The early-rising sparrows chased after a long, narrow band of white light that split open at the edge of the sky, perching on the treetops. The black sky faded, hiding the twinkling stars. The person in bed shifted slightly, but within moments, his biological clock woke him.
Beneath long, thick lashes lay agate-like gems, slowly revealing themselves fully. The misty tea-colored eyes gradually cleared with each blink.
What time is it now? He propped himself up. Both sides of the bed were empty—where was everyone?
He mistakenly thought he’d overslept and no one had called him. He hurriedly reached for the phone beside him, but his hand found nothing. A sense of dread washed over him. Throwing off the covers, he stretched his feet out to find his slippers—cold shot up from his toes. He searched everywhere, but found nothing.
Where were his shoes?!!!
He looked around. The sparrows chirped along with the morning light, and he realized—this wasn’t the master bedroom at all. The furniture arrangement was completely different.
Meanwhile, back in the master bedroom.
A shout was followed by a sharp intake of cold air. The two men, each with their hands on the other, stared at each other, eyes full of shock and disgust.
“Holy shit—it’s you! Where’s wifey? Where did my wifey go?!” The alpha quickly scrambled upright and pulled back, yanking half the blanket away in an instant, nearly falling off the bed with it. “Hiss—that hurts.”
The alpha on the other side wore an identical expression of disgust, no less than the younger one’s. His furrowed brows could have killed a dead fly all over again. “I told you not to call her that. Stop pretending—no one here feels sorry for you.” General Gu got straight out of bed, slipped on his slippers, and headed to the bathroom.
Soon, the sound of running water filled the air. Xiao Zhou, who had fallen to the floor, pouted and pushed himself up, brushing the dust off his clothes. He looked left and right, seemingly searching for any trace of Shi Yuxing, muttering: “No one feels sorry for me because you’re the dog here. Hmph.”
He walked to the walk-in closet door and opened it—empty. He opened the wardrobe and called out twice: “Wifey, wifey, are you in here?” Finally, passing by the bathroom door, the sound of water stopped. Gu Lingzhou happened to open the door and their eyes met. Both tall alphas had sour expressions. Xiao Zhou craned his neck to look inside but didn’t see the person he was looking for. Disappointed, he headed out of the room.
As he walked, he cupped his hands around his mouth and called out: “Wifey~ Wifey~ Where are you, wifey?”
Shi Yuxing heard the voice and opened the door, just as the young alpha was passing by and froze mid-step. “Wi—! Wifey, you’re here! Where did you run off to this morning?” Xiao Zhou immediately plastered himself to him like a human-shaped sticky plaster. The minty toothpaste in Shi Yuxing’s mouth meant he could only let out a couple of vague “mm-hm”s in response.
The head on his shoulder was a bit heavy. Shi Yuxing furrowed his brows and tried to shake him off, but in his peripheral vision, he saw another person approaching. He turned his head to see a grim-faced General Gu closing in with the stride of a demon. His long lashes trembled. Gu Lingzhou pulled the person off his shoulder, and Shi Yuxing took the chance to escape into the guest bedroom to rinse his mouth. When he looked up from the mirror again, two walls of solid flesh had invaded the remaining space in the reflection.
Xiao Zhou’s eyes were teary. “Wifey, he’s bullying me.”
Gu Lingzhou couldn’t stand the sight of this tattletale act, even if it was his former self—he knew his own past behavior well. He crossed his arms, rolled his eyes, and continued looking at Shi Yuxing. Their gazes met, and the General calmly spit out a few words: “I didn’t. He’s lying.”
In Shi Yuxing’s eyes, it was nothing more than one little childish brat and one big childish brat.
The two childish brats flanked him downstairs. Shi Yuxing felt crowded but had no way around it. It wasn’t until Da Ling, wearing an apron, came out of the kitchen with breakfast and called him over to eat that the three of them sensed something was off.
They seemed to have forgotten there were four people in the house.
The two alphas’ reactions were especially obvious. They looked at each other, then at Shi Yuxing sandwiched in between like the filling of a cookie.
Xiao Zhou’s reaction was particularly fierce. “You, you, you—it was you! You were the one who carried wifey to your room to sleep, weren’t you!” The accused showed no sign of feeling he’d done anything wrong. He didn’t answer Xiao Zhou’s question, simply pulling out a chair for Shi Yuxing to come eat.
Shi Yuxing had just sat down when the argument started up behind him again.
“You shameless old man! I should have known—there’s no way you wouldn’t pull some trick,” Xiao Zhou fumed. “Your silence is admission! You’re nothing but a scheming dog! A green-tea bitch! Do you have any idea how devastated I was when I woke up this morning and found myself sleeping in his arms?!”
“Pfft—cough, cough, cough…” Shi Yuxing choked on egg in his throat. Da Ling quickly handed him a glass of milk. His flushed face finally returned to normal. Shi Yuxing covered his mouth but still couldn’t stop the light coughing. He wiped the moisture from the corners of his eyes and opened them wide to see what those two looked like right now.
What was going on? What did he mean by “woke up in his arms”?
Gu Lingzhou caught his gaze and explained: “This one mistook me for you.”
“Bullshit! You’re the one who mistook me for wifey. Just thinking about it gives me goosebumps.” Xiao Zhou rubbed his arms with a look of disgust, then pitifully sidled up to Shi Yuxing. “Wuwuwu… I’m tainted now.”
Gu Lingzhou’s brow hadn’t relaxed once. He stared fixedly at the face identical to his own and voiced his suspicion: “You’re blaming me? Why don’t you blame him? That glass of water last night—did you drug it?” It sounded like a question, but his tone was full of certainty.
The flames of battle shifted. In an instant, the two alphas’ sinister gazes locked onto the “outsider” who had been acting like none of this concerned him from the start. Shi Yuxing’s surprise deepened. No wonder he’d slept so soundly last night—he hadn’t even realized he’d been moved to a different room. So he’d been drugged.
“You even used drugs? No wonder I slept like a log—so you pulled another dirty trick!” Xiao Zhou’s eyes widened. He stormed forward, baring his teeth, his raised chin nearly poking into Da Ling’s face. The latter pushed up his gold-rimmed glasses. “Don’t spread rumors without evidence. That’s illegal.”
Gu Lingzhou cut in with a sneer: “You didn’t drink that water. You slept like the dead purely because you’re a pig.”
“Pfft—” Shi Yuxing’s milk-sipping motion froze. He covered his mouth, his eyes darting away.
Xiao Zhou saw Da Ling flash a taunting smile, the curve of his thin lips like a blade. “If it were just you, I wouldn’t even bother putting anything in it.” The young alpha’s whole face turned red-hot, latching onto the key words: “You admitted it! You’re despicable and shameless! Wifey drank that water too—what else did you do behind my back last night?!”
“Wifey, look at him! He even schemed against you! He’s a total manipulator!!!”
At that moment, what Shi Yuxing was thinking was—he’d only taken a tiny sip last night; basically the whole cup was finished by Gu Lingzhou. This drug wouldn’t have any side effects, would it? With that thought, his tea-colored eyes unconsciously drifted toward Gu Lingzhou. The other man noticed his tangible gaze and looked back.
He seemed fine. Shi Yuxing’s slightly parted lips closed. Never mind—he wouldn’t ask.
A body pressed into his arms, an arm wrapping around his waist. Xiao Zhou knelt at Shi Yuxing’s feet, burying his face in his clothes, sniffing wildly. “Wifey, you’re bullying me too—you’re ignoring me.”
Before Shi Yuxing could comfort him, a pair of arms looped around his neck. Gu Lingzhou’s voice sounded by his ear: “I’ll drive you to work later.”
…
Already exhausted from the morning, Shi Yuxing finally collapsed into the passenger seat of the starship. Why did he have to go to work again?
Someone got into the driver’s seat on the other side. Gu Lingzhou glanced at him, leaned over, and fastened his seatbelt. “If you’re tired, recline the seat and sleep. I’ll wake you when we get there.”
The beta leaned back against the seat and shook his head. “If I close my eyes, the next thing I know I’ll be at work. I’m afraid I won’t want to get up.”
Gu Lingzhou didn’t insist. “Did you sleep badly last night? Did that person’s drug in the water affect you?”
Shi Yuxing turned his head, blinking his drowsy eyes. “Hmph. If that drug really does have side effects, I think I should be worried about my traffic safety for the rest of the ride.” There was a pointed meaning in his words, and Gu Lingzhou understood.
The General’s Adam’s apple bobbed. “My physical condition is good, but you’re different. Betas naturally have weaker resistance than alphas.”
“That’s not necessarily true, General. There are plenty of betas in your troops too.” Shi Yuxing didn’t agree with his statement. Alpha, beta, or omega—to him, they were all the same. Anyone could be strong. He thought of someone. “Besides, Wen Lan counts as a beta too, and he still made it to Deputy General.”
Gu Lingzhou started the starship. The knuckles of his fingers gripping the steering wheel protruded with patches of white.
“Has he contacted you recently?”
“Who? Wen Lan?”
The starship slowly pulled out of the underground garage. Gu Lingzhou stared straight ahead. “I still suggest you delete his contact info. He’s dangerous. If you don’t delete him now, I’ll delete him for you later.”
Shi Yuxing saw that he still couldn’t let it go and felt a teasing urge rise up. “Will I still get to eat the lunch my husband brings me today?” The topic change was abrupt. Gu Lingzhou knew he was deflecting, but still nodded in response. “Shouldn’t be too busy today.”
His elbow propped on the edge of the window, Shi Yuxing tilted his head to look at him. “What was it like waking up to find another you in your arms?” He could clearly feel the starship wobble for a split second. Shi Yuxing added: “Be careful. If we die together over something like this, I’ll never forgive you.”
“I won’t.” Gu Lingzhou’s voice was cold, with a hint of pheromones that hadn’t been fully contained. Shi Yuxing couldn’t smell his pheromones, but it felt like the air conditioning had been turned on.
“I woke up the same way before—suddenly there were two of you. At the time, I thought some enemy had set up a scheme to trap me, and that reporters would break down the door any second to make me explain.” He curled his lips, his tone laced with an ambiguous quality. “Back then, I even thought you’d teamed up with a mistress to set me up—deliberately finding two plastic surgery lookalikes to seduce me.”
Gu Lingzhou finally stole a quick sharp glance at him, his gaze intense. “I didn’t find anyone else. I would never harm you. And I would never find someone to seduce you.” His knuckles stood out even more starkly. The road ahead was clear—he could have made it through the green light with ten seconds to spare—yet the starship slowly decelerated and came to a stop instead.
As the yellow light turned red, a sparrow perched on the traffic signal peered greedily into the not-so-spacious starship.
In the space of a breath, Shi Yuxing’s chin was caught. The alpha leaned in—and before he could react, Gu Lingzhou’s enlarged handsome face filled his vision. A solid kiss landed on his lips—soft, with a hint of minty toothpaste. As the four petals parted, the desire spilling from Gu Lingzhou’s eyes screamed to tear the person before him apart, to crush him into his body. Amid heavy breathing came a slightly hoarse voice: “I, I…” A light flush crept onto his cheeks. Gu Lingzhou looked at him, unable to get a single word out, swallowing repeatedly.
Shi Yuxing took a small breath and pushed him back into the driver’s seat. “The light’s about to turn green.”
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