Spraying cologne onto his own gland for Ying Qiuman to smell no matter how slow Ying Qiuman was, he should have caught on by now.
It was probably the same scent as Xu Shuyuan’s pheromones.
But was their relationship really the kind where they could talk about “liking” things?
“Perfume makes me dizzy,” Ying Qiuman said truthfully. His grandmother had often worn perfume, and he’d been afraid of it since childhood. Cheap perfumes could make a person dizzy, so he’d never quite been able to accept fragrances.
Xu Shuyuan didn’t get the answer he’d wanted and seemed a little deflated. He gave a cold, indifferent “oh.”
He bent down close to Ying Qiuman, and when he straightened back up, he lifted him off the ground. Suddenly losing contact with the floor, Ying Qiuman instinctively wrapped his arms around Xu Shuyuan.
Over the past few days Ying Qiuman’s skin hunger had been relatively stable, so even though they hadn’t seen each other for a long stretch before, it hadn’t flared up. But now, held so tightly all of a sudden, he felt a bit unmoored and uneasy.
“Aren’t you busy these days?” The past few days had been far too frequent. Before this, they’d only met once a month over half a year.
Ying Qiuman worried that, because he was a beta, Xu Shuyuan couldn’t complete a proper marking during his susceptibility period, and that he might be causing Xu Shuyuan trouble.
Xu Shuyuan looked up at him, his eyes roving over his face as if examining every detail, and answered, “I’m on vacation.”
In Ying Qiuman’s impression, executives at large companies were supposed to work year-round without rest, every minute worth a fortune. Even Li Tian was still attending banquets and negotiating deals, so how could Xu Shuyuan be on vacation?
His confusion didn’t escape Xu Shuyuan, who then brushed the tip of his nose against the still-healing corner of Ying Qiuman’s lip.
“The company isn’t just me. When vacation comes around, of course I go home and rest.”
But hadn’t there been no vacation before? Hadn’t he only ever come to find him during susceptibility periods, once a month?
Ying Qiuman couldn’t argue him down and racked his brain for another excuse. “I ate too much. I’ll feel uncomfortable.”
He turned his face away from Xu Shuyuan, but unexpectedly the other man’s hand slid around to his lower back. He found that Ying Qiuman’s stomach had already gone soft, and that pressing on it brought no more sensation of fullness.
“You won’t feel uncomfortable.”
Tonight Xu Shuyuan was extremely gentle, he didn’t even take it all the way to the end. But this only made Ying Qiuman feel more embarrassed. He kept squirming, trying to dodge Xu Shuyuan’s advances, and in the end was forced to open his mouth for a deep kiss while his chin was held firmly in place.
What saved him was a phone call. Xu Shuyuan gripped his waist tightly to keep him there while he sat up and reached among the scattered clothes to find his phone and answer it.
The phone was on speaker beside the pillow. Li Tian’s voice came through: “Xiao Man, why didn’t you reply to my message?”
Ying Qiuman was about to answer, but Xu Shuyuan had put him on the spot. If he spoke now, he would definitely give something away, so he simply clamped his mouth shut and buried his face against Xu Shuyuan’s collarbone.
“I didn’t see it. What’s up?” Xu Shuyuan watched Ying Qiuman’s reaction and answered on his behalf.
Dreams tend to set first impressions, and Xu Shuyuan’s impression of Li Tian had already settled into that of a scummy flirt who didn’t love anyone yet still reeled people in.
Li Tian paused when he heard Xu Shuyuan’s voice, then laughed awkwardly twice. “Ah, it’s President Yuan. Well, tomorrow’s New Year’s Day, and it also happens to be my birthday. My mom invited Xiao Man over for dinner.”
He sounded as if he’d just stepped out of some banquet, the honk of a car horn could be heard in the background. Ying Qiuman hadn’t heard any of this mentioned before, and worried that Xu Shuyuan might misunderstand, so he was about to explain, when Xu Shuyuan suddenly tightened his grip, cutting the words off in his throat again.
“He already agreed to come to mine first. You can do it another time.”
That “another time” would mean waiting a whole year, but Xu Shuyuan said it as though it could simply happen again next week.
From start to finish, they hadn’t heard Ying Qiuman say a word. And sensing that Xu Shuyuan’s tone had turned cold and curt, Li Tian knew it was time to hang up.
After the call ended, Li Tian stood in the cold wind. On this lovely New Year’s Eve, he didn’t even know where Ye Li was. The only thing he had was a notification that an account on his special-follow list on a short-video app had posted a new video an hour ago.
Xu Shuyuan tossed the phone aside and turned to look at the person in his arms.
Ying Qiuman’s gaze drifted past Xu Shuyuan toward the ceiling. The little bedside lamp cast a glow that filled his eyes with moisture, every blink made them glimmer like a deer’s. Xu Shuyuan couldn’t help but quicken his pace.
……
Ying Qiuman was so sleepy he could barely keep his eyes open, but Xu Shuyuan insisted on holding his face and making him look at him.
“It hurts. You bit my tongue and broke the skin.”
Ying Qiuman forced his eyes open a sliver. He really wanted to say it served him right, but in the end he only blinked twice and shut his eyes again, refusing to look at him.
But Xu Shuyuan still wouldn’t let him off, going on tormenting him, shaking his shoulders and asking once more, “What else is different about me today?”
Xu Shuyuan guided his hand to touch his face. Ying Qiuman’s fingertips pressed twice, but he really couldn’t think of anything different. Still, since the hint had already been given, he put his half-asleep brain to work for a while and said, “A bit more handsome.”
Usually, during a susceptibility period, just holding him was enough to soothe him. But now he was already so sleepy he felt about to fall into the hands of the God of Dreams, and yet Xu Shuyuan kept doggedly making him “spot the difference.”
It was already 2 a.m. They still had to go to the Xu family’s tomorrow for dinner. Ying Qiuman had no idea how long Xu Shuyuan meant to keep this up. In the end he rolled over, bundled himself in the blanket, and burrowed away from him.
Xu Shuyuan, whether because the compliment had pleased him or for some other reason, finally stopped pestering him. He slipped under the blanket and pulled him close.
After staying up for a full week, Ying Qiuman slept until the sky was bright. When he woke, there was no one beside him anymore.
He lay there in a daze for a while, then got up, all messy-haired, and headed back to his own room to get ready. Just as he reached the door, he heard the bathroom door open. Xu Shuyuan came out and stopped him.
“Your clothes are with me. You don’t need to go back.”
Xu Shuyuan was wearing only lounge pants, his upper body completely bare. When he turned, Ying Qiuman caught sight of several faint red marks on his back.
Ying Qiuman exhaled slowly through his nose for nearly three full seconds. Then he went into the bathroom and shut the door a touch too loudly, which amused Xu Shuyuan.
After washing up, Ying Qiuman still carried his clothes back to his own room to change. He casually pulled the pre-marriage agreement out of the drawer. It clearly stated that they were not required to fulfill a normal marital relationship, but it also didn’t say they were forbidden from it.
Ying Qiuman had never been in a relationship, so naturally he had no idea how breakups were supposed to be handled either. He always thought about the consequences first and planned out the process afterward. Unfortunately, this particular matter in his life was a blank slate, so blank that whenever Xu Shuyuan said something, he had to go back and parse it word by word, like reading a dictionary.
Could it be… that he likes me?
When he arrived at this conclusion, even Ying Qiuman himself was shocked.
How could it be that easy?
Why so suddenly?
“Hello, Xiao Yuan?” Ying Qiuman answered a call from Qiu Yuan. The instant the other’s voice came through, it felt as if he were being pulled back into the real world: “Happy New Year, Xiao Man!”
“You too, Happy New Year.” Ying Qiuman’s voice carried a gentle smile, unusually soft and pleasant, loosened by having slept enough. Xu Shuyuan, standing outside the door, heard it and felt something melt in his heart. He pushed the door open, paused for a moment, but in the end did not go in.
Ying Qiuman turned toward the sound, but there was no one outside the door, so he assumed he simply hadn’t shut it properly.
After chatting with Xiao Yuan for a while, Ying Qiuman finished getting ready. He went downstairs for breakfastor rather, a late breakfast. Compared to yesterday, Xu Shuyuan seemed a little more distant and back to normal.
Before they left, Xu Shuyuan pulled him over and held his own hand near Ying Qiuman’s nose, asking, “Dizzy?”
Only then did Ying Qiuman clearly smell the cologne. At first there was a fresh tea note, and after a moment, fruit and honey intertwined under his nose.
Xu Shuyuan must have applied it not long ago, because the scent was still very strong.
He looked up at Xu Shuyuan and slowly shook his head.
High-end fragrances usually wouldn’t cause that kind of reaction, and Ying Qiuman only resisted it for psychological reasons. In fact, he didn’t dislike the scent, if anything, it felt rather comforting.
Having gotten his answer, Xu Shuyuan didn’t ask anything more. He picked up the cologne bottle and sprayed once on each side of Ying Qiuman’s neck, then lifted it and spritzed a few times above his head before pressing the bottle into his hand.
“For you.”
Ying Qiuman couldn’t tell what fragrance it was. With it in his hand, he searched for any information on it, but there was no description anywhere on the bottle. Only at the bottom was a familiar logo, one he felt he’d seen somewhere before, and he was certain it wasn’t a perfume brand.
Just as he was about to ask, Xu Shuyuan had already walked off.
The whole way to the Xu residence was silent. Ying Qiuman suspected Xu Shuyuan might have eaten something off the day before, or perhaps been influenced by another alpha, which would explain his strange behavior.
When he’d woken up today, he had been worrying over it and frantically combing through all sorts of random information. Thinking about it now, he finally felt a little reassured.
The first person to welcome them was Xu Shuyuan’s omega father. The moment Ying Qiuman saw him, he suddenly understood why he’d thought Xu Shuyuan looked like a celebrity yesterday because his omega father was that very famous star.
Ling Yi wore light makeup, but Ying Qiuman could tell at once that his natural features were already excellent. He left the faint lines at the corners of his eyes on open display, though his beauty was fading with age, it still made it hard for people to look away.
“Hello… hello,” Ling Yi said with a smile, coming over to take his arm, then tilting his head to look at Xu Shuyuan. “Yuan Yuan, you didn’t introduce Xiao Man to me, did you?”
He really hadn’t introduced him.
Ying Qiuman quickly hid his earlier flash of panic and smoothly picked up the conversation. “He did introduce you. But you look even better than in photos.”
This wasn’t flattery. Ying Qiuman’s first way of getting to know this new world had been by watching dramas, and he’d taken an immediate liking to Ling Yi.
Ling Yi had been active for nearly forty years since his debut, with countless works to his name. Whether he was the lead or not, regardless of genre, Ying Qiuman had basically watched almost every one.
But his knowledge of Ling Yi was limited to his roles. He wasn’t the sort of fan who chased celebrities, so he knew nothing about Ling Yi’s private life.
So the reason he’d been momentarily stunned when he first laid eyes on Xu Shuyuan was that the man looked like Ling Yi in his younger daysbold, bright, and dazzling.
Ling Yi could read the sincerity in Ying Qiuman’s eyes. And when he heard Ying Qiuman reeling off the works he loved, his fondness for this fan-like son-in-law only deepened.
The two chatted for quite a while. For the first time, Ying Qiuman got to talk so closely with a film star about the movies he loved. He was extremely nervous and excited, and all the anxiety he’d felt before coming melted completely away.
His favorite was a murder mystery film starring Ling Yi. He’d watched it many times and remembered every detail. After they’d finished talking, still not satisfied, Ling Yi told him it had been filmed when Xu Shuyuan was three years old. During that stretch he’d brought Xu Shuyuan to the set a few times, and the boy had been so frightened that he wouldn’t let Ling Yi hold him for a whole week.
Xu Shuyuan, standing beside them, had a dark expression, but when he noticed Ying Qiuman smiling as relaxed and happy as he’d sounded on the phone that morning, he sighed and didn’t stop Ling Yi from going on.
When Ling Yi was finally summoned away by the eldest brother to deal with other matters, Xu Shuyuan at last had a chance to speak with Ying Qiuman alone.
“You actually like watching movies?”
He’d assumed Ying Qiuman only watched code dancing.
Ying Qiuman, still thirsty from all the talking, was drinking water when he heard Xu Shuyuan’s question.
“I already dug through my snacks. You didn’t even notice there was a whole box of discs next to them?”