Yan had to admit that made sense. Still, he couldn’t help adding, “But why do I get the feeling you found something more interesting and just couldn’t be bothered anymore?”
Shi Qi: “…”
Sometimes, Lin Yan was scarily perceptive. It made things complicated.
Shi Qi put away his phone and said naturally, “You’re overthinking it.”
Back at the dorm, a message from Huijian’s work account came through, sending over Shang Sui’s WeChat and asking Shi Qi to contact him when he had time.
Shang Sui’s profile picture was nothing like the impression he gave in person. It featured a long-haired, blue-golden shaded kitten. Probably due to the cold weather, the kitten had a knitted scarf wrapped around its neck, looking like a soft little puffball.
Shi Qi stared at it for a few seconds, then raised his hand to send a friend request.
“Xiao Qi, want to play a game?”Their dorm originally housed three people, but after their third roommate moved out, it was just him and Lin Yan.
“Qin Shuhe said he got wrecked all night and desperately needs your AD to help him redeem his honor.”
Shi Qi didn’t even look up. “Even when he plays support, he steals my minions. Let him keep losing.”
Unfortunately, Lin Yan had the speaker on, and Qin Shuhe happened to hear Shi Qi’s comment. He immediately wailed, “Shi Qi, how could you be so heartless! Didn’t we agree to stay on bot lane together for life?”
“Who even are you?” The friend request was still pending, so Shi Qi set his phone aside. “Fine, I’ll play a few rounds, but don’t touch my minions.”
“I swear I won’t! I’ll even call you Grandpa if you want.”
Qin Shuhe was a student at the nearby art academy. The moment he joined, he launched into gossip about his school, not even sparing his own professor. “Our professor’s been trying to recruit someone as a teaching assistant. He talks about it so much, I swear my ears are about to fall off.”
“You actually get annoyed when people talk too much?” Shi Qi asked, genuinely surprised. “Aren’t you a chatterbox yourself?”
Qin Shuhe snapped, “Shi Qi, that mouth of yours—”
Shi Qi: “Lux, land your Q.[mfn]Lux is a champion in League of Legends. Q means activating a champion’s first ability.[/mfn] You’ll get the kill.”
Qin Shuhe: “Yes, Your Majesty.”
Lin Yan chimed in, “Are you talking about Professor Xie? For him to value someone that much, who could it be?”
Lin Yan’s family owned an art gallery, so he knew a bit about Qin Shuhe’s professor.
Shi Qi wasn’t interested in any of that. His eyes were only on the game.
Qin Shuhe said, “I heard he just got back from overseas. No idea who exactly, but apparently he’s not much older than us, maybe three or four years.”
At that moment, Shi Qi’s phone lit up.
Shang Sui had accepted his friend request and sent a message.
Ss: [Sorry, something came up earlier. I accepted a bit late.]
While recalling to base, Shi Qi typed a reply with one hand.
17: [mfn]17 (十七) is pronounced shí qī in Chinese; Shi Qi’s name (时绮) uses different characters but sounds the same.[/mfn] [Oh, no worries.]
A short while later, Shang Sui sent another message, this time with a suggestion about an amusement park.
Ss: [Are you interested in amusement parks? There’s a Halloween parade going on. It should be pretty fun.]
Shi Qi was a bit confused.
17: [Weren’t we just going to eat?]
Ss: [Huijian’s boss feels really sorry about what happened, so he asked me to make it up to you as much as I can. He’ll cover all the costs.]
Ss: [If you don’t want it to be a date, we can just eat ^^]
Shi Qi stared at one word in particular, rereading it several times to make sure he hadn’t misread it.
Qin Shuhe: “Damn, luck’s on our side.”
Qin Shuhe: “Shi Qi, I landed my Q on two people and used Exhaust![mfn]Exhaust is a summoner spell that slows and weakens an enemy.[/mfn] …Shi Qi? Your Majesty?? Why are you zoning out? Get over here and kill them!!”
Caitlyn[mfn]Caitlyn is another LoL champion, known as the Sheriff of Piltover.[/mfn] stood motionless under the turret, and Qin Shuhe had wasted an Exhaust for nothing, only to get taken out by the enemy instead.
After a long pause, Shi Qi finally muttered, “My bad.”
“Huh?” Qin Shuhe was confused. “That’s not right. Aren’t you playing the sheriff? What just happened? I hit both of them with my Q, that wasn’t easy—”
Lin Yan looked over at the uncharacteristically quiet Shi Qi and interrupted, “Oh, come on. Don’t blame the kid! It’s hard enough carrying your janky Lux.”
“You made Xiao Qi’s face burn up. He’s blushing like crazy!”
–
Halloween happened to fall on a Friday. Knowing he’d be going out the next day, Shi Qi’s already fragile sleep schedule took another hit, and he didn’t manage to fall asleep until well into the night.
Thankfully, he didn’t have any classes that Friday, so he spent most of the day catching up on sleep. Maybe his body had adapted to long-term irregular rest, because by early evening, he woke up naturally, feeling refreshed. He got dressed and prepared to head out.
Lin Yan was lounging on his bed with a face mask on. Hearing movement, he immediately asked, “Where are you going?”
Shi Qi didn’t respond, so Lin Yan pointed out his strange behavior. “You even changed clothes. Still all black, but not the same as before.”
“Dressed like this, there’s no way you’re coming back before ten or eleven. Aren’t you worried about the curfew? Come on, just confess. Staying out all night is supposed to be my thing.”
He said this because he knew Shi Qi extremely well.
Shi Qi wasn’t into loud or chaotic environments, so getting him to go out at night was nearly impossible. Even department events were a stretch. He had only joined two clubs: he barely showed up to photography anymore, and the dance club hadn’t had any evening practices recently.
“…”
If he admitted he was going to meet an Alpha he’d only met once, whose job was particularly unusual, Lin Yan would probably scream loud enough to blow the roof off.
Shi Qi felt guilty for a moment, then suddenly became self-righteous. “Mind your own business.”
With that, he opened the door and walked straight out.
“?” Lin Yan tore off his face mask in shock and bolted upright. “Wait—get back here! Who are you going to meet? Shi Qi, you’re running that fast?! You won’t even bother lying and say it’s a club event? Who’s this vixen you’re sneaking off to see??”
The closer he got to the amusement park, the stronger the Halloween atmosphere became.
At the entrance, strings of candy-themed decorations glowed with lights. In the corners were jack-o’-lanterns and skull-shaped lamps of all designs. In the distance stood a giant clown statue with a beaming smile. It wasn’t hard to imagine how dazzling and haunting the place would look once night fully fell.
When he’d seen Shang Sui’s message earlier, he had absentmindedly picked “date.” They’d only met once, and for an Omega to meet an Alpha alone at night was definitely dangerous. Still, for some reason, Shi Qi felt an inexplicable trust toward Shang Sui.
As he stood there, lost in thought, a voice called from behind him.
“Over here.”
Shi Qi turned and saw the person he’d come to meet.
Shang Sui was wearing a red-and-black knit sweater and loose ripped jeans. The outfit made his broad shoulders and slender back stand out even more, and his legs looked long and straight.
Wearing rags again, Shi Qi thought.
But it looked pretty good.
Shang Sui always had some kind of shiny accessory on him. Shi Qi stared at his dangling earrings for a while, feeling a slight temptation to give them a tug.
Seemingly picking up on what he was thinking, Shang Sui said, “Even though it’s a date, I’m still basically here to serve you.”
Seeing Shi Qi freeze, he added, “I mean, whatever you want to do is fine. I don’t mind.”
Shi Qi’s heart skipped a beat, and he almost actually reached out.
Snapping back to his senses, he reminded himself that even if Shang Sui said that, he couldn’t act so out of line.
Shi Qi turned away first. “Let’s go, then.”
As he walked, he subconsciously rubbed his fingertips.
Shang Sui smiled and followed behind.
The park was filled with visitors in costume: zombies wrapped in bandages, face-painted clowns, ghost brides, bunny cops…
“You’d fit right in with them,” Shi Qi said, gesturing toward the crowd.
“?”
“You’re flashy too.”
Shang Sui laughed.
Shi Qi asked, “So you’ll listen to whatever I say today?”
“You’re the boss. What you say goes.”
Shi Qi nodded and headed toward an accessory shop.
Inside were rows of headbands and hats in various styles. Shi Qi walked straight to a section lined with black headbands topped with red devil horns. He picked one out and shoved it into Shang Sui’s hand.
“Put this on. Let me see.”
True to his word, the Alpha obeyed. He put on the headband Shi Qi had given him. The devil horns lit up, blinking red, the glow reflecting in Shang Sui’s eyes and making his expression flicker mysteriously.
“How is it?”
“It’s too perfect,” Shi Qi said sincerely. “Looks like you’re about to start a massacre in the amusement park any second now.”
“…” Was that really how evil he looked in Shi Qi’s eyes?
Shang Sui picked up another headband from nearby—a soft, cute pair of cat ears. The light color matched Shi Qi’s hair perfectly.
“Try this one?”
Shi Qi looked disgusted. “No.”
Shang Sui stared at him without saying anything. Shi Qi clicked his tongue. “Don’t look at me like that. Who’s the boss here, you or me?”
“You are,” Shang Sui answered without hesitation. “Please?”
“……………”
Shi Qi’s eyes widened slightly, staring at him in disbelief.
Was this guy not embarrassed? How could an Alpha say something like that with such a straight face?
Or was it just the nature of their line of work—were they all this good at turning on the charm?
Then he suddenly remembered Lin Yan’s words: Who’s this vixen you’re sneaking off to see? It hit him like a blow to the head.
He met Shang Sui’s fox-like eyes for a few seconds. In the end, he tossed Lin Yan’s accusation aside and, almost against his own will, reached out his hand. “Give it to me.”
Shang Sui told him to wait a moment and went to pay.
Within that one minute, countless thoughts flashed through Shi Qi’s mind: Am I really going to wear this ridiculous thing? Why should I listen to him? But I guess it’s no big deal. It’s a holiday, just for fun… and so on.
Just as he was about to regret it, he suddenly felt a light pressure on his head.
Shi Qi snapped out of it.
At some point, Shang Sui had returned and gently placed the headband on his head.
Shi Qi looked up at him, long, curled lashes trembling slightly. The soft golden fluff at the base of the headband blended almost seamlessly with his hair, making the pointed, perky cat ears look like they had grown straight out of his head.
Shang Sui smiled.
It suited him even better than he’d expected.
Shi Qi, thinking he was being laughed at, asked unhappily, “What’s that supposed to mean?”
He’d picked out a trendy, light-up devil headband for Shang Sui, and this guy gave him something furry?
Noticing the discomfort on Shi Qi’s face, Shang Sui pushed his luck and pinched one of the cat ears. Before Shi Qi could snap at him, he praised:
“Mm, just as I thought—the prettiest little cat in the world.”
