Chapter Text
Wu Suowei had promised himself he wouldn’t go out.
The promise lasted until 9.47 p.m, when the silence in his apartment started feeling less like peace and more like mockery. The lights were too bright, the walls too close, and his phone buzzed with a message from Jiang Xiaoshuai that simply read, You alive or dramatically decomposing.
Wu Suowei stared at it for a long moment before replying, Define alive.
The suppressants had been acting up all week, that subtle, infuriating failure where they technically still worked but not enough to keep his body from humming under his skin. It left him restless, irritable, and uncomfortably aware of himself in ways he did not enjoy. Staying home meant thinking too much, and thinking too much always led to spiraling.
So he put on a coat, wrapped a scarf around his neck to hide the patch there, and went out with the explicit intention of drinking until his thoughts blurred around the edges.
The bar Xiaoshuai recommended was busy in the way that felt deliberate, crowded enough that no one could linger too long on any single face. Music pulsed through the floor, conversations overlapping into white noise, the air thick with alcohol and layered scents. Wu Suowei slipped inside and immediately regretted it, then decided he was committed now and pushed through anyway.
He took a seat at the bar and ordered a whiskey, then leaned his elbows against the counter and let out a sigh.
This is fine. One drink, maybe two, then home.
That was when his omega instincts flared, sharp and sudden, like someone had snapped their fingers right next to his ear.
Wu Suowei stiffened.
It wasn’t an aggressive scent. That was the problem. No harsh dominance or alpha pheromone that would have immediately put him on edge but it was definitely an alpha that is currently standing beside him right now.
He turned before he could stop himself.
The man standing beside him looked annoyingly composed, the kind of composed that suggested this was his default state. Tall, probably around 190 cm, broad shoulders stretching the fabric of a black shirt, sleeves pushed up casually, posture relaxed without being sloppy. His expression was neutral, eyes focused on the bartender, as if he hadn’t just triggered every warning bell in Wu Suowei’s body.
Wu Suowei stared longer than was polite.
The man glanced sideways and caught him in the act.
For a second, they just looked at each other.
Wu Suowei felt something warm curl low in his stomach, deeply unwelcome.
He scoffed under his breath and turned back to his drink, determined not to engage. He was not here for this. He was especially not here to sleep with an alpha.
“Sorry,” the man said, voice low and calm. “Didn’t mean to disturb you. I’m Chi Cheng”
Wu Suowei took a sip of his drink and grimaced at how weak it tasted. “You didn’t. I’m just not in a mood. I’m Wu Suowei by the way.”
Chi Cheng hummed softly, like he was amused rather than offended. “Long day?”
“You have no idea.”
Wu Suowei expected that to end the conversation. Instead,Chi Cheng stayed where he was, not pressing closer but not moving away either, like he was testing the balance of the space between them.
“Do you want another?,”Chi Cheng asked, pointing at Wu Suowei’s glass.
Wu Suowei shot him a look. “Are you flirting with me right now?”
“I wouldn’t say I’m not.” Wu Suowei resisted the urge to roll his eyes so hard they got stuck.
“That’s not how it works.”
Chi Cheng’s mouth twitched, almost a smile. “Well, I think it is working .”
Wu Suowei whine and turned his attention back to the bar just as the bartender set down a second drink beside him.
He frowned. “I didn’t—”
“I did,” Chi Cheng said easily. “If you don’t want it, I’ll take it.”
Wu Suowei eyed the glass, then Chi Cheng. “I’m still not falling for your trick.”
“I know.”
Something about the way he said it, simple and uninsistent, made Wu Suowei pause. After a moment, he picked up the glass.
“Temporary ceasefire,” Wu Suowei said. “Until I finish this.”
They drank in silence for a bit, shoulder to shoulder without touching, the proximity doing strange things to Wu Suowei’s sense of balance. He could feel the alpha’s presence like a low-frequency hum, not overwhelming but persistent.
“Do you know that your smell is very strong right now?,” Chi Cheng said quietly.
Wu Suowei nearly choked. “Wow. That’s invasive.”
“Not meant to be,” Chi Cheng replied. “Just… a warning.”
Wu Suowei rolled his eyes, though the comment hit closer to home than he liked. The suppressant patch at the base of his neck itched, a warning he’d been ignoring all night.
“I’m fine,” Wu Suowei said.
Chi Cheng looked at him then, really looked, his gaze sharp without being unkind. “You’re not.”
Wu Suowei laughed, short and sharp. “Are you always this honest with strangers.”
“Only when it feels necessary.”
“And this feels necessary.”
“Yes.”
Wu Suowei studied him for a long moment, then took another drink. “You should probably mind your business.”
“I’m trying to,” Chi Cheng said. “You’re making it difficult.”
That startled a laugh out of Wu Suowei despite himself. “You’re unbelievable.”
Chi Cheng shrugged lightly. “You’re broadcasting.”
Wu Suowei grimaced. He could feel it now, the way his scent was starting to shift despite the suppressant, warmth pooling low and insistent.
“You should go home,” Chi Cheng said, quieter now.
Wu Suowei turned toward him, brows lifting. “Are you kicking me out.”
“No,” Chi Cheng replied. “I’m suggesting options.”
“And if I don’t take them.”
Chi Cheng hesitated, just briefly, like he was weighing something. “Then I’d rather you not be alone.”
That made Wu Suowei’s pulse jump in a way he did not appreciate.
“You know what? Maybe we should just do it,” Wu Suowei said.
“Are you sure?,” Chi Cheng asked without hesitation.
Wu Suowei drained his glass and set it down decisively. “Yes,there’s a hotel across the street.”
Chi Cheng blinked, then nodded once. He met Wu Suowei’s gaze. “Agreed.”
⸻
The elevator ride was quiet that it made Wu Suowei acutely aware of his own breathing. The man stood close enough that Wu Suowei could feel the warmth of him without being touched, hands tucked into his coat pockets like restraint was something he practiced deliberately.
“You can still back out,” Chi Cheng said.
Wu Suowei glanced up at him. “Do you want me to.”
“No.”
“Then stop giving me exits.”
The doors slid shut, sealing them into a smaller space. Wu Suowei didn’t wait this time. He grabbed the front of Chi Cheng’s coat and pulled him down into a kiss that was clumsy and impatient, teeth knocking, breath catching on both sides.
Chi Cheng froze for half a second before responding, kissing back with a careful intensity that made Wu Suowei’s knees go weak.
They broke apart just long enough for Wu Suowei to laugh breathlessly. “You’re such a flirt.”
“You said it didn’t work,” Chi Cheng replied while smirking and raising an eyebrow, trying to tease Wu Suowei, voice rougher now.
The hotel room was dimly lit, and warm. Exactly what Wu Suowei needed. Clothes came off in uneven stages, touches exploratory but confident, the man careful even as Wu Suowei tugged him closer, urged him on with soft, breathless laughter.
“Hey,” the man murmured at one point, forehead resting against Wu Suowei’s. “You okay.”
Wu Suowei nodded, heat buzzing under his skin. “Yeah. Don’t slow down now.”
The man smiled faintly. “Just checking.”
One thing led to another.
———
Wu Suowei woke to an ache that seemed to settle into every limb, a deep, unfamiliar heaviness that made him stay still a moment longer than usual. His thoughts were pleasantly quiet.
The room was dim with early light. Clothes were scattered across the floor, his shirt near the chair, someone’s belt half-curled by the bed, fabric tangled like evidence neither of them had bothered to erase. The man that lay beside him just awake too.
Wu Suowei looks at his phone and sees a work email about the "New CEO" arriving next month, “Urgh I hope this new CEO is not annoying or at least handsome or else I’m quitting,”and he just ignored the email.
Wu Suowei shifted and winced.
“You’re unbelievable,” he muttered.
Chi Cheng’s eyes opened slowly. “Good morning to you too.”
“Is it?” Wu Suowei shot back. “Do you normally treat people like they’re indestructible?”
A pause. “You didn’t complain yesterday.”
Wu Suowei blushed.
Chi Cheng then continued to sleep maybe because it was Saturday or he is unemployed, Wu Suowei didn’t bother to know.
"Probably a trust-fund brat or a high-end gigolo," Suowei grumbled, trying to find his left sock.
"No one with a real job sleeps that soundly."
He dressed before sunrise, movements quiet, pausing once at the door to look back at the man asleep in the bed, expression unguarded and unfamiliar.
Wu Suowei left without a note, telling himself this was exactly how it was meant to be.
He did not know yet how wrong he was.