Chapter 30: Wait for Me to Return

Chapter 30: Wait for Me Until I Return

The alpha at the end of the hallway was drenched in his school uniform, water steadily dripping, leaving him utterly disheveled. His gaze was dark and menacing.

The alpha and Song Yuqing locked eyes across the distance.

Seeing Song Yuqing beckon, the alpha approached. The socket of his cybernetic eye was inflamed, a terrifying, almost swollen crimson.

Song Yuqing’s gaze fell on the alpha’s clenched hand beneath his shirt. He spoke softly, "You were looking for me?"

It seemed Tan Shu hadn't been faring well lately. A tiger fallen to lowly circumstances, bullied by dogs?

"Should I congratulate you?" The alpha's voice was hoarse, like a demon freshly escaped from hell.

Tan Shu glared fiercely at Song Yuqing. "Feeling pretty pleased, aren't you? Song Yuqing, you brought me to this point—you must be absolutely thrilled."

For him, losing power at Victor Academy was a fate worse than death. He couldn't live or study normally, facing endless ridicule daily. Even at his desk, he'd be doused with cold water.

Long-term sleep deprivation had pushed him to the brink of mental collapse.

Only by thinking of Song Yuqing every day did he manage to stay sane.

He felt like he was losing his mind. Song Yuqing had ruined him, yet he couldn't stop thinking about him.

Song Yuqing lowered his gaze, as if deep in thought. After a moment, he lifted his eyelids to look at Tan Shu. "Not particularly thrilled."

Tan Shu had expected Song Yuqing to gloat, to belittle and curse him from a position of arrogant superiority. But after such careful consideration, Song Yuqing merely said, "Not particularly thrilled."

As if Tan Shu didn't matter at all. Even after reducing him to this state, Song Yuqing felt no guilt, cared nothing for his life or death, and paid no mind to anything between them.

Tan Shu tightened his grip on the knife. How could there be a beta like this—so frighteningly cold-hearted, yet impossible to forget?

"Does your eye hurt?" Song Yuqing’s tone was cold, yet hearing those seemingly caring words made Tan Shu’s heart jolt.

For some reason, a wave of grievance washed over him.

"Come here. Let me touch your eye."

Tan Shu was even more stunned. The next second, he scoffed coldly. No matter how wretched he was, no matter how utterly worthless he had become, he still wanted to maintain a shred of dignity in front of Song Yuqing.

"Didn't you find my eye disgusting?"

Song Yuqing hated his blood-stained eye, just as his mother had reacted when she discovered one of his eyes was blind.

Not heartache, not an embrace, not comfort—but horror, fear, and a desperate urge to destroy the evidence. She plunged scissors into his blind eye, piercing the eyeball, blood streaming down his face.

His screams, his desperate scrambling, curled up in agony on the floor. His one remaining eye saw the pristine clinic splattered with bloodstains.

From then on, he lived in constant dread. Every time he failed to control the mechanical eye's movement, his mother would slap him across the face.

Countless slaps taught him how to control that mechanical eye.

His mother didn't even dare touch his eye, always looking at him with fearful eyes, as if he were a monster.

His heart had long been twisted beyond recognition. He didn't understand why his mother brought him into this world only to treat him like a monster and cast him out. She claimed to love him, yet she hurt him over and over.

He could only experiment in confusion, again and again, hoping to find an answer.

Watching people self-harm, watching people yearn for connection with their own kind, only to be destroyed by the malice among them.

As if he weren't the only one suffering.

Song Yuqing’s hand touched Tan Shu’s eye—cold and soft, pressing through the skin against the hard mechanical eye. "Does it hurt?"

All of Tan Shu’s movements seemed to freeze. He looked down at Song Yuqing with a bewildered expression, his eyes a mix of confusion and longing.

Finally, a warm tear fell onto Song Yuqing’s hand.

Song Yuqing’s eyelashes fluttered slightly. "Why are you crying?"

Tan Shu stared at Song Yuqing, dazed. "Didn't you hate my eye? Didn't you find it disgusting?"

"What's disgusting is you. What's disgusting is your gaze."

"Tan Shu… you really are a detestable monster."

Song Yuqing’s words were merciless, leaving no room for argument. Tan Shu looked at him even more confused, unable to understand why Song Yuqing would comfort him yet still despise him.

But he couldn't help craving Song Yuqing’s touch at this moment.

"Don't trap yourself in the past. I wasn't the one who hurt you—it's your fault for hurting me. All I did was seek revenge."

"If I were you, I'd return to the Tan family and become the first alpha to lead the family despite being blind."

Trying to cover it up won't make the past disappear; it only chains you to it forever.

"Go find your past self. Accept him. Embrace him. The most hopeless thing is when you abandon yourself."

Song Yuqing’s fingers gently stroked Tan Shu’s eye, his tone carrying a gentle compassion. "How pitiful. But you still have a future, don't you?"

The sharp tip of a knife pressed against Song Yuqing’s abdomen, but he seemed completely unaware as he leaned closer to Tan Shu.

Tan Shu’s pupils constricted. His hand, hidden beneath his shirt, gripped the blade tightly. The edge cut deep into his palm, digging into flesh.

This was the first time Song Yuqing had spoken so much to him. The patience and gentleness on the beta’s face weren’t fake.

Song Yuqing lifted his gaze slightly, his amber eyes seeming to flow with honey, gentle as a deity. The moon hanging high in the sky had now descended upon him.

Moonlight pierced through time and space, shining upon Tan Shu—his face smeared with blood, curled up in a corner, crying until his voice turned hoarse.

Tan Shu grasped Song Yuqing’s wrist, pressing his face against Song Yuqing’s palm, nuzzling it with longing. The warmth on the alpha’s face was no longer blood but tears.

"Wait for me until I return."

Song Yuqing: "Mm."

The alpha walked away, leaving behind a trail of blood on the floor.

Song Yuqing coldly looked down at the filthy bloodstains. Alpha blood was so dirty.

Tan Shu’s family was filthy too—a malformed monster raised in a heartless, dirty family.

Not physically deformed, but mentally and emotionally twisted. Forever unable to save himself, only able to beg others to save him.

Song Yuqing was still recalling the moment the sharp knife tip pressed against his abdomen, Tan Shu’s expression—flustered, helpless, fearful, worried.

88 handed Song Yuqing a tissue. Song Yuqing wiped his hands clean before leaving.

88: "That scared me to death! I thought he was really going to stab you. Damn, he’s really a lunatic. Qingqing, you’re letting him go seize power? Aren’t you afraid he’ll come back and mess with you again?"

Recalling Tan Shu's childhood stories, Song Yuqing smiled faintly. "He won't. He just wants someone to care for him, someone to hold on to."

An alpha who lacks love spends his entire life chasing that elusive feeling.

If his mother had loved him, he would have given her all his love.

It's just a pity that his mother doesn't love him.

88: "What if he fails in seizing power?"

Song Yuqing had already left the lab building. "It doesn't matter. The one who needs to struggle and walk on knives isn't me. I don't have to sacrifice anything."

Besides, as one of the male leads in a Haitang novel, Song Yuqing thought seriously for a moment and then fell silent. Male leads in Haitang novels seem to only care about the "play" part—who knows how this career path will turn out.

Song Yuqing somewhat regretted not adding earlier, "If you fail, just die out there. Don't come back."

88: "..."

88: "You're not planning to turn this Haitang novel into a Dianjia novel, are you?"

Becoming the unattainable love interest of a Long Aotian.

Song Yuqing: "...I don't want to."

Within less than a week, news spread across campus that Tan Shu had taken a leave of absence to study on another continent. Before Tan Shu left, Song Yuqing never saw him again.

It was time once more for project work at Professor Lin’s lab—ostensibly doing research, but really just deceiving a gullible fool.

Ye Siling stared at Song Yuqing for a long while. Song Yuqing wasn’t wearing the shirt with the collar burned by soldering.

Ye Siling had saved a screenshot from the livestream. If Song Yuqing wore that shirt again, he could expose him with the photo.

Though he was waiting for Song Yuqing to wear that shirt again, Ye Siling was also searching for other evidence, scrutinizing every detail of Song Yuqing.

Unfortunately, Song Yuqing was extremely cautious during the livestreams—never showing his face, not even his earlobes. On Song Yuqing’s earlobe was a small red mole, like a drop of blood.

Striking and beautiful. Who knows if licking it would make Song Yuqing shiver.

Ye Siling’s gaze shifted to those well-defined, slender hands. Now they held a screwdriver, skillfully turning screws.

The palm was reddened from pressure—so soft that even slight friction turned the skin pink.

Just rubbing it might already cause chafing.

Ye Siling frowned, grabbed Song Yuqing’s wrist, and Song Yuqing: "..."

Song Yuqing looked at Ye Siling, puzzled. Can't keep up with my progress, so now he's interfering?

Ye Siling took out a band-aid and placed it on Song Yuqing’s palm, only releasing his hand after securing it properly.

Then he lowered his head to continue his own work, secretly observing Song Yuqing’s reaction. Song Yuqing stared at his palm for two seconds, then resumed working even faster.

Ye Siling: "..."

Is he insane?

He was afraid Song Yuqing would rub his palm raw. But at this speed, the band-aid would probably fall off soon.

Once again, Song Yuqing finished all his tasks in half a day, slung his bag over his shoulder, and left.

Before leaving, he glanced at Ye Siling’s progress. "The senior will always remain your superior."

Ye Siling: "..."

Ye Siling watched Song Yuqing’s retreating figure, growing increasingly unable to understand what went through his mind. Highly competitive, yet he manipulated his scores in various exams to stay average.

Clearly, he preached morality and claimed not to be a homewrecker during livestreams, yet in reality, he seemed to enjoy being one.

His words and actions were almost contradictory.

Ye Siling grew more and more confused about Song Yuqing, unsure which version was genuine.

Late at night, Ye Siling was still pondering these questions and finally couldn’t resist messaging Pei Huai.

ysl: "What kind of person is Song Yuqing?"

Pei Huai tilted his head to look at Song Yuqing in the opposite bed. The little busybody had been sleeping well lately, probably because no one had provoked him recently. He seemed to be in a better mood, falling asleep right after finishing his work.

When he slept, he curled up into a ball, like a kitten lacking a sense of security.

Pei Huai stared at Song Yuqing a while longer before proudly replying to Ye Siling.

IHeartTheMoonlight: "Looks like a celestial being. I’ve never seen anyone more beautiful."

Ye Siling paused for a moment. He already knew that.

IHeartTheMoonlight: "And he has a good personality."

ysl: "?"

Song Yuqing has a good personality? Well, during livestreams, he’s decent—only snapping back when pushed too far.

Occasional outbursts aside...

A strange feeling stirred in Ye Siling’s chest. Weird.

IHeartTheMoonlight: "Of course it’s good. Even when I was at my worst, he didn’t blame me and believed I could change. Don’t you think that counts as a good personality? Anyway, I’ll listen to him for the rest of my life."

Ye Siling felt annoyed. No one cared about how special Song Yuqing was to Pei Huai.

ysl: "He’s just redeeming a troubled youth. Is that being good to you? Your standards are really low."

IHeartTheMoonlight: "Are you jealous of me?"

Seeing this, Ye Siling couldn’t help but sit up in bed. ysl: "Why would I be jealous of you? Jealous that you cause trouble everywhere? Jealous that you bully others? Or jealous that you have no mom?"

IHeartTheMoonlight: "And what kind of good person are you? I may bully others, but I’ve never stood by while someone jumped off a building like you did. Qingqing might forgive me, but you? Never."

ysl: "Why would I need his forgiveness? What is he to me? And what does someone jumping in front of me have to do with me? I didn’t bully them. Why should I care about something that has nothing to do with me?"

IHeartTheMoonlight: "Hmph."

ysl: "You’re the one with rotten morals, being a homewrecker. How dare you talk?"

IHeartTheMoonlight: "So what if I’m a homewrecker? Is this even homewrecking? It’s Qingqing’s kindness, willing to give a homeless alpha a home. Otherwise, I’d never have one."

Ye Siling fell into an awkward silence again. So Song Yuqing wasn’t seeking to be a homewrecker—he just wanted to give every alpha in the world a home.

There’s only one Song Yuqing, but many alphas want to be with him. Song Yuqing can’t bear to reject them, so he gives every alpha a home. A kind-hearted beta.

Ye Siling was completely swayed by Pei Huai's shameless logic and began seriously contemplating the principle behind it.

He knew many alphas had flings with other omegas or betas.

So what if Song Yuqing had multiple lovers on the side? It’s not as though Song Yuqing wouldn’t come home or ask his husband for a divorce.

As long as Song Yuqing returned home on time, his husband wouldn’t lose anything.

Soon, Ye Siling shook his head again, clearly disgusted by his own unscrupulous thoughts.

He couldn’t abandon his moral standards just to become another man’s lover. If he did, how could he face his family?

Song Yuqing running around chasing multiple affairs was morally corrupt.

How could he possibly defend such a despicable beta as Song Yuqing?

Pei Huai took Song Yuqing’s clothes out of the washing machine and was about to hang them up when he noticed the torn collar on one of Song Yuqing’s shirts.

Just as he was about to toss it, Song Yuqing walked over, saw what Pei Huai was doing, and said, "Don’t throw it away. I still want to wear it."

"It’s ripped. Why would you wear it?" Pei Huai didn’t understand and didn’t want Song Yuqing wearing damaged clothes.

Song Yuqing: "It’s just a small tear on the collar. It’s still wearable. Don’t waste it."

Spend when necessary, save whenever possible.

Pei Huai: "..."

When it came to buying materials, Song Yuqing was quite generous, but for himself, he only wore a few school uniforms in rotation, washed until the cuffs were faded.

"Stop wearing it. I’ll buy you new ones."

Song Yuqing lifted his eyes slightly. "If you have money to spare, just give it to me directly."

Pei Huai: "...Not happening."

If he gave money to Song Yuqing, Song Yuqing would only spend it on materials and tools. The money would never be used on himself.

Pei Huai raised an eyebrow and teased Song Yuqing deliberately, "If you insist on wearing torn clothes, I’ll sew them up for you, then you can wear them."

Song Yuqing imagined the scene of Pei Huai, a six-foot-three alpha, holding a needle and sewing clothes, and couldn’t help but laugh. The idea was utterly absurd.

"Suit yourself." Song Yuqing put on a jacket over his clothes. "I’m going to the lab."

Song Yuqing had taken only two steps when Pei Huai caught his jacket and slipped two nutrient bars into his pocket before letting go. "Off you go."

"I really shouldn’t care about you. You’re so stubborn," the alpha muttered.

But what could he do? He could only try his best to look after Song Yuqing.

Song Yuqing looked up and couldn’t resist retorting, "You sound like a resentful husband."

With that, Song Yuqing left, leaving Pei Huai standing there, wanting to yank him back and demand who exactly the “resentful husband” was.

Pei Huai continued hanging Song Yuqing’s clothes. The alpha’s movements were casual and practiced as he raised an eyebrow and chuckled softly. "Resentful husband?"

In the lab,

Song Yuqing was coding, while Ye Siling watched absentmindedly nearby. After being outshined by Song Yuqing once again, Ye Siling was convinced.

Ye Siling stared at Song Yuqing, hesitating to speak. After holding back for a long time, he finally blurted out, "Will you teach me?"

"I’ll give you anything you want."

Song Yuqing glanced calmly at Professor Lin not far away. The teacher and student exchanged a subtle look—the big fish had taken the bait.

Song Yuqing’s gaze slowly shifted to Ye Siling’s face. Ye Siling happened to be looking down, but when Song Yuqing suddenly looked up, Ye Siling’s heart still skipped a beat at the sight of his face.

His slightly tilted face, strands of hair falling to reveal beautiful, delicate brows and eyes, lips with an exquisite shape, and lightly fluttering eyelashes—truly, he looked ethereal.

A mischievous glint appeared in the beta’s eyes as he reached out his hand.

Song Yuqing was up to no good again.

Ye Siling thought, watching the long, slender fingers stretch out. His face grew warm.

The palm still bore the imprint of the mouse from earlier, and the tip of his index finger, used to press the mouse, was noticeably redder than the others.

How could his skin be so delicate, so easily marked? Would even a breath against his fingertips turn them red?

Ye Siling was spacing out when he heard Song Yuqing speak again, "Will you give it to me?"

Ye Siling’s ears turned even redder. Song Yuqing was asking him to be his lover.

Only by agreeing would Song Yuqing explain the parts he didn’t understand. How could there be a beta like this, using his skills to blackmail someone into becoming his lover?

No—rather, he was a beta willing to offer every alpha a home—a beta who enjoyed having affairs a little too much.

Ye Siling gazed intensely at Song Yuqing. "Not here. Somewhere else. I agree."

Song Yuqing was confused. There were no outsiders here—just Professor Lin, him, and Ye Siling.

Song Yuqing’s slender fingers flexed slightly as he said calmly, "This spot works."

Ye Siling’s expression grew even more strained. Humiliation made his ears burn crimson. For the sake of the experiment, he was forced to become Song Yuqing’s lover.

In shame, Ye Siling nuzzled his face against Song Yuqing’s palm.