The winter sun set quickly. By the time they arrived home, the sky was already completely dark.
Dim streetlights cast shadows across the asphalt road, fragmented by the black silhouettes of roadside trees, making everything look hazy and unclear.
The two walked out of the parking lot.
The community is a group of villas, each with a spacious garden and pool, completely separated from adjacent houses for privacy. The villa before them was a typical Chinese architectural style: white walls, gray tiles, pointed roofs. The security door at the entrance was slightly ajar, as if the people inside knew someone was coming home. Warm yellow light spilled through the crack, casting a glow on Qin You and Lian Yi.
Qin You couldn’t explain it, but he felt that this must be his home.
Because he was happy from the bottom of his heart when he saw it for the first time.
There was even an urge to rush in immediately.
Like the excitement engraved in the instinct of a young bird that has been flying for a long time when it sees its nest.
The exterior of the villa was exactly Qin You’s style, yet he had no memory of this place, so he looked down at Lian Yi.
Their eyes met, and Lian Yi explained, “I bought this house. We’ve lived here ever since we got married.”
Qin You raised an eyebrow.
He never thought that ten years later, he’d be the one living off his wife.
“When we were looking at houses for our wedding, you picked this place at first glance and wanted to buy it on the spot.”
Neither of them was in a hurry to go inside, they stood at the door. Lian Yi looked up at the villa, his gaze softened and wistful, as if remembering something.
“But, I’d already prepared this house long before that.”
Lian Yi smiled at Qin You, a hint of mischief in his smile that reminded Qin You of seventeen-year-old Lian Yi, from the day before his memory loss.
At that time, Lian Yi had waved goodbye at the classroom door, holding his workbook. And now, the Omega standing at their home’s entrance, smiling at him, somehow overlapped perfectly with that memory.
It seemed he hadn’t changed much, Qin You thought.
Lian Yi seemed to know what Qin You was thinking. He turned his head to look at Qin You, his eyes flashing with tenderness and hidden persistence.
“From the moment I first saw you, I wanted to live with you. When I saw this villa, I knew you’d like it. So, I chose to buy it as our future home.”
Qin You, I have loved you for a very long time.
Lian Yi took Qin You’s right hand, gently pressing his lips to the ring, his eyes locked onto Qin You’s.
That was the most passionate and secret love of his youth, hidden away in diary pages filled with an Alpha’s name. In the quiet of midnight, he could only dare to caress that name, unable to voice it to anyone.
His love felt like a fragile bubble floating in the light and shadow, breaking at the slightest touch, leaving only a damp trace of cherished memories on the ground.
But the near-loss of his Alpha had filled Lian Yi with unprecedented fear, making him realize, for the first time, the vulnerability of love.
So he chose not to hold back anymore, pouring out all his intense feelings at once.
The Omega no longer hesitated, fearing whether Qin You could accept his almost obsessive affection and possessiveness.
Lian Yi felt he was doing the bravest thing he had ever done in his 27 years. The courage it took was no less than when he was 22 and met Qin You again at the matching center.
When Lian Yi was first identified as an Omega in middle school, he did not expect that this would be the beginning of his nightmare.
In the summer of his second year, a boy in his class differentiated as an Alpha the day before Lian Yi experienced his first estrus.
Mood swings, irritability, loss of appetite—these could all be considered typical Omega reactions, yet he didn’t experience the expected heat.
The unusual part was that his nape began to swell and redden the next day, accompanied by a searing pain.
A hospital examination revealed that Lian Yi’s gland had been overstimulated by the pheromones from the differentiating Alpha, triggering an excessive defense mechanism.
An Omega’s gland, if incompletely developed, would be unable to properly receive and process the pheromones emitted by Alphas.
Generally speaking, the pheromones emitted by Alpha to Omega and Beta generally contain the meaning of courtship or comfort. However, between the same kind, such as Alpha to Alpha, the main function is deterrence and suppression.
Lian Yi’s glands cannot distinguish the difference very well.
His glands classify all pheromones as attacks and provocations, so they instinctively resist the approach of all pheromones.
However, this deficiency didn’t mean he had to avoid all pheromones.
Just as ABO pheromones and genes vary, each has multiple gene sites. If an Alpha’s genetic sequence happened to avoid all the receptor sites Lian Yi’s gland lacked, his gland could process that Alpha’s pheromones correctly.
However, current medical technology couldn’t determine which pheromone gene sites were affected by the deficiency.
This poor Omega might forever be waiting for such a needle-in-a-haystack possibility.
So, Lian Yi started a life dependent on inhibitors.
Sometimes, Lian Yi wondered if he’d always live like this, unsure of any reason to keep going.
Estrus left him feeling stripped of his humanity.
He would shiver under the covers, his gland aching for an Alpha’s mark, yet his hands would mercilessly inject the inhibitor into his veins.
When the pain was at its worst, he couldn’t sleep at all, lying in the dark staring at the ceiling.
An extension cord on the floor had a small light, and after turning off the bedside lamp, the room would be pitch black except for that faint blue glow from the extension cord.
He’d stare at that dim light, and sometimes, shadows would begin to form different shapes on the ceiling.
He’d lie there, eyes wide open, from dusk to dawn.
And from dawn until dusk.
Yet, the temporary fix of inhibitors wasn’t a long-term solution. Prolonged use harmed an Omega’s glands and reproductive abilities significantly.
Moreover, inhibitors could build up resistance, making oral and subcutaneous injections less effective over time, eventually requiring direct gland injections.
Still, a part of him was grateful.
Becoming an Omega had never been his wish. To succumb to any Alpha, just because of the so-called physiological superiority, is absurd and ridiculous in Lian Yi’s view.
Although the defect in his gland caused him suffering, it also gave him a sense of security.
He does not belong to any Alpha.
As an Omega, he could painfully exist in this fractured state, preserving his little remaining dignity.
However, all of that pride shattered completely when he met Qin You.
In his seventeen years, Lian Yi had never desired anything so intensely.
For the first time, he desperately wanted to become an Alpha’s Omega, willing to plead without dignity for him to sink his fangs into his tender skin. He imagined his arms wrapped around the Alpha’s neck, feeling the strength in his pulsing veins. When the Alpha’s muscles were exerted, those veins would stand out, intensely captivating.
It would belong to him.
Only to him.
But his gland condition made Lian Yi feel a sense of inferiority, and the timid Omega chose to keep his distance.
He stayed in the background, watching Qin You make new friends he didn’t know. He played ball with Wei Juncheng, Zhang Hao, and the others, laughing with them arm in arm about everything. Qin You went on to college and got a Beta boyfriend.
At that moment, Lian Yi was jealous to death.
So when Qin You later appeared in the matching center, indicating his single status, Lian Yi’s excitement made his hands tremble so much he nearly dropped the Alpha’s photo.
At 22, Lian Yi met Qin You again in the matching center.
While Qin You worried over his frailty, Lian Yi decided to use the Alpha’s kindness and empathy to tie him to his side.
And he kept him there for five years.
But fate played a huge joke on him. Just as he thought he had found his Alpha, the Gods brought him back into his orbit in a different way.
“Lian Yi.”
The Omega’s eyes were amazingly bright in the night. The love in them was too strong. Qin You avoided his eyes and stared at the asphalt road in a daze.
Long ago, before he had ever fallen for him, his Omega had already written him into his lifelong plans.
Qin You didn’t know how to respond to this devotion.
He had no right to thank or apologize for Lian Yi’s sacrifices. In matters of love, Lian Yi was more earnest and devoted than anyone. Once he loved someone, he would give everything, without asking anything in return.
Yet there was a strange irritation that Qin You couldn’t explain. He didn’t know how to express it or where to direct his frustration. It felt like his heart was slowly being gnawed at, a faint, tingling pain.
Qin You pressed his lips together. After a moment’s silence, he spoke again.
“If… I mean, if I don’t recover… what will you do?”
Lian Yi didn’t answer right away.
The night breeze lifted his coat hem, puffing out his trench coat and making the soft hair on his head curve into a funny shape.
Lian Yi didn’t seem to notice, he just stared at the ground in contemplation.
Qin You reached out to smooth his hair, gently brushing his bangs aside to reveal his beautiful eyes. Then, he wrapped an arm around Lian Yi, pulling his coat closer to quell the wind’s chill.
Putting Lian Yi’s hand in his pocket, Qin You realized that the Omega’s hand was freezing cold
“I don’t know.” Lian Yi spoke in a very calm tone.
He repeated, still looking at the ground. “But I know you have to stay by my side.”
Without you, I wouldn’t know how to live.
Qin You gave him a reassuring pat on the head, then fell silent.
He wrapped an arm around the Omega’s waist as Lian Yi guided him toward their home.
Together, their shadows melded under the streetlight.
Back at home, they removed their coats and changed their shoes in the entryway.
Aunt Fang, the housekeeper, had received Lian Yi’s call earlier and was waiting for them.
Seeing them arrive, she hurried over to take their coats and hang them up.
“You’re back, sir! Have you eaten?”
Aunt Fang, with her slightly graying hair, round face, and warm smile, exuded a kind demeanor.
Qin You nodded and said nothing
Lian Yi noticed Qin You’s fatigue and told Aunt Fang, “Aunt Fang, we came back a little late, have you eaten? Go to bed early, don’t worry about us. Is the soup I asked you to keep warm this morning still ready? Ah You can have a bowl tonight.”
“Oh, I remember it. It’s in the rice cooker, I’ll go get it.”
“It’s red date and longan soup,” Lian Yi touched the Alpha’s hair, which had grown just a bit longer over the week. “The longan is sent by my mother, it’s very sweet. You haven’t eaten anything tonight, so have a bowl before you rest, okay?”
Qin You didn’t object. Remembering that Lian Yi hadn’t eaten either, he reminded him, “You get a bowl too.”
Lian Yi’s smile returned, crescent-shaped as ever. He kissed the Alpha on the forehead and ran to the kitchen to get the bowls.
Just as Lian Yi entered the kitchen, Qin You heard the phone ringing.
