Chapter 56: Boyfriend
The Alpha’s dark eyes were cold as ice, his skin as pale as paper. Tightening his grip, his long fingers pinned Ruan Zhimian against the wardrobe. “Baby, say it to me one more time.”
The S-grade Alpha’s amber pheromones quickly surged into the surrounding air, creeping up inch by inch until they almost completely enveloped them.
His entire state was completely off.
His black hair fell loosely, his sideburns damp with sweat. He lowered his head, resting it against Ruan Zhimian’s neck to hide his barely concealable vulnerability. The pheromone monitor watch on his right wrist emitted a warning vibration.
Taking a deep breath, he feigned calmness. “I didn’t hear you clearly just now.”
Ruan Zhimian tilted his beautiful small face up, his reddened eyes filled with worry and nervousness. He carefully lifted his hand, his fingertips lightly brushing against the side of Shi He’s ear. Gently touching Shi He’s ear, he blew on it softly. “Does it hurt a lot?”
The Alpha’s pale, cold eyelids half-lifted. He wrapped his arm around Ruan Zhimian’s waist, pulling him fully into his embrace.
Right now, he didn’t want to do anything else; he only wanted to hold Ruan Zhimian.
“It’s just an occasional reaction. It doesn’t hurt anymore.”
How could it not hurt…
Ruan Zhimian understood the agony of being sick better than anyone.
“Can’t you say it to me one more time?”
“I want to hear it.”
Shi He seemed to be acting spoiled with him.
Ruan Zhimian lowered his head like a little kitten. He first nuzzled his fluffy hair against Shi He’s cheek, then gave him a light kiss, speaking in a soft, gentle voice, “Gege, I’ll tell you again.”
“Let’s be in a relationship.”
Shi He’s phoenix eyes snapped open. His expression seemed to regain a fraction of clarity, yet he also resembled a snake slithering through a dark jungle, radiating an unignorable sense of gloom.
He unhurriedly encircled Ruan Zhimian’s wrist.
“Are you confessing to me?”
“Mhm.”
This time, he heard it with absolute clarity.
Ruan Zhimian had never been in a relationship and didn’t know if this counted as a confession, so he answered back with utmost obedience, “I’ve only ever said this to you.”
He had never said it to anyone else.
That small face was looking at him with rapt attention.
So obedient, so beautiful—he wanted to kiss him again.
A sudden wave of jealousy flared up within Shi He. Drawing closer, he asked in a quiet tone, “What about Han He’an?”
Ruan Zhimian blinked. Wasn’t Han He’an currently in the detention center?
“Did he get out?”
Shi He lifted his chin, curving his knuckles slightly to rub against the soft, delicate skin. “I only asked a simple question, and you’re already worried about him?”
Did this even count as worry?
Ruan Zhimian shook his small face seriously. “I was just wondering how long he has to stay in prison. If you want to see him, we can go to the detention center together.”
The Alpha released his grip and sat down on a nearby plush, white little sofa. Propping up his temple, he made another unreasonable summary: “You want to see him.”
The little glutinous rice ball walked over with his cheeks puffed out. He switched on the light, then looked down at Shi He, huffing in annoyance, “You’re the one who wants to.”
Then, he asked, “Are you really not going to the hospital?”
“No.”
Ruan Zhimian turned around, picked up the neatly folded pink rabbit blanket from the side of the bed, and draped it over Shi He. “You’re not allowed to move.”
“Close your eyes and rest.”
Ruan Zhimian squatted down, pulled his suitcase out of the wardrobe, and began folding his clothes one by one to pack them inside, neatly arranging his daily necessities along with them.
A meter away, the Alpha threw off the blanket, revealing his sharp and deep facial features.
“Where are you packing your things to go?”
Ruan Zhimian was a man of action. “Your place. We’re moving in together.”
Ever since he was a child, he had taken care of himself. Going to the hospital, going to school—he had long since grown used to it.
Ruan Zhimian first made a list in his phone’s notes app, then packed everything systematically into categories, showing great planning.
Shi He’s place had everything, so Ruan Zhimian only brought along a few things he was accustomed to using.
Suddenly pausing his movements, he cradled his small face in his hands and looked at him, saying softly, “If you don’t want to, I won’t finish packing.”
He had learned how to play hard to get.
Shi He stood up, looking surprisingly natural wrapped in the pink rabbit blanket as he walked over. Without the slightest hesitation, he squatted down and answered, “I want to. I want to very much.”
Lowering his eyes, he looked at the phone screen and read aloud, “One set of bear pajamas.”
A certain someone asked despite already knowing the answer, “Ruan Zhimian, do you not like the pajamas I bought you?”
Ruan Zhimian’s earlobes turned completely red. He tried to snatch the pajamas back. “You’re still talking about that…”
They were all nightgowns. Although he couldn’t say he was entirely unaccustomed to them now, he still wanted to wear his own pajamas.
Shi He tossed them back into the wardrobe. “Baby, if you’re not used to them, you can wear my clothes.”
Just then, a knock sounded at the door.
Shi He went to open it. Outside stood Ruan Xubai, carrying two bowls of sobriety soup in his left hand and a large bag of brewed traditional Chinese medicine from the pharmacy in his right. Lifting his indifferent eyes, he handed them over to Shi He without any surprise.
“Mianmian said he’s going to live with you. This is the medicine he usually takes. I just picked it up from the pharmacy yesterday. Twice a day, heat it up in the microwave, and drink it half an hour after meals.”
Shi He took them. “Understood.”
Ruan Xubai’s attitude toward Shi He remained cold. As the older brother who had watched Ruan Zhimian grow up since childhood, he naturally felt that none of the Alphas around his younger brother were good enough.
He spoke again, his words sounding like a warning, yet also like an entrustment.
“Take good care of him.”
Hearing the voices, Ruan Zhimian walked over. “Ge, I have something to tell you.”
Shi He set the sobriety soup down on the table inside the room and prepared to walk back to the door, watching Ruan Zhimian stand in the hallway chatting with Ruan Xubai.
In the hallway, Ruan Zhimian gently tugged at Ruan Xubai’s arm. “Ge, help me look into what happened to the Shi family back then, and why Shi He’s ears…”
He was acting spoiled. “Ge.”
Ruan Xubai lowered his head slightly, a bit helpless. “Alright.”
For some reason, the vibe Ruan Xubai gave off today was slightly different from a few days ago. Not only was he wearing an Alpha’s pheromone isolation collar, but his aura was also colder and more aloof, like the moon in the sky.
It made him impossible to read or guess.
“Mianmian, if anything happens, tell your brother anytime. Don’t shoulder it all by yourself.”
“Ge, you too. You’re always working too hard on your own.”
By the time Shi He stepped out, he only saw Ruan Zhimian walking back after finishing his conversation. “I’m almost done packing. Let’s head back.”
Ruan Zhimian handed over a bowl of soup, frowning as he drank his first, then staring intently at Shi He to make him drink his.
At four in the afternoon, the Ruan family driver drove them back. Shi He walked in behind him pulling the suitcase, watching Ruan Zhimian put on his slippers, squat down, and open the luggage.
The house, which originally had lacked any warmth and looked no different from a model showroom, now had a lot more color: the pink rabbit blanket on the sofa, the cat-themed water cup in the corner, and the cute figure right before his eyes, who had been forced to wear the pink kitten nightgown…
The black-haired, dark-eyed Alpha lowered his gaze, his Adam’s apple bobbing. Extending his arm, he pressed his knee against the wooden floor, pinning the person who was squatting by the bed packing luggage into the narrow gap.
“Boyfriend.”
“Give me a kiss.”
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