“No, I… you, that…!”
Jiang Yan stammered for a long time. Just as Shang Sui’s patience was about to run out, footsteps suddenly came from inside the house.
Shi Qi, wearing an oversized hoodie set, walked out from the innermost room.
The clothes on him were a light cream color, matching his hair tone very well. When Shi Qi saw the hesitant-looking Alpha, he finally realized who had been ringing the doorbell. “Jiang Yan?”
Seeing them standing at the doorway, Shi Qi asked, “Aren’t you coming in?”
Jiang Yan thought to himself: it’s not that I don’t want to, it’s that your boyfriend won’t let me.
But in the next second, Shang Sui warmly offered, “Yeah, don’t just stand at the door. Come in if there’s something to say.”
Jiang Yan: “?”
Before he could marvel at how quickly Shang Sui changed his attitude, Shi Qi noticed the glandular patch at the back of his neck. “What happened to your neck?”
Whether Omega or Alpha, that area was extremely important. No one would ever let someone touch it, let alone get injured there.
Jiang Yan stammered, “Uh, this…”
Shang Sui hadn’t noticed his neck earlier. Now, he raised an eyebrow slightly. “Don’t tell me you actually got…?”
He twitched his nose faintly. Even though Jiang Yan had used a lot of blockers, he could still catch a faint chilly scent of guaiacwood.
It was Shen Qianyu’s pheromone.
Now Shang Sui genuinely felt a bit sorry for him. Once they entered the living room, he poured Jiang Yan a glass of water.
“Go on.” Shang Sui rarely showed him such concern. “If necessary, I’ll help you call the police.”
“I…”
Jiang Yan really didn’t know where to start. Shi Qi assumed it was hard to talk with him around, so he got up on his own. “I’ll go play some games, you guys talk.”
“No, no, that’s not needed!” Jiang Yan waved his hand. “It’s actually not a big deal. I just got bitten by Shen Qianyu.”
“More like marked,” Shang Sui added coolly.
Shi Qi’s eyes widened. He finally understood where the wound on Jiang Yan’s neck came from.
He tried to picture the scene. Comparing it to the now-disheveled Jiang Yan in front of him, he surprisingly wanted to witness it firsthand.
Jiang Yan said in despair, “I went home today, and as soon as I opened the door, I saw Shen Qianyu inside. I didn’t realize he was in rut, and then… and then this happened.”
As he spoke, he felt a burning heat radiate from the place where his neck had been marked.
Shi Qi was a bit surprised. “He can just open your front door like that?”
“Huh? What about it?”
Seeing Jiang Yan didn’t find it strange, Shi Qi guessed maybe all Alphas close to each other were like this.
Shi Qi nodded. “It’s nothing. Shang Sui and I are like that too.”
Shang Sui chuckled beside him, thinking Shi Qi really knew how to make comparisons. Jiang Yan, this unlucky guy, turned red in the face.
After somewhat calming himself, Jiang Yan continued, “I found a chance to tie Shen Qianyu up and then left home. But he seemed really abnormal. He… he even cried in front of me.”
“I was afraid something would happen to him, and I didn’t know how to deal with it, so I came to ask.”
The more Shi Qi listened, the more something felt off. “He was in rut, and you left your own house?”
“…”
The realization hit Jiang Yan out of nowhere. He thought: That’s right! That’s my house. Shen Qianyu is the one who should be leaving!
Before he could sort out the logic, Shi Qi looked at him with sympathy. “You’re really pitiful.”
Jiang Yan’s brain glitched for a second and almost heard it as “You’re really in love.”
Shang Sui saw that Shi Qi had unintentionally hit a sore spot, making Jiang Yan blush in just a few words. He laughed and ruffled Shi Qi’s hair. “You really have a way with words.”
Seeing Jiang Yan staring at him, Shang Sui wiped away the amusement from his face, and his smile faded. “If you want to, just leak the news that the deputy director of Ningshan went crazy and bit an Alpha. Who’s gonna trust a mentally unstable doctor with anything important after that?”
“If you make enough trouble for him, he won’t be able to come after you again.”
Jiang Yan was stunned by his idea and only managed to speak after a while. “We’ve been friends for so many years…”
“You won’t cut him off, and you can’t bear to make trouble for him either. Isn’t that just letting him have complete control over you?” Shang Sui said leisurely. “Since you can’t stand to see Shen Qianyu cry in front of you, I suggest you go ahead and offer yourself up.”
Jiang Yan opened his mouth, about to say something.
The doorbell suddenly rang.
Jiang Yan had a bad feeling and quickly walked to the door in a few steps.
The person on the screen was unmistakably the “crying” Alpha he had just mentioned.
The man was well-dressed, wearing rimless glasses, looking polite and refined. If not for the sturdy bite guard strapped to his face, he wouldn’t have looked like someone in the middle of a rut at all.
Jiang Yan stared at the screen like he’d seen a ghost, his voice shaking. “Didn’t I tie him up? I even wrapped it three times! …No, I have to hide!”
Shang Sui said simply, “Closet.”
Thinking that it might be more convenient for Shang Sui to talk to Shen Qianyu alone, Shi Qi stood up. “I’ll go with Jiang Yan.”
Inside the closet, Jiang Yan sat with his head in his hands, not speaking, like a golden retriever who’d made a mess. He gave off a completely dazed, disoriented aura.
Shi Qi couldn’t help but ask, “Do you really not like Shen Qianyu?”
If he didn’t care, why would he be this torn up?
“I don’t know.”
Jiang Yan met Shi Qi’s clear eyes, like looking into a mirror, and couldn’t help but murmur, “I used to think Shen Qianyu liked Shang Sui. The day he confessed to me, I was shocked for a long time.”
“?”
Shi Qi was equally shocked. “Why?”
“I always thought they were closer. Maybe because Shen Qianyu was Shang Sui’s personal doctor? It felt like they had some kind of shared secret.”
Jiang Yan recalled, “There was one night in high school, during a thunderstorm. Shen Qianyu had a nightmare. I heard him call Shang Sui’s name in his sleep… He’s always hated thunderstorms.”
Huh?
Shi Qi froze for a moment.
What a coincidence, both Shang Sui and Shen Qianyu hated thunderstorms.
Jiang Yan snapped back to his senses and realized he had just been rambling nonsense in front of Shi Qi. He quickly tried to salvage the situation, “Don’t tell Shang Sui, okay? Last time he scolded me and told me to get my brain checked, to see if it stopped developing at age ten.”
“If he finds out I was talking nonsense to you, I’m definitely getting kicked out.”
Shi Qi couldn’t help but laugh. Under Jiang Yan’s nervous gaze, he nodded in agreement, then asked, “Isn’t Shang Sui pretty even-tempered? Why do you all think he’s hard to get along with?”
“He’s even-tempered? That’s him pretending to be obedient in front of you.”
Speaking of this, Jiang Yan clicked his tongue. “You have no idea. Just now, when you weren’t around, he was ridiculously rude. He didn’t even want to let me in.”
“Really?”
“Really.” Seeing Shi Qi’s interest, Jiang Yan got more animated. “Let me tell you, Shang Sui used to be super cold. He’s like a completely different person now.”
“Even now, except when he’s around you, he still doesn’t bother with people much, and it’s common for him not to reply to messages…”
Jiang Yan rattled off story after story. The version of Shang Sui he described was somewhat like the person Shi Qi knew, but at the same time, completely different.
It felt like seeing another side of Shang Sui, and Shi Qi listened with great interest.
Just then, someone knocked on the door.
The subject of their conversation spoke from outside. “Jiang Yan? Shen Qianyu wants to talk to you. If you don’t want to, I’ll send him back—”
As Shang Sui spoke, he opened the door. The two inside had been chatting happily, but they stopped instantly in perfect sync the moment they saw him.
Noticing the smile still tugging at Shi Qi’s lips, Shang Sui’s gaze paused. “What were you two talking about? Looks like you’re having a great time.”
Shi Qi couldn’t exactly say “We were gossiping about you behind your back,” so he exchanged a look with Jiang Yan and decisively shook his head.
Shang Sui’s expression turned cold in an instant. He turned to the person behind him and said, “Hey, take Jiang Yan with you.”
Jiang Yan: “?”
Without any clear reason, Jiang Yan suddenly found himself stripped of any say in the matter. Before he could protest, Shen Qianyu came in, grabbed his wrist, and dragged him out.
The rut left Shen Qianyu with barely any reason remaining, and he was barely holding on. Seeing Jiang Yan laughing and chatting with Shi Qi, an image suddenly flashed through his mind. The other day, Jiang Yan had gone on a blind date arranged by his family, chatting non-stop with a complete stranger, an Omega he’d seemed to hit it off with effortlessly.
It was that day he couldn’t hold back and confessed to Jiang Yan.
He gripped Jiang Yan’s wrist tightly, ignoring his protests, and said to Shang Sui, “Sorry to bother you today.”
Shang Sui gave a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “It’s no bother. Just make sure you keep him under control.”
Watching Shen Qianyu all but drag Jiang Yan out by force, Shi Qi couldn’t help but ask, “Is Jiang Yan going to be okay?”
“You’ve still got time to worry about him?”
After speaking in a low tone, Shang Sui’s fingers crept up the side of Shi Qi’s neck, forcing him to look his way. “Baby, how could you keep secrets from me with someone else?”
Then he gave the Omega’s neck a firm but measured squeeze, a clear warning.
The fragile and sensitive glands were held in someone’s hand, leaving Shi Qi unable to move. He couldn’t help but recall Jiang Yan complaining about how moody Shang Sui was, sometimes downright terrifying.
The next moment, Shang Sui leaned in like a spoiled child. “They finally left. The two of them are so annoying. Let me hold you.”
Shi Qi had just listened to Jiang Yan badmouth him at length and knew he was in the wrong, so he stayed motionless, guilt written all over him.
Shang Sui’s hand gripped his slender waist, kneading along the side, and as expected, he heard Shi Qi’s breath catch.
He lifted the hem of the hoodie and touched the silky sleepwear underneath. He couldn’t help but laugh. “Why are you wearing another layer?”
As if finding enjoyment in undressing Shi Qi himself, Shang Sui was especially enthusiastic. He bent one leg, pressing his knee onto the sofa, and his tall, upright figure loomed over Shi Qi.
The walk-in closet was laid out in a U-shaped wardrobe configuration, with a sofa in the center, and directly across from it was a full-length mirror.
Shi Qi was pressed into the sofa, and caught sight in the mirror of Shang Sui’s lips softly pecking his cheek, then gradually moving down to his neck.
The Alpha’s sharp canines pressed against his skin, applying more pressure until the snow-white skin indented, then began to gently suck.
Not only did his neck begin to bloom with ambiguous red marks, but Shang Sui’s lips also flushed from the friction, making it all feel a bit too heart-racing.
“Let’s continue the thing that got interrupted earlier.”
Hearing the voice laced with desire by his ear, Shi Qi suddenly recalled Jiang Yan’s words: Shang Sui pretends to be obedient in front of you.
Once the possibility crossed his mind, Shi Qi itched to test him. “It’s so late now, why don’t we continue tomorrow?”
The Alpha’s movements paused. He stared at him steadily.
Shi Qi deliberately added, “I’m so tired. I’ve been reviewing every day, and my brain’s about to explode.”
As he spoke, he lightly patted Shang Sui’s shoulder and feigned a drowsy look. “Let’s talk tomorrow, okay?”
It was nearing midnight, which was definitely not early.
Shang Sui cursed Jiang Yan and Shen Qianyu in his mind one after the other. If it weren’t for their interruption, he would’ve at least had his fingers inside by now. At that point, Shi Qi wouldn’t be thinking about being tired.
But Shi Qi obediently let him hold him, whispering he hadn’t rested well lately, that he wanted to sleep beside him, and wanted his pheromones for comfort. This dependent demeanor made Shang Sui reluctant to push any further.
“Okay.” Shang Sui suppressed his frustration and replied gently, “Then let’s sleep.”
He gave Shi Qi one last kiss, then added with some reluctance, “I’ll go take a shower. You get in bed first.”
Seeing him actually walk away, Shi Qi couldn’t help but lift the corners of his lips, thinking Shang Sui was surprisingly obedient.
With that, the urge to tease only grew stronger.
That night when they confirmed their relationship, his mind had been foggy, and he hadn’t seen what Shang Sui looked like fully undressed. But the other had seen him completely. Wasn’t it only fair to return the favor?
With that thought, Shi Qi waited in the walk-in closet for a while. Estimating that enough time had passed, he walked toward the bathroom in slippers.
He pushed the door open directly, ignoring the person inside, and announced straightforwardly, “I left something in the bathroom. I came in to find it.”
As he spoke, he secretly glanced at Shang Sui.
The bathroom was filled with mist, everything appearing hazy and soft. The person inside lifted his eyes to look at him, water droplets dampening his bangs. Those slightly upturned eyes carried an intense aggressiveness.
The more Shi Qi looked, the hotter his face became. The prank he had planned earlier turned into a mess, and he instinctively wanted to run.
Shang Sui’s eyes flickered, and seeing Shi Qi’s expression, he quickly realized that the other had been playing with him from the start.
He softened his voice, like a spider weaving a web. “Not tired anymore, Xiao Qi?”
Caught off guard, Shi Qi walked right into the trap. “Not at all, I’m wide awake.”
This time, Shang Sui didn’t hold back. “Then come here.”
Shi Qi trembled all over, his body suddenly refusing to obey him.
Only a beat later did he realize—Shang Sui had used mental control on him.
Like a little robot receiving a command, Shi Qi walked step by step deeper into the bathroom. The hoodie set he’d been wearing had already been taken off by Shang Sui, leaving only a thin nightshirt that reached his thighs, which quickly got splashed by water.
His body was no longer under his control, and only his eyes could move freely.
His gaze passed over the Alpha’s explosive physique: from broad shoulders and firm chest to a taut and defined waist and abdomen, and then downward…
Shi Qi stared blankly for a long moment, confirming that he wasn’t seeing things.
What had previously only appeared in textbooks suddenly came into full view, far beyond the average image in his mind.
Even though he had been mentally prepared, the shock of seeing it directly was far more intense.
While he was frozen in place, Shang Sui walked out from under the showerhead and approached him.
His wet fingers pushed back the hair covering his eyes, revealing his sharp features more clearly. Then he reached out and hooked a finger under Shi Qi’s chin.
Shi Qi caught a whiff of water lilies; clearly just the elegant scent of shower gel, yet it made his head spin.
Shang Sui suddenly asked, “What were you looking for? I’ll help you.”
The sound of running water in the steamy bathroom hadn’t stopped, and Shi Qi’s heart pounded faster and faster.
“Looking for something…? Oh, right… I was looking for…”
Only then did he remember the excuse he’d made up, but his brain felt like a machine rusted over by the steam, sputtering and unable to come up with anything.
Dazed, Shi Qi lifted his head and met Shang Sui’s gaze.
Kiss him. Kiss him.
It was as if a bewitching voice whispered over his shoulder.
Unable to resist any longer, Shi Qi tossed aside the excuse he couldn’t remember, stood on tiptoe, and lifted his head to touch the Alpha’s lips.
The moment their lips met, the sweetness of honey wrapped around his senses. Shi Qi couldn’t help but tentatively lick, but waited and waited without getting any response from Shang Sui.
Clearly it was Shang Sui who had first used mental manipulation on him, so why was he the only one making an effort here?
Feeling dissatisfied, Shi Qi bit down on Shang Sui’s lips, not understanding why the other didn’t respond.
Shang Sui hadn’t moved a muscle the entire time. After a moment, he suddenly said, “Looks to me like you’re just looking to get fucked.”
Shi Qi hadn’t expected him to speak so crudely. He stood there, dumbfounded, his face flushing red, unable to get a word out.
Why… why did Shang Sui suddenly say something like that! It’s not like he did anything, right?
Seeing how pitiful he looked, Shang Sui instead smiled, eyes curving. The previously cold and domineering look vanished from his face, replaced by a clearly amused expression.
Shi Qi came back to his senses, feeling completely wronged. “Didn’t you mentally manipulate me? It’s not like I wanted to kiss you.”
As if he’d just heard something amusing, the smile in Shang Sui’s eyes deepened. “You think I used mental control on you?”
“What else could it be?”
“No, I didn’t do anything.”
Shi Qi was stunned.
He stole a few more glances, meeting Shang Sui’s calm expression. His intuition told him the other wasn’t lying.
Then all those things he’d just done…?
Embarrassment surged up all at once. Shi Qi turned his head, wanting to leave, but Shang Sui grabbed his arm.
Settling both old and new scores, Shang Sui pulled him back, patted his flushed cheek, and exposed the move Shi Qi thought he’d hidden so well. “And what were you staring at the moment you walked in?”
“…”
“Lewd cat.”
After being teased repeatedly, Shi Qi grew angry out of shame and snapped, throwing caution to the wind, “Yeah, I did want to kiss you. What, I can’t?”
“What’s wrong with looking? Every part of your body belongs to me anyway. I can do whatever I want—”
Before he could finish unilaterally declaring that, Shang Sui wrapped his arm around his waist and lifted him up.
Through the thin fabric of the nightshirt, he could clearly feel the warmth of the other’s body. Shi Qi heard Shang Sui’s voice close to his ear, half-forcing the question.
“What exactly do you want?”
The person who had been so fierce just moments before suddenly went silent, like someone had hit pause.
Shang Sui gave him a couple of prompting pats.
Shi Qi tensed his legs and finally confessed under pressure, “…I want to do what we did before.”
Author’s note:
I was late because I was sorting out the plot that comes later.
This time was pretty much the same process as last time, but still didn’t go all the way. Let’s take it step by step (though it doesn’t feel that step-by-step, we’re getting close).
