Chapter 35: The Door After It Was Kicked Open
The sky was still smothered in gloom, fine rain drifting down.
When that single word slipped out of his mouth, it felt as if a ray of light pushed through the clouds and fell onto his damp, chilled hands.
Gu Xi lifted his eyes. Beadlike raindrops clung to his lashes and slid into his eyes when he blinked.
They stung a little, yet he could not bear to blink again.
The black umbrella settled over his head once more.
He had sat too long. When he stood, his knees still felt that cold hardness of waiting in one place for too long.
Maybe the moment this man walked up to him, the rain that belonged over his head simply stopped.
He could always pick up the random thoughts of people within a few meters, but he had never distinguished so clearly which of those belonged to Rong Jing.
Only when Gu Xi quietly walked at his side did Rong Jing realize what that soft “okay” had meant.
He had actually tricked Gu Xi into coming back with nothing but an umbrella.
Rong Jing did not know how hard it was for Gu Xi, who had wrapped himself in spines like a hedgehog, to force out that single word.
It was almost a shout wrung from every last shred of strength in his body.
Parking was a pain in this busy district. Zhou You needed to loop back around.
The air by the lake carried the clean scent of autumn rain and brushed lightly over them.
Neither of them spoke. They stood quietly by the road like a bright stroke in the scenery.
The car pulled up again. One look at the leather seats and the luxury logo on the headrests and Gu Xi, soaked through, hesitated.
Real leather should not get wet. He lifted a foot to climb in, then drew it back.
Halfway through that motion, the man beside him said in a natural tone, “You get in. I will fold the umbrella.”
A flicker of awkwardness flashed in Gu Xi’s eyes. He refused coolly, “I am too wet. It would not be right to dirty your car.”
“Cars are meant to be used. Am I supposed to wait for sunny days just to go out? It should serve people, otherwise that is backward.” This was already the cheapest car in Xie Ling’s garage. You would not know from the outside, but Xie Ling had a habit of collecting luxury cars. He had filled a whole garage with them, then developed an underground level when space ran out.
In Rong Jing’s mind, the living were always more important than lifeless things.
[Will he catch a cold like this? Where did I stash the new towel, oh right, Zhou You said it ruined the aesthetic and tossed it in the trunk. How does that ruin anything? Do storage compartments have to hold perfume and wine? Who makes these rules? I like keeping a towel there.]
Thinking as he moved, Rong Jing detoured to the trunk for a towel. When he came back, Gu Xi was still standing there, staring at him blankly. Rong Jing asked, “What is it?”
Gu Xi turned his head so Rong Jing would not see the mist rising to his eyes. He gave a small nod of thanks and climbed into the back seat.
Rong Jing closed the umbrella and got in as well. With his two very different modes of “male logic,” he did not notice anything improper about it. Seeing that Gu Xi had shed his defenses, he gently draped the towel over Gu Xi’s head.
With the shadow of terry cloth shielding him, Gu Xi finally let his expression slip. He gripped the towel tight, the soft nap covering his whole face.
The emotion about to spill over needed somewhere, anywhere to go.
He wanted to say something, even if it was only the simplest “thank you,” to let Rong Jing know how he felt.
But it seemed far too light for the weight in his chest.
The car went a short way. A driver ran a yellow, and Zhou You braked hard to avoid it.
Momentum pitched them forward. Rong Jing’s forearm brushed against Gu Xi’s smooth skin.
Gu Xi went rigid, but he did not pull away.
Rong Jing realized belatedly that Gu Xi was male, yet he was also an Omega. Unlike his own skin, Gu Xi’s was soft and fine. That slight scrape sent a faint tremor through him.
Like a barbed hook, it tugged his calm heart into ripples.
“Sorry.” For bumping into you.
“It is fine.” It was only an accident.
They did not say the rest aloud, but it felt like there was a silent understanding only the two of them shared.
After that brief exchange, they fell quiet again.
Even the air between them felt damp with a trace of heat.
Up front, Zhou You was about to say something to make up for the scare when he sensed the subtle shift in the back seat. He kept his mouth shut.
Alpha and Omega, tsk tsk.
Rong Jing had thought nothing of two men sitting together. Both were men, what was there to avoid.
Until that restless charge in the air flared, like a spark landing on the tip of his heart.
Only then did he realize how completely different Omegas were from his own sex, a living thing delicate and beautiful, sweet to an extreme.
He decided this must be the Alpha instinct acting up. This species that thinks with its lower half really ought to be eradicated.
Gu Xi was the first person to make Rong Jing feel the gender divide so sharply.
Rong Jing thought about switching to the front passenger seat, but Zhou You, oblivious to hints, had no intention of stopping. In fact, he considered it his duty to create perfect timing and circumstances for the young master.
To break the tension, Rong Jing called Xie Ling. It was the older brother who answered. Rong Jing went straight to the point and asked if there was a place where someone could stay for a while. He wanted to ask what exactly had happened to Gu Xi, he could tell the other was in heat, fine, which was complicated and not suitable for bringing up.
Xie Ling’s voice dropped a couple of degrees. “Did you forget your coming-of-age gift?” Use your head.
Rong Jing groped around in the depths of memory and fished up a scene. Apparently, after the original had come of age, Xie Ling had given him a villa. The villas were in a development built by the Xies, and Xie Ling had overseen it himself.
The original had been excited, but Xie Jisheng said it meant they were kicking him out of the family.
The original believed it and never wanted to go back to the Xie house, nor would he.
“Is that place still there?” No way, all these years later and you have not taken it back?
“Within the next 24 hours, do not bother me.” Seeing you makes me want to hit something.
Xie Ling’s liver hurt from how angry this unfilial brother made him. He hung up without another word.
Rong Jing awkwardly ended the call. He had accidentally hit speaker.
He could practically see Zhou You fighting laughter up front, and even Gu Xi could not help the corner of his mouth tipping up.
Rong Jing sighed, then caught the way Gu Xi looked so weary and still tried to act like nothing was wrong. He finally smiled a little, like a begonia opening.
He could not help thinking, finally. That heavy gloom did not suit him at all.
Zhou You drove into Yushui Bay, lawns wide along the road, trees deep in shade, and an artificial lake. The scenery was lovely, the planning clearly done with care.
After dropping them off, Zhou You said he needed to go back to the company. There was still a mountain of prep work for the short list of companies Rong Jing had picked earlier, and it had piled up.
Rong Jing, the salted fish, had finished his tasks for the day and been shooed out by big brother. Now he only needed to settle Gu Xi.
He started to ask Zhou You for a key and discovered it was a keypad door. What was the code?
Nothing in his memory. He tried a few shots in the dark, including Xie Ling’s birthday. Wrong.
Gu Xi came up beside him. Remembering the brothers’ conversation in the car, his hollow chest warmed in spite of itself at the way they treated each other.
The rain had finally stopped. Sunlight filtered through mottled leaves.
Gu Xi said softly, “Maybe it has to do with you.”
Rong Jing entered his own birthday. His and the original’s were the same.
Beep. The door opened.
Inside was spotless. Someone clearly came on a schedule to clean.
A house that had never been lived in, a gift that had never been unwrapped, a kinship that had never been answered.
Xie Ling must have been waiting, for a very long time. In the original story, he kept waiting and never got what he hoped for.
Rong Jing messaged Zhou Xiang to ask how long Xie Jisheng would be detained.
Only five days. Could that be extended to nine? He remembered that special circumstances allowed longer.
For a street-racing gathering, five days was the limit. The Alpha buddy, however, had been charged straight up for assaulting an officer.
Even nine days felt far too short but they had no other evidence. The last thing Rong Jing wanted was to let that heartless bastard out.
Should he set out some bait to draw the snake from its hole?
The villa had two floors, decorated in a light, fresh style. It did not look like a model home. It might have been designed specially by Xie Ling.
Rong Jing noticed how Gu Xi shivered now and then after the rain.
He wanted him to rest. He went straight upstairs to the en-suite and ran a tub of warm water.
Only when he came back down did it hit him. An Alpha inviting an Omega home was not great. No, it was very not great.
Any Omega with a little sense of danger should have bolted while he was running the bath.
When they came in, the door had been left open. Gu Xi could leave any time he wanted.
What he saw instead was Gu Xi standing obediently right where he had left him, the front door yawning behind.
When those crystal-clear eyes lifted to him like morning dew, Rong Jing’s throat felt squeezed tight. He felt like a creep luring a youth.
“The bath is ready. Do you want to wash up, warm yourself a bit?”
However you heard it, that sounded wrong.
Under normal circumstances, an unfamiliar Alpha inviting someone home out of the rain already made his intentions clear. Then to run a hot bath the second he came back, how could that not be creepy.
Gu Xi was in heat, and the suppressant’s misery made him desperate for something to distract himself.
His gaze slid of its own accord to Rong Jing.
During this stretch of time, Alphas looked exceptionally attractive to an Omega’s eyes. He wanted to draw closer, to touch more, then more again.
His gaze drifted from Rong Jing’s brows and eyes to the cut line of his jaw, down to the enticing throat, the fine collarbones, tracing lower.
That cool, meticulous stare made Rong Jing, who had been standing at ease, pull taut. Alpha instinct urged him to display advantage before an exceptional Omega. It was almost uncontrollable.
Gu Xi’s eyes clung to him as if they had weight, reason and want taking turns at the wheel.
Their stares locked and burned. The two of them held their breath without realizing.
In the air there was a cord tugged from both ends, ready to snap at any moment.
This was the natural pull of A and O. I step in and you retreat, I retreat and you step in, an irresistible force that did not ask permission.
Gu Xi slowly stepped back. One step, two.
Like a wild creature that had finally sensed the Alpha’s danger.
Rong Jing did not stop him. He feared his own instincts would break loose and drive him to do something unforgivable. If Gu Xi ran, that was fine. He could follow at a distance to make sure nothing happened.
The next second, Gu Xi grasped the door handle.
With his back to the door, using the weight of his body, he eased the door shut.
Click.
The door closed.
The clear light in the room seemed to soften into a dusky haze.
Gu Xi walked toward Rong Jing. His eyes looked at him like still water, and in those pupils Rong Jing’s figure was reflected whole.
He breathed out lightly and said, with polite calm, “Thank you. I will go take a shower.”
“Ah. Oh.”
By the time Rong Jing came back to himself, Gu Xi was already upstairs.
How did he know I went to run the hot water?
No, was that the point right now? How could he trust me like this, was he not afraid I would turn into a beast?
Gu Xi closed the bathroom door and pressed his hands to his heating face.
Thank goodness he had slammed the door in time and kept himself from pouncing and stripping Rong Jing.
Suppressants only suppressed instinct, they could not strangle desire.
An Omega’s heat was a beast out of its cage, hungry as a wolf or tiger. He might scare Rong Jing into a heart attack.
Gu Xi slowly undressed and looked at himself in the mirror.
Where was the beauty in this. Filthy.
When the heat he felt toward Rong Jing subsided, the pain inside surged like a storm tide.
He lathered his body and lifted the loofah, scrubbing slowly.
Bit by bit, carefully, leaving nothing untouched.
At first it was only pressure, then he scrubbed harder and harder, grinding over the skin that was already abraded.
Every place Xu Shengteng had touched he wanted to erase, even if it meant scrubbing the skin away.
Tears dropped, one after another.
It felt like only in a sealed room could he truly let the emotion out.
He did not know how long he scrubbed. The skin broke and bled. Spattered spots of red and foam dotted all his limbs while he stood straight in the bathroom.
Knock, knock. A tap at the door.
Gu Xi stared at it, wary.
“I am going to boil you some ginger tea. Drink it when you come out.”
The voice tugged his mind back into place.
He stared dumbly at the scraped skin of his arm and the blood beading out. What was he doing?
He wanted to answer, but in his rush, he forgot the floor was all slick with foam. His foot slipped, and he crashed down onto the tiles.
His ankle twisted. He hit chest-down. The pain robbed his voice and filled his ears with a high buzz. The brief ringing deafened him to everything else, and dizziness washed over him.
Rong Jing had just been about to walk away when he heard a heavy crash from inside, then silence.
His brow jumped. He strode back, called out once, and knocked at the door. “Gu Xi?”
He called a few more times. Still no answer.
Remembering Gu Xi sitting alone in the rain, and the near attempt in the original story, a coldness rose through him from the inside out.
Without thinking, he raised his leg and kicked the bathroom door open.
He saw the figure collapsed in a swirl of foamy red, not moving at all, and every inch of his skin went numb.
Suicide!?
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