UNCLTRD chapter 28

“Good evening, Mr. Chen.”

Good evening, my ass! Chen Qiusu was in no shape to be fine!

The moment the call connected, Yang Shao clung to it like a lifeline. In his fluster, his tongue stumbled over his words. “Uh… I… uh…”

The doctor glanced at the caller ID, confirming it was Chen Qiusu’s number. “Hello? Is this Mr. Chen?”

“Chen Qiusu… Are you his doctor? He’s in heat!”

The doctor, unsurprised by this late-hour call, had anticipated this situation for some time.

“And you are?”

Yang Shao was on the brink of a meltdown, and the doctor’s measured tone didn’t help. What did it matter who he was? Wasn’t dealing with this heat episode the priority?

“What does who I am have to do with his heat? What’s the solution here? We’re stuck in the mountains without any suppressants—”

Even if suppressants were available, given Chen Qiusu’s current state, they would likely be ineffective.

“Are you the beta?” the doctor inquired.

“Huh?” Yang Shao blinked in confusion. Sure, he was a beta, but how could the doctor know? Was he specifically referring to him?

The doctor sighed. If these two were spending the night alone in the mountains, their relationship had to be anything but ordinary. Since reasoning with Chen Qiusu had failed before, the doctor shifted focus to the beta.

“Sir, you may not fully understand Mr. Chen’s condition. He has been suppressing his heats for an extended period through treatment, which has taken a severe toll on his body. Simply blocking the heat won’t solve the problem—it needs to be resolved naturally.”

Yang Shao couldn’t disagree. Chen Qiusu was a proud alpha, and hiding in a bathroom to deal with his heats was undeniably pathetic. Yang Shao had even suggested finding an omega for him before, but for some reason, Chen Qiusu had refused.

“I told him that!” Finding an omega seemed logical, but Chen Qiusu, ever the delicate flower, wouldn’t comply.

The doctor sighed again. “Mr. Chen has always struggled with this aspect. In all these years, I’ve never seen him have any interactions with an omega.”

What nonsense. Was Chen Qiusu impotent or something? Pretending to be pure in front of a doctor?

Misinterpreting Yang Shao’s silence as understanding, the doctor added, “Mr. Chen needs a partner. Since you’re with him, you’re the best solution right now.”

Yang Shao froze, his expression stiffening. Taking a couple of aimless steps, he replayed the doctor’s words in his head, then let out a dry laugh.

“Are you insane? I have nothing to do with Chen Qiusu! What does his heat have to do with me?”

The doctor didn’t buy his denial. Chen Qiusu had personally admitted to having a history with a certain beta. When the doctor asked earlier, the beta didn’t deny it. That confirmed it. Whatever the nature of their entanglement, it wasn’t the doctor’s concern.

“You mentioned being in the mountains, so returning to the city in time isn’t an option. Apart from my suggestion, there’s really no other way. I’m sorry.”

Sorry?

Sorry was useless!

Yang Shao, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, nearly jumped out of his skin. Frustration boiling over, he lashed out, “Listen, you’re his doctor, and he’s in this state because of you. If anything happens to him, it’s on you. He’s your full responsibility. If he doesn’t make it through the night, you better come collect his body tomorrow!”

What did this have to do with him? At best, he and Chen Qiusu were business partners. He’d already taken one hit with that fake marriage. Did he have to suffer more? For what?

Was this all part of Chen Qiusu’s grand plan? Damn it, what was he thinking? Did Chen Qiusu really need to pull off a scam marriage to trap a beta like him?

The doctor sighed heavily over the phone. “Mr. Chen’s condition had been under control until recently. He personally requested an increased medication dose, citing something important he couldn’t delay due to his heat. I warned him of the risks.”

“And you just agreed? Are you the doctor or is he?”

The doctor felt wronged, too. Chen Qiusu was a patient but also their financial backer. “As doctors, we can only provide advice and disclose potential outcomes. We can’t make decisions for patients. The final choice always rests with Mr. Chen. When he made this request, we couldn’t refuse.”

Something important? In recent weeks, Yang Shao hadn’t seen Chen Qiusu attend anything remotely significant. He had plenty of free time—enough to join Yang Tao at parent-child events and entertain his Aunt and Uncle…

Yang Shao froze for a moment. Could this be what Chen Qiusu referred to as his “something important”?

Suddenly, he recalled finding Chen Qiusu in the bathroom that one night. His reaction then had been almost identical to now, yet the next day, Chen Qiusu had acted like nothing had happened. Had he gone to the hospital for treatment?

Yang Shao turned toward the bed, only to find a mess of disheveled blankets—Chen Qiusu was nowhere to be seen.

Where did he go?!

Just then, the sound of running water came from the bathroom. Yang Shao tossed the phone aside and ran to check. What he saw made his heart sink—Chen Qiusu, still fully clothed, was standing under the shower.

The icy winter water, even in small splashes, would send shivers down anyone’s spine. Yang Shao, shocked, grabbed Chen Qiusu’s wrist and pulled him out of the shower.

Already lightheaded, Chen Qiusu lost his balance from the force and slammed straight into the wall, his chest taking the brunt of the impact.

Yang Shao didn’t have the luxury of worrying about whether Chen Qiusu was hurt. “What the hell is wrong with you?! Are you out of your mind? You’re running a fever, and you’re standing under cold water?”

Chen Qiusu, coughing violently from the water that had entered his throat, pressed a hand to the wall. His forehead veins bulged, and his eyes were bloodshot.

“Leave me alone… just go,” he said hoarsely, pushing at Yang Shao’s hand.

The searing heat radiating from Chen Qiusu’s skin burned Yang Shao’s hand, prompting him to quickly pull away. Without another word, he turned and stormed out of the bathroom, leaving Chen Qiusu behind.

Forget it. Let someone else deal with him.

The phone on the bed shone with an almost blinding light in the dim room. Yang Shao stared at it in a daze, his attention divided as the sound of water from the bathroom sent waves of goosebumps over his skin. He held his breath, the sensation of suffocation gripping him like a vice. When he couldn’t hold it any longer, he exhaled deeply, cursing under his breath before dialing the doctor again.

“If I leave him alone in this state, what will happen to him?” Yang Shao asked through gritted teeth.

The doctor’s response was tactful, “There could be long-term consequences, including potential… dysfunction. Given his high fever, now is hardly an ideal time for his heat. It will only make things worse.”

Hanging up, Yang Shao stood by the bed, inhaling deeply. Wasn’t Chen Qiusu here to repay a debt to him? So who owed whom, exactly?

His grip on the phone tightened until it creaked. With a growl, he flung it onto the pillow, grabbed a clean towel from the wardrobe, and marched back into the bathroom.

The bathroom was dark and humid. Chen Qiusu sat slumped against the wall under the showerhead, his usually composed and dignified demeanor utterly gone. Disheveled and desperate, he looked almost feral, his dilated pupils betraying a faint plea for help.

Alphas might sit at the top of the food chain, but they were pitiful too—slaves to their pheromones, unable to control themselves.

Yang Shao turned off the water and draped the towel over Chen Qiusu’s head. “Get off the floor. Strip down and let’s go to bed.”

Chen Qiusu froze. He didn’t want Yang Shao to force himself into doing something unnecessary. Yang Shao wasn’t obligated to help him, nor did he need to.

As Chen Qiusu shifted under the towel, Yang Shao pressed down on his head to stop him from looking up. “If you talk too much, I might change my mind and if I do, don’t bother begging me later.”

Chen Qiusu felt like he’d been bewitched. Just from Yang Shao’s words, he found himself unable to resist. He followed him, only to regain a semblance of clarity when he saw Yang Tao sleeping in the next bed.

“Yang Tao…” he murmured.

His sense of propriety stopped him. No matter how desperate he was, he couldn’t do something so inappropriate in front of a child.

“Even if the sky falls, Yang Tao won’t wake up,” Yang Shao replied. The kid was a deep sleeper, especially after an exhausting day. Last time, he’d only woken up at night to call Chen Qiusu because he’d been worried about his dad.

Feeling as though he’d been fed some mind-altering potion, Chen Qiusu swallowed hard and quickly stripped off his soaked clothes. The heavy sportswear, drenched through, landed on the floor with a loud thud.

Before Chen Qiusu could do anything else, Yang Shao preempted him. “Don’t touch me. Just lie on the bed.”

Chen Qiusu better behave, Yang Shao thought. He needed to remember who was really in charge here. The last time, Chen Qiusu took advantage of his unguarded moment. Now, Chen Quisu was the one sick, the one weak and vulnerable. If he tried anything out of line, Yang Shao wouldn’t hesitate to break his manhood and leave him to rot in this desolate mountain.

“Yang Shao…”

In the darkness, Chen Qiusu’s murmuring voice brushed against Yang Shao’s ear, sending a shiver down his spine. Before even touching him, Yang Shao could feel the intense heat radiating from his body. How could Chen Qiusu be this hot?

“Don’t call my name.” Not in that sticky, intimate tone.

Yang Shao sat by the bed with a stiff expression, one hand pressing down on Chen Qiusu’s shoulder while the other slipped under the blanket.