At nine o’clock in the evening, an hour before the agreed-upon curfew, He Xihuan came home early.
His slightly arched waist paused. He Xihuan froze at the entryway, glancing at the two backward leather shoes sitting half a span apart. His eyes flashed with a subtle emotion.
It seemed that today’s trip back to the Xu family had dealt a heavy blow to Xu Yiwen.
The person who usually kept his shoes neatly arranged on the shoe rack had kicked and left them scattered like a drunkard today.
Taking off his plaid suit coat and changing into slippers, He Xihuan kicked Xu Yiwen’s leather shoes straight with interest and walked directly toward the master bedroom on the second floor.
The closer he got to the second-floor master bedroom, the stronger the smell of alcohol grew on He Xihuan’s nose, and his brows furrowed even deeper.
All the amusement in his eyes vanished, and his footsteps involuntarily quickened.
As soon as he pushed open the bedroom door and turned on the lights, the chaotic scene inside made He Xihuan’s face turn completely gloomy.
A coat, inner wear, a scarf, and trousers were scattered all over the floor. Xu Yiwen, who was in the middle of buttoning his pajamas, had his upper body slumped over the end of the bed, his slender legs dangling, dead drunk.
Walking a few steps closer, one could still hear Xu Yiwen’s incoherent muttering.
He Xihuan walked to the end of the bed and kicked Xu Yiwen’s flailing legs.
“Who kicked me!” Xu Yiwen snapped upright, his half-opened eyes filled with drunkenness, and his cheeks flushed bright red.
He let out the button he couldn’t fasten and reached out to probe the black shadow blocking his vision in front of him.
Instead of dodging Xu Yiwen’s wandering hands, He Xihuan slowly leaned down.
“Xu Yiwen,” he maintained his usual cold tone, “today…”
Before he could finish speaking, he was pulled down by his tie by Xu Yiwen. Reflected in his pupils was the small mole located three fingers below Xu Yiwen’s left collarbone.
It was a medium-sized oval shape, combined with a brownish-red color, making this small mole look very much like a goji berry.
Goji berries were the scent of Xu Yiwen’s pheromones.
He Xihuan could not understand why his parents insisted on making him marry this Omega who was older than him and gave off the scent of health-conscious goji berries.
He Xihuan lifted one corner of his mouth in a light sneer, lowered his gaze to help Xu Yiwen button his pajamas, and said, “And you claimed you had a high tolerance for alcohol. You’re nothing much.”
“Hey, Xu Yiwen,” He Xihuan’s mouth curved into a teasing smile as he proactively leaned down close, leaving only millimeters between his lips and the tip of Xu Yiwen’s nose, “that security guard…”
Xu Yiwen suddenly covered He Xihuan’s mouth, narrowed his eyes slightly, and flashed a bitter smile. “Yuhang, we only drink, we don’t talk.”
He Xihuan heard these words clearly; Xu Yiwen was mistaking him for Wen Yuhang.
In this heavily drunken state, he must have spent time drinking with Wen Yuhang as well.
Xu Yiwen and Wen Yuhang were both He Xihuan’s upperclassmen.
The two of them were elegant yet roguish, one an Omega and the other a Beta, forming a legendary duo of top students back at Chongcheng University.
Later on, both were recommended for graduate studies at the same university and stayed behind to teach, making their bond even closer.
When a bond is too close, gossip naturally follows.
Right after He Xihuan entered college, he heard about the open affection between junior Wen Yuhang and Xu Yiwen, leaving just the last layer of window paper to be pierced.
It was only after Xu Yiwen got married that this layer of window paper was forced to be firmly glued shut, and the rumors between the two slowly stopped being mentioned.
While nobody mentioned it on the surface, behind closed doors, it was hard to say.
“Hmph,” He Xihuan’s brows turned displeased. With no mind to figure out what was going on with whatever security guard the Xu family had brought back, he grabbed Xu Yiwen’s wrist instead, pushed him back down onto the bed, and used his other hand to force open his eyes. “Take a good look, who am I?”
“Who?” Xu Yiwen only felt a burning pain in his eye sockets, unable to blink to relieve it, so he struggled and grabbed randomly at He Xihuan’s face. “My eyes hurt.”
He Xihuan could only grit his teeth and let go, his gaze still fixed dead on Xu Yiwen.
As the pain in his eyes subsided and the movement of his hands stopped, Xu Yiwen’s hands lingered on He Xihuan’s cheeks, and he curved his lips into a smile. “Yuhang, why have you changed?”
He reached out his fingertips to lightly trace He Xihuan’s facial features. “Your eyes, nose, mouth, they’ve all changed.”
“You’ve changed to look like He Xihuan,” he closed his eyes and buried his head into the bed for a couple of rubs. “My eyes really seem to be broken.”
“What, does looking like He Xihuan disappoint you?” He Xihuan had a surge of anger pent up inside his chest, and his words were laced with thorns.
“Disappointed, disappointed.” Xu Yiwen’s brain capacity at the moment could only process the last few words he heard, so his mouth mechanically repeated them.
These words angered He Xihuan. He scooped up Xu Yiwen with one arm, lifted him into his arms, and walked straight toward the bathroom.
Thrown against the cold tile wall, Xu Yiwen’s limbs turned weak, and he slid down the wall to the floor.
The next second, a bone-chilling rainstorm poured down over his head.
The rainwater poured down, blurring his eyes and mouth. Xu Yiwen hurriedly wiped his eyes and mouth with his hands.
His wiping speed couldn’t keep up with the falling rainwater. His hair was completely soaked, and water droplets constantly rolled off his lips.
“Cough, cough.” Xu Yiwen shivered all over, and his chin was suddenly lifted up by someone.
“Are you awake now?” He Xihuan put the showerhead back in its place, squatted down, and tossed a bath towel toward Xu Yiwen.
Xu Yiwen hurriedly draped the towel over himself, wrapping it tightly around his body.
The rain stopped, and the redness on Xu Yiwen’s cheeks faded a bit.
He tugged the towel to wipe his eyes, and upon seeing the face of the person in front of him, his chaotic eyes instantly cleared up.
He was drunk, and he had forgotten that he had already returned home from the bar.
A sharp pain shot through his head.
Xu Yiwen rubbed his temples, leaned against the wall to slowly stand up, bypassed He Xihuan, and walked out of the bathroom with heavy steps, letting the bath towel slip off his shoulder.
Without a word, he bent down to pack up the dirty clothes scattered on the floor and walked toward the bedroom door.
“Where are you going?” He Xihuan’s arms were soaked with water, and his shirt tightly clung to the tense muscles of his arms, looking extremely irritated.
Xu Yiwen still didn’t answer, dragging his heavy steps toward the door.
Seeing this, He Xihuan paused in his tracks, decisively reaching out to pull Xu Yiwen back by the waist from behind. “I’m talking to you.”
He Xihuan stood at one meter ninety-three, towering half a head taller than Xu Yiwen. Coupled with a few years of military training led by his older brother He Xiqi, his build looked twice as broad as Xu Yiwen’s.
His effortless movement made the already hazy Xu Yiwen look even more fragile.
From afternoon to evening, he only drank at the bar without venting his grievances.
If Wen Yuhang hadn’t desperately held him back, he would have vomited his own bile.
Before being sent back, he had taken hangover medicine.
Having just had a bucket of water poured over his head, the effects of the hangover medicine finally kicked in.
He was awake, but he didn’t want to be awake.
“He Xihuan, you’ve gone too far.” Xu Yiwen had neither the strength nor the intention to struggle. He just lowered his gaze, clutching the clothes in his hands until they were wrinkled.
“I’ve gone too far?” He Xihuan gripped Xu Yiwen’s chin and forced his head around. “You drank yourself into this ghost of a state, what’s wrong with me helping you wake up?”
The breath at the tip of He Xihuan’s nose grew heavier, and he leaned up to bite Xu Yiwen’s earlobe. “I can do things much worse than this.”
With that, he picked up Xu Yiwen horizontally and placed him back onto the bed.
Their lips touched, the water droplets on their brows dried by the sudden heat, and Xu Yiwen instinctively relaxed his palms, letting the clothes fall back down to the floor.
A wave of sweet apricot scent washed over his nose, neutralizing the bitterness in Xu Yiwen’s heart.
He Xihuan’s pheromone scent was that of ripe yellow apricots, and the sweet fragrance didn’t smell overly cloying.
Prompted by this sweetness, Xu Yiwen took the initiative to loop his arms around He Xihuan’s neck.
He Xihuan was pleased by this gesture, and the tip of his nose actively explored the back of Xu Yiwen’s neck.
Sure enough, the sweet and fresh scent of goji berries drifted over.
He bared his canines toward the gland emitting this sweetness and bit down.