A Date

Huijian Restaurant: [We are very sorry this accident happened. We have already dismissed the waiter who stalked you, and we've also contacted the police. We will handle this matter seriously.]

...

Huijian Restaurant: [Shang Sui has already agreed to the request you made.]

Thinking of what had just happened, Lin Yan was still shaken. He was about to ask how Shi Qi was doing when he turned his head and saw that Shi Qi was actually smiling with his phone in hand.

Usually this guy was all cold edges, but now those big bright catlike eyes had curved slightly, making him seem like a completely different person from half an hour ago.

Just as they were about to reach the school gate, a strange Alpha suddenly sprang out and chased after Shi Qi, asking why he had rejected him. Lin Yan was stunned.

When he saw how cold and indifferent Shi Qi was, the Alpha got even more agitated. Students passing by sensed something was wrong and called security, and only then was the Alpha restrained.

As soon as it happened, they called the police. For the moment, the Alpha was being held by the School's security and would be handed over to the police later. Not wanting to waste any more time, Shi Qi went straight to Huijian Restaurant to deal with it and demanded an explanation from them as well.

Their attitude over there was good enough. They apologized again and again, and said they would help contact the police to arrange Omega protection registration, guaranteeing that this Alpha would not harass him again.

That step would have to wait until the process was complete, then Shi Qi himself would need to go register in the database. Before that, they would do everything they could to compensate him.

After making sure he was not smiling out of anger, Lin Yan asked, 'How much is the restaurant paying you?'”

What kind of number would it take to make Shi Qi happy?

Shi Qi said, 'They paid me with a meal.'

Lin Yan: '?”

Lin Yan said, 'A meal was enough to buy you off? ...No, Shi Qi, tell me the truth. I get the feeling you don't seem that angry. Usually you'd have cursed that Alpha straight to heaven, wouldn't you?'”

Just now he had only fired off one line — 'Idiot. Remember to look in the mirror once you're inside' — which really was not Shi Qi's style at all.

He and Shi Qi had grown up together and knew each other well. When freshman year started, a video of Shi Qi practicing in front of a mirror at the Dance Club blew up, and a talent agent even came to their School specially to ask whether Shi Qi had any interest in debuting.

That agent was from a major entertainment company with a very famous boy group under it. When he learned that Shi Qi had refused, Lin Yan could not help asking, 'Why? Don't you really like dancing? And you've even worked part-time as a model before. You're definitely good at finding the camera.'

'Better not. If someone pisses me off, I have to go piss them off back.'

'?'”

'Otherwise I can't sleep.'

Thinking about it, that did make sense. Shi Qi already suffered from insomnia often enough. If he entered the entertainment industry, he probably would not get a full night's sleep again.

...

...

With Shi Qi's temper, he had actually only cursed once today?

No matter how Lin Yan turned it over in his head, it felt off. When he came back to himself, he heard Shi Qi answer, 'Anyway, he didn't manage to do anything. It's over now. No need to waste time on him.'

Lin Yan thought that made sense too, but he still could not help adding, 'But why do I feel like you got distracted by something more interesting, so you couldn't even be bothered to argue?'”

Shi Qi: '...'

Sometimes Lin Yan was sharp in a way that was honestly terrifying. It made things difficult.

Shi Qi put away his phone and said naturally, 'You're overthinking it.'

-

After he got back to the Dormitory, Huijian Restaurant's work account pushed Shang Sui's WeChat to him, telling him to contact him when he had time.

Shang Sui's profile picture was completely different from the impression he gave in person: a long-haired blue-gold tabby kitten. Maybe because of the cold, a knitted scarf was tied around the kitten's neck, making it look like one soft fluffy bundle.

Shi Qi looked at it a few more times, then lifted a hand and sent a friend request.

'Xiao Qi, want to game?' Their Dormitory had originally housed three people, but another roommate had moved out, so now it was just him and Lin Yan.

'Qin Shuhe says he spent the whole night kneeling and desperately needs your AD to help him win back his honor.'

Without even lifting his head, Shi Qi said, 'He can't even play support without stealing my minions. Let him keep kneeling.'

Unexpectedly, Lin Yan had speaker on, and Qin Shuhe happened to hear Shi Qi's reply. He immediately let out a ghostly wail: 'Shi Qi, your heart is too cruel! Didn't we agree we'd walk bot lane together for life?'”

'Who are you?' His friend request still had not been accepted, and Shi Qi set his phone aside. 'Forget it. I'll play two rounds. No stealing my minions.'

'Guaranteed. I'd even be your grandson.'

Qin Shuhe was a student at the Meiyan Academy next door. As soon as he came on, he started sharing a pile of campus gossip and did not even spare his own teacher. 'Our professor's been wanting to recruit someone as a teaching assistant lately. He keeps going on every day about when they're finally going to agree. My ears are getting calluses from listening.'

'So you can get sick of hearing people talk too.' Shi Qi sounded genuinely surprised. 'Aren't you the chatterbox?'”

Qin Shuhe said angrily, 'Shi Qi, that mouth of yours—'

Shi Qi said, 'Lux, go up and Q. Killable.'

Qin Shuhe said, 'As you command, Your Majesty.'

Lin Yan cut in, 'Are you talking about Xie Professor? For him to think so highly of someone, what kind of person are they?'”

Lin Yan's family ran an art gallery, so he knew a little about Qin Shuhe's teacher.

Shi Qi was not interested in any of that. His eyes were on nothing but killing. Qin Shuhe answered, 'I heard they just got back from abroad. Don't know who it is exactly. But apparently they're not that old, only three or four years older than us.'

Just then, Shi Qi's phone lit up.

Shang Sui had accepted his friend request and sent a message.

Ss: [Sorry, something came up just now. I accepted late.]

While recalling, Shi Qi typed back one-handed.

17: [Oh. It's fine.]

A little while later, Shang Sui sent over a post about the Amusement Park.

[Are you interested in the Amusement Park? There's a Halloween Parade lately. It should be pretty fun.]

Shi Qi was a little confused.

17: [Wasn't it dinner?]

Ss: [The owner of Huijian Restaurant said he's very sorry about what happened before and told me to compensate you as much as possible. He'll cover all the costs.]

Ss: [If you don't want a date, then we'll just eat ^^]

Shi Qi stared at one of the words over and over, making sure he had not read it wrong.

Qin Shuhe said, 'Holy shit, destiny has arrived.'

Qin Shuhe said, 'Shi Qi, I landed Q on two of them and burned Exhaust! ...Shi Qi? Your Majesty?? What are you spacing out for? Come kill people!!'

Caitlyn stood motionless under the tower. Qin Shuhe had wasted an Exhaust for nothing and got harvested by the other side instead.

Only after a long moment did Shi Qi answer dully, 'My fault.'

'No way?' Qin Shuhe said, baffled. 'That shouldn't be right. Aren't you the chief law enforcer? What the hell was that just now? It's not easy for me to line up two at once—'

Lin Yan looked at the silent Shi Qi and cut him off. 'Oh, stop blaming the child already. Carrying your crippled Lux for this long is hard enough.'

'Look how flustered you've made Xiao Qi. His whole face is red!'

-

Halloween happened to fall on a Friday. Thinking about going out the next day made Shi Qi's already fragile sleep even worse, and he tossed around until the second half of the night before finally falling asleep.

Luckily there were not many classes on Friday, so Shi Qi spent almost the whole day catching up on sleep. Maybe his body had adapted to a long-term irregular schedule; at dusk he woke naturally, feeling refreshed all over, changed clothes, and got ready to go out.

Lin Yan had originally been lounging against the bed with a face mask on. Hearing the movement, he asked sharply, 'Where are you going?'”

Shi Qi said nothing, and Lin Yan pointed out what was strange about him. 'You even changed clothes. They're both black, but this isn't the same outfit as before.'

'If you're changing and heading out now, don't even think about being back before ten or eleven. Aren't you worried about curfew? Hurry up and confess. Being out all night is supposed to be my script.'

He said that because he knew Shi Qi extremely well.

Shi Qi did not like places that were too smoky and chaotic. Getting him to go out for nightlife was difficult enough. Even department events were impossible. Shi Qi had only joined two clubs. He barely went to the photography department anymore, and the Dance Club had not said anything lately about evening practice either.

...

If he admitted he was going to meet an Alpha he had only just met, and that Alpha's job was especially unusual, Lin Yan's scream would probably tear the roof off.

Shi Qi felt guilty for a moment, then suddenly turned righteous. 'Mind your own business.'

After saying that, he pulled open the door and walked straight out.

'?' Lin Yan ripped off his face mask in shock and shot upright. 'No, come back, tell me clearly who you're going to see— running off that fast, Shi Qi?! You won't even lie to me with a club event excuse. Just which little seductress are you going to meet?'”

The closer they got to the Amusement Park, the more you could feel Halloween's particular atmosphere.

At the entrance, a waterfall-like candy display was strung with lights. In the corners sat pumpkin lamps and skull lamps in all kinds of shapes, and in the distance a giant clown statue beamed its broad smile. It was easy to imagine how, once the sky went fully dark, the surroundings would turn kaleidoscopic, gaudy, and eerie.

When he saw Shang Sui's message earlier, he had chosen date in a daze. They had only met once, and for an Omega to meet an Alpha alone at night counted as dangerous, but for some reason he trusted Shang Sui.

While he was distracted, a voice came from behind him.

'Here.'

Shi Qi turned around and saw the person who had asked him out.

Shang Sui was wearing a red-and-black knit sweater with loose ripped jeans below. The outfit only made the Alpha's broad shoulders, narrow back, and long straight legs stand out more.

Still wearing torn clothes again, Shi Qi thought.

But it did look good.

There were always some glittering accessories on Shang Sui. Shi Qi watched his long dangling earring sway for a while and felt his fingers itch. He kind of wanted to tug it.

As if he could tell what he was thinking, Shang Sui said, 'Even if it's called a date, in essence I'm still serving you.'

Seeing Shi Qi freeze, Shang Sui added, 'Meaning you can do whatever you want. I don't mind.'

Shi Qi's heartbeat stalled. He almost really reached out.

When he came back to himself, he felt that even if Shang Sui said that, he would not go so far as to lose all sense of boundaries.

Shi Qi turned around first. 'Then let's go.'

As he walked, he unconsciously rubbed his fingertips once.

Shang Sui smiled and followed behind him.

Many visitors were dressed to the nines: zombies wrapped in bandages, clowns in greasepaint, ghost brides, bunny cops...

'You could blend right in with them,' Shi Qi said, gesturing.

'?'

'You're flashy too.'

Shang Sui laughed. Shi Qi asked, 'Will you listen to anything I say today?'

'You're the boss. Your call.'

Shi Qi nodded and walked into an accessory shop.

Inside, headbands and hats in every style were on display. Shi Qi walked straight to one row. There sat a whole line of demon-style headbands with black bands and red horns, and he picked one out and stuffed it into Shang Sui's hand.

'Put this on. Let me see.'

The Alpha really was as obedient as he had said. He put on the headband Shi Qi gave him. The sharp horns of the Demon Hairband lit up, and the blinking red light shone into Shang Sui's eyes, making his expression seem bright one moment and shadowed the next.

'How is it?'

'It suits you too well,' Shi Qi said sincerely. 'Feels like you'll start slaughtering everyone in the Amusement Park in the next second.'

...Was he really that evil in Shi Qi's mind?

Shang Sui picked up another headband from the side, a soft, cute pair of cat ears. The pale color suited Shi Qi's hair perfectly.

'Try this one?'

Disgust showed on Shi Qi's face. 'No.'

Shang Sui just looked at him without speaking. Shi Qi clicked his tongue. 'Don't look at me like that. Are you the boss or am I?'

'You are,' Shang Sui said without a moment's hesitation. 'Please.'

.........

Shi Qi's eyes widened slightly as he stared at him in disbelief.

Was this person not embarrassed? How could there be an Alpha who said something like that so naturally?

Or was it that people in this kind of special line of work were all this good when they were on the clock?

Remembering Lin Yan's line — you wouldn't happen to be going to meet some little seductress, would you — Shi Qi felt as if someone had struck him over the head. He held Shang Sui's foxlike eyes for a moment. In the end, he threw Lin Yan's questioning aside and, as if possessed, held out his hand. 'Give it to me.'

Shang Sui told him to wait a moment and went to pay.

In that one minute, all kinds of thoughts flashed through Shi Qi's mind: Am I really going to wear this stupid thing? Why should I listen to his arrangements? But wearing it once doesn't seem like a big deal. It's a holiday. It's just for fun... and more besides.

Just as he was about to regret it, a slight pressure suddenly touched the top of his head.

Shi Qi came back to himself.

At some point, Shang Sui had returned. He gently settled the headband onto Shi Qi's head.

Shi Qi lifted his eyes to look at him. His long curled lashes trembled faintly. His soft hair almost blended into the pale golden fluff at the base of the headband, and those pointed little cat ears looked as if they had grown right out of his head.

Shang Sui smiled.

It suited him even better than expected.

Shi Qi thought he was being laughed at and asked, displeased, 'What do you mean by that?'

The one he had picked for Shang Sui was a striking demon headband that even lit up. What was the point of choosing something fluffy for him?

Looking at Shi Qi's awkward expression, Shang Sui pushed his luck and pinched one of his cat ears. Before Shi Qi could lose his temper, he praised him:

'Mm. As expected, the prettiest little cat in the world.'