A defeated dog. Truly a defeated dog.
Yun Xi’s drowsiness vanished completely, and his heart laughed with unrestrained joy. All the frustration he had endured while chasing Gu Xun seemed to dissipate at once. He felt light and airy, experiencing a sense of refreshment he had never felt before.
Gu Xun, your White Moonlight? I will be taking him now.
Standing in the elevator, Su Yanqing felt the slight trembling of the body in his arms. His sword-like brows knitted slightly.
Was he crying?
Su Yanqing’s gaze turned cold and heavy, and his lips pressed into a thin line. As the elevator doors opened, he carried Yun Xi to the apartment entrance and said softly, “We are home. Can you stand up?”
Yun Xi blinked but did not make a sound.
“Are you asleep?”
Yun Xi closed his eyes.
Su Yanqing released one hand to set Yun Xi’s feet down, using the other to support his waist to prevent him from falling. He then entered the code to open the door. After placing the boy on the sofa, Su Yanqing stared at Yun Xi’s trembling eyelashes for a few seconds. He gently removed Yun Xi’s shoes and turned to leave.
A moment later, the sound of running water echoed from the bathroom.
Yun Xi opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling of Su Yanqing’s home. He sat up and glanced toward the bathroom. After waiting for a while with no sign of Su Yanqing finishing, Yun Xi let out a yawn and slowly lay back down on the sofa as his eyelids gradually closed.
An unknown amount of time passed before Yun Xi was woken by the sound of talking. He blearily pried his eyes open to see Su Yanqing standing by the floor-to-ceiling window in a bathrobe. He was holding a phone, seemingly in the middle of a call.
“We are still getting to know each other. Yes, I will talk to him. Before next month? Is that not a bit too fast?”
The person on the other end said something that made Su Yanqing fall silent for a long time before finally responding.
“I understand.”
Yun Xi rubbed his eyes and sat up. Once his vision adjusted to the light, he tilted his head to watch Su Yanqing. Even after hanging up, Su Yanqing remained by the window, staring outside as if lost in thought.
Yun Xi watched him for a bit and decided it was time to make his entrance.
“Was that your family?” he asked.
Su Yanqing did not seem to expect him to be awake and turned around in surprise.
“Did I wake you?”
“Yes.” Yun Xi leaned against the sofa and patted the spot beside him. “Come and sit.”
Su Yanqing hesitated for a few seconds before walking over.
“What is wrong? You look so gloomy after that call, my ally?”
Su Yanqing did not answer immediately. Instead, he asked, “Are you sober?”
Yun Xi blinked and said, “Yes. That is just how I am. I get drunk fast, but I sober up fast too.” He squinted with a smile. “I get a bit clingy when I am drunk. I must have caused you trouble just now.”
“It is fine.”
Yun Xi moved a bit closer. “I could not tell, but your physical strength is great. You carried me for so long without even breathing hard.” He poked Su Yanqing’s arm and asked curiously, “Are the muscles on your arms very developed?”
“They are alright. I work out occasionally.”
Su Yanqing’s tone was no different from usual, but Yun Xi felt his current mood was probably not great.
Candy appeared from nowhere, swaying his fluffy tail. The cat looked at the two people on the sofa and jumped between them, curling into a ball. Yun Xi stroked the cat’s head a few times. His hands felt restless, and he suddenly had the urge to place his paws on the head of the Alpha beside him.
Following that thought, he actually reached out and did it.
The Alpha’s hair became a bit messy under his touch, with slightly long strands falling over his forehead. Coupled with the Alpha’s slightly widened eyes, it was a side of Su Yanqing that Yun Xi was seeing for the first time. It was actually quite cute.
Seeing Su Yanqing’s startled expression, Yun Xi withdrew his hand as if nothing had happened and brought up the previous topic again.
“What was said on the phone? Let us discuss it together.”
Su Yanqing froze for a moment, lowered his eyelashes, and said, “They are urging me to marry you before next month.”
Yun Xi raised an eyebrow. “So urgent?”
Su Yanqing remained silent. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but Yun Xi recognized the shape of the words and immediately covered his mouth with his hand.
“Do not say you are sorry. What are you sorry for? It is not your fault.”
Su Yanqing looked down at the hand pressed against his lips, then raised his eyes to look at the Omega. Yun Xi did not withdraw his hand immediately. He realized that with the lower half of his face covered, Su Yanqing’s aura changed. Without the usual gentle smile on his lips, his sharp eyes dominated his features, making him look more like an Alpha.
Yun Xi stared into those grey eyes, momentarily dazed. He leaned in slowly. Su Yanqing made no move, staring back at him in silence and allowing him to lean closer.
Finally, Yun Xi pressed his lips against the back of his own hand. Just a palm’s width away were Su Yanqing’s lips. Their eyes met, and neither was the first to pull away.
Then, a cat meowed.
“Meow.”
Seemingly uncomfortable from being squeezed, Candy let out a listless cry and struggled to jump out from between them. The cat stood on the floor, shook its fur, and trotted off to its bed.
Su Yanqing turned his head away as if waking from a dream. Without support, Yun Xi tumbled right onto him.
“Ugh!”
Su Yanqing let out a muffled groan. Yun Xi scrambled to sit up, but his fingers accidentally caught Su Yanqing’s bathrobe and pulled it open. A large portion of Su Yanqing’s back was suddenly exposed.
Yun Xi was about to apologize, but the words died in his throat when he saw Su Yanqing’s back.
Su Yanqing’s spine was covered in perfectly shaped muscles, yet they were crisscrossed with a multitude of scars. It was impossible to tell how long those scars had been there. Their color was only slightly darker than the surrounding skin, but they were numerous. Yun Xi could almost imagine the bloody state Su Yanqing must have been in when he was injured.
Who did this?
Yun Xi instinctively reached out, wanting to touch those scars, but Su Yanqing reacted as if his private domain had been violated. He quickly straightened his bathrobe and turned his back to Yun Xi.
Yun Xi opened his mouth, not expecting the atmosphere to sour so abruptly.
“About your back.”
He was interrupted by Su Yanqing before he could finish.
“Yun Xi.” Su Yanqing seemed to steady his breathing, calling his name again in a low voice. “Yun Xi, as you said, we are currently just allies. There are some things you should not ask about.” Su Yanqing paused before continuing, “And do not engage in any more actions that might cause misunderstandings.”
Before Yun Xi could react, Su Yanqing turned around, and his expression restored to its usual gentle indifference. “I stand by what I said. It is fine if our agreement is cancelled.”
Yun Xi bit his lip and said, “It is not cancelled. Why would it be cancelled?” He sat sideways on the sofa, looking straight up at the Alpha with a strange glow in his eyes. “Su Yanqing, I do not just want to be your ally. I also want to be.”
As if predicting what he was about to say, Su Yanqing reached out and covered his mouth. Yun Xi was forced to be silent, but his eyes remained stubbornly locked onto the Alpha.
Su Yanqing looked away as if surrendering and whispered, “Yun Xi, you have had too much to drink and are not clear headed. I will send you back.”
After a long standoff, Yun Xi finally gave in.
Back at home, Yun Xi walked into the bathroom with a dejected expression. Once the bathtub was full, he slowly undressed and lay in the water. The gland on the back of his neck was still slightly feverish. Closing his eyes, his mind was filled with Su Yanqing’s cold face and those old scars.
As the hot water enveloped his body, his restless emotions gradually faded. After a long while, Yun Xi slowly opened his eyes.
Tonight was perhaps a bit too aggressive. When he kissed through his palm, Su Yanqing did not push him away immediately, so Su Yanqing was not entirely indifferent to him. The problem lay in those crisscrossing, terrifying scars.
Yun Xi recalled the plot of the book and frowned in frustration. For a White Moonlight character, the descriptions of Su Yanqing were so sparse. It was mostly Gu Xun repeating how wonderful Su Yanqing was without giving any useful information. However, Su Yanqing’s death was mentioned. So was the younger brother Gu Xun talked about.
He just did not know if the scars on Su Yanqing’s back were related to that younger brother. Yun Xi had a feeling that if he could resolve the trauma behind those scars, his plan would be close to success. Regardless, he would eventually have to meet Su Yanqing’s bizarre family.
After cleaning himself up, Yun Xi checked the calendar on his phone. Before that, however, he had to handle his own family matters first. On the phone calendar, a date two days away was circled, with a line of small text and a cake emoji at the end.
Old Yun’s fiftieth birthday.
Yun Xi placed a beautifully packaged tea set on the passenger seat. With a Bluetooth earpiece in his right ear, he listened to Shen Jiu’s constant nagging about controlling his temper and not causing too much of a scene later.
“Yes, yes, yes,” Yun Xi replied perfunctorily.
“Later, Qin Zhi should be coming as well.” Shen Jiu hesitated and said, “Xixi, you.”
Regarding the sudden appearance of an illegitimate son, Shen Jiu’s feelings were also complicated. His marriage was merely a business union with little affection involved, but he was more or less worried about whether the appearance of this illegitimate son would affect Yun Xi’s future.
Since Yun Wangjiang took over the Yun Group, the family business had flourished. However, the Shen family, due to the short sightedness of its leaders, was increasingly in decline. They only managed to stay afloat by relying on the Yun family’s help. Consequently, Shen Jiu did not have much of a voice in the Yun family.
Moreover, Yun Wangjiang had not married him willingly back then. Old Man Yun had imprisoned Yun Wangjiang’s lover, leading Yun Wangjiang to believe the lover had taken money and gone abroad. Only then did Yun Wangjiang give up.
Who would have thought that the unfortunate Omega was pregnant with Yun Wangjiang’s child? After suffering unknown hardships, when he reappeared, he was half mad.
Shen Jiu sighed softly in his heart. While participating in a charity event at a nursing home recently, Yun Wangjiang happened to run into his first love. Time had ravaged the first love, who was no longer the pure and lovely person of the past, but Yun Wangjiang still recognized him at a glance.
At the same time, he also saw the person staying by the first love’s side, whose appearance was thirty percent similar to his own: Qin Zhi.