It Seems Like
His professionalism had really gotten the better of him. He’d mistaken someone throwing himself into his arms for an attack.
Xie Chi flushed, looking embarrassed. “Sorry, I was in the shower. I probably didn’t hear you knock…”
Yan Wanqiu furrowed his brow, unable to make head or tail of what Xie Chi was up to.
He had barely any reason left. After slaughtering everyone in the Night Owl Society, he’d come to Xie Chi’s door on pure instinct, intent on killing him.
But perhaps he’d been in the grip of his pheromone disorder for too long. The instant Yan Wanqiu kicked the door open, he caught a familiar, tart sweetness on the air. His head spun, and his strength gave out halfway through the motion.
“Xie Chi.” Coming back to himself, Yan Wanqiu gritted out his name and took a few steps forward, reaching to grip the other man’s slender throat.
Xie Chi jumped.
Was he really that eager to hold hands?
It didn’t even occur to him that there was anything strange about his “blind date” showing up in the middle of the night, covered in blood and wearing a mask. He reached out and took the man’s hand, then politely introduced himself. “That’s right, I’m Xie Chi. I’m eighteen, and I’m good at killing people. I work as an assassin, too. What’s your name?”
Yan Wanqiu: “…?”
He tried to pull away, only to discover, to his shock, that he couldn’t escape Xie Chi’s grip.
Xie Chi took the opportunity to pull him inside. He closed the door against the icy wind, then let go, looking a little embarrassed.
It was his first time holding someone’s hand.
“Um…” Xie Chi tried to find something to talk about. “Is this your personal style? Did you dress like this specially for tonight? It’s very distinctive.”
All Yan Wanqiu wanted was to kill the traitor Xie Chi. He let out a cold laugh. “I look like this because of you.”
As he spoke, he raised the strange gun he’d just seized with his free hand, pressed it to Xie Chi’s forehead, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.
“Click.”
The gun gave a hollow click.
Yan Wanqiu froze.
Why was there no ammo?
Xie Chi stared in confusion at the electromagnetic gun in the man’s hand. It was clearly switched off and had no charge. He blinked.
Was this some kind of inventive roleplay?
The room fell silent, save for the rush of water in the bathroom.
“Oh, I forgot to turn off the water.” Xie Chi remembered he’d left it running and hurriedly let go of the man’s hand. “Sorry, I’ll go turn it off.”
Yan Wanqiu: ?
Was Xie Chi an idiot? Couldn’t he tell he was here to kill him?
He watched Xie Chi turn and walk toward the bathroom without a care in the world. It took several seconds for him to snap out of it and follow, seething.
Inside the bathroom.
The bathtub was already half full of hot water. Xie Chi bent to turn off the tap, when suddenly he felt a shove from behind.
“Splash!”
He lost his balance and fell straight into the tub.
Xie Chi looked up in shock. The man had followed him in without his noticing. He was half-kneeling on top of Xie Chi, gripping his throat and looking down at him. “Where are you running?” he asked, enunciating each word.
The water soaked the man’s clothes, making his already scant outfit even more transparent.
Xie Chi went scarlet and struggled wildly. “Wait, wait, wait… We’ve only just met!”
Hearing Xie Chi’s nonsensical words, Yan Wanqiu only felt hotter.
In the bathroom, that fresh, sweet scent grew stronger, and Xie Chi’s voice grew fainter and fainter.
The strange feeling from before came surging back.
Yan Wanqiu’s pheromones began to seep out of his control. The sharp edge of his cold cedar scent faded away, revealing a warm, woody depth.
Xie Chi caught the unusual scent.
He stopped mid-sentence and stared at the man’s flushed ears, asking in shock, “Were you drugged?”
Drugged?
Yan Wanqiu finally realized that something was wrong with him.
This was nothing like his pheromone disorder. The murderous rage that had made him want to kill everyone had vanished at some point, replaced by a burning desire unlike anything he’d ever felt.
His canine teeth itched, and his gland was burning.
His whole body was clamoring with need.
Yan Wanqiu gritted his teeth.
Damn the Night Owl Society. They’d stooped to underhanded tricks.
When the man in front of him didn’t answer, Xie Chi grew anxious. He cursed Yan Wanqiu for being a monster who’d resort to such a vile tactic, then asked urgently, “Are you okay? Is there an antidote? How can I help you?”
Yan Wanqiu still didn’t answer. Beneath his mask, his red eyes fixed on Xie Chi’s parted red lips and fair face. The hand around Xie Chi’s throat curled slightly.
This shadow guard wasn’t entirely useless.
At least he was easy on the eyes, and easy to handle.
The last of Yan Wanqiu’s reason began to waver.
“I’ll go find a doctor. Ugh!”
Xie Chi had just started to get up when the man yanked him back into the water.
This time, the man straddled him outright.
Xie Chi: ?!?!
“No need,” the man rasped.
As he spoke, he reached for the bathrobe Xie Chi was wearing.
“You can help me.”
Water splashed everywhere in the tub. Xie Chi clutched his robe with one hand and pushed at the man’s chest with the other, his face burning red. “Wait! You can’t use me as an antidote! I’m straight! I’m going to get a wife someday!”
Yan Wanqiu raised an eyebrow and opened Xie Chi’s robe. “Straight?”
Xie Chi noticed the change in himself, too. His worldview shattered, and he sat there stunned.
Yan Wanqiu gave a mocking laugh and tossed aside the clothes in his way.
His reasoning was simple. Xie Chi was as good as dead in his eyes. The traitor was handsome enough, so he might as well use him to relieve the effects of the drug before killing him.
…
Yan Wanqiu’s body and mind were both in poor shape, and the two didn’t struggle for long before the warm, woody scent of an alpha spread through the room.
His thoughts cleared a little. He was just about to get up and leave Xie Chi when he felt the man beneath him seize his wrist in a tight grip.
“Do you want to die?” Yan Wanqiu panted.
“I’m sorry.” Xie Chi lowered his lashes, the beauty mark at the corner of his eye trembling. “I think I might not be very straight.”
Yan Wanqiu was so exasperated he almost laughed.
What kind of nonsense was this, at a time like this?
But the next moment, Yan Wanqiu’s world spun.
“Splash!”
Water flew out of the tub as Xie Chi pinned Yan Wanqiu beneath him.
Bracing one hand against the edge of the tub, Xie Chi held the man down with the other and said earnestly, “Wife, I know you must’ve been forced into this, too, but I’ll take responsibility for you. Tomorrow, I’ll find a way to save you from Yan Wanqiu.”
What the hell was this idiot babbling about?
Yan Wanqiu’s heart lurched. Even in his muddled state, he felt a flicker of danger.
But before he could speak, Xie Chi had him pinned down.
Yan Wanqiu opened his mouth to curse him for courting death, but the threat broke into a ragged gasp before he could get it out.
Amid the rich, sweet scent of oranges, Yan Wanqiu could barely make sense of anything. Even the headaches that had plagued him for six whole years because of his pheromone disorder seemed to blur away.
The tub overflowed, water streaming across the floor as the splashing grew more violent than ever.
…
He was going to kill Xie Chi.
That was Yan Wanqiu’s only thought after Xie Chi carried him from the bathroom to the bed and he came to.
The thought that the traitor Xie Chi had seen every last one of his disgraceful moments made Yan Wanqiu tremble with rage.
Xie Chi, completely oblivious, had smoothly accepted the fact that he was going to marry a man. He was hunting for clean sheets, practically bubbling with excitement.
The future might be uncertain, but he had a wife now.
Sure, the gender wasn’t quite right, but a wife was a wife. This one was exactly his type, too. He liked him.
Happily clutching a fresh set of sheets, Xie Chi walked over to the bed.
Yan Wanqiu sat bolt upright as if startled, eyeing Xie Chi warily. “What are you doing?”
“Changing the sheets,” Xie Chi said obediently.
Yan Wanqiu froze. His earlobes turned hot before he could stop them.
He climbed stiffly out of bed, his voice harsh. “Hurry up.”
“Okay.” Xie Chi quickly changed the sheets.
It was his first time having a “wife.” Even though dawn had broken, he wasn’t tired at all. Once the sheets were changed, he sat on the edge of the bed, eyes shining as he gazed at the man.
“What’s your name? Did Yan Wanqiu force you to come here? Don’t be afraid. I just want to know a little about what happened. I won’t hurt you.”
Yan Wanqiu: “…”
Had this guy really not recognized that he was Yan Wanqiu?
Was he the one dreaming, or had Xie Chi lost his mind?
Exhausted, Yan Wanqiu only wanted to go back to his room and sleep, then wake up and chop off Xie Chi’s head himself. He casually made up a name. “I’m Ji Chou. I wasn’t exactly forced to come here. Go to sleep.”
Learning that his wife hadn’t been forced, Xie Chi’s eyes widened. “You weren’t forced? Then why would Yan Wanqiu drug you?”
Yan Wanqiu himself: “…How can you be sure Yan Wanqiu was the one who drugged me?”
Xie Chi blushed, his voice dropping as he stammered, “Th-then, did you come here willingly?”
Listening to his nonsense only made Yan Wanqiu’s headache worse. “Shut up. You’re so noisy.”
“Oh.” Xie Chi immediately fell silent, his cheeks still pink.
Waaah, so his wife had taken a liking to him and agreed to this on his own?
Yan Wanqiu had just started to leave when he saw Xie Chi place two pillows on the bed, then look up at him expectantly.
Yan Wanqiu: “…?”
When Yan Wanqiu didn’t move, Xie Chi tentatively asked, “Should we sleep under separate blankets?”
Yan Wanqiu finally realized Xie Chi had been making the bed for the two of them.
The bed was only 1.5 meters wide. While they’d been wrestling, Yan Wanqiu had nearly fallen off several times. With two pillows on it, there was hardly room for both of them.
Yan Wanqiu was silent for a moment, then couldn’t help asking, “Haven’t you noticed that there’s something wrong with me?”
Xie Chi blushed even harder. “No. I think you’re in great shape.”
Yan Wanqiu: “…That’s not what I meant!”
He was exhausted in body and mind, and no longer had the energy to argue with Xie Chi and his deranged thought process. He waved a hand. “Forget it. I didn’t say anything.”
Xie Chi immediately brought out a second blanket, then tossed a few pieces of thermal ore into the furnace. “Then let’s get some rest.”
Yan Wanqiu considered whether he should kill Xie Chi right now to get him off his back, but decided against it.
He was weak all over. Even if he could beat Xie Chi, it would make enough noise to alert the guards outside.
News that he’d slept with a shadow guard would be a terrible way to start building his reputation among the people just after arriving in Blizzard City. It would be safer to rest, leave, and then have Xie Chi executed.
Once Yan Wanqiu had thought it through, he stopped dwelling on it and went back to bed, planning to pretend to sleep for a while.
But he could still feel a burning gaze beside him.
Yan Wanqiu tried to ignore it and forced his eyes shut.
After a full five minutes, he could stand it no longer. He opened his eyes and turned to look at Xie Chi, who was lying under the blanket with only his head showing, staring at him. “Are you going to sleep or not?”
“I am, I am.” Xie Chi hurriedly shut his eyes.
A few seconds later, he opened them again and looked at the masked man beside him. In a small voice, he asked, “Then can I call you my wife? Are we family now? Is this our home?”
At the word “family,” Yan Wanqiu thought of the relatives who’d brought him to this miserable state. Irritated, he opened his eyes, yanked back the blanket, and clamped a hand around Xie Chi’s throat.
“Say one more stupid thing and I’ll cut out your tongue…”
He met Xie Chi’s eyes and stopped.
The boy’s round eyes gazed at him quietly, full of hopeful anticipation.
His hair was soft, damp and limp from his bath. All trace of his earlier aggression was gone. Instead, he clutched the blanket nervously, completely defenseless against Yan Wanqiu.
Yan Wanqiu: “…”
His hand loosened around Xie Chi’s vulnerable throat. The situation was so absurd that he almost found it amusing. “You want a family that badly?”
Xie Chi nodded eagerly.
Xie Chi continued to look at him with hopeful anticipation. Yan Wanqiu lowered his eyes and stared at him darkly for a while.
Memories from the past surfaced against his will.
His mother’s tacit approval. His father’s wariness. His siblings doing everything they could to kill him.
He’d watched as the family he trusted took everything from him, including his health. All that remained were the terrified stares and curses of the very people who’d once revered him.
And now this shadow guard was naively asking for a family.
Asking the very man who planned to have him executed.
With a twisted, mocking amusement, Yan Wanqiu let out a low laugh. “Of course.”
Tomorrow, when Xie Chi learned the truth and Yan Wanqiu cut off his head, he would surely look utterly desperate and broken.
Xie Chi had no idea of Yan Wanqiu’s cruel intentions. At his answer, he smiled, eyes shining, dimples appearing in his cheeks.
Yan Wanqiu looked away as if burned.
What an idiot.
Just like him once, stupid enough to make anyone laugh.