Chapter 51 Drunken Dream

Chapter 51: Intoxicated Dream

It was nearly time for the nightly curfew when Xi Siyan and Jing Miao returned from the power tower.

They ran into Tao Zhongheng on the way.

Tao Zhongheng seemed to have just come from the reading room, still looking down at materials on his communicator, and nearly bumped face-to-face with Xi Siyan.

"Doctor Tao."

Xi Siyan reached out to steady him. The man reacted somewhat awkwardly, pushing up his glasses. "Director Xi."

"Still doing research this late?" Xi Siyan held Jing Miao's hand, his expression gentle.

Tao Zhongheng glanced at them, his expression suddenly turning odd. "Director Xi is also out so late."

"I took our kid to see the power tower. His research required it." Xi Siyan didn't elaborate further, noticing his somewhat pale complexion. "Are you alright? Are you feeling unwell?"

Tao Zhongheng shook his head, then suddenly said, "I've always had a question I wanted to ask you. Do you have a moment?"

"Mm, go ahead." Xi Siyan nodded.

"My research is in new agricultural fruits and vegetables. Your published 'Gene Extraction and Fusion' has always been one of our theoretical foundations." Tao Zhongheng's gaze shifted nervously, as if paying attention to their surroundings. "Xi Siyan, I wanted to ask you, in your extraction experiments, have you ever..."

His words cut off abruptly as several people approached from not far away, chatting and laughing.

Tao Zhongheng watched their figures draw closer and abruptly changed the subject. "One of my research results involved an animal experiment. A kingfisher with a gene mutation under trace gamma-ray radiation lost all feather color but had an extended lifespan. Its offspring from mating with ordinary kingfishers largely retained the original plumage and also had extended lifespans, though they became much smaller. The School of Biology named it the 'New Kingfisher.' The emergence of this new species has greatly helped protect the endangered kingfisher. The feathers of the New Kingfisher can also be used to make high-luster kingfisher feather art pieces."

Xi Siyan's brow furrowed slightly, clearly finding his sudden lecture odd. But Jing Miao was very interested. "That's amazing. I know kingfishers are almost extinct; they're a protected species."

Tao Zhongheng smiled. "Right. Do you think this research is meaningful?"

Those people passed by them and headed upstairs. Others appeared around them from time to time; it wasn't a completely quiet environment.

"Meaning is relative." Xi Siyan saw his uneasy demeanor. "I'm not sure what Doctor Tao is really trying to say?"

"I..." Tao Zhongheng ultimately gave up, sighing heavily. "Sorry for disturbing you. Perhaps another time."

The man turned to leave but stopped, suddenly saying, "Kingfishers can't speak. We don't know if they're in pain."

Tao Zhongheng quickly disappeared from their view.

"Gamma rays?" Jing Miao tilted his head, smiling. "Brother, if Miao Miao were by the kingfisher's side, it wouldn't hurt."

Xi Siyan snapped out of his thoughts, staring at his retreating back, and ignored the comment. "Miao Miao still needs to go back and write the new formula, right? Let's go."

The new elimination list was released. Jing Miao heard Xia Zhi's name over the broadcast.

"Xia Zhi? Xia Zhi was eliminated, brother!" He tugged anxiously on Xi Siyan's clothes. "I haven't taught Xia Zhi his genetic engineering test questions yet."

The Alpha opened his arms, his eyes full of affection. "Come here."

Jing Miao, face scrunched up, sat on his lap, curling into Xi Siyan's embrace. "I don't want Xia Zhi to go."

"You've barely met him. Where does such deep affection come from?" Xi Siyan pinched his nose, not realizing his own feelings about a fifteen-year-old Omega.

The child buried his face in his shoulder, voice muffled. "I want to say goodbye to him."

"Alright, alright." Xi Siyan soothingly rubbed his back. "I'll take you to see him off, but quietly. Can't let others know."

"Okay." Jing Miao kissed his cheek. Seeing Xi Siyan's thick eyelashes, a blush suddenly spread across the Omega's face, his voice dropping to a murmur. "Brother, Miao Miao likes you so much."

"Brother." Jing Miao's voice grew softer and more clinging. He leaned close to the Alpha's scent gland, breathing in somewhat obsessively. "Brother smells so good."

The child's scorching breath covered his skin. Xi Siyan turned his head, his lips touching Jing Miao's soft cheek. "What's wrong, Miao Miao?"

"I like you." His breathing began to quicken. "Brother, I don't feel well."

Xi Siyan put down his communicator, his tone anxious. "Where don't you feel well? Your stomach? Was it last night..."

The Omega took one of his hands and guided it down below his own waist, his voice tinged with grievance. "It's wet. Can brother touch it?"

"..."

Xi Siyan's body moved faster than his thoughts. He single-handedly picked up Jing Miao, who was clinging to him like a little snake, and quickly pressed the emergency button in the bathroom.

Each dorm room was equipped with an isolation space for AO special periods, uniformly set in the bathroom. Pressing this emergency button granted absolute privacy. However, for exam fairness, this could only be used twice. Any further need required applying with a medical examination report.

The bathroom door slammed shut. The beautiful Omega gasped for breath, placed on the vanity counter, leaning against the mirror in a daze.

Because of the little one in his belly, Jing Miao couldn't receive two inhibitors within one week.

Xi Siyan was still relatively calm as he put a fresh towel under him. But the Omega, whose skin clung to his the moment they touched, threw him off balance.

"Brother." Jing Miao hugged him plaintively, unwilling to let go, tugging the Alpha's hand to stuff under his clothes. "Hug... hug me..."

"Miao Miao..." Xi Siyan felt he might be using the willpower he once used to resist anesthesia to peel off the child who was like sticky maltose. "Let me handle this first, okay? Be good."

Jing Miao at this moment clearly couldn't be good.

The teenager's misty, watery eyes were like adhesive, glued to the Alpha's body, with an abnormally strong aggressiveness.

It shouldn't be the gaze of an Omega, nor should it belong to a boy with an incomplete mind. He stared at Xi Siyan's face, then his neck, then the second button on the Alpha's shirt.

Jing Miao reached out, using his thumb and middle finger to measure the height of Xi Siyan's neck, then step by step moved downward, trailing down past his abdomen, only to be grabbed firmly.

"Miao Miao, do you know what you're doing?"

Xi Siyan's voice was low, perhaps hoarse. That hand was restrained in his palm, then slowly placed against his own chest.

"Brother, so... so the mark you gave me can be washed off."

Jing Miao suddenly began to cry, his shoulders shaking, even the disheveled sleepwear on his body rippling with the movement. He was entirely wrapped in these low-saturation colors, yet his snow-bright skin wasn't darkened by the contrast.

The body of a mature Omega soaked in desire swayed like a poppy in the waves.

"I want you so much." He stretched out his arms to wrap around the Alpha's neck, burying his face against the back of his neck to inhale that faint orchid scent, tears soaking into Xi Siyan's shirt.

Xi Siyan heard his voice, piled with passion and desire, say, "Brother, I want to mark you."

He barely used a shred of rationality to protect the Omega's abdomen. From the mirror behind him, he saw the boy's back exposed from the struggle.

A beautiful curve along the indentation of the curved spine in the middle. He reached out a finger, starting from Jing Miao's scent gland downward, pulled off his sleepwear, and saw the silhouette of a butterfly.

Xi Siyan exerted a little force, not very gently tilting up the Omega's tear-streaked face.

"Look, I am yours."

Jing Miao knelt on that thick towel. In his not-so-clear vision, he saw the Alpha's broad figure behind him. He was held by one hand under his chin, while another hand carefully protected his belly.

The distinctly maternal curve here was unmistakable proof that he belonged solely to Xi Siyan.

The scents of pheromones in the air mingled, like some hallucinogenic gas, and his brother’s gentleness was gone. Just a whiff of the Suguanheding Orchid's fragrance, and Jing Miao felt as if he had plunged into the ocean—drowning, having the air ripped from his lungs.

"Brother..."

Jing Miao's body shook uncontrollably, his sobs turning into screams. Xi Siyan watched as his innocent one, overwhelmed merely by the invasion of pheromones, cried and surrendered completely. This sensitivity acted like a stimulant injected into his body; his limbs grew weak, steeped in the floral scent, while the thorns of the rose vine tightened around his skin, piercing his heart.

He would take his life before the blood drained away, and they would die together, finding their rightful end.

"Don't call me brother." Xi Siyan bit into his scent gland, his eyes, buried in Jing Miao's hair, were filled with madness. "I am not your brother."

Jing Miao cried, calling his brother bad, while sinking into his chest, murmuring incoherently, "Don't abandon me."

"How could I ever abandon you? I love you the most." Xi Siyan wiped away the tears on his face, unsure if they were from sorrow or bliss. "Why are you crying?"

"The mark... it can be washed away..."

Jing Miao cried until he was hiccupping, his entire body sore and devoid of strength.

The Alpha behind him paused his movements.

Xi Siyan shook his head, gathering him into an embrace and sitting on the bathroom counter himself. "It won't." His eyes held an unmistakable pain, breaking through the haze of desire floating in his pupils. "I'm sorry."

He lowered his head, exposing his neck before Jing Miao. "Mark me."

In his dazed state, Jing Miao gently kissed and nibbled there, not even breaking the skin or leaving a trace.

An Omega's pheromones would dissolve and vanish within an Alpha's scent gland, leaving no sensation behind—he could not be marked.

"Then, brother, don't lie to me."

His voice was hoarse as he spoke, leaning into the embrace, dependent and content, letting himself be held.

A day of drunken dreams.

Ultimately, mindful of the hardships of his pregnancy, Xi Siyan couldn't bear to torment Jing Miao too much.

The Omega curled up under the covers, sleeping soundly, his face flushed and occasionally murmuring in his sleep: "Reverse operation..."

Xi Siyan touched his forehead, only for the clingy one to grab his finger and tuck it under the covers, pressing it against his chest as he continued to sleep.

"Sweetheart." Xi Siyan smiled tenderly. No matter what state Jing Miao was in, he always liked to fall asleep holding his finger.

Perhaps what Jing Miao wanted was the whole person, but he restrained himself, clinging only to that single finger.

They were like a Möbius strip—he chased after Jing Miao, and Jing Miao chased after him. Sometimes, Xi Siyan wondered: if Jing Miao simply smiled or cried for him, he might give him the entire world. What was Jing Miao thinking at such moments?

Whatever he thought was fine.

Xi Siyan extended his other free hand, his slender, knuckled index finger hovering over Jing Miao's face for a moment.

"You really are so adorable."

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Ah, I think it's still quite abstract, right? QAQ