The drive back from the Zhou estate was a blur of neon lights and a silence that felt louder than the engine itself. Qixian's hands were steady on the wheel, but his mind was a battlefield that he almost couldn't even focus on the road.
"Seven years ago was for my own good?" he muttered, the frustration boiling over. "Does he even know what I went through?" His hand gripping the steering wheel, "No... he knows. Of course he knows, I've told him many times, but he didn't believe me. He just chooses not to believe it. It's always been like that. Why am I even surprised anymore?"
His hands tightening on the steering wheel, his emotions shifting from white-hot anger to a hollow numbness. 'I don't even know what I'm more frustrated by,' he thought. 'Is it because my father actually thinks sending me to that hell was 'for my own good'?Or is it because he used Haoran to blackmail me—forcing me to protect a twin brother who doesn't even know I exist?'
By the time he reached the city limits, the fire in his chest had died down, replaced by a cold, robotic resolve. He didn't know how to feel anymore, he just knew he had to survive. Because the place where he took shelter might even collapse.
"Qixian!" Haoran was already waiting at the entrance, his hand waving frantically. The moment Qixian stepped out of the car, Haoran didn't even give him a chance to catch his breath before grabbing his arm and dragging him inside the clinic.
Once they were under the bright fluorescent lights of the hallway, Haoran stopped and squinted at him, his head tilting innocently as he looked Qixian up and down. "You look... hmm... weak," Haoran noted, his voice blunt but genuinely curious.
Qixian's eyes flashed with a sharp glare. "How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not weak," he snapped, his voice tight with a pride that refused to buckle.
Haoran just let out a bright, melodic laugh, completely unfazed by the irritation radiating off his companion. "Fine, fine! Don't get your feathers ruffled," he chuckled, still grinning as he nudged Qixian further into the building.
"Haha, funny," Qixian muttered, rolling his eyes as they walked deeper into the clinic together, the familiar sterile scent of the place doing little to soothe the storm still brewing in his mind.
"Did you take your meds?" Haoran asked, his eyes searching Qixian's face.
"Yeah, I did," Qixian lied, the words tasting like copper in his mouth.
"That's good. I was so worried when you didn't come back for two nights," Haoran said, his voice dropping as he looked away. "I actually went to the hospital to find you. I saw Chengli there, and he was the one who told me what happened. You didn't even say a word..."
"Sorry," Qixian muttered, scratching the back of his head. "It won't happen again."
"Promise me." Haoran held up his pinky, his expression stubborn.
"That's childish," Qixian grumbled. But when Haoran fixed him with a sharp glare, he sighed and hooked his pinky around the other man's. "Fine. I promise. You'll be the first one I tell next time."
Haoran's face instantly brightened into a relieved smile. "Good! That's a relief."
Qixian look around the clinic, "Wait, why do I feel like someone was here? I don't see any patients," Qixian said as he continue glancing around the room.
"Oh! Sihan and Yichen are in the back," Haoran explained. "They brought some supplies for the clinic."
"Makes sense. Their presence is hard to miss, afterall, they are S-tier Alphas" Qixian noted dryly.
"By the way," Haoran began, his voice taking on a curious edge, "when exactly did you and Yichen get so close?"
"Huh? Close? With that Alpha?" Qixian scoffed, his lip curling. "What gave you that bizarre idea?"
"Well, Yichen wouldn't stop asking me where you were the moment you went missing. He must have asked a hundred times. I just figured he was worried about you."
"He did? Hmm," Qixian trailed off. 'Was it because I vanished right after he saw me at the hospital? But why?'
His heart gave a slow, heavy thud against his ribs. He didn't want to see Yichen—not now, not while he felt this frayed. The man had been living rent-free in his thoughts for too long already.
"I think I'll just head to my room," Qixian murmured, turning to leave.
"No way," Haoran said, firmly grabbing his arm. "You haven't eaten yet. Come on, at least say hello."
As Haoran dragged him toward the back room, the atmosphere shifted instantly.
The moment Qixian stepped into Yichen's space, the agonizing pressure in his chest—the weight he'd been carrying since the confrontation with his father—suddenly stilled, replaced by a strange, magnetic calm.
'I really hate this guy,' Qixian thought bitterly.
Yichen stood by the supply crates, his gaze snapping to Qixian the moment he crossed the threshold. Without a word, he released a deliberate, cooling wave of his scent that was like a Monkshood.
'This piece of shit is releasing his pheromones again?!' Qixian thought, his fingers itching to punch the smirk right off Yichen's face.
"You look like hell, Song Qixian," Yichen remarked. His voice was a low, vibrating bass, though the tone was unmistakably mocking.
Qixian glared at him, but inwardly, a flash of genuine horror crossed his mind. 'Why? Why does his scent make the pain stop? It makes me want to punch him even more right now.'
"And you look even more... arrogant. Though I guess I shouldn't be surprised, your face has always said it for you," Qixian snapped back, though the usual lethal edge was missing from his voice.
"Sihan, can you help me get some plates from the kitchen?" Haoran suddenly interjected, dragging Sihan away with a look that suggested his exit was entirely deliberate.
Left alone, Yichen stepped closer, his eyes narrowing as he searched Qixian's face. He could smell it—a fading sweetness being overtaken by something metallic, floral, and terrifyingly volatile. Yet, despite the chemical chaos, it felt oddly grounded to him.
"You really are relentless. Are you talking about yourself now?" Yichen smirked.
"Oh, really? Isn't that better?" Qixian leaned back against the wall, refusing to let the Alpha's mounting pressure break his composure. "At least I'm nothing like you."
"How come your rut took you two days straight? Was it fun playing with others?" Yichen finally stopped directly in front of Qixian, towering over him.
Qixian rolled his eyes. "I was just busy for two days," he lied—though it wasn't entirely a falsehood—he had been busy surviving his own body.
"You're short," Yichen noted, casually bracing his hand against the wall next to Qixian's head.
"You—" Qixian started, but was cut off.
"I assumed you spent your rut at the hospital right before I ran into you. I was wondering where you could have vanished to for two days." Yichen leaned in, bringing them eye-to-eye.
"What makes you think that?" Qixian retorted.
"I told you when I met you at the elevator." Yichen's gaze shifted, becoming more intense. "That you... smelled sweet."
Qixian's eyes widened. 'Was it really that obvious?' he thought then with a defiance he answered with a rhetorical question. "Was it?"
"You think I'm lying? I can still smell it," Yichen said.
"Sihan didn't. He's an S-tier Alpha just like you, so don't try to play me," Qixian countered, holding Yichen's gaze firmly.
"Sihan is an S-tier, but I'm slightly different from him." Yichen shrugged nonchalantly. "You look nervous, though. Why? Was that scent yours?"
"Believe whatever you want, but I'm telling you—it's not." Qixian's voice remained steady, masking the lie with sheer force of will.
Without any warning Yichen leaned in, burying his face in the crook of Qixian's neck—but only just enough for Yichen to smell it.
"You—!" Qixian immediately raised his hand to shove him away, but Yichen caught his wrist mid-air.
"Stay still," Yichen commanded, his grip pinning Qixian's hand firmly against the wall.
Qixian's frustration peaked. His heat hadn't actually ended—the suppressants were the only thing keeping him upright and moving. "Don't touch me," he hissed, his body trembling with the effort to stay composed.
"See?" Yichen murmured, his lips brushing against Qixian's ear. "Are you an Omega?" Yichen's eyes bled into a dark, dangerous blue—if an Alpha's eyes change color, it means they are planning to unleash their strongest scent—His voice dropped to a low, threatening frequency, signaling he was on the verge of unleashing the full weight of his pheromones.
"I'm not," Qixian denied, his voice tight.
"Really? Then did you spend those days with an Omega? Because Haoran told me you didn't spend your rut with anyone." Yichen pulled back just enough to lock eyes with him, searching for a crack in his armor.
"What if I told you I lied about it just to earn Haoran's respect?" Qixian blurted out. He immediately bit his tongue—how could he even say something so ridiculous?
"You—" Yichen started, his expression darkening as he processed the blatant excuse.
Suddenly, Haoran gasped from the doorway. "Oh my gosh! Are you two dating?!"
"We're not!" Yichen and Qixian roared in perfect unison.
"Aye, don't be shy, Yichen," Sihan said, leaning against the doorframe with a knowing smirk. "We can clearly see you pinning Qixian's hand, and you two were having some pretty intense eye contact."
Yichen immediately recoiled, releasing Qixian's wrist as if burned, while Qixian shoved him back with a scowl. They both turned toward the onlookers, shouting once more in unison, "I told you, we are not!"
"Fine, fine. Keep your secrets. We'll accept it eventually," Sihan said, his tone dripping with mock understanding.
Yichen's eyes flared with annoyance at Sihan's smug expression.
"We only met a few days ago. How could we possibly fall for each other?" Qixian asked rhetorically, his glare sharpening. "Besides, I have zero interest in another Alpha. It's fundamentally impossible."
He marched over to the small dining table and dropped into a chair. "You're generous with your time, Sihan, pity your judgment is so cheap, just like Yichen." he added, snatching the plates from Haoran and distributing them with aggressive efficiency.
"You really do have a sharp tongue," Haoran remarked, chuckling as he took the seat beside him.