Chapter 119
“Not what?” Gu Qian asked with a smile, his hands still moving.
Pinned against the wall, Xiao Xiao had lost all strength to struggle. Tears finally streamed down his face. “This isn’t it. This isn’t what normal couples are like.”
“How do you know it’s not?” Gu Qian asked. “Have you seen it? Do you know what alpha and beta partners are like in private? Do you know how they act with each other?”
Gu Qian’s tone was perfectly calm, his gaze placid, with no sign of anger. But an inexplicable fear crept into Xiao Xiao’s heart. He just shook his head, unable to speak. Even though he’d never seen it, never been in a relationship, he just knew this wasn’t how normal lovers should be.
“Lu Heng and Lele aren’t like this, he… he…” Xiao Xiao was getting frantic. He couldn’t think of anyone else, so his mind jumped to An Le and Lu Heng.
But Gu Qian just shook his head. “That’s different. An Le is an omega. You’re not.”
“An omega and a beta mean different things to an alpha. Xiao Xiao, I’ve already made the arrangements. We’ll go for a suit fitting tomorrow, and the day after, we’ll get married.” The smile on Gu Qian’s face grew wider as he spoke. He leaned down to kiss Xiao Xiao’s cheek, his gaze slowly moving to the underdeveloped gland on Xiao Xiao’s neck. “After we’re married,” he whispered, “I’ll take you traveling. I’ll mark you, again and again. It doesn’t matter if you can’t hold my pheromones. I’ll make you hold them.”
“No.” Xiao Xiao’s refusal was instinctive. “I don’t want to get married so quickly.”
Marriage was already a kind of bondage, and Gu Qian’s behavior terrified him, making him reject the idea even more. He was a beta. Gu Qian still wanted to mark him. His possessiveness was terrifyingly strong, a fear he had never experienced before. He was just a beta; he didn’t need to endure this, nor could he. If he weren’t so afraid of embarrassing Gu Qian and for his own immediate safety, he would have blurted out his regrets right then and there. I don’t want to be with Gu Qian anymore. I want to break up.
“Why?” Gu Qian asked.
Xiao Xiao’s voice trembled as he fought to control his fear. “We just got together less than two hours ago. Getting married the day after tomorrow… isn’t that… isn’t that too fast? Too rushed?”
“Not at all,” Gu Qian said with a smile. “I’ve been planning this wedding for a long time. At least… a year and a half.”
The words sent a shock through Xiao Xiao. He didn’t understand what Gu Qian meant.
Gu Qian knew he was confused and smiled. “Why do you think I brought you back from that bar in the first place? Was it because I’m a good person? No. I’ve never been a good person. I brought you back simply because I liked you, and I wanted to cherish you. I couldn’t bear to see you get tricked, couldn’t bear to see you struggling to get by. I wanted to give you a job, to prepare a home for you. But I was afraid of affecting your work, your life, so I quietly pushed down my feelings, quietly prepared everything for our future, waiting for you to like me back so I could immediately show you everything. Don’t you like it, Xiao Xiao?”
Gu Qian’s eyes were full of confusion, his hand continuing to move up inside Xiao Xiao’s shirt. “Why not?”
Xiao Xiao was utterly astonished. So, the reason Gu Qian had saved him back then was also because…
Gu Qian’s finger found a small pimple and squeezed. Xiao Xiao whimpered in pain, his face turning deathly pale as he looked at him with tear-filled eyes. He looked… exceptionally pitiful.
Gu Qian gave him no time to think, continuing, “I was just afraid you wouldn’t like my personality, so I held back, waiting until you liked me and were willing to accept me before I showed you. I asked you earlier if you could accept my personality. You were the one who said you accepted it. You were the one who said you wouldn’t regret it. Xiao Xiao, you said all of this yourself.”
Xiao Xiao froze. He really didn’t like Gu Qian’s personality. The way he could say these things with such a calm expression felt inexplicably twisted, filling him with fear and disgust. But when Gu Qian acted so pitiful, telling him he was afraid of being disliked and had waited until Xiao Xiao liked him back to tell him the truth, his heart softened again. He felt that Gu Qian’s love was a bit… humble.
After all, with Gu Qian’s status, getting a powerless beta he liked should have been easy. But for the past two years, Gu Qian had treated him very well, step-by-step teaching him, an illiterate kid who knew nothing, and turning him into who he was today. Gu Qian wasn’t just his savior; he was his teacher, his boss, and now, his boyfriend. To reject Gu Qian just because of a personality flaw… he felt it might be a bit cruel, a bit unfeeling.
He grabbed the hand causing trouble on his chest and, holding back tears, whispered, “I didn’t say I regret it. Can you just… just let me go first? Please?”
Gu Qian’s fingertip was still pinching that small nub. He smiled wickedly. “Say you don’t regret it, and I’ll let you go.”
“I don’t regret it.” Xiao Xiao’s heart was pounding. “I don’t regret it. Stop playing, let me go.”
Being pinned against a wall and toyed with not only stripped him of his dignity but also filled him with fear. Xiao Xiao was truly scared. He had never imagined this was what Gu Qian was like in private. Still, for now, it seemed Gu Qian was easy enough to talk to, as long as he went along with what he wanted.
Sure enough, Gu Qian let him go. Wiping his tears, he asked with a smile, “Did I scare you?”
Just as Xiao Xiao was about to speak, he heard Gu Qian say, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
Hearing the apology, Xiao Xiao was rendered speechless. He stood there in a daze, not knowing what to do.
Gu Qian, however, turned and went to his desk, opened a drawer, and took out a box. He walked back to Xiao Xiao, knelt on one knee, opened the box, and held it up to him. “Xiao Xiao, I love you. Will you marry me?”
Xiao Xiao’s mind was a mess. Everything that had happened today was far beyond what he had planned. He had no idea what to do. He didn’t dislike Gu Qian; he just didn’t want to get married so soon. And beneath Gu Qian’s calm exterior was a surging, boundless madness that he couldn’t help but be afraid of.
After a long hesitation, Xiao Xiao finally spoke. “Boss…”
“What did you call me?”
Xiao Xiao pressed his lips together, his voice hoarse. “Husband… we just got together. Can we talk about marriage later, okay? I haven’t finished my work for today. Can you let me go back to work first?”
Gu Qian seemed a little unhappy, but he paid no mind to whether Xiao Xiao accepted or not. He took the ring from the box, tossed the box aside, and grabbed Xiao Xiao’s hand with a smile. “I knew you were just being shy.”
Gu Qian held Xiao Xiao’s retreating hand and slowly slid the ring onto his ring finger.
“There.” Gu Qian smiled. “Now that you’ve agreed, you can’t go back on your word. Go back to work. Tonight, go home and pack. You’re moving into my place tomorrow.”
Xiao Xiao didn’t know how he walked out of that office. The moment he opened the door, he heard a chaotic buzz of voices from outside, but the second he stepped out, his colleagues fell silent.
Xiao Xiao’s face was pale. He pressed his lips together and lowered his head, walking to his desk to work. But this time, he couldn’t see a single thing in front of him.
Gu Qian had put a ring on his finger, told him to move in tomorrow, and that they would get married the day after. He felt it was all absurd, all completely unreal. And Gu Qian…
Xiao Xiao’s eyelashes trembled, and a single tear fell, landing with a soft pat on the keyboard. His lips parted slightly as he took a deep breath.
Just then, Wang Xin returned. He had been sent on an assignment right after joining the company, and after all these days, he was finally back. The first thing he did upon his return was report to Xiao Xiao.
But as soon as he entered, he felt something was wrong. The entire office was filled with an incredibly thick pheromone scent—an alpha’s pheromones, mint-scented, domineering and fierce, silently driving away the other alphas present. It made him instantly agitated, wanting to escape the oppressive cloud of the disgusting scent. But the alphas and omegas couldn’t leave because of work, so they all wore masks and sprayed pheromone blockers.
“What’s wrong with you?” Wang Xin immediately spotted the distraught Xiao Xiao. He endured the uncomfortable, repulsive feeling and ran over. “Did someone bully you?” The pheromone scent was the same, and it was so thick. That person must have bullied Xiao Xiao.
“Tell me who bullied you,” Wang Xin said. “I’ll help you.” Xiao Xiao wasn’t an omega, so he couldn’t go to the Omega Protection Association, but Wang Xin was an alpha. Protecting a beta would be no problem.
Xiao Xiao looked up at Wang Xin, paused, then finally shook his head. “No one bullied me.”
Wang Xin didn’t believe him. “If no one bullied you, then why are you crying? The tears on your face haven’t even dried, and new ones are falling. You’re telling me you weren’t bullied?” He thought Xiao Xiao was just too scared to say anything. Coupled with the influence of Gu Qian’s pheromones, Wang Xin was gradually becoming more agitated. He grabbed Xiao Xiao’s arm and pulled him to his feet. “Come on! Which alpha bullied you? Tell me, and I’ll kill him!”
“There’s no need.” Xiao Xiao stumbled as he was pulled up. Once he regained his footing, he immediately grabbed Wang Xin’s arm and shook his head, his voice frantic. “It really wasn’t bullying. It’s something else, a family matter. Don’t worry about it. Thank you.”
Wang Xin wanted to say more, but Xiao Xiao had already pushed his hand away and sat back down. Xiao Xiao knew Wang Xin wanted to help him, but he hadn’t figured things out yet and really didn’t know what to do. Besides, it wouldn’t be good for a junior employee like Wang Xin to offend Gu Qian because of him.
Seeing Xiao Xiao’s unhappy expression, Wang Xin was about to say something else when he saw someone push him aside, standing between him and Xiao Xiao.
“What are you talking about?” Gu Qian asked. He was smiling as gently as ever, but his gaze on Wang Xin was incredibly sharp.
“President Gu, Xiao Xiao, he…”
Before Wang Xin could finish, Xiao Xiao anxiously cut him off. “I’m really fine. You should get back to work.”
Hearing this, Gu Qian turned his head and gave Xiao Xiao a thoughtful look. Then, he turned back to Wang Xin and smiled. He wrapped an arm around Xiao Xiao’s neck, pressing his head into his chest. “Did you hear him? He said he’s fine. If you don’t want to work, you can just quit. But I don’t think any company would want to hire someone who makes excuses to slack off while still collecting a paycheck.”
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