Fighting and Grabbing vs. Top-Tier Ambiguity
Two days later.
The bright sun shone brilliantly, a gentle breeze patted the palm trees, and the waves rolled in layers.
Xie Yun woke up in bed. The room was neat and clean; his phone was fully charged, displaying messages from several people concerned about his health.
His heart was racing, and he hadn’t quite recovered yet. After asking Fei Bo’an, he learned that he had been asleep for two days, and everyone had heard that he suffered from heatstroke combined with food poisoning.
Only Fei Bo’an was the exception. He guessed that Xie Yun had entered an early rut (susceptible period). He mentioned that when he brought supper that night but couldn’t find him, he smelled a faint trace of pheromones outside the door.
After a simple wash, Xie Yun stood on the balcony, questioning his life.
He wore clean pajamas, his bangs brushed back, looking refreshed as if he had just slept off a hangover, though his memory was filled with fragments of a “blackout.”
Rowing in the forest, feeding the fawns, a confession, the hotel, the bathroom, kissing his Gege…
A series of images, like shards pieced into a scroll, felt like things that only happened in dreams, yet his heart was incredibly certain they were real memories.
But he… seemed to have slept for two days?!
Xie Yun stared blankly, pressing a finger against his lips, completely unaware of someone approaching behind him until that person patted his shoulder.
Turning around, he saw Fei Bo’an’s face, filled with a complex expression of concern and expectation.
“How are you feeling? I brought you some food.”
“Um, I’m okay.”
Xie Yun’s head felt dull. “Where’s my brother?”
Fei Bo’an: “……”
“Tell me what happened first!”
This person wore his heart on his sleeve.
Xie Yun was starving; he turned and patted Fei Bo’an’s shoulder, walking toward the dining area: “Sit down and talk.”
A few minutes later.
Fei Bo’an’s pupils shook with shock, nearly falling off his chair: “You forced your brother to kiss you?!”
Xie Yun was flushed with shame and regret: “I think so.”
He was too embarrassed to say that it wasn’t just once at least according to his memory, they had kissed multiple times.
“My brother… has he been taking care of me these past two days?”
Although only two days had passed, the vivid memory of the kiss and its warmth seemed to linger on his lips. As for what happened after he fell unconscious, he knew nothing.
Fei Bo’an nodded: “Yeah, he even called a doctor over from Nancheng. You were sleeping the whole time.”
He heard that Xi Zhiyu hadn’t gone out to play at all these days. He was either taking care of Xie Yun or holding a book, quietly staying in the hotel to accompany him.
He was a bona fide Omega lover, faithfully guarding the Alpha he liked.
Xie Yun slumped onto the table and grumbled: “How could I trouble Gege so much? We’re… not even together.”
Fei Bo’an: “Huh?!”
“But didn’t you guys kiss?”
Xie Yun didn’t know how to answer. He scratched his hair and made up his mind: “The situation is complicated. I’ll talk to him face-to-face later.”
Fei Bo’an: “You definitely need to have a good talk.”
He remembered something. “Oh right, that doctor brought a lot of professional equipment. He stayed on the island until last night. He seemed pretty familiar with your brother.”
“Maybe you should ask him if your body is okay? Everything is normal, right?”
An adolescent Alpha who hasn’t undergone a second differentiation usually doesn’t experience a rut severe enough to require marking an Omega.
But after all, he had been asleep for two days, only eating briefly during that time while remaining unconscious otherwise; he definitely needed to pay attention to his health.
Xie Yun took it to heart, but his status as an S-class Alpha usually gave him confidence, so he didn’t take it too seriously.
At this moment, his mind was full of Xi Zhiyu. He glanced at his phone; a simple conversation had taken place via messages sent ten minutes ago.
xzy: Do you feel unwell anywhere?
xzy: I’m still handling some things. I’ll go over to find Yunjai in a bit.
Yunjai: I’m fine ^^
Yunjai: No need to come over, Gege. I’ll eat breakfast first and then go find you.
Some people look relaxed on the outside, but in reality, their heart rate has spiked to 180, and their hands are slick with sweat.
On the other side.
Xi Zhiyu was also stroking his phone, his breath hitching as he thought blankly about what Dr. Jonson said before leaving.
Due to the delayed use of suppressants, Xie Yun had fallen into a deep sleep. After receiving Xi Zhiyu’s call, Jonson told him not to worry too much and made a special trip to the island for diagnosis and treatment.
When he discovered Xie Yun’s severe lethargy, Xi Zhiyu was panicked and guilt-ridden. Fortunately, after all the checks, it was diagnosed that the lethargy was simply due to Xie Yun’s personal physical reaction to the rut.
However, after the “saliva treatment,” and based on Xie Yun’s physical indicators, Jonson suggested that they avoid intimate contact as much as possible until the second differentiation was over. This was to prevent pheromone loss of control, which would be bad for both their bodies.
At that time, Xi Zhiyu felt an unbearable sense of shame, his eyelids burning. “Okay.”
He found it difficult even to explain. If it hadn’t been to resolve the rut he himself had triggered, he wouldn’t have engaged in saliva treatment.
Both he and Xie Yun… were not good at facing that kind of thing.
Jonson guessed that the relationship between the two boys had taken a qualitative leap. Understanding his concerns, he said in a softened tone: “Talk to him properly when he wakes up. As for your gland disease, you can wait until we find a new treatment plan to mention it. There’s no rush.”
“I understand.”
Xi Zhiyu’s heart was in a mess. He indicated he would not mention the symptoms or the possibility of his second differentiation into an SS-class Alpha.
Even he didn’t know the specific outcome; saying too much would only disturb his childhood friend’s peace of mind, so there was no need to speak of it prematurely.
Thinking of this…
Xi Zhiyu snapped back to reality when he heard a faint, barely audible knock on the door. If he hadn’t been standing close, he might not have heard it.
…Is it Yunjai?
Xi Zhiyu stood up and walked quickly to open the door, but just a door’s breadth away, he smelled a faint scent of pheromones.
He paused, his hand on the doorknob hesitating for a beat, but he opened it anyway.
Outside the door, the young man before him had a flushed face, looking at him pitifully with hesitant eyes.
Just as Xi Zhiyu was about to ask how his body was, a figure lunged forward.
Xie Yun’s senses were still stuck in the intimate state they had been in. Unlike Xi Zhiyu, who had calmed down for two days, he crashed straight into the other’s chest. “Gege.”
“Do you hate me now?”
Xi Zhiyu was caught off guard by those words. He shook his head immediately but found himself unable to speak for a moment.
His nose caught the faint, cool scent of sea salt, yet he felt the boy’s blazing heat. After a moment of recovery, the scent dissipated with the wind.
He remembered Jonson’s advice and was about to step back to soothe Xie Yun’s emotions and control the pheromones to prevent a repeat of the scene from two days ago.
But Xie Yun, who had entered the entertainment industry at a young age, had a mind full of studying scripts and acting. Not only was he worldly-unwise in matters of the heart, but he also seemed completely oblivious to the state of leaking pheromones.
It happened in an instant.
Xie Yun mistook Xi Zhiyu’s movement for rejection. He looked up, surprised and trying to process the situation, like a reckless young animal exposing its belly to show it was harmless. “Please don’t hate me.”
“I don’t know what happened, I just entered my rut.”
“I wasn’t rational at the time. Zhiyu-ge, I’m sorry…”
Xi Zhiyu thought he only felt this way when his brain was foggy; he didn’t expect him to still be so full of self-blame and guilt after the rut had passed.
“It’s not like that.”
Xi Zhiyu’s heart softened. He instinctively glanced out the door, afraid a stranger might pass by. “Can we talk inside?”
Xie Yun realized belatedly: “…Um.”
“Then I’m coming in.”
He walked into the room with his head down. As he spoke, from Xi Zhiyu’s downward gaze, he could see the area from the boy’s earlobes to the back of his neck flushed completely red.
Very cute.
Xie Yun didn’t notice that gaze. His heart was filled with wild thoughts. Just thinking about the fragments of the kiss, he felt that his brother was so reserved and steady that he surely wouldn’t have initiated intimacy on his own.
After entering the room, staying in a space with a layout similar to the other room, he suddenly didn’t know what to say.
Xi Zhiyu poured a glass of water for him: “Does your body feel better?”
He acted too calmly. Xie Yun froze for a moment, then nodded nervously: “Much better.”
“That’s good.”
Xi Zhiyu let out a quiet breath and said softly, “ I don’t hate you. I’ve always liked Yunjai very much.”
Xie Yun was stunned for a long time.
His brain somehow turned in the wrong direction. Seeing his brother speak so frankly and easily, he mistakenly thought the word “like” didn’t refer to romantic love, but rather a sibling-like affection.
But… would a sibling allow themselves to be kissed so many times?
Xie Yun really couldn’t wrap his head around it. Naturally, he didn’t realize that the Xi Zhiyu in front of him was pinching his fingertips until they turned white, not quite daring to look in his direction.
His gaze would always uncontrollably land on the gland on the back of the neck.
That gaze swept over Xie Yun’s slightly swollen gland; it was precarious, emitting a tiny wisp of dark, dangerous aura.
This was simply the behavior an Alpha has toward an Omega they like in every stereotypical sense.
At this moment.
Xie Yun buried his face, awkwardly holding the water cup. He was surrounded by the aura of a small puppy, a messy sense of innocence coming naturally to him.
“It’s fine as long as Gege doesn’t hate me,” he stammered, his words unclear. “Then we… at that time… that…”
Xi Zhiyu naturally knew what he wanted to say. This gentle and introverted youth was clearly also inexperienced in romance, believing that saying “I’ve always liked you very much” was the clearest response possible.
Their hearts were connected, but a dull ache spread in his chest. He had to speak with some reservations: “The doctor said that because this is the second differentiation period, the body and other aspects are not very stable.”
Xie Yun couldn’t hear clearly at all; he just knew to nod blindly, being well-behaved and obedient: “I… I know.”
Just like how he inexplicably entered a rut and even suspected it was caused by smelling a stranger’s Alpha pheromones it was all very strange.
Everything was happening too fast, not just his physical condition, but also their respective studies. He knew his brother valued every exam and competition. It was only normal that romantic matters would have to wait until after the College Entrance Examination (Gaokao).
Xi Zhiyu: “Can we wait a little longer?”
In about half a year, both the treatment plan and the results of the second differentiation would be known. By then, it wouldn’t be too late to finalize a romantic relationship.
He hoped to be healthy and didn’t want to become a burden on Yunjai’s life and career due to physical issues.
Xie Yun’s brain finally turned in the right direction this time, but he didn’t dare look at him, strategically looking down to drink water. “Wait until after the Gaokao to… consider it… right?”
He also felt he shouldn’t push too hard. Currently, his brother didn’t dislike this one-sided love, but asking to be together immediately wasn’t realistic either.
It was just that those words were spoken too softly. Xi Zhiyu was also nervous and didn’t hear clearly, so he repeated: “On the day the Gaokao ends, is that okay?”
“Of course!”
Xie Yun nodded like a woodpecker, but his heart was churning.
Ah…
Then he shouldn’t have used the rut as an excuse to kiss his brother!
A little person inside his heart was collapsing and running around, rolling on the floor and punching the walls, warning himself aggrievedly that he had to behave well before the Gaokao.
Therefore, he completely failed to hear the words Xi Zhiyu, sitting beside him, said about things like “saliva treatment” for the rut.
Anyway, he was a “Straight Alpha” through and through; even if he heard things that weren’t about coercion, he would internalize and transform them into a completely different answer.
It was because he acted like a spoiled brat and caught the rut at the right time that he tricked his soft-hearted brother into kissing him.
Xie Yun felt withered inside. It was certainly ambiguous, but he always felt like he was playing the role of a “homewrecker” who wanted everything, fighting and grabbing for it.
Meanwhile, Xi Zhiyu was gradually trying to enter the “state,” showing meticulous care and protection for Xie Yun. After they finished talking and he saw him out of the room, he even proactively rubbed his head.
“Are you joining the film crew as soon as you get back?”
Because Xie Yun had slept for two days, their island trip was ending tomorrow morning.
Xie Yun gave a delayed “Ah”: “Right, I’m joining the crew immediately. I’m going to Hengdian to film.”
“Okay.”
The corners of Xi Zhiyu’s lips curved slightly. “I understand.”
Then he would have Sesame book a high-speed train ticket for the weekend in advance. Before his father and Dad returned to the country, he could still visit the set to accompany Yunjai.