ACBAM 30: Awake

Director Luo hadn’t expected Su Shijin to agree so readily. He was momentarily stunned, then quickly had a nurse take him inside.

The nurses in the isolation zone were all betas, unaffected by alpha pheromones. One of them led Su Shijin around to the adjacent room, entering Gu Weiyang’s isolation room from there.

As soon as Su Shijin entered the quarantine room, he was overwhelmed by the alpha pheromones saturating the space. They were even more intense than what he had sensed the night before, rampaging wildly through the room. Eventually, as if noticing his arrival, they swarmed toward Su Shijin all at once.

Unfortunately, Su Shijin had taken a suppressant shot yesterday and was still wearing two suppression rings. The agitated pheromones circled around him for a long while, but aside from leaving their scent all over him, they couldn’t detect even a trace of omega pheromones. Frustrated, they rampaged through the room once again.

The strong smell of alcohol filled Su Shijin’s nose. Even though he wasn’t affected by alpha pheromones, the stench still made him feel a little dizzy. He rubbed his temples to stay clear-headed and maneuvered his wheelchair over to the bedside.

The alpha on the bed had quieted down the moment the door opened, his head tilted as he stared toward the entrance. It wasn’t until Su Shijin came in that he slowly blinked.

Su Shijin looked at the man restrained on the bed and asked, “Mr. Gu, do you still recognize me?”

Mr. Gu stared at him silently and said nothing.

Su Shijin glanced at the glass wall beside them. It was pitch black and there was no way to see anything on the other side of the glass.

So he really had recognized him just by his voice?

Su Shijin turned back in confusion, once again looking at the man on the bed.

The two of them stared at each other, wide eyes meeting narrow ones, and for a moment, neither said a word.

Su Shijin actually didn’t mind it like this. If just keeping him company could calm him down, that didn’t seem so bad.

But Director Luo clearly didn’t feel the same. His voice came through the microphone, “Mr. Su, try talking to Mr. Gu more. I want to monitor the fluctuations in his pheromones.”

Su Shijin felt that Director Luo was really putting him on the spot. He wasn’t much of a talker to begin with, and now he was being asked to strike up a conversation with Mr. Gu, who wasn’t even in a fully conscious state. He honestly had no idea what he was supposed to say.

Especially since the people outside the glass wall could hear his voice.

Su Shijin pressed his lips together and looked toward the glass wall. “Please mute the sound on your end. I’m going to say something you’re not allowed to hear.”

There was nothing negotiable about his tone. Director Luo quickly replied, “Alright,” and muted the sound inside, afraid they might overhear something they shouldn’t. If Mr. Gu found out, they would all be in serious trouble.

Even though Director Luo had responded, Su Shijin still wasn’t convinced they’d actually muted the sound. So he simply moved his wheelchair closer to the bed—close enough that he could almost reach out and touch the alpha.

Gu Weiyang slowly lay flat, silently turning his head to look at him.

The beta nurse who had brought Su Shijin in had already left. Right now, it was just the two of them in the room.

With his back to the glass wall, Su Shijin whispered so quietly it was barely audible, “Are you conscious right now?”

Gu Weiyang’s eyes were bloodshot, staring at him without blinking.

Su Shijin felt a little uneasy under that gaze, especially since those eyes looked like they hadn’t rested in a long time. He couldn’t help but reach out and hover his hand in front of them, gently shielding them. “You can stare at me if you want, but at least blink.”

It was a little unsettling.

After hearing Su Shijin’s words, the eyes beneath his hand seemed to blink slowly.

Su Shijin felt the faint tickle of eyelashes brushing against his palm, but once he moved his hand away, Gu Weiyang went right back to staring at him silently, not even blinking.

Su Shijin: …

“Blink a little,” Su Shijin said softly. “Doesn’t it feel uncomfortable to stare like that? Or is there something on my face?”

Hearing that, Gu Weiyang still didn’t blink, but his gaze seemed to scan Su Shijin’s face from top to bottom, as if he really were checking to see if there was anything on it.

Su Shijin couldn’t help but feel like that gaze of his was taking advantage of him somehow.

He let out a helpless sigh and once again raised his hand to block Gu Weiyang’s line of sight. “Stop looking at me.”

Gu Weiyang said nothing, just blinked again, his eyelashes brushed against Su Shijin’s palm and made it itch.

“When I block your eyes, you blink. But when I don’t, you just keep staring?” Su Shijin withdrew his hand, guessing, “Is it because you can’t see me when I block you, so you blink?”

What he really meant was that the blink was a signal for him to move his hand away since Gu Weiyang couldn’t see him.

But the moment he asked that, Gu Weiyang quickly blinked twice, then lowered his gaze as if a little embarrassed. Su Shijin wasn’t sure if he was imagining it, but it looked like the alpha’s face had even turned a little red.

A few seconds later, the alpha looked up again, sneaking a glance at him.

Su Shijin: …

Wait, why do you suddenly look shy?

Su Shijin truly couldn’t figure out what was going through Gu Weiyang’s mind right now, just like he couldn’t understand why Gu Weiyang had quieted down the moment he heard his voice.

Could it be that he usually looks so cold and intimidating that it scares people?

Su Shijin had a vague feeling he was starting to piece something together, but in this room filled with the thick scent of high-proof alcohol pheromones, even with a suppressant shot and two suppression rings, he wasn’t completely unaffected by the alpha pheromones.

The smell of alcohol was just too strong. Su Shijin had never handled alcohol well to begin with, and now he felt almost drunk just from the scent. His brain wasn’t functioning at all.

Helpless, Su Shijin shook his head and gave up trying to think about anything else. He just looked at Gu Weiyang and said, “I took the afternoon off, so I’ve got time to stay here with you for the rest of the day.”

A wave of contentment came from the pheromones in the room.

Su Shijin: “…Are you really not conscious?”

Gu Weiyang stared at him with wide, innocent eyes, still wearing that blank, dazed expression.

“Alright then.” Su Shijin figured he probably really wasn’t conscious. He was just instinctively reacting to what he said, so he gave up trying to figure it out.

“But even though I’d like to keep you company all afternoon, I think there’s a time limit for visits here.” Su Shijin vaguely remembered seeing a sign when he came upstairs, something about visiting hours written on it.

The alpha on the bed suddenly started struggling after hearing that, his brows furrowing tightly, lips pressing into a hard line. He stared fiercely at Su Shijin, breathing heavily through gritted teeth.

The people outside the glass wall saw what was happening and turned on the microphone, “Mr. Su, did you say something to him? His pheromone levels just spiked even more than before.”

Su Shijin: …

Did he say anything?

Su Shijin turned around and signaled for them to unmute the audio, then said, “I told him there’s a time limit on visits here. He didn’t seem too happy about that.”

Director Luo: “Ah, then he probably doesn’t want you to leave.”

Su Shijin: “…Alright. So is there actually a time limit on visits here?”

Director Luo: “Of course there is. To ensure patients in the isolation ward get enough rest, family members are only allowed thirty minutes of visitation per day.”

Su Shijin nodded and looked at Gu Weiyang. “Great, so I only get thirty minutes. If I’d known that, I wouldn’t have bothered taking the afternoon off.”

The man on the bed reacted even more strongly, his eyes now burning with fury as he looked toward the glass wall—like he wanted to tear apart whoever was on the other side.

Seeing the restraints stretched so tight from the alpha’s struggling that they looked like they might snap, Su Shijin quickly tried to calm him down, “No, no, I never said I was leaving. Even if they tell me to go, I won’t.”

Only then did the alpha slam back onto the bed with a loud thud. It was so hard that Su Shijin winced just watching it, feeling sore on his behalf.

Director Luo said with a cheerful smile, “If your presence is beneficial to Mr. Gu’s condition, then of course we won’t restrict your visitation time. You can stay with him as long as you like.”

What else could Su Shijin do? After seeing the way Gu Weiyang had looked like he wanted to kill everyone outside the glass wall just now, and how he had started thrashing the moment he heard Su Shijin might leave, there was no way he could actually bring himself to leave him here alone.

The image of Gu Weiyang tied up in here from the moment he first saw him still lingered in Su Shijin’s mind. He figured maybe it was the alcohol-scented pheromones being too strong that the smell was making his chest feel tight but at least it was still bearable.

“Then I’ll stay here with him. Didn’t you say he was expected to wake up in about half an hour?” Su Shijin asked, pushing aside the discomfort in his chest.

Director Luo replied, “In another thirty minutes to an hour, Mr. Gu’s pheromone levels should stabilize, and he’ll be conscious for a while.”

Su Shijin relaxed a little. “Alright.”

Then he waved his hand, signaling for the audio to be turned off again.

He turned back to Gu Weiyang. “Did you hear that? I’m not leaving—at least not until you’re fully awake.”

The alpha tilted his head slightly, as if he didn’t understand what Su Shijin was saying, but he quieted down.

Su Shijin frowned as he looked at him, a trace of doubt in his heart.

Did he really not understand?

But the other man just stared at him without saying a word, really not looking like he was conscious.

Su Shijin let out a sigh, thinking he was probably just overthinking it.

The doctors had said he wasn’t conscious right now, so that must really be the case.

And besides, that wild reaction Gu Weiyang had shown when looking toward the glass wall just now. There was no way the conscious version of him would’ve done something like that.

Su Shijin patiently stayed by Gu Weiyang’s side. Once he realized that the other behaved well even when he wasn’t talking, he lowered his head and started checking his phone beside him. Mainly replying to messages from the animal hospital, as well as a few from home about minor issues with some pets, asking if they needed to be concerned.

Gu Weiyang didn’t get upset watching him on his phone and it seemed like as long as he could see Su Shijin within his line of sight, he was content.

Su Shijin could feel that intense, almost tangible gaze burning on his face. It was a bit awkward at first, but after a while, he got used to it and it didn’t feel so bad.

It wasn’t until forty minutes later that the alpha on the bed finally moved, blinking a few times. He looked at Su Shijin in front of him, his expression seeming a little dazed.

Su Shijin noticed him stirring and looked up. “What’s wrong? Are the restraints uncomfortable? Once you’re fully awake, they’ll take them off so just hang in there a bit longer.”

Gu Weiyang, whose mind had only just started to clear, heard the omega’s gentle voice coaxing him. His Adam’s apple bobbed hard as he swallowed, thinking: Is this real?

Su Shijin was here with him? Comforting him?

Not even in his wildest dreams had Gu Weiyang dared to imagine something like this!