In the afternoon, the sun shifted westward.

The glass curtain wall of a large office building reflected the sky, refracting dazzling rays of light. Occasionally, a bird would sweep past, like a falling white shooting star in the daytime.

The Yan Corporation Building, inside the President’s office.

Yan Ruoyun picked up his coffee and took a sip. The bitter taste burst open in his mouth, stimulating his fatigued and drowsy nerves.

He nudged his mouse.

Just then, someone pushed open the office door, and a familiar voice drifted in languidly: “Have you seen what they’re saying on the internet?”

“Not just online—when I was walking by just now, the expressions on your subordinates’ faces as they sneaked glances at me were absolutely something…”

Yan Ruoyun set down his coffee cup and glanced at the man who had planted himself on the sofa. “Why are you coming over at a time like this? I’m almost off work.”

The words had barely fallen.

Lin Xiujie raised his head and looked at the floor-to-ceiling window behind him, then lowered his head and glanced at his wristwatch, confirming it was only a little past four. Puzzled, he said:

“It’s what, how are you getting off work??”

Yan Ruoyun said lightly: “You have the free time to run over here to my place, why can’t I get off work?”

That said, neither of them were the type to come in late or leave early. These days especially, they’d been working overtime like they were possessed by model workers, all to achieve what was written in that announcement—

An amicable separation, free to marry as one wishes.

In reality, the two of them had never been together.

Actually, according to Yan Ruoyun’s original plans, his and Lin Xiujie’s engagement wouldn’t have been dissolved this quickly.

But he never could have anticipated that his feelings for Lin Zhu would develop so fast, and with such intensity—like a massive, sweeping mountain fire, refusing to stop until everything was burnt to ashes…

The office fell quiet for a moment.

Lin Xiujie helped himself to a glass of water and suddenly asked: “Ruoyun, a few days ago when I was having dinner with my mom, I told her about us dissolving the engagement…”

Yan Ruoyun raised his eyes. “What did Auntie say?”

“What could she say—her reaction was fairly calm. After all, it’s not like she didn’t know about the pheromone issue between us. Dissolving the engagement was only a matter of time… whether you brought it up first or I did.”

Following that, Lin Xiujie let out a bitter laugh and continued: “It’s just… I can’t imagine what her reaction would be when she finds out your Alpha is Lin Zhu.”

Lin Zhu’s mother’s existence was a thorn in his mother Gu Yan’s heart.

Actually, Lin Xiujie didn’t resent this half-brother of his.

When Lin Zhu was born, he was already grown. Even though he had misplaced his anger on those two, resented their arrival for turning a once-harmonious family into ruins… as he grew older, he also discovered that the root of the problem wasn’t there.

He further realized—a person couldn’t choose their own origin. Regardless of what entanglements existed among the older generation, Lin Zhu…

At least Lin Zhu, he hadn’t done anything wrong.

This thought reached its peak after he learned about how Lin Zhu’s mother had treated him.

However, his own mother had developed depression from his father’s betrayal and showed no signs of recovery after all these years… So Lin Xiujie chose to never mention this brother to her, treating it as if the person didn’t exist.

He could not display even a single trace of positive emotion toward Lin Zhu; otherwise, it would be like plunging a knife into his own mother’s heart.

In private, he had only spoken a few candid words to his closest friends. Like how his deadbeat father bred but never raised his children, or about whatever major news Lin Zhu had stirred up recently.

The incident where Lin Zhu made the hot search for rewarding a streaming influencer with a massive sum was something Lin Xiujie had told Yan Ruoyun while cursing and grumbling.

There was even one time Lin Zhu was ostracized and mocked by a group of wealthy second-generation kids at school. It was Lin Xiujie who secretly had someone take care of it.

Who would have thought that little rascal stopped making trouble after that.

Until he and Yan Ruoyun started dating—

The thought flashed through his mind. Lin Xiujie couldn’t help but clutch his own stomach, his expression complex: “Honestly, I still have a bit of a physiological reaction to it…”

“How did you end up falling for Lin Zhu??”

Lin Xiujie wasn’t intentionally putting down his half-brother. It was because he knew Yan Ruoyun—knew the other man was something of a perfectionist, had very high expectations for a partner, and particularly looked down on wild, flirtatious young Alphas like that…

Lin Zhu’s long string of ‘glorious achievements’ was essentially stomping all over Yan Ruoyun’s landmines.

Hearing this, Yan Ruoyun estimated the time was about right. He opened WeChat to send his little boyfriend a message with one hand, and asked in a strange tone:

“Why can’t I fall for him?”

Lin Zhu is so wonderful. He thought.

From a distance, Lin Xiujie watched the faint smile that hung at the corner of the man’s lips as he lowered his eyes to type. He suddenly asked:

“Is it because of the 100% pheromone compatibility?”

Yan Ruoyun raised his head, holding his gaze for a few seconds, before replying: “That’s probably… only the catalyst for how we met.”

Lin Xiujie nodded.

He drank and poured himself another cup, then carrying his water cup, strolled to the floor-to-ceiling window.

The sky was an expanse of pure blue. A flock of birds flew past in groups of three and five.

The sun was about to set.

The fireball was on the verge of sliding down from the edge of the horizon. When it did, the white clouds scattered across the sky would be set ablaze until the entire backdrop was set alight.

Lin Xiujie gazed at the scenery outside the window, filled with a thousand emotions.

He drank his cup of water sip by sip, then turned around intending to exchange a few more words with Yan Ruoyun. But his eyes caught something beneath the glass surface of the other man’s desk…

A printed piece of paper was pressed under there.

Lin Xiujie looked closely.

—It was actually a high school weekly class schedule.

The corner of his mouth twitched.

After a long silence, he let out another melancholy sigh.

“…”

Occasionally.

Occasionally, he would think—if there had been no pheromone barrier, would he and Yan Ruoyun have already successfully gotten together?

They were well-matched in social standing, shared common interests, and had the same expectations and high standards for a partner… Without the pheromone barrier, perhaps they would have been a very compatible AO pairing.

They could entrust their backs to each other, and they would never run out of things to talk about.

As it turned out:

Imagination could only remain imagination.

As it also turned out:

Even someone as coolheaded and self-restrained as Yan Ruoyun was no different from other Omegas when in a relationship.

He would unconsciously smile. He would unconsciously pick up his phone for a glance. He would even press his little boyfriend’s class schedule under his office desk.

…Wasn’t this… incredibly clingy??

Like someone who had just read an unexpectedly terrifying ghost story, Lin Xiujie quietly bared his teeth, his whole face the picture of someone with a stomach ache.

Then he tossed his paper cup into the trash bin and snapped a light, breezy finger snap.

With that snap, a hundred times the power!

“Sister-in-law, your big bro is heading out.”

“…Get lost.”

–

The moment the dismissal bell rang.

Lin Zhu was out of his seat as if a needle had been jabbed into his backside. He hastily slung his schoolbag over one arm and left through the back door of the classroom, making a beeline straight toward the school gate.

Nearly six o’clock.

The autumn chill at dusk was even more intense.

A gust of wind swept the withered fallen leaves on the ground against people’s ankles, cold and sharp like invisible bloodless blades.

But Lin Zhu didn’t feel cold at all. His steps were quick, and his suit-style school uniform jacket was open, revealing the white shirt underneath. The hem of the jacket swung back and forth behind his waist with his brisk, striding movements.

Like a cheerful little tail.

The area outside the school gate was packed with private cars waiting to pick students up.

Lin Zhu looked left and right, lowered his head and walked toward a road section that was relatively secluded and not congested. His phone screen remained fixed on the chat interface with Yan Ruoyun.

When he arrived at his spot.

He sent Yan Ruoyun his real-time location.

The streetlights here seemed to be a bit dimmer than elsewhere. Lin Zhu stood beneath a streetlight and, belatedly, fixed his hair a couple of times, then re-fastened the buttons he’d left undone.

He’d look more proper this way.

Suddenly, he heard a familiar sound drifting over from the park plaza not far away… brief but lively, accompanied by the sharp, rowdy shrieks of children.

Lin Zhu followed the sound and looked over.

He watched for a little while.

His expression shifted slightly, a small flicker of temptation followed by a hint of inner struggle. In the end, he couldn’t resist walking forward…

…

Yan Ruoyun arrived very quickly.

He was still driving that crimson Ferrari.

Under the glow of the setting sun’s lingering light, the Ferrari was as rich and fierce as blood, forming a sharp contrast with the man’s cool and haughty appearance.

No need for him to honk at all; Lin Zhu noticed it at the very first glance. He proactively pulled open the passenger door and got in, then placed his schoolbag on his thighs and buckled his seatbelt.

Yan Ruoyun was awestruck.

This kid—why did he always do such obedient things with that insufferably cool, world-weary expression on his face?

It made him really want to…

In the car, seated properly.

Lin Zhu couldn’t resist turning his head, his gaze intense and burning as he stared at the man’s hands on the steering wheel, and called out in a low voice,

“Ge.”

Yan Ruoyun also looked at him.

The two of them hadn’t seen each other for a stretch. Even though they’d been in contact every day through WeChat, whether by text, voice, or video calls, Lin Zhu still felt…

It seemed like he hadn’t seen Yan Ruoyun in a very long time.

He’d been too preoccupied with revision and exams before to feel anything substantial. But right now, at this very moment… he and Yan Ruoyun were genuinely sitting together in the same space.

Lin Zhu suddenly realized that longing was like a lump of rapidly fermenting dough, lodged squarely in his chest, making his breathing somewhat unsteady.

Click.

Lin Zhu abruptly unclipped the seatbelt he had just fastened.

He first moved his schoolbag to the backseat. Then leaning his upper body toward the driver’s seat, he pressed a kiss to the equally silent man’s lips.

Dry, gentle.

A kiss as light as a dragonfly skimming the water’s surface.

It was an incredibly simple, pure-to-the-point-of-being-implausible kiss. Less like something that happened between two adults, and more like the simple, brief contact between two small children.

Yet Yan Ruoyun couldn’t help but freeze for a moment. He then raised a hand to touch the spot that had just been kissed, and warmth seeped into his fingertips.

…He didn’t know, that this kind of kiss could make one’s heart race too.

After kissing him, Lin Zhu didn’t retreat back to the passenger seat. Instead, he propped one hand on the headrest of the driver’s seat, close enough for their noses to nearly touch, and quietly said:

“Ge, I saw the news.”

Perhaps the car interior was too dim, or perhaps Lin Zhu’s voice was low enough to be ambiguous—Yan Ruoyun also involuntarily lowered his voice in response: “Mn.”

In the next instant, the blond youth raised his other hand and pressed on the car’s interior reading light.

Warm yellow light instantly filled the entire space.

Using this light, Lin Zhu let his eyes slowly trace every inch of the man’s features.

He seemed to have lost a little weight.

There was a faint shadow of lavender-gray under his eyes.

As he looked and looked, Lin Zhu couldn’t resist raising his hand to cover the man’s eyes with his palm, and said softly: “Ge, I want to take you somewhere.”

The man’s eyelashes fluttered tremblingly against his palm, tickling it.

Yan Ruoyun answered without a second thought: “Sure.”

Lin Zhu’s thumb gently swept across the area beneath his eyes and added: “That place is a bit far. Let’s not drive ourselves—is it okay if we take a cab?”

After speaking, Lin Zhu pursed his lips in mild self-reproach.

He was too young, at a critical third-year juncture, and it was impossible by any stretch to have a driver’s license. Plus, the place was somewhat far, and Yan Ruoyun already looked exhausted…

Yan Ruoyun still answered cleanly: “Sure. When it’s time, I’ll have the driver come over and take my car back.”

It was quite like the feeling of an owner watching their little puppy happily trotting over with a gift in its mouth—no matter what the gift was, they would clap their hands in delight and heap on praise.

He truly stopped caring about anything else and quietly watched as the blond youth used his phone to call a luxury business car, then took hold of his hand and got into the back seat together with him.

The seats in the business car were very spacious.

Yet the two sat pressed together like conjoined twins.

The driver picked them up, hurriedly glanced in the rearview mirror, and with absolute certainty thought to himself…

Yep, a young couple.

Yan Ruoyun didn’t know where Lin Zhu wanted to take him, and didn’t want to ask in advance.

He only suddenly felt very sleepy.

Even though he had drunk so much coffee in the afternoon, he was still unbearably drowsy.

Right at that moment, an arm draped over his shoulder from behind, wrapping around to the front of his body, once again covering his line of sight with a warm palm.

Lin Zhu half-held, half-embraced the drowsy man. The eyeballs beneath his palm turned a couple of circles. He said softly: “Ge, it’s a bit far. You can sleep for a bit…”

“Mn.”

Hearing this, the man adjusted his posture, rested his head against his little boyfriend’s shoulder, inhaled the scent from his neck, and in the gently swaying car, his breathing gradually lengthened.

Yan Ruoyun fell asleep.

But Lin Zhu was exceptionally alert. He held the man with one arm and kept operating his phone with the other, a surge of impulse roiling in his heart.

This was indeed an impulsive action.

Ever since Yan Ruoyun proposed taking him out to play, Lin Zhu had thought about it in his spare time between studying, but no matter how much he thought, he intended to wait until he saw the person before deciding.

Yet somehow, while waiting for Yan Ruoyun earlier, a fervent and impossible-to-ignore impulse suddenly surfaced in the depths of Lin Zhu’s heart.

He wanted to take the initiative for once.

Rather than always waiting for the man to make the move.

“Whoosh… whoosh…”

Outside the car window, the night wind howled.

The sun rapidly plummeted below the horizon, thick and heavy darkness surging in—while Lin Zhu held the man in his arms and sailed together aboard a drunken boat, heading toward the distance.

The stars lit up one by one.

The moon hung in the night sky, emanating a cool and gentle glow. It gazed steadily at the car racing down the highway, as if standing guard over their journey.

Until the car arrived at its destination.

Yan Ruoyun felt as if he’d only dozed off for a brief moment. But when his little boyfriend gently woke him and he opened his eyes to see that enormous, full moon hanging in the sky…

He froze, once, twice.

What time was it???

Slightly dazed, he was led out of the car by Lin Zhu. The moist air swept against his face, and he immediately came to his senses.

Having slept a good while, his condition was excellent.

Saying he was ‘fully revived’ wouldn’t be an overstatement.

But the problem now was—Yan Ruoyun stared at the glistening sea surface spread before him, fell silent for a moment, then turned his head to look at his little boyfriend and asked:

“Little dog Lin, are you eloping with me?”

He’d actually been brought all the way to the neighboring Haiyin City.

Hearing this, Lin Zhu let out an “Ah,” his eyes revealing clear bewilderment, seemingly not understanding why the man would ask that.

He continued with his movements—first taking off his jacket and draping it over Yan Ruoyun’s front, then shifting his schoolbag to his front and unzipping it. He carefully pulled out from inside…

A lighter, sparklers, and a bag of chestnuts.

Yan Ruoyun asked: “Where did you get these? Don’t tell me you brought them to school with you?”

Lin Zhu honestly explained the whole story from beginning to end.

“When I was waiting for you, I saw some kids by the park plaza setting off fireworks and bought them from the kids.”

“And the chestnuts?”

“Also bought from the kids.”

Yan Ruoyun couldn’t help but let out a soft laugh, and continued asking: “They were in the middle of playing and having fun—they were willing to sell to you?”

The sea breeze drifted over.

Lin Zhu pursed his lips slightly, looking a little embarrassed, yet also very honest as he said: “I told them…”

“I’m going on a date with my boyfriend and want to give him a surprise.”

“I begged you all to help me out, and in return I’ll write some letters of commendation to your school by name.”

After hearing this, Yan Ruoyun suddenly felt like laughing—felt like laughing out loud.

He held back and asked: “Are you actually going to write them?”

Lin Zhu nodded seriously. Those droopy eyes looked at the man’s face, and the pupils seemed to light up—he couldn’t help but smile along, revealing his teeth, his throat catching on the cool sea breeze.

“Of course I will.”

“Ge. Aren’t you happy right now?”