The next day was Saturday, so He Yan didn't have to go to work and he could get up a little later than usual. The house he'd rented near the company was almost ready, so the next day, he'd be able to move in.
"I'll cook lunch. ShaoYan, can you take me out to buy something? I'm not familiar with this area." He Yan shot him a meaningful look.
Xiao Zhan understood completely. "Sure, let's go."
Wang Yibo, who was still eating breakfast, said, "Ge, let me go along with you."
He Yan pressed him back into his seat by his shoulders, "You can't cook, so what could you do? Look after the house properly, we'll be back soon."
"But......"
Xiao Zhan had already put on his down feather coat, "Be obedient."
"......okay."
Wang Yibo took his own cashmere scarf from the clothes rack as he escorted them to the door. The previous snow still hadn't melted and the air was wet and cold, seeping into the bones. If he didn't have something to handle, Xiao Zhan wouldn't have wanted to go out in this weather. Fortunately, He Yan had brought a car.
Wang Yibo watched the car come around and then wrapped the scarf around Jiang ShaoYan.
"Where are you going to buy food? There's a supermarket in the shopping center next door."
Xiao Zhan of course knew that, since he'd gone to the supermarket with Wang Yibo on the first day they arrived, so he could only say, "Ge wants to drop by the rented house to see how it's been set up." He wasn't lying, He Yan really had planned it like that.
"So it's like that......" Wang Yibo lowered his eyes, continuing the movements of his hands, wrapping Jiang ShaoYan's neck with a scarf carefully to ensure that no trace of the cold wind could blow in.
"My Ge likes you a lot...... He hasn't taken me to see the house."
Xiao Zhan smiled, "What, you eating my vinegar1, hmm?"
Wang Yibo shook his head and asked, "When will you come back?"
"Around 10."
"Okay, I'll wait for you to return."
However, the road conditions were worse than expected. Due to the layer of snow wetting the ground, those driving on the road were afraid of their tires slipping, so the driving speed was much lower than usual. Several intersections were seriously congested with heavy traffic. In the end, it was almost 1 pm when they finally arrived home.
Xiao Zhan had already called Wang Yibo a while back to tell him to order delivery for himself and he and He Yan had eaten lunch nearby.
"I'm sorry, I promised to cook, but this was the outcome." He Yan shrugged helplessly.
"It's fine." Xiao Zhan threw off his snow-covered coat and scarf, and said to Wang Yibo who had come out to greet them, "Did you eat?"
"I ate." He took the coat and scarf and hung them on the rack.
Although they had been delayed for a long time, they'd still bought the food, so they'd just save it for dinner. Xiao Zhan took the shopping bag into the kitchen, tearing open some of the packaging and throwing it in the trash can without much thought. Suddenly, he felt that something seemed off and he glanced at the trash can again.
"Wang Yibo, what did you eat for lunch?" He went into the living room to ask, instantly spotting a half-eaten bun on the coffee table.
Wang Yibo replied, "Ah, I wasn't hungry, so I just ate something random."
Xiao Zhan said, "......what do you want to eat,? I'll make it for you now."
"No need, Xuezhang."
Xiao Zhan ignored his words, rolling up his sleeves and entering the kitchen. Wang Yibo hurried to chase after him, while He Yan watched the excitement from the sidelines, "What's wrong?"
"He didn't eat properly."
He Yan smiled, "Yibo , you can't make Zhan worry all the time, he's already been troubled enough over you——mmph?"
Xiao Zhan had covered He Yan's mouth. With a fierce glare, he said, "Ge, don't talk so much."
He Yan didn't get angry. He giggled as he pulled his hand away. "Hey, how can you scold your elder? If you don't respect your elders, I certainly won't be considerate of you."
Xiao Zhan knew he was joking. But, since he was asking the man for help after all, he had no choice but to say, "Ge, let me be alone with him for a bit."
He Yan laughed again and very tactfully didn't make any more trouble, going straight upstairs to rest.
The personality gap between the two relatives really is too huge, Xiao Zhan thought to himself.
Wang Yibo hadn't said a word since the two of them began talking, as if he were just a block of wood. He finally spoke up after He Yan left, "Did I trouble you a lot, Xuezhang?"
"Don't listen to your Ge's stupid remarks, it's no big deal."
Wang Yibo was silent for a while. "Why not just tell me why my Ge said that...... What have I done that's so bad? Just tell me right away, I'll definitely fix it."
Xiao Zhan knocked his head with the wooden spoon, "Don't think so much. It's useless to tell you some of the things."
For example, his pheromone or whatever, would mentioning it change anything? It'd just make the silly dog feel less confident, so it was better not to mention it.
"Be good and sit down. First, fix your problem of not eating properly."
Xiao Zhan made some simple fried rice. He was afraid that the ingredients weren't rich enough, so he added some flavoring, but no matter what he did, Wang Yibo would eat everything anyway. It was as if he'd eat anything he made even if it was burned and who knew if he'd ever even get full.
In the evening, He Yan finally had the opportunity to fulfill his promise. He personally cooked a meal to repay the past few days of care. The taste was surprisingly good.
"It's too difficult to find authentic local dishes abroad, so I had no other choice but to learn by myself." He Yan gestured with his chopsticks, "Try this dish of meat with sauteed green pepper. I'm very proud of it myself. I can guarantee it's good."
Wang Yibo immediately said, "Xuezhang doesn't eat green peppers."
"Ah? Not eating any at all? Just one little taste."
It wasn't like Xiao Zhan wouldn't eat it at all, just a small bit would be tolerable. Moreover, He Yan had been so quick to help him so much, so he could give him this much face.
"Normally I wouldn't eat this, but since it's a rare chance to have Ge's cooking, I'll try a little."
He Yan hurried to reply, "If you really don't like it, don't force yourself."
"It's okay." Xiao Zhan lifted a small piece of green pepper and shredded pork and put it in his mouth with a blank expression.
......Sure enough, I still can't get used to the taste.
"Very good, do you have some secret recipe?" He naturally let the topic move on. He Yan went along with him and went on and on about his exclusive recipe, skipping over the issue of whether Xiao Zhan liked eating it.
In view of the fact that He Yan was going to leave the next day, the three people ended the meal with a little drink of wine. Xiao Zhan didn't expect that Wang Yibo, who never drank, would also want to drink some and not only that, but that he'd be bold about it. He drank the small half-glass of red wine in one gulp.
"Why'd you drink it so fast? Your stomach will hurt."
Wang Yibo shook his head, but his face was already beginning to flush. He was about to reach out for the bottle and pour another glass, but Xiao Zhan swatted his hand away and forbade him from drinking any more. He held his empty wine glass in a daze, his eyes vaguely unfocused, sitting at the side quietly and listening to the two of them chat.
Xiao Zhan didn't respond too much to Han Ye, his attention fully on Wang Yibo. After watching him for a while and seeing his eyes go a little bloodshot, he said helplessly, "Look at him, how can his liquor capacity be so bad? I'll take him upstairs. "
He Yan waved his hand in understanding, "Go ahead, rest early."
Xiao Zhan bent down to put Wang Yibo's arm across his shoulders and carried him upstairs. Although Wang Yibo wasn't drunk enough to not be able to walk at all, because of his tall frame, Jiang ShaoYan's center of gravity was unstable. He almost knocked into the wall several times, but each time, right before impact, he was pulled back.
This silly dog was focused on protecting him even when he's drunk.
When he finally delivered him to the bedroom, Xiao Zhan felt as if he had run a marathon. Before he could take a breath, Wang Yibo, who'd been put on the bed, suddenly grabbed his arm and, with great effort, pulled him down to the bed as well.
Immediately after, he rolled over and pressed him beneath his body.
"Xuezhang......I want you......"
Didn't expect him to take the initiative like this when drunk.
Xiao Zhan pushed him, "I'm not interested in a drunk. Wait until you're sober to say something like that to me."
Wang Yibo didn't seem to hear him, catching his obstructing hands and interlocking their fingers. He pinned his hands on either side of his head.
The dark of his eyes was corrupted by intoxication, speckled with red, broken glints of light. He looked both pitiful and somehow secretly dangerous.
"Why aren't you interested?" The drunken Wang Yibo had only caught that phrase. "I'm just no good, huh......"
"What a mess. If you come near me right now, you're dead."
"I can satisfy you......" Wang Yibo pressed his entire body down, burying his head in Jiang ShaoYan's neck. "Even if you only need my pheromone, I want to......give you everything......"
The gland on the side of his neck was suddenly licked by that tongue.
Xiao Zhan instantly shivered, this guy is for real. He struggled angrily, but surprisingly he couldn't move Wang Yibo a bit.
"You fucker......sober up for me!"
Xiao Zhan was really upset at the moment, upset that this silly dog could suppress him until he couldn't even move, but what upset him even more was that Wang Yibo intended to forcibly mark him in this drunken state.
A mark like this had nothing to do with love, it was purely the desire of an alpha to possess an omega.
It made him feel extremely disgusted.
Unfortunately, Wang Yibo, whose thoughts were sluggish and messy, couldn't sense that the one beneath him was a man full of rage, and said in his own little world, "I want to be your alpha......"
Hot breath followed after those words, brushing against that fragile neck, then sharp teeth were exposed, and a fierce, strong bite sliced into the gland.
Xiao Zhan went still immediately.
The pain of the penetrating teeth and the agitation from the slowly-flowing pheromone was more sharp and sensitive than last time, perhaps due to the imminent failure of the suppressant. The scent of Wang Yibo's pheromone instantly melted into his blood, flowing within his body straight to the nose of that still-sleeping beast.
Deep down in his body, the sound of something shattering seemed to come forth and his heart trembled.
At the limit of his patience, he fiercely bit into Wang Yibo's shoulder.
"*Hiss*–" At the feel of pain, Wang Yibo released the grip of his mouth and lost the strength in most of his body.
Xiao Zhan seized the opportunity to push with all his strength and Wang Yibo was shoved off the bed. The back of his head knocked against the headboard and he let out a painful groan. He covered his head, his eyes clearing a bit.
Afraid he'd hurt him, Xiao Zhan leaned over him slightly, but he saw that he was unharmed and drew back to say, "Did you sober up? What's your mental state?"
He'd obviously been ready to give his whole self over, but then the result was that he'd been forced like this.
Xiao Zhan usually didn't take his heat very seriously and didn't talk very seriously about it. He even dared to speak brazenly and frankly about it, but wasn't he actually a bit afraid of it?
His body and free will would be under the complete control of another person, how could he not be afraid? It was just that he was proud and arrogant, refusing to let himself look small and cowardly in front of Wang Yibo. Besides, with how little self-confidence Wang Yibo had, if he revealed how terrified he was, how could they make any progress?
He'd needed excessive mental preparation previously before he decided to take the risk of letting Wang Yibo be his alpha, even though the mark might fail, even though he might not make it through his heat.
If even Wang Yibo would force him, that would make him really discouraged and downhearted.
Xiao Zhan said coldly, "If you do this kind of thing again, don't blame me for beating you."
To his surprise, Wang Yibo went so far as to laugh. "You said you couldn't bear to ever hit me......"
"Are you treating a casual remark as law now2?" Xiao Zhan looked at him in indifference. Suddenly a fire burst up inside him and he stood up on the bed and kicked him in the stomach.
Wang Yibo immediately curled up in pain, clutching his stomach.
"What an act," Xiao Zhan sneered. He'd only used thirty percent of his strength, so based on Wang Yibo's strong physique, how could it possibly hurt him like this.
But Wang Yibo's body was trembling slightly, his hands clutching the sheets so tightly that his knuckles went white.
Xiao Zhan frowned, "Where were you kicked? It really hurts that bad?"
He moved closer to look him over and saw that Wang Yibo's eyes were redder than before. The wet light in his eyes was fragmented, all the emotions in his expression blurred into an indistinguishable mess. The tip of his high nose was also bright red, and he was sniffling.
Rather than from pain, it was more like he was shaking from the tears.
But he just wrenched his face into an ugly smile, "It really hurts...... I really am stupid, aren't I, always taking so seriously what you say so casually. That's why I always make you angry......"
Xiao Zhan couldn't hold his own in the face of this kind of appearance. "Okay, don't feel wronged. I haven't been trying hard at all, so it's not always you making mistakes. Come here, I'll give you a massage."
Wang Yibo didn't move. Still a bit intoxicated, he continued to voice his thoughts, "I'm really stupid, clinging to your casual words for seven years......how can I have any merits? Even acting as a dog, I trouble you......I bothered you and won't let you go, you must be so annoyed with me......"
The more he spoke, the softer his voice and, in the end, he was almost inaudible, leaving just intermittent choked out sobs.
Xiao Zhan listened in a daze. In the end, his heart went completely soft. He lay down on his side, gently embracing the man before him who seemed to be breaking into pieces before his very eyes, stroking his trembling back to comfort him.
"You have so many merits, you don't bother me at all, don't say that. Rest well. In the morning, when you're clear-headed, I'll address these issues one by one." Except for his own family members, he'd never been so patient and gentle with anyone in his lifetime.
Wang Yibo rested his head on his chest, but his arms didn't wrap around him as usual. He was silent and calm, seeming to be suppressing his emotions.
Xiao Zhan softly soothed him for a long time, until Wang Yibo's body gradually stopped trembling and his breathing calmed, apparently asleep.
He bowed his head to look at the large dog huddling in his arms, making sure that he wasn't suffocating. He then let out a heavy sigh. His thoughts were in a state of chaos. It seemed that he'd completely overlooked something important, but he didn't understand how anything was connected together to result in this problem. In a daze of thought, he slipped into sleep.