Chapter 20: It’s Always Darkest Before the Dawn
Shou Jiaxun looked sideways at the basketball boy, and they smiled foolishly at each other, as if competing to see whose smile was brighter.
“One-nine-zero” looked just average at first glance. Like most little giants, he had the common flaw of a “long face and high cheekbones,” and he had single eyelids.
Fortunately, although he had single eyelids, his eyes weren’t small, and he had two beautiful <em>aegyo-sal</em> (charming fat rolls) under his lower eyelids that made him look very spirited.
A high, straight nose bridge compensated for the loneliness brought by the high cheekbones, and a honest, square chin added a lot of human warmth to his cool, thin face.
His mouth looked the most ordinary, with no particular features worth describing, but when he smiled, it was like the clouds parting to reveal the sunâincredibly healing.
President Shou felt he should become a lifeguard, specifically saving those who wanted to jump off buildings or into rivers.
If he just smiled at them, perhaps the person who wanted to die a moment ago would feel that life still had hope in the next second.
The basketball boy asked Shou Jiaxun, “We’re about the same age, right? Where do you go to school?”
“I’m not in school anymore.” Shou Jiaxun pursed his lips toward the other side of the street. “I’m opening a shop opposite with a friend. Come over early tomorrow night; I’ll treat you and your friends to fruit.”
The fruit shop’s signboard was already hung, but the lights weren’t on. The iron shutter was two-thirds closed, leaving a gap at the bottom for ventilationâa door Uncle Guo had left for Shou Jiaxun.
The basketball boy looked over and asked with a grin, ” ‘Indeed Loves You Very Much’?”
Shou Jiaxun nodded. ” hasn’t officially opened yet, but we’ll set up a stall at night.”
The boy teased with a smile, “We can eat a lot. Don’t regret treating us.”
“Eat until you’re full.” President Shou chuckled generously. “What do you like to eat? I’ll stock more tomorrow.”
“Durian.”
“Hey, you…” President Shou didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Won’t watermelon do? They’re both round.”
The boy raised his eyebrows playfully. “Watermelons don’t have thorns.”
President Shou clicked his tongue. “Pineapples have thorns. Will pineapples do?”
Just as they were chatting nonsense, four comprehensive law enforcement officers walked out of the alley next to the Cantonese tea house.
The boy saw them and immediately stood up to greet them. “Hello, I’m the one who called the police.”
Shou Jiaxun stood up as well.
The police officer walked over and asked, “What happened?”
The basketball boy said, “Just like I said on the phone, an Alpha tried to mark a strange Omega outside of marriage.”
“Which Alpha, which Omega?” the officer asked.
Shou Jiaxun took a half-step forward. “I… am the O.”
He corrected, “Not exactly a stranger, but definitely not close. He’s the real estate agent who helped me rent the shop, so we’ve seen each other often recently. He said he was working overtime until late and hadn’t eaten, asked me to keep him company for a late-night snack and chat, so I came over.”
The officer in the front frowned and complained, “I’m not trying to lecture you, but as an Omega, you need to be safety-conscious! Coming out alone in the middle of the night to eat with an Alphaâisn’t it normal for people to think you’re interested in him?”
Shou Jiaxun felt a stifling anger in his chest, ready to explode.
The basketball boy preemptively retorted, “What do you mean ‘alone’? It’s such a big restaurant, full of people! Brightly lit, not some private place. Who in their right mind would think they’d meet a pervert while eating in a respectable establishment?”
The officer waved his hand impatiently and turned to instruct his two colleagues, “You two take his statement. I’ll go inside and check on that A.”
President Shou managed to suppress his anger and told the story from beginning to end to the police, emphasizing, “I just had a fever last week. Normally, it’s impossible for it to happen again so soon. I suspect he put an inducer in my water cup when I wasn’t looking.”
One of the two officers taking notes immediately split off. “Oh, that really shouldn’t happen. I’ll go collect evidence.”
The remaining officer recorded Shou Jiaxunâs words exactly, kept the audio recording, had him sign the notes, and then said to Shou Jiaxun, “Alright, you go back first. We’ll detain that Alpha for now. We’ll contact you within three days to go to the station for follow-up.”
With that, he also turned and entered the 24-hour Cantonese restaurant.
President Shou sighed and complained, “So unlucky.”
The basketball boy smiled and comforted him, “It’s okay. My friends and I saw it all; we can all testify for you.”
President Shou could only nod and thank him again. “Young hero, what was your name again?”
“My surname is Liang… Liang Bo.” The boy smiled broadly. “I’ll walk you back.”
Shou Jiaxun smiled awkwardly, raising a hand to point across the street, less than twenty meters away. “It’s just two steps! Just watch me go.”
Liang Bo nodded and obediently stood in place to watch the Omega return to his shop.
But just as Shou Jiaxun took two steps, he saw a dark figure squeeze out from under the “Indeed Loves You Very Much” iron shutter gap. As soon as the figure exited, he broke into a trot and disappeared into the alley next door in the blink of an eye.
Shou Jiaxun froze. That broad, burly figure was definitely not Uncle Guo!
His first reaction was that a thief had entered, so he subconsciously shouted loudly, “Hey! Catch the thief!”
But instead of chasing the thief, he ran straight back to the shop, bent down, and crawled under the iron gate to check on Uncle Guo.
Seeing Shou Jiaxun shout, Liang Bo immediately caught up, arriving at the shop door almost at the same time. However, he was too big and had to crawl in on his knees.
Upon entering, he immediately saw a man with slightly long hair curled up on the inner side of the shop.
It looked like he was also an Omega, because a used gland blocker patch was thrown nearby.
Shou Jiaxun scrambled over to the man, his voice almost breaking. “Uncle! Uncle! Uncle, what’s wrong? Are you okay?”
“Okay” was impossible… Uncle Guo’s posterior gland had been bitten until it bled.
“Liang Bo, help me call the police! Go get the police!” President Shouâs intestines were green with regret.
He thought that if he had been slightly more cowardly, chosen to keep the peace, and come back directly without waiting for the police, he surely could have helped Uncle Guo escape this disaster.
But now, he had watched helplessly as the bad guy finished doing bad things and escaped right in front of him.
The little Omega, with hate deep in his heart and nowhere to vent, suddenly let out a grief-stricken roar: “Ahhhhhâ!”
He could only use this method to slightly release the remorse twisting in his chest.
Uncle Guo, however, grabbed his hand, trembling and choking out instructions: “Don’t call the police. Don’t let Duoyu know. Don’t find the police… A lawsuit for a new shop is bad luck.”
Mainly, he didn’t want Guo Duoyu to know.
Shou Jiaxun knelt beside Uncle Guo, hitting the floor tiles with his fist in frustration until his knuckles bled. His eyes were bloodshot, like a dog with a broken leg, knowing nothing else to do but wail.
Trembling, he brushed aside Uncle Guo’s overly long bangs and pressed his forehead against Uncle Guo’s, crying loudly in grief.
The basketball boy turned sideways and quietly wiped a tear from the corner of his eye. He wanted to comfort Shou Jiaxun and his uncle.
But at a time like this, any words seemed pale and powerless.
He couldn’t even persuade them to call the police because the uncle said, “Don’t let Duoyu know.”
Liang Bo guessed that Duoyu was probably Shou Jiaxunâs uncle’s husband. Most Alphas couldn’t accept their Omega being secondarily marked by another Alpha; it might lead to divorce.
Finally, the basketball boy chose to silently crawl out of the unopened fruit shop and pull down the iron shutter for them, covering the heartbroken cries inside and blocking the outside world’s shameless coveting of the lone Omegas.
Liang Bo and his ball buddies didn’t go to play ball after school the next day. Instead, they wandered over to the pedestrian street for a walk, intentionally or unintentionally.
Sure enough, they saw Shou Jiaxun and his uncle setting up a stall in front of the shop again.
Both were in obviously poor condition, with swollen faces and red eyes, as if they hadn’t slept for a day and a night.
However, when customers bought fruit, the uncle and nephew still tried their best to greet them with smiles and warm hospitality.
A row of unopened large durians was displayed on the steps at their shop entrance.
Seeing Liang Bo, Shou Jiaxun immediately beamed and waved. “Young hero, come eat durian. Just waiting for you to open them!”
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