Chapter 33

Zuo Nian shook his head. “Gege isn’t stupid…”
“Then can you forgive me?” Duan Baisui asked.
Zuo Nian’s eyes were puffy and red from crying. “Nian‑nian knows not liking someone isn’t a crime,” he said hoarsely. “But you forgot our promise. That really hurt. I… I don’t want to forgive you yet…”
Something caught in Duan Baisui’s throat. For a moment he was at a loss. Maybe he ought to *do* something—order a new ring? Propose to him properly, all over again?
“You… you can ask me again later…” Zuo Nian mumbled, breaking into his thoughts. “I’m not made of mud either. I have a temper…”
Ruffling his sweat‑damp hair, Duan Baisui said, “All right. So if you’re mad now… am I still allowed to kiss you?”
Zuo Nian’s wet lashes fluttered. “Only on the face,” he whispered.
Duan Baisui put in for five days of leave. This was his Omega’s first heat. He should stay by his side every moment.
With the temporary mark, Zuo Nian calmed a little. His body was still running hot, though, and his pheromones kept slipping out of his control, filling the room with his scent.
Duan Baisui held him close and pressed soft kisses to his face, over and over. Exhausted—first by a whole morning of heat, then by another long bout of tears—Zuo Nian soon dozed off again.
*This idiot is too easy to coax,* Duan Baisui thought. *Too softhearted.* Even when he’d been cried into a mess, the only “punishment” he’d come up with was restricting kisses to the face.
Did he even know how to be angry?
Later, when Aunt Liu brought dinner upstairs, Zuo Nian stirred at the knock.
Blinking drowsily up at him, he watched as Duan Baisui kissed his eyelids and said, “I’ll get the door.”
“Mm…” Zuo Nian answered lazily.
There were three dishes and a soup on the little trolley, with fruit for dessert—everything mild and light. Aunt Liu had probably guessed what was going on.
She left the door only half‑open, professional instinct keeping her gaze from wandering inside. “Is Mr. Zuo feeling any better?” she asked with concern.
Duan Baisui nodded. “He’s fine. Don’t worry.”
Relief softened her face. “That’s good, then.”
He took the trolley from her and closed the door.
Zuo Nian had pushed himself up by then. Bare from the waist up, he was wrapped only to the hipbones in the quilt, all that pale skin almost indecent.
“Was that Aunt Liu?” he asked, his voice still hazy.
“Mm.” Wheeling the trolley to the coffee table by the floor‑to‑ceiling windows, Duan Baisui set out the dishes and fruit one by one, then came back to the bed.
He bundled Zuo Nian tightly in a soft throw, wrapping him up like a cocoon, and then scooped him into his arms.
“Gege, you wrapped up my hands,” the little “caterpillar” complained under his breath. “I can’t eat like this.”
“Who said so?” Duan Baisui asked mildly.
He sat down on the sofa with Zuo Nian on his lap, picked up a small bowl, and lifted a piece of sweet‑and‑sour fish to his lips with his chopsticks. “See? You can.”
Zuo Nian stared at him with great seriousness. “Whoever you are, get off my Gege right now.”
Duan Baisui: “……”
“You’re babbling again,” he said.
“I am not,” Zuo Nian insisted. The moment the fish touched his tongue, he closed his eyes in pleasure. “It just… doesn’t feel real.”
“What doesn’t feel real?” Duan Baisui asked.
“You’re suddenly so gentle. You’re treating Nian‑nian so well,” Zuo Nian said. “It’s like one of those dramas—the domineering CEO doting on his darling.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
Tilting his head, Zuo Nian thought it over. “Right now it’s good. Nian‑nian’s really happy. But I’m also scared…”
“Scared of what?” Duan Baisui’s tone softened. He wanted, bit by bit, to draw out the thoughts Zuo Nian usually buried deep.
“Scared it’s all fake. Scared you’re just interested for a little while. That once you realize I’m not that great, you’ll stop caring again. Then I’ll be really, really sad.”
Duan Baisui shifted his hold on him, lips quirked. “Silly.”
“Don’t call Nian‑nian silly…” Zuo Nian muttered.
“All right.” Duan Baisui kissed his ear. “I don’t want to make empty promises. Pretty words don’t mean anything. But I do want you to know that you’re very, very good in my eyes. Right now I’m completely taken with you. And I think… that feeling is going to last until we’re old. Do you believe me?”
His heart fluttered. Zuo Nian had never heard him say so many sweet things. “I believe you,” he said softly.
He believed anything Duan Baisui told him—just like when they were children.
“So… do you forgive me now?” Duan Baisui asked, seizing the moment.
“Ah?” The sudden change of topic caught Zuo Nian off guard.
“Who was it just now who told me to ‘come back and ask later’?” Duan Baisui teased.
Zuo Nian wrinkled his nose. “I wasn’t actually mad. I forgave you a long time ago. But you forgot our promise. You *should* be punished a little. That’s only fair.”
“So only getting to kiss your face is my punishment?”
“And I said I didn’t forgive you yet,” Zuo Nian added. “You must have been sad just now, right?”
Why was he this adorable?
“Mm.” Duan Baisui dipped his head until their noses brushed. “I was just sad enough. So now… am I still only allowed to kiss your face?”
Stirred, Zuo Nian’s pheromones seeped out again, sweetening the air. He tipped his head back, offering up his lips. “You can kiss lots of places.”
During heat, an Omega’s appetite was poor. He managed only a few bites of the dinner Aunt Liu had sent up before turning his face away. It was normal, and Duan Baisui didn’t push. He coaxed him into eating a bit of fruit and left it at that.
After their hasty meal, he wheeled the trolley back out into the hall for someone to collect.
Zuo Nian lay on his side on the bed, hugging the quilt between his legs, rubbing against it without even knowing. His long white legs lay stretched out on the sheets, a sight that made Duan Baisui’s chest tighten.
Sitting at the foot of the bed, Duan Baisui reached out and caught his ankle. His fingers skimmed over the sole of his foot twice, making the ticklish Zuo Nian try instinctively to yank it back—only to have it held more firmly.
“What are you doing?” he asked in a breathy little whine.
“Still uncomfortable?” Duan Baisui asked.
Zuo Nian shook his head, then nodded. “It doesn’t… hurt. My body just feels weird. Hot and…”
He couldn’t find the right word. He’d never gone through a heat before. So he changed the subject altogether. “Can Gege give Nian‑nian a little more pheromone?”
“Are you sure?” Duan Baisui asked, amusement glinting in his eyes.
“Will it be a lot of trouble? If it is, then forget it,” Zuo Nian said sensibly.
Something darkened in Duan Baisui’s gaze. “Not trouble,” he said. “Of course I can.”
He didn’t tell Zuo Nian that in the early stages of heat, a little soothing pheromone could calm him, and that with a deep enough temporary mark, an Omega’s entire cycle could pass peacefully under that shelter.
He also didn’t say that if he kept Zuo Nian drenched in his scent, the Omega would only lose control more easily.
An Alpha’s pheromones could become the fiercest kind of aphrodisiac, stripping away reason and drowning him.
But it never crossed Duan Baisui’s mind to refuse. This was his Omega’s first time facing something like this. He meant to grant his every request, to make sure he never felt let down.
Slowly, the scent of tequila spilled out—first in faint threads, then in a richer, headier wave.
As if bewitched, Zuo Nian sat up, inhaling deeply. He threw his arms around Duan Baisui’s neck, resting his chin on his shoulder. “It smells so good,” he sighed. “Nian‑nian loves it.”
Duan Baisui stroked up and down his smooth back, each pass of his hand making Zuo Nian shiver all over again.
“Something’s wrong…” Zuo Nian’s voice had gone husky.
“What’s wrong?” Duan Baisui murmured.
“Nian‑nian, Nian‑nian…” He sounded on the verge of tears. “Why does it feel like… like I’m peeing from the back?”
After surgery, his glands had recovered, and his designation had quietly risen to S‑class. Their compatibility had climbed from eighty percent to well over ninety.
He was very sensitive. A little touch, a little coaxing, and he was gone.
When Duan Baisui’s hand slipped down to check, Zuo Nian wriggled away, protesting, “Don’t. It’s dirty. Nian‑nian wet the bed…”
Ignoring that, Duan Baisui forced his hand in. His fingers brushed against damp warmth. “You didn’t wet the bed,” he said gently. “It’s just your body’s reaction. Don’t be scared.”
“I’ve never… done this before…” Zuo Nian whispered.
“I know,” Duan Baisui soothed. “It’s because you’re in heat. And because you like me very, very much. That’s why.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
He lifted his hand for Zuo Nian to see. Clear, viscous fluid clung to his pale fingertips. His expression was as calm as ever. “See? Not what you thought.”
“Gege!” Zuo Nian yelped, scarlet from ears to neck. “Don’t say it. Don’t say it…”
He immediately buried his face in the curve of Duan Baisui’s neck, as if he could hide from the shame that way.
Holding him close, Duan Baisui shifted him so he was straddling his lap, then kissed a trail along his jaw and throat.
Zuo Nian arched back, baring his fragile neck and pale chest, offering himself up without reservation.
When a sharp tug on his chest made pleasure slam through him, he couldn’t stifle the gasp. White noise drowned out his thoughts. He shook, and then everything inside him melted.
Duan Baisui felt the sudden heat soak through his trousers. The place where Zuo Nian was pressed down had gone wet.
“Now look what you’ve done,” he murmured, fingers tightening on Zuo Nian’s waist, his breath hot against his ear. “You’ve ruined my pants.”
Zuo Nian’s small Adam’s apple bobbed. It was a long time before he could answer. “S‑sorry… Nian‑nian will pay you back,” he said faintly.
“But then I won’t have anything to wear tonight,” Duan Baisui added.
Even in his daze, Zuo Nian knew he was doing it on purpose. His closet was full of nearly identical pairs of trousers. *Stinky Gege,* he thought. *He’s bullying me on purpose.*
“Then… then don’t wear any,” Zuo Nian mumbled. “Nian‑nian doesn’t have any pants either.”
In his mind, this was a very fierce retort that would make Gege “back off.”
Instead, Duan Baisui’s smile only deepened. He gave him a long, meaningful look. “All right.”
Something felt off.
Clothes ended up scattered all over the floor. For the first time, there was nothing left between them.
Zuo Nian was a little dazzled by Duan Baisui’s body. The clean lines of his abs were tempting enough—but there was also the deep cut of his “mermaid line,” veins standing out faintly beneath the skin.
It felt almost unfair. How could someone wear such a cold, restrained face and, underneath, have a body that screamed heat?
“What are you looking at?” Duan Baisui asked, letting his gaze travel slowly down Zuo Nian’s own figure.
Flushing hard, Zuo Nian yanked the blanket over himself and ducked under it. “Nothing. Not looking.”
Someone slid in behind him. Solid muscle pressed to his back, strong arms circling his waist—and something even more shocking nudged insistently against him, making his eyes go wide.
“Gege…” he breathed, voice going soft and sticky.
“Mm?” The Alpha’s tone was light, utterly at odds with the heat rolling off his body.