He knew he could only choose one path.
When he woke up, the faint scent of disinfectant lingered in his nose, a smell far too familiar to Hiiragi Yu.
His mind felt hazy, his eyelids heavy. He struggled several times before finally managing to flutter his eyes open.
Around him, the world was a blur of noise and movement. Vague voices filtered through the fog in his head.
Phrases like “He’s awake!” and “Quick, go call someone!” made Hiiragi Yu frown. He turned over and buried his face deeper into the soft blankets, desperate to escape the clamor.
Then, a voice cut through the noise outside the room. It was Pan Youzhi.
“No matter what, that’s my son lying in there. Mr. Cheng, don’t you think what you’re doing is a bit inappropriate?”
“I’m sorry, sir. Mr. Cheng explicitly instructed that no one is allowed to enter.”
The single thread of restraint in Hiiragi Yu’s mind snapped. He jolted fully awake, the events of the previous night rushing back like a tidal wave. His face drained of color. His very first thought was, where was his sister?
The argument outside escalated. Anxious, Hiiragi Yu’s eyes darted frantically around the room before he reached out and slammed his hand onto the bedside call button.
A beat of sudden silence followed. Then, with a slow creak, Pan Youzhi pushed open the door and stepped inside.
“Xiao Yu.”
At the sound of Pan Youzhi’s voice, a wave of pure revulsion crashed over Hiiragi Yu. He lowered his eyes, staring blankly at the mattress. Unconsciously, his fingers gripped the edge of the sheet, twisting it into tight, jagged wrinkles.
Slowly, he raised his hand and lightly tapped his chin with his pinky finger.
It was the gesture he used whenever he asked his father the same recurring question:
Where is my sister?
Pan Youzhi ignored the gesture entirely. “You know, your brother has a long scar on his face now. He’s disfigured. You were quite ruthless last night, weren’t you?”
Hiiragi Yu’s palm still throbbed with a sharp, stinging pain from the glass cut he’d sustained the night before.
When Hiiragi Yu remained silent, Pan Youzhi pressed on, utterly indifferent to his son’s quiet distress. “Business has been brutal these past two years. We’ve accumulated a mountain of debt. I haven’t even been able to pay salaries for days. Of course, you’re just a child, so you wouldn’t understand. And I don’t expect you to carry that burden.”
He stepped closer, his voice dropping into a tone of manipulative earnestness. “But your father isn’t superman. I can’t carry this weight alone forever. It’s time for you to grow up.”
Unable to stand the sight of him a second longer, Hiiragi Yu turned his head away.
Pan Youzhi frowned. Remembering the high-ranking Alpha he had encountered the previous night, he swallowed his rising temper and continued, “If you were an Omega, maybe…”
Maybe I could have found you a better match, he wanted to say. But he stopped himself, realizing that in terms of status alone, there was no unmarried Alpha in the city superior to Cheng Shenzhi.
He shifted his approach. “Either way, you’re just a Beta, and there’s no point in continuing your studies. I’ll hire a tutor for you over the next few days to teach you how to be a proper spouse. Just stay home and prepare to marry Mr. Cheng.”
A deafening buzz echoed in Hiiragi Yu’s ears; his mind went utterly blank. It took a long moment for the weight of Pan Youzhi’s words to sink in.
The final veil of pretense was ruthlessly torn away, leaving the painful truth exposed.
Neither in the past nor now had his father ever viewed him as a son or even as a human being.
A bone deep chill washed over him, his palms breaking into a cold sweat. He wanted nothing more than to burrow beneath the blankets and hide, yet a stubborn flare of pride kept him from showing weakness. In that moment, a terrifying clarity washed over his mind.
Under Pan Youzhi’s watchful glare, Hiiragi Yu swung his legs over the bed and walked, step by step, toward the window.
It was midday. Warm, brilliant sunlight poured through the glass, settling over his pale shoulders and messy hair.
Yet his hands and feet remained ice cold.
He lifted a hand and lightly tapped his chin once more. Pan Youzhi recognized the motion this time.
It was the silent call, Father.
How long had it been since he had heard his son address him that way?
For a brief second, Pan Youzhi stared, caught off-guard. Ever since his wife’s death, the traumatized boy had lost his voice, refusing to speak or even look at him.
A rare flicker of softness touched Pan Youzhi’s heart until he watched Hiiragi Yu nod his chin again.
It was the second gesture Pan Youzhi recognized.
His expression instantly froze. How did the boy know where Hiiragi Sotaru was? The girl was rarely home, and with the household in complete chaos, there was no way Hiiragi Yu should have known that no one was looking after her.
Hiiragi Yu locked eyes with Pan Youzhi, refusing to miss even the subtle twitch of a muscle. When he saw his father’s face stiffen, a faint, cold smile touched his lips.
Pan Youzhi felt a sudden prickle of alarm. “What are you doing?”
Hiiragi Yu stared back at him with absolute composure. Slowly, he raised his right hand, pushed his fingers gently outward, and let them fall… falling, falling, until they landed lightly against his open left palm.
Bang.
His five fingers burst outward like exploding fireworks but in Pan Youzhi’s mind, the quiet gesture echoed with the brutal sound of flesh and blood shattering against concrete.
Pan Youzhi stared in sheer disbelief, as if seeing his son clearly for the very first time. An instinctive surge of rage flared up at the boy’s defiance, but Hiiragi Yu’s unblinking gaze held a quiet, deadly madness that struck an unexpected sliver of fear into the father’s heart.
In sign language only they understood, the boy enacted a silent nightmare, a fragile figure picking itself up from the concrete floor, pointing to the sky, watching the sun rise and set, days turning into nights, leading all the way to a grand wedding. There, with hands clasped tight, a knife suddenly and mercilessly plunged straight through his throat.
Hot blood spattered, painting his vision a blinding red until he could no longer see or hear.
“!”
Pan Youzhi staggered back two steps in sheer horror. He didn’t truly understand official sign language, but Hiiragi Yu hadn’t needed it.
He had delivered his ultimatum in the most visceral, unforgiving way possible:
Today, tomorrow, the day after, or at the wedding.
If I do not see Hiiragi Satoru, I will end my life.
Pan Youzhi’s face turned deathly pale. For a fleeting instant, he saw the phantom shadow of his deceased wife flickering across his son’s features, sending a violent shiver down his spine.
“I’ll… I’ll go bring her here right now!” he choked out, slamming the door shut as he fled.
The heavy thud resonated through the room, followed by a sudden, heavy silence. Hiiragi Yu stared at the closed door for several seconds before the agonizing tension in his shoulders finally broke.
He collapsed back onto the bed, silent tears streaming down his face as the soft duvet engulfed him.
A thousand thoughts raced through his mind, yet it felt as though his head were completely empty.
He just wanted to see his sister again.
Knowing he couldn’t afford to break down, Hiiragi Yu hurriedly wiped his eyes and sat up. Reaching for the bedside table, he let out a soft breath of relief when his fingers brushed against his phone.
He swiped the screen open and quickly launched a travel app. The name of that distant, quiet town was burned into his memory.
The next flight leaves at 1:00 AM.
His thumb hovered over the “Book Now” button, trembling, unable to press down.
Suddenly, his thoughts drifted to Mr. Cheng, and the words the man had spoken the night before.
Two distinct paths lay stretched out before him.
Should he do what he had dreamed of a thousand times, abandon everything and run away with his sister? Or should he follow in his mother’s tragic footsteps, rushing blindly into a marriage with an entirely uncertain future?
He stood frozen at the crossroads, knowing that once he chose, there would be no turning back.
Even years later, when he looked back on this day, he would never be able to retrace his steps.
Knock, knock.
A sudden, polite rap on the door broke the silence.
Hiiragi Yu flinched, assuming Pan Youzhi had already returned with his sister. He hastily tucked the phone under the covers and hit the screen lock.
To his utter shock, the door opened to reveal Cheng Shenzhi.
Hiiragi Yu’s eyes widened.
Cheng Shenzhi walked calmly to the side of the bed. He looked down at the boy, his gaze lingering on Hiiragi Yu’s eyes, the delicate skin of his eyelids was pitifully raw and red from where he had harshly rubbed his tears away. Yet the boy seemed completely unaware of it, staring up at him with wide, startled eyes like a cornered animal.
Cheng Shenzhi leaned in slightly, lowering his voice into the same gentle tone he had used to soothe the boy the night before.
“You don’t want this, do you?”
A subtle trace of warm sandalwood drifted over, causing the tension in Hiiragi Yu’s body to involuntarily ease a fraction.
Hiiragi Yu looked up at him. Perhaps because he had only just woken up, his soft, dark hair was sticking up in endearing tufts.
Cheng Shenzhi’s eyes lingered on the messy hair. His tone remained measured, carrying the faintest hint of a quiet sigh. “You’re still young. Thinking about marriage at your age is indeed far too early.”
“I’ll speak with your father,” Cheng Shenzhi paused, his voice steady with an implicit promise. “No matter what, something like this won’t happen again.”
Over the years, Cheng Shenzhi had navigated the darkest corners of society and witnessed countless hypocrisies even within his own family. But someone like Pan Youzhi, who would willingly drug his own child and throw him into an Alpha’s bed, was truly appalling.
He refrained from disparaging the man in front of Hiiragi Yu. Besides, he felt he lacked the moral high ground to judge, considering he had taken advantage of the boy’s vulnerable state the night before.
After a brief hesitation, Cheng Shenzhi spoke again, his voice gentle. “If you’re open to it, you can think of me as an older brother from now on. My parents have always wanted a child like you.”