# 14
When Zuo Nian arrived home, he didn’t see Duan Baisui in the living room.
Auntie Liu was just coming out of the kitchen and said, “The young master is upstairs.”
Zuo Nian asked excitedly, “Auntie Liu, you’re back!”
Auntie Liu was very fond of this young man. He was cute and polite, and treated her extremely well.
“Yes, I made you a late-night snack—beef rolls. Would you like some later?”
“But Nian Nian is on a diet,” Zuo Nian said worriedly.
“You’re so thin, what diet? Besides, eating beef doesn’t make you gain weight.”
“Really?” Zuo Nian asked.
“Of course it’s true,” Auntie Liu assured him firmly.
“Okay~ I’ll go find brother first, then come down to eat.” Zuo Nian happily ran upstairs.
Just as he reached the top of the stairs, he heard the crisp sound of a bell coming from the kitten’s room.
Zuo Nian turned the doorknob and pushed the door open a crack.
Duan Baisui was sitting cross-legged on the floor with his back to the door, one hand propping up his chin, the other holding a cat teaser, lazily swinging his wrist. His posture was relaxed.
The orange kitten stood on its hind legs, its little paws waving in the air. Suddenly, it leaped and firmly bit the feathered end.
Duan Baisui spoke languidly, “Hey, that’s not how you play. No biting.”
But the stubborn kitten stared at him with big eyes, refusing to let go.
“Let go, let’s start over,” Duan Baisui negotiated with it.
The kitten backed up two steps, trying to pull the toy from his hand.
“Brother,” Zuo Nian pushed open the door and walked in.
Duan Baisui turned to look at him and asked, “You’re back?”
“Mm-hmm.” Zuo Nian crouched beside him and called, “Bai Xue, come here~”
The kitten hesitated for only a moment before releasing the cat teaser and running toward Zuo Nian.
It rubbed against Zuo Nian, then lay on the ground, exposing its soft belly to be petted.
Zuo Nian reached out to scratch under its chin. The kitten closed its eyes in contentment, making a purring sound.
“Good Bai Xue, you should like not only me but also brother, okay?” Zuo Nian said to the kitten.
Duan Baisui turned his head to look at him.
The Omega’s profile was gentle and beautiful in the light, his long eyelashes lowered, casting small shadows on his eyelids.
He was unbelievably obedient.
Perhaps sensing his gaze, Zuo Nian looked back at him.
Their eyes met, and Duan Baisui’s heart inexplicably began to race. A tingling sensation spread from his left chest throughout his entire body.
Zuo Nian’s hand continued to pet the kitten as he gave Duan Baisui a gentle smile, his eyes filled with rippling light.
Duan Baisui lowered his head and looked away, also smiling, and asked, “When you talk to it, does it understand?”
“Of course~ Bai Xue is very smart~ Like brother.” Zuo Nian defended the kitten, then murmured, “Not like Nian Nian.”
Duan Baisui leaned back on his hands, watching them interact.
He hadn’t felt this relaxed in a long time, feeling completely at ease.
He said, “You’re very smart too.”
Zuo Nian wrinkled his nose and said, “Brother is teasing me again.”
“You can draw, make dolls, and run a business. How is that not smart?”
The kitten being petted ran away, leaping onto the cat tower.
Zuo Nian sat on the floor like Duan Baisui and said, “Actually, many people call me stupid. I know that.”
Duan Baisui thought Zuo Nian was about to share his grievances and wondered how to comfort him.
But in the next moment, Zuo Nian changed course and continued, “They probably think I’d be sad about it, but I’m not. Because I read online that fools have good fortune. Nian Nian might not be as smart as them, but Nian Nian is very lucky.”
“Nian Nian has a father, a godfather, and a brother, all who treat Nian Nian very well. Now, Nian Nian is even married to brother.” As Zuo Nian said this, his smile grew wider, the corners of his lips turning up: “So it doesn’t matter if they call me stupid. Nian Nian wants this good fortune.”
Duan Baisui had never had heart-to-heart talks with Zuo Nian, nor had he ever truly understood him deeply.
Before, he only knew Zuo Nian was kind and pure-hearted. Now he discovered that he was also optimistic and open-minded.
Any negative thing, when spoken from his mouth, would turn into something positive.
He didn’t overthink things, didn’t blame heaven or others, and he didn’t pass negative emotions to others.
Every minute spent with him was never tiring; the more you understood him, the more you were drawn to him.
Duan Baisui couldn’t help reaching out and patting Zuo Nian’s head, saying, “Usually, those who verbally attack others do so out of jealousy. You’re wonderful, you don’t need to be defined by anyone. Just be yourself.”
Zuo Nian was like that orange kitten, docilely enjoying his touch and making a pleased, low hum: “Mm.”
—
On the evening of the fifth, Duan Baisui returned home from work to see Zuo Nian packing luggage.
Unbuttoning his shirt, he asked, “Where are you going?”
Zuo Nian, crouching on the floor folding sweaters into the suitcase, said, “Going back to America with handsome father. Did brother forget?”
Oh, Ason had mentioned it to him on New Year’s Day. He had indeed forgotten.
“What time are you leaving tomorrow?”
“Seven o’clock. Fat father is coming to pick me up,” Zuo Nian said.
“How many days will you be gone?”
“I don’t know.” Zuo Nian scratched his head.
He counted the items in the suitcase, then squeezed in a small rabbit and an ugly doll, muttering to himself, “There’s no brother in America, must remember to bring these, otherwise no one will hug Nian Nian.”
Duan Baisui saw that he was nearly done packing and there was nothing he needed help with, so he took his pajamas and prepared to go to the bathroom to shower.
At that moment, Zuo Nian suddenly stood up and called out, “Brother…”
“Hmm?” Duan Baisui turned to look at him.
Zuo Nian’s face was flushed red, as if he found it difficult to speak.
“What is it?” Duan Baisui prompted, encouraging him to speak.
Zuo Nian walked over to him, tugging at the hem of his shirt, and stammered, “Your shirt, the one you’re wearing now, can I, can I borrow it?”
“What?” After his initial surprise, Duan Baisui thought of a possibility and asked, “Are you… having your heat?”
Zuo Nian had a congenital gland deformity. As a child, he relied on injections and medication to maintain normal gland growth.
As an adult, he needed surgery to correct it.
But his body was too weak, and initially, all doctors recommended conservative treatment.
It wasn’t until last year, when his physical examination indicators met the standard, that Zuo Jun and Ason contacted the most authoritative doctor to perform corrective surgery for him.
The surgery was very successful, and afterward, he began to secrete pheromones normally.
He was even detected to be an A-grade Omega.
This was still during recovery testing.
If he recovered well, there was a possibility he would upgrade to S-grade.
But even so, after so much time since the surgery, he still hadn’t experienced his first heat.
Duan Baisui had secretly breathed a sigh of relief at the time.
If Zuo Nian didn’t have heats, it meant they could live together respectfully, without having to complete a bond due to instinct.
But Zuo Nian’s request for his clothes tonight seemed very much like nesting behavior that preceded a heat.
This behavior occurred in both Alphas and Omegas and wasn’t unusual.
But… did this mean that Zuo Nian needed his mark and pheromones for comfort?
“I…” Zuo Nian looked at him, slowly releasing his grip on the shirt hem, and said, “No. I just, I’m afraid I’ll miss you too much, so, um… if it’s not convenient for brother, then forget it.”
Duan Baisui: …
“I’ll take it off for you.”
“Really?” Zuo Nian’s face immediately lit up.
Duan Baisui thought that whether Zuo Nian was showing signs of heat or truly just wanted a keepsake, as his partner, he shouldn’t refuse such a reasonable request.
“Mm.”
“Thank you, brother!”
The shirt was placed separately in a dust cover and carefully laid on top of the luggage.
Late at night, as he lay in bed with his arms around Duan Baisui’s waist, listening to the man’s even, light breathing, Zuo Nian whispered, “Brother, Nian Nian just told a lie.”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
