Snowfall and Scars

The door to the penthouse suite opened after only two knocks.

One of the twins stood in the doorway.

The room was brightly lit. Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows, Jiang City’s nightlife stretched out below in a sea of lights.

The tall Alpha wore a bathrobe. Damp blond hair stuck up messily, still dripping water.

“You really came.”

He spoke in English.

The tone was cold and dismissive.

Xiaotian immediately recognized him as Bitta Visse.

Bitta stepped aside and let him enter.

Inside, Rhein Visse sat on the sofa holding a glass of red wine.

He glanced at Xiaotian once.

That was all.

Despite the heating, Xiaotian felt goosebumps rise across his skin.

Bitta walked over, grabbed his chin, and turned his face from side to side as though inspecting an object.

“The damned Zhao Guipu,” he said to his brother. “Where did he find a stand-in like this?”

“He does resemble him.”

“A little.”

“He must know we obtained the surveillance footage.”

“Obviously.”

“He’s provoking us.”

The brothers exchanged a brief conversation in Italian before Bitta turned back to Xiaotian.

He calmly informed him that if anything that happened tonight ever left this room, he would not live to see another sunrise.

The Visse family’s influence might not be centered in China, but that didn’t mean they lacked methods.

Xiaotian thought about it.

Then asked hopefully:

“So you’re not planning to kill me tonight?”

For the first time, a trace of softness crossed Bitta’s beautiful eyes.

“When you look this naïve,” he said quietly, “you do resemble him a little.”

Rhein looked at his brother.

Then at Xiaotian.

“Kneel.”

Xiaotian obeyed.

Whether it was fear or the suffocating pressure of two top-tier Alphas, he wasn’t sure.

“Do you know what you did wrong?”

Rhein’s dark prosthetic eye shifted slightly.

“For hurting me.”

Xiaotian had absolutely no idea what he was talking about.

Still, he’d survived this industry for years.

He understood enough.

There was a black-haired Beta.

There was a story involving an “one-eyed shepherd.”

And tonight, he was clearly standing in for someone else.

“Yes, sir.”

Those four words marked the beginning of the strangest night of his life.

The Visse twins treated him less like a person and more like a shadow.

A placeholder.

Someone they could project another face onto.

At times they were gentle.

At times cruel.

Their moods shifted unpredictably.

One moment Bitta would touch his face as though handling a priceless work of art.

The next moment all warmth vanished.

They repeatedly asked questions that clearly weren’t meant for him.

Was he still as innocent as before?

Why had he run away?

Would he leave again?

Xiaotian realized quickly that none of it was actually about him.

They were speaking to someone else.

Someone who wasn’t there.

Someone they had spent years chasing.

Someone they had never forgotten.

By dawn, Xiaotian was exhausted physically and emotionally.

He felt less like a human being and more like a prop in a play he didn’t understand.

As morning approached, Bitta lifted him carefully from the floor.

Like handling something fragile.

“Close the curtains,” he told Rhein.

“The sunlight is too bright. I can see a mole beside his nose.”

He sounded almost dissatisfied.

Xiaotian wanted to protest.

It’s a beauty mark. I paid money for it.

But he barely had enough energy left to think.

The curtains closed.

Darkness swallowed the room again.

It felt as though night had never ended.

Then came the final act.

The twins gave Xiaotian a temporary mark.

Not because he was important to them.

Not because they desired him.

But because he happened to be standing in the place of someone else.

The overwhelming force of two top-tier Alpha pheromones hit him like a storm.

Pain.

Pressure.

Suffocation.

His body reacted violently.

The bitter scent of their pheromones seemed to seep into every part of him.

Even then, the twins continued speaking.

“Why did you leave us?”

“We could have given you everything.”

“Does it hurt?”

“You always fight back when you’re hurting.”

Their voices softened.

They called out names.

“Wu.”

“Captain.”

“Xiao Qie.”

Xiaotian didn’t know who any of those names belonged to.

He only knew that by the end of it he could no longer stay conscious.

When the twins finally released him, he was saturated with their scent to such an extent that no Alpha or Omega would willingly come near him for a very long time.

He was a Beta.

And yet they had marked him anyway.

To this day, Xiaotian could not understand why.

His last clear memory was vomiting into a trash can before collapsing unconscious.

Even at the very end, Xiaotian never learned whose substitute he had been.

But before passing out, he found himself sincerely wishing that whoever the real person was—

A black-haired, pale-skinned Beta, probably—

Would stay hidden forever.

Because no one deserved to be found by those two.

The next day was the final full day of joint training.

And, more importantly, the day before the Visse twins would finally return to Italy.

The temperature in the mountains dropped sharply overnight.

Wu Qie woke up sneezing beneath a blanket.

Outside, the entire courtyard had been transformed into a world of snow.

White everywhere.

When he opened the door, he could hear voices and splashing water from nearby courtyards.

Everyone was taking advantage of the snowfall and the hot springs.

The atmosphere around training had become increasingly relaxed.

The head coach officially canceled morning practice and ordered everyone to enjoy the day.

Breakfast would be delivered directly to their rooms.

The group chat exploded with celebration.

After washing up, Wu Qie received breakfast, tipped the hotel staff, changed into a bathrobe, and headed for the outdoor hot spring.

This time he had learned his lesson.

Even if a panda capable of doing backflips showed up and knocked on his door, he wasn’t opening it.

The hot spring felt wonderful.

Snow drifted down around him while sulfur-scented steam rose into the cold air.

For a while he simply floated there with his eyes closed.

Eventually he picked up his phone.

And immediately discovered the biggest piece of gossip from the previous night.

The black-haired Beta who had accompanied Zhao Guipu to the banquet had apparently been found outside the Visse twins’ suite that morning.

Covered in Alpha scent.

In terrible condition.

His hair had been shaved.

Even his eyelashes had been cut.

The news came from Lanyin, accompanied by several horrified stickers.

The verdict was simple:

The Visse twins were completely insane.

Wu Qie didn’t need an explanation.

He knew exactly what had happened.

Trying to steal surveillance footage from Zhao Guipu’s company was equivalent to dancing on Zhao’s face.

And Zhao Guipu was not the sort of man who tolerated that.

The fake video.

The bribed security guard.

The stand-in.

Every piece had clearly been part of his plan.

And when the twins insisted on seeing what they wanted so badly—

Zhao had handed them a substitute.

Go ahead.

Look all you want.

Wu Qie sank deeper into the water.

He wanted to ask whether Xiaotian was still alive.

In the end, he called Zhao Guipu instead.

The call connected quickly.

The man sounded slightly out of breath, apparently out for a morning run.

“Morning.”

Wu Qie froze for a second.

Last night they’d said goodnight.

This morning they were talking again.

It felt strangely domestic.

As though these calls had somehow become routine.

He told Zhao what he’d heard.

Then carefully asked:

“Is it true?”

Silence.

Then:

“Yes.”

Wu Qie gripped his phone.

“How is he?”

“Alive.”

Just that.

Alive.

“The money was enough for a hair transplant,” Zhao said lightly.

“Probably enough for skin grafts too.”

Silence.

Then Zhao finally understood what the call was really about.

“You think I’m cruel?”

“Yes.”

“That hurts.”

His voice carried a faint laugh.

But Wu Qie couldn’t tell how much of it was a joke.

He stared at the water.

For the first time, his emotions weren’t directed only toward Xiaotian.

He also felt complicated about Zhao.

After all—

Zhao Guipu had never been obligated to do any of this for him.

He spent several minutes floating aimlessly in the hot spring before climbing out.

After drying off and putting on his robe, he took a photograph of the snowy courtyard.

Then sent it to Zhao.

The caption was simple:

It snowed.

Nothing more.

But he hoped Zhao would understand what he really meant.

I’m not angry.

Thank you.

Don’t be upset.

It was the first time he’d ever tried to coax an Alpha.

He had no idea whether it would work.

After finishing his run and taking a shower, Zhao checked his messages.

The moment he saw the photo, he understood.

Perfectly.

The awkward apology.

The roundabout concern.

The attempt at reconciliation.

It was all there.

He laughed softly.

Then enlarged the image.

In the reflection of the glass door, he could see Wu Qie standing there in a white bathrobe.

Whoever had taught the young man how to wear a hotel robe had done a terrible job.

The belt was tied loosely.

The collar hung open.

His ankles looked impossibly thin.

The contrast of black hair against pale skin was startling.

For a moment Zhao found himself remembering another image entirely.

A video.

A pair of legs suspended helplessly in midair.

His expression darkened.

Not long afterward, Wu Qie called again.

The first thing out of his mouth was:

“Are you really angry with me?”

“I wasn’t trying to sound ungrateful.”

Zhao fell silent.

Then said:

“The money was well spent, Wu Qie.”

He rarely called him by his full name.

“If you fell into their hands…”

His voice lowered.

“They would treat you far worse than they treated that escort.”

The line went completely silent.

Wu Qie had evidently been shocked speechless.

Zhao sighed.

Some people were like blank sheets of paper.

Someone would either write their name all over them…

Or tear them apart trying.

After hanging up, Zhao looked at the snow photo again.

His thumb hovered between Save and Delete.

Three seconds passed.

Then he closed his eyes.

And deleted the photograph from the chat history.

Only on his side.

The conversation ended there.