Eternal Entanglement

The heat radiating from the person in front of him spiked suddenly. The warm water in the bathtub completely soaked his thin white shirt, making the fabric nearly transparent and revealing glimpses of skin beneath. Li Chen’s cheeks were quickly flushed deep red by the rising steam.

His burning fingers traced Shi Ji’s skin, his heaving chest pressing against Shi Ji’s own. Shi Ji was startled by the extreme temperature, realizing instantly: Li Chen was in heat.

Li Chen tilted his head, nuzzling against Shi Ji’s cheek. Shi Ji’s lips, slightly swollen from the previous kiss, moved softly: “Li Chen, you’re in heat.”

The youth, dazed and muddled, kissed the corner of his mouth and let out a muffled “mm.”

Even though the system had helped him block out external pheromones earlier, Li Chen had still been affected.

“Wait here,” Shi Ji tried to push his shoulders back. “I’ll go get you a suppressant.”

As Shi Ji attempted to stand, Li Chen grabbed his shoulders and yanked him down with sudden force. Shi Ji fell back into the water with a loud splash, waves spilling over onto the floor outside.

His tailbone hit the hard bottom of the tub, and the pain made Shi Ji’s features screw up. Li Chen glided through the water toward him, the ripples gently lapping against Shi Ji’s body.

Shi Ji’s pale skin was stained with a faint rose tint, most visible at his knees and elbows. His longish black hair clung to his flat back, framing two prominent shoulder blades—beautiful and alluring, making one want to leave marks upon them.

Li Chen lifted his gaze, his long, curled lashes heavy with droplets. As he blinked, a clear tear-like bead fell into the warm water below, creating circle after circle of tiny ripples.

He pinned Shi Ji into the corner, placing both hands on the man’s shoulders. Leaning in, his reddened eyes met Shi Ji’s: “I don’t want suppressants.”

His raspy voice echoed in the bathroom.

“I only want you.”

With that, he lowered his head and captured Shi Ji’s lips, his canines lightly nipping at the full petals. He seemed intent on devouring them, his hands wandering restlessly over Shi Ji’s body, wiping away the remaining traces of water.

In the enclosed space, it was hard to tell if the sound of kissing had drowned out the flowing water. Shi Ji’s ears turned so red they looked ready to bleed; the sensation of his lips being crushed left his mind a total blank.

His strength vanished completely. If Li Chen hadn’t been supporting his back, he likely would have slipped down the smooth porcelain and into the water.

The youth’s kisses grew increasingly frantic. He accidentally nicked Shi Ji’s lip, and the metallic taste of blood mingled with their saliva as they shared breaths. Shi Ji could no longer distinguish whose throat the liquid eventually slid down.

Li Chen’s hunger became more intense; a few kisses were no longer enough. After releasing Shi Ji’s lips, he moved down to the skin of his neck, sucking until a prominent red mark appeared. The hidden possessiveness in Li Chen’s heart was only slightly appeased.

Danger signals flared in Shi Ji’s mind. He moved his fingers, trying to push away the boy pressed against him. Sensing the rejection, Li Chen deliberately pressed even closer, until every inch of their skin was touching and their hearts beat together, separated only by ribs.

Shi Ji panted, his voice hoarse: “It’s not me you need.”

“I can’t mark you, and I don’t have pheromones.”

“What you need is…” Before Shi Ji could finish, Li Chen licked the corner of his mouth in dissatisfaction, trying to stuff the words back down.

Shi Ji turned his head slightly, dodging the invasion to finish his sentence in one breath: “What you need is an Alpha!”

He practically shouted the words. He breathed heavily, water sliding down his ivory chest. Droplets from his hair ran into his eyes; the stinging pain turned his eyes red.

“Stop doing this to me.”

Shi Ji stared wide-eyed, ignoring the pain in his eyes. He had to admit his lower abdomen was heating up—Li Chen had successfully roused his desire—but he didn’t want to do this.

Li Chen was an Omega, and he was a Beta; they belonged to different worlds. Moreover, he didn’t truly belong to this reality. What if he suddenly vanished one day?

He had to shatter Li Chen’s illusions.

Following the outburst, Li Chen stopped moving. The youth lowered his head, his bangs drooping like a dejected, abandoned puppy.

After a long silence, he bit his lip.

“But… I don’t like Alphas.”

Shi Ji’s pupils shook.

Li Chen slowly lifted his head, two clear tears rolling from the corners of his reddened eyes into the warm water.

“I still don’t understand why you keep pushing me away.”

“You clearly care about me too.”

His brows were tightly knit, and his tears wouldn’t stop. Under the influence of his heat, his emotions were fragile and sensitive.

“You were the one who approached me first,” Li Chen said, sounding close to a breakdown. “And now you’re trying everything to push me away!”

He reached out and poked Shi Ji’s chest.

“You think this is a game?!”

Those misty blue eyes were like a turbulent sea, ruthlessly dragging Shi Ji under. He felt himself sinking; Li Chen’s questioning left him with no answer.

It was true—he had approached Li Chen with an ulterior motive from the start.

Throughout the process, the youth in front of him had been the innocent victim.

What right did he have to lose his temper with Li Chen?

The tension in Shi Ji’s spine slowly drained away. He lowered his lashes and let out a helpless sigh.

Finally, he reached out, pulled Li Chen toward him, and pecked the boy on the chin.

“Just this once,” Shi Ji whispered.

In the next second, Li Chen hugged him tightly.

“Not just once.”

“I told you, I want to be with you forever.”

Lin Yi didn’t wake up until the following afternoon. His heat had been successfully suppressed by the medication. However, seeing the unfamiliar surroundings upon waking, he was startled.

When Shi Ji entered the room, Lin Yi was huddled in the corner with a blanket. The sensitive Omega burst into tears the moment he saw a familiar face, his eyes leaking like a broken faucet.

He threw off the blanket and ran toward Shi Ji with open arms, only to slam on the brakes when he saw Li Chen suddenly appear behind him. He made a sharp swerve and dove onto the soft bed instead.

Shi Ji watched the sequence of movements, his eye twitching slightly, before waving the servants out of the room.

“Everyone’s gone now, get up.” Once the last servant closed the door, Shi Ji stood by the bed with his arms crossed, lightly kicking Lin Yi’s leg.

The youth sat up instantly, looking timidly at Shi Ji: “This is…”

“My house,” Shi Ji said.

“You guys saved me last night?!” Lin Yi’s eyes widened, his gaze darting between Li Chen and Shi Ji. He frowned in thought, then looked conflicted. “Oh no, I don’t seem to remember what happened at all!”

Shi Ji raised an eyebrow. Seeing that Lin Yi wasn’t joking, he glanced at Li Chen. “Your doing?”

Li Chen gave a soft “mm.” “I didn’t want him to remember that.”

Shi Ji understood why. He cleared his throat and said, “You forgot? You went into heat suddenly and fainted by the road. We happened to be passing by.”

Lin Yi thought for a long moment. “Is that so…?”

Li Chen hadn’t just erased his memory; he had made sure the lingering marks on Lin Yi’s body disappeared as well. Thus, Lin Yi didn’t doubt it. He laughed boisterously. “Well, forget it then. Anyway, thanks Bro—”

He realized his slip and quickly corrected himself: “Thank you, Mr. Shi and classmate Li Chen!”

The familiar sudden “braking” in conversation reminded Shi Ji of Jiang Mo.

Lin Yi’s gaze turned subtle, especially when looking at Li Chen. There was a playful glint in his eyes.

“Li Chen, tell the truth. What were you doing last night?”

The energetic boy hopped over to Li Chen, circling him.

Shi Ji turned his head and noticed that Li Chen was wearing a low-collared sweater today, perfectly exposing his long neck and… the unmistakable mottled hickeys on his skin.

Shi Ji sucked in a breath. The brat hadn’t even tried to hide them; in fact, when Lin Yi leaned in, Li Chen tilted his head back to give him a better look.

The red marks of varying depths left little to the imagination. Sure enough, Lin Yi narrowed his eyes and put a hand on Li Chen’s shoulder. “Yo, you got a partner and didn’t tell me or Jiang Mo?”

“Which Alpha actually managed to catch you? Jiang Mo is going to cry himself to death, believe me!”

Li Chen glanced at him, his eyes deliberately sweeping over Shi Ji’s face. He ignored the frantic look the man was giving him and curved his lips into a smile. “It’s not an Alpha. He’s shy. I’ll introduce you if there’s a chance.”

After speaking, he even directed a smile toward Shi Ji.

Shi Ji rolled his eyes.

To kill Lin Yi’s burning gossip spirit in the cradle, Shi Ji quickly changed the subject: “By the way, why did you run out last night?”

At the mention of this, the smile vanished from Lin Yi’s face. He sat back on the bed, huffing. “Jiang Mo is going abroad.”

Shi Ji wasn’t surprised. In the original plot, the lead Alpha also went abroad, though the timeline seemed to have accelerated.

“But he kept it from me!” Lin Yi clenched his fists. “So we had a fight, and I ran out in a rage.”

“I didn’t even think about my heat coming; it wasn’t supposed to be these few days.”

“Luckily I ran into you, otherwise… I don’t even want to think about what would have happened.”

The little Omega shrunk his neck in fear.

“Do you want to go back now?” Shi Ji asked. “I’ll arrange a driver.”

Lin Yi thought for a few seconds, then shook his head. “No. Jiang Mo and I live across from each other. Until he apologizes, I’m not going back—”

Before he could finish, there was a knock at the door. Li Chen opened it to find a maid who whispered, “Mr. Shi, someone is at the door for you.”

“Who?”

The maid glanced around the room nervously. “He said his name is Jiang Mo.”

At that name, Shi Ji and Li Chen both instinctively looked at Lin Yi.

Lin Yi blinked, looking momentarily flustered.

“Have him come upstairs.” Shi Ji suppressed a smile. The maid hurried off, and a few moments later, Jiang Mo appeared at the door.

He pushed the door open and rushed to Lin Yi, pulling the Omega into a tight embrace.

Lin Yi’s eyes widened.

“You scared me to death. I’m so glad you’re okay,” Jiang Mo said in a low voice. “There was a murder case on the way here. I thought you were involved.”

The lack of emotional intelligence in that sentence made Lin Yi stomp on his foot.

“What do you mean by that?!”

Jiang Mo yelped in pain, looking aggrieved. “I’m not joking. I smelled your pheromones there.”

Beside them, Shi Ji and Li Chen realized something was wrong. After some questioning, they discovered the location of the incident was exactly where they had rescued Lin Yi.

“Three Alphas died in there. I heard it was gruesome,” Jiang Mo said. “But the police can’t find out who did it. The surveillance from last night only shows the three of them entering.”

At this, Shi Ji instinctively looked at Li Chen.

Li Chen shook his head innocently and grabbed Shi Ji’s wrist.

“It wasn’t me, Brother.”