ACBAM 61: Serious Matter

Su Shijin had no idea why, out of everything Gu Weiyang said, this was the only line that stuck. He thought the other was just pretending to be clueless, so he shot him a glare, warning him not to spout nonsense. It had taken him enough effort to find an excuse to get out of accepting that red envelope.

The two of them were standing too close. Gu Weiyang was tall, but Su Shijin was on the taller side among omegas as well. When he suddenly lifted his head, and Gu Weiyang just happened to lower his at the same moment, the man’s lips, tinged faintly with the smell of alcohol, brushed right against Su Shijin’s forehead.

Both of them froze.

Jin Yue, who had seen the whole thing from the side, immediately let out an “Ah!” She covered her mouth, laughing, and nudged Qu Huan with her elbow. “Look at them, such a good relationship.”

Gu Weiyang’s mind went completely blank, and Su Shijin was a beat slow to react as well. When he heard Aunt Jin’s words, Gu Weiyang snapped back to his senses and instinctively let go of the arm he had around Su Shijin.

“S-sorry.” Gu Weiyang’s ears flushed red as he quickly murmured an apology. “I… I didn’t mean to…”

“It’s fine, I know.” Su Shijin tugged lightly at his sleeve, signaling him not to overreact, then looked toward Jin Yue with some embarrassment. “Sorry to have made a scene in front of you, Aunt Jin.”

Jin Yue quickly waved her hand, saying there was nothing to laugh at. Seeing the two young men so close, she couldn’t be happier.

On the way back, Gu Weiyang and Su Shijin sat in the backseat—one turned toward the window, the other looking down at his phone. The car was so quiet it felt like you could hear a pin drop.

Even the driver was affected by that indescribable silence, unconsciously easing up on the accelerator.

Su Shijin kept quiet because he felt awkward. That accident just now had been the closest he and Gu Weiyang had ever been. Being held was one thing but to accidentally get kissed on top of it.

Even now, he could still feel the lingering warmth of the other’s lips on his forehead, and it made him want to reach up and rub the spot, as if he could wipe away that stubborn and unshakable sensation.

With Gu Weiyang sitting right beside him, rubbing his forehead now would make it seem like he cared too much. Burdened by a strange self-consciousness, Su Shijin didn’t want Mr. Gu to think he was hung up on that accident, so he could only keep his head down, staring at his phone, trying his best to distract himself and ignore the lingering sensation on his forehead.

As for Gu Weiyang, he still hadn’t come back to his senses.

Half an hour later, he was still lost in the memory of that accidental kiss with Dr. Su.

He had kissed Dr. Su!!

This was nothing short of a miracle. It was heaven’s gift to him!!

Gu Weiyang was almost dazed, thinking that if his life ended here, it would already be perfect.

Thankfully, reason still held. After going a little crazy in his heart, he slowly calmed himself down before they got out of the car.

So, from Su Shijin’s perspective, it seemed Mr. Gu hadn’t taken that kiss to heart at all and if anything, he himself had overreacted. So Su Shijin decided to act like he had forgotten the accident as well.

It was just a kiss on the forehead, nothing like a real kiss.

If it came to kissing, even a dog or a cat had accidentally licked his lips before. Thinking of it that way, his “first kiss” had already been stolen by pets long ago.

And with that imagination of his, Dr. Su managed to erase the memory of that accidental kiss from his mind.

—

When they arrived at Grandpa’s house, Grandpa Su happened to be holding a fishing rod, ready to go fishing. He didn’t expect them to come back so early, and was a bit surprised to see them.

“Why are you back so early? Didn’t you have fun over there?” Grandpa Su glared at Gu Weiyang, clearly frustrated.

Gu Weiyang gave him an innocent look in response.

He had been too preoccupied with recalling that unexpected kiss and had indeed forgotten that they could have spent more time playing there.

Gu Weiyang immediately felt like he had missed out on a huge opportunity.

Su Shijin, however, didn’t overthink it. He naturally explained on Gu Weiyang’s behalf, “He had a bit to drink, so it’s better for him to come back and rest a little earlier.”

Grandpa Su looked at his precious grandson, then glanced at Gu Weiyang. He couldn’t see any signs of Gu Weiyang having drunk alcohol, so he assumed that his grandson was just looking out for him. It seemed like their relationship was making some progress.

Grandpa Su, satisfied, twitched his mustache and said, “Alright, you two go rest in your room. I’m off to fish. I just made the bait this morning.”

With that, Grandpa Su didn’t wait for their response and walked out, carrying his bucket and fishing rod.

After Grandpa Su left, the servants seemed to have vanished, as if someone had given them instructions. Even the gardener, who was tending to the yard, disappeared from Su Shijin and the others’ line of sight.

The large courtyard suddenly felt unnervingly quiet, with even the sound of breathing seeming to have been magnified.

Su Shijin thought to himself that, if nothing else, it was probably his grandfather’s order to give them some space.

Su Shijin sighed helplessly but didn’t say anything. After all, it was quite nice that his grandfather, despite his age, still had the energy to worry about the younger generation. It showed he still had a sense of involvement, which saved Su Shijin from feeling lonely at home by himself.

Gu Weiyang, on the other hand, didn’t feel that anything was out of the ordinary. Aside from things related to Su Shijin, Gu Weiyang was rarely sensitive to changes in the outside environment. One could say he never paid much attention to it. If the servants in the courtyard suddenly disappeared, or even if an entire courtyard was removed from the estate, he probably wouldn’t have noticed.

“Want to rest in the room for a bit?” Gu Weiyang asked, looking down to ask Su Shijin’s opinion.

Su Shijin nodded. On the way back to his own courtyard, he took the opportunity to send a message to Aunt Jin, with whom he had exchanged contact information, letting her know he had arrived home safely.

Aunt Jin replied with an “OK” emoji and mentioned that they could get together when she had some free time.

Su Shijin didn’t refuse, because he also wanted to hear more from Aunt Jin about his father. He was curious to know what kind of omega Song Muran had been before he came into this world.

He also wanted to know what kind of alpha his alpha father had been in the past.

Perhaps because he had been on edge throughout lunch, facing Aunt Jin, once he returned to his own courtyard and the familiar environment, a wave of fatigue washed over him. He felt a drowsy, lazy kind of tiredness settle in.

“Mr. Gu, are you going to take a nap?” Su Shijin asked, forcing himself to stay awake.

“I’ll handle some work first. If you’re tired, you can go rest,” Gu Weiyang replied, as he had just received a message from his assistant, and there were some documents that needed his attention.

Seeing that Su Shijin’s eyes were reddened from rubbing them, Gu Weiyang really wanted to reach out and touch him, but he could only hold himself back, letting him go back to his room to rest.

Hearing this, Su Shijin paused for a moment and said, “Then after you’re done with work, you should rest for a bit too. You had some alcohol at lunch, so you might not feel too well.”

Unlike other alphas who would insist on pretending the alcohol had no effect, Gu Weiyang naturally rubbed his temple, acting a bit exaggerated as he said, “My tolerance isn’t very good, and with sitting in the car for so long earlier, I do feel a bit dizzy. You go ahead and rest first. I’ll finish my work and come join you.”

Su Shijin didn’t suspect anything. Before entering his room, he thoughtfully reminded him, “If you need it, you can ask the kitchen to make some hangover soup.”

Gu Weiyang watched the bedroom door close in front of him, feeling that Su Shijin was just too kind. Even though Su Shijin didn’t like him right now, he was still so considerate toward him. He thought to himself, If he actually liked me, I’d be the happiest alpha in the world!

If Su Shijin could like him…

Gu Weiyang didn’t even dare to dream that big.

Feeling inexplicably excited, Gu Weiyang pulled out his phone and called Tan Zhao.

Tan Zhao, who had been taking a nap, answered the phone with a half-dead voice, “You’re calling me at this time? It better be something important.”

“Of course, it’s something important,” Gu Weiyang replied.

Upon hearing that, Tan Zhao made an effort to wake up a bit more. “What’s the matter?”

“Are you at the company now?” Gu Weiyang asked.

Tan Zhao hummed in response. He pretty much treated the office as his second home. After all, there was a bed, a bathroom, and snacks in the lounge, which solved all his daily needs.

“There are two documents in…”

…

Gu Weiyang and Tan Zhao chatted for about half an hour about work-related matters. Gu Weiyang was always quite meticulous when it came to work.

Tan Zhao could only drag himself out of bed and begrudgingly start working.

Once he had nearly finished the tasks at hand, he looked at the phone still on speaker, not yet hung up, and asked, “Is there anything else?”

Gu Weiyang thought for a moment before answering, “Yes.”

“What?” Tan Zhao asked casually, as he finished tidying up the documents.

“You know,” Gu Weiyang began, “I accidentally kissed Dr. Su today. Ah, you probably don’t know that. It’s fine though, I can describe to you in detail how I accidentally kissed him…”

The next second, all that could be heard from the phone was the sound of the call being abruptly ended with a “beep beep.”

Then Tan Zhao quickly sent a message: [Blocked, get lost!!]

Gu Weiyang looked at the message and let out a slow sigh.

The world is cold, and people’s hearts are so treacherous, he thought. Even the one person who would listen to me seriously is gone now.

Gu Weiyang felt quite regretful.