Chapter 28: No Abs

When Ji Xu came out of the bathroom after finishing his shower, his hair was still dripping water, which he wiped away haphazardly with a towel before tossing it aside.

Rong Du was already lying in bed, leaving only the warm yellow nightlight on the headboard illuminated, its faint glow outlining the raised contour of the blanket.

When Ji Xu slid under the covers, he brought in a wave of damp moisture and the fragrance of body wash; the inside of the blanket had long been warmed to a dry, comfortable heat by Rong Du’s body temperature, making him curl up with a satisfied shrink.

Yet comfortable as it was, he just could not fall asleep.

That sumptuously heavy dinner still hung like a lead weight inside his belly, as the grease from the braised pork ribs and the garlic from the grilled fish worked their way through his digestive system, that bloated sensation spanning across his chest and stomach, leaving him unable to find a completely comfortable position whether lying flat or on his side.

Ji Xu flipped over to face the wall, turned back to face Rong Du two minutes later, flipped again to lie flat on his back staring at the ceiling two minutes after that, and another two minutes later twisted himself into a side-lying curled arc.

He kept squirming beneath the blanket like a large caterpillar trapped in a cramped space, the blanket rising and falling continuously with his movements, until one corner had been kicked right past the edge of the mattress, dangling and swaying by the bed.

Rong Du had originally closed his eyes to cultivate sleepiness, but the person beside him tossed and turned so much that it became impossible to sleep.

Opening his eyes, he tilted his head to the side, catching Ji Xu in the middle of another turn to face his direction; the warm nightlight fell across his face, adding a sheen to his half-dry hair, making his eyelashes look exceptionally thick through the moisture, his lips slightly parted with a hint of sleepless annoyance.

At that moment, the thought that popped into Rong Du’s mind completely shattered his previous evaluation of a “caterpillar”—a sprite.

The way he curled up tossing and turning under the covers, his face bearing a warm, moist flush under the light, his eyelashes casting fan-like shadows beneath his eyes, his hair scattered across the pillow—no matter how one looked at it, he resembled some mythical creature turned human nesting in his bed.

“What’s wrong?”

Rong Du pushed himself up, his long arm reaching across Ji Xu’s body to retrieve the section of blanket that had been kicked over the bed edge, tucking it back over Ji Xu’s stomach.

The blanket bore a touch of cool air as it touched his skin, making Ji Xu shrink back.

“Ate too much,” Ji Xu’s voice carried a hint of aggrieved helplessness as he reached out to press his own stomach, feeling the slight round arc through the thin fabric of his pajamas, “can’t fall asleep.”

Rong Du watched him for a while, then lay back down, turned onto his side, slid his hand through the covers, and placed his palm flat against Ji Xu’s stomach.

Through the soft layer of cotton, Ji Xu’s belly felt warm and relaxed, currently bulging slightly, where the full weight of the dinner could indeed be felt resting quietly inside.

When Rong Du’s palm rested on it, Ji Xu let out a soft “Hmph,” unsure if it was out of comfort or surprise; Rong Du didn’t pull back, but instead began rubbing slowly in a clockwise direction, his palm tracing circles and applying moderate pressure along the outline of his stomach.

Ji Xu didn’t have any abs on his belly, only a small patch of soft, elastic flesh that couldn’t be noticed when wearing clothes, but lay spread out quietly beneath his pajamas when lying down.

Rong Du’s palm pressed down against it, pushing in circles along the grain of the muscles, sensing the warm heat and movement of the food being slowly digested beneath the skin.

Ji Xu whimpered and hummed under his touch, his nose letting out intermittent, untuned groans of comfort that sounded exceptionally soft and delicate in the quiet bedroom.

He tilted his head to watch Rong Du’s hand draw circles on his belly—that hand was broad and warm, with long fingers and a dry palm, the light calluses on his finger pads bringing a slightly rough texture as they rubbed against the cotton cloth, making him feel as though that small patch of skin on his stomach was being ironed completely smooth.

“Rong Du, a little lighter.”

Ji Xu’s voice grew even softer than before, his eyelids half-drooped, his eyelashes casting trembling shadows on his cheekbones.

Rong Du eased his pressure, the arc of his palm turning gentler, transitioning from clockwise to a slower, more patient circular motion.

“Is this okay?”

His voice sounded low in the dark, vibrating as if straight from his chest cavity, passing through right against Ji Xu’s belly.

Ji Xu gave a satisfied nod, his mouth parting slightly to let out a muddled “Mm.”

His hand rested on Rong Du’s wrist without exerting force, just loosely placed there, his fingertips occasionally brushing against Rong Du’s forearm.

Rong Du’s hand continued rubbing over his stomach, pushing across in circle after circle, the warmth of his palm transmitting through the fabric into his skin like a hot water bottle that would never grow cold.

Ji Xu’s breathing gradually slowed down, his eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and the air exhaled from his nose began to turn even and long.

Rong Du’s hand was still moving, but Ji Xu no longer let out those little whimpering sounds, his whole self like a lump of honey melted by the rubbing, sinking softly between the mattress and the covers, his eyelashes quietly closed together.

Rong Du stopped his hand, but did not pull it away.

He leaned his body over gently and pressed off the nightlight on the headboard.

Once the room fell completely dark, he lay back down, reaching out to draw Ji Xu closer into his arms.

Ji Xu turned over submissively in his sleep, his face burying into Rong Du’s chest, his breath fluttering warm against the fabric of Rong Du’s pajamas.

Rong Du’s chin rested on the top of Ji Xu’s head, his nose buried among his strands of hair.

That faint honey scent leaked out lightly from the ends of his hair, blending with the floral scent of the body wash to form a familiar fragrance that was sweet without being cloying.

“Not enough,” Rong Du thought to himself.

“Far too faint.”

It was a amount that could only be smelled when holding this close, completely insufficient to satisfy his longing to be wrapped up in that scent.

His fingers moved slowly upward from the side of Ji Xu’s waist, brushing past his nape, his finger pads landing right on the position of that gland.

Ji Xu’s inhibitor patch had already been peeled off during his shower; now that patch of skin was bare and warm, the gland protruding slightly beneath the skin like a flower bud about to bloom.

When Rong Du’s fingertips pressed onto it, he could feel the slight throb of the pulse beneath.

He pressed down along the curve of that gland with his finger pads, giving it a gentle rub.

A surge of honey aroma burst forth from that single press.

Like a honey jar with its lid unscrewed, a sweet and warm aura seeped out from Ji Xu’s gland, dispersing between the two of them and filling the air.

Rong Du took a deep breath as that honey scent poured into his nasal passages and flowed into his lungs, dyeing every single inch of surrounding air sweet and thick.

To a Beta, pheromones were merely scents—they were not influenced by pheromones, their emotions and actions were not controlled by pheromones, and they did not rely on pheromones to form bonds.

If the concentration of pheromones wasn’t high enough or the scent wasn’t distinct enough, many Betas couldn’t even smell the existence of pheromones at all.

Yet Ji Xu’s honey scent was far too clear, sweet in a vivid and dominant manner that could be felt distinctly without needing the gland to be right up close.

At this moment, that scent seeped continuously from Ji Xu’s gland, completely soaking his pajamas, his arms, and his neck.

Rong Du closed his eyes, feeling as though an entire jar of honey had been poured over him from the top of his head, wrapped in that sweetness from head to toe with not a single spot missed.

“Marking him”—when this thought surfaced in his mind, he felt that using the word “marking” as a Beta might be a bit of self-flattering sentimentality.

He had no pheromones to give back, no gland to respond with; all he could do was allow Ji Xu’s scent to linger upon himself, slowly accumulating and slowly adhering, like layers of honey smoothed on one over another.

His arms tightened, drawing Ji Xu even closer into his chest, burying his nose into his hair to deeply and slowly breathe in that sweet aroma.

Ji Xu actually still retained a tiny shred of consciousness.

In his state between dream and wakefulness, he felt someone touch his nape, something pressing and rubbing against his gland.

His mind felt as though it were wrapped in a thick layer of cotton, turning very, very slowly, vaguely sensing that something was wrong—an Alpha’s gland shouldn’t be touched by others so casually, as if it were some very important rule, as if it were some taboo regarding pheromones—yet he was simply far too sleepy, so tired that those thoughts shattered into a pile of blurred debris before even taking shape.

He merely furrowed his brow slightly in Rong Du’s arms, and then with the waves of sleepiness surging upward, sank into a deep, dreamless darkness, saying nothing at all.

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