Chapter 92
An Le sighed with some melancholy.
“Forget it. No matter what the truth is, as long as Xiao Xiao is happy, that’s all that matters.”
Even if it was Gu Qian, crazy or not, as long as he treated Xiao Xiao well, he had no objections.
With a nervous heart, An Le finally arrived at the dessert shop where they used to frequent.
But Xiao Xiao wasn’t there yet.
He looked around, found a seat by the window, ordered their favorite desserts, and continued to wait.
Xiao Xiao arrived soon after.
“Xiao Xiao!”
As soon as Xiao Xiao entered, An Le immediately got up and ran over. He looked Xiao Xiao up and down and said with a frown, “Xiao Xiao, you’ve lost weight!”
Xiao Xiao pulled An Le towards the seat, saying as they walked, “Losing weight is good. Buy me more food to make up for it.”
“Okay.”
They sat down at the table. “You can eat anything you want. I have a lot of money now; I can afford anything.”
An Le was overjoyed, but still frowned because although he loved Xiao Xiao, he disliked the scent on Xiao Xiao.
A strong alpha pheromone scent, pungent and unpleasant. An Le guessed that Gu Qian, to prevent others from approaching Xiao Xiao, must have secretly applied pheromones on him because Xiao Xiao couldn’t smell them.
Xiao Xiao quickly noticed An Le’s displeasure and asked puzzledly, “Why are you frowning? Are you unhappy?”
“No.”
An Le shook his head, saying hesitantly, “Your… your alpha pheromone scent is too strong. It makes me a little uncomfortable.”
Xiao Xiao was stunned before saying, “Really? But I’ve applied a suppressant patch.”
Suppressant patch?
An Le curiously asked, “But Xiao Xiao, aren’t you a beta? Why would you need a suppressant patch?”
Xiao Xiao smiled wryly, “I didn’t need it before, but now… now I do. Gu Qian…”
Xiao Xiao didn’t finish because he didn’t know how to say it.
An Le, seeing his silence, continued to press, “Xiao Xiao, were you threatened by Gu Qian?”
Omegas needed to wear suppressant patches constantly, but betas didn’t. He had never heard of a beta needing to wear a suppressant patch.
Xiao Xiao didn’t speak, only shaking his head slightly.
An Le: “Then what’s going on? Xiao Xiao, why didn’t you tell me? Why haven’t you contacted me for so long? Did you not plan to contact me again if I didn’t call Gu Qian?”
Speaking of this, An Le felt a little wronged.
After being with Gu Qian, did Xiao Xiao no longer want him as a friend?
“It’s not what you think.”
Xiao Xiao finally spoke, “I didn’t contact you during that period because I was afraid that Gu Qian would retaliate against you because of me. Later… later, I didn’t know how to tell you.”
Actually, from the beginning until now, many things had happened between him and Gu Qian, but he hadn’t told An Le.
He could selflessly dedicate himself to An Le for a lifetime, sharing all his happy moments with An Le.
But he wasn’t willing to mention the disappointing, painful, and frustrating things to An Le.
That was his habit—reporting good news but not bad. He didn’t want An Le to feel sad for him.
But An Le felt the same way; An Le didn’t want Xiao Xiao to be sad either.
He grabbed Xiao Xiao’s hand, saying helplessly, “Why didn’t you know how to tell me? Just tell me the truth! Why do we need to worry so much between us?”
“Or are you afraid I’ll be unhappy? You don’t want me to be unhappy?”
An Le pursed his lips, “But if you don’t tell me, I’ll worry, I’ll overthink, I’ll think you’re not doing well. This constant back and forth makes me unhappy too.”
“So, what happened? Just tell me, okay? We can figure out a way to solve it together.”
An Le hadn’t understood before. He always felt that Xiao Xiao was very good to him, always bringing him happiness, comforting him, making his mood better, making him feel better about the world.
But recently, he’d thought a lot.
In this friendship, Xiao Xiao had given so much, always bringing him happiness and joy; negative emotions were rare.
And now, he understood.
So he also wanted to share Xiao Xiao’s burden and bring Xiao Xiao happiness.
Xiao Xiao nodded, “Okay, I’ll tell you.”
“Le Le, actually, I never listened to you and didn’t cut ties with Gu Qian.”
After saying that, Xiao Xiao lowered his head.
At the beginning, when An Le reminded him to be careful of Gu Qian, he did think about giving up on Gu Qian and tried to do so.
After all, Gu Qian always kept him at arm’s length—uninterested, he’d be cold; interested, he’d beckon.
But he didn’t know why. He felt like a puppy; whenever Gu Qian beckoned, smiled at him, or said a few nice words, he couldn’t help but approach Gu Qian.
Even though he knew Gu Qian’s father was the culprit who had hurt An Le so badly, and he had hated Gu Qian because of Gu Chen, he still couldn’t control his feelings for Gu Qian.
Therefore, he had never distanced himself from Gu Qian, even though he was the one who initiated the relationship.
An Le: “It’s okay. If you like him, like him. Although his father is a pervert, he’s not the same person. It’s okay if you like him, but why… why are you…”
Xiao Xiao shook his head, “It’s not that simple. If it were just mutual affection, I’d be willing to stay with him. But he… he…”
Gu Qian wasn’t a pervert, but he was indeed crazy.
After they established their relationship, because betas couldn’t be marked, Gu Qian always felt he might run away, always feeling that he was too free as a beta, always trying to keep him.
Gu Qian’s true personality was the opposite of his confident and cheerful demeanor. Gu Qian was extremely insecure, gradually not wanting Xiao Xiao to work, hoping Xiao Xiao would stay at home, filled with his pheromones.
“What’s wrong with him? Did he bully you?”
An Le was anxious, “I heard you softly begging him on the phone once. Did he bully you?”
An Le said, pulling up Xiao Xiao’s sleeve to check for any scars.
He not only checked his arms but also, while Xiao Xiao wasn’t paying attention, pulled open Xiao Xiao’s collar to look inside.
He didn’t see any scars but some intimate marks on Xiao Xiao’s chest.
Both of them blushed.
An Le sat down obediently, blushing, and stopped talking.
Xiao Xiao chuckled softly, “He hasn’t hit me, don’t worry. It’s just… it’s just that the alpha’s possessiveness is too strong, his heat cycle is too violent, and I, a beta, can’t handle it.”
“When his possessiveness flares up, he won’t listen to anything I say. He won’t give me my phone, he won’t let me go out, and he… he injected me with a beta glandular development agent.”
It was a glandular secondary development injection specially developed for betas. His glands developed, becoming like an Omega’s, able to be marked, and craving an alpha during his heat cycle.
But his heat cycle could only be relieved by Gu Qian, and he could only feel Gu Qian’s alpha pheromones.
Xiao Xiao: “…So, now I need to wear a suppressant patch like you when I go out.”
“That’s too much!”
Tears welled up in An Le’s eyes, “Aren’t you most afraid of this? Aren’t you most afraid of being bound by an alpha? You said you were lucky to be a beta and would never be marked by an alpha, but he… he…”
An Le was furious. Xiao Xiao had told him before that he would rather die than become an Omega, but now…
Xiao Xiao held An Le’s hand and shook his head helplessly, “Don’t be angry, it’s… it’s okay now. I’ve come to terms with it.”
In the first few days after the injection, he really felt like he would rather be dead. He craved Gu Qian’s embrace every day and wanted to escape Gu Qian every day.
But when he really escaped Gu Qian, he realized that feeling was even more painful than death.
And besides the possessiveness, Gu Qian wasn’t bad to him. Staying… was quite good.
Xiao Xiao: “Le Le, don’t worry about me, I’m fine. I… he didn’t force me, he’s very good to me.”
An Le didn’t believe it, “I don’t believe it. If he’s really good to you, why doesn’t he give you your phone or let you go out? You can’t even call me; you have to use his phone. What kind of good is that?”
An Le held Xiao Xiao’s hand and said, “He’s practically keeping you locked up like a prisoner. Xiao Xiao, don’t be with him. Come with me. I have a lot of money now, more than we can ever spend. I’ll take you to a place he can’t find, okay?”
Gu Qian’s love was too terrifying. No one’s love would be like that.
Even if an alpha’s possessiveness was strong, it wouldn’t be like that.
An Le wanted to take Xiao Xiao away from Gu Qian.
But Xiao Xiao shook his head, “No, Le Le, I don’t want to leave him.”
An Le didn’t understand, “Why?”
Xiao Xiao reached out and touched An Le’s head, “No reason, Le Le. Don’t worry about me, really, I’m fine.”
An Le: “Xiao Xiao!”
Xiao Xiao: “Le Le, be good. Now we both have partners, we can’t be as willful as before. We need to consider each other’s feelings when we do things, or we’ll have conflicts.”
An Le lowered his head and stopped talking.
Xiao Xiao knew An Le was sad, so he said, “We’ll see each other often in the future. Now that I can be marked by him, he won’t keep me at home all the time like before. I should be able to come out to play with you often.”
An Le: “Really?”
Xiao Xiao: “Really, didn’t I come here today?”
“Okay then.”
An Le had no choice but to agree.
Xiao Xiao: “Okay, we haven’t seen each other for so long, and we’re talking about these unhappy things as soon as we meet. Isn’t that a waste of our time?”
An Le nodded, “Yeah.”
Xiao Xiao happily said, “Eat your dessert quickly. After we finish, let’s go shopping and eat hot pot.”
“Okay.”
Xiao Xiao’s smile was always infectious, making An Le feel happy.
An Le finally stopped crying and ate dessert with Xiao Xiao.
After eating dessert, they went shopping and ate hot pot, and didn’t go home until nine o’clock at night.
As soon as he arrived at the door, An Le saw Lu Heng waiting for him. He quickly ran over and threw himself into Lu Heng’s arms, smiling, “Sir, I’m back.”