Leave?
Qiu Sui met the gaze of the Alpha in front of him, whose eyes held a faint glimmer of hope. His brow twitched lightly, and he suddenly grabbed the phone he’d just hung up, tapping Shen Zhixiao’s cheek with it in a somewhat flippant manner.
The force wasn’t heavy, but it carried an ambiguous edge. The muscles on Shen Zhixiao’s body tensed instinctively. Then he heard Qiu Sui say mercilessly, “What else?”
“According to our agreement, you shouldn’t be here right now.” Qiu Sui’s other hand, which had been braced on Shen Zhixiao’s shoulder, gradually tightened around his neck. His knuckles pressed punishingly against Shen Zhixiao’s jaw as he reminded him softly.
Shen Zhixiao’s expression twisted in pain from the pressure on his jaw, beyond his control.
He fluttered his lashes in panic, his words coming out a bit haltingly. “I-I didn’t want to do anything else, and I didn’t mean to disturb you. I just wanted… just wanted to sneak a peek at you.”
“So that morning, instead of going back like I told you, you followed us the whole time?”
Qiu Sui shoved the Alpha pressing against him away, then pushed off to pin him back against the sofa’s armrest once more, flipping their positions. Looming over him, he questioned softly.
Shen Zhixiao’s body thudded dully against the sofa. His neck arched back, forcing him to crane his eyes up at Qiu Sui above. He hurriedly denied it. “No, I went back obediently at first…”
As he spoke, his eyelids drooped slightly, and he added in a weak, low voice, “At the beginning, I had my driver follow you. I only came looking for you later…”
He only told me to go back first—he didn’t say I couldn’t follow…
Shen Zhixiao didn’t voice the rest, but Qiu Sui was already starting to find it amusing.
His knee slammed suddenly into the wound on Shen Zhixiao’s abdomen. Watching the Alpha’s brows furrow in pain, he said in utter exasperation, “Should I praise you for that?”
So good at finding loopholes.
Dull pain radiated densely from his abdomen, making Shen Zhixiao’s muscles tense and tremble uncontrollably. A thin sheen of cold sweat broke out along his spine.
He gazed up at Qiu Sui anxiously, his breathing unsteady as he explained in a low voice, “I-I really just… just wanted to sneak a glimpse of you. I was afraid you’d get mad if you knew, so I hid it…”
“But you didn’t hide it well. I still found out.” Qiu Sui eyed those uneasy eyes and exposed him without mercy. Staring at the dishonest Alpha before him, he felt an urge to bite him hard again.
Even if he did want to see him too, there was a world of difference between Shen Zhixiao coming to him openly and Qiu Sui discovering it himself. Qiu Sui didn’t like Shen Zhixiao lying to him right now—not even if his intentions weren’t bad.
He lowered his head slightly, suddenly closing the distance with Shen Zhixiao. Feeling him draw near, the pulse in Shen Zhixiao’s neck quickened, his breathing growing ragged.
Qiu Sui stopped just a few centimeters away. Noticing the hidden anticipation and tension in Shen Zhixiao’s expression, he thought, Does this guy think I’m gonna kiss him again?
Qiu Sui’s brow twitched. Staring into the Alpha’s dazed, unfocused eyes, he couldn’t hold back. He swung his hand down hard on the top of Shen Zhixiao’s head, smacking him alert before grabbing his hair and speaking. “No more sneaking after me from now on.”
The smack left Shen Zhixiao dizzy and seeing stars for a few seconds. Listening to Qiu Sui’s voice, his body stiffened slightly. It took him several seconds to nod slowly, a hint of dejection settling between his brows.
Not allowed to follow and now he’s sulking? Like a little puppy.
Qiu Sui yanked irritably at his hair, tilting the Alpha’s head slightly as he continued, “If you want to come find me, you have to message me first and ask. No approval means no following. Got it?”
Pinned beneath him, Shen Zhixiao adopted a meek, docile posture—like a large dog awaiting orders. His throat bobbed as he repeated softly that he understood.
Even that didn’t fully satisfy Qiu Sui. He tugged his brow again, thinking of something else. “That won’t do. Give me access to your Neck Ring again—rebind it to my account. I want to track your movements from now on.”
Shen Zhixiao’s reaction was still sluggish. Two seconds later, he fumbled with his phone like a green kid, slipping up several times during the rebinding.
Qiu Sui’s hand gripped Shen Zhixiao’s tousled hair, yanking it whenever it annoyed him and watching the Alpha’s head bob with the motion. It felt satisfying.
Once the account was rebound, Shen Zhixiao cautiously handed over his phone for inspection.
Qiu Sui didn’t take it, just glanced at the screen from his hand before shoving the phone away in satisfaction and rising from the sofa. Seeing this, Shen Zhixiao scrambled up after him.
Noticing Qiu Sui heading for the door, he chased after him, calling out “Xiao Sui” in a tense voice laced with hope. “C-Can I at least know your flight back? …I want to go back to school with you guys…”
Meeting Qiu Sui’s gaze, he added softly, “I’ll keep my distance.”
Qiu Sui’s eyes flicked quickly over the Alpha’s face without answering directly. As he opened the door, he just shook his phone—the meaning clear.
Shen Zhixiao watched Qiu Sui’s retreating back, unconsciously licking his lips. His heart still echoed with the rapid pounding from earlier, making the reality of it all sink in gradually.
He trailed after Qiu Sui step for step out of the room, his throat bobbing with reluctance. Tentatively, he tried again in a low voice, “C-Can I walk you back to your room now…?”
Qiu Sui’s response was to swing his elbow back sharply into the chest of this Alpha—who’d gotten the advantage and was still acting all pitiful—sending him stumbling right back into the room.
Shen Zhixiao clutched his aching chest, standing dumbstruck inside the door. He didn’t dare follow Qiu Sui out again. He could only poke his head out to steal glances at Qiu Sui’s back. When caught, he instinctively pursed his lips in tension, looking both pitiful and ridiculous—nothing like an S-grade Alpha.
Only when Qiu Sui’s figure vanished into the elevator did Shen Zhixiao snap out of it somewhat belatedly. He touched his heated lips lightly, still a bit dazed.
When Qiu Sui swiped open the door, Qiu Shun was in the living room looking at his laptop. He glanced up lightly at his return.
Qiu Sui immediately pursed his lips guiltily, thinking he probably hadn’t bitten his own lip like Qiao Keren had—it was all him biting Shen Zhixiao…
Qiu Shun withdrew his gaze from his brother’s unnatural expression without calling him out. He nodded toward the desserts in the living room. “Saved you a slice of cake. Qiao Keren and Lin Kai bought it. Don’t forget to eat.”
Qiu Sui acknowledged it with an “oh,” subconsciously scanning around. No sign or sound of Qiao Keren—he must be out with Lin Kai again.
He didn’t rush back to his room to shower. Instead, he shuffled slowly to the sofa next to Qiu Shun, picked up the cake from the table, and sat down. He ate while watching Qiu Shun work.
After stewing for a while, Qiu Sui finally explained about catching Shen Zhixiao downstairs. Qiu Shun seemed to have anticipated it. After hearing him out, he asked bluntly and curiously, “You two made up?”
Qiu Sui’s head heated up. He let out an “ah” and denied it haltingly. “Not yet… I haven’t decided…”
Truth be told, he’d pretty much forgotten about that chubby kid from summer camp—it was from when they were nine or ten. Qiu Sui hadn’t expected Shen Zhixiao to really hold onto it like Qiao Keren said, nursing a grudge all these years for not reaching out.
Of course, at first, when he’d lost the contact info, Qiu Sui had felt genuinely guilty and sorry.
But after summer camp ended and he was home with other friends, he’d gradually put it behind him. He’d even comforted himself that the other boy had probably forgotten about adding him as a friend too—a way to ease his guilt over breaking the promise.
Childhood friendships were always so pure. Sometimes a casual promise could stick with someone for life, even if the face blurred—the words remained crystal clear in the mind.
He didn’t know how long Shen Zhixiao had waited for his message after going abroad, or how he’d eventually tracked down his contact info. Qiu Sui had never met anyone so persistent.
Lost in thought, he heard Qiu Shun, who’d closed his laptop, suddenly ask, “Mom and Dad still don’t know you broke up, right?”
Qiu Sui nodded slowly with a hum. He really hadn’t figured out how to tell his parents—he’d been putting it off for over half a month.
Qiu Shun rose from the sofa with his laptop, slinging an arm over his brother’s shoulder and quirking a brow. “Bro, don’t you already have your answer in your heart?”
Was it not knowing how to phrase the confession to their parents, or harboring a faint hope that things might mend, delaying the admission? Qiu Sui couldn’t quite tell the difference.
But hearing Qiu Shun say it, he realized he had both thoughts—or rather, the second one already showed his heart’s leanings.
Qiu Shun pulled his hand back from his brother’s shoulder, nodding toward the clock on the TV cabinet to snap him back to reality and urge him to shower and rest.
Qiu Sui gave a dry “oh,” set the tray down, chugged some water, and obediently headed to his room. Halfway there, he suddenly paused. “Qiao Keren still isn’t back?”
No one pushed the door open this time. Qiu Shun hummed thoughtfully. “He probably won’t be back tonight.”
After all, they’re heading into a long-distance thing tomorrow.
Qiu Sui figured that made sense and continued to his room. After washing up, he still wasn’t sleepy.
He opened his phone to find several new WeChat messages from Shen Zhixiao.
Qiu Sui burrowed under the covers and scrolled through them one by one. He replied casually to a couple, then sent a screenshot of tomorrow’s flight. The other side lit up with excited messages. Noticing the late hour, Shen Zhixiao reined it in with a goodnight.
Qiu Sui hadn’t replied to his greetings in over half a month, but tonight he sent back a sleeping emoji.
After successfully changing his flight to match Qiu Sui’s number, Shen Zhixiao saw the reply and got so excited he couldn’t sleep. He leaned against the bedhead, flipping through their chat over and over.
…
Their flight back to school was just after 2 p.m., with Lin Kai’s an hour later.
They slept in that morning, packed up, played a bit in the hotel’s indoor arcade, then checked out for the airport.
Qiu Sui logged back into Shen Zhixiao’s Neck Ring tracking app and saw his location nearby.
Propping himself on the table, he scanned in that direction and quickly spotted Shen Zhixiao in a black trench coat, hat, and mask—only his dark eyes visible.
They locked eyes. Shen Zhixiao fluttered his lashes awkwardly and ducked his head, hunching over the table. He looked pathetically pitiful.
Qiu Sui pursed his lips, thinking, I let him follow and even gave him the flight number, and he’s still putting on this pitiful act in front of me? Thick-skinned.
Even so, he wagged a finger vaguely at Shen Zhixiao and pointed down—the message obvious: No peeking.
That head stayed still for two seconds before obediently dropping lower.
During check-in, the guy trailed far behind them like a tail. Qiu Sui couldn’t ignore him. Back at school, the tail was even more obvious—impossible to hide.
In the elevator, Qiu Sui couldn’t resist ramming his luggage cart back into Shen Zhixiao. On the seventh floor, he strode ahead without stopping.
This time, Shen Zhixiao didn’t follow all the way. At the fork, he turned obediently down the other hall. Qiu Sui felt a bit unaccustomed to the compliance.
Back in the dorm, he turned on the heat and cracked the balcony door to air out the room after three unoccupied days. As he washed his hands to unpack, a knock sounded.
Qiu Sui paused for half a second but didn’t get up to open it. Soon, a tense voice called softly from outside, “Xiao Sui?”—familiar, as expected.
Shen Zhixiao stood at the door, staring down at the unmoving door. He clutched the gift box he’d given Qiu Sui on New Year’s Eve—only to have it returned—his heart pounding uncontrollably.
Every passing second felt like a century to Shen Zhixiao, leaving his breathing labored.
Until the door handle clicked. He looked up, heart racing.
Qiu Sui cracked the door just enough, leaning against the frame and showing only half his body.
He’d shed his thick coat, wearing only a light cyan mink velvet sweater that made him look exceptionally soft and alluring. But his tone was sharp. “You’d better have a good reason for coming to me.”
He locked eyes with Qiu Sui’s pitch-black gaze. His initially tense expression gradually softened into a faint smile as he slid the gift box in his hand toward Qiu Sui. “Like you said in the elevator last time,” he said warmly, “the gift should be given to you in person when you get back. I wasn’t sure if you’d like it…”
The box was far too big for the narrow gap in the door Qiu Sui had cracked open, and it carried some real weight. He couldn’t steady it with just one hand.
Qiu Sui remembered then. “Oh,” he said, swinging the door wider to scoop the oversized box into his arms. He eyed it curiously but couldn’t guess what lay inside. He thanked Shen Zhixiao first and set it down on the table.
Shen Zhixiao seemed to have come solely to deliver the gift. With obvious reluctance, he waved goodbye and turned to leave.
“Wait,” Qiu Sui called out, stopping him. Shen Zhixiao halted, a flicker of anticipation lighting his eyes. Qiu Sui suspected he’d been waiting for exactly this—the earlier farewell just for show.
Qiu Sui eased the door half-shut, leaving Shen Zhixiao to stand there in the doorway like a punished student. He dragged over his luggage and rummaged inside for the small gift box taking up space. Then he strode back to the door.
If Shen Zhixiao hadn’t tailed them the whole trip, the box’s contents might’ve stayed a mystery. But he’d stuck to their heels from start to finish—he had to have seen what Qiu Sui bought.
I might as well, Qiu Sui thought. He tossed the box straight into Shen Zhixiao’s hands, utterly unsentimentally. “Return gift.”
Shen Zhixiao did know the rough souvenirs Qiu Sui had picked up in Jiangshi, but it had never crossed his mind that one would be for him.
Surprise lit his face as he clutched the box. His narrow eyes widened just a fraction—a rare sight—and he stared at Qiu Sui in a daze. His fingers trembled almost imperceptibly at the box’s edge. “Xiao Sui…”
Qiu Sui shut down any chance for sentimentality, slamming the door shut. All it left in its wake was a chill gust of wind blasting the Alpha’s face.
