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The wooden door only made a muffled thud when it slammed shut. Gu Yunchi locked his grip around Wen Ran's wrist and pinned him against the door, then flicked the bolt with a click.

Wen Ran's brain went blank. He figured Gu Yunchi was going to lock him in here and beat him up, so he didn't dare breathe. The Bathroom was narrow, the window small. Outside was a grove of trees, no moonlight getting through. In the dim dark he could barely make out a few blurry shapes.

Close. So close Gu Yunchi's breath was right at the tip of Wen Ran's nose. The Alpha's body heat rolled over him like water, wrapping him up. Some sixth sense in his skin told Wen Ran that Gu Yunchi was staring at him through the dark. That locked-on feeling panicked him. He wanted to reach up and touch Gu Yunchi's forehead, but they were too close—the moment he raised his hand he hit Gu Yunchi's waist, and couldn't go any higher.

"You feeling okay?" Wen Ran tried to pull free of the wrist Gu Yunchi had locked down, but couldn't move it an inch. He swallowed, figured out this probably wasn't about getting hit, and asked, "Want me to turn it down? Did you get heatstroke?"

Gu Yunchi spoke. Didn't answer. Asked instead: "Why are you clinging to me all day long."

"Clingy? Isn't that just normal hanging out?" Wen Ran was thrown off, couldn't figure out where he'd been clingy, and mumbled to himself in a daze, "Clingy...?"

"Sometimes I really think you're putting on an act, and it's too fake." Gu Yunchi spoke slowly, voice low. "But after watching you long enough, I figured out you might just be missing half a brain."

No idea why he was attacking him again, but Wen Ran defended his own brain: "I got twenty-eighth in the whole grade on last semester's finals." He even beat several S-Class students—at least that proved his intelligence wasn't the problem.

Gu Yunchi couldn't be bothered to listen to his grade report. "Don't you already know."

When he said that, he seemed to lean in even closer, head lowered. Wen Ran shrank his neck in, his heartbeat belatedly picking up. He asked, dumbly: "Know what?"

"What do you think." Gu Yunchi held his wrist, tone calm. "Weren't you asking me about the smoke thing just yesterday."

……

The usually loud insect chirping outside sounded faint against their overlapping breaths. The dark hid their faces and eyes well. Wen Ran was stiff as a board, still hadn't processed anything, when Gu Yunchi took his hand and pulled him over to the sink. Gu Yunchi rinsed Wen Ran's hand clean, then flipped the bolt and pushed him out of the Bathroom.

Wen Ran stood dazed at the Bathroom door, staring at Xiaohei for a bit, dried his hands on his pants, walked over, sat down on the little stool, and started mending the fishing net.

A few minutes later the Bathroom door opened and Gu Yunchi came out. Wen Ran didn't dare lift his head, just kept mending his net under the moonlight, over and over. Gu Yunchi walked straight back to the house.

The heat hadn't left his face yet. Wen Ran planned to keep mending until he calmed down, until Gu Yunchi fell asleep, but not long after, footsteps came up behind him, and then a beam of light hit right on his hands. Wen Ran turned to look—Gu Yunchi had come out with a flashlight.

Neither spoke. In a strange, peaceful kind of atmosphere, Wen Ran mended the net while Gu Yunchi held the light for him.

It was a bizarre, feverish kind of night.

He hadn't checked the time, but Wen Ran knew he probably didn't fall asleep until past midnight. Gu Yunchi, on the other hand, was perfectly at ease—lay down and was out in no time. Leaving Wen Ran alone, tossing and turning, every now and then stealing a look at Gu Yunchi's profile in the faint moonlight through the window, then rubbing his own palm, still feeling like there was some wetness there that wouldn't dry.

So naturally he woke up late. Through the haze, Wen Ran heard Gu Yunchi on the phone at the foot of the bed, but his ears felt stuffed with cotton, everything muffled. By the time he finally woke up for real, he was the only one left in the room.

Wen Ran sat up, zoned out for a bit, then got out of bed and pulled open the door—only to crash face-first into Gu Yunchi, who was just about to open it.

Gu Yunchi pulled his hand back, glanced at Wen Ran: "Eat breakfast."

They'd barely made eye contact for half a second before Wen Ran whipped his gaze away, ears burning, not knowing where to look, eyes darting, gave an "oh," and ducked past Gu Yunchi with his head down.

"You're up?" Aunt Liu came out of the kitchen carrying a steamer basket. "Steamed buns, come eat."

"Mm, gonna brush my teeth first."

He walked into the Bathroom. Wen Ran didn't dare look at that door panel, hurried through brushing his teeth. While washing his face, he caught a glimpse of Gu Yunchi walking out into the Courtyard in his peripheral vision. Wen Ran still had the towel pressed to his face, only his eyes showing, and he turned his head slightly to look.

Gu Yunchi was wearing an old black T-shirt. After two days of shucking corn, he seemed a little tanner. He stood there, tall—eating a steamed bun. The morning sunlight was clean, the wind kept blowing that one tuft of hair sticking up on his head, swaying back and forth.

Xiaohei was lured in by the smell of the bun, looked up at Gu Yunchi, tail wagging, hinting he share a bite.

Gu Yunchi looked down at him for a few seconds. "Sit."

Good as gold, Xiaohei sat. Gu Yunchi broke off a small piece of bun and tossed it to him. Xiaohei immediately stretched his neck out and caught it in his mouth. Gu Yunchi watched him and smiled a little: "Good boy."

The towel had gone warm against his face. Wen Ran drifted back to himself and looked away.

While they ate breakfast, Qiuqiu was drawing beside them. When she finished, she shyly showed Wen Ran.

Two people standing in front of a house, one of them holding the other's finger—the same pose Wen Ran and Gu Yunchi had used for their photo the day before.

"You drew it really well," Wen Ran said.

His heart was actually pounding. Yesterday afternoon, holding Gu Yunchi's clean-living index finger, he never could've imagined that by night Gu Yunchi would have him gripping something else entirely.

He gulped down the last of his porridge, took his bowl to the kitchen to wash, and when he came out Gu Yunchi was just walking into the living room. While Qiuqiu took the drawing to show Gu Yunchi too, Wen Ran slipped out to the Courtyard to help Aunt Liu shuck corn.

"Still having a tiff with Xiao Gu?" Aunt Liu asked.

"Huh? No, no." Wen Ran stammered. "He's just in a bad mood, it's nothing."

"You young people love to fight over nothing, keep everything bottled up, then look back and regret it." Aunt Liu smiled. "So young, you've got such a long road ahead. While you're together, cherish it."

She stood up: "I'm taking Qiuqiu to the store to buy some vegetables, and I'll check if Old Liu's back." She turned and saw Gu Yunchi coming out. "Xiao Gu done eating? Come shuck with Xiao Wen, I'm heading out."

Gu Yunchi gave an "mm," came over, and sat down on the little stool.

Once Aunt Liu and Qiuqiu left, all that was left in the Courtyard was the rustle of corn husks being peeled.

Actually, Wen Ran completely understood what Gu Yunchi had done last night. Physical reasons, no choice but to make do with his hand. If there'd been any other option at all, Gu Yunchi would've never swallowed his disgust and let Wen Ran be part of it.

In short, this should be even harder for Gu Yunchi to get over and settle down from.

So Wen Ran decided to be the one to move past it. He kept shucking corn, asked in as casual a tone as he could manage: "Were you on the phone with BDH-339 this morning?"

"Calling grandpa," Gu Yunchi said. "Having him send someone to pick us up this afternoon."

Wen Ran froze. "That fast?"

Gu Yunchi asked, flat: "How long do you want to stay."

Wen Ran shook his head, said quietly: "Whatever you decide."

Maybe it didn't have to be this fast. Gu Yunchi probably couldn't stand to stay because of last night—needed to put distance between them right away, go back to Capital City and find some other Omega to take care of it.

Suddenly he didn't have the energy to keep talking. Wen Ran quietly shucked corn, didn't say anything more.

The Neck Ring suddenly beeped twice, battery completely dead, shut off. Wen Ran froze. A moment later he started smelling Gu Yunchi's Pheromone. That scent, for a split second, reminded him of yesterday—when he'd snuck closer while Gu Yunchi was sleeping—and his heartbeat did that weird fast thing again.

Pheromones really are an evil thing, Wen Ran thought.