Wish

Drifting clouds veiled the moon, plunging the Alpha's pale face into shadow, his gaze like a cold, thin blade.

Shang Sui beside him was smiling, but it was anything but friendly.

Trapped in the dream, Shi Qi's thoughts moved sluggishly.

Seeing him unable to speak, Shang Sui seemed even more displeased and pinched his waist.

'Xiao Qi?'

Shang Sui's voice was sinister, his face clearly saying, 'Give me an explanation now.'

Shi Qi had no clue, so he simply followed his instincts.

The one beside him went without saying, but even the younger Shang Sui downstairs seemed like someone familiar.

Shi Qi grabbed him: 'Come with me.'

Shang Sui: '?'

Shi Qi sent a message to the Alpha downstairs.

[Can you pick him up too?]

The other replied quickly: [No way. Tell him to get lost.]

Afraid Shi Qi might misunderstand, the Alpha added: [The tone isn't aimed at you.]

'Wow, this guy has terrible manners.'

Shang Sui leaned over to glance at the phone and said disdainfully, 'Too bad, I don't want him touching me either. I'm afraid I'll catch something.'

'...'

Shang Sui's tone was light: 'So I'll take you down instead, Princess.'

With that, he tightened his arms and pulled Shi Qi into his embrace.

The night wind from outside brushed past his ear. Before Shi Qi could react, the other stepped onto the windowsill and leaped directly from the third floor of the villa.

Even holding him, Shang Sui landed with an extremely soft sound, like some silent, agile beast.

He looked at the Alpha a few steps away, whose face resembled his own, and said reluctantly, 'Xiao Qi said we're celebrating together, so I'll have to make do with you.'

Compared to Shang Sui, the Alpha was much colder.

He didn't respond, but glanced at Shi Qi: 'Let's go.'

To leave the courtyard, they had to climb the wall. The Alpha hesitated briefly, then reached out a hand to Shi Qi.

Shi Qi vaguely felt Shang Sui staring at him. If he took that hand, Shang Sui would surely cause a huge scene.

Shi An and Jiang Li were still there. If these two started fighting, they wouldn't be going anywhere today.

Shi Qi said decisively, 'I'll do it myself.'

Climbing walls was practically routine for him.

He climbed up quietly, then, thinking of something, deliberately stood on the wall and looked next door.

The meteorite Border Collie was huddled under a tree, trembling silently. Usually, it would bound over excitedly when it saw people.

Why was it so scared today?

As if reading Shi Qi's thoughts, the Alpha explained in a low voice on the way, 'I only looked at it once. I didn't do anything else.'

As he spoke, he took Shi Qi's hand: 'The festival fair is crowded. I'm afraid you'll get lost.'

The moment he finished, Shi Qi's other hand was grasped by someone else. Shang Sui said naturally, 'I'm afraid I'll get lost.'

The Alpha couldn't take it anymore: 'Are you sick? Can you look at how big you are?'

Shang Sui: 'You're not sick? Go look in a mirror. Your jealousy is practically spilling over. Didn't you see how scared you made that dog?'

Shi Qi was caught in the middle, the two on either side staring at each other across him, their fox-like eyes radiating murderous intent, as if they wanted to kill the other version of themselves.

For a moment, Shi Qi wanted to say, why don't you two just hold hands? You'd make a good pair.

'So,' Shi Qi suddenly asked, 'am I in a dream?'

No one answered.

Shi Qi continued to himself, 'Why am I having such a strange dream?'

'Take a guess,' Shang Sui said jokingly. 'Maybe even in your dream, you miss me a lot.'

'...' The Alpha snorted. 'You sure know how to flatter yourself.'

Bickering all the way, they arrived at the festival fair. On the distant lakeshore, thousands of lanterns floated, their continuous glow rising and falling like swimming dragons with shimmering scales.

For thousands of years, the people of Qi Jiang had written their wishes on lanterns, letting them drift across the lake, symbolizing their hopes reaching the ears of the gods.

'By the way, how did you sneak out?' Shi Qi remembered the three guards at the Alpha's house. 'Did you use the method I taught you?'

He had observed them before; the three guards each had their own habits and would slip away at different times.

The Alpha hesitated for a moment: 'Mm, it worked well.'

But Shang Sui let out an inexplicable laugh beside them.

Hearing that he had helped him, Shi Qi's eyes curved slightly: 'You still haven't told me why you were locked up there.'

The Alpha didn't answer, but suggested, 'Let's go release lanterns?'

Shi Qi nodded.

They bought two square lanterns from a young female vendor. Seeing the three of them holding hands, with two looking very similar, she smiled and asked, 'Out with your brothers? You must be close.'

As she spoke, she looked at Shi Qi in the middle.

Unlike the other two Alphas, his appearance and temperament were exceptionally clean. His watery eyes tilted slightly upward, drawing more attention than the dazzling lanterns.

Shi Qi was about to speak.

'No, he's with me, his boyfriend,' Shang Sui said darkly. 'The one next to me is some gloomy creep who came out of nowhere.'

Boyfriend?

Triggered by a certain keyword in Shang Sui's words, the Alpha looked at Shi Qi.

To be honest, Shi Qi was a bit older than him now, but Omegas were generally more slender and shorter than Alphas. Even the younger Shang Sui could easily pick him up.

The Alpha tightened his grip on Shi Qi's hand, then looked at his future self and said to the vendor, 'He's not quite right in the head. Sorry.'

The vendor hesitated: 'But don't you two look the same...?'

They exchanged a knowing glance and both made a gagging motion.

Even at this point, they still held tightly to Shi Qi's hands, as if they would never let go.

The scene grew increasingly bizarre. Finally, the vendor couldn't help but look at the object of their dispute: 'Um, do you need help?'

She leaned close to Shi Qi and whispered, 'The Thousand Lantern Festival patrol is right over there! They can call the police!'

More and more people gathered, all staring at them.

'You two,' Shi Qi said with a sharp tone, 'are you done?'

The pulling force from both sides stopped simultaneously, then released.

Two nearly identical faces looked at him at the same time, speaking one after the other:

'I was wrong.'

'I'm sorry.'

Perhaps because they were essentially the same person, their expressions were strikingly similar—both slightly lowering their eyes, looking very obedient.

If you ignored the fact that they were still secretly glaring at each other.

'...' Shi Qi had no choice. 'I'm going to write on the lantern.'

Before leaving, he specifically said, 'Don't fight.'

Shi Qi walked to a nearby long table, picked up a pen, and wrote his wish stroke by stroke.

He could feel the seriousness in his heart as he wrote, but he couldn't see what he was writing or what wish he was making.

In the dream, his consciousness was sometimes clear, sometimes blurred. Everything was like looking at flowers through a fog, not entirely guided by his will, as if following a predetermined fate.

'Done writing?'

Shang Sui and the Alpha came to find him.

Perhaps because of the earlier commotion, the two didn't start arguing again. Shang Sui's hands were empty; only the Alpha carried a lantern, apparently having written something too.

They went to the lakeshore. When releasing the lantern, the Alpha crouched down, and Shi Qi unconsciously looked at him.

As if sensing his gaze, the Alpha glanced sideways at him. Unlike his adult self, his features weren't as aggressive as Shang Sui's, but more restrained and cold.

Shang Sui suddenly asked, 'Will you remember this annoying face of his when you wake up?'

Strange.

Even though he was very familiar with Shang Sui, he had never seen what he looked like at seventeen or eighteen, nor had he seen any photos. So why was the image in the dream so vivid?

Seeing Shi Qi silent, the Alpha pressed his lips together slightly.

As if sensing the other's bad mood, Shang Sui said matter-of-factly, 'It's probably better not to remember, right? A deadpan face, moody personality, hurts you at the slightest misstep—not likable at all.'

'No,' Shi Qi denied. 'I don't think that.'

'Look over there!'

'The fireworks are starting—'

The crowd's noise drowned out Shang Sui's voice. Shi Qi felt a pull in his heart and instinctively stepped forward.

'...I see.'

Shang Sui smiled.

People gathered by the lake, waiting for the fireworks on Lake Center Island.

When Shi Qi looked back, he found only one person beside him.

At some point, Shang Sui's figure had vanished, leaving only him and the Alpha. Shi Qi realized belatedly and looked down at his hand.

His arms became more slender, his height changed accordingly, and everything in his field of vision seemed taller, while he himself had become the appearance of a youth who had not yet undergone Differentiation.

Everything felt natural, as if the dream was meant to be this way.

Shen Qianyu had once said that during the medication process, memories and imagination could blend, and people who didn't exist in one's memory might also appear.

Correspondingly, he might encounter a 'guide of memory.'

The 'guide' would appear in a familiar form, subtly leading him toward the truth of his memories.

If 'Shang Sui' was the guide of memory, his appearance meant he was approaching the fragmented truth. Then what did the younger Alpha, whose face was identical to Shang Sui's, signify...?

Before Shi Qi could think it through, a booming sound came from afar.

At ten o'clock sharp, fireworks began on Lake Center Island.

Layers of flowers bloomed in the night sky, the lights on the water like reflections of the fireworks. The boundary between sky and earth blurred, as if day and night had reversed.

The Alpha looked at him for a moment, then suddenly asked, 'What did you wish for?'

With Shang Sui's disappearance, the dream seemed to gradually fall into place, and Shi Qi could finally remember what he had written on the lantern.

'I hope... Shang Sui can have an easier time.'

Shi Qi heard his younger self say.

The Alpha—or rather, the younger Shang Sui—looked at him in surprise.

'You always seem unhappy, like you have a lot of secrets,' Shi Qi said, looking into his eyes. 'But being locked in a house, even a pretty one, can't be fun. I didn't know what else to do, so I wished for you to have an easier time... What about you?'

'I'm sorry,' Shang Sui said in a low voice. 'I lied to you.'

'Huh?' Shi Qi was startled.

'I wasn't locked up there. The people you thought were guards are actually just my family's bodyguards.'

'I'm not very good at dealing with people right now. I haven't been around strangers in a long time.'

A voice inside said that saying this would only make things stranger, but after struggling for a long time, Shang Sui chose to confess:

'But I wanted to see you again.'

The sound of fireworks exploded in Shi Qi's ears, deafening, like a gradually quickening heartbeat.

On that summer night when he was fourteen or fifteen, he experienced this light, wonderful feeling for the first time.

When he kept running into that house full of Endless Summer, it turned out another person was secretly planning, just as eager to meet him.

Afraid he might back out halfway, Shang Sui sped up his words: 'I was afraid you'd find me boring and stop coming, so I made them do that.'

'You lied to me?' Shi Qi thought of how he had carefully avoided those 'guards' before. 'So sometimes, you couldn't help but laugh?'

'No! I wasn't laughing at you.' Shang Sui quickly said. 'I just thought... you were interesting.'

As if realizing 'interesting' wasn't a great word in this situation, he apologized again: 'I didn't mean to make fun of you. Sorr—'

'Alright.' Shi Qi interrupted him.

Shang Sui's heart sank.

But he was in the wrong first. Even if Shi Qi was angry and didn't want to see him again, it was only fair.

Shi Qi thought for a long time. Just as Shang Sui expected him to tell him to leave, Shi Qi suddenly started ordering food: 'Tomorrow I want molten chocolate cake, raspberry ice cream, lemon cream puffs, and apple pie.'

He rattled off a long list of desserts. Realizing Shi Qi was giving him an out, Shang Sui immediately agreed: 'Okay.'

Seeing this, Shi Qi tilted his head and looked at him: 'I used to hate Alphas.'

Shang Sui couldn't keep up with his rhythm and repeated, 'Hate...?'

So funny.

Shi Qi thought.

Seeing that expression for the first time—he looked so dumb.

'Someone I knew Differentiated into an Alpha.'

Thinking of Fu Siyue constantly nagging him to Differentiate into an Omega so they could get married, Shi Qi wanted to kick him away.

Marriage.

Go marry yourself, idiot.

'Alphas are all arrogant and conceited, like they think they're better than everyone else. But I think you're different from them.'

Shi Qi's eyes sparkled as he looked at Shang Sui, even finding him more attractive than the lonely figure he'd first seen: 'Knowing you did it on purpose... I think I'm really happy.'

Seeing Shang Sui completely stunned, he started to feel shy and brought the topic back: 'So what was your wish?'

Shang Sui said belatedly, 'It's already come true.'

He remembered writing his wish nervously on the lantern. After that Thunderstorm Day when they slept in each other's arms, he had gradually realized he didn't want to hide things from Shi Qi.

He had successfully kept the angel who passed by his window, and greedily wished for more—hoping she would accept him as he truly was.

'I hope that when I confess today, Shi Qi won't be mad at me.'

...

Shi Qi's eyelids fluttered slightly as he slowly woke from the long dream.

Someone was gently stroking his back. Even after he fell asleep, the motion hadn't stopped, trying to let him sleep more peacefully.

He opened his eyes and met a familiar pair of fox-like eyes in the dim light.

As if Shang Sui had been silently watching him, quietly accompanying him for a long time.

'Awake?' Shang Sui gestured toward the window. 'You slept for a long time. It's almost dark.'

The room was unlit. The setting sun, about to sink, cast a small, dusky shadow across Shang Sui's face through the window.

Shi Qi was dazed, unable to pull himself back from the dream.

If his guess was right, he had subconsciously chosen 'Shang Sui' as the guide of memory, appearing in a familiar form to subtly lead him to recall forgotten past events.

And the younger Shang Sui... was his lost memory.

The noisy bickering and mutual disdain between the younger self and the older one fit Shang Sui's personality as he remembered it.

Not wanting to put pressure on others, he always acted lightly, revealing only part of his true feelings in jokes.

He seemed to have understood the unspoken words of 'Shang Sui' in the dream.

Even if back then I had a deadpan face, a moody personality, and wasn't likable at all...

Can you not forget him, and not forget me?

'Why are you looking at me like that?' Shang Sui saw that he seemed very sad, his usually bright and clear eyes covered in a mist, and asked instinctively, 'Did you have a nightmare?'

Shi Qi didn't speak.

If I really forgot you, how did you feel when we met again, never showing a single hint of difference?

In the Courtyard of Huijian Restaurant, the first time we met after six years, what were you thinking then?

After a long time, Shi Qi finally answered in a low voice, 'It wasn't a nightmare.'

It was a dream like fate.

His emotions surging, he instinctively leaned forward and buried his head in Shang Sui's neck, breathing in the reassuring scent of his Pheromone.

Because of this clingy little move, Shang Sui's fingers stroking his back stopped: 'What's with the sudden cuddling?'

He heard Shi Qi's muffled voice: 'I really like you.'

'Is it because of what happened earlier?' Taking advantage of Shi Qi not being able to see, Shang Sui pretended to be unmoved. 'No can do, Xiao Qi. You were so provocative back then. When it's just the two of us, I won't go easy on you.'

After a moment, he couldn't help it anymore and laughed, pulling Shi Qi closer: 'But I feel the same way.'