Chapter 48 Part 2

By fine count, the omega had been back for half a year already. In Oak Bay, the alpha had provided him with everything: bodyguards for round-the-clock personal security, a life of luxury and plenty, a home where every need was met… Yet the omega had given him only one gift in return. So the alpha haggled over every scrap: cufflinks worth mere tens of thousands, a shoulder too weary to shrug off, a cake of vague intent. But he demanded answers all the same.

Good or bad, fitting or frustrating—what else could the omega possibly say? That he liked him?

“That was for Little You, not you.” Wen Yan stuffed his hands in his pockets and sat on the hood beside Liang Shijing. Their child watched quietly from inside the car behind them, but though they sat side by side, their paths had already diverged.

The sky dimmed gradually as fiercer cold winds surged up from the valley. Faint lights twinkled to life in Hot Spring Town far below at the mountain’s base, steam rising like a haze right before their eyes. It was a vacation paradise, breathtakingly beautiful… The two sat in silence, gazing together at the view below.

After an unknowable stretch of time, Liang Shijing spoke flatly. “If I’d known you’d be this much trouble, I would’ve killed you back then.”

“It’s coming soon. No rush.” With that, Wen Yan pulled out the pack of cheap cigarettes, slipped one between his lips—but before he could light it, Liang Shijing snatched it away and tossed it at their feet. Wen Yan pocketed the cigarette again, and Liang Shijing asked, “You’ve remembered it all, haven’t you?”

“Yes,” Wen Yan replied just as flatly.

“So now you know exactly how to carve out my heart,” Liang Shijing said.

“I don’t know. And I don’t care to.”

“Did you ever like me?”

“No.”

“Not even a little?”

“No.”

The omega and alpha reminisced about their happy past with the casual tone of strangers exchanging pleasantries—no inflection in their voices, no anger left on their faces. Both had settled into perfect calm…

But in a lifetime, how many moments come where words ring true, hearts burn warm, and love defies measure? You like me, I like you—that’s where it all too often goes wrong.

“Don’t lie, alright?” Liang Shijing said.

“I’m not lying,” Wen Yan replied, still staring into the distance.

“What else do you know?”

“That you’re addicted to my pheromones.”

“When did you find out?”

“A long time ago.”

The omega’s attitude now wounded the alpha even more deeply than his earlier revulsion had. The alpha nodded calmly and drew out a small box designed to hold medication. He toyed with it before his eyes, the tiny yellow pill tumbling inside the transparent container.

Wen Yan glanced at it, then looked at Liang Shijing with pity.

“I’ve had this ready for you for ages,” Liang Shijing said. “Thanks to the medical team’s five years of tireless refinement, the new version has zero side effects. You can take it till the day you die.”

“Aren’t you afraid Little You will tell me about it?” Wen Yan asked indifferently.

“Do you think he would?” Liang Shijing replied. “If he had, would he even be here?”

Liang Shijing seemed to be hinting at something, but Wen Yan had no desire to parse it out. After a moment’s thought, he said, “What if I don’t take it?”

“You don’t have to right now,” Liang Shijing answered.

Without hesitation, Wen Yan snatched the pillbox from his hand, shook out two pills, and swallowed them dry. It was growing bitterly cold; he shivered. Liang Shijing shrugged off his coat and draped it over Wen Yan’s shoulders.

“What excuse are you planning to use this time?” Wen Yan gathered up the jacket that still held some lingering warmth, the bitter aftertaste of the pill spreading through his mouth. Five years ago, Liang Shijing had deceived him with a clumsy lie, claiming he’d slipped in the bathtub while bathing, hit his head, and lost his memory. So what flimsy reason would he trot out now to brush it off?

“I heard there’s a hot spring town down the mountain.” Liang Shijing wore a thin white shirt, his features strikingly sharp in the dim daylight as he turned his profile toward the valley below. The winding town in the gorge gleamed like a bright red ribbon, a glowing silk scarf—or perhaps an endless river of blood.

“Slipping in the hot spring pool isn’t the most natural thing in the world?” he said.

Wen Yan’s lips curved up slightly. “So you arranged to intercept me here?”

“Driving at night is dangerous, and you’ve had enough fun these past few days.” Liang Shijing’s tone was even.

“You found the Little Cabin too, didn’t you?”

“There’s no Little Cabin anymore.”

Wen Yan smiled again. He figured there was probably still a tracker on him somewhere, even if he’d changed outfits countless times. Since Liang Shijing had been waiting here, it meant he’d scoured every inch of the surrounding hundreds of kilometers. There was no doubting the efficiency of the Chief’s Mansion staff—if Liang Shijing said the Little Cabin was gone, then it truly no longer existed in this world…

“What about the Little Squirrel?” he asked.

“I’ve arranged for people to feed it on schedule,” Liang Shijing replied.

“Liang Shijing, now I really have no home left,” Wen Yan said suddenly.

“Oak Bay has always been your home. We’ll live together there until we’re old.” Liang Shijing stood and extended a hand to him. “It’s getting dark. Let’s head down the mountain.”

Wen Yan gazed at the palm before him, reddened from the cold, then lifted his head. “Is my father still alive?”

“Dead.”

“How exactly did he die?”

“Suicide.”

Wen Yan had asked all the questions he wanted, so he obediently took Liang Shijing’s icy hand, his fingers curling affectionately into the other man’s palm. But he had one last request. Without turning back as he stood before the car, he said, “We’re not bringing Little You.”

“Fine,” Liang Shijing said.

A dozen seconds later, vehicles streamed in from behind the bridge. Doors opened and slammed shut, followed by a rush of chaotic footsteps. Wen Yan glanced silently at Liang Shijing. So this was how Liang Shijing always fought battles he was guaranteed to win. If he hadn’t stopped for the gunshot, he would’ve been intercepted for sure had he pressed on. No matter which road he chose, escape was never an option.

Liang Wangyou shouted his name repeatedly from behind, but Wen Yan didn’t look back. Once everything settled into quiet, the startled birds returned to their nests, and he was led by Liang Shijing to the passenger seat, buckled in. The moment Liang Shijing shut the car door, it locked. Even the few short steps to the driver’s side were enough for him to unlock it again only when his hand was on the handle. He drove himself.

The car started smoothly. Wen Yan shrugged off the jacket Liang Shijing had draped over his shoulders, folded it neatly on his lap, reclined the seat, and lay back halfway. He reached up to touch the swollen barrier patch on the back of his neck like a water balloon, then stared quietly ahead.

It would take half an hour along the twisting mountain road to reach Hot Spring Town. Halfway there, Liang Shijing suddenly said, “My birthday’s coming up soon.”

“I know.” Wen Yan turned up the heat in the car; he felt cold again.

“The diamond fell out of my tie clip.” Liang Shijing turned the wheel, speaking softly. “Can you design a new one for me this year?”

“What style do you want?” Wen Yan asked.

“Anything’s fine.”

Liang Shijing added, “The box contains a ring. I’ll put it on you tomorrow?” Fearing the omega might not remember, he reminded him, “The one you threw at my feet that night.”

“Didn’t you say we were already married?” Wen Yan asked.

“I lied,” Liang Shijing explained. “Your father had just passed then. Getting married would’ve hurt your reputation.”

“Oh. Besides the tie clip, any other wishes?” Wen Yan’s voice grew softer, as if he were getting sleepy, his tone turning languid.

The road wound steadily downward, treacherous in places. Liang Shijing didn’t answer for a long while—so long that Wen Yan thought he wouldn’t. Then he heard Liang Shijing say there were two.

“Marriage is the first one. I want everyone to know about our relationship,” Liang Shijing said calmly. “Keeping you by my side is the second. We’ll live together from now on.”

Wen Yan’s lips curved faintly as he slowly closed his eyes, letting the warm liquid trickle from the back of his neck.

It didn’t matter. His gland could no longer produce any pheromones anyway…

He “fell asleep,” and Liang Shijing fell silent, not pressing him for an immediate answer.

There was always tomorrow, after all. Alphas always gambled on getting by, hoping for the best. But bonds could form in the morning and shatter by night; entanglements with omegas led nowhere, and time couldn’t erase the pain. It had been like this five years ago, and it was the same today, five years later.

The black sedan glided along the road. At the entrance to Hot Spring Town ahead, faint red lanterns swayed. In the night, tourists strolled the streets, the shops on either side mostly selling hot spring wares. The alpha eased off the accelerator and instinctively glanced at the omega’s sleeping face.

That single look brought the car to an abrupt halt.

The custom sedan gleamed under the night sky. It braked hard at the town’s entrance, the screech drawing stares from the crowd. The vehicle rocked slightly, then stilled. Moments later, the driver’s door opened, and the alpha circled to the passenger side, yanked open the door, and climbed in…

Scattered snowflakes fell like thunderbolts from the heavens, as if to engulf the town…

Soon after, no one knew what happened inside the car, but more and more people poured from the shops to gawk, their expressions shifting from surprise to horror.

Perhaps only half a minute passed. Or maybe it was an eternity.

A pale, slender hand dangled limply from the passenger door, a winding trail of dark red tracing down its back to the fingertips. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. A circle quickly formed on the ground…

It seemed the alpha’s birthday wish had come true early…

—Pity what was gained stood shoulder to shoulder with what was lost.