CH 31

After three rounds of drinking.

Three drunk Omegas stumbled around, while two the Alphas stared at them puzzled.

No one expected Gu Nuan’s alcohol tolerance to be so poor—

Sitting arrogantly on the sofa, Gu Nuan held Lin Yuxing in one hand and pointed at Gu Zhongyi with the other, challenging his authority. “Son, come here!”

Gu Zhongyi’s mouth twitched, thinking he misheard. “What did you call me?”

Yang Qing burst into uncontrollable laughter, covering his mouth.

Gu Nuan hiccuped loudly and planted a kiss on Gu Zhongyi’s forehead. He then affectionately kissed Lin Yuxing’s cheek and yelled at Gu Zhongyi with a fierce expression, “Don’t you respect your father? Come here quickly and wash your father’s feet!”

He kept referring to himself as “father” while Gu Zhongyi’s temples throbbed with anger.

Su Li shivered in a corner, sober-minded but unable to stand up due to weak legs.

Meanwhile, Lin Yuxing leaned against Gu Nuan’s chest, breathing calmly and sleeping soundly. Occasionally, his hand would naturally wrap around Gu Nuan’s waist, snuggling close.

The two of them were inseparable.

Gu Nuan lowered his head and planted another kiss on Lin Yuxing’s rosy cheek, filled with tender affection.

Gu Zhongyi crushed an empty can in his hand seeing the scene in front of him.

Su Li’s inner thoughts: Save me, someone save me… who will save me…this is so awkward.

Since the Omegas’ alcohol tolerance was too low, the birthday celebration they planned to continue throughout the night was forced to end prematurely.

It was still early, and considering that the whole room was filled with drunk Omegas, Yang Qing, who was not drunk, was heartlessly asked to leave the house by Gu Zhongyi. Su Li and Gu Nuan were coldly thrown into the bedroom.

The clean bedroom had been thoroughly cleaned by a housekeeper and sprayed with a pheromone inhibitor hence Su Li and Gu Nuan felt comfortable and experienced no discomfort upon entering the room.

Gu Nuan started throwing a tantrum as soon as he touched the bed. “You ungrateful child! How dare you leave your old man behind!”

Gu Zhongyi ignored Gu Nuan’s headache-inducing behavior and said to Su Li, “There’s an en-suite bathroom with toiletries inside. Until tomorrow morning, don’t come out unless necessary.”

Su Li nodded vigorously.

Gu Nuan thrashed around, still grumbling. “Ungrateful child! Have you forgotten how your father raised you, changing your diapers and cleaning up your mess—Mmm!”

Su Li immediately covered Gu Nuan’s mouth, terrified, and promised, “I will not let Gu Nuan walk out of this room, you don’t have to worry senior!”

Gu Zhongyi closed the door satisfactorily.

Gu Nuan continued to make muffled noises with Su Li’s palm on his mouth.

Poor Su Li felt so embarrassed. He never expected that as soon as Gu Nuan got drunk, he would start calling everyone his son. He raised three fingers, silently vowing to never drink with Gu Nuan again, not in this lifetime or the next!

Lin Yuxing, who was placed on the sofa, woke up for a moment and fell back asleep. He curled up, sniffing the bitter orange scent on the blanket and comfortably rubbing against the soft pillow.

“Huh…” He let out a slight snore.

Gu Zhongyi approached and pulled the blanket up a bit, then adjusted the temperature of the living room heater.

Afterward, he quietly cleaned up the aftermath of the birthday party by himself and went to the adjacent spare restroom to freshen up.

Gu Zhongyi changed into his pajamas, quietly walked to the side of the sofa, and sat down on the floor.

Lin Yuxing turned over, and his half-asleep face was facing him.

The time was approaching midnight.

Gu Zhongyi didn’t mind the smell of alcohol on Lin Yuxing at all. He leaned over and kissed Lin Yuxing’s forehead, whispering softly, “Goodnight.”

Under the warm, soft light, an incredibly cozy moment seemed to be cursed as it could never last. Lin Yuxing, after being kissed, abruptly sat up and opened his eyes. “Bathroom, I need to go to the bathroom…”

Gu Zhongyi was startled and rendered speechless.

Lin Yuxing pushed aside the dazed Gu Zhongyi and hiccupped, stumbling around like a headless fly. Gu Zhongyi hurriedly approached and held him, leading him to the  restroom.

Lin Yuxing was heavily intoxicated and swayed at the entrance for quite some time, muttering incoherently, “Your… your bathroom is so fancy, even more beautiful than the room I sleep in at home!”

“…This is the bathroom.”

Lin Yuxing didn’t pay attention and, in a dazed state, leaned against the wall and walked inside. “It would be great if this were my room… I could sleep here every day!”

Gu Zhongyi gave up reasoning with the drunken man.

Out of politeness, he took a few steps back and waited and waited, but Lin Yuxing didn’t come out of the restroom.

He stepped forward and knocked on the door, “Yuxing?”

No one responded.

Gu Zhongyi called out again, but still no response.

Gu Zhongyi felt something was wrong and disregarded everything, opening the door directly. He saw Lin Yuxing sitting alone in a corner, curled up and trembling with a pitiful expression in his eyes.

Gu Zhongyi let out a sigh of relief and squatted down, comforting him like comforting and soothing him.

“What’s wrong?”

“My legs are weak, I can’t stand up.” Lin Yuxing’s speech became clearer, and he sniffled, seeking help. “Can you help me? I haven’t washed my hands yet.”

Gu Zhongyi’s heart was softened by Lin Yuxing’s appearance, and he carefully helped him up. “Stand steady.”

Gu Zhongyi guided Lin Yuxing slowly to the sink while he himself became a support, standing behind Lin Yuxing, letting him lean on him. His hands held Lin Yuxing’s shoulders from both sides, stabilizing him.

In the mirror, Lin Yuxing’s cheeks were flushed, and his slightly long hair had become messy. He felt that his turtleneck sweater was hot, so he struggled a bit before finally reaching out to touch the mirror.

As he touched it, he was shocked. “Su Li, the faucet is broken, I can’t turn it on.”

Gu Zhongyi paused his attempt to help. “Who am I?”

“Su Li.” Lin Yuxing complained in frustration, “How did the faucet break? How much does it cost to fix it…?”

He continued to touch the mirror, earnestly trying to figure out what was happening.

After a long time of looking, he couldn’t make out anything and became irritated. Lin Yuxing blurted out in his local dialect, “This is so annoying!”

“…”

He tried to pull away.

Gu Zhongyi pulled him back. “Who am I?”

“Su Li!”

“Wrong, look again.”

Lin Yuxing stared at him and suddenly his eyes widened in surprise. “Senior?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Yes, you’re Yang Qing, Senior.”

“…”

Gu Zhongyi could easily dismiss Gu Nuan’s drunkenness, but when it came to his own little Yuxing, he was utterly helpless. He could only go along with Lin Yuxing’s drunken antics.

Fortunately, compared to Gu Nuan, Lin Yuxing’s drunkenness was limited to not recognizing people and didn’t suddenly start forcing others to call him “father.”

Lin Yuxing, after stabilizing himself a bit, pulled back and said, “Senior Yang, can you move aside a bit… I,… I have someone in my heart now.”

Helplessly, Gu Zhongyi hugged him from behind, helping him stand steadily.

Lin Yuxing weakly patted his hand, reluctant to be held by “Yang Qing,” and awkwardly struggled as if he wanted to flee from that strong embrace.

Gu Zhongyi had to emphasize repeatedly, “Lin Yuxing, I am Gu Zhongyi.”

Finally, Lin Yuxing listened. He gasped for breath, exhausted, and relied on Gu Zhongyi’s embrace. “Why didn’t you say so earlier?”

“…”

Gu Zhongyi successfully turned on the faucet, adjusted the water temperature, and reached over with both hands holding Lin Yuxing’s hands. Lin Yuxing was dumbfounded as the faucet miraculously started working again. He leaned against Gu Zhongyi like a wooden figure, allowing Gu Zhongyi to dispense hand soap and wash his hands clean and fragrant.

“It’s done.”

Gu Zhongyi handed him tissue paper to dry his hands.

Looking up, Lin Yuxing bumped into Gu Zhongyi’s chin. He blinked, feeling strange. Leaning against Gu Zhongyi’s embrace, he heard Gu Zhongyi’s steady heartbeat and felt his own heartbeat synchronize with it.

“Thump-thump-thump-“

He couldn’t stand it; why did he feel like this again?

Didn’t he make a wish?

Didn’t they say that any non-exaggerated birthday wish could come true?

“Cheater,” he angrily cursed.

Gu Zhongyi looked back at him confused, not knowing what he meant.

But Lin Yuxing knew clearly that he was falling in love.

He was conflicted and asked bitterly, “Is this a dream?”

Knowing that reasoning with a drunk person was useless, Gu Zhongyi simply said, “Hmm.”

It was precisely that casual response from Gu Zhongyi that made Lin Yuxing’s tightly held heart completely fall into the tumult of love.

Because in dreams, he didn’t need to be condemned by morals, he didn’t need to abide by the rules of reality, and he didn’t need to care about his own shortcomings.

In dreams, Lin Yuxing could do as he pleased.

Lin Yuxing didn’t want to leave Gu Zhongyi’s embrace. He smelled Gu Zhongyi’s pheromones up close—neither sweet nor bitter, just normal, which annoyed him.

So he turned around and, with a particular reluctance, hugged Gu Zhongyi tightly, burying himself in his arms.

Gu Zhongyi was startled by Lin Yuxing’s action and didn’t dare to move, raising his hands.

“Senior,” Lin Yuxing called softly.

“Which senior?” Gu Zhongyi was actually a petty person.

Lin Yuxing nuzzled against his chest, his voice softening. “You’re Senior Gu Zhongyi.”

Gu Zhongyi was satisfied and slowly hugged him back, patting his back lightly. “That’s right.”

Suddenly, Lin Yuxing inexplicably burst into tears.

This left Gu Zhongyi at a loss for how to respond. Just as he was about to console Lin Yuxing, Lin Yuxing sobbed and revealed his innermost thoughts. “What should I do? Even the pheromone inhibitor doesn’t work…”

“What?”

“It’s just… every time I see you…” Lin Yuxing’s eyes, filled with hot tears, pouted as he sobbed. “My heart pounds, like it’s fitted with a motor…”

Gu Zhongyi became so nervous that his heartbeat skipped a beat. He wasn’t sure if what Lin Yuxing said was true or just drunken nonsense. He didn’t dare to breathe loudly, afraid of interrupting Lin Yuxing’s train of thought.

Lin Yuxing stubbornly believed that the Gu Zhongyi in his dream wouldn’t dislike him, let alone end their contract and drive him away. Here, all his fears, anxieties, insecurities, and incompetence could be understood by Gu Zhongyi.

Little did he know, his tears and words touched Gu Zhongyi’s fondness for him, stirring his heart.

Lin Yuxing sobbed and repeatedly touched his chest, feeling uncomfortable. “Why is my heart so disobedient? I should just take it out…” He wiped his tears onto Gu Zhongyi’s clothes, holding onto him tightly. “Tell me, am I going crazy? I don’t understand. I’ve taken the pheromone inhibitor… Why am I still like this? I didn’t do it on purpose, I swear I didn’t..”

He repeated himself over and over again, his crying voice getting softer and softer.

Gu Zhongyi understood what he meant by “liking someone,” but he didn’t know that this liking was causing Lin Yuxing so much pain.

He wanted to comfort him with a few words, guide him properly, but he was interrupted by a kiss from Lin Yuxing.

Lin Yuxing tiptoed and unreasonably kissed his cheek.

Crying and kissing, because this was all in his dream.

It was also at that moment that Lin Yuxing’s subconsciousness took the initiative to confess his feelings. He honestly confesed that none of this had anything to do with pheromones; he shamelessly fell in love with Gu Zhongyi.

But who wouldn’t like such a wonderful person like Gu Zhongyi?

Lin Yuxing cried until he hiccuped, choking as he told Gu Zhongyi repeatedly, “I’ve fallen for you, I’m done, I’ve fallen for you.” He said softly, pursing his lips as if asking for candy. “And you?”

His confession was like a damp rain, wrapping tightly around Gu Zhongyi’s heart with sweetness.

Gu Zhongyi had never imagined that this day would come, leaving him speechless.

Lin Yuxing couldn’t wait for an answer and grew anxious. “Say something”

Gu Zhongyi: “…….”

Lin Yuxing waited a bit longer and then threatened him. “Since  this is my dream. I want, I want you to do something! Right now, immediately… you must say you like me!”

He had to have his way in a dream, for things he couldn’t obtain in reality?

Gu Zhongyi was moved by the warmth in his chest, overwhelmed with countless emotions.

He couldn’t help but wipe away Lin Yuxing’s tears and sincerely held him tight.

However, he still didn’t answer. In that situation, no matter what he said, Lin Yuxing would probably forget it by the next morning or treat it as merely a dream.

Gu Zhongyi was quite selfish. He didn’t want that.

Gu Zhongyi’s voice was magnetic, incredibly gentle, like the countless gravities in this world tipping over.

“Yuxing, it’s late. You should sleep.”

“Tell me…”

“Tomorrow, when you wake up, I’ll tell you.”

“I can’t wait until tomorrow…”

“Why?”

“Because,” Lin Yuxing said with utmost seriousness, his voice tinged with grievance, “I’ll be sad to death by then.”

The beautiful eyes of Lin Yuxing were like lonely stars in the night, shedding a few bean-sized teardrops. He stood on his tiptoes and, disobediently, pecked Gu Zhongyi’s face once again.

The tender moment lasted less than three seconds. Lin Yuxing’s legs gave way, and he knelt directly in front of Gu Zhongyi, kowtowing in advance to wish him a happy new year.