There was a very famous noodle shop near Yi Heng’s old high school.
He had originally planned to take Gu Yan there to try it, but unfortunately, it was New Year’s Eve, and the shop was closed.
Snow had painted every street and alley white.
The roads, empty of pedestrians, looked unusually clean and pristine.
Not a single shop along either side of the street was open. Everyone had gone home to reunite with their families.
In the end, Yi Heng drove Gu Yan and Yi Feng back to his apartment and personally cooked noodles for them.
Yi Feng was so pleasantly surprised that he hardly knew how to react.
When he was little, there had been one occasion when the family housekeeper had an unexpected emergency and couldn’t prepare dinner.
Yi Feng had been left alone in his room, hungry and helpless.
It wasn’t until Yi Heng returned from school and discovered him that his older brother went into the kitchen and made him a bowl of noodles.
Yi Feng still remembered that bowl of noodles to this day.
Since then, he’d never had another chance to taste his brother’s cooking.
Yi Feng rarely visited Yi Heng’s spacious apartment.
He had always assumed it was merely a temporary residence his brother used whenever work became too demanding.
But the moment he stepped inside, he was stunned by how warm, lived-in, and full of everyday life the place had become.
“W-When did you two start living together?”
Yi Feng knew better than anyone just how fiercely territorial Yi Heng was.
Even now, he could clearly remember accidentally wandering into Yi Heng’s bedroom during elementary school, only to be kicked straight back out.
He genuinely couldn’t imagine his older brother voluntarily sharing his personal space with someone else.
Yi Heng gave him a brief, indifferent glance.
“Don’t make such a fuss.”
Gu Yan touched his ear.
“Actually, it’s been quite a while since…”
Yi Feng suddenly clapped his hands, looking as though he’d just solved a great mystery.
“No wonder I kept noticing a familiar scent on you before! So that’s what it was!”
Gu Yan slipped into his house slippers.
Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Yi Feng heading toward the living room.
A realization struck him like lightning.
Oh, no!
The agreement is still hanging right there on the wall!
Gu Yan hurried after him, intending to drag Yi Feng away before he noticed it.
“Don’t look…”
Unfortunately, Yi Feng had already begun reading the words aloud without thinking.
“…”
Gu Yan’s outstretched hand slowly dropped to his side.
He was so mortified that he wanted to disappear on the spot.
I should’ve covered those things with a piece of cloth!
To be fair, Yi Feng hadn’t deliberately tried to snoop.
The framed documents were simply far too conspicuous in the living room, especially with their gleaming golden borders.
At first, he’d assumed they were expensive paintings or calligraphy pieces his brother had purchased at some extravagant auction.
But the more he read, the quieter his voice became.
When he reached phrases such as “punishment” and “obligations between romantic partners,” the innocent university student, whose understanding of romance was still practically at the level of children playing house, turned bright red.
Yi Feng’s innocent soul had suffered a tremendous shock.
By the time Yi Heng brought the freshly cooked noodles to the table, he found the two of them sitting there with their heads turned in opposite directions.
Neither was saying a word.
The atmosphere was strangely awkward.
Yi Feng looked at his older brother, who had always seemed so cold, restrained, and almost ascetic.
He simply couldn’t imagine that his own brother had preferences like these!
A few minutes later, Gu Yan was the first to break the uncomfortable silence.
He turned toward Yi Heng.
“Did your parents go back to the ancestral home tonight?”
“Mm. They went back as usual. Only Yi Feng and I stayed in Kyoto.”
Yi Heng noticed a little broth at the corner of Gu Yan’s mouth.
He pulled out a tissue and gently wiped it away himself.
Yi Feng looked at his brother, then at Gu Yan.
Only then did he realize just how brightly he was shining as a third wheel.
At the same time, the heavy stone that had been weighing on his heart finally shattered.
His brother and Gu Yan genuinely liked each other.
And the things he’d done before, hitting Gu Yan and bringing people to cause trouble, had truly been wrong.
“Ahem…”
Yi Feng cleared his throat.
Then, completely out of nowhere, he said,
“Gu Yan, I’m sorry.”
He spoke quickly.
Yi Feng had hardly ever apologized to anyone in his entire life, so the words sounded rather awkward and unfamiliar.
Gu Yan choked on the water he was drinking and began coughing.
“H-Huh?”
Yi Feng’s face turned red as he struggled with his embarrassment.
He quickly repeated the apology.
Seeing that Gu Yan was still staring at him blankly, he clicked his tongue.
“I’m apologizing to you! If you didn’t hear it, then forget it!”
The apology might have come a little late.
But Yi Feng had never been more sincere about anything in his life.
“Y-You’d better treat my brother well!”
“I can accept calling you my sister-in-law, but that doesn’t mean I’ll listen to everything you say the way I listen to my brother!”
Yi Feng solemnly made what he considered the first important decision of his life.
The determination in his eyes was even stronger than when he was playing video games.
Gu Yan was momentarily stunned by the words “sister-in-law.”
It was rare enough for Yi Feng to swallow his pride and apologize, so Gu Yan was still having trouble adjusting to this sudden change in attitude.
Yi Heng, on the other hand, simply spoke as though he were urging a child to finish his meal.
“All right, we understand. Hurry up and eat.”
After eating his fill, Yi Feng obediently retreated to the guest bedroom and refused to come out again.
Even when Gu Yan invited him to watch television with them, he declined.
Yi Feng wasn’t stupid.
The fact that his brother had allowed him to stay overnight was already an extraordinary act of generosity.
If he failed to read the room and continued acting as a third wheel, his brother would probably reduce him to ashes with a single look, then scatter those ashes for good measure.
Gu Yan sat on the sofa with his legs curled up, leaning against Yi Heng.
His eyes sparkled like stars.
“How did your family celebrate the New Year at the ancestral home? Did everyone gather together to stay up until midnight?”
Worried that it might get cold at night, Yi Heng had specifically brought over a blanket to cover Gu Yan.
“No. Celebrating the New Year at the ancestral home is actually rather boring.”
“Boring how?”
Gu Yan asked curiously.
He rarely heard Yi Heng use words that carried such strong personal opinions to describe a person or situation.
Yi Heng was always fair and objective, almost like a block of ice with very little ability to perceive or empathize with emotions.
But as they spent more time together, Gu Yan gradually discovered the wealth of feelings Yi Heng sometimes concealed within just two or three simple words.
That was one of the reasons Gu Yan loved listening to him speak.
He enjoyed learning about the years of Yi Heng’s life that he hadn’t been able to share, hearing those memories directly from Yi Heng himself.
“There are many ancestral memorial tablets in the old residence. After New Year’s Eve dinner, everyone returns to their own rooms and doesn’t come out again.”
“We don’t set off fireworks, gather to eat together, or watch television, because doing so would disturb our ancestors.”
“That really does sound boring,” Gu Yan said.
“Once or twice might be fine, but wouldn’t celebrating that way every single year become terribly monotonous? Who made that rule?”
“My aunt.”
“That’s what I figured.”
Gu Yan was beginning to feel sleepy.
His body softened as he sank a little farther down against Yi Heng.
“But didn’t your ancestors work so hard and sacrifice so much precisely for the sake of their descendants?”
“Wouldn’t seeing the family prosper and future generations gathered happily together be what they wanted most?”
Yi Heng lowered his head.
As the clock struck midnight, he gently kissed Gu Yan’s forehead.
“Mm. That’s what I think too.”
Much of the time, Yi Heng wasn’t deliberately strict, nor was he naturally incapable of smiling or joking.
It was simply that the responsibilities resting on his shoulders required him to handle everything exceptionally well.
But being with Gu Yan was different.
He could finally express thoughts he’d never been able to voice before, discuss them openly with Gu Yan, and receive his understanding and agreement.
Perhaps that was one of the meanings of love.
After the New Year, visiting relatives and friends was inevitable.
Gu Yan and Yi Heng went together to visit Gu Yan’s maternal grandparents.
They brought along numerous gifts, carrying bags of all sizes.
The elderly couple were so delighted that they couldn’t stop smiling.
Ever since their daughter passed away, the house had grown quieter and lonelier with each passing day.
Their grandson hadn’t been particularly close to them either.
But things had changed now.
Not only was their relationship with their grandson growing warmer, but he’d also brought another person into their lives.
The house had become more than twice as lively as before.
“Yanyan, look at the sweater Grandma just knitted for you! Do you like it? Cough, cough, cough…”
Gu Yan’s grandmother was holding the sweater she’d finished knitting only a few days earlier.
But after speaking just a few sentences, she began coughing.
Gu Yan hurriedly poured her a glass of water to soothe her throat.
As he gently patted her back to help her breathe more comfortably, he asked with concern,
“Grandma, I’ve noticed that both you and Grandpa have been coughing. And it seems a little worse than before.”
“Did you catch a cold?”
His grandmother smiled and waved her hand dismissively.
“It’s nothing, nothing at all. At our age, how could we possibly avoid every little ache and illness?”
“We both had comprehensive medical examinations before, and everything was perfectly fine. Don’t worry.”
His grandfather agreed.
“That’s right. You two just focus on living your own lives happily. We’re both still strong and healthy!”
Gu Yan assumed he’d simply been worrying too much.
But as his gaze swept across the room, it suddenly stopped on the aroma diffuser sitting on the shelf.
How could anything Gu Chengjing gave them possibly be good?
If he were genuinely that kindhearted, he wouldn’t have used the original Gu Yan’s mother to threaten him back then.
Nor would he have used her bracelet as a bargaining chip in an attempt to win over his parents-in-law.
Just then, Yi Heng spoke.
“I still think the two of you should find some time to visit the hospital and have a thorough examination by a specialist. After all, the symptoms could be related to your lungs.”
While the other three were distracted, Gu Yan discreetly nudged the small box containing the spare diffuser oil.
With careful precision, he made it fall directly into his pocket.
He needed to have someone analyze its ingredients.
After leaving his grandparents’ home, Yi Heng had originally planned to return with Gu Yan and prepare dinner together.
However, halfway home, he received a call from a business partner he hadn’t seen in quite some time, inviting him to dinner that evening.
Yi Heng refused without a second thought.
But the other party then presented an extremely attractive business proposal, demonstrating considerable sincerity.
Gu Yan gently placed his hand over Yi Heng’s.
“It’s okay. You should go.”
Yi Heng’s fingers tightened slightly around his phone.
He understood that Gu Yan didn’t want him to offend his business partner by turning down the invitation.
“All right.”
That evening, elegant music drifted through an upscale, star-rated restaurant.
The moment Yi Heng entered, everyone rose to greet him.
Just as the business partner had promised, the person who had initiated the proposed project was also present.
Everyone discussed the potential collaboration over drinks, and the atmosphere appeared perfectly harmonious.
Quite a few people approached Yi Heng to offer a toast.
At one point during the gathering, Yi Heng went to the restroom.
After returning, he took a few sips of his wine but soon noticed something unusual.
There seemed to be several tiny grains of white powder at the bottom of his glass.
He couldn’t remember whether they had been there from the beginning or whether someone had secretly tampered with his drink while he was in the restroom.
Either way, he didn’t touch the remaining wine again.
“Thank you all for honoring me with your presence today. Please take care on your way home.”
“Of course. Thank you for your generous hospitality. We’ll certainly come to you again when there’s another opportunity to collaborate.”
“You’re too kind, too kind…”
After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, it was finally time for the gathering to end.
Yi Heng leaned back in his chair.
The voices of the people around him seemed to be coming from somewhere far away, muffled and strangely unreal.
His thoughts grew increasingly sluggish, and an inexplicable wave of drowsiness washed over him.
He had to force his eyelids to stay open, his brows drawing together in irritation.
This isn’t drunkenness.
It feels like I’ve been drugged.
Yi Heng rose to his feet with a cold expression.
His steps were unsteady as he made his way toward the exit.
He took out his phone, intending to call his driver to pick him up.
But before he could place the call, his body suddenly collapsed.
Two burly men emerged from the food preparation area of the private dining room.
“Quick, quick! Get him up and take him upstairs!”
The business partner who had been smiling warmly throughout the evening abruptly changed his expression.
Looking somewhat panicked, he hurriedly directed the two men.
He had indeed tampered with Yi Heng’s wine.
However, because he’d been so nervous, he hadn’t mixed the powder thoroughly, nearly exposing his scheme.
The upper floors housed a hotel.
Room 603 had already been carefully prepared, with a seductive, intoxicating incense filling the air.
The sound of running water in the bathroom stopped.
Gu Xingxing emerged wearing a bathrobe.
He sat down on the bed and waited for Yi Heng to be brought to him.
He had to admit that his mother’s plan was extremely risky.
But he knew that as long as he succeeded in getting into Yi Heng’s bed, no matter how deeply Yi Heng and Gu Yan loved each other, the Yi family would have no choice but to take responsibility for him.
Gu Xingxing felt somewhat nervous and uneasy.
He returned to the mirror, pulled his bathrobe partly open, and slowly began releasing his pheromones.
Meanwhile, the two burly men were hurriedly supporting Yi Heng toward the elevator.
Just as they were about to step inside…
“HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”
A young man wearing nothing but a hoodie suddenly rushed over from the restaurant entrance and grabbed Yi Heng’s clothes tightly.
“LET HIM GO! WHERE ARE YOU TAKING HIM?!”
Gu Yan couldn’t spare a thought for the phone that had fallen to the floor.
Seeing Yi Heng unconscious, his heart clenched painfully.
The young man’s shouting attracted the attention of the front desk staff.
The two burly men had only been paid to carry out a job and had no desire to cause further trouble.
Realizing that the situation was turning against them, they didn’t dare get into a confrontation with Gu Yan.
They immediately abandoned Yi Heng and fled.
“STOP RIGHT THERE!”
Gu Yan hurriedly wrapped his arms around Yi Heng, his voice trembling uncontrollably.
Fortunately, Yi Heng had told Gu Yan the restaurant’s address before leaving that day.
Gu Yan didn’t dare imagine what might have happened if he’d arrived even a moment later.
And the reason he’d sensed something was wrong had come down to a tiny habit.
Whenever Gu Yan finished cooking, he would take a picture of the food he’d prepared and send it to Yi Heng.
Yi Heng always replied.
Except this time.
At first, Gu Yan assumed Yi Heng was busy and didn’t think much of it.
But two hours passed.
No matter how important the business dinner was, it should have ended by then.
Yet Yi Heng still hadn’t replied with a single word.
He hadn’t even acknowledged the messages Gu Yan sent afterward.
Perhaps it was because they shared an unspoken connection, but Gu Yan suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of unease.
Acting purely on instinct, he rushed out without even putting on a coat.
“Yi Heng, wake up.”
Gu Yan could barely support him on his own.
Just as they were both about to collapse, he finally managed to get Yi Heng into the car.
By then, Yi Heng had regained a little consciousness.
Gu Yan reached over to check the air-conditioning temperature before quickly starting the engine.
There were few cars on the road at night.
Gu Yan drove swiftly through the streets and soon arrived outside their building.
It took every ounce of strength he had to support Yi Heng all the way into the apartment.
Yi Heng’s head hung slightly forward, his eyelashes trembling faintly where Gu Yan couldn’t see.
Gu Yan had no idea what kind of drug Yi Heng had been given.
His fingers trembled uncontrollably as he struggled to unlock his phone, preparing to call the Yi family’s private doctor.
But he’d barely entered a few digits when an overwhelmingly strong Alpha pheromone scent suddenly reached his nose.
His fingertips instantly froze.
Gu Yan turned around.
Yi Heng was awake.
But the usual clarity in his eyes had vanished.
In its place burned a fierce, unsettling desire that sent a shiver through Gu Yan.
“Yi Heng…”
A low-battery warning suddenly appeared on Gu Yan’s phone, interrupting his attempt to dial the number.
He wasn’t sure whether Yi Heng could still recognize him.
All he could see was the unmistakable outline beneath the fabric of Yi Heng’s trousers.
So the substance Yi Heng had been drugged with was an aphrodisiac.
Gu Yan stood up.
He could tell that Yi Heng was suffering and struggling desperately to maintain control.
He slowly approached, then gently cupped Yi Heng’s face with his cold hands.
Physiology was a compulsory subject for every student.
When an Omega encountered an Alpha experiencing rut, teachers always gave the same advice.
Don’t hesitate.
Turn around and run immediately.
But the person standing before him was Yi Heng.
Gu Yan didn’t know what to do.
He couldn’t simply abandon him in this condition.
The closer Gu Yan came, the more tightly Yi Heng clenched his jaw.
He stared into Gu Yan’s eyes and drew a deep breath.
“Go.”
He was dangerous right now.
Gu Yan couldn’t begin to imagine the desires raging inside him.
But it was already too late.
The drug acted like a catalyst, drawing out the overwhelming pheromones surging through Yi Heng’s body.
The oppressive force of the Alpha pheromones suddenly seized Gu Yan by the throat, dragging him into a turbulent wave of desire.
Gu Yan’s ears turned bright red.
He lowered his head, unable to meet Yi Heng’s intense, unguarded gaze.
Then he spoke softly.
“I… my gland has completely recovered now. I can release my pheromones normally again…”
“So… would you like me to help you?”
As though trying to prove his words, the scent of roses quietly drifted from the gland at the back of his neck.
Yi Heng didn’t answer.
A fierce internal struggle seemed to flicker in his eyes.
About five seconds passed.
Suddenly, someone seized Gu Yan’s arm.
He stumbled as he was pulled into the bedroom and fell onto the soft bed.
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