Chapter 64: Falsehood

“What is this?”

Qiu Sui stared coldly at the Alpha in front of him, his fingertip pressing against the laptop to slowly slide the screen toward Shen Zhixiao. His voice was cool and light, carrying the calm before the storm.

The photos in the folder had been scrolled to the bottom by Qiu Sui, sorted by time and densely filling the entire screen. The protagonist in every image was Qiu Sui.

Wearing his high school uniform and throwing an arm around classmates, playing basketball with friends on the court, sneaking out during training camp with Qiao Keren to Snack Street, squatting at the neighborhood entrance to hail a cab… These unfamiliar photos were undeniable proof that he’d been secretly photographed by the other man during times when he was completely unaware. The earliest ones could be traced back to his first year of high school.

First year of high school.

Qiu Sui’s nerves twitched sensitively, stirring up a surge of emotions.

Shen Zhixiao was caught off guard by the photos on the screen. The warmth drained instantly from his face, leaving it bloodless.

His body froze in place as if nailed down by an icy longsword, only his eyes slowly meeting Qiu Sui’s scrutinizing gaze. A violent panic exploded in his heart, nearly sapping all his strength.

Shen Zhixiao’s stiff fingers trembled as he reached out to touch Qiu Sui again, his voice unsteady. “Baby…”

“Don’t call me that.” Qiu Sui stood and dodged his hand, unable to control the volume as it rose. His chest heaved with intensifying emotions.

He stared intently at Shen Zhixiao in front of him, scanning from the man’s panicked eyes to his pale lips. A massive sense of absurdity buried his heart, and he unconsciously pulled a mocking smile. His voice was soft. “So the perverted Alpha was you.”

Shen Zhixiao’s lips quivered as he tried to explain, but Qiu Sui didn’t give him the chance. He continued with a slow curl of his lips. “It was fun making me live in constant fear every day, then pretending to help me, toying with me like that, right?”

By the end, Qiu Sui couldn’t control his tone, raising the volume again. The eyes fixed on Shen Zhixiao reddened with surging emotions.

“No, it’s not like that. I can explain…” Shen Zhixiao saw his reddening eyes and panicked, shuffling closer to hug him.

“Explain what? That the person sending me harassing texts since my first year of high school—making me change my number and still not stopping—wasn’t you? Or that the one who made me jump at shadows every day since school started, who dragged me into the Equipment Room during military training, who said in the texts he wanted to mark me—wasn’t you?!”

Qiu Sui sensed his intent and retreated in revulsion, lashing out with agitated questions. He grabbed something at random and pointed it at the approaching Alpha, warning coldly in near fury. “Don’t come any closer!”

Shen Zhixiao’s steps staggered to a halt. Feeling Qiu Sui’s wary, stranger-like gaze, his heart felt torn open by an invisible force, even his breath turning bitter and metallic.

His posture slumped in defeat, head bowed to Qiu Sui like a condemned prisoner. He could only tremble his dry lips, issuing an uneasy, terrified plea. “I-I was wrong. Don’t be afraid of me, baby. I was wrong. I was too impulsive before, I…”

He instinctively moved toward his lover.

Qiu Sui meant what he said. In the next instant, the Aroma Diffuser Cup in his hand flew toward Shen Zhixiao.

The glass cup smashed against the man’s chest with a dull thud, then quickly rolled to the floor with a sharp crack, plunging the room’s atmosphere to freezing.

“I said, don’t come closer.” Qiu Sui stared ahead in reflexive tension, his lashes quivering faintly at the impact.

Seeing him tense up, back rigid like a cornered cat bristling with fur, Shen Zhixiao’s lungs felt emptied by the blow. Breathing grew labored and rough.

His Pheromones began leaking uncontrollably with his emotions, like countless fine needles surging through his blood into his organs, erupting in dense itch and pain. Even his voice trembled. “I won’t come over.”

Shen Zhixiao waved his hands in panic, trying to soften his tone to ease Qiu Sui’s rejection. “We can slowly explain everything… Don’t be afraid of me…”

“What is there left to explain?” Qiu Sui’s voice held no relaxation. His lowered hand clenched until the knuckles blanched white. The built-up resentment and helpless betrayal made him lash out without thinking. “The facts are right there. You had countless chances to come clean, but you didn’t. If I hadn’t found out, you’d have kept hiding it forever—until you got bored one day and decided to tell me, right?”

As he spoke, his gaze fell on the Pheromone Suppression Ring around Shen Zhixiao’s neck. A sardonic twitch pulled at his lips, as if struck by irony. He felt suffocated in icy water, every word like shards of frost. “You already have a malignant Susceptible Period. All those words before—they were just lies to deceive me.”

Shen Zhixiao’s lashes fluttered in alarm at his words, grasping for any excuse. “I-I was just afraid you couldn’t accept the malignant Susceptible Period…”

“You were just afraid I’d suspect you.” Qiu Sui pierced through bluntly. He wanted to scoff but lacked the strength to curl his lips, only murmuring softly. “So when I asked about your Pheromone scent that day, you panicked and made up an excuse, right?”

“I actually believed it…” Believed I could really smell your Pheromones, got so excited about it. By the end, his shoulders trembled, emotions breaking as he choked out word by word. “You liar.”

“No, it’s not like that. I wasn’t making excuses… I really extracted my Pheromones to make perfume. It’ll be ready in a few days. I didn’t plan to hide it forever—I was going to come clean together then, I…” Shen Zhixiao saw Qiu Sui’s pained, furious expression and panicked to explain, only to be cut off.

“Who knows if that’s just some excuse you’re making up now? I can’t smell Pheromones anyway—a random green tea-scented perfume would fool me just the same.”

From the moment he realized Shen Zhixiao was that perverted Alpha, Qiu Sui’s trust in him had hit zero. His words stabbed like thorns into Shen Zhixiao’s heart, making his breathing labored, eyes turning wet and red.

He tried to defend himself, but Qiu Sui’s gaze, expression, and movements all signaled a break. His words turned feeble and powerless, drowned in massive panic.

Shen Zhixiao, at a loss, tried desperately to hold onto him. With helplessness and pleading, he staggered closer again, voice hoarse and choked. “Baby…”

Qiu Sui grabbed the matching Aroma Diffuser Cup and pointed it warningly. When Shen Zhixiao didn’t stop, he hurled it without hesitation.

Shen Zhixiao seemed insensate to pain. Even struck hard on the shoulder, he pressed on, endlessly apologizing and begging. “I was wrong, I really was wrong. I was too impulsive before. Don’t be afraid of me, don’t…”

The high table beside them had nothing left to throw. Qiu Sui withdrew his searching hand from the surface, his lashes quivering faintly as he watched the tear-streaked Alpha approach.

Seeing Qiu Sui frozen in place without dodging, a spark of hope rose in Shen Zhixiao. Tears welled in his eyes as he sniffed, carefully reaching out to gently stroke Qiu Sui’s reddened cheek. “Baby—”

His words cut off mid-sentence, as if his throat were gripped. A sharp punch and the thud of a body slamming into the table replaced it.

Qiu Sui hadn’t held back. Shen Zhixiao’s thin black silk pajamas offered no protection, taking the full brunt.

The Alpha staggered against the coffee table edge, coughing violently and uncontrollably.

Qiu Sui’s reddened fist clenched as he watched the Alpha he’d punched to the table. His body trembled slightly with emotions, voice dry. “I said if I ever found that perverted Alpha, I’d beat the shit out of him.”

Shen Zhixiao leaned against the table edge, front and back erupting in scorching pain. He propped himself on his arms, meeting the Beta’s gaze with damp eyes.

The other man loomed over him expressionlessly, brows still knotted in uncontrollable fury.

Shen Zhixiao endured the intense pain, trembling as he pushed up and slowly approached Qiu Sui again. “Then baby, hit me. Hit me to vent your anger…”

Qiu Sui kept his head lowered, watching the approaching steps. He clenched his fist and slammed it mercilessly into the Alpha’s left shoulder. Shen Zhixiao staggered but didn’t dodge, waiting for the next.

The posture only fueled Qiu Sui’s rage. “You think I’m joking?”

“I’m not.” The Alpha’s pajamas had burst open at a button from the punch, exposing the bruised chest wound.

He hung his head toward Qiu Sui in disarray, breath rough and choked as he denied it. “I want to atone…”

Qiu Sui’s lips pressed thin, furious. “Fine.”

He avoided Shen Zhixiao’s expression, quickly clenching his other fist with a faint crack of knuckles. Thinking of the three years of harassing texts and the mad words in the Equipment Room, his next punch slammed straight into the Alpha’s right abdomen.

Qiu Sui showed no mercy. Every punch brimmed with fury, shoving the man back into the sofa and coffee table, each swing accompanied by the Alpha’s muffled grunts echoing in his ears.

Gradually, Qiu Sui’s hands shook. His breathing grew heavier until he gripped the Alpha’s arm and hurled him over his shoulder onto the bed.

The Alpha crashed onto the bed without resistance, eyes squeezed shut in pain, body slumped against the headboard with only ragged breaths.

Shen Zhixiao’s pajamas hung disheveled, vivid purple-red bruises stark on his once-firm chest and abdomen. Qiu Sui’s eyes burned; he turned without looking, grabbing his backpack.

The Alpha, who had seemed half-dead on the bed, suddenly snapped his eyes open. Enduring the pain, he pushed up to grab Qiu Sui’s hand.

“Not hit enough?” Qiu Sui dodged, snatching his bag and retreating several steps. He turned his head toward the door, voice icy. “Not over it yet? Keep going…”

Shen Zhixiao’s breath hitched unevenly as he begged softly. “Don’t go…”

Qiu Sui didn’t respond, heading straight for the door. Sensing Shen Zhixiao approaching again, he dodged the hand, expression frigid. “Don’t test my patience.”

Shen Zhixiao’s hand curled slowly in the air, trembling as he withdrew it. His voice broke. “It’s late now. You have early class tomorrow—going back to school will take too long. I’ll go, okay? I’ll go…”

Without giving Qiu Sui a choice, he shuffled to the door in his thin pajamas, closing it behind him.

Qiu Sui’s hand tightened on his backpack strap, lips pressed shut in silence until the door clicked.

The tension that had gripped him all night—from his shoulders—collapsed instantly. He sank powerlessly to the sofa edge, breathing growing labored.

Qiu Sui had always clung to a sliver of hope in his heart, denying Shen Zhixiao was that Alpha—until now, facing inescapable reality.

It was all fake.

He’d never truly known Shen Zhixiao. The gentleness, humor, vulnerability—all a disguise targeted at him.

Qiu Sui’s hunched back trembled faintly. Exhaustion overwhelmed him, a hole gnawed in his heart draining all strength. He stayed rigidly slumped over the sofa arm, eyes closed motionless.

The once-cozy bedroom lay in chaos from the turmoil. The paired Aroma Diffuser Cups they’d picked together lay shattered on the floor, glass scattered. Gripping his pajamas, Qiu Sui stepped over them toward the bathroom.

His gaze couldn’t focus, wandering in the bathroom for ages before latching onto something.

He approached the tub to run water, only to find it already full and warming.

Steam rose slowly from the surface. Qiu Sui stared blankly for several seconds, then hit another button to drain it all. He turned to the shower instead.

The bedding on the bed still bore the deep creases from where Shen Zhixiao had lain moments before. Qiu Sui’s fingers trailed over it before he snapped back to reality, flipped back the covers, and lay down on the far right side.

The cold sheets didn’t warm up with Qiu Sui’s addition—perhaps his body temperature was too low at that moment.

Qiu Sui closed his eyes and curled up, determined not to think about those things anymore. He tried his best to empty his mind and fall asleep.

Habit was a terrifying thing.

Without that other body heat beside him, an uncontrollable restlessness bubbled up in Qiu Sui’s chest.

He tossed and turned in place a few times, then angrily knocked on his own head. In a surge of lost control, he snatched the vibrating phone from the bedside and opened WeChat.

Staring at the flood of explanations and apologies Shen Zhixiao had sent at some point and pinned to the top, Qiu Sui’s sleep anxiety intensified. He quickly typed out a few words and sent them.

Qiu Sui: Don’t message me anymore.

The “typing” indicator on the other side paused, went quiet for a moment, but then carefully sent a single goodnight.

Qiu Sui tossed the phone straight onto the desk, closed his eyes, and forced himself to sleep.

He set an alarm an hour earlier than usual. He didn’t sleep well that night—drifting in and out of half-dreams, unable to distinguish reality until the alarm blared. Only then, with no other body heat appearing, did he slowly return to awareness.

Qiu Sui got up, washed up, packed his luggage, dragged his suitcase to the door, and pulled it open. He had barely taken a step when he bumped into a leg.

Shen Zhixiao jolted awake, scrambling to his feet in panic. His frame swayed as he braced himself against the doorframe, his unkempt hair falling over his forehead. He asked softly in concern, “Baby, why are you up so early?”

His gaze landed on the suitcase in Qiu Sui’s hand, and his face instantly drained of color, filling with unease and panic.

Qiu Sui stared at the thin sleepwear on him, last night’s emotions threatening to surge back. Without a word, he lowered his head and tried to pull the suitcase past.

Shen Zhixiao hurriedly grabbed his hand—his palm scorching like hot iron, terrifyingly hot. He looked up at Qiu Sui with desperate pleading in his eyes. “Don’t go, okay, baby? If you’re still not over it, you can beat me every day…”

“I don’t like domestic violence. If you like getting beaten, find someone new.” Qiu Sui yanked his hand free and tried to move forward, but the next second, his knees were hugged.

His back prickled with instinctive alarm, and he reflexively lifted his leg. His heel slammed straight into Shen Zhixiao’s abdomen.

The untreated wound from last night erupted in excruciating pain from the impact. Shen Zhixiao let out a tense grunt, his grip on Qiu Sui loosening involuntarily.

Qiu Sui instinctively grabbed his shoulder, but his fingertips paused upon touching the feverish skin. He schooled his expression and said coldly, “Let go.”

But Shen Zhixiao didn’t. The S-Rank Alpha who appeared cold and aloof to outsiders was now a wretched mess, head pressed against Qiu Sui’s knee, tears streaming down as he choked out apologies. “I was wrong, baby. Don’t… don’t leave me. I was too impulsive back then, and later… later I really regretted it. But I was afraid you’d hate me if you knew, so I kept it hidden. I was planning to come clean together once the perfume was ready. I…”

“But it was too late. I already found out myself.” Qiu Sui bent down to pry Shen Zhixiao’s arms from his legs, his voice soft. “Don’t test my patience, okay? Let’s just calm down separately.”

Shen Zhixiao’s back curved as if crushed under a great weight, head bowed in acceptance of Qiu Sui’s judgment. His shoulders slumped in defeat, all traces of his usual poise gone. His hands were slowly peeled away by Qiu Sui, as if his very life force was being stripped bit by bit.

Qiu Sui gripped the suitcase handle without looking at him and stepped forward again. But Shen Zhixiao followed, persistently murmuring, “Let me drive you back to school…”

“I’ve already called a car.” Qiu Sui rejected him without hesitation, voice low. Before leaving, he warned him to stay put.

The morning air was frigid, the cold wind stinging Qiu Sui’s eyes until they watered, blurring his words into the chill. “Go to the hospital for your injuries yourself. I’ll reimburse the medical fees.”

With that, without checking if the man weakly propped against the door had heard, Qiu Sui pulled his suitcase and quickly left the Old Western House where they’d cohabited for a week.