Qi Yang walked over to the kitchen to grab a plate for Chu Huaize’s cookies. Hearing Chu Huaize’s question, he paused to think about it for a moment, deciding it was pretty accurate.
“You could say that. My parents are both extremely busy. Ever since middle school, they haven’t had any time to look after me, so they just dumped me here by myself. My uncle is worked to death, and the older folks in our family aren’t going to leave their comfortable villa to live in a small apartment like this. So, naturally, I’m left all by myself.”
“Are your parents okay with that?”
Qi Yang felt a sudden, inexplicable pang of sadness at those words. If they were truly okay with it, would he be able to live together with his family? He wouldn’t have to live entirely by himself in this cold, empty house.
“Maybe my capabilities are just strong. They believe I can live on my own just fine.”
Qi Yang finished washing the plate and set it down on the coffee table in the living room. He didn’t have the habit of boiling water, usually just opting for bottled water instead.
“What would you like to drink?”
Bending down and rising back up, Qi Yang walked over to the refrigerator and opened it. Chu Huaize wasn’t about to act like a mere guest, so he followed Qi Yang over to the fridge to grab a drink.
To Chu Huaize’s surprise, Qi Yang’s refrigerator didn’t contain any fresh vegetables at all; instead, it was packed to the brim with various beverages.
Not expecting Chu Huaize to tag along, Qi Yang gestured for him to pick whatever he wanted. “Help yourself. I carefully selected all of these, so I’m sure you’ll find something you like.”
“Do you have any mineral water?”
Qi Yang glanced into the fridge, failing to spot any mineral water. He must have finished the last batch yesterday and forgotten to buy more.
“I think we’re out of water. Do you want a cola instead?” Without waiting for an answer, Qi Yang reached out, grabbed a can of iced cola, and handed it straight to Chu Huaize. “You’ll just have to make do with this.”
“It’s not making do.” The corners of Chu Huaize’s mouth twitched upward by a pixel or two. Qi Yang had long since noticed that Chu Huaize’s emotions weren’t very expressive; his face was usually ice-cold. If they weren’t able to communicate normally, Qi Yang would have suspected he had facial paralysis.
The two returned to the couch. Since Chu Huaize wasn’t one to initiate conversation, Qi Yang had to do all the talking while Chu Huaize offered the occasional prompt response.
“How about the two of us bring drinks to school tomorrow? In a couple of days, we’ll be moving into the dorms, and then these good old days will be gone for good.”
Chu Huaize looked thoughtful. “Does the school allow us to bring drinks?”
In principle, the school didn’t permit outside beverages. However, for senior high school students, enforcement was quite lenient.
Naturally, Qi Yang didn’t care much about such rules. The school was especially indulgent toward top students, and model kids like Qi Yang received plenty of leeway. “The school is very accommodating, of course. They’re definitely not going to give us a hard time.”
Qi Yang settled back onto the sofa. “In a couple of days, we have another lecture to sit through. Every time those things happen, they’re boring as hell. Let’s ditch it, the two of us.”
Chu Huaize’s pupils seemed to dilate slightly, or perhaps Qi Yang was just seeing things.
“We can, but won’t getting caught be a problem?” That question sounded genuinely concerned.
Qi Yang took a sip of his cola, the icy liquid sliding down into his stomach with refreshing comfort.
“No problem at all. With such a huge auditorium, the two of us won’t even be noticed missing. Besides, we’ll definitely need to come up with an excuse before we bail; otherwise, treating the teachers like fools would be pretty stupid.”
Qi Yang had planned it all out. When the time came, he would fake being sick and head to the infirmary to lie down for a bit, which would give them a chance to slip away. Along the way, they could check out the freshman military training and take Chu Huaize for a stroll around the campus.
“On the day of the military training, the freshmen will be out on the field. We can go watch how the instructors drill them under the hot sun. Didn’t you miss out on military training? It’ll be a great chance to check it out.”
Glancing at the plate of cookies sitting before him, Qi Yang caught a whiff of their rich aroma and reached out to pop two pieces into his mouth.
“What do you think?”
“Sounds good.”
With his cheeks stuffed with cookies, Qi Yang’s mind raced to figure out the next topic of conversation. Chatting with Chu Huaize really required some mental effort to keep going.
“Let me tell you, when I was playing a video game earlier, this one guy was the absolute worst. He hunted me down relentlessly.” Qi Yang’s mind was still flooded with the memory of being relentlessly tormented by that player, making his teeth itch with lingering frustration.
Chewing on the cookie didn’t stop Qi Yang from tearing into the player’s malicious behavior.
“Eat slower. They’re all yours, finish swallowing before you talk so you don’t choke.”
Qi Yang quickly polished off the rest of the cookies. The ones Chu Huaize baked had a rich, buttery aroma with the texture of fine shortbread. When Qi Yang reached out for another, he realized there weren’t any left, leaving him feeling rather disappointed.
“Your cookies are so good. Too bad they’re all gone.”
“I’ll bake some more for you next time. I wasn’t sure if you’d like them today, so I didn’t make very many.”
Unbothered by the lack of more cookies, Qi Yang simply resumed his rant about the player who had hunted him down.
“He even sent me a friend request! I don’t know what was going through his head, and heaven knows what was wrong with my head because I actually accepted it.”
Chu Huaize remained completely silent the whole time, quietly listening to Qi Yang vent and offering the occasional supportive nod to prevent awkward silences.
“He targeted only me!” “What did I even do? I was completely innocent and pitiful, yet he zeroed in on me and even told me to go eat.”
Taking another sip of cola to steady his nerves, Qi Yang launched back into his complaints.
“Tell me, am I an idiot? The guy could turn into a butterfly, and when I pushed him against the window ledge, he didn’t even phase him! And to top it all off, he said my waist was slim!”
Qi Yang looked down and pinched his waist. “Where is it even slim? I clearly have a little tummy.”
Chu Huaize chimed in to agree that his waist was indeed slim. “You really do need to eat more. You’re a bit too thin.”
Qi Yang wrinkled his nose, completely unconvinced by Chu Huaize’s words. In Qi Yang’s mind, Chu Huaize should have been right there with him condemning that bad guy.
After half a day of running a one-man talk show, Qi Yang’s throat felt a bit hoarse. He handed the remote control sitting in front of him to Chu Huaize. “How about we watch a movie? Whenever I have free time, I usually watch a couple of films.”
“What genre do you like?”
“Anything is fine.”
Qi Yang gestured for Chu Huaize to take the remote, pushing it closer to his hand. “Don’t give me anything is fine, you have to pick one.”
Having lived the sheltered life he did, Chu Huaize had never watched television before, giving him a slight sense of foreignness toward it. “I’ve never used one, I’m not very familiar with it.”
Whether it was just imagination or not, the air seemed to stop circulating for a second, freezing in place and pinning them both right where they sat.
It took Qi Yang a moment to process it. “No way. Your family isn’t short on money, and you’re not even allowed to watch TV?”
Realizing Qi Yang had misunderstood, Chu Huaize hurried to explain, “Things were strictly managed at home, and I never really cared for watching television.”
Qi Yang had actually guessed that reason already. He had plenty of strictly managed friends, though their situations weren’t entirely identical; their idea of recreation wasn’t electronics, but traveling all over the world.
Qi Yang was planning to take a spontaneous trip right after finishing the college entrance exams, too.
“You’ve got it pretty rough, honestly. Ever since you got sick, you’ve been cooped up at home with nobody to play with, and they only let you out now that you’re a senior. Your stress levels were already high, and now they’re even worse.”
If there was one thing Chu Huaize didn’t fear, it was pressure. To him, academic pressure was the most trivial thing imaginable; being locked inside that house had been the truly torturous part.
Back when Chu Huaize was thirteen and had just started junior high, someone had secretly sabotaged him, causing his gland to run out of control. The school immediately issued an expulsion order, refusing to let Chu Huaize attend classes under any circumstances. Even a powerful and wealthy family like the Chus couldn’t force the school to accept him, purely because his condition was extremely rare. Very few people understood its exact side effects, but most cases were accompanied by long-term pheromone instability—a severely serious issue. Consequently, Chu Huaize was forced to stay locked away at home, a confinement that lasted a full five years.
Over those five years, he absorbed every bit of knowledge he could lay his hands on. Restricted from physical freedom, he enriched his life through constant study. It wasn’t that his household lacked other people—though there were no peers his own age, he did have an older brother. While not related by blood, his brother treated him very well.
He wanted to make the environment more comfortable for both his mother and himself at home, preventing his cheap excuse of a father from making trouble for them. By constantly pushing and training his glandular abilities to reach heights nobody else could attain, he could finally secure real leverage and authority for himself.
In Chu Huaize’s family, raw talent was the least scarce resource. Only by becoming the absolute smartest could Chu Huaize secure a firm foothold in the clan.
“Then let’s watch a horror movie! If we’re watching TV for the first time, we’ve got to turn the intensity all the way up!”
Qi Yang pulled back his outstretched hand, waiting for a beat, but when no response came from Chu Huaize, his arm started to feel a little sore.
Choosing a horror movie at random, he didn’t even pay attention to the title.
Chu Huaize simply sat quietly and watched the plot holes riddle the screen. Not wanting to ruin Qi Yang’s fun, he silently watched as the film’s tone gradually shifted into something bizarre.
Even Qi Yang found the movie riddled with logical flaws. “This makes zero sense. They clearly knew the house was haunted, yet they insisted on moving in anyway, claiming everything was fake. Were all those deaths fake, too?”
Qi Yang didn’t even know how to complain anymore; strictly speaking from a logical standpoint, this movie completely fell apart.
Before long, Qi Yang was treating the horror movie like a comedy, finding it ridiculously silly. Chu Huaize didn’t share that sentiment, watching with complete sincerity, which made Qi Yang worry he might be ruining the experience, prompting him to quiet down.
Each of them secretly assumed the other genuinely enjoyed the masterpiece, while privately feeling their intelligence cells being ground into dust against the floorboards.
Barely an hour into the movie, Qi Yang couldn’t even make it through the first thirty minutes before sleep overtook him. Between gaming for two hours and sitting through such a boring film, drowsiness hit him hard. His upper body tilted sideways, and his head landed solidly against Chu Huaize’s shoulder.
Recovering from his internal critique of the film, Chu Huaize realized Qi Yang had fallen fast asleep from sheer exhaustion.
Chu Huaize thought about waking him up so he could go sleep in a proper bed, but the moment he gave him a gentle nudge, Qi Yang let out a grumpy, groggy murmur: “Don’t move, let me sleep!”
The soft voice scratched at Chu Huaize’s heart like a little cat paw.
With no other choice, he let Qi Yang stay leaning against him. “You really are trusting.”
In a space where Qi Yang couldn’t see, Chu Huaize became uncharacteristically talkative. Countless things he wanted to say to Qi Yang gathered on the tip of his tongue, only to condense into a single quiet sentence: “Seeing that you’re still healthy, I’m already completely satisfied.”
Noticing Qi Yang was fast asleep, Chu Huaize realized Qi Yang’s arms had wrapped themselves securely around him at some point. Chu Huaize wanted to settle him on the sofa and find a blanket to cover him, but Qi Yang refused to let go. Sleeping like that without a cover would easily lead to catching a cold.
With a helpless sigh, Chu Huaize scooped him up, supporting his bottom securely in his arms, and carried him straight toward his bedroom.
Qi Yang’s head found a comfortable nook right in the crook of Chu Huaize’s neck. A steady stream of warm breath brushed against Chu Huaize’s shoulder, and the gland on his neck emitted faint wisps of datura scent. Qi Yang’s legs naturally hooked around Chu Huaize’s waist, clinging to him like an attached child cradled in an adult’s arms.
An omega’s basic self-discipline had completely been thrown to the dogs.
Catching the rich trail of Qi Yang’s pheromones, Chu Huaize found his self-control tested to an almost inhuman degree. The compatibility between him and Qi Yang was undoubtedly off the charts.