【Come home tonight.】
On his way back to the dormitory, Ying Qiuman received a message from Xu Shuyuan.
He paused mid-step, picked at the strap of his crossbody bag twice with his fingernails, hesitated for a moment, then deleted and reworked his reply:
“Do we have to stay out so late? I have an exam tomorrow afternoon.”
Nearly a month had passed since Xu Shuyuan’s last susceptibility period, and they hadn’t seen each other in all that time.
Ying Qiuman had hoped it would land a few days after the exam, but it turned out to fall right now.
Xu Shuyuan did not reply.
Ying Qiuman returned to the dormitory. The light from beyond the balcony swept across his profile, and his gray eyes, an aftereffect of the original body’s malnutrition, showed no particular emotion.
He set his phone on the desk to wait, but his hands were already unconsciously gathering his things.
Ying Qiuman was not as calm as he appeared on the surface. His classmatesYe Li included he only worked on projects with his advisor, read books, and played games, chalking it up to the ease of someone from a comfortable family with little reason to want for anything more.
But that wasn’t the case. In fact, he had an obsessive, almost frenzied attachment to anything that could wrap around him until he could barely breathe.
Oversized plushies, for example. Games that demanded his full attention and focus. A blanket cinched tight around him when he slept, whether in winter or summer.
And Xu Shuyuan’s embrace too. Xu Shuyuan was tall, with firm, well-defined muscles, broad and solid in a way that made him far more comfortable to hold than any plushie.
He had seen a doctor about it before. In his original world’s medical terms, the condition was called “skin hunger”a craving for physical contact. But in this ABO world, the original body, deprived of parental pheromones during development, had degraded from an alpha to a beta, and consequently developed what was known as pheromone degradation anxiety.
Xu Shuyuan was a high-quality alpha. Although Ying Qiuman couldn’t smell pheromones, his body was instinctively drawn to him, which greatly eased his anxiety.
Unfortunately, Xu Shuyuan didn’t like being held. Only during his susceptibility periods, driven by some deep, physiological urge to possess, could Ying Qiuman finally wrap his arms around him.
That was the reward he received for having his gland bitten.
So when Xu Shuyuan sent the message, Ying Qiuman’s first reaction wasn’t to refusehe was even rather looking forward to it.
It was just that the promise to keep his roommate company while studying for the CET-6 exam would have to be broken, and that weighed on his conscience.
Ying Qiuman turned his head to glance at his roommate’s bed, bit his lip, and finally let out a small sigh.
Suddenly, his phone lit up.
【Okay.】
Ying Qiuman’s heart thumped twice. Before leaving, he cast an apologetic look at his roommate’s seat.
His roommate, Ye Li, was the original novel’s protagonist and the original body’s love rival. But they had since become good friends. Ye Li wouldn’t even meet his stepbrother, the original novel’s protagonist top, Li Tian until their junior year.
So far, none of the original novel’s melodramatic plot points have occurred. The current Ye Li’s personality had also completely transformed. He even hated alphas, though he hadn’t realized it himself at first, only becoming aware when someone confessed to him.
Because in the original novel, Ye Li should have been utterly indifferent toward him.
Ying Qiuman guessed that the other person, like him, had transmigrated into the book. But he felt no joy at finding a fellow traveler in a foreign land, because the original body had meddled too much in the relationship between the protagonist top and bottom, and had ultimately met a miserable end.
He couldn’t be sure what positive changes the current Ye Li would bring. So Ying Qiuman decided to stay away from both of them, away from the melodramatic plot.
After stepping out, he stared at the chat screen for a while. Xu Shuyuan’s message contained no endearments, which meant he hadn’t fully entered his susceptibility state yet. For now, he’d simply come home as a precaution.
That was also why Ying Qiuman had made his request and felt confident he could leave on time tomorrow.
The winter solstice was approaching. By the time Ying Qiuman got home, the sky had already turned completely dark.
As he walked in, he saw Aunt Liang setting out the dishes, so he quickly stepped over to help.
When he turned back around, he saw Xu Shuyuan sitting on the living room sofa, working on a laptop.
Ying Qiuman watched him push his glasses down the bridge of his nose and pinch the space between his brows for a moment. He didn’t look well.
“Dinner’s ready,” Aunt Liang called out as she carried the bowls of rice to the table, addressing Xu Shuyuan in the living room.
Ying Qiuman looked at him. His expression didn’t soften, and the way he closed the laptop carried a hint of irritation. As he stood and walked toward them, Ying Qiuman suddenly realized he was still wearing his backpack.
He quickly turned around to take it off, then went to the sink to wash his hands.
A warmth drew close behind him the only signal that, as a beta, he could perceive to know the other man had entered his susceptibility period.
“What exam?” Xu Shuyuan stood beside him, washing his hands under the same running water Ying Qiuman had turned on.
Ying Qiuman was momentarily stunned. This distance was right on the edge of what his heart craved. He forced himself to stand a little farther away and replied, “The English CET-6. I’m keeping my roommate company while he retakes it for a higher score…”
He wanted to add that his own previous score was good enough, and that if it really came to it he could take back his earlier request. But Xu Shuyuan simply gave another “mm,” turned, and walked away.
During the meal, the two of them didn’t have much to say. Ying Qiuman listened to Aunt Liang and Uncle Liu, the butler, chatting animatedly in the kitchen, using their voices to distract himself.
A month wasn’t long, but Ying Qiuman’s heart was still racing because of it.
Xu Shuyuan watched him eat only the dishes right in front of him and felt a bit frustrated. On top of that, his appetite increased during his susceptibility period. Watching the other man eat like a fussy house cat somehow took the edge off his irritation.
When Ying Qiuman set down his chopsticks and bowl, Xu Shuyuan gave an order: “Eat a little more.”
Ying Qiuman glanced sideways at him. His already pale, somewhat sparse eyebrows were slightly furrowed, making his whole face look a little aggrieved.
Xu Shuyuan’s irritation eased a little more.
“It’ll make me uncomfortable,” Ying Qiuman said. His stomach had always been small. He didn’t expect that after transmigrating into this book, the original bodymistreated by a nanny since childhoodwould have a capacity so tiny that even drinking water left him feeling full.
Xu Shuyuan had told him to eat more before, but every time, Ying Qiuman couldn’t fully digest the food and would end up bloated and miserable in bed, wanting to throw up yet not daring to.
His gray, almost lifeless-looking eyes turned to Xu Shuyuan. The other man finally relented: “Finish the meat on the plate in front of you.”
Ying Qiuman couldn’t argue his way out of it, and he wasn’t the defiant type. So he reluctantly picked up his chopsticks again and ate the meat, though his movements were no longer so graceful almost as if he were eating in quiet protest. When he finished, he stood up and left without a word.
Xu Shuyuan let out a small, amused snort. This guy had a decent build for a beta, so how could his appetite be so small?
Ying Qiuman paid Xu Shuyuan no mind. The agreement signed before their marriage was essentially a partnership, there was no reason to be afraid of him. At worst, he could find another partner for the family business, take the scolding, and go marry someone else. It was just that…
He hid in his room and kicked the sofa, muttering complaints under his breath, feeling utterly pathetic.
In the end, he dragged it out until eight o’clock before going to knock on Xu Shuyuan’s door.
Xu Shuyuan was still in his business shirt, probably still working.
Normally, Ying Qiuman would only go after Uncle Liu called him. But he wanted to get it over with early tonight, so he came ahead of time partly as a reminder, and partly because, to be honest, he didn’t really want to shorten the time either.
After all, the agreement was only for three years. He wanted to use this period to cure his condition whether his own psychological issues or the original body’s degradation anxiety so that even after he left, he could live a healthy life.
Seeing that Xu Shuyuan didn’t move, Ying Qiuman took a soft breath, lifted his gaze to him, and wore an expression that carried a hint of heroic resignation: “It takes an hour to get back to school. I can’t afford to wake up too late.”
Xu Shuyuan’s gaze was hidden behind his lenses. His eyes were a very healthy dark brown, lending a certain sharpness to everything he looked at.
After a moment, Ying Qiuman saw him step aside. His glasses came off too, removed in one careless motion.
Ying Qiuman had intended to shower first upon entering the room, but before he could, his arm was suddenly grabbed. He stumbled, was half-carried, half-pressed against the door, and then a kiss came down on him.
Xu Shuyuan was fixated on his degraded gland. Every time, he left deep bite marks on it. During the worst stretches, Ying Qiuman’s gland was perpetually covered in fresh wounds layered over old scars.
Fortunately, that had been over summer break. He didn’t need to go out or bother covering up the bite marks.
Betas don’t actually have glands. But because the original body had only begun degrading after reaching adulthood, his gland still remained just stripped of its original function, hidden beneath the skin of his neck. It would never have been found unless an alpha bit it open.
So when Xu Shuyuan bit into his gland and injected pheromones, Ying Qiuman felt not only physical pain but also the torment of degradation anxiety, his craving and his natural instincts were at odds with each other.
So he suffered, caught between the two.
Ying Qiuman clutched Xu Shuyuan’s collar, shrinking back as he slowly hugged him tighter, bracing for the pain.
But the pain never came. The sharp teeth threatened his gland for a moment, then a hand gripped his chin and turned his face straight. Before Ying Qiuman could react, a pair of hot, soft lips pressed against his.
It was a long, suffocating kiss exactly the kind Ying Qiuman was obsessively addicted to.
Such soothing kisses were rare. Ying Qiuman’s tense body slowly relaxed, gradually falling into the rhythm. Without having to pay any price, he received his reward.
When Xu Shuyuan finally let him go, Ying Qiuman’s heart was pounding uncontrollably. His own clothes had been pulled past the bounds of decency, while the other man’s shirt was only creased at the shoulders and chest.
“Go take a shower,” Xu Shuyuan said, wiping a trace of moisture from the corner of Ying Qiuman’s mouth with his thumb. He set him down and turned away to get a glass of water.
Xu Shuyuan’s room had pajamas that Ying Qiuman could wear. But the sudden, unexpected kiss had left his brain somewhat short-circuited. It wasn’t until after he’d finished showering and come back to his senses that he realized he hadn’t brought his clothes in with him.
He rehearsed calling out several times in his head, but no matter how long he hesitated, he just couldn’t bring himself to say the words.
So he simply soaked in the bathtub, letting time slip away. Until the bathroom door abruptly opened, and Xu Shuyuan walked in and asked him, “Aren’t you cold?”
The villa had the heating on. Not just the steam-filled bathroom even the living room on the first floor wasn’t particularly cold.
Ying Qiuman watched him approach. A momentary ringing filled his ears, and a violent surge rose in his chest, making it impossible to stay calm. Fortunately, the shower curtain was drawn, so Xu Shuyuan couldn’t see him.
He thought the other man would just set the clothes down and leave, but instead he heard the rustle of the curtain being pulled open. Xu Shuyuan stood there, looking down at him.
Ying Qiuman’s gaze rose only halfway. He saw that Xu Shuyuan’s dress pants were still neatly in place, but the prominent bulge was right there in front of him. He instinctively looked away.
“Want to do it here?” Xu Shuyuan’s voice was deep and full-bodied, the slight upward lilt at the end carrying a hint of playfulness.
Ying Qiuman flinched and explained, “No, I forgot my clothes.”
He kept his head down, the tips of his ears growing slightly warm. He heard the man let out a soft “hmph” on an exhale, followed by: “They’re over there. Don’t catch a cold.”
Xu Shuyuan was acting strangely today. He showed flashes of the tenderness that occasionally surfaced during his susceptibility period, but none of the intimacy that came with being less lucid. It was like being teased from a distance, close yet far.
After he left, Ying Qiuman took a moment to compose himself before getting out of the bathtub. He dressed neatly, splashed some cold water on his face, and then stepped out.
Xu Shuyuan was sitting at a small tea table, working. When he saw Ying Qiuman come out, he only glanced up briefly, so cold and distant that he seemed like a completely different person from the one who had just casually teased him moments ago.
Ying Qiuman fastened his pajamas more tightly, walked around Xu Shuyuan, and sat down on the bed.
But after a while, Xu Shuyuan showed no sign of going to shower. Ying Qiuman watched the time slip away. He had deliberately come early, yet he’d been dragged out until nearly the usual hour anyway.
He waited off to the side, memorizing dozens of vocabulary words before Xu Shuyuan finally moved.
But after finishing his shower and coming back, Xu Shuyuan sat down at the tea table again. Then he beckoned to Ying Qiuman: “Come here.”
Puzzled, Ying Qiuman stood up and walked over. Xu Shuyuan pulled him into his lap, rested his chin on Ying Qiuman’s shoulder, and went back to looking at the documents on his computer.
They sat like that, embracing, for a while. Finally, Ying Qiuman couldn’t help but speak up: “Aren’t we going to do it?”
“Mm,” Xu Shuyuan said, his ear against Ying Qiuman’s, close enough to hear every breath. “Isn’t your exam tomorrow?”