STIDM 6

Yan Lu ignored the teasing. He pulled a cigarette from his pocket and bit down on it, the tip pointed straight at the other man’s face.

“Light it.”

Zhong Zong smiled faintly. His long fingers reached into Yan Lu’s pocket, pulled out another cigarette, and touched the tips together. A flame flared between them.

Their faces were inches apart. The moment was thick with tension.

Zhong Zong’s long lashes trembled slightly as he took a deep drag, then glanced up and saw the red mark on the side of Yan Lu’s face.

His pupils tightened. He reached out, wanting to touch it.

Yan Lu leaned back slightly. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Uncle Yan hit you?”

Yan Lu gave him a dismissive glance.
“You weren’t around when shit got really bad for me. So don’t start pretending you care now.”

“But Yan Yan… you cried. You never cry.”

Yan Lu froze for a second, then immediately covered it up. He jabbed his elbow into Zhong Zong’s side. “Get lost. Stop fucking bothering me.”

Zhong Zong winced from the hit to his ribs but didn’t get angry. He just smiled and followed behind.

“Yan Yan, did you run away from home?”

“…”

“Where are you planning to stay?”

“…”

“Yan Yan… come stay at my place.”

Yan Lu stopped walking and turned to glance at him. “You think that’s gonna happen?”

Zhong Zong raised his hand, hooked two fingers into Yan Lu’s collar, and gave a gentle tug.

In that moment, the scent that hadn’t fully faded surged up around them.

It was thick. Overwhelming. All of it belonged to Zhong Zong.

Irritated, Yan Lu pulled his collar back. He knew it clearly. Even without a mark, the scent of another man didn’t just vanish.

If he went to crash at one of his bros’ places, anyone who had even half a clue would take one sniff and know exactly what had happened.

He hesitated for a moment. Zhong Zong’s arm hooked around his neck and pulled him in.

“Let’s go. You’re staying with me.”

Zhong Zong’s grip was too strong to break free from. Yan Lu frowned, thinking it over for a while. The more he considered it, the more it seemed like a decent option.

Zhong Zong held a cigarette in one hand and wrapped his other arm around Yan Lu, looking completely satisfied with life.

He lowered his head with a grin and bit Yan Lu’s ear lightly. The successful sneak attack instantly lifted his mood.

When Yan Lu raised his fist in response, Zhong Zong casually caught it.

“Relax. Don’t worry, I’m not going to take advantage of you. If a few days go by and you still haven’t figured out how to support yourself, I’ll kick you out without you even needing to ask.”

Or maybe drag him back. Back to the Yan house, whether he liked it or not.

Zhong Zong wasn’t comfortable letting Yan Lu wander around alone.

After sneaking out the window earlier, he hadn’t gone far. He’d just hidden in the backyard.

He wasn’t sure if he could keep things under wraps from Uncle Yan. But he knew damn well that if the truth ever came out, with Yan Lu’s temper and Uncle Yan’s personality, things would explode.

If it came to that, he’d storm into the house himself and take the blame. After all, he was the one who did it.

He just didn’t expect Yan Lu to say a few words and then actually leave.

Zhong Zong had no right to interfere in the Yan family’s business. But seeing the faint redness in Yan Lu’s eyes made his chest tighten with a kind of ache he wasn’t used to.

He had never felt that before. It was strange.

Not fully understanding his own reaction, he reached out and pulled Yan Lu toward his place.

Whatever happened, he was never going to let Yan Yan crash at some random guy’s house.

Yan Lu had no idea what was running through Zhong Zong’s head. If he did, he’d probably smash the guy with a brick.

He was strong, well-built, the kind of guy normal people would run from, not fuck. Only someone like Zhong Zong, a perverted control freak with zero boundaries, would ever be into that.

But Yan Lu had lived wild for years. He wasn’t scared of anything now.

After one more failed attempt at prying Zhong Zong’s arm off, he gave up trying.

It was the school break anyway. Finding a job that covered food and housing wouldn’t be too hard.

Still, without a high school diploma, it was unlikely he’d find anything decent.

Maybe he really should study. The thought pissed him off.

Zhong Zong’s family home had only been a street away from Yan Lu’s. But the place he lived in now was much farther.

After he entered high school, his old man gave him a sum of money and kicked him out to live near campus. Officially, it was to help him become independent early.

Everyone knew that was bullshit.

His dad clearly just wanted to bring an old lover back home, and having a son in the way made things inconvenient.

Back then, Zhong Zong was still just a sixteen-year-old kid. He didn’t have the calm, unreadable face he wore now. He had a temper and it flared up every day.

Yan Lu, clueless and bold, had walked right up to him and grinned for a while.

He just wanted to say something like, “Hey, we grew up together. Sucks, but your dad’s chasing love. Fighting it won’t get you anything good.”

But when he saw Zhong Zong looking so wrecked, so out of it… he couldn’t resist.

All the old grudges came up, mixed with years of being beaten down by this guy as a kid. So he mocked him. Said a bunch of shit.

Zhong Zong’s eyes turned bloodshot. He stared at Yan Lu for a long while, then suddenly stood up.

Yan Lu took a step back instinctively, ready for a fight.

But all Zhong Zong did was keep staring for a bit longer, then turned and walked away.

Yan Lu stood there, half-tensed for a fight that never came, scratching his head in confusion.

He watched Zhong Zong’s back and muttered awkwardly, “Damn, I didn’t mean it like that. Now I feel kinda shitty.”

Then he slapped himself lightly on the mouth. “Stupid tongue.”

With no other choice, he trailed behind Zhong Zong, trying to apologize.

Now the train rocked gently beneath them. Yan Lu sat quietly, staring out the window. Zhong Zong sat beside him, holding his hand. Neither of them said a word, but the silence between them felt peaceful.

Outside, everything was dark. Only streaks of white light flashed past the windows.

Zhong Zong had always been good-looking. At sixteen, he already stood at one-eighty. And with that face…

After the incident with his father, Zhong Zong’s life took a nosedive into chaos. He didn’t care if it was men or women, alphas or omegas. He messed with all of them.

Back then, Yan Lu used to find him annoying as hell, but Zhong Zong still insisted on sticking around with that same aggressive presence, always in his face.

The two of them kept this awkward, twisted sort of balance. Never quite friends, never really enemies.

But once Zhong Zong moved out, the distance between them grew. At school, it became rare to even cross paths.

Yan Lu suddenly remembered the year he first realized he was an omega.

The relentless waves of heat kept getting suppressed, and it drained his body completely. He became weak and dizzy.

One time, in the middle of class, he passed out without warning. Luckily, Shi Ying came looking for him after class and found him unresponsive.

They rushed him to the infirmary. The doctor said it was hypoglycemia.

That was when he learned just how much energy those heats were burning through. He was supposed to be loading up on high-calorie food, and he didn’t know.

Like a dumbass, he thought the heat was over and done with, only to push his body to the edge and pass out.

He was lying on the infirmary bed, curtains pulled tightly shut around him.

Eventually, he started hearing soft rustling sounds nearby. His head was spinning, but even in that haze, he could tell what was going on next door.

No fucking way. Someone was getting it on. In the infirmary.

Yan Lu shoved his head under the blanket, trying to block it out, but the girl’s little giggles kept breaking through.

His body was already uncomfortable, and now someone was hooking up right next to him. He was beyond pissed. Blood boiling, he sat up and yanked the curtain open.

A girl screamed in surprise.

Yan Lu froze.

Right in front of him was Zhong Zong, collar slightly open, lazily reclining on the bed. A girl sat between his legs, hands resting on his shoulders.

Zhong Zong’s hair was messy, lips faintly red, and his eyes were half-lidded as he turned to look at Yan Lu.

For just a moment, Yan Lu’s heart skipped a beat.