Chapter 60.1

After Rong Jing’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, he glanced at his watch under the moonlight. Unknowingly, it had already passed midnight, “You sleep first.”

Hearing that, Gu Xi climbed onto the bed with a cool expression, maintaining his aloof expression.

He leaned against the headboard, replying to Mo Dian’s anxious messages. There weren’t many tourist spots near the film set, and a bit farther out was just the highway. In the past years, Gu Xi has been stalked and photographed in secret so often that he’d become a little paranoid.

Mo Dian insisted on hearing Gu Xi’s voice to confirm the phone hadn’t fallen into someone else’s hands, so Gu Xi reluctantly recorded a short voice message and sent it, just in case Mo Dian really called the police in a panic.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Rong Jing rummaging through the wardrobe beside him, so he asked, “What are you looking for?”

“A blanket.” This hotel’s service is really bad, they don’t even have a spare blanket?

“…” Which hotel would prepare that? The corner of Gu Xi’s mouth twitched.

Now it was a bit awkward. Rong Jing had originally planned to sleep on the floor, but that plan had fallen through.

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Gu Xi felt the bed dip beneath Rong Jing’s weight and couldn’t help but let a faint smile tug at the corners of his mouth.

The bed was large. The blanket, stretched between their bodies, formed a sizable gap. Cool air slipped in through the space, gently cooling their slightly overheated minds.

Inside the room, it was so quiet it felt like the only sounds were their breathing.

Gu Xi deliberately softened his breaths, quietly listening to the rhythm beside him.

He silently counted the intervals between Rong Jing’s breaths, as if doing so could calm the restless anxiety inside him.

The soundproofing wasn’t great and they could hear Xie Ling getting up in the middle of the night. Maybe the noise from earlier had really disturbed him. He came over to check on his younger brother, turned the door handle and was surprised to find the door locked from the inside.

Locked? Was that brat even guarding against his own big brother? This kid’s courting death.

The sound of the door handle jolted both Gu Xi and Rong Jing, who hadn’t fully fallen asleep. Their nerves tensed immediately.

Luckily, Xie Ling wasn’t able to open the door and left soon after.

Just as they started to relax, the presence of the other became even more noticeable. It was subtle, yet unmistakably slipping into every pore of their bodies.

The two of them didn’t move at all. From the outside, they looked completely asleep.

No one knew how much time passed before Gu Xi noticed that Rong Jing’s breathing had evened out. Quietly, he pulled back the blanket and tried to turn over as silently as possible.

Unexpectedly, Rong Jing happened to want to shift his position at the same time, planning to glance over at Gu Xi.

Their eyes met in the dark.

The room was pitch black and utterly still.

In that breathless silence, even their breathing grew lighter.

They couldn’t see clearly, but Gu Xi recoiled like he’d been shocked by electricity.

Before Rong Jing could even process it, Gu Xi had already turned back around. His reaction was subtle, yet delicate.

Rong Jing had merely meant to shift positions normally, but Gu Xi’s response felt… strange. Awkward in a way that was hard to describe.

Like a sticky thread tugging at him, taut, yet unwilling to break.

Rong Jing was well aware that he was being affected by the temporary mark. After that first marking, like all Alphas, his reason and desire had started to diverge. Because of his desire, he had begun to see Gu Xi as his.

Sometimes, when they were too close, just looking at Gu Xi stirred impulses.

When he noticed other men looking at Gu Xi, an occasional flash of possessiveness would rise unbidden. It was faint for now, but it had begun quietly burning away at his rationality.

He knew it was wrong, but his body didn’t listen.

According to what he’d read in encyclopedias, with each successive marking, this feeling would only deepen.

The only silver lining was that, according to the original story, Gu Xi’s heat cycle was unusually long. In fact, the book only mentioned it once. It was that one that happened in Maya Shopping Mall.

Later on, Gu Xi’s heat cycle seemed to fall into an endless slumber. In the comments section, people said Gu Xi was like a dormant volcano. If you wanted him to awaken from hibernation, you had to ignite a fire within him and make him erupt with lava.

But looking at Gu Xi’s eternal frost-like demeanor, the only one among all these scumbag Alphas whom he showed even a hint of softness toward was Fang Juelian, only because he hadn’t yet revealed his true nature. And even that ended in a falling out. Expecting Gu Xi to melt? It was unrealistic.

But that’s the appeal of going full speed ahead. Watching someone like Gu Xi, cold and untouchable like a snowstorm, being forced to endure… that’s what makes it satisfying.¹In raws, text was bold and a size bigger.

When Rong Jing woke up, he did what he always did first thing in the morning: staring at the ceiling.

Outside, the sun was blazing. At the door, Xie Ling was knocking. On his arm, something soft and smooth rested. On his calf, a weight held him still.

Rong Jing’s mind hadn’t caught up yet. He always had a few minutes of blank space after waking up.

“Mm, who’s that?” Gu Xi had also been woken by the knocking. He’d expected his nerves to keep him up all night, but unexpectedly, he’d fallen asleep quickly and peacefully.

He opened his eyes with some effort, only to see a beautifully defined arm beside him. The muscles were toned from years of exercise, and the veins were subtly visible, and sexy in just the right way.

He didn’t know when he’d rolled to the other side of the bed, but his cheek was resting right on those muscles.

Gu Xi jolted awake. He quickly lifted his head, let go of the arm, and awkwardly moved his leg off of Rong Jing.

Seeing Rong Jing slowly sitting up too, Gu Xi lowered his head in shame and mumbled, “Good morning…”

Is there like a hole here somewhere? I just wanna crawl into it right now.

But Rong Jing didn’t respond. His hair was still tousled from sleep, one strand sticking up. Compared to usual, he looked even more… dazed.

Gu Xi noticed this quickly and gently ruffled the stray piece of hair with his fingers.

Maybe he’s not fully awake yet. Gu Xi felt like he’d uncovered another little secret and tucked it into his mental treasure box.

It was several minutes before Rong Jing’s vacant gaze started to regain focus. When his eyes landed on the face so close to his own, he gasped, “Gu Xi?” Getting hit with that kind of beauty the moment he woke up was a bit too for him to handle.

Gu Xi knew he was finally awake. He pointed toward the door, signaling that someone had been knocking for quite a while now.

Rong Jing could still feel the lingering warmth and smoothness on his arm and leg. He avoided Gu Xi’s gaze. It was best to pretend that he didn’t notice anything.

He checked himself and found his clothes were still on. Gu Xi hadn’t slept naked last night either. If he accidentally scared the little cabbage, that’d be bad.

Rong Jing went to open the door. Gu Xi, perfectly in sync with his actions, hid behind the door.

“Check the time for yourself! Your sleep schedule is a disaster. Seriously, what’s wrong with you?” Xie Ling took one look at his younger brother and knew he’d woken up all muddled again. It wasn’t the first time he’d had to wait on him.

Rong Jing promised he understood and would fix it in the future.

Just as Xie Ling was about to leave, he noticed the messy bed behind Rong Jing. The wrinkles stretched from one end to the other.

Xie Ling knew Rong Jing had an excellent sleep posture. However he lay down at night was how he’d wake up in the morning. There was no way he’d messed up the bed like that on his own.

He thought back to the unusual locked door last night and the rare flickers of unease in his brother’s expression last night.

He glanced meaningfully at Rong Jing, then headed to the bathroom.

Rong Jing, trying to cover for things, followed him in. Xie Ling frowned, “What are you squeezing in here for? Wait for your turn.”

“No, I need to leave soon. Ge, let me go first,” Rong Jing replied with a cheeky grin, while keeping an eye on the situation outside.

Xie Ling kept frowning but gave in. He squeezed the toothpaste for Rong Jing and even set warm water on the sink.

Look at this brat. Only knows how to boss people around.

Just as Xie Ling turned around, Gu Xi quietly slipped out from behind and darted toward the door only to run smack into Zhou You, who had just arrived.

Ignoring Zhou You’s shocked expression, Gu Xi gave a reserved nod before disappearing down the hallway a moment later.

Zhou You never would have imagined that their young master could actually bring Gu Xi into his bed, no, no, but could conquer the entertainment industry’s most untouchable, glacial beauty.

When Rong Jing was called away for makeup, Xie Ling stayed behind and asked Zhou You, “Was there someone in my brother’s room last night?”

Zhou You: “You told me before that no matter what happens, the young master comes first.”

“I’m his older brother. Can’t I at least know something?”

“But it’s the young master who pays my salary,” Zhou You gave it some thought and concluded Rong Jing had made a good point.

“…” Yes, this is definitely Zhou Xiang’s brother. That rotten attitude was exactly the same.

“Was it Qi Ying?”

However, Xie Ling crossed that name off his list when he saw Zhou You’s stunned expression earlier. With Zhou You being this tight-lipped, could it have been… some Alpha?

Troubled, Xie Ling walked toward the still-messy bed.

He picked up the blanket and brought it to his nose for a sniff, his expression growing serious.

One side clearly had his brother’s familiar scent. The other side…

Fragrant. Sweet. Soft.

One whiff, and something felt off.

Xie Ling: “Something’s wrong.”

Zhou You: Sir, with all due respect, you sniffing a blanket like that feels even more wrong.