The curtains didn’t block out the light very well. A faint ray of sunlight filtered through the gaps, illuminating the bed where an alpha lay in a deep sleep. His breathing was shallow as he rested against Yang Tao, seemingly in a peaceful slumber.
Yang Shao’s mind was still foggy. He quietly closed the door, then opened it again as if to confirm what he had seen. After shutting his eyes tightly and reopening them, he noticed the alpha shifting slightly on the bed, as if to prove his presence was real.
How did he get in? No, no, no! Why is he here? And why is he sleeping on Yang Tao’s bed? No, this doesn’t make sense! What does his presence mean? Could he know something?
Doubts flooded in one after another, leaving Yang Shao’s mind incapable of functioning. He stood stiffly for a moment before moving closer to the bed. Extending a finger, he hesitated before checking if the alpha was breathing.
Alive.
He’s alive, as he should be. If there was no breath, that would be a real disaster.
Should he wake him up and kick him out? Or interrogate him about why he was here? What was his purpose? Countless thoughts flashed through Yang Shao’s mind. His hand lingered mid-air, unnoticed, as the alpha’s eyes fluttered open.
Chen Qiusu was a light sleeper, and the sound of the door opening and closing had roused him. However, his groggy mind hadn’t yet pieced everything together, so he didn’t open his eyes right away.
The room remained quiet, but he could sense someone had entered. The door had opened, closed, and opened again. He thought to himself that if it were the housekeeper, she wouldn’t be so rude. What was going on?
Wait…
He wasn’t at home. The fragments of last night’s events began piecing together in his mind. He had received a call from Yang Tao, accompanied him to look for his father, and then…
As his mind cleared, realization hit Chen Qiusu like a jolt. He opened his eyes abruptly, meeting Yang Shao’s stunned gaze.
Chen Qiusu was the first to react. His eyes dropped to where Yang Shao’s finger was hovering. Startled back to reality, Yang Shao quickly retracted his hand.
Beside them, Yang Tao was still sound asleep, oblivious to the awkward tension between the two adults. Without a word, they silently agreed to avoid waking him. Yang Shao retreated from the room first. Chen Qiusu tucked the blanket snugly around Yang Tao, tidied his appearance, and followed him out.
Yang Shao didn’t look back. The steady sound of footsteps behind him made his hair stand on end. He wasn’t sure why he felt so guilty. Instinctively, he pulled out a pack of cigarettes, lighting one to steady his nerves. The bitter taste of nicotine brought him some composure.
“Yang Shao.” The alpha, with a composed demeanor, spoke first. “My name is Chen Qiusu.”
It was laughable—having shared a bed with someone whose name he didn’t even know. Swallowing hard, Yang Shao forced himself to turn and face Chen Qiusu.
Seeing Chen Qiusu’s calm expression, Yang Shao’s mind spun with countless explanations for his appearance. Did he know about Yang Tao? Was he here to take Yang Tao away? To confront him for secretly raising the child?
Just from his attire, it was evident Chen Qiusu came from a privileged background. Wealthy families tended to value blood ties. In Yang Shao’s imagination, a dramatic custody battle over Yang Tao unfolded, but it all seemed ridiculous. On what grounds, after all?
Chen Qiusu hadn’t expected their reunion to be so awkward and unprepared. Noticing the cigarette in Yang Shao’s hand, he made a simple remark. “Don’t smoke in front of the child.”
Yang Shao froze, instinctively stubbing the cigarette out in the ashtray. So, it was about Yang Tao after all.
“What do you want?”
Perhaps it was the edge in Yang Shao’s tone, but Chen Qiusu chose not to mince words. “You’re Yang Tao’s father. It’s your responsibility to take care of him. He’s still young. Walking home alone is dangerous. Leaving him alone at home at night is even worse. When he couldn’t find you, he was scared, crying on the streets while you were out having fun.”
Chen Qiusu paused, glancing at Yang Shao’s arm as if emphasizing a point. “And now that you’ve received the insurance payout, you should stop taking the child to places like lottery shops. You may not think it’s a big deal, but children are impressionable. Who knows what kind of harmful ideas it might plant in his mind?”
The barrage of accusations left Yang Shao stunned. He stared at Chen Qiusu blankly before snapping back to reality.
What right did Chen Qiusu have to suddenly show up and scold him like this? The mention of the insurance money sparked his anger. How did Chen Qiusu even know about that?
Questions piled up in his mind, but his frustration drowned out the urge to seek answers. All his confusion condensed into fury.
“None of your damn business!”
Chen Qiusu opened his mouth, clearly caught off guard by Yang Shao’s unreasonable reaction. He prided himself on sticking to the facts, none of which he thought were out of line.
“You’re Yang Tao’s father. I’m just an outsider. So, you should know how to take care of your own child. If you couldn’t handle that, you should’ve thought twice before deciding to have him.”
From what he had heard from Agent Qian, Chen Qiusu had some idea of Yang Shao’s situation. His finances weren’t great—juggling odd jobs while raising a child. But being an adult meant understanding the consequences of your choices. “Being busy” wasn’t an excuse.
Yang Shao’s expression shifted from anger to confusion, and then finally, to a bitter smile. He looked Chen Qiusu up and down with mocking eyes. “Heh. Exactly. I should’ve never had a kid in the first place.”
The comment sent an involuntary chill down Chen Qiusu’s spine. He felt there was a deeper meaning behind those words. Avoiding eye contact, he turned his head aside instinctively. “Whether or not you should’ve had him is your business. But now that you do, the only thing to consider is how to take responsibility.”
Chen Qiusu had considered compensating Yang Shao, but their awkward relationship made any words or actions seem out of place.
Both he and Yang Shao seemed to deliberately avoid mentioning what had happened five years ago. He feared that bringing it up might embarrass Yang Shao or disrupt his current life.
Responsibility—Chen Qiusu spoke of it so lightly. Did he not find himself ridiculous?
Yang Shao had shouldered every bit of the responsibility he was supposed to. So how did Chen Qiusu dare to stand there, speaking righteously and shamelessly to his face?
“You…”
“Daddy?” Yang Tao’s voice interrupted their argument. “Uncle Chen…”
Rubbing his eyes at the doorway, Yang Tao looked at them in confusion. “What are you arguing about?”
Not wanting to quarrel in front of the child, and unwilling to damage Yang Shao’s image in his son’s eyes, Chen Qiusu grabbed his suit jacket from the sofa and forced a smile at Yang Tao.
“Your dad’s awake. Uncle will head out first.”
“Huh?”
Chen Qiusu left so quickly that Yang Tao couldn’t catch up after taking two steps. Turning back, he looked at his father.
Damn it! What did Chen Qiusu take this place for? Showing up uninvited and leaving high and mighty!
Wait—why had Chen Qiusu come here in the first place?
Yang Shao forced himself to calm down. Thinking back to what Chen Qiusu had said, it seemed he didn’t know Yang Tao was his son.
Yang Tao? Did Yang Tao bring him home? What the hell was going on?
“Yang Tao! Come here.”
Still groggy from sleep, Yang Tao obediently walked over to his father.
“Did you bring him here? How do you know him?”
Yang Tao had forgotten about this. Uncle Chen was his friend, but not someone who knew his dad. Bringing Uncle Chen home without his father’s consent might not have been the best idea.
Lowering his head, Yang Tao stammered, “Uncle Chen… is my friend…”
What nonsense. Yang Shao suddenly remembered the convenience store clerk mentioning Yang Tao bringing a friend to buy drinks. Later, Yang Tao had brushed it off by saying it was to help an uncle collect points. So they must have already known each other!
“You’ve started lying to me now?”
Yang Tao quickly waved his hands. “No, Daddy, Uncle Chen really is my friend…”
He confessed how he had met Chen Qiusu, carefully watching his father’s expression. “That’s all. Last night, when I woke up and couldn’t find you… and couldn’t reach you by phone, I didn’t know what to do… so I called Uncle Chen…”
Was it really just a coincidence? That was too much of a coincidence. Yang Shao was almost superstitiously inclined to believe in the power of blood ties.
Seeing Yang Tao’s tearful eyes and thinking about how scared he must have been last night, Yang Shao softened. He knew Yang Tao was lonely; otherwise, he wouldn’t have accidentally befriended Chen Qiusu.
Although Chen Qiusu wasn’t qualified to lecture him about responsibility, some of what he said wasn’t wrong—Yang Shao hadn’t done a great job of taking care of Yang Tao.
He ruffled Yang Tao’s hair. “Don’t do that again, okay? Don’t befriend random people, especially Chen Qiusu. From now on, don’t see him again. Stay far away from people like him.”
Yang Tao didn’t understand what “people like him” meant, but he guessed it wasn’t a compliment. Though the immediate crisis had passed, he didn’t dare argue with his father and simply defended Uncle Chen in his heart.
Uncle Chen is nice. He’s definitely a good person.
Yang Tao ended up having a relatively relaxed day. His father even gave him the day off from school. It was rare for the father and son to spend time together, and Yang Tao felt like his misfortune had turned into a blessing.
Privately, Yang Shao couldn’t help recalling what Chen Qiusu had said about the insurance money. He called Agent Qian to discreetly probe and learned that Chen Qiusu was their boss.
Agent Qian casually mentioned, “Mr. Yang, do you know our boss? Don’t be mad at me; I was just following his instructions. As a small employee, I can’t go against the boss’s orders.”
Yang Shao’s face darkened. He didn’t know what misunderstanding had occurred, nor did he care to find out. All this trouble over a trivial insurance payout—Chen Qiusu wasn’t a good person, period.
….
Recently, Yang Tao had been on his best behavior. He didn’t dare test the waters, especially since his dad had started picking him up after school. He messaged Chen Qiusu, asking him not to come around for a while, but never received a reply.
He had no idea his father had blocked Chen Qiusu’s number on his smartwatch and enabled parental controls, allowing only family numbers to call.
1
Author’s note:
1. Yes, both the top and bottom remember each other’s faces. Their encounter lasted several days; it’s just that the bottom’s temper wouldn’t allow him to leave his name.
2. In this setting, betas can only conceive through medical intervention. So even with many coincidences, the top didn’t suspect the child was his.
3. The bottom didn’t terminate the pregnancy because, by the time he realized something was wrong, the baby was already far along. He also grew attached to the child after seeing it and decided to keep it.
4. This is a sweet story—I think it’s very heartwarming.
