Chapter 92

Chapter 92

Meng Shijiu took the terminal and glanced at the messages.

A contact that hadn't lit up for a long time suddenly jumped to the top.

Meng Shijiu sat up, shook the blanket, wrapped it around himself again, and prepared to reply.

See eagerly pressed close, deftly pulled back the blanket, and silently wrapped his arms around the silver-haired Alpha's waist.

See's body was, in theory, just data, but it was no different from a real person. His warmth was like a cozy nest. Meng Shijiu leaned back with his movement, his back resting against See.

[Lu]: "Feeling better?"

Meng Shijiu: ...

How far has this news spread? Even Lucas has heard about it.

[Photosynthesizing]: "Still alive"

The reply came quickly.

[Lu]: "Don't talk nonsense"

[Photosynthesizing]: "...Then... not alive?"

Seeing the message he sent, See immediately raised his hand and gave a warning pinch on the cheek of the host in his arms who couldn't keep his mouth shut.

Meng Shijiu raised his hands in surrender.

[Lu]: "...Stop being cheeky"

[Lu]: "When are you going back to school?"

[Photosynthesizing]: "Next semester"

[Lu]: "What about final exams?"

[Photosynthesizing]: "I'll just go back for the exam days"

[Lu]: "Alright"

[Lu]: "Get some rest"

Then the two stopped chatting. Meng Shijiu didn't ask why Lucas was asking, guessing it probably wouldn't be pleasant news.

Meng Shijiu: Hmm! As a mature student, I shouldn't ask questions I'm not supposed to.

The forum was unblocked. Remembering Jie Xile, Meng Shijiu logged on.

See subtly pulled him closer into his embrace, stopping Meng Shijiu's hand from clicking on the private messages: "Are you going to see him?"

Meng Shijiu: "Let me look first."

Meng Shijiu clicked into the private messages.

[100,000 Whys] had left quite a few messages, but the last one was clear, finally stating his purpose and leaving new contact information, sent last night.

Meng Shijiu added him using the contact information left. Not long after, he received a reply.

[100,000 Whys]: "Is the big shot feeling better?"

Meng Shijiu: ...Is this the latest pick-up line?

[Photosynthesizing]: "Didn't we meet yesterday?"

For some reason, the other side was typing for a long time, but no message came through.

Meng Shijiu was just about to exit when a call invitation came through.

[100,000 Whys] invites you to a voice call.

Quite direct.

Meng Shijiu answered.

For a moment after connecting, neither of them spoke.

After a pause.

The voice on the other end carried the hoarseness of someone just waking up, sounding both casual and as if long-considered: "What should I call you?"

Meng Shijiu raised an eyebrow: "Weren't you calling me 'big shot' quite happily?"

The other side paused.

"I don't mind calling you that..." Jie Xile seemed to laugh softly, "I'm just afraid you'll block me if I do."

Meng Shijiu: "Is my temper that bad?"

Jie Xile had indeed just woken up. Hearing the voice so close to his ear, a thought suddenly popped into his mind: His temper is actually quite good, but he's also quite hard to coax.

Jie Xile was uncharacteristically modest for once: "It's more that I'm rather annoying."

"So good with words," Meng Shijiu's neck felt a bit itchy from See nuzzling; he dodged slightly, making his voice into the terminal a bit muffled, "Anything is fine."

"Mm." Jie Xile got out of bed.

"Shi Jiu." When he uttered this name, Jie Xile was startled to realize his tone held an indescribable familiarity, as if he had secretly said it many times before.

The curtains in his room were perpetually drawn, often creating a disorienting sense of dawn and dusk being reversed at a glance.

Jie Xile walked to the window and pulled open the long-unopened window.

The sky was overcast.

It had rained, Jie Xile thought.

He pondered how to broach the subject with this person on the other end who wasn't easy to coax.

After asking, he irritably ran a hand through his hair.

Meng Shijiu thought for a moment on the other end: "I mind a little. What should we do?"

Jie Xile couldn't help but curve his lips: "It's okay, just don't block me."

Meng Shijiu: "Oh."

Meng Shijiu: "Then I'll have to consider that too."

Jie Xile pinched the palm of his hand for a while to stop himself from laughing out loud. "Then I'll try my best."

Meng Shijiu: "Tch."

Jie Xile realized Meng Shijiu had already hung up only when his terminal pinged with a reminder.

God, that was just too adorable.

Jie Xile pressed a hand to his heart, feeling like he was done for.

*

He still had homework, mainly thanks to the "special care" from the professors at St. Mary's.

Meng Shijiu nudged See. "Alright, now I really have to do my homework."

The silver-haired Alpha didn't know when See had pulled him into a full embrace. See was loosely holding him from behind, lowering his head every now and then to nuzzle his cheek.

See refused to let go. "You do it. I won't talk."

Meng Shijiu looked at the arm around his waist, which seemed to be loosely holding him but in reality wouldn't let him move an inch: ...

Meng Shijiu: "That's not it... I need to go to the desk."

See continued nuzzling Meng Shijiu's face, then nipped at the tip of his ear. "I already brought your terminal over."

Meng Shijiu couldn't dodge in time and gave up. "...Fine... okay, stop bothering me. I'll just do it here then."

*

Since he hadn't paid attention in class, the homework was still somewhat difficult. Meng Shijiu's gaze focused intently on the terminal.

The room grew quiet. The cold light from the terminal screen drifted in his eyes, like a silver fish trapped in a glass tank.

A moment later, he suddenly let out a low, sharp inhale.

Meng Shijiu's icy voice, wrapped in a chill mist, warned, "See."

A wave of tingling heat spread from his chest. The terminal slipped from his lap with a *thump-thump-thump*, landing with a muffled thud on the carpet.

See, holding his scent gland in his mouth, responded in a low voice, "Hmm."

The silver-haired Alpha was momentarily dazed. Then, his sharp Adam's apple tilted up sharply, carving a cold yet alluring arc on his pale skin like a knife cutting through canvas.

Meng Shijiu stared at the ceiling, the corner of his eye drawing a lingering line. "...Couldn't you wait until I finished?"

See's lips pressed against his pulsing vein. "The door locked when I came in."

Meng Shijiu: "..."

Meng Shijiu was incredulous. "...You're blaming me for not understanding your hint?"

See gave him a deep, meaningful look.

Clearly, he was admitting it.

See had apparently been studying and improving his techniques somewhere.

Meng Shijiu let out a comfortable hum and didn't say anything more.

"...Don't make a mess on the sofa." He raised a hand, grabbing the man's hair. "You hear me?"

See heard him, but obviously misunderstood his host's meaning.

He was a system devoid of romantic understanding; everything came from theory.

See released his hold on Meng Shijiu, like letting go of a prey's throat.

Like a lightning strike, the sudden loss of contact made his body tense unbearably. Mist instantly welled up in Meng Shijiu's eyes.

Struggling, he lifted his eyelids. Beneath his damp lashes, his eyes resembled a green fish stranded on shore, breathing with difficulty, yet his brows were furrowed with impatience.

His gaze shifted over reluctantly.

The person kneeling between his spread knees seemed to be recalling past experience. Kneeling on the floor, his silver pupils brimming with curiosity, he stared motionlessly at the person he had arranged on the sofa, as if entranced by the silver-haired Alpha's trembling reactions.

An indescribable sense of humiliation flashed briefly, only to be roughly suppressed by the uncontrollable shivers crawling up his spine like ants.

"Hurry up." The silver-haired Alpha's voice changed pitch, tinged with a hoarse tremor. His slender fingers dug deep into the carpet.

The person kneeling on the floor finally moved again.

The sound of See's movements was overly clear in the empty room. Pleasure gradually swallowed every nerve. The silver-haired Alpha couldn't quite bear it and raised a hand to bite his knuckle.

His watery eyes narrowed slightly. His pale skin flushed with a vivid hue, yet his expression seemed devoid of joy or sorrow, like sinking straight down into the deep sea—a cold, resigned descent.

See was neither an Alpha nor an Omega. As a result, the entire room was unusually, wantonly filled with the silver-haired Alpha's cold pheromones.

Snow, bamboo, rain—cold, as if one could hear the sound of falling snow.

Yet, between the brows and the corners of the eyes of the person on the sofa, a lingering, melting hint of vivid color slowly appeared.

Meng Shijiu drifted in a half-awake, half-asleep state. Out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a faint green light on the nearby desk—

...What.

...

Before Meng Shijiu could figure out what that faint, abrupt light was, he shifted his gaze, his eyes gradually settling on nothingness.

Suddenly.

His fragile nerves felt as if they had been violently snapped.

Meng Shijiu's eyes flew open wide. He turned his head—

The constantly flickering green light was emanating from the ring on the desk.

—The ring Shen Huaixu had given him. He had casually placed it on the desk, directly facing the sofa.

From this angle, once a video call connected, the camera would likely be aimed directly at the silver-haired Alpha.

It felt as if his blood reversed its flow for an instant.

The silver-haired Alpha hastily grabbed a blanket. The next second, a light screen projected from above the ring.

"Beep—"

The heterochromatic Alpha appeared on the light screen.

...The moment he saw the silver-haired Alpha, his usually gentle gaze momentarily froze. His fingers tensed, and he stared unblinkingly at the silver-haired Alpha on the screen.

The screen only showed Meng Shijiu's upper body.

The silver-haired Alpha lay back on the sofa, his silver hair disheveled across the surface like freshly fallen snow, his eyelashes and Adam's apple trembling almost uncontrollably.

The blanket draped over his waist stirred faintly.

He looked as though he were both sinking and falling, a contradictory, breathtaking intensity flickering across his face.

…Shen Huaixu was deeply familiar with this side of Meng Shijiu.

In his daze, Meng Shijiu faintly heard the sound of a shattering cup through the ring.

A moment later.

Shen Huaixu’s voice came through, calm as ever: “What’s wrong… Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”

A dull, heavy ache in his chest was forcibly suppressed.

“…”

See seemed as if possessed and didn't stop; Meng Shijiu’s voice trembled as he gave a short reply.

Meng Shijiu: “No.”

The rising tension was like a string about to snap, emitting a strained, breaking hum in his gradually blurring consciousness.

He could barely hear what Shen Huaixu was saying, let alone notice the heterochromatic Alpha’s expression shifting from confusion to a frozen smile.

The air was filled with Alpha pheromones—cold on the surface, yet seething with scorching heat underneath.

Shen Huaixu looked directly into his unfocused pupils, his voice soft: “Am I bothering you, Shi Jiu?”

Meng Shijiu forced his eyes to stay open. For a moment, he thought he saw something icy flash in the heterochromatic Alpha’s eyes—almost like an illusion.

“…Is there something you need, Brother Shen?”

Shen Huaixu actually managed to maintain a smile, his voice low and gentle as if soothing someone: “I missed you.”

As these three words fell, See abruptly paused for an instant before suddenly speeding up.

Meng Shijiu’s scalp tingled, and a word was squeezed through his lips—

“…St…op.”

The two stiff words seemed out of place in the current scene.

Time seemed to freeze.

“Shi Jiu…” Shen Huaixu’s smile dropped on the screen, “Is there someone else in the room?”

Meng Shijiu could hardly hear him. He only raised his hand, finally, with some impatience, wanting to turn off the ring.

“—Knock, knock.”

An even more sudden knock came from the door.

*

The person waiting outside, getting no answer, simply waited patiently.

The corridor light was somewhat gloomy, giving it a solemn, chilly feel.

Suddenly, a sound came from within the room.

"CRASH—"

The sound of heavy objects hitting the floor echoed.

"—Shijiu."

Yue Xuanli frowned, his heart sinking abruptly as he forced his way through the locked door.

...

A wave of frigid pheromones rushed toward him.

The moment he saw the scene inside, Yue Xuanli's gaze froze, like a bird slamming into an iceberg.

His fingers gripping the doorframe suddenly tightened; a stinging pain bit into his palm, yet he went completely oblivious to it.

The light screen had already vanished.

The silver-haired Alpha was the only one left in the empty room.

The contents of the table had been swept onto the floor in the commotion.

A blanket was draped over the silver-haired Alpha's lower body, revealing his bare ankles; strands of hair clung to his face, shuddering slightly with his ragged breaths.

When he looked up, the lingering mist in his eyes was evident, giving him the unmistakable look of someone who had just been savored.

He looked like a piece of precious porcelain that had been shattered and crudely repaired, with crimson seeping through every crack.

"Get out," Meng Shijiu's hoarse voice was thick with moisture.

He had only managed to forcibly retract See in time; the pleasure about to reach its peak was suddenly suspended, cut short at the critical point.

In an instant, it felt as if a thousand fine silver needles had pricked at his nerves, coursing backward through his veins to his heart.

Yue Xuanli acted as if he hadn't heard him.

Meng Shijiu propped up his limp arms and repeated, "Get out."

Yue Xuanli closed the door.

The lock wasn't broken; the click of the latch was exceptionally clear in the silent room.

Meng Shijiu looked up: "You..."

"Out—" The end of Meng Shijiu's word suddenly vanished in his throat as he watched the black-haired Alpha drop to one knee before him, reaching out to brush the strand of silver hair clinging to his neck.

-----------------------

Author's Note: Showing everyone the kaomoji I came across yesterday.

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（?? 。７

l、 ~ \

じしf_, )ノ

I don't know if Jinjiang can display it. A kitty.

╱▏、

（?、? 7

I、 ~ヽ

じしf_,﹚ノ