Ning Zhu stood speechless for a moment, and the person behind the door remained silent as well.

A strange, inexplicable feeling enveloped him, making him feel uneasy. He felt certain his expression must have looked terrible at that moment—utterly dumbfounded.

He raised his hand to cover the peephole in the door, even though he knew Dou Changxiao wasn’t looking.

Silence hung heavy for a long time.

Ning Zhu frowned, unsure of what to say. Dou Changxiao, for his part, seemed unwilling to speak to him.

Gradually, without the warmth of the indoor heating, he began to feel the cold.

Just then, he heard Dou Changxiao’s voice: “It’s cold out here. Come back inside. You haven’t had… dinner yet.”

Ning Zhu: “……”

Dou Changxiao: “I’ll stay in my room. I won’t come out. I’m not lying to you this time.”

Then there was silence.

A few minutes later, Ning Zhu called out, “Changxiao.” When no one answered, he lowered his hand.

Ning Zhu felt that Dou Changxiao might actually keep his word this time—it was a strange, inexplicable intuition.

But in the end, he still didn’t go inside.

By the time Dou Changxiao regained consciousness, it was already noon the next day, with a few rays of sunlight streaming into the bathroom.

When he opened his eyes, he was still leaning against the bathroom sink, and the bathroom door was tightly shut. Everything was exactly as it had been before he locked himself in.

That Ning guy…

His lips felt dry, and he unconsciously licked them, feeling a slight stinging pain. This provided a bit of stimulation to his foggy brain, bringing him back to his senses a little.

Right, the handcuffs, the key…

Back then, he had smelled Ning Zhu’s pheromones and sensed he was about to lose control, so he returned to the bedroom and searched everywhere for something to restrain himself with. In the end, he had shackled himself to the marble.

He sat up slightly; his left hand moved freely. Dou Changxiao paused, looked down, and saw that the cuff on his left wrist was still securely fastened, yet the other cuff—which should have been locked to the marble pillar—was nowhere to be found.

Dou Changxiao: “……”

The bracelet stacked atop the handcuffs was covered in cracks. He pressed it twice, but there was no response. It was completely broken.

Only then did Dou Changxiao realize the air was thick with the scent of his pheromones—so intense it was almost unbelievable. If Ning Zhu had ever been back here, there was no way he could have missed it.

Fragments of memory began piecing themselves together in his mind, which had only just started up.

One of his own voices emerged first.

F…

Dou Changxiao’s face went pale. His coordination hadn’t returned yet; he practically crawled to his feet, calling Ning Zhu’s name in a panicked voice.

“…Ning Zhu?!”

He stepped out of the bathroom. The bed was empty.

He walked out of the bedroom.

“Ning Zhu!!”

The living room, the kitchen—no one was there.

He pushed open every door in the house, his voice growing increasingly desperate: “Ning Zhu! Ning Zhu!!”

No one was there.

He searched the entire Ning residence. Memories kept resurfacing in his mind, but they merely flashed by—like stacks of unprocessed documents, haphazardly piled together, which Dou Changxiao paid no heed to.

He went downstairs, feeling disoriented, his thoughts mired in a quagmire. He pushed open every door he saw, not even remembering that the door by the entryway led outside.

He reached out to push open this final door, but unexpectedly bumped into something hard. The door got stuck halfway open.

Dou Changxiao looked down and saw a section of a calf; the fabric of the dress pants fluttered slightly as the door hit it.

Then came the long, scraping sound of wood being dragged across the floor, and the part of the leg above that slender calf was fully exposed.

Outside the door, Ning Zhu sat in a chair, not standing up. He slid his body along the chair out of the door’s swing radius, facing Dou Changxiao.

Dou Changxiao unconsciously pushed the door open a little further, then took in the other person fully.

Ning Zhu sat on a chair of unknown origin, covered with a blanket of unknown origin, with a takeout bag of unknown origin beside him. His hair stood on end in disarray, and a row of red bite marks—some deep, some shallow—stretched from his chin all the way down to his collarbone.

Right at his own doorstep, living like a homeless person.

Ning Zhu also took him in from head to toe, offering a lukewarm smile.

“Oh my, you’re awake.”

Dou Changxiao: “……”

“You…” Dou Changxiao glanced at Ning Zhu’s wrinkled suit—it looked disheveled but was still intact. His tight throat loosened slightly. “Are you okay?”

“Am I okay?” Ning Zhu stared at him wide-eyed, genuinely baffled as to how the other man had the nerve to ask such a question.

Dou Changxiao hadn’t seen the chair Ning Zhu was sitting on in his home before; he deduced it must have been delivered while Ning Zhu had spent the night outside. The blanket was likely the same.

His gaze quickly swept over Ning Zhu’s nose, cheeks, and fingers; the skin was slightly reddened from the cold.

…This person hadn’t even dared to step inside the door last night.

Dou Changxiao finally found the mental space to sort through those jumbled memories, beginning to string together the scattered pieces. He also traced the origin of the bite marks on Ning Zhu’s body back to his own memories.

He had done many… excessive things. But thankfully, the worst-case scenario might not have happened.

Dou Changxiao lowered his eyes and remained silent for a moment.

“I’m sorry.”

Ning Zhu raised an eyebrow. “What are you apologizing for? I brought this on myself. I paid thirty million a year to buy you, my precious Alpha, and then had the nerve to ask you to spend your rut period here with me. You bore a hole through my bedframe and almost penetrated me without permission—isn’t that exactly what I deserved for paying to suffer?”

Dou Changxiao raised his eyes slightly, then slowly lowered them again. “…About that rut a couple of days ago—I was lying to you.”

Ning Zhu hugged the blanket tighter and went, “Oh. What’s your excuse?”

Dou Changxiao fell silent.

“What, can’t you say it? Fine, go on.” Ning Zhu was surprisingly calm.

Dou Changxiao: “I hadn’t planned to spend my susceptible period here. When I realized it had come early, I contacted the quarantine center in Beicheng. I just didn’t expect to end up at the police station, and by then, the time to go to the quarantine center had passed.”

Ning Zhu didn’t say a word.

That’s a separate matter. In this instance, Dou Changxiao had helped him avoid a major headache. The fact that the other guy had rushed out to chase after him without a moment’s hesitation—despite the danger—wasn’t something that could be brushed off so easily.

But he didn’t plan to bring that up right now, so as not to give the kid a way out.

Dou Changxiao said, “The reason I kept it from you and pretended to have a cold was that my security clearance at the North City Quarantine Center is very high.”

High security clearance?

Ning Zhu opened his mouth, his eyes widening again. “…Do you even know what kind of nonsense you’re spouting? Do you have any idea what you’re like during your susceptible period! What kind of crappy agency issued that assessment? I’m filing a complaint!”

Dou Changxiao frowned slightly. “Normally, I’m not like that… You can look it up on the website. Before this, I was able to maintain a certain level of sanity… and intelligence… during every susceptible period.”

Ning Zhu: “Hah… You couldn’t even tell the fridge from the shoe cabinet last night, Mr. Dou. Are you saying you were fine when you were locked up in that quarantine center, but living in my big house has actually lowered your IQ?”

Dou Changxiao: “I didn’t expect… that after smelling your pheromones, I’d turn into that.”

Of course, besides the pheromones, there’s another reason. I can’t say that in front of Ning Zhu.

Pheromones? High-compatibility Omega pheromones should indeed have an effect on Alphas during their susceptible period.

Ning Zhu pursed his lips, thinking: So, when it comes down to it, didn’t this kid go crazy because of my pheromones anyway? Last night, he was still insisting on arguing with me about liking me or whatever…

Damn it, he kept me up all night, restless and unable to sleep.

Dou Changxiao: “You can handle this however you want.”

“Huh?” Dou Changxiao’s tone was serious when he said, “Handle it.” Ning Zhu chuckled. “So you’re saying I could even report you for sexual harassment?”

Dou Changxiao: “Yeah.”

“Who’d believe me? The registration form clearly lists my name, and the relationship field is marked as ‘partner’…”

Dou Changxiao: “I wouldn’t use that to defend myself.”

Ning Zhu looked at his downcast expression and snorted coldly, annoyed. “Give it a rest. What are you playing at in front of me? You know full well I won’t let you end up crying behind bars, so don’t act all high and mighty now that you’ve gotten off easy.”

Dou Changxiao’s tone was strange: “…Why would I think that?”

“Because…” Ning Zhu paused, caught off guard by the question, “Because you know I’m a really good person—a particularly kind big boss.”

Dou Changxiao: “Good enough to tolerate an Alpha in rut who almost climbed up your ass?”

Ning Zhu: “……”

Ning Zhu: “Mm.”

Dou Changxiao: “……”

Ning Zhu changed the subject: “Last night… Do you remember what you said?”

Dou Changxiao lifted his gaze and stared at him.

Ning Zhu: “It was just…”

How should I put this? You were hugging your incredibly kind sugar daddy and confessing your love like crazy?

He hoped Dou Changxiao would bring it up himself, then take the initiative to clarify that it was just nonsense spouted during a vulnerable phase when his IQ had dropped. That way, he wouldn’t keep dwelling on it. Just thinking about it made him so annoyed and anxious that he couldn’t sleep.

Dou Changxiao: “What did I say?”

Ning Zhu couldn’t tell if the other guy was playing dumb or if he genuinely didn’t remember at all.

He wanted to ask for clarification, but…

‘You’re making me lie.’

Ning Zhu fell silent for a moment, smiled, and said, “Never mind, it’s nothing.”

Even if there was a shred of sincerity mixed in with the nonsense, there was no need to get to the bottom of it.

Ning Zhu: “You should go back. I need to catch up on some sleep. Ugh, all because of you, I’ve been freezing all night.”

After getting the short end of the stick last night, he’d originally wanted to come up with a way to get back at him, but first, he couldn’t think of how to do it… He couldn’t very well harass him back. Second, he was genuinely too cold to even think about it.

Dou Changxiao wanted to touch Ning Zhu’s hand. It must be freezing.

This guy usually has such a high body temperature; he must be even more sensitive to the cold. He didn’t actually reach out, knowing Ning Zhu would surely pull away.

Dou Changxiao: “You don’t dare come inside, so why don’t you find somewhere warm to stay?”

Ning Zhu: “I have to keep an eye on you. I’m afraid you’ll run off and start munching on someone else.”

“I wouldn’t…” Dou Changxiao started to say something, but swallowed his words.

He decided to get the hell out of there early so Ning Zhu could go inside sooner.

Dou Changxiao walked toward the elevator.

“Oh, right, Changxiao.” Ning Zhu called out to him again.

Dou Changxiao turned back.

Ning Zhu: “From now on, let’s set a fixed time for you to come over.”

“What do you mean…”

“Didn’t we talk about this before? You said you’d let me smell your pheromones once a week. I’ve been thinking about it, and coordinating times over WeChat is a hassle.” Ning Zhu said, “Let’s just set a fixed time—how about every Saturday? I’m usually home around two or three in the afternoon. You can come over then, and you’ll still be able to sleep in in the morning.”

Ning Zhu smiled and said, “I’ll call you when it’s time for you to mark me. Is that okay?”

“……”

That smile was as gentle as ever, betraying not a hint of his true intentions.

It seemed as though he really just wanted to set a fixed time—nothing more.

Dou Changxiao stared at him, not blinking for a moment.

You, Ning. You’re really wicked.

He turned his face away and said nonchalantly, “I won’t sleep in. Got it.”