As an apology, the bouquet looked utterly insincere. Along the street they had just walked, he and Ye Li had already seen this exact kind of bouquet many times over, it looked like something bought on a whim.
The little yellow lights wound through the flowers reflected in Ying Qiuman’s gray eyes, lending them a faint, almost imperceptible softness. But their owner showed no emotional reaction to the bouquet at all.
Ying Qiuman didn’t look at Xu Shuyuan as he took the flowers, then handed over the snack in his hand and asked softly, “Have you eaten?”
He deliberately lifted his gaze with care and noticed that Xu Shuyuan did indeed freeze when he saw the snack, which left him feeling a little pleased.
Even though he wasn’t an omega, his instincts about Xu Shuyuan were still quite accurate.
About ten minutes earlier, he had already caught a glimpse of Xu Shuyuan in the crowd. The other man had stood far off without coming closer, still confirming their location on his phone. So Ying Qiuman had deliberately pretended not to see him, wanting to see what else he would do.
The flowers Xu Shuyuan had casually bought were plastic, and looked like they could last a long time.
Fake sincerity.
Ying Qiuman had also noticed that Xu Shuyuan didn’t like spicy food, yet the snack he’d brought was coated in salty sauce and deep-red chili powder.
Equally fake intentions.
Ye Li couldn’t figure out what the two of them were competing over, and felt a bit awkward. Then Xu Shuyuan said something that made him even more uncomfortable.
“You must be Manman’s roommate. I’m his husband.” Xu Shuyuan extended his right hand to Ye Li. “This might be a bit abrupt, but the things I’ve picked out don’t seem to suit Manman very well, so I was hoping you could help me take a look?”
The slight satisfaction Ying Qiuman had just felt curdled into speechlessness once Xu Shuyuan’s words painted him as overly picky and a little annoyed, too.
“Now that’s bold of you. If you can’t even guess his taste, how would I know what does?” Ye Li laughed warmly, gave Ying Qiuman a quick wink, then added, “Ah, I’m blunt. Don’t take it the wrong way.”
Xu Shuyuan didn’t expect Ye Li to be this direct. It was an unexpectedly sharp way of speaking, and it gave him a kind of pleasant surpriselike finally meeting a worthy opponent after long standing above everyone else.
Ying Qiuman caught the faint brightness in Xu Shuyuan’s eyes and, for some reason, felt a tightness in his chest. Before he could react, Xu Shuyuan spoke again.
“Not at all. It’s great that Manman has a friend like you. Unlike meI’m always going around in circles and end up upsetting him.”
Xu Shuyuan looked down at him as he said it. When their eyes met, he even winked at Ying Qiuman the way Ye Li had.
It was too strange. Ying Qiuman felt that both of them were acting a little off, and he promptly cut short the pointless exchange of compliments.
“Where’s your car?”
The moment he’d said it, he lifted his foot to leave but Xu Shuyuan naturally spread his arms and pulled him in, bending down close to say in his ear, “Let’s go to that mall over there.”
Xu Shuyuan raised a hand and pointed. Through the dense crowd, it was the nearest shopping mall.
Seeing this, Ye Li who had already been thinking of slipping away grew even more resolved. He lifted his phone to his ear and pretended to be surprised as he said, “What? You’re already here? Didn’t we say you didn’t need to come find me? Ah, fine, I’ll head over in a bit.”
“Xiao Liu and the others are calling me! Sorry, I can’t stick around with you two!” Ye Li announced, getting ready to leave. Ying Qiuman had no idea when he’d arranged to meet up with anyone.
Fortunately, Xu Shuyuan had no real intention of keeping Ye Li there, and only expressed regret.
Ye Li gradually vanished into the crowd from Ying Qiuman’s view, and then as if he’d just discharged some duty Ying Qiuman slipped out of Xu Shuyuan’s half-embrace and walked ahead toward the mall the other man had just pointed at.
He took a couple of steps without seeing Xu Shuyuan, so he turned back. The other man no longer had that strange enthusiasm from before, and was now following at a measured pace.
Ying Qiuman only glanced back briefly and didn’t notice that, after he turned away, Xu Shuyuan had lifted a hand, which then quietly lowered again behind him where he couldn’t see.
The crowd was thick. Although Ying Qiuman was tall with a long stride, he kept dodging people and fell slightly behind. Xu Shuyuan, by contrast, walked faster and quickly opened up a wide gap between them.
Xu Shuyuan kept pressing ahead with no intention of waiting. Ying Qiuman looked around, the shuttered storefront beside him had a relatively open frontage, so he detoured that way, trying to catch up from the side.
But just as he hurried over, Xu Shuyuan also circled out of the crowd and was already waiting in front of him.
“How did you get separated?” Xu Shuyuan looked down at him.
Obviously, it was because Xu Shuyuan had walked too fast.
“There were too many people,” Ying Qiuman said. No sooner had he finished than he saw Xu Shuyuan reach out a hand. He looked away, pretending not to see, and kept walking forward but as he passed by, he was pulled in and his hand was taken.
“Hold on tight. Don’t get lost again.”
“…”
Ying Qiuman quickly scanned their surroundings. The lighting here was dim and there weren’t many people, but he still felt extremely uncomfortable.
There were plenty of couples holding hands in the crowd, but he couldn’t accept this kind of “special treatment,” and tried to pull his hand free.
Unfortunately, after he’d struggled for a moment, Xu Shuyuan noticed and shifted his grip, threading their fingers together one by one before locking them and holding on even tighter.
Xu Shuyuan’s fingers were long and slender enough to cover the back of his hand when interlocked like this, leaving him no room to retreat.
The other man clearly knew what he was trying to do, and forced him step by step into a corner with no way out. Yet Xu Shuyuan himself stayed calm and indifferent, saying nothing, like a hunter who had already laid his net, watching his prey circle helplessly inside it.
Ying Qiuman felt every nerve in his body grow excited because of their intertwined hands, as if all his senses were rushing toward that single point.
He felt he should say something to divert his attention, but his brain had gone sluggish at this moment.
“Has your hand healed?” He looked away, yet his thoughts were still fixed on their joined hands.
Xu Shuyuan glanced sideways at him and lifted his left hand in front of him. “It’s already gone. You can bite a new one.”
Ying Qiuman froze slightly. The emotions held down beneath his skin, under that craving, seemed ready to burst loose. He pulled free of Xu Shuyuan’s grip and quickened his pace.
But Xu Shuyuan caught up in just two steps, pursuing him relentlessly.
“And your neck? I didn’t bite very deep last time.” As he spoke, Xu Shuyuan reached out to tug at Ying Qiuman’s collarand the next moment there was a sharp smack as Ying Qiuman slapped his hand away.
He got what he wanted: he saw Ying Qiuman angry.
Xu Shuyuan didn’t know why he wanted to provoke him. He just felt that a man as calm as still water, when stirred into faint ripples of emotion, became unexpectedly novel and interesting.
But that ripple faded fast. Ying Qiuman didn’t blush or curse. Even after striking back just now, once Xu Shuyuan retreated to a “safe line,” he only coldly apologized.
It was as if a layer of ice had wrapped around Ying Qiumanthin and transparent, yet impossible to melt.
Xu Shuyuan no longer crossed that boundary. He only traded a few words with Ying Qiuman while picking out clothes.
“Weren’t we supposed to be matching outfits? Why aren’t you trying anything on?” Ying Qiuman came out after trying on a few sets. Xu Shuyuan was just sitting on the sofa watching him, making him feel like a doll being dressed up.
He was already resistant to “being put on display” in public, and seeing Xu Shuyuan casually sip tea and offer commentary tipped his inner balance even further off.
He’d asked the question, but didn’t expect Xu Shuyuan to look surprised and ask right back, “But you haven’t said anything, and you’re not helping me pick either.”
“Why should I help you pick?”
Ying Qiuman found it unreasonable. He wasn’t even the one who’d wanted to come.
Xu Shuyuan sat up straight from the sofa and looked up at him, saying matter-of-factly, “We have to pick for each other to find what matches. Otherwise, why not just buy matching couple outfits?”
When the words “couple outfits” came out, Ying Qiuman subconsciously glanced at the nearby sales associate to gauge their reaction. But they showed no unusual expression, which only made Ying Qiuman seem like the odd one.
“There’s no such logic,” he countered, handing the jacket he’d changed out of back to the associate and walking toward another sofa.
Xu Shuyuan stood as he approached, casually taking the jacket he’d just removed, and lightly tapped his forehead.
“Are you an AI? Do you need logic to run?”
Ying Qiuman didn’t even get the chance to argue before Xu Shuyuan tugged him toward a newly brought-out rack of clothes.
Compared with what had been shown to Ying Qiuman earlier, the freshly delivered pieces were in darker tones. A dark-gray striped shirt caught his eye, and he reached for only for Xu Shuyuan to lightly tap his hand and stop him.
They traded a couple of light slaps back and forth on each other’s hands. Ying Qiuman froze for a moment, then heard Xu Shuyuan grumbling in his ear:
“I’ll just pick for myself. I think your taste is kind of off.”
“……”
Ying Qiuman immediately dropped the clothes in his hand and turned to sit down on the sofa.
Even an obedient little animal, when it gets angry, stays quiet. Xu Shuyuan couldn’t help smiling, picked out two coats, and stood in front of Ying Qiuman.
“How about black?” Ying Qiuman ignored him. Xu Shuyuan studied the mirror by himself for a moment. “Or gray.”
Ying Qiuman glanced at him briefly and quickly looked away, pretending he’d seen nothing. Xu Shuyuan didn’t mind his reaction, he picked out another piece to pair with it and headed into the fitting room.
After a while, Ying Qiuman heard a loud “clang” as something hit the floor. He turned toward the sound and saw a row of clothing racks toppled over. The person who’d been knocked down lay half-sprawled on the ground, while a thinner young man nearby crouched there, trembling.
The man on the ground scrambled up quickly, staring fixedly at the trembling boy. The passersby around them either gave the scene a wide berth or stood watching. No one knew who shouted first, but soon others joined in.
Ying Qiuman sensed something was wrong with the boy and walked closer, catching what the crowd was saying.
“Are alphas allowed to bully people in the street now?”
“Cough, cough! How can someone use pheromones to attack other people!”
“Oh my god, what kind of behavior is that?!”
Only then did Ying Qiuman realize this wasn’t a simple public quarrel, but a conflict driven by alpha-omega biological instincts.
Some of the onlookers were beginning to show discomfort from the pheromones, while the rest didn’t dare step forward, because the alpha looked extremely aggressive and frightening.
Ying Qiuman asked a nearby sales associate for an oral suppressant, broke the seal, and walked toward the alpha in heat.
“Sir?” he called out, but the alpha didn’t respond. He saw the man clenching his fists tightly at his sides, clearly struggling against something, yet his gaze stayed locked on the omega curled up in the corner.
As a beta, Ying Qiuman acted without hesitation. He judged the distance and the timing and, from behind, swiftly wrapped his arm around the alpha’s neck, forcing his upper body backward.
Before the alpha could react, Ying Qiuman forced the suppressant into his mouth and squeezed in all the liquid. To keep him from spitting it out, Ying Qiuman held his jaw in place and was bitten in return the moment the alpha snapped back to awareness.
The alpha was extremely strong, and Ying Qiuman didn’t think he could restrain him for long. After getting the suppressant in, he immediately swept his leg out, knocking the man to the ground. He took off his coat, wrapped it around the omega, and quickly pushed him into the crowd, shouting, “Please call the police!”
The alpha struggled back up from the ground, coughing from the suppressant, but the medication hadn’t fully kicked in yet, so he couldn’t calm down.
His eyes were bloodshot as he failed to find his target, then shifted his focus onto Ying Qiuman instead.
Ying Qiuman glanced at his hand, the bitten area was bleeding. Something unreadable flickered in his calm eyes. When he looked up again, all he saw was the alpha’s fist swinging toward him.
He failed to dodge and was struck painfully at the corner of his mouth.
The alpha’s attacks were utterly untrained, but Ying Qiuman had learned some basic self-defense before, so he took only that first punch. Once the suppressant began to take effect, the alpha’s eyes went unfocused and dazed. More people in the crowd stepped in to help, and before long the man was subdued.
Mall security arrived quickly. The alpha was bound and hauled away, and the omega had already been sent to a rescue station.
A staff member came over to ask about his condition. Before Ying Qiuman could answer, someone approached from behind and hugged him, pressing their head against the side of his neck and sniffing lightly, as if searching for something.