After their exams were over, the school let everyone off for their winter break.

By the time their exam results were released, Duan Jiayan was already in Hai City. 

Duan Jiayan was pleasantly surprised when he saw his results on the electronic scoreboard. He had placed 462th in his level and the difficulty of the questions this time was not low. He initially thought his grades would drop but who would have known that they would actually improve by a little bit.

Fu Yuan was just as pleasantly surprised to see his results and as a way of rewarding his progress would take time to bring him out shopping, buying him quite a few things that he liked.

Fu Yuan knew that he constantly play games and so decided to just have the PC set up at home upgraded to a better one. Duan Jiayan was very pleased as he clicked about on the glowing multicoloured keyboard.

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, Duan Jiayan was in his room playing on his new PC. Fu Yuan had come in quite a few times to bring him snacks and ask if he wanted to come out t watch some television with them or play some cards. 

Duan Jiayan was still not used to being in Hai City and so pretended to be busy with his games, “Mom, you go on ahead, I’ve already gotten into a queue— Ah! See, my teammates are rushing me, I’ve to go play first.”

Fu Yuan did not understand the world of his games so she could only leave first as she watched him busily type away on his keyboard, “If you get bored, just come out to play cards with us.”

As she spoke, she could see that he intended to play for a long time and could not feel assured, “Don’t play for too long, remember to rest your eyes.”

Duan Jiayan nodded his head.

After Fu Yuan left, Duan Jiayan’s fingers on the keyboard stopped and he lazily stretched his back.

It was common for queues to take really long during the Lunar New Year, he had already been stuck on the queue menu for more than 10 minutes.

While feeling bored, he also suddenly felt like his body was feeling a little soft.

A familiar tingle crawled up his spine. Duan Jiayan froze for a moment and could feel his body slowly heating up. 

He had always known that his heats don’t follow a set schedule but in that instant, he too felt that this timing was quite inopportune.

It could not have come either a little earlier or later, it just had to come when he was celebrating the Lunar New Year.

He hurriedly made his way from the computer to his bed and dug out his inhibitor.

As he was injecting his inhibitor, a wave of sharp pain travelled up his arm. His skin was also slowly turning red. Just as he was fumbling about, his game notified him that a match was found. 

Duan Jiayan did not have any energy to accept the match. After the inhibitor was used, the uncomfortable heat gradually faded but the pain from the stress disorder seemed to be getting worse.

He saw that he only had a few seconds left. Duan Jiayan hesitated but ultimately did not accept the match.

In his condition, he’ll only be pulling his teammates down. Duan Jiayan kicked off his slippers and laid down on his bed with his blanket covering him.

However, a blanket alone was unable to fully block out alpha pheromones. He had no idea how many alphas were nearby but those pheromones slowly drilled under his skin, like a thousand silver needles poking him. 

After some time, Duan Jiayan simply could not take it any longer. He reached for his phone and called Lu Xingci.

He wanted to give Lu Xingci a call to distract himself.

It did not take long for his call to be answered.

Hearing his voice, Duan Jiayan’s heart twinged a little and he whispered, “You sure picked up fast.” 

“I just finished playing a round of cards and you called,” Lu Xingci teased him. “Aren’t you usually playing gaming, with no time to bother about me?”

Duan Jiayan silently curved his lips into a smile. His body was still hurting and he bit on his lips as he tried his best to ignore the pain.

“Isn’t that because there’s nothing else for me to do, so I can only play games.”

He paused, “You seem to be having fun huh? Zhou Xingchen invited some people to go singing a few days ago, did you join them?” 

He recalled Lunar New Year’s eve when he had spent the whole night playing games. Lu Xingci knew that he was spending his holidays there and would be fairly unaccustomed to things.

His heart ached slightly for him and so he changed the topic.

“That’s awesome Lu-ge, the title of ‘gambling king’ will be yours,” Duan Jiayan could feel his forehead twitching uncomfortably. He rolled around on his bed and casually said, “Then did you get rich overnight? Bring me along.”

The person on the other side agreed, “I’ll buy some clothes for you.”

“It’s alright,” Duan Jiayan was initially just joking, he did not expect Lu Xingci to take him seriously. Duan Jiayan hurriedly added, “Why not buy me a skin, I want Kaisa’s new skin. I’ll take my red packet money and buy you an Akali one.”

Perhaps because he sounded surprisingly flustered, he could clearly hear Lu Xingci laughing. 

After he was done laughing, Lu Xingci did not stay on their previous topic and instead asked, “What are you doing?”

“I was playing some games,” Duan Jiayan said. “Then— Ugh!”

A shot of pain suddenly ran up his back, Duan Jiayan could not help violently kicking his leg and shouting out in pain.

Lu Xingci had originally wanted to joke that it seemed as if Duan Jiayan really intended to live inside the game but the moment he heard the unnatural cry of pain, he kept his playful mood and asked worriedly, “What’s wrong?” 

He finally heard Duan Jiayan’s reply after a long while.

Perhaps because he was in pain, Duan Jiayan’s voice was trembling slightly. Lu Xingci seemed to get the impression that the other was being wronged.

“My heat is here, so is my stress disorder,” Duan Jiayan huffed, he was in so much pain that he was clutching his bedsheets. “It’s been a while since it happened, I’m a little unused to it.”

Duan Jiayan studied himself as he answered, he could see red rashes slowly appearing on his body. 

“How long has it been since it started?”

“I don’t know? It seemed to have started around half an hour ago.” Duan Jiayan was in so much pain that he spoke intermittently.

He paused for a moment before quietly saying, “Say… should I go to the hospital? But the quarantine rooms should be filled during these few days.”

He had previously gone to the hospital to pay He Yunsheng a visit. As he was worried that his heat would come during the holidays, he had specially gone to find a doctor to check if there were any omega quarantine rooms in the hospital. However, because it was the Lunar New Year, Hai City’s quarantine rooms were full of patients. If he wanted to use one, he could only make a booking for next month. 

Duan Jiayan seemed to be mumbling to himself, “Should I just take a nap? If I go to sleep… I wouldn’t be woken up from the pain right?”

The more he spoke the more uncomfortable he felt, he could not resist tightly gripping onto a corner of his blanket.

Lu Xingci could hear his voice getting fainter and interrupted him, “Stop talking, go and rest for a bit first.”

Duan Jiayan agreed. 

Lu Xingci seemed to still be talking but Duan Jiayan was distracted by the pain he was in and could not make out what the other was saying.

He seemed to be saying “Wait for me”?

But why would he be waiting for him? While in a daze, Duan Jiayan tried to recall their conversation from before but his brain was too hazy and his train of thought kept breaking.

He wanted to call for Fu Yuan but he did not have the strength to. 

He ended up passing out from the pain.

By the time Duan Jiayan came to, he could feel himself being carried by a pair of arms

He could tell that the person carrying him was tall and could encompass him completely within their embrace. The other person had a clear herbaceous scent, it was crisp like the first hint of snow.

It was not stained at all with ** scents and it had a warmth that he really liked, easing the pain he felt from his stress disorder. 

After recognising the familiar pheromones, Duan Jiayan opened his eyes in disbelief and saw Lu Xingci being inches away from him.

They were laying down on a bed. After the latter noticed that he had woken up, the frown between his eyes eased up.

Upon seeing Lu Xingci’s handsome and heroic face, his heart seemed to have been injected by something soft and it started to beat faster unconsciously.

“Why are you here?” Duan Jiayan looked around and realised he was lying on his own bed. He could not help poking Lu Xingci’s arm in suspicion, “Am I dreaming?” 

Lu Xingci did not answer his question. Instead, he reached out to adjust his messy hair and gazed down at him, “Does it still hurt?”

“It still hurts a little bit but it is much better than before,” Duan Jiayan said honestly. Lu Xingci touching his face told him that the person in front of him was not a hallucination. He honestly felt that it was quite unbelievable and could not resist asking again, “How did you get here? It’s so late.”

“My family sent me here.”

“Even if you were driven over, it couldn’t have been this fast right?” Duan Jiayan took a look at the sky outside his window and ascertained that it was dark. “It takes at least three to four hours to get here from Ning City.” 

Lu Xingci saw his eyes that were filled with curiosity. He straightened his lips and licked his lips with the tip of his tongue before finally confessing, “It was a private plane.”

Duan Jiayan froze slightly after hearing his reply.

He really did not expect Lu Xingci to use such a method to come over. However, considering his family background, it really isn’t all that surprising.

After a beat, he chuckled as he leaned into Lu Xingci, “Then when your family goes out, do they usually fly around as well?” 

Lu Xingci curled his fingers and intimately tapped him on his forehead, “What are you thinking about?”

“I’ve never met someone with a private plane before, so I got curious,” as he spoke, he suddenly recalled something serious.

Duan Jiayan kept his smile away and looked at the other seriously, “Coming over in the dead of night, does auntie know about this?”

Before Lu Xingci could answer, he also suddenly thought of Fu Yuan, “Does my mom know? Did she let you in? It’s already so late, I feel like she wouldn’t allow us to squeeze onto a bed together right?” 

He asked his string of questions in one go without pausing in the middle.

Duan Jiayan was actually not that curious about all this but after suddenly seeing Lu Xingci, who he had assumed will be someone that he wouldn’t be able to see by his side… he really just wanted to talk to him.

As he asked his questions, he unconsciously inched closer into Lu Xingci’s embrace.

He really liked the other’s scent, it smelled like the ocean and forest. It had the power to set someone’s heart at ease. 

Lu Xingci let him rub against him just like that. The hand that was originally on Duan Jiayan’s back slowly slid down.

Lu Xingci’s brows smoothened as he witnessed Duan Jiayan’s reliance on him, “You can’t remember? By the time I got here you were already in the hospital.”

Duan Jiayan froze.

He had no impression at all about what Lu Xingci had said. It spoke to how deeply he had passed out, “Then you…?” 

“I went to the hospital to explain everything to your mom and showed the doctor our compatibility report from Nan Shan hospital. It was only then that they allowed me to bring you home,” Lu Xingci patiently explained. “My mom knows that I’m coming to Hai City and your mom knows that we are lying together in bed.”

He smiled meaningfully as he continued, “Me lying here right now, it can be considered to be with the blessings of both our parents right? You don’t have to worry.”

Duan Jiayan gave an ‘oh’ after hearing his explanation.

He could not understand how Lu Xingci could, in such a short time, properly settle something that had been troubling him. 

Lu Xingci heard his ambiguous ‘oh’ and narrowed his eyes.

Duan Jiayan seemed a little lost as his amber-coloured eyes unconsciously revealed traces of sentimentality.

Such a natural and straightforward show of reliance really satisfied his possessiveness.

However, the time did not permit him to spend too long talking about nothing with Duan Jiayan. Lu Xingci hugged him tighter and said, “It’s almost 3 am. Go sleep first and I’ll answer any other questions you have in the morning.” 

After hearing what time it was, Duan Jiayan nodded and buried his head into the crook of Lu Xingci’s neck. After adjusting his position, he suddenly thought of something.

He stayed where he was and asked, “Then if I fall asleep now, will you be gone by the time I wake up tomorrow?”

Lu Xingci rubbed the back of his head soothingly after hearing his question.

“I have to leave tomorrow, my mom is rather worried.” 

Duan Jiayan unconsciously stiffened after hearing his reply.

He never thought Lu Xingci would be leaving just like that but he couldn’t possibly trouble someone during Lunar New Year.

Perhaps he could get up tomorrow and look for Lu Xingci to give him a temporary mark?

Just as he was lost in his thoughts, the boy that was hugging him said, “But I’m worried about you, so I can only bring you back with me.” 

Duan Jiayan whipped his head up upon hearing that and stared at him.

However, Duan Jiayan still seemed unsure of what he said and clarified, “What did you say?”

“Come home with me,” Lu Xingci’s heart softened as he stared at the wary look on the other’s face. “My mom wants to see you too.”

He knew Duan Jiayan was not having a lot of fun spending his Lunar New Year here. Now he had a good reason to bring him back thanks to his stress disorder. 

Duan Jiayan really did want to follow him but after thinking of Lu Xingci’s family background, a rare trace of nervousness arose amidst his anticipation.

Duan Jiayan said half-jokingly yet also half-seriously, “Then can this count as me meeting your parents? Even though I’m this handsome, I can’t guarantee that every parent will like me.”

“Don’t worry,” Lu Xingci chuckled. “It’s not as if you’ve never met my mom.”

Duan Jiayan was not sure if the other could tell how nervous he was but after seeing how unfazed the other looked, Duan Jiayan started feeling that this matter was actually not a big deal after all. 

After he had accepted their plan for the next day, he suddenly thought of something else, “Then what about my mom? I’ve not told her about my stress disorder yet. My fainting must have frightened her to death.”

“She was indeed almost frightened to death from this. I roughly explained to auntie what was going on and she said she’ll want your opinion first. If you agree, then you’ll be coming home with me to Ning City tomorrow,” Lu Xingci spoke as he gently grazed the side of Duan Jiayan’s face. He softly chided him, “How can you keep something so important from your mom?”

“Back then I was thinking that I could just find you for help.” Embarrassed, Duan Jiayan let him rub his face as he spoke, “Plus she’s usually busy with work with a lot to worry about. I think if I had told her, she would have dragged me to your family’s door to thank you.”

“That’s pretty much what happened,” Lu Xingci recalled Fu Yuan’s reaction from before. “Auntie kept thanking me.” 

A few twinges of guilt arose in Duan Jiayan’s heart after hearing that.

Knowing what he was thinking, Lu Xingci reassured him, “She was just given a scare by you. Go to sleep first and we’ll explain things better to her tomorrow.”

“Alright.”

After settling down, Duan Jiayan subtly moved closer to Lu Xingci. 

He had talked so much with Lu Xingci but somehow managed to forget to say the most important thing.

“I’ve not thanked you yet.”

Lu Xingci raised his eyes, looking a little surprised that Duan Jiayan had thought about that.

A pair of fair white arms slowly looped around his shoulder. 

He carried with him the hazy scent of an omega in heat. As if he knew what the other liked, Duan Jiayan licked his lips before leaning in, his eyes curved into a smile, “Thank you gege.”

The author has something to say: No problem, we’re a family after all.

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