CH 38

It was the longest and shortest week Qi Han had ever spent.

He broke every day apart into seconds, as if he was a terminally ill patient who was fighting for his time with death, and in fact it was no different, because what was waiting for him seven days later was the beginning of the eternal catastrophe.

On Monday, he made a new appointment with the photographer to come and take pictures.

Fortunately, the little boy was also brought back by his parents, and at Fu Ge’s invitation, he made a cameo appearance as the son of the two men.

In the photo, Qi Han put him on his shoulders and held his two little fat hands. The two of them were smeared in colourful snack crumbs, and Fu Ge smiled and took out a handkerchief to wipe them. The child lunged forward, just in time to be caught by Qi Han. 

The scene was frozen at this moment.

The flower bed, the grass, the easel with the bear, the colourful paint cans scattered on the ground, the tall, handsome Alpha, the gentle Beta with long hair and the child wearing a little melon cap on the Alpha’s shoulders.

It was like a real family of three, a long-cherished dream of many years that had just come to life.

Qi Han had printed many copies of that picture. The largest of them hung above the bed in his hospital room, visible immediately when someone opened the door. But every time Fu Ge came in, he would quickly look away, not even giving it a glance. 

He didn’t want to look at it, because he knew the two of them didn’t deserve such a bright future.

On Tuesday, Qi Ji’s Foundation came from behind the scenes to the front of the stage.

Hundreds of recipients spoke out at the same time, and a memorial event with the theme of gland protection was launched online. The scientist who had passed away nine years ago reappeared in the public eye. Only now did people know what contribution this unknown pioneer made to the gland protection of Omegas.

“Brother Han, come here.” Chen Xing pulled Qi Han into the room, saying mysteriously: “We got a total of thirty media outlets to publish Uncle Qi’s press release and the thank-you letters from the recipients, but I found that a few minutes before we released them, fifteen other media outlets published a press release. The content was similar but different, and they immediately removed it after we posted it.”

Qi Han raised his eyebrows: “Is there a list?”

“Yes.” Chen Xing took out his mobile phone to show him and said, “I checked it. They are all the media that have emerged in recent years, and their background is quite clean.”

He touched his nose and clicked his tongue, “It’s really weird, why would anyone do the same thing as us? If it weren’t just a few minutes earlier than us, I wouldn’t have found out. What was their purpose? Promote positive energy? No, it was obviously organised. Why don’t I check it out again?”

“No need.” Qi Han stared at a media called “Snow Firefly and Cicada” on the list. These four words were the name Fu Ge gave to his painting in his third year of high school.

“I know who it is.”

“Huh? Do you know? Who is it then?”

Qi Han moved his lips with difficulty, “An… old friend.”

Obviously, Fu Ge also knew that once the gland trade was exposed, not only Qi Han would be destroyed, but his deceased father would also be affected, so the young Beta prepared such a move, ready to disentangle Qi Ji first.

He was still the same as before, a man with a clear distinction between love and hate without being frenzied. He would not hurt others because of his own grievances. While he was thinking about destroying Qi Han, he would be careful to protect his father’s reputation.

Once the plan that he had been preparing for three years was launched, Qi Han was the only target he wanted to kill.

On Wednesday, the Qi family tragedy was unearthed and exploded in the business world.

The child who had survived nine years ago was now the president of the Chamber of Commerce, and countless media reported it as blockbuster news.

In less than a day, all the men, women and children in the capital knew about Qi Han’s tragic life, and even the young nurse in the hospital who hated him the most couldn’t help but sympathise with him.

No matter where Qi Han went, people looked at him with inquiring eyes, whispering about the details of his past in curiosity or with a sigh. These sounds were like poisonous insects burrowing into Qi Han’s ear canals, getting into his brain and dragging out the nightmares of the past, playing them in a loop.

After a nap of less than half an hour, Qi Han’s shirt was soaked in cold sweat.

When he woke up suddenly, he was silent, and his bloodshot eyes first showed some confusion, then disorientation, and finally fear and helplessness.

He closed his eyes to regulate his breathing, to slow down the rise and fall of his chest, then changed into clean pyjamas to fall back to sleep. He raised his right hand to cover his eyes, pretending that neither the nightmares nor the events in them had ever happened in his life; pretending that someone was there to cover his eyes when he woke up.

This was a method of self-help that Qi Han had learned at the age of fourteen, and he had used it until he was twenty-three.

Perhaps his imagination was too strong this time. As soon as his eyes were closed, he felt a palm touch his face, a soft palm smelling of paint.

Qi Han opened his eyes in disbelief, and sure enough, he saw Fu Ge sitting by the hospital bed with a calm expression on his face.

He put one hand on Qi Han’s forehead, and the other hand was struggling to unbutton his own shirt. After noticing the Alpha’s gaze, he raised his eyes and asked, “Do you want to sleep for a while? I will accompany you.”

Qi Han’s eyes filled with watery mist in an instant, and his lips trembled in embarrassment: “Gege will accompany me?”

Fu Ge was a little shy and stopped unbuttoning his shirt, “Don’t you want me to?”

“I do, I do.” Qi Han stretched out his hand to help him unbutton the last button. Fu Ge lay down under the quilt with his shirt unbuttoned, opened his arms and embraced Qi Han so that his cheek was pressed against his heart.

“Ah Han.”

“Hmm?”

“Don’t look, don’t think. I will stay with you, and Mr. Bear Cub will have a good night’s sleep today.”

The name he hadn’t heard for so long struck the weakest chord in his heart. Qi Han almost couldn’t act anymore, his voice choked and hoarse: “Are you real?”

“What?”

“Is gege really with me?”

“Of course.”

“Will you stay with me even when I wake up?”

“Of course.”

“Will you stay with me forever?”

“…go to sleep, good night.”

As expected, he couldn’t hear the affirmative answer. Qi Han’s wet flushed eyes blinked, and he knew that they would never again have forever.

On Thursday, Fu Ge painted his head-and-shoulders portrait.

The sketch was in black and white with dark shadows drawn in thick lines.

Qi Han was ecstatic when he got it, hugging Fu Ge and spinning him for several circles, not noticing anything wrong.

It wasn’t until that night that he hung the portrait next to the photo of the family of three and stared at it for a long time that he discovered the abnormality.

It was not a portrait but rather like a posthumous picture of the deceased.

The corners of his upturned mouth sank a little bit, and the joy on his face suddenly became bitterness. Then after being stunned for half a minute he smiled.

“Okay, so when I die, it can hang directly in the funeral hall, no need to worry about not having someone to prepare the photo of the deceased for me.”

Soon it was Sunday.

Qi Han took a pen and checked the last line on the post-it note. The wish to be fulfilled today was “to make a birthday cake with Xiao Ge”.

There were a total of seven wishes on this piece of paper, from top to bottom: a temporary mark, a group photo, planting flowers, a long hug, coaxing to sleep and having dinner together. It was like a simple and easily fulfilled bucket list.

As if there was a connection between their hearts, Fu Ge had already helped him complete the first six wishes, although there were some deviations in the process and results.

Today was the seventh and last one.

Because at eight o’clock in the evening, he was about to go to the black market to buy the glands. The seven-day dream would shatter, and his clean reputation and tattered life would come to an end.

The cake selected was mango flavour, which was the same flavour as the birthday cake that Fu Ge made for him when he was eighteen years old.

From where it started to where it ended; Qi Han comforted himself that this could also be considered complete.

“Gege, how did this flower come out?” He was tinkering with the cream piping bag, getting cream all over his fingers but not squeezing out a decent flower.

Fu Ge was amused at his clumsy appearance and laughed, “Okay, let me do it.”

Taking the piping bag, he naturally held Qi Han’s fingers and licked the cream from them, “It tastes okay, not too sweet.”

Qi Han’s fingers seemed to be gently pricked by a needle, and the numb itchy feeling spread from the tips of his fingers to his heart in an instant. He held his breath, swallowing, “Gege?”

“Hmm?” Fu Ge bent over to concentrate on decorating the cake with the cream flowers and teased Qi Han without turning his head: “How many times a day do you have to call for ‘gege’? Is President Qi a bro-con?”

Qi Han didn’t care about that, his eyes flushed and bewitched when he looked at Fu Ge: “As long as gege agrees, I don’t mind.”

He slowly approached from the side and then unreasonably took Fu Ge into his arms. The young Beta was still able to concentrate on decorating at first but as the chaotic hands on his body became more and more excessive, his cheeks turned the same colour as the cherry pink cream.

The piping bag was completely out of control and fell down with a plop. Qi Han immediately raised his hand to catch it, but instead of catching it took the opportunity to hold Fu Ge’s wrist.

“No more strength left?”

The young Beta propped himself on the table with one hand, and his other hand was grasped by the Alpha behind him. His voice begging for mercy was hoarse and burning, but the volume was pathetically low.

“Ah Han, you— hey, where are you touching…”

“Can’t you feel it? Do you want me to touch a little stronger?”

“No! Don’t…” Fu Ge bit his lips; there was a little wetness in the corner of his mouth. His brows wrinkled in impatience and his eyes turned hazy.

Like a blossoming branch that has fallen into the snow; covered by a hot palm, inch by inch, it melts away.

“Don’t, don’t…” Fu Ge pursed his mouth and suppressed the trembling in his voice. “Do you want to do it? But the doctor said it’s not good yet…”

Qi Han smiled softly and kissed his neck, “I won’t do it, just hold it for a while, is five minutes okay?”

Fu Ge flattened his lips, a little aggrieved: “It’s been a long time… I can’t hold on…”

As soon as the words were said, Qi Han squeezed him, “Then gege can beg me, call me something nice, and I will shorten the time.”

Fu Ge’s white teeth bit his lower lip hard. With tears in his eyes, he looked even more aggrieved: “Don’t bully people… How do you want me to beg you, do I have to call you ‘gege’…”

He was so aggrieved, like a cheesecake that was about to melt, but he didn’t try to escape. Who could hold back from bullying him?

“Can’t you? I’m bigger than gege.”

Fu Ge felt that he was a rascal and couldn’t help it, “Where are you bigger than me, you are obviously two months younger than me.”

Qi Han pinched the tip of his ear: “I don’t mean age.”

The blush instantly tinged his whole body. Fu Ge was ashamed and angry: “You! Don’t…”

“Call me.”

“Call you, call you what, ah…”

“Baby, you know.”

“I don’t know, um—” Soft hand grabbed his arm desperately, and Fu Ge finally admitted defeat: “Gege…”

Qi Han picked him up with satisfaction, “So good.”

He put some cream on the tip of his own nose, cupped Fu Ge’s face and turned it around, leaned over and ordered: “Lick it for me like you did just now.”

Fu Ge pursed his lips reluctantly, licked the cream obediently and finally blinked his misty eyes and stared at him, “You’re shameless…”

Everything inside Qi Han was trembling.

They dawdled all afternoon to make a very small mango cake.

The two sat at the table and ate in small bites. Fu Ge asked casually, “Is there any work at night? You’re still wearing a windbreaker.”

Pausing with the spoon in his hand for a while, Qi Han didn’t look up and said calmly: “Well, there is a very important meeting, at eight o’clock tonight.”

The meeting gege set for me.

Fu Ge naturally knew the time of the black market auction, so he casually said “oh” and rubbed his forehead against Qi Han’s shoulder, “I wish Ah Han’s work go smoothly.”

Qi Han smiled and patted him, “Good.”

Fu Ge added: “Be safe too.”

Qi Han’s heart shook; his lips stiffened and he couldn’t speak. He wanted to ask Fu Ge: do you really want me to be safe?

There was a sudden knock at the door, and Chen Xing stood outside, looking uncertain, “Brother Han, the meeting has been moved up by half an hour, we have to go now.”

Qi Han was taken aback when he heard the words. He glanced at the half piece of the cake on his plate, and then turned to look at Fu Ge. The young Beta didn’t look up, concentrating on digging out mango pieces to eat.

“Just… wait a minute.” Qi Han said. “I want to finish the cake…”

Fu Ge paused, stopped for a few seconds, then scooped a spoonful and fed it to him, “You have to hurry up, don’t be late.”

Qi Han smiled bitterly and put down the spoon, thinking: is gege so impatient to send me to my death? He can’t even wait to let me finish this piece of cake.

But in the end he didn’t say anything; he just got up, took a blanket and put it on Fu Ge, kissing the top of his head: “Good night, baby, go to bed early, save the cake for when I come back tomorrow.”

Fu Ge responded with an “okay” and watched him and Chen Xing walk out of the room.

When they reached the small corner room on the second floor, Qi Han suddenly said that he hadn’t taken his watch, so he asked Chen Xing to go back and get it for him.

Chen Xing rolled his eyes: “What’s with all the fuss, Young Master? Wait, I’ll be right back.”

As soon as he turned away, Qi Han raised his hand and stuck a syringe into the back of his neck. The anaesthetic was quickly pushed into his blood; Chen Xing only had time to grab Qi Han’s hand: “Brother Han… you can’t… go by yourself…”

Qi Han covered his eyes and for the first time smiled so gently at this silly boy: “I left something for you at 303, you should like it. You have stayed with me till here… the rest of the way, I’ll have to walk by myself.”

He passed Chen Xing to the bodyguard behind him and asked, “Is the helicopter ready?”

“Ready, President.”

“Well, take him away, keep an eye on him and don’t allow him to return to the country for four months.”

From the two men who went out only one got downstairs.

The street light stretched Qi Han’s silhouette very long, and the night wind raised the hem of his windbreaker. The Alpha turned his head and looked at the window on the third floor. Sure enough, he saw Fu Ge standing there looking at him.

He suddenly wanted to know what kind of mood Fu Ge was in when he watched him go to die alone.

Was it the joy of revenge, or the pain of remembering the past, or the relief of letting go of hatred?

He couldn’t imagine, nor could he guess. In the end, he only waved his hand, turned around and walked into the night alone.

He thought that after tonight, gege would have everything he wanted.

At the same time, on the balcony on the third floor, Fu Ge crumpled the post-it note with seven wishes into a ball and threw it into the trash can where Qi Han’s unfinished mango cake already was.

“Your bucket list has been completed.” He looked at Qi Han’s back and whispered softly: “Ah Han, it’s been five years. It’s time for you to pay back what you owe me.”