The Master and His “Hound”

The next day, the moment Shi Ji pushed open his door, he was struck square in the face by a flying soft pillow.

He raised his hand to block the pillow. When he looked over, he met Li Chen’s eyes, which were filled with pure loathing.

With just one look, Shi Ji knew the boy had definitely misunderstood something.

After the incident last night, Shi Ji had intended to carry Li Chen back to his own room. However, he had encountered a servant getting up in the middle of the night.

Shi Ji looked at his own disheveled state, the unexplainable bite mark on his neck, and the unconscious Li Chen in his arms. He realized that if they were seen like this, things would spiral out of control.

Better to have one less problem than one more. Shi Ji had simply placed Li Chen in his own master bedroom and found a guest room to sleep in himself.

Upon waking, he heard the sound of things being smashed in his room.

Shi Ji tiptoed to avoid the shards on the floor. The Omega sitting on the bed glared at him, clutching the quilt to his chest with one hand as if Shi Ji were some stinky hooligan who had taken advantage of him.

“What did you do to me last night?!”

Li Chen gritted his back teeth. His beautiful misty-blue eyes looked ready to spit fire.

The only memory he had left from the previous night was the moment he kissed Shi Ji.

‘How could I possibly take the initiative to kiss Shi Ji??’

The more Li Chen thought about it, the more wrong it felt, so he naturally assumed Shi Ji had done something to him.

Furthermore, he could smell his own pheromones lingering on Shi Ji.

But Shi Ji acted as if he hadn’t heard a word. He walked over to the wardrobe and started changing his clothes.

He pulled off his shirt, revealing firm muscles. Li Chen’s gaze swept over Shi Ji’s exposed neck; the bite mark there was still clearly visible.

Li Chen’s face heated up. He gripped the corner of the quilt and cursed, “Shameless! Filthy! Scum! Disgusting…”

He dumped every derogatory word he had learned in his life onto Shi Ji.

“Are you done cursing?”

Shi Ji spoke flatly. He put on his suit jacket and began fastening the buttons as he walked toward Li Chen.

The Omega on the bed watched him warily, slowly backing away.

Shi Ji leaned down, meeting Li Chen’s eyes. He reached out and pulled the necktie lying behind Li Chen.

“I’m not interested in Omegas,” he remarked nonchalantly. His gaze swept over Li Chen’s face without lingering for a second. “What exactly do you think I could do to you?”

Li Chen froze slightly.

“If you understand—”

Shi Ji dropped his arm and looked at Li Chen with a cold gaze.

“—then get the f*ck out of my room.”

A look of stunned confusion flashed in Li Chen’s eyes. He looked up but didn’t move. His thin lips were pursed, his fingers gripped the quilt tightly, and his pupils trembled slightly.

Shi Ji arched an eyebrow and let out a cold laugh. He leaned in close; the other boy instinctively backed away, watching Shi Ji with the vigilance of a cat.

“Not leaving?” Shi Ji’s tone rose. An ambiguous smile appeared on his otherwise expressionless face. “Or do you actually want me to do something?”

As he spoke, he reached out a finger toward Li Chen’s cheek. Before he could touch him, Li Chen immediately jerked his head away and slapped Shi Ji’s hand aside.

He moved further back, his eyes swimming with disgust. Shi Ji was used to this expression. He straightened up and rubbed his fingers, which had been slapped red. “Tch. Boring.”

Shi Ji looked away, readjusted his glasses, and turned around. The moment he turned his back, he could barely maintain his icy facade. He let out a secret sigh of relief; the heart thumping in his chest was vibrating so hard it made him feel numb.

In that brief exchange with Li Chen, he was terrified the boy would get upset and pull out a knife to kill him again. The cold sweat on his neck slid over the wound from last night, making him hiss in pain.

Li Chen shouldn’t have discovered anything.

‘It just seems like he completely forgot what happened last night,’ Shi Ji thought.

He was about to head for the door when, after a few steps, Li Chen behind him suddenly moved and called out, “—Wait.”

Shi Ji’s footsteps halted. He accidentally stepped on his own heel and nearly tripped.

He swallowed hard and turned his head slightly.

Li Chen stared at the man’s back. After hesitating for a long while, he finally spoke. “The thing on your neck…”

The words felt inexplicably difficult to say. Li Chen’s brow knit together. After a moment of internal struggle, he lowered his eyes. “…Did I bite that?”

He finished the sentence quickly and looked up at Shi Ji. The man didn’t turn around, maintaining his posture.

Seeing no reaction, the silence grew increasingly awkward. Li Chen began to wonder if his voice had been too quiet and Shi Ji hadn’t heard him.

Just as he was wavering between “say it again” and “forget it,” Shi Ji finally moved. He still didn’t look back; he simply continued toward the door. Before stepping out, he tossed back three words nonchalantly:

“A dog bit it.”

After the system issued the mission, it went silent. No matter how many times Shi Ji called for it, the system never appeared.

This made Shi Ji very uneasy. He felt that since he was unwilling to complete the plot, the system would definitely choose a forced completion.

But the system wasn’t controlling his body. In what way would it finish the segment?

As the day for Li Chen’s school to start drew closer, Shi Ji suffered from insomnia for several days. Finally, he decided he could not let Li Chen act alone.

However, according to the original Shi Ji’s setting, he would never do something like sending people to secretly protect Li Chen. So, how could he keep Li Chen within his sight without breaking his persona?

This question felt like it was going to make his head explode.

He tried passing by Li Chen “casually” every day. After several times, Shi Ji made a bizarre discovery: this little puppy Li Chen seemed to hate him even more because of that “dog bit it” comment.

To the point that every time Shi Ji walked past, Li Chen would glare with those blue eyes and bare his teeth, looking as though he might pounce and give Shi Ji a few more bites at any moment.

Shi Ji was terrified and walked on eggshells.

Two days later, Shi Ji finally found a way.

His personal servant was leaving to get married in their hometown. The position was vacant. So, Shi Ji made a temporary decision to select one of the remaining servants to replace the previous one.

When the news broke, the entire villa erupted. Everyone knew that being Shi Ji’s personal servant meant a rank almost as high as the butler, with a salary several times higher.

Consequently, the servants scrambled to prove themselves, even wiping the windows cleaner than ever before.

But then, someone leaked another piece of news: Li Chen’s name was on the selection list.

Furthermore, some went as far as to say that being Shi Ji’s personal servant was awful—you had to wake up earlier than a rooster and sleep later than a dog. Plus, with Shi Ji’s numerous personality flaws, the previous servant hadn’t actually gone home to get married; he had used it as an excuse to escape Shi Ji.

Hearing this, the servants lost their enthusiasm. They dropped their tools and went on strike, declaring that whoever wanted this “unlucky” job could have it.

In the end, in this non-intense competition, Li Chen won by default.

Li Chen watched blankly as his belongings were packed and thrown into Shi Ji’s room. The person who delivered them even gave him two sympathetic looks before shutting the door.

Li Chen: “…”

Young Master Shi’s room was in an excellent location. Even in the height of summer, the room remained well-lit and cool without relying heavily on air conditioning.

The door clicked shut. Li Chen turned around and saw Shi Ji sitting by the window, sipping tea from a cup.

The scorching sun hung high outside, and sunlight spilled over the windowsill onto the crown of Shi Ji’s head. The hazy light outlined his profile, masking his usual sharpness and making him look much softer.

Hearing footsteps, Shi Ji turned his head and set down his tea. The bright light prevented Li Chen from seeing his expression clearly. Shi Ji beckoned him over, his thin lips moving: “Come here.”

He pointed to the empty chair opposite him.

Li Chen glanced at it but stayed put. He didn’t understand what Shi Ji was playing at by going to such lengths, but he was sure it wasn’t to make his life easier.

“Just say what you want,” Li Chen spoke coldly, his gaze darkening.

He really didn’t want to play these roundabout games with Shi Ji.

Shi Ji blinked and tilted his head in confusion. “In your eyes, am I just someone who loves looking for trouble for no reason?”

Li Chen couldn’t help but laugh.

His past experiences were still vivid. Which time had it not been Shi Ji looking for trouble and making him suffer? And now he had the nerve to say such a thing?

Li Chen squinted, feeling as though he could see the villainous heart beneath Shi Ji’s harmless mask.

Seeing the look in Li Chen’s eyes, Shi Ji realized his question had been pointless.

He cleared his throat and straightened his face.

“I said come here,” Shi Ji stated. “I don’t want to say it twice.”

Li Chen remained stubbornly in place, pursing his lips and looking at him with an air of “death before surrender.”

He sneered, “If you tell me to come, I have to come? You really do take me for a dog, don’t you?”

Shi Ji was stunned for a few seconds before he caught the implication in the boy’s words.

Narrow-minded.

He was still resentful about that “dog bit it” remark.

Shi Ji rolled his eyes internally.

He stood up, walked a few steps to stand before Li Chen, and looked the boy in the eye.

Then, Shi Ji suddenly raised his hand and pinched Li Chen’s chin. His thumb pressed against the corner of the boy’s mouth, forcing its way between his lips.

He maliciously poked at Li Chen’s canine teeth. The youth frowned and tried to pull away, but Shi Ji held him firmly. He lowered his eyelashes, leaned in, and whispered:

“That’s right. You are my dog.”

“So remember to keep your teeth tucked away. If you bite your master—”

“—you will be punished.”