CAADTB Chapter 42

The smile on Shang Sui’s face froze into a blank expression, and for a moment, he was too stunned to react.

“—Oh my god, Shi Qi!”

Unlike everyone else present, Lin Yan knew the real nature of their relationship, and his voice practically broke. “Do you even know what you’re doing??”

He instinctively looked at Shang Sui, who was clearly just as surprised.

When Shang Sui didn’t respond after a long moment, Shi Qi’s expression showed a hint of disappointment. “You don’t like it?”

But then he changed his mind and felt justified.

He’d already kissed him, and either way, he wasn’t going to regret it.

“I do.” Shang Sui finally snapped out of it and looked at Shi Qi. “How could I not like it?”

He couldn’t help recalling how it had felt just now.

The soft sensation brushed across his cheek, arms hooked around his neck with the scent of lily of the valley, like being entwined by flowering branches.

If it hadn’t been for the crowd, he would’ve chased after him for another kiss.

He tentatively reached out a hand toward Shi Qi’s head.

As soon as he made the motion, Shi Qi leaned in cooperatively.

“No way, is this really Shi Qi? Has he been possessed or something??”

Qin Shuhe stared at the scene like he’d seen a ghost, then noticed Chu Tao next to him holding up her phone. “Xiao Tao-jie, did you get that on camera? That was insane! Once he sobers up, he has to see this with his own eyes.”

“I’m filming, I’m filming.” Chu Tao beamed, finding the scene very beautiful. “Aiyo, Xiao Qi really knows how to act spoiled.”

As if he’d found the most comfortable spot, Shi Qi stayed sitting on Shang Sui’s lap the whole time after that.

Sitting sideways made him slide off easily, and Shi Qi shifted uncomfortably in his lap. Shang Sui wrapped an arm around his waist and helped him adjust his position.

In doing so, Shang Sui’s loosely hanging knit sweater fell more open. Shi Qi noticed the slender silver necklace swinging slightly, pressing against the tattoo on his collarbone.

He’d been captivated by the butterfly all night, unable to hold back any longer, so he finally reached for it.

As he touched it, the small patch of skin rose slightly and fell again, the half-melted butterfly seeming to come alive with the movement.

Touching wasn’t enough. Shi Qi followed his impulse and lightly dragged a fingernail along the fine line running through the butterflies, neither too hard nor too soft.

Because of Shi Qi’s unruly movements, Shang Sui subconsciously slowed his breathing, and the flapping butterfly seemed to slow with it.

He was starting to feel overheated from all the teasing. At first, he’d tolerated Shi Qi’s drunken behavior, but now the guy was throwing himself into his arms, kissing and touching him like it was nothing.

“What are you doing?”

When he spoke, he lowered his eyes, and only then did he notice that Shi Qi was smiling.

A small smile, probably unconscious, as if the playful intimacy alone made him happy.

Noticing the hidden danger in Shang Sui’s voice, Shi Qi looked up and asked somewhat uneasily, “Are you uncomfortable?”

Had he scratched too hard?

“…I’m fine.”

Shang Sui’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and he silently turned his eyes away without betraying any emotion.

I’m too comfortable, that’s the problem.

Seeing Shi Qi being so obedient, Shang Sui couldn’t bring himself to vent his frustration at him.

But the way they were pressed so close together, with Shi Qi constantly touching or rubbing against him, it felt like a kind of sweet torture. Shang Sui felt that if he stayed any longer, his body might actually start reacting.

Fortunately, Qin Shuhe noticed the time and timely suggested ending the dinner and heading to a karaoke bar.

Shi Qi was still quite out of it. Qin Shuhe offered, “Ge, do you want to head back first? He’d probably do better getting some rest.”

Lin Yan, who was more experienced, said, “It’s fine. Shi Qi will sober up soon. His drunkenness always comes and goes quickly.”

“I want to go home,” Shi Qi suddenly cut in, tugging on Shang Sui’s sleeve with a hint of impatience. “I want to leave with him.”

“…” Even Lin Yan couldn’t bear to look directly. He turned to Shang Sui instead. “Please take good care of him.”

It really wasn’t appropriate to bring a drunken Shi Qi to an entertainment venue. Shang Sui agreed, “We’ll head off then.”

“Bye-bye.” Ying Yuran was a bit tipsy himself. Feeling stuffy, he took off the baseball cap he’d worn all night, revealing a head of striking red hair.

“Be careful, someone might snap a photo of you.”

“It’s fine, it’s a personal outing. As long as I’m not seen with any of the shipbaiting teammates, the fans won’t mind…” Ying Yuran muttered drowsily, then looked toward Shang Sui.

“But ge, you really do look familiar. Have we—” met before?

Chu Tao interrupted before he could finish, “Shut it. Xiao Qi’s going to glare at you again in a second.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, someone caught the mention of their name and looked over sharply.

Seeing Shi Qi tilt his head toward him, Ying Yuran, terrified of being accused of using another outdated pickup line, quickly put his hands together and said, “I wish the two of you live happily ever after, I swear I have no ulterior motives!”

Only then did Shi Qi reluctantly look away.

After saying goodbye to everyone one by one, he followed Shang Sui toward the parking lot.

Snow crunched softly under their feet, and the cold wind of the winter night howled past their ears, but his body felt light, like a soft, fluffy cloud.

Shang Sui noticed him deliberately walking along the edge of the snowbanks, sneaking glances at him every so often. He teased, “Are you this happy to go back with me? Do you even remember your own last name?”

“Mm!” Shi Qi beamed. “I’m very happy.”

A moment later, he asked, “Aren’t you happy?”

He couldn’t shake the feeling that Shang Sui had been preoccupied all night, a bit distracted.

Shang Sui shook his head and said in a soft voice, “I was just thinking…”

His words got lost in the wind, and Shi Qi couldn’t catch the last few. He was about to ask.

But Shang Sui smiled at him. “I’m happy too.”

The light reflected in his eyes, scattering into a blur of dizzying, delicate brilliance.

As if under a spell, Shi Qi followed him into the car in a daze. It wasn’t until they arrived at Shang Sui’s place that he finally snapped out of it.

He found his own fluffy slippers in the shoe cabinet with practiced ease and changed into them, then casually hung his thick coat on the rack by the entryway.

Shang Sui gave him some hangover medicine. Seeing the flush on Shi Qi’s cheeks gradually fade, Shang Sui guessed he was slowly sobering up. “Go take a shower? Then straight to bed.”

Just like Lin Yan had said, Shi Qi’s drunkenness came quickly and left just as fast.

“Oh, okay.”

Shi Qi agreed, but didn’t move for a while.

Shang Sui joked, “Do you want me to help you wash?”

Shi Qi tilted his head up, and unexpectedly, there was a hint of anticipation in his eyes. “Can you?”

Shang Sui stared into that innocent, flower-bud-like face for a moment and tried to convince himself: it would be just like bathing a cat or dog.

Even if Shi Qi took off all his clothes, he wouldn’t think too much. And even if he happened to touch some private areas, that would just be unavoidable during the process of washing…

Who’s he kidding.

Next thing, Shi Qi would be asking what was poking him.

Shang Sui admitted to himself that he couldn’t possibly stay unaffected. He shook his head.

Shi Qi pouted in disappointment, took the change of clothes, and went to the bathroom.

After his shower, Shi Qi was a little dazed from the steam. He wandered out in search of Shang Sui. Along the way, he accidentally pushed open a door.

He stopped walking, and only after a moment realized it was the studio.

Light from the hallway behind him illuminated part of the room. Directly facing him stood a covered painting. A sheet of white cloth draped over the canvas like Pandora’s box, concealing danger and secrets.

During his rut, Shang Sui had said he was working on a new painting and asked if he wanted to see it.

At the time, Shi Qi had suppressed his curiosity and declined. But now…

There was no one else around. Maybe just a quick peek?

Once the thought crossed his mind, it tempted him forward step by step. He couldn’t help reaching out his hand.

As the soft rustle of the cloth being pulled back sounded, Shi Qi’s pupils suddenly contracted.

A cage, an angel, a gem-studded chain, vividly colored flowering vines.

Everything combined into an overwhelming rush of love and desire, enough to engulf someone completely. Through the canvas, the artist’s thick, fervent emotions were exposed in full.

The angel’s blurred face looked familiar. The platinum-blond hair was veiled in a dreamlike halo. A small rouge-colored mole adorned the snow-white, supple thigh.

Shi Qi stared blankly at the painting before him. That same spot on his own thigh suddenly turned burning hot.

“Xiao Qi?”

A familiar voice sounded out of nowhere.

Shi Qi whipped around.

Standing at the door was the Alpha, half his face hidden in shadow, leaving only his beautifully shaped lips and chin visible. His eyes were unreadable in the darkness.

Yet Shi Qi could feel a tangible gaze sweep over the painting behind him, thick with lust and affection, before finally landing on his own face.

“You pulled off the cover yourself?”

Shang Sui stepped into the room as he spoke.

A strange pressure welled up in his chest. In his panic, the cloth in Shi Qi’s hand slipped and fell to the floor.

Shang Sui stood backlit, his features obscured. Seeing such an intense reaction, he walked forward step by step.

“What’s wrong? You’re not afraid of me, are you?”

A beat too late, Shi Qi remembered that Shang Sui had once praised him for being as beautiful as an angel.

At the time, he had thought it was just a simple metaphor. Now, he realized that compliment had carried another layer of meaning.

“The person in the painting… is it me?”

“Of course it’s you,” Shang Sui replied lightly. “It could only ever be you.”

Shi Qi unintentionally caught sight of metal chains piled in the corner of the room. Thinking of the angel in the painting, bound by restraints, his body stiffened involuntarily.

Shang Sui stopped a few steps away from him. “I painted it during my rut. That time tends to amplify the darker side of an Alpha. I was out of control…”

He paused for a moment, even he had to admit how ridiculous that sounded. “It’d be easy to brush it off with some high-sounding excuse, but I don’t want to lie to you.”

Shi Qi looked like he wanted to say something, his mouth parting slightly.

“That’s it, Xiao Qi. This is my truest desire.”

Before Shi Qi could fully process the meaning of those words, Shang Sui added, “I can control people with my mind. Do you remember what that felt like?”

“—Look at me.”

Shi Qi’s eyes, which had been darting about, suddenly froze. He couldn’t help but look directly at Shang Sui.

“Even among Alphas with special ruts, this ability is extremely rare. At one point, it made me feel…”

Utterly disgusted.

But thanks to you, I started to think differently.

He didn’t say that part out loud. Looking at the silent Shi Qi, he assumed it was fear.

Shang Sui didn’t even know what he was feeling anymore.

Part of him was sad. He really was too extreme, and not being understood seemed inevitable. Shi Qi had probably never imagined he harbored such dark thoughts.

The other part was shamelessly, abnormally thrilled.

What now?

You’re already scared, but the scarier part hasn’t even come yet.

At this point, he might as well lay it all bare. “Back then, when you were mesmerised and wanted to be close to me, it was also because I hypnotized you through mental manipulation.”

“No!”

Shi Qi refuted it instantly.

He had recovered from his earlier shock. Hearing the self-deprecating tone in Shang Sui’s voice, he didn’t hesitate. “If at the beginning you could say part of it was hypnosis, after that phone call interrupted, I came to my senses.”

“So…”

Wanting to stay with you intimately through your rut was entirely my own choice.

Shi Qi felt a bit embarrassed to say the rest out loud, so instead he pointed toward the painting behind him. “I’m not bothered by what you said. Whether it’s your rut or your true thoughts, I’m okay with it.”

“…”

This time, it was Shang Sui who couldn’t react.

The unrelenting look from before disappeared from the Alpha’s face, replaced with complete bewilderment.

Shi Qi looked at his expression and couldn’t help but want to laugh.

It only took a single sentence to coax him into feeling better, so why did he act like he’d committed some unforgivable sin?

“The painting is beautiful.”

“I wasn’t silent because I was angry or afraid. I was just too surprised, and I didn’t expect you to suddenly walk in.”

He felt a little guilty for secretly peeking at someone else’s things.

Shi Qi paused briefly, then looked at him with sparkling eyes. “When you said ‘desire,’ what exactly did you mean?”

Facing the anticipation hidden in his gaze, Shang Sui was silent for a moment.

He didn’t answer directly. Instead, he suddenly brought up a topic that seemed unrelated.

“The bouquet you received the year you graduated—was it Endless Summer hydrangea, larkspur, and spirea?” Seeing Shi Qi’s puzzled expression, Shang Sui rephrased it more simply. “A blue and pink bouquet, decorated with white branches.”

“Hm? Yeah.”

Shi Qi didn’t know why he was asking that, but he still recalled, “The wrapping paper was light yellow.”

Two summers ago, Shang Sui had returned to the capital by chance and happened to pass by the affiliated school.

He remembered that Shi Qi had once mentioned he attended that school, likely from middle school all the way through high school.

Back then, when Shi Qi was frightened off by his out-of-control rut episode, Shang Sui had never once considered disturbing him again in the four years that followed.

But standing at the school gate, staring at the granite stone engraved with the school’s name, and thinking about who might be inside, he stopped in place, momentarily lost in thought.

A cheerful voice suddenly interrupted him. “Hey, handsome! Want to buy some flowers?”

Shang Sui turned around and saw a florist. “Today’s graduation day for the affiliated school. Students will be flooding in soon to buy bouquets, and the flowers will sell out fast! But you’re early, so we still have Avalanche roses, lisianthuses, Teddy Bear sunflowers… Oh, and Endless Summer hydrangeas. Lots of colors, and they look really good in pictures!”

Endless Summer?

Maybe it was the coincidental mention of that flower, or maybe the florist was just too enthusiastic, but Shang Sui had ended up stepping into the shop, carefully selecting flower types, even specifying the wrapping paper color.

The florist kept complimenting his aesthetic sense, saying the combination he chose made for a particularly beautiful bouquet.

In the end, she said, “Wishing the graduate who receives this bouquet a bright future and great success!”

But the bouquet had no recipient. To be honest, he didn’t even know what Shi Qi looked like anymore.

“I was the one who gave your friend that bouquet.” Shang Sui paused slightly. “I just happened to be passing by.”

Realizing Shang Sui was referring to the bouquet that Ying Yuran had handed him, and the one he ended up holding for his graduation photos, Shi Qi slowly widened his eyes and asked in disbelief, “Really…! That bouquet was from you?! How could it be such a coincidence?”

In truth, there was an even bigger coincidence.

That day had been the summer solstice two years ago, and also the same day six years earlier, he and Shi Qi had first met.

That friend of Shi Qi’s had unwittingly played the role of a messenger, delivering the bouquet to the person it was truly meant for on a special day.

“I thought so too.” Shang Sui revealed the reason he had seemed distracted throughout the evening. “After hearing him talk about it, I kept thinking about it. It feels like… fate coming full circle?”

He had always assumed Shi Qi was afraid of him, which was why he didn’t dare to meet or disturb him. If he had known that Shi Qi had long since forgotten everything—

At the very least, he could have approached the eighteen-year-old Shi Qi as a kind stranger and personally handed him that bouquet of hydrangeas.

“You asked if I was unhappy? Actually, no, just a bit regretful.”

“I wish I had been the one who met you back then.”

He didn’t want any more missed chances or to keep looking back, thinking everything was just some great coincidence.

After saying that, Shang Sui finally made up his mind. “I have something to tell you.”

Shi Qi followed immediately. “I have something to tell you too.”

Forget waiting.

He’d planned to give the gift at just the right, romantic moment.

But there was no better moment than now.

With that thought, Shi Qi fixed his gaze on him.

“I like you.”

Shang Sui spoke at almost the exact same time.

“I’ve always liked you.”

I used to hate the frequent midsummer thunderstorms—they reminded me of things I’d rather forget.

But because I met you in the summer, I began to see the season as something romantic.

From seventeen years old until now.

I’ve always liked you.

Their eyes met. Realizing what the other had just said, Shi Qi blurted out, “Be with me!”

Shang Sui was just a beat behind. His lashes quivered, and his voice came soft and slow. “Don’t leave me again.”

“Shang Sui?” Shi Qi was caught off guard. “Your eyes…”

Shang Sui’s eyes were slightly red, not from crying, but from holding too much inside, like it could all spill out any second.

Shi Qi had never seen such complex, indescribable emotion in someone’s eyes. He could only think of one explanation. “Have you been waiting a long time?”

Shang Sui smiled, then slowly nodded.

“I’ve waited a very, very long time. So long that I thought… I wouldn’t make it.”

Though he smiled, his fingers trembled involuntarily, making it seem as though he was afraid.

That kind of fear you get when you’re finally truly happy, afraid that this might be the only beautiful moment in life, and it might never come again.

Turns out, while he was hesitating, the other person had been holding the same feelings, maybe even more nervous.

It was like an invisible thread tugged at Shi Qi’s heart. He opened his arms and wrapped Shang Sui in a tight embrace, clasping his trembling hand.

“I’m a little slow, so maybe you had to wait longer than you thought… maybe even longer than that.”

“But as long as we crossed paths—”

Just like how cats are always drawn to butterflies.

“I know I’d fall for you, and I won’t be able to stop myself from confessing.”

“So before today finally came, thank you for waiting for me.”

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Author’s note: Here it is! Took a long time to revise the last paragraph, sorry for the wait.