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Xu Yiwen’s hand, which had been tangled in the other man’s hair, changed direction. He tightly grabbed He Xihuan’s nape, pressing his elbow down heavily on He Xihuan’s reddened pheromone gland.
“Tell me, exactly where do I look like him? I’ll change.”
What appeared in Xu Yiwen’s mind was a figure floating like a bubble.
It was as if a program had been installed in him, forcing him to chase that bubble. He couldn’t catch up to it, nor could he burst it.
No matter what, today he was going to burst this bubble and rescue himself.
He gave up begging for his parents’ love, no longer wanted to continue accepting everything that He Xihuan’s white moonlight favored, and was even less willing to keep putting on this act with He Xihuan.
He wanted to get away from everything here.
Compelled by the pressure on his nape, He Xihuan stopped moving, his hazy gaze turning gloomy as he lifted his chin.
He gave a low hum, reached out, and gripped the trembling hand at the back of his neck in reverse. “Are you trying to snap my neck, or are you trying to injure my gland?”
The yellow apricot pheromones in the air gradually diminished as He Xihuan reined in his pheromones.
Xu Yiwen had no intention of hurting He Xihuan; he simply wanted an answer.
He repeated, “Where on earth do I look like him? Tell me, and I’ll change.”
“And another thing,” Xu Yiwen’s body trembled slightly, “if you really love that person, sign the divorce agreement and go abroad to chase after him.”
The yellow apricot pheromones in the living room had thinned out until they merely lingered around Xu Yiwen.
He Xihuan only furrowed his brows and stared into Xu Yiwen’s eyes. Suddenly, he brushed his fingertips across Xu Yiwen’s eye corners and bridge of the nose, finally pressing a deep kiss onto the other man’s lips.
Just as Xu Yiwen began to struggle, a sharp sound of shattering glass rang out by his ear.
He Xihuan reacted swiftly, pulling Xu Yiwen tightly into his arms, wrapping his own coat around the other’s upper body, and glaring up at the second floor. “Get back inside!”
He was like an overlord in the grasslands who swallowed his prey whole, refusing to allow anyone to covet his kill.
Frightened by his roar, Xu Baoning and Xu Baoan stepped right over the glass cup lying at their feet and hurriedly turned to flee back to their rooms.
When He Xihuan turned his head back to consume his prey once more, his shoulder was bitten by Xu Yiwen.
“Get lost!” Xu Yiwen pushed He Xihuan away with both hands, picked up the coat from the carpet to drape over himself, and scrambled back upstairs to the study with his clothes in hand.
After putting his clothes back on inside the study, Xu Yiwen finally calmed his nerves. With steady breathing, he called Housekeeper Chang to ask why the two Xu brothers hadn’t been sent back yet.
Housekeeper Chang, who was out buying groceries, answered the phone and poured out his grievances to Xu Yiwen.
The two of them had woken up at noon, eaten, and stubbornly refused to leave, claiming their heads still hurt and that they felt dizzy the moment they got into a car.
Left with no other choice, Housekeeper Chang had promised to send the two of them away after dinner.
Seeing that it was already dark and that He Xihuan and Xu Yiwen hadn’t returned yet, Housekeeper Chang had assumed they were eating out as usual, so he didn’t send a message to disturb them, figuring he would just finish cooking dinner quickly and send the two Xu brothers away.
After hanging up the phone, Xu Yiwen sat in his chair, tilting his head back to stare at the ceiling while a hint of yellow apricot scent still lingered at the tip of his nose.
It had blown up. His talk with He Xihuan had completely broken down.
He had laid everything out in the open and even encouraged He Xihuan to pursue his own happiness. Why on earth did He Xihuan still…
Xu Yiwen pressed his lips together, let out a breath, and slowly closed his eyes.
Before long, a soft knock sounded at the door.
Xu Yiwen opened his eyes, straightened his hair and clothes, and walked toward the door.
The knock was too quiet to be He Xihuan or Xu Baoning; it had to be Xu Baoan.
“Big Brother Xiaowen,” Xu Baoan’s lowered head lifted when he heard the door open, his nose twitching slightly. “Can I come in?”
“If you have something to say, say it right here. Once dinner is over, I will send you and Baoning home.” Xu Yiwen held the doorknob, ready to close the door at any moment.
“Big Brother Xiaowen,” Xu Baoan’s large eyes looked as though they were about to flutter out tears. “Can we talk inside?”
Seeing that Xu Yiwen still showed no intention of inviting him in, Xu Baoan took a step closer and lowered his voice. “Big Brother Xiaowen, I know you and Brother Xihuan have a great relationship. I never meant to ruin your marriage.”
“It was Brother Baoning who made me take the medicine that forced my heat to come early.”
“I… I had just returned home and didn’t dare refuse,” Xu Baoan said, looking more aggrieved by the second. “Big Brother Xiaowen, you won’t blame me, will you?”
Xu Yiwen narrowed his eyes slightly, his scrutinizing gaze roaming over Xu Baoan’s face.
Only after Xu Baoan finished speaking did he reply in his usual gentle tone, “Go back to your room first. Once Housekeeper Chang comes back and finishes making dinner, I will call you down.”
As he spoke, Xu Yiwen stepped out of the study.
Yet Xu Baoan still followed closely behind Xu Yiwen, whispering pleas for Xu Yiwen to forgive him.
Stopping near the shattered glass on the hallway floor, Xu Yiwen tentatively glanced downstairs.
He Xihuan wasn’t in the living room. Did he go out? Or did he go back to the master bedroom?
Xu Baoan stopped as well and explained, “Brother Baoning and I wanted to go downstairs to pour a glass of milk and accidentally saw you two…”
“Big Brother Xiaowen, we didn’t do it on purpose.”
Catching a glimpse of Xu Baoan’s flushed cheeks, Xu Yiwen withdrew his gaze.
Just now, he had been affected by He Xihuan’s pheromones, his voice had been weak, and He Xihuan had pressed his forehead against his while speaking in a low, deep voice. The people upstairs probably only heard that single roared command of “Get back inside!”
Xu Yiwen let out a breath of relief and kicked at the glass ahead of him. “If you don’t want to go back to your room, clean this up.”
“Just kidding, go back to your room.” Xu Yiwen turned around and gave Xu Baoan’s shoulder a smiling pat. “I have to go coax my Alpha. You go back to your room and rest first.”
He then turned back around, bypassed the glass on the floor, and walked toward the master bedroom with a cold expression.
As he entered the password at the master bedroom door, he effortlessly caught the scent of yellow apricot drifting out from the crack in the door.
Pushing open the door to the master bedroom, he saw He Xihuan changing his shirt.
The newly bought suit and shoes had both been tossed haphazardly into the laundry basket.
Xu Yiwen’s gaze shifted back to He Xihuan’s back.
A black turtleneck sweater covered He Xihuan’s reddened nape, which had been pinched, and his shoulder, which bore bite marks.
He Xihuan didn’t spare Xu Yiwen even a sliver of peripheral vision. He quickly finished putting on his top, grabbed a long herringbone wool coat, slipped his feet into his slippers, and turned to head out.
Xu Yiwen reached out to block him. “Where are you going?”
Xu Yiwen tilted his chin up slightly, the red and purple marks on his neck even more distinct than the bite marks on He Xihuan’s shoulder.
The Adam’s apple covered by the turtleneck sweater bobbed up and down. With tightly furrowed brows, He Xihuan pushed aside Xu Yiwen’s arm, which was blocking his path, and left the room without a single word.
Angered, Xu Yiwen scratched his hair, took a moment to calm down, and then bent down to retrieve the leather shoes and clothes from the laundry basket.
If he had known better, he wouldn’t have bought them for him in the first place; he should have let him wear dirty clothes so that both his face and his body would reek.
Xu Yiwen hung the clothes up on hangers, waiting for Housekeeper Chang to return and handle the rest.
When touching the cuffs of the suit jacket, Xu Yiwen discovered that the matching pair of semi-precious globe cufflinks was missing.
Xu Yiwen released the suit cuff and walked out of the master bedroom.
Knowing He Xihuan’s stubborn temper, he had undoubtedly ripped the cufflinks off and thrown them away.
Since both Xu Baoan and Xu Baoning were staying in the guest rooms and He Xihuan had gone out, Xu Yiwen sat down on the living room sofa to wait.
He would wait for Xu Baoan and Xu Baoning to finish eating, send them away, and by the way, bring Qiu Yao back home.
It would be best if He Xihuan didn’t come back for the next few days so Qiu Yao could live at home in peace.
Housekeeper Chang returned shortly after and cooked a table full of dishes. Although Xu Yiwen had already eaten outside, he couldn’t resist Housekeeper Chang’s warm hospitality and took a few light bites.
At the dining table, the two Xu brothers acted completely out of character.
The usually shy Xu Baoan suddenly talked a lot, constantly finding topics to chat about with Xu Yiwen.
Meanwhile, the habitually fault-finding Xu Baoning looked as though he had been frightened out of his wits; he kept his head down to eat his food in silence, and the moment he opened his mouth, it was only to urge Xu Baoan to eat quickly so they could hurry home.
Xu Yiwen observed Xu Baoning with a sense of bewilderment.
Xu Baoning frequented clubs and bars often, so whatever scene he had witnessed on the second floor shouldn’t have been enough to scare him like this. His reaction right now was simply too abnormal.