Chapter 49: Unable to Escape
When Ruan Zhimian finished washing up and stepped out of the bathroom, Shi He was sitting on the living room sofa, a classic romance movie playing on the television in front of him.
Shi He had taken off his jacket, wearing only a black dress shirt with the buttons undone, faintly revealing his robust physique.
Ruan Zhimian finally realized something was amiss. Bypassing the back of the sofa, he muffled his footsteps, pretending to retrieve something from his jacket.
He wrapped his hand around the front door handle, but to his surprise, it wouldn’t budge at all.
Just then, the black-haired, black-eyed Alpha walked over. He practically wrapped himself around Ruan Zhimian’s waist from behind, locking him tightly in his embrace.
Then, his gaze landed precisely on the door handle, his breath falling right against the boy’s ear.
“I locked it with a key.”
Shi He’s voice was completely calm, devoid of any discernable emotion, his entire presence dark and brooding. “Baby, can you tell me where you want to go?”
Wait, something was wrong. The drug had already taken effect.
It turned out that what the manga meant was—an aphrodisiac.
Ruan Zhimian’s ability to lie was growing stronger by the day. His thick eyelashes trembled slightly as he turned around, moving from a slight stiffness to wrapping his arms around Shi He obediently. “I wanted to go downstairs to buy ice cream…”
“Is that so?”
He didn’t believe it for a second. Shi He lowered his dark eyes, exerted force with both arms, and lifted Ruan Zhimian onto the adjacent natural wood shoe cabinet. At a height of 1.2 meters, the boy’s legs dangled in the air.
“There is some in the refrigerator.”
Ruan Zhimian was incredibly nervous, trying to calculate whether his drug had triggered an extension of Shi He’s susceptibility period, racking his brain to recall every bit of knowledge he possessed.
He couldn’t figure out what was going on with Shi He right now.
If it was the drug’s effect, it would dissipate after half a day; if it was a susceptibility period extension triggered by the drug, Shi He might be entirely different from how he had been over the past few days.
Because Shi He’s current state was vastly different.
An Alpha in their susceptibility period would exhibit various behaviors, sometimes rejecting everyone else and only wanting to stay with their own Omega.
Ruan Zhimian spoke in a soft, sweet voice, his dark eyes shining brightly. “I want the chocolate blueberry flavor.” Dropping his snowy-white arm, the sapphire watch on his wrist cast a brilliant gleam.
He was a beautiful, delicate, and deeply soft-hearted little kitten.
Raising a kitten like this required a great deal of effort.
“We have it.”
Shi He extended his hand, pressing against Ruan Zhimian’s slender waist through his dress shirt, coaxing him softly, “You ate too much yesterday and had a stomachache. No cold foods today.”
It was as if he couldn’t see through Ruan Zhimian’s intentions at all, or perhaps as if he truly believed him.
Unhappily lowering his head, Ruan Zhimian kicked off his slippers and pressed the tips of his toes against Shi He’s knees. Suddenly, his eyes welled up with tears, and his voice sounded tiny and exceptionally aggrieved. “Shi He, you’re bullying me.”
“I just wanted to go downstairs to buy an ice cream. I already accompanied you home, and now I want to go back to my own house.”
Anyone who heard this would feel their heart ache for him.
Except for Shi He in his current state. He lowered his head slightly, the veins on his pale neck bulging. His thin lips lightly brushed against the flushed outer corner of the boy’s eye, kissing away the tears.
“Darling, don’t cry.”
Hearing the term his family always used for him, the aggrieved young master lifted his small face. “You’re not allowed to call me that.”
The Alpha remained entirely at ease. Carrying Ruan Zhimian further into the room, he sat face-to-face with him in the center of the sofa. The boy’s small snowy-white hands were locked within a broad palm… and pressed against his abs.
—A temptation of flesh.
“The ones you wanted to see before.”
“I didn’t…”
The kitten’s ears flushed crimson. “You’re talking nonsense…”
He was far too shy, burying his head against Shi He’s shoulder. It was practically walking straight into a trap, and soon Shi He lifted his small face, kissing him several more times.
The Alpha seemed to regain some sanity. “I don’t know why, but I don’t want to see anyone else right now. Stay with me a bit longer, okay?”
It was a lie, a mere disguise. He hadn’t even released his spiritual body; he solely wanted to be alone with Ruan Zhimian, unable to tolerate any other presence.
Even if a small animal touched Ruan Zhimian, Shi He would feel jealous.
The pheromone monitoring device in the corner reached an unstable threshold.
The obedient kitten blinked. “Okay.”
Once Shi He falls asleep, I’ll make my escape.
Midway, Ruan Zhimian picked up a call from Teng Yu. “Mianmian, where are you? Why can’t I get through to your phone? Senior Jian Wenshu came to ask me about your situation. He seems to care about you a lot…”
“Senior?”
Beside him, the Alpha’s well-defined fingers tightened, locking around his snowy-white fingertips.
Ruan Zhimian cheered all over. “A-Yu, I’m staying with Shi He right now. Tell him I’m fine. I’m hanging up first.”
The call was disconnected, and the phone was tossed by Shi He onto a single sofa two meters away. A slow, unhurried sentence fell against his ear. “There are a lot of people who like Mianmian.”
“Who does Mianmian like?”
Shi He stood up. Leaning down, he had absolutely no desire to hear Ruan Zhimian’s answer. He coldly extended both arms, scooping the little kitten who was trying to dodge into his embrace.
Pressing a broad palm against the top of the boy’s head, he ruffled the wavy hair. His deep, gloomy eyes lowered, and he let out a soft laugh. “Baby, do you know what I was thinking when I saw the friend request you sent me?”
“Do you know what I was thinking when I first saw you wearing a dress?”
Ruan Zhimian instinctively knew it wouldn’t be a pleasant answer.
Hugging his knees, a few tears slipped from his beautiful, soft eyes without him even realizing it. He sat helplessly in the small bedroom armchair, sobbing softly. “I… don’t know…”
He was scared.
[Marshmallow: Hello, can we get to know each other?]
[Marshmallow: Gege, please pay attention to me.]
[Marshmallow: I went to eat wontons today and drank a strawberry milkshake. I found out that I actually prefer blueberry milkshakes…]
Amidst two consecutive days of continuous rambling and a pile of online sweet-talk, Ruan Zhimian finally had his friend request approved.
[SH: I’m paying attention to you now.]
[SH: Since you like me so much, what exactly do you like about me?]
[Marshmallow: Gege is exceptionally handsome, and you look so cool playing games. I can tell at a glance that you’re a super, super good person!! Let’s be friends.]
[SH: Is that so? I only date; I don’t make friends.]
Marshmallow fell silent for two seconds. Is it really this easy?
[Marshmallow: Dating… is fine.]
[SH: I have very high standards for a partner. You can only like me, and you can only let me…]
[Marshmallow: I only like Gege.]
On the other side of the ocean, the Alpha sat in a conference room, opening the real-time tracking photos taken of Ruan Zhimian. The boy was sitting in a corner of the classroom, the tips of his ears flushed red as he held his phone, taking quite a while to type out this line.
A little scammer whose trickery fell short.
Quite clumsy.
[SH: Send a voice note so I can hear if you truly like me.]
[Marshmallow: Gege, I’m in class.]
Shi He put down his phone. Beneath his silver-rimmed glasses, his expression was exceptionally cold. He probably can’t keep up the lie anymore, right?
When his meetings ended that evening, he checked his phone again and saw Ruan Zhimian’s messages.
[Marshmallow: I’m out of class now.]
[Marshmallow: A three-second voice note.]
Shi He tapped it open and held it to his ear. A soft, sweet, and sticky voice spoke to him shyly, “Gege, I only like you.”
Day after day, his monotonous life seemed to gain a slightly different presence.
Every day upon waking up, he would receive messages from Ruan Zhimian—sometimes just meaningless photos of little flowers and grass, sometimes delicious food, along with the continuous rambling sent from the other end.
Shi He leaned down and turned on the floor lamp beside the sofa. Squatting down, he gently wiped away Ruan Zhimian’s tears. “It’s fine. You’ll find out very soon.”
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