Chapter 22 Did You Secretly Use Suppressants?

Chapter 22: Did You Sneak Some Suppressants?

Cheng Ye certainly knew that an Alpha’s mark was needed to soothe a rut. But he had just taken a suppressant, so he wouldn’t need an Alpha’s mark for this rut over the next couple of days.

Those suppressants hidden deep in the bedside drawer were like a security blanket, giving him confidence.

For a while now, Cheng Ye hadn’t smelled any of the pheromones Shen Xu was releasing.

The reason he seduced him wasn’t because he felt uncomfortable and needed a mark—it was purely to negotiate: to trade a little “sweetness” for a good salary. Since Shen Xu had already nodded in agreement, his goal was achieved, and he naturally didn’t want to be pinned down and marked on his gland.

The gland that had been marked last night was still burning with pain, and his earlier shout wasn’t an act—it really hurt.

“I, I ate too much, I feel like throwing up.” Cheng Ye had a sudden idea, immediately grimacing, covering his mouth, and mumbling vaguely.

As soon as he said that, he put on a very dedicated act, letting out a few exaggerated retches, successfully shattering the just-ignited romantic atmosphere in the room.

Shen Xu’s movements froze, the lust in his eyes receded like a tide. He looked down at Cheng Ye covering his mouth with a pained expression, and remembering the two generous portions of egg-and-pancake wraps from earlier, his brows knit tightly together.

Cheng Ye didn’t give him a chance to react. Taking advantage of Shen Xu’s daze, he shoved aside the arm Shen Xu had propped above him, sprang off the bed, covered his mouth, and dashed toward the bathroom, leaving Shen Xu sitting there on the messy bed, totally stunned.

In the bathroom, Cheng Ye didn’t actually vomit. He sat on the closed toilet seat, fiddling with his fingers, waited until he figured enough time had passed, then slowly got up, walked to the sink, turned on the faucet, making washing noises on purpose, took a deep breath, and opened the bathroom door.

Shen Xu had already put on his robe and was standing by the bathroom door with a glass of warm water, his expression unreadable.

“Feeling better?” Shen Xu asked, handing him the glass.

“Mm, much better. Probably ate too fast, and it was too oily.” Cheng Ye took the glass, lowered his head to take small sips, not daring to look Shen Xu in the eye.

Shen Xu hummed in acknowledgment and didn’t ask further. He reached out, his warm palm covering Cheng Ye’s tense body, and gave a firm but gentle rub.

“Don’t eat so much next time.”

After all that, Shen Xu clearly wasn’t in the mood anymore. He glanced at Cheng Ye’s reddened nape, where fresh bite marks overlapping old ones, looking pretty gnarly. He had to admit he’d gotten carried away with his bite.

“Sleep.” Shen Xu withdrew his hand, turned toward the large bed, lifted the covers, lay down, and turned his back to Cheng Ye.

Cheng Ye looked at Shen Xu’s silent back, and a tiny pang of guilt pricked his conscience. He felt he had been too calculating, so he reluctantly climbed onto the bed, lay down beside Shen Xu, hesitated, then gave Shen Xu’s arm a little pat.

“Shen Xu?” he whispered.

“Mm.” Shen Xu’s voice came from behind, muffled.

“You going to sleep?”

“Mm.”

“You’re sleeping early.” Cheng Ye was just making conversation.

Shen Xu didn’t reply, just breathed a little heavier.

Early? It’s almost midnight with all this fuss, how is that early?

Cheng Ye was silent for a while, then spoke again, even softer, with some hesitation: “You… the salary you’re giving me… isn’t it too much? Won’t people talk?”

Shen Xu finally turned around. “Fine, then I’ll give you two thousand a month.”

“No way!” Cheng Ye shot back, his voice rising. The guilt from earlier vanished in an instant. “Let them think whatever they want. Doesn’t matter to me.”

“Mm.” Shen Xu turned back again, his voice flat again. “Go to sleep.”

He heard Cheng Ye’s even, deep breathing behind him. Shen Xu slowly opened his eyes. He turned to his side and, in the faint moonlight streaming through the window, gazed at Cheng Ye’s defenseless sleeping face, lightly brushing over Cheng Ye’s fluttering eyelashes with his finger.

He found it strange. Sure, Cheng Ye was being proactive today too, but it felt completely different from yesterday. Yesterday, Cheng Ye had been like a freshly cooked shrimp all flustered, but today was clearly not the same state.

Moreover, Cheng Ye had no reaction to the pheromones Shen Xu had been releasing from earlier—he didn’t seem like he was in his rut.

Why was that?

As Shen Xu pondered, still brushing Cheng Ye’s eyelashes, he got a little too rough and accidentally poked Cheng Ye in the eyelid, waking him up.

Feeling the sting on his eye, Cheng Ye furrowed his brows and opened his eyes in the darkness, only to be almost scared to death by Shen Xu’s staring eyes.

“What the hell? It’s the middle of the night, why are you poking people in the eyes?”

“Cheng Ye, did you sneak some suppressants?”

Shen Xu’s question came out of nowhere. Cheng Ye, who had been half-asleep and foggy-minded, felt his heart “clench” the moment he heard “suppressants,” like a cat that just got its tail stepped on. A chill shot up his back.

He’s busted?! No way! He’d hidden them!

Cheng Ye was never one to admit defeat without seeing the coffin. His guilt and panic made him choose the dumbest method—playing dumb and acting innocent.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about…” Cheng Ye mumbled vaguely, his voice thick with sleepiness, and he squeezed his eyes shut, even trying to burrow deeper into the blanket. “I’m so tired… I want to go to sleep…”

Shen Xu wasn’t about to let him get away with it. He reached out directly, using his thumb and forefinger to pry open one of Cheng Ye’s eyelids, forcing those shifty eyes to look at him.

In the darkness, Shen Xu’s eyes were sharp as knives.

Shen Xu lowered his voice. “You really used suppressants?”

With his eyelid pried open, Cheng Ye had no way to avoid it and had to meet Shen Xu’s eyes. His heart raced, but he still wouldn’t give in. “What suppressants? I don’t know.”

“Don’t play dumb.” Shen Xu stared at him, speaking slowly. “You know what suppressants are. Last time in the car, when I gave you that breath spray, you asked me if it was a suppressant.”

That was when Shen Xu caught him smoking…

Cheng Ye cursed Shen Xu’s good memory in his heart, but kept up his act. “If I actually knew what a suppressant looked like, I wouldn’t have mistaken the breath spray for one! I just said it casually then.”

He decided to stick to his story no matter how much Shen Xu questioned him—he didn’t know, he hadn’t used them. Since Shen Xu had no evidence, as long as he kept denying it, Shen Xu couldn’t do shit.

Shen Xu looked at his stubborn expression, like he didn’t give a damn, and his eyes grew even darker. He knew Cheng Ye was hard-headed, but he hadn’t expected him to be this stubborn.

He let go of Cheng Ye’s eyelid and pulled back slightly, but his gaze remained fixed on Cheng Ye.

“Fine. You say there isn’t, so there isn’t.”

Cheng Ye breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

But then Shen Xu added, “But if you do, you better hide them good. Don’t let me find them.”

The blatant threat made Cheng Ye’s heart leap again.

Cheng Ye’s mind went blank, and he blurted out, “Really, there aren’t any! I swear! If there were…” He paused, searching for a sufficiently serious “vow.” “If there were, you can fuck me to death! Okay?!”

Shen Xu clearly hadn’t expected him to make such a “vow.” He gave Cheng Ye a long look and chose not to pursue the matter further.

He lay back down and told Cheng Ye to go to sleep obediently.

But how could Cheng Ye sleep now? He turned his back to Shen Xu, eyes wide open, heart still pounding wildly. He wished he could throw away the suppressants at home right then and there.

He figured he couldn't keep them at home anymore—he needed to get rid of them as soon as possible.

So the next morning, Shen Xu went to work as usual.

Cheng Ye listened to the sound of the car fading away, and once he was sure Shen Xu was gone, he immediately got out of bed, hurriedly fished out the few suppressants, used one, and stuffed the rest into his pockets.

He didn't dare throw them directly into the trash at home for fear Shen Xu would find them, nor did he dare dispose of them nearby. He deliberately ran three blocks over, found a large public trash bin far from the villa area, checked left and right to make sure no one was watching, and then quickly tossed the suppressants along with their packaging into the bin marked "Other Waste."

After doing all this, Cheng Ye let out a long sigh of relief, feeling like a heavy weight had been lifted off his chest. As he walked back, he wondered if he was being paranoid and overreacting.

The villa was huge, with so many rooms and countless places to hide things. Even if Shen Xu got suspicious and wanted to search, it would take him at least two weeks to search through everything bit by bit. And with Shen Xu being so busy, when would he have the time for that?

With this thought, Cheng Ye felt much more at ease. He even whistled softly as he strolled home, planning in his head how he would get along with others when he started working as Shen Xu's assistant once this last day of his heat was completely over.

He originally thought he just had to stick close to Shen Xu, but Shen Xu had told him that proper big companies have their own secretarial departments. Just thinking about having to build good relationships with colleagues gave Cheng Ye a headache, especially since he'd just beaten a coworker from the club so badly that the guy was still in the hospital.