GBROTAH CH25

X: “Date me, baby.”

X: “I miss you so much I can’t sleep, baby. Please have mercy on me, okay?”

Xie Yuanxing looked at his phone screen, his eyes downcast, his fingers clenching and unclenching several times under the table. In the end, he didn’t reply.

X waited for a long time without any response, not even one. His tone became aggrieved, but the vibrating phone in Xie Yuanxing’s hand revealed another kind of frequent, urgent tension beneath the grievance.

X: “I’m a good baby, just give me a try.”

X: “I’m not bad-looking, I have a decent figure, and a little money. Plus, I’ve never been in a relationship before, and I only like you, baby.”

X: “My academic performance is also decent; I can help you with your studies.”

X: “I’ve also been watching some streamers lately who are really good at complimenting people. Once I learn, I can compliment you like that too, baby.”

X: “Baby, don’t misunderstand. I’m not learning to flatter you; I’m just clumsy with words and can’t express how wonderful you are in my heart.”

X: “Give me a try, please, okay?”

X: “I’ll be a very good boyfriend.”

Xie Yuanxing had a momentary illusion, as if the person on the other side of the chat box was desperately trying to sell himself, fearing his slightest rejection.

Is X so starved for love? His eagerness made Xie Yuanxing vaguely feel as if he was being targeted, unable to escape, and his heart suddenly palpitated.

Xie Yuanxing bit the soft flesh inside his cheek. His fingertips hesitated, then he typed out a line of text: “But I don’t like you.”

After sending the message, the other side fell into dead silence.

The phone stopped vibrating, and no more messages came through.

Xie Yuanxing, however, breathed a sigh of relief, thinking the other party had given up. He got up and returned to the room he had slept in last night, took out his backpack, and sat down at the table by the window.

As he pulled out his homework and scratchpad and placed them on the table, he looked up and saw out the window.

The pond and the distant garden were reflected in his eyes: lush trees, and the round lotus leaves in the pond, some large and some small, some far and some near.

What about him? Xie Yuanxing suddenly thought.

If he was something in this house, in this landscape, what would he be?

Probably the silt at the bottom of the pond, hidden by the lotus leaves.

Xie Yuanxing lowered his head, his gaze returning to the task at hand. He wasn’t very clever; to get a scholarship, he had to put in more effort.

The white scratch paper under his hand was densely covered with calculations, and after filling the front, he continued to use the back.

The ballpoint pen’s marks pierced through the paper. A thin piece of scratch paper became fragile after being filled with discardable calculations.

Like Xie Yuanxing’s self-esteem.

Soon after Xie Yuanxing settled down, his phone, which had been quiet for a long time, rang again. It only rang twice; this frequency didn’t sound like X.

But when he opened it, it was indeed X.

X: “Can you tell me why?”

X: “Is there something about me that made you dislike me?”

He didn’t call him “baby” this time, nor did he have the usual urgency. He was uncharacteristically calm.

Xie Yuanxing’s gaze fell on the words “dislike.” X seemed very concerned about this, repeatedly emphasizing not to dislike him. It had been like this since the first day they added each other, and even now, he was still fixated on whether he was disliked.

Why?

Xie Yuanxing was momentarily puzzled, but he didn’t ask. He just said, “No, you’re fine.”

This sentence, however, seemed to activate a switch in the other party’s reaction. The previous calmness instantly vanished, as if he had been possessed just moments before.

X: “I’m fine? If I’m fine, baby, why won’t you date me?”

X: “Baby is a liar; you clearly said you liked me before.”

Xie Yuanxing looked at this sentence blankly, racking his brain to recall. Hadn’t he said he liked X praising him? Could it be directly interpreted this way?

He was puzzled, but X kept sending messages.

X: “If baby thinks I’m fine, give me a try. Even if you don’t like me, it’s okay.”

X: “I can become better, baby. Can’t we date first and then fall in love?”

X: “Please, baby, be with me.”

X: “I want to openly be good to baby.”

It seemed like… he wouldn’t give up.

Is he teasing me?

Xie Yuanxing didn’t think there was anything about him that would make X so eagerly want to date him.

Xie Yuanxing lowered his gaze, concealing the reluctance in his eyes. His delicate, pale fingertips hovered over X’s profile picture. After a moment of hesitation, he tapped it, then “Profile” -> “…” -> “Delete.”

The two stark red characters were conspicuous. Xie Yuanxing didn’t hesitate further and tapped.

Unaware, X was still typing. X: “Why aren’t you replying to me again, baby?”

A sudden, glaring red exclamation mark appeared before his sentence. Below it, a line of small text read, “You have been deleted by the other party.”

He! Was! Actually! Deleted! By! Xie! Yuan! Xing!

Shen Bianye’s pupils constricted slightly, then he repeatedly read the small line of text in disbelief several times before he could truly believe that Xie Yuanxing had actually blocked him.

Fck?!*

How dare Xie Yuanxing?!

Does he think anyone is so eager to date him?!!

If it weren’t for pitying him, for a legitimate reason to openly give this poor wretch money, would he even bother with this act?!

He wouldn’t believe it!

This relationship, X and Xie Yuanxing wouldn’t be able to have it?!

He used X’s account to send Xie Yuanxing another friend request, waiting quietly.

Ten minutes, half an hour, an hour passed. The phone showed no reaction. The friend request was like a stone dropped into the sea, stirring not a single ripple.

Shen Bianye’s face turned dark and ugly, his eyes filled with surging, intense emotions, swirling with unwillingness. After asking the aunt where Xie Yuanxing was, he walked towards the secondary bedroom with a cold face.

“Knock knock.”

Xie Yuanxing, who was doing his homework, subconsciously turned his head when he heard the knock and got up to open the door.

“Knock knock.”

The person knocking seemed to be in a hurry. In a short moment, before Xie Yuanxing even had time to reach the door, they knocked again.

But it was very strange.

If the person behind the door was in a hurry, their knocking was very light, two very rhythmic and restrained knocks, stopping after finishing.

Xie Yuanxing didn’t think much of it and reached out to open the door, “Is something wrong?”

The person standing at the door didn’t answer. His tall figure almost completely blocked the doorway. When he lowered his gaze to look at Xie Yuanxing, there was a silent sense of oppression.

Under Shen Bianye’s gaze, Xie Yuanxing slowly began to feel a hint of unease. He pursed his lips and asked, “What’s wrong?”

He still received no reply. Instead, Shen Bianye, standing at the door, took a step towards him.

The two were already very close, with one standing in the doorway and the other inside. Shen Bianye’s step directly closed in on Xie Yuanxing, completely invading Xie Yuanxing’s personal space.

Xie Yuanxing’s eyes widened in surprise, and he instinctively stepped back.

He retreated, and Shen Bianye advanced, step by step, until Shen Bianye had fully entered the room.

Click.

Shen Bianye’s gaze was locked on Xie Yuanxing, but he closed the door behind him with his backhand.

In an instant, the scent of embers, as if still carrying the scorching heat of a blazing fire, surged out, filling the entire room. Xie Yuanxing’s breathing became difficult in a flash, his nose felt blocked by an invisible airflow, and his chest tightened in waves. He tried to bear it, but couldn’t, and suddenly began to cough.

“Cough cough! Cough cough…. cough cough….” Xie Yuanxing covered his mouth and nose, his eyes red from choking. He spoke with difficulty, “Suppressant… cough cough cough, you didn’t take your suppressant…”

A hand forcefully inserted itself from the gap beneath his hands, becoming Shen Bianye’s hand covering his mouth and nose. He was pressed against Shen Bianye’s hand.

“Why should I take a suppressant?” Shen Bianye said.

He removed Xie Yuanxing’s hand, then slowly withdrew his own, “Pheromones aren’t real fire. There’s no thick smoke or gas here. You can breathe.”

Xie Yuanxing choked, coughing ceaselessly, tears streaming down his face. “You said you’d take… take, cough cough, a suppressant if I came out with you this weekend.”

“You can’t do this, lie to me.”

He paused, as if suppressing a cough, and hot tears rolled down his pale cheeks, wetting the dark tear mole and leaving damp trails.

Shen Bianye leaned closer to him, his large hand half-gripping the back of his neck, his thumb constantly rubbing that spot, as if confirming something, or perhaps showing unwillingness.

And you?

Can you just lie to me like that, Xie Yuanxing?

He lowered his gaze to the pitifully crying person and whispered, “Is it that uncomfortable?”

“Is my pheromone really that unpleasant?”

Was it really that repulsive? Even an invisible thing could make Xie Yuanxing cough and cry from repulsion.

Shen Bianye’s palm rubbed and slid. The skin beneath his palm was smooth and tender, his neck slender and long. His gaze drifted, and when he saw Xie Yuanxing’s collar revealing a hint of his collarbone, his eyes suddenly moved, and he calmly said.

Perhaps, just perhaps, he understood why Xie Yuanxing was so repulsed by the smell of his pheromones.

He leaned down and bit his collarbone.

Xie Yuanxing gasped in pain, retreating sharply, looking at him with a mix of shock and anger. “What are you doing?”

Shen Bianye stood up, slowly retracting his unwillingly agitated pheromones, and said calmly, “Bit the wrong place, sorry.”

Xie Yuanxing’s eyes widened in disbelief. Can something like this even be bitten in the wrong place?!

Before he could open his mouth to question, Shen Bianye had already turned and left.

Xie Yuanxing looked at the room, now quiet and empty again, his expression slowly darkening. He gritted his teeth and cursed, “Neurotic.”

“Who’s neurotic?”

The next second, Shen Bianye’s voice came through. He strode in, holding a suppressant.

Xie Yuanxing: “…..”

His voice was lower, but he still firmly said, “You’re neurotic.”

Shen Bianye gave him a deep look, then turned and left again.

Xie Yuanxing was speechless, not knowing what this person wanted. It seemed like he only came to bite him and inject a suppressant in front of him.

To prevent Shen Bianye from returning, he quickly walked to the door and closed it with a loud bang.

Silently and audibly expressing his anger.

Shen Bianye returned to his room, casually tossing the empty suppressant into the trash can, a faint, imperceptible annoyance on his face.

Later in the afternoon, when he took the person to the villa, he should be able to see it.

Just as he was thinking about how to explain it reasonably, his phone rang, “The other party has accepted your friend request, now…”

Xie Yuanxing still likes X after all!

He hesitated for a moment, his thought weakening a bit… at least he’s a little reluctant to let go.

Previously, Shen Bianye thought that since Xie Yuanxing liked X, he would let X date him to give Xie Yuanxing money legitimately.

But Xie Yuanxing disagreed.

The problem then became: how to convince Xie Yuanxing to date X, so that Xie Yuanxing could legitimately receive money.

Tsk, so difficult to please.

It shouldn’t be too hard, after all, Xie Yuanxing was at least reluctant to let X go, and perhaps even liked him. Why wouldn’t he like him?

His idea wasn’t entirely wrong either; Xie Yuanxing was indeed reluctant.

Xie Yuanxing stared at the chat box on his phone, seeing “typing…” flash several times, but after waiting a while without any message, he hesitated, then sent a message first.

“What’s wrong?”

X: “I thought we couldn’t date, but at least we were still friends.”

X: “Baby is so cold, deleting me just like that.”

X: “Am I that annoying to baby that you’re so eager to shake me off?”

Xie Yuanxing: “No, you misunderstood.”

Compared to X, he was truly clumsy with words, his replies dry, uninteresting, and dull.

But X seemed unfazed by his dullness, still showing great interest in him.

X: “If baby wants to reject me, can you at least tell me why?”

X: “Baby says I haven’t annoyed you and that I’m great, yet rejects me without hesitation.”

X: “Baby is a liar.”

Xie Yuanxing: “I like you complimenting me, and I like that you’re always patient with me, but that’s just you online.”

Shen Bianye’s heart skipped a beat. He thought, Xie Yuanxing isn’t thinking of an online-to-offline relationship, is he? That won’t do.

X: “Is baby worried? No need to worry, baby, I’m like this in real life too.”

X: “It’s just that S City and A City are too far, so I can’t meet baby for now.”

Xie Yuanxing’s eyelashes fluttered slightly, and he pursed his lips, slowly tapping on the keyboard. “No, don’t meet. I don’t want a real person offline.”

His life plan didn’t include dating, but he clumsily wanted to keep X.

On the other side of the chat screen, there were already typed words in the dialogue box: “Okay.” Shen Bianye’s hand hovered over it, unable to send it for a long time.

Actually, it was nothing.

It should have been, it should have been.

X was originally a fake identity, a fake person, created for Xie Yuanxing, existing only online.

Xie Yuanxing’s strong refusal to meet first actually suited his intention.

But a surge of almost angry emotion welled up in Shen Bianye’s heart.

The emotion came so fiercely that it chilled his blood, making him unwilling to send that agreement in accordance with Xie Yuanxing’s wishes.

He coldly looked at the sentence on his phone, the sentence Xie Yuanxing sent, filled with refusal, saying “no” three times. How much rejection was that?

Shen Bianye looked for a long time, as if scrutinizing the gloomy and pale Xie Yuanxing through the screen.

A defiant competitive spirit surged up again. Why wouldn’t Xie Yuanxing want him? What was wrong with him?

For a moment, he even wanted to use X’s identity to keep coaxing Xie Yuanxing until Xie Yuanxing was hopelessly smitten and begged to meet him.

Then he would arrive on time at the meeting place and see Xie Yuanxing’s surprised and panicked face.

It would definitely be spectacular.

But he couldn’t. He didn’t want any entanglement with Xie Yuanxing after his pheromone disorder was cured. Using only X’s identity was enough to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings.

Shen Bianye swallowed this anger.

…But he couldn’t completely suppress it.

Shen Bianye looked and looked, then snorted and deleted the message in the chat box, turning to find Zhou Chao.

Among his genuinely close friends, Zhou Chao was the only one with extensive dating experience. Who else could he ask?

When the call connected, Zhou Chao was already feeling a bit lifeless. “Brother, big brother, no, father, can you be my father, please?”

“From 5 AM this morning until now, you’ve called me four times.”

“Have all the world’s problems caught up to you this morning? So busy, when are you running for president?”

Shen Bianye ignored his grumbling and said, “I’m asking you, why would someone agree to an online relationship but refuse to meet offline?”

Zhou Chao said lazily, “What else could it be? Either they’re looking for emotional solace online and only want to keep the relationship online, or they’re afraid you’re ugly, or they’re self-conscious.”

“If you call me again for these questions, I’m charging you. Five hundred yuan a minute for consultation.”

“Oh, by the way, Dongzi wants to find Xie Yuanxing to apologize to him. Do you want them to meet?”

Shen Bianye scoffed, “Meet my ass. Tell him not to be an eyesore in front of our Xie Yuanxing.”

Zhou Chao raised an eyebrow, “Our? I think you shouldn’t mess around there either. Why don’t you just tell Xie Yuanxing directly? If you want to give him money, just give it. Why bother with online dating?”

If it were up to him, he’d just give the money and explain everything clearly, without all this messy stuff. Shen Bianye’s approach seemed a bit childish to him.

Shen Bianye’s mother was so kind; she always protected Shen Bianye too well. After his mother passed away, his father controlled the entire conglomerate.

In this situation, Shen Bianye would still get angry with his father for having children with other women outside, and hang out with second-generation rich kids. This wouldn’t happen to anyone else in their circle.

But Shen Bianye dared to, though he certainly had the confidence for it, it was just a bit immature.

But Zhou Chao also knew that Shen Bianye was sensible when it came to important matters.

Shen Bianye: “My pheromones treat him as my Omega. I can’t just leave him be, but I don’t want any entanglement with him in the future. What if he falls in love with me?”

Zhou Chao was suspicious: “Aren’t you overthinking it? I don’t think he would misunderstand. I used to misunderstand him a bit, but now I find him quite interesting.”

Shen Bianye snorted, “You still don’t understand him enough. He’s easily fooled. If I’m too good to him directly, he’ll definitely fall for me.”

Because someone online praises him a couple of times and he becomes reluctant to let go of them. So stupid.

Zhou Chao thought about it, then decided not to say more. After all, he truly didn’t know Xie Yuanxing well.

Right now, Shen Bianye’s pheromones treated Xie Yuanxing as his Omega. Once the pheromone disorder was cured, they would go their separate ways.

Shen Bianye’s father wouldn’t agree to him being with a Beta.

Thinking of this, Zhou Chao said, “You decide for yourself, but you’re not allowed to call me again today. Brotherhood is in the heart; don’t always call your brother to do things when you have problems.”

Shen Bianye: “Didn’t you just call me daddy? What’s wrong with asking my son to do a little something?”

With that, he hung up the phone without giving Zhou Chao time to retort.

His emotions came and went quickly. Just a moment ago, he was a bit depressed and stifled, but now he had recovered.

Because Zhou Chao’s words had enlightened him: Xie Yuanxing was probably self-conscious, which was why he didn’t dare to meet X.

It wasn’t that X was unpresentable at all.

While this could perfectly solve Shen Bianye’s problem of not wanting future entanglement with Xie Yuanxing—just using X’s online identity—it wasn’t good for Xie Yuanxing to remain self-conscious.

Self-consciousness was like a venomous snake entwined around a person’s heart, occasionally striking to bite that vibrant heart, making one depressed and gloomy. Shen Bianye didn’t like that version of Xie Yuanxing.

After they started dating, he would let X coax Xie Yuanxing into slowly building confidence.

Of course, he couldn’t be too confident. If he suggested meeting, that wouldn’t be good.

A normal confidence, like a sunny mushroom, would be just right.

Shen Bianye understood. X’s messages became active again.

Xie Yuanxing, who was spacing out in his room, instinctively looked at the wall to his right when he saw the message, breathing a sigh of relief.

On the other side of the wall was Shen Bianye’s room.

X: “Okay, we won’t meet, baby, don’t worry.”

Xie Yuanxing’s slightly tense heart also skipped a beat, but he still wanted to make one last struggle, “If we don’t date, can you still be like before?”

X: “No, baby is too greedy.”

X: “I’ll only coax my little boyfriend like that. Baby can’t enjoy the benefits without giving me a title.”

Xie Yuanxing pursed his lips, feeling a little guilty, but still hesitated and said, “Then if we don’t meet, can I date you?”

He knew who X was, but if they didn’t meet, he could completely see X as another person.

Someone completely unrelated to the person in the next room, an entity existing only online.

If they didn’t meet, if the truth wasn’t revealed, they could keep things very separate.

It would just be an extra online boyfriend. He liked X’s enthusiastic compliments.

The other side went quiet. Xie Yuanxing pursed his lips tighter and asked, “Are you angry?”

X: “I’m so happy, baby.”

He paused again, then sent a message that made Xie Yuanxing’s pupils widen slightly.

X: “Wife, can I call baby ‘wife’?”

Xie Yuanxing’s ears flushed a faint red. “We’re both Betas, and we’re both guys, why am I the wife?”

This time X replied quickly, decisive: “Then I can call baby ‘husband’ too.”

X: “I bought a gift for baby to celebrate us officially starting our relationship. The address is baby’s school, so baby remember to pick it up then.”

X: “If you don’t like it, you can sell it.”

X: “You can’t say no. We’re dating now, so anything I send baby is as it should be.”

Xie Yuanxing’s “no” was already in the dialogue box. He was both a little troubled and once again frustrated by X’s typing speed.

He could only slowly delete those words and retype: “But I don’t know what to send you.”

Moreover, he didn’t really want to send anything, nor did he know where to send it.

If dating was going to be very expensive, then breaking up would be better.

X: “You don’t have to send anything.”

Remembering that he needed to help Xie Yuanxing build confidence, Shen Bianye’s typing speed slowed down.

He looked at the screen, his eyes dark, unconsciously licking his fangs, and then, as if by a sudden impulse, he typed a sentence:

X: “If baby is willing, you can send me a few more photos.”

X: “Can you, baby?”

Even though it was a bit inappropriate, the luminescent white body, seeming to sway with the moonlight, appeared in his mind.

A slender waist, long, straight legs, even the fiery, blooming scar… he found it beautiful.