Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Su Xingze was asleep, dreaming.

He dreamed of his motorcycle, leather jacket, fingerless gloves, and a slick pair of shades.

But what woke him was the aroma of chestnut stewed chicken drifting over from the next room. It smelled so good it was driving him crazy!

His inner foodie woke up. Su Xingze slipped on his shoes, headed over to Lu Xingwen's room, and knocked on the door.

Lu Xingwen was wearing a black apron. The moment he opened the door, he found Su Xingze's sniffing adorable. He wanted to pat his head, but his hands were still holding a spatula, so he held back.

Needing something to say, Su Xingze asked, "Why didn't you cook the chicken in my room earlier?"

So he could enjoy more of the smell.

"It's pretty strong." Lu Xingwen stepped aside to let Su Xingze in.

The smell really was that strong. Otherwise, how could it have drifted to the next room and woke Su Xingze up from his dream?

He snuck into the kitchen to check on the chicken, scooped a golden-brown chestnut into a small bowl, and then sat down on the sofa.

His and Lu Xingwen's rooms were both fully equipped—living room, kitchen, bathroom, guest room, and ward—so daily life was super convenient.

Su Xingze took a bite and burned his mouth, blowing on it constantly. Someone handed him a bowl of rock sugar pear and hawthorn soup, already cooled to lukewarm, sweet and tangy, and absolutely delicious.

His tongue was still stinging from the burn, so he stuck half of it out, letting the cool evening air soothe it.

"A little more cooking and it'll be ready..." The bowl in his hand hit the floor with a crash. After giving Su Xingze the soup, Lu Xingwen had gone back to the kitchen to bring out a small bowl of chestnuts.

But the moment he slid open the kitchen glass door, he saw Su Xingze with his tongue sticking out, fanning his hands frantically, tears glistening in his eyes. Clearly, the soup hadn't helped—his tongue was still burned.

Way too much.

Lu Xingwen glanced down. Good, at least this time it behaved and didn't react. That strong suppressant shot was definitely the right call.

"Ah—my chestnut!" Su Xingze whined in distress, crouching to grab one that hadn't rolled away, blew on it, and quickly shoved it into his mouth: "If you pick it up within three seconds, it's still good."

As he reached for another chestnut still sitting on the broken bowl, a hand grabbed his wrist. The man pulled him back, carefully checked his fingers, and wiped off the juice: "Stop picking them up, you'll cut yourself."

"My chestnuts." Su Xingze looked up, and because of the height difference, he looked all pitiful and upset from that angle.

Lu Xingwen ruffled his hair and headed into the kitchen: "There's plenty more in the pot. Just wait and I'll get it for you."

Su Xingze figured as much. After all, he was a total kitchen disaster; if he went in to help, they probably wouldn't be eating tonight.

Su Xingze turned and suddenly noticed something off—the wheelchair by the kitchen door.

Just a bit ago, when Lu Xingwen had come to see him, he was still in that wheelchair. How was he standing now? Was he better already?

Su Xingze pressed his face to the glass and watched for a while. The guy inside looked totally fine, nothing like someone who was sick.

He yanked the door open, ready to demand answers. Lu Xingwen wobbled and collapsed to the floor.

"Xiaolu?" Su Xingze quickly caught him.

"I overdid it." Lu Xingwen lay in Su Xingze's arms, his voice weak: "I'm fine, just a little tired."

Su Xingze: "What's actually wrong with you?"

"My pheromones are unstable." Lu Xingwen stood up, smiling lightly: "Don't worry about me. Come on, do you like the chestnut chicken?"

Su Xingze had only asked for chestnut chicken because he figured someone would help Lu Xingwen cook—since Lu Xingwen was in a wheelchair and couldn't get around easily, and now that he was a big-shot CEO, surely he wouldn't be stewing chicken alone, right?

Who knew the guy actually cooked it himself. And he was sick, stubbornly pushing himself to cook!

"Hey, I remember you have pheromone problems. Is it because no Omega has ever soothed you since you got married?"

"Yeah." Lu Xingwen admitted right away. Every time Su Xingze got mad, he'd call him "hey" instead of "Xiaolu."

"Why though? Since I..." He couldn't quite say it, so he moved on: "Why don't you find an Omega to soothe you? Even if you don't, you could use Omega pheromone injections, right?"

Lu Xingwen didn't answer, just stared at Su Xingze.

His childhood friend was still as clueless as ever, especially about matters of the heart. After all, he was only seventeen.

Ever since he realized he liked Su Xingze, he'd been hugging him, holding him, and occasionally making moves that were pretty obvious, but Su Xingze never caught on, still thinking they were the best bros in the world.

Lu Xingwen made something up: "I'm a top-tier Alpha. Ordinary Omegas can't handle my pheromones." Then he changed the subject: "The chestnut chicken's ready. It won't smell as good once it cools."

Su Xingze didn't dig too deep into Lu Xingwen's private business. After all, everyone's got their secrets.

Time to dig into that delicious chicken!

That night, Su Xingze ate three bowls of chestnut chicken, plus a bag of snacks and a small slice of cake.

After eating, he felt sleepy from all the carbs and really wanted to crash. He patted his slightly pudgy belly—the abs he'd worked on before were long gone. He'd get them back once he was better.

Lu Xingwen said he still had work to do and told Su Xingze to go back first.

Su Xingze hit the bed and was out like a light within a minute.

Lu Xingwen really did have work. There was too much company stuff, and a lot of it needed his approval and signature. By the time he was done, it was already 11 PM.

He rubbed his forehead and told everyone not to slip up about the fact that he and Su Xingze weren't actually married.

His hospital room felt empty, still smelling of chestnut chicken. Lu Xingwen called his assistant, grabbed his blanket, and headed out.

Su Xingze slept until 11 PM—three full hours. Maybe because he'd slept so much during the day, he wasn't sleepy at all now.

Suddenly, the door to his room opened. Lu Xingwen came in with his blanket, while his assistant quietly pushed a bed in.

The room was dark. Su Xingze rolled over, and the two figures froze mid-step.

After a moment, they kept going, parking the hospital bed next to Su Xingze's and carefully setting up the bedding.

Assistant Xu was so nervous he barely dared to breathe. When he'd interviewed for this job, nobody mentioned anything about sneaky stuff like this!

The boss finally let him go. Assistant Xu tiptoed out as fast as he could.

Lu Xingwen quietly got into bed, facing Su Xingze. Using the moonlight, he stared without blinking.

Even though the two rooms were only separated by a wall, Lu Xingwen couldn't stand the distance. He had to be able to see Su Xingze to feel at ease.

Soft moonlight washed over Su Xingze, coating him in silver, beautiful like a painting. The longer Lu Xingwen stared, the darker his gaze became.

Su Xingze had known all along that Lu Xingwen was watching him. Because he wasn't actually asleep—he was just waiting to see when Lu Xingwen would realize he was awake.

This silly little game was pretty fun on a sleepless night.

Many years ago, when they were only five, Su Xingze's mother was still alive, and Lu Xingwen had just begun to crawl out from under the shadow of losing his parents. Back then, Lu Xingwen cried easily, feared the dark, and was timid. Every time he couldn't sleep at night, he'd do exactly what he did tonight—drag his blanket over to Su Xingze's bed, quietly lie down beside him, and curl himself up into a tiny ball.

They'd shared a room their whole lives—in middle and high school, it was the dorm, with bunk beds. Back then, Su Xingze slept like a log, but sometimes when he woke up, he'd find Lu Xingwen staring at him with a look so complicated it felt like it could burn him.

At first, Su Xingze figured Lu Xingwen had some issue with him, so he'd fake sleep to get to the bottom of it. Later, he realized Lu Xingwen just liked watching him at night—maybe because he looked soothing, like counting sheep.

So whenever Su Xingze couldn't sleep, he'd fake it and silently duke it out with Lu Xingwen to see who cracked first!

That night, Lu Xingwen held out way too long—so long that Su Xingze, drained from focusing so hard, almost passed out from exhaustion.

But then Lu Xingwen rose in the moonlight. That one move instantly jolted Su Xingze, who was about to doze off, wide awake, his gaze following the other's movements.

Moments later, the sound of water came from the bathroom.

Was Lu Xingwen taking a shower?

Who the hell showers at two in the morning? That's creepy as hell!

The sound of water was especially loud in the quiet night. Half an hour later, Su Xingze still couldn't sleep, and had started wondering what the hell Lu Xingwen was doing in there.

The room felt like it was heating up, like standing in the sun—cozy at first, then sweltering, making you want to bolt.

Su Xingze sat up, walked to the bathroom door, pressed his whole body against it, and asked softly, "Xiaolu, why are you showering in the middle of the night?"

The man under the spray froze, loosening his grip on his burning arousal, and looked at the silhouette on the door.

The bathroom's glass door was see-through from up close, but from a distance you couldn't make anything out—unless someone pressed their whole body against it, then you'd catch a blurry silhouette.

Cold water poured over his head and streamed down his body, the drip-drip drowning out the sounds of his movements. The heat that had been dying down flared right back up. Lu Xingwen was aching from holding back.

He braced himself against the bathroom wall with both hands, his Adam's apple bobbing multiple times, but his eyes never left the silhouette on the door. It took him a few shaky breaths to get his voice out: "Chen Chen, you're... still awake?"

"Slept too much during the day, can't sleep now." Su Xingze stared at the door, tapped it lightly with his fingers, and hummed some old song from seven or eight years back.

A few minutes later.

"You... not going back to sleep?" At this rate, Lu Xingwen figured he'd die of torture.

"I'll wait for you at the door." Su Xingze wasn't tired. Not even a little.

When they were kids, Lu Xingwen was scared of the dark and needed company for bathroom trips, chattering nonstop to make sure Su Xingze was still right outside.

That got a lot better in middle and high school, but it never fully went away. Whenever Lu Xingwen was sad, stressed, or overwhelmed, and didn't want to bother Su Xingze, he'd hide away alone in the middle of the night.

Su Xingze had caught him at it a few times, and every time he'd wait outside the door until Lu Xingwen was ready to come out.

But he had no idea that the Lu Xingwen of today wasn't the same Lu Xingwen anymore.

The only thing the current Lu Xingwen feared was Su Xingze vanishing from his world. Darkness was just a regular part of his life now—he hated it, but he wasn't afraid of it.

What filled his head now were things Su Xingze could never know. Violence. Darkness. An Alpha's absolute possessiveness.

Su Xingze still hadn't left. Lu Xingwen stood under the shower, the only sound between them being the falling cold water.

The shadow on the door leaned against it, gentle but unyielding.

Outside, Su Xingze closed his eyes and listened to the water. Drip, drop—like the first spring rain.

Lu Xingwen hid his insatiable desire within the sound of the rain, reached down, and his body tensed. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the silhouette on the door.

His voice was hoarse and heavy with desire, the words carrying a morbid attachment: "Chen Chen, please, don't go."

Su Xingze replied without hesitation: "Don't be afraid, I'm not going anywhere."

==========Author's Note:==========

Please let me out