GBROTAH CH26

“Photos? What photos?”

Xie Yuanxing scrolled up through the chat history and saw the photo X had sent earlier—the “inspection” photo, as X called it, showing his abs while grabbing his clothes.

It couldn’t be that kind of photo, could it?

But Xie Yuanxing didn’t have that kind of body.

He lowered his gaze and slowly lifted his own shirt, with a hint of reluctance. Lifting it up just revealed a stark contrast, and Xie Yuanxing found it a bit unbearable to look at.

His pale, tender abdomen had no excess fat, smooth and flat, but also no muscle.

Xie Yuanxing silently pulled his clothes back down, intending to casually take a photo of himself to fool him.

The moment he faced the camera towards himself and met his own gaze on the screen, he realized it was much easier to point the camera at his body than at his face.

Xie Yuanxing’s hands trembled as he mimicked X’s pose, lifting his clothes and haphazardly snapping a photo.

He didn’t look closely, nor did he think there was anything good to see. With burning ears, he sent it.

A wall apart, the moment Shen Bianye saw the photo, his eyes darkened. His blood boiled and surged upwards, pheromones crashing within him, causing a dull ache. His breathing grew heavy.

He felt as though Xie Yuanxing was tormenting him.

Shen Bianye swore to God, when he said “take a picture,” he meant a selfie of Xie Yuanxing’s face.

He had noticed before that Xie Yuanxing tended to avoid the camera, not daring to look directly at himself. Shen Bianye’s thought was that with more photos and more compliments, one day Xie Yuanxing would get used to the camera and wouldn’t be so timid as to hide himself.

But he never expected Xie Yuanxing to mimic his pose and send a picture like that.

Shen Bianye couldn’t tell if the camera was blurry, or if the slender, soft waist and abdomen in the photo were just too dazzlingly white.

Especially… especially…

Slender fingers clutched the clothes in messy folds. Beneath the clothes, pulled up too high in haste, a tiny hint of a pink tip was half-hidden, half-revealed. Fingers rested there, as if pinching and rubbing, or perhaps shyly concealing.

Shen Bianye stared at it, mesmerized, unable to look away. When his hand touched that spot through the screen, there was a moment of trance.

In that instant, Shen Bianye couldn’t tell if he had pulled an all-nighter, or if he had already fallen asleep and was now merely having an obscure, intimate wet dream.

Gulp.

His prominent Adam’s apple bobbed. Shen Bianye’s hand involuntarily glided over the screen as if kneading. His handsome face held a complex expression as he stared at the photo, unconsciously licking his lips.

As if wanting to taste something.

His pheromones regarded Xie Yuanxing as his Omega. It was very, very difficult for him not to be attracted to Xie Yuanxing’s body; it was almost an enticement for him.

Shen Bianye painfully closed his eyes, his tongue forcefully pressing against his cheek.

The pressure was so strong it hurt, only then did he barely manage to restrain himself from going to the next room and seizing Xie Yuanxing, who dared to send such a photo, beneath him.

He would bind Xie Yuanxing’s hands with Xie Yuanxing’s own clothes, recklessly pressing down, suppressing all resistance, and fiercely pinching.

Xie Yuanxing would hurt, would cry and tremble, but it didn’t matter; he could comfort Xie Yuanxing in his own way.

For example… licking, nibbling, and sucking.

Shen Bianye’s throat was desperately dry, so parched he could barely breathe. He suddenly stood up, pulled open the bedside drawer, and without looking, grabbed a large handful of suppressants.

It was his pheromones that liked Xie Yuanxing; he shouldn’t harbor such lewd thoughts about Xie Yuanxing.

Syringes of medicine were pushed into his body one after another, until his blood began to ache and his desire calmed. Only then did he casually throw the empty suppressants onto the floor.

With a soft clatter, a syringe fell and rolled twice on the floor, stopping after gently bumping into another syringe already there. Behind it, five other empty suppressant syringes lay quietly.

On his strong, muscular arm, the injection marks from the suppressants had already turned somewhat purple, looking rather gruesome. Yet, Shen Bianye seemed to feel no pain. He picked up his phone.

Baby is still waiting for his reply. If sensitive and timid baby doesn’t get praised soon, he’ll squat in a corner and hide himself again. That won’t do.

The phrase “baby is mocking the ineffectiveness of the suppressant” echoed in his mind, but the man seemed oblivious.

X: “Baby.”

The single word “baby” made Xie Yuanxing inexplicably nervous. His face was devoid of expression as he typed with downcast eyes, but his ears were red, as if embarrassed. “The photo… is it okay?”

“Is that… the inspection done?”

The man’s typing hand paused, his gaze instantly becoming terrifying. He thought, if it were truly an inspection, this is just the beginning.

X: “Baby is so cute, with such fair skin, looking so tender. Were you raised on milk, baby?”

X: “I can’t take my eyes off you, baby. How can baby be so beautiful?”

X: “That spot is so pink too, so tiny, absolutely beautiful.”

Pink? Tiny?

Xie Yuanxing blinked blankly, “What?”

X: “Baby hasn’t noticed yet, right? Zoom in on the photo, baby, where your hand is holding your clothes.”

Xie Yuanxing followed his words and zoomed in on the photo. Through a tiny gap between his fingers, he saw a hint of tender red.

In an instant, warmth spread from his neck to his entire face, even the skin behind his ears turned red, like a ripe tomato that would drip juice with a gentle poke.

He frantically, almost tremblingly, deleted the photo he had sent.

X: “Baby, the recall time has passed. Deleting it is useless.”

Xie Yuanxing was nervous when he took the photo and only quickly glanced at it when he sent it. It was very indistinct there, and he hadn’t noticed at all.

Who would have thought X would see it so clearly and point it out like that? Xie Yuanxing was completely embarrassed. He knew deleting it was useless, but he still did it.

Because he thought that if X also deleted it on his end, this mistaken photo would completely disappear from the chat history, pretending nothing had happened.

So Xie Yuanxing clicked on the emoji icon, rummaged through his pitifully few emojis, and sent a pleading cat face.

Xie Yuanxing: “image.jpg”

Xie Yuanxing: “Can you delete it from your chat history too? That way, it’ll be like recalling it. Can you?”

X’s answer made his eyes light up, “Yes.”

Then darkened again.

X: “But I don’t want to lie to baby. To be honest, I saved it.”

Xie Yuanxing stared blankly, his dark eyes showing a dazed confusion. How could he… save it?

What would he save a photo like that for?

Xie Yuanxing asked pitifully, “What did you save it for? Delete it.”

X: “What did I save it for?”

The other party strangely repeated the question, as if asking it back.

X: “Didn’t baby ask me to inspect the goods?”

He paused, and another message popped up.

X: “If it’s for inspection, this level isn’t enough.”

Even though it was just text, it inexplicably exuded a strange stickiness, a low, husky tone. X: “I want to taste it, baby.”

X: “Just looking isn’t enough. For inspection, you should let me taste it.”

X: “Nibbling and sucking baby’s little tip, can I taste milk?”

Just by reading the text, Xie Yuanxing’s ears burned red. “What are you… talking nonsense about?”

X chuckled, his tone intimate: “How dare you, baby.”

X: “Sending me a photo like that.”

X: “You’re killing me.”

Xie Yuanxing’s face flushed a faint red, and he felt dizzy. He even dared to ask, “Then do you like it?”

X: “Baby, I don’t just like it, I like it to death.”

X: “Still asking questions like that, I want to jack off to baby’s photo, take a picture and send it to baby, but I’m afraid I’ll scare baby.”

Xie Yuanxing’s dark eyes constricted slightly, his breathing instinctively softened by that sentence. “…You’ve already scared me.”

X: “Baby, don’t be afraid of me.”

X: “I just like baby too much. I’m only like this with baby. If baby doesn’t like it, I won’t say it again, okay?”

Xie Yuanxing pursed his lips, feeling a little embarrassed and awkward, but he slowly typed, “It’s not that I don’t like it…”

“I like it.”

He liked X’s compliments on every part of him, and he liked X’s obsession with him.

It was as if his dull personality and thin, scrawny body would also receive one person’s affirmation, receiving one person’s most honest and fervent desire.

In the quiet room, the man stared at the sentence that popped up on his phone, his breathing growing heavier.

X: “Baby, can baby’s gift have one more thing?”

X: “Can it be a collar with my name on it? I’ll find someone to customize it and send it to baby.”

X: “Baby, will you wear it and send me a picture?”

Xie Yuanxing pursed his lips, “But I’m a Beta. Betas don’t need to wear collars that block pheromone scent.”

X: “I want to see baby wear it. Baby’s neck is so slender, it must look beautiful with it on.”

X: “If others ask, baby can just say your boyfriend sent it.”

My marked, cute baby.

Xie Yuanxing: “No Beta wears this. It would be very strange if others saw it.”

X: “Who is baby afraid of seeing it? That Alpha from before?”

He paused, and the message blinked. X: “Or baby’s roommate?”

X: “Worried what your roommate will say?”

Xie Yuanxing: “No, it doesn’t matter what my roommate says, he’s not important.”

Xie Yuanxing: “It’s just that it’s really strange for a Beta to wear this.”

He! Is! Not! Im! Por! Tant!

Hmph.

Shen Bianye’s face sank, his expression foul. Just as he was about to say something, a new message popped up on his phone.

Baby: “You’re more important than my roommate.”

Baby: “If you want to see, I can wear it and take a picture for you, but I can’t wear it all the time.”

Shen Bianye’s expression shifted repeatedly, unable to tell if he was pleased or displeased. He couldn’t get angry, nor could he smile. His face stern, he replied:

X: “Good baby.”

He put his phone down and walked over to knock on Xie Yuanxing’s door. “The villa is confirmed, come up with me.”

Xie Yuanxing nodded after opening the door, not asking why they were going to the villa. His condition for being out for two days was that Shen Bianye would take a suppressant in advance in the future. Although this person had just acted crazy for no reason, he had indeed taken a suppressant.

All the way to the villa, Shen Bianye seemed in low spirits, driving lazily with one hand on the steering wheel.

Xie Yuanxing looked at him several times, held back, and didn’t speak.

But his gaze had long been noticed by Shen Bianye, who, seeing his hesitation, raised an eyebrow: “Staring at me?”

Xie Yuanxing: “…You’re overthinking it.”

Shen Bianye scoffed, and said coolly, “From just now until now, you’ve looked at me three times. Still pretending?”

“Your gaze is very obvious.”

Xie Yuanxing hesitated to speak, then spoke anyway, “If you weren’t looking at me, how would you know how many times I looked at you?”

Shen Bianye choked, uncomfortably turning his head and looking forward, saying casually, “I just wanted to see what mischief you were secretly plotting.”

“Less narcissism.”

Xie Yuanxing dismissively said “Oh,” then added, “I’ve been wanting to say this since just now: can you please use both hands on the steering wheel when you drive?”

“One hand is really unsafe.”

Shen Bianye’s hand on the steering wheel unconsciously tightened. From the effort, his knuckles turned white, and the veins on the back of his hand stood out.

Then he slowly loosened his grip, placed his other hand on the steering wheel as well, and sneered, “Don’t worry, if there’s really a car accident, I’ll be in the car too.”

“Dying with me, you won’t lose out.”

Xie Yuanxing glanced at him, then quickly looked away, muttering, “Your life isn’t more precious than mine.”

“If I die because of your mistake, I wouldn’t not lose out, I’d lose big time.”

He had expected Shen Bianye to get angrier, so his voice was small, but the force of his rebuttal was undiminished.

But Shen Bianye just gave him a deep look and then suddenly smiled.

“Xie Yuanxing, you are a very contradictory person.”

Was he self-conscious or not? He didn’t dare to converse much with people, didn’t dare to look directly into others’ eyes. If he was bullied, he would apologize first if he could tolerate it.

But he would also firmly believe that everyone’s life was equally precious, regardless of status, background, or wealth.

He wouldn’t think it was a pity if a rich person died, but rather that it was a pity if anyone died.

Most people would instinctively think that it was a great pity if a young person with wealth and status died, not having enough time to spend and enjoy their money, or they might think, “What’s the use of being rich? You’ll still die.” But Xie Yuanxing always genuinely felt that it was a pity if anyone died.

Even if he was so poor he wished he could split one yuan into two, he never cheapened himself.

Xie Yuanxing didn’t understand where he was contradictory. He gave him a strange look and didn’t say anything.

The car followed the asphalt road up the mountain. The villa’s gate was a brass fence with flowers. The bronze-colored orchids slowly opened in front of the car. People in uniforms stood on both sides, smiling as the car drove in, even though no one got out.

Shen Bianye said, “We’ll go soak in the hot spring first, then have dinner.”

Although Xie Yuanxing had never lived the life of a wealthy person like Shen Bianye, he couldn’t help but feel a slight doubt about this arrangement.

“Soaking in the hot spring before lunch?”

“Won’t that be a bit strange? Isn’t it usually in the evening?”

Shen Bianye said naturally, “Is there a problem?”

“Do you think the lives of the wealthy are very particular? That things can’t be out of order or time? Everyone’s just a person; we do whatever we feel like.”

Xie Yuanxing actually didn’t care. He replied, “Then you go soak. I’ll wait for you.”

Shen Bianye slowly turned his head to look at him, sneered, then hooked Xie Yuanxing’s shoulder and, without allowing refusal, led him towards the hot spring.

The villa manager hurried forward, smiling, and asked, “Does this guest need me to arrange a private pool for him?”

Shen Bianye directly said, “No need, he’s with me.”

Xie Yuanxing, hooked by him, awkwardly turned his head, “Please arrange a separate one for me, thank you.”

Shen Bianye frowned, looking at him, “There’s a special hot spring reserved for me here. Why don’t you come with me?”

“Who knows how many people have soaked in those other hot spring pools. What, do you want to soak in other people’s bathwater?”

The manager on the side repeatedly said, “Young Mr. Shen, our water here is regularly cleaned and changed. This, this, this, it’s not like soaking in other people’s bathwater.”

“How can you talk about your own property like that, Young Mr. Shen?”

Shen Bianye glared at him, “Don’t you have other things to do?”

“You go ahead. I’ll call you if I need anything.”

With the annoying manager gone, Shen Bianye continued, “Even if it’s regularly cleaned, countless people have soaked in it. It’s still other people’s bathwater.”

Xie Yuanxing nodded, “Mhm, but if I go with you to your specially reserved pool, isn’t that equivalent to soaking in your bathwater too?”

Shen Bianye frowned, looked at him, “Are you disgusted by me?”

Then he snorted coldly, somewhat gritting his teeth, “Don’t worry, it’s flowing water there.”

If it weren’t for the scar that bothered him, who would want to soak in a hot spring with Xie Yuanxing?

His pheromone disorder considered Xie Yuanxing his Omega, and Alphas have a protective instinct towards their chosen Omegas.

Whether Shen Bianye liked it or not, he had to admit this: he wanted to solve Xie Yuanxing’s problems and protect Xie Yuanxing.

It’s nothing, just pitying Xie Yuanxing.

Shen Bianye led Xie Yuanxing to a room. Unlike other rooms that used key cards, this one had a password lock.

It must have been designed for Shen Bianye specifically when the villa was built.

Xie Yuanxing watched him enter the password and open the door. Inside, it was spacious, unlike a typical resort room, more like an apartment.

The expansive living room had comfortable sofas, and by the window, there was even a piano. Speaking of windows, it was actually more like floor-to-ceiling glass doors, behind which was the steaming hot spring.

Walking into the living room, the dining area was on the left, and the bedroom on the right. The hot spring was large enough to be accessed from any of the doors here.

Xie Yuanxing’s gaze lingered on the piano for a moment before Shen Bianye led him to the hot spring.

Shen Bianye raised an eyebrow at the hot spring, “Take off your clothes.”

Xie Yuanxing: “……”

He stared at Shen Bianye, who also stared back, then opened his mouth and said, “What are you looking at me for? Take them off.”

Xie Yuanxing tactfully said, “No, I actually don’t like soaking in hot springs.”

Shen Bianye: “Soaking in hot springs is good for your health, the nutritionist and the doctor said so too.”

Xie Yuanxing: “…Don’t I need to make some preparations?”

“Like a bath towel?”

Shen Bianye thought for a moment, “Alright, follow me.”

He led Xie Yuanxing to the nearby bathroom, took out a bath towel, and handed it to Xie Yuanxing. Not wanting to push too hard, he said, “I’ll go ahead and wait for you.”

The hot spring water was at a moderate temperature, especially as winter approached. Soaking in hot springs indeed helped people relax.

However, Shen Bianye’s face still darkened successfully when he saw Xie Yuanxing, wrapped in two bath towels, stepping into the pool.

One towel draped horizontally over his shoulders, completely covering his upper body. The other was wrapped vertically around his waist, covering most of his lower body, leaving only two smooth calves exposed. He waddled in like a silkworm cocoon.

For X, he proactively lifted his clothes to take pictures, not even noticing that his tender tips were photographed.

When it’s his turn, two bath towels draped top and bottom, as if terrified of him seeing even a little.

Originally, Shen Bianye just wanted to legitimately see the scar and didn’t intend to look much at Xie Yuanxing’s body. But seeing Xie Yuanxing guard himself like this, his chest tightened.

He sneered repeatedly, saying, “My pheromones consider you an Omega. Do you think you’re an Omega too just because you’ve been bitten a lot?”

“Do you even have two ounces of flesh on you, to hide like this?”

“Don’t tell me you’re a Beta. Even if you were an Omega, there’s nothing wrong with a male Omega’s upper body being seen.”

“What do you think you are, all prim and proper? A celestial being? That if you take off your clothes, my eyes will stick to you and can’t be pulled away?”

The difference between X and himself repeatedly crossed Shen Bianye’s mind. His chest felt like it was blocked by small stones, he could breathe, but it was irritating and uncomfortable.

Even if Xie Yuanxing had just worn one bath towel, Shen Bianye wouldn’t have been this annoyed.

But no, one wasn’t enough, he used two. What did Xie Yuanxing mean by that?

Xie Yuanxing wanted to yank the bath towels off himself and throw them in Shen Bianye’s face. He pursed his lips and endured, then said coldly, “There’s a bit of a distance from the bathroom, and the air conditioning isn’t on here. It’s cold before getting into the water.”

“If I were really a deity, I’d poison you first to make you mute.”

“Also, I’ll soak however I want to soak. You talk too much.”

Shen Bianye gnashed his teeth, “Alright, if you want to soak in a bath towel here, soak in a bath towel.”

He had never seen anyone soak in a hot spring wrapped in a bath towel. It would be a miracle if it was comfortable.

Just as he was speaking, he saw Xie Yuanxing slowly remove the bath towel wrapped around his waist and fold it, placing it aside.

Mist rose from the hot spring pool. His slender, fair legs swayed and rippled beneath the water, so pale, like warm jade through the dense water.

Shen Bianye still remembered what he had said and resisted looking.

His gaze fixed on the bath towel on Xie Yuanxing’s shoulder. He said in a husky voice, “Aren’t you going to take off that bath towel on your body?”

“It gets very hot if you soak in the hot spring for too long.”

If he really didn’t take it off, he had prepared a sauna for the evening. If it got too hot, he didn’t believe Xie Yuanxing wouldn’t take it off.

Xie Yuanxing glanced at him. Just as he was about to say something, he saw the large, gruesome purple bruise on Shen Bianye’s arm. “What happened to your hand?”

Shen Bianye didn’t react at first. Xie Yuanxing asked again, pointing at his arm, “Here, what happened?”

“Nothing, just from taking suppressants.” Shen Bianye casually brushed it off, then persistently said, “Are you really not hot?”

Xie Yuanxing’s gaze lingered on the purple bruise on Shen Bianye’s arm for two seconds. He tightened the fingers holding the bath towel, his eyelashes trembling slightly, and slowly took off the bath towel on his body.

“It’s not that it’s not hot, it’s just that I have a scar on my body and don’t like to expose it in front of others.”

And Shen Bianye’s purpose was simply too obvious; only Shen Bianye himself thought he was hiding it well.

If he refused this time, there would be a next time. It was better to just let Shen Bianye see it.

Once he saw it, he wouldn’t be curious anymore.

He said calmly, one shoulder smooth and fair, the other bearing a scar as if burned by fire.

It was ugly, twisted, uneven, and grimly rested on Xie Yuanxing’s shoulder.

Shen Bianye subconsciously reached out to touch it. When his fingertips landed, the body beneath his hand trembled slightly. He was instantly flustered, his hand recoiling as if burned.

Xie Yuanxing noticed his momentary flinch and smiled faintly, “Is it very ugly? I rarely look at it myself. Maybe it scared you.”

Shen Bianye, however, reached out again, gently caressing it, and whispered, “Does it still hurt?”

Xie Yuanxing shook his head, so Shen Bianye also shook his head.

Shen Bianye looked at the palm-sized scar on his shoulder. His Adam’s apple bobbed. He felt a sudden urge to kiss it.

To suppress this urge, he spoke in a low, hoarse voice:

“It’s not ugly. It’s somewhat like a blooming flame pattern on your back…”

On his smooth, bare back, only his shoulder had that fiery red mark, possessing a seductive, enchanting beauty.

Shen Bianye swallowed the latter half of the sentence, uncomfortably shifting his gaze. He said softly, “On your back, it’s… quite beautiful.”

Xie Yuanxing lowered his gaze, his eyelashes fluttering, and said nothing.

Shen Bianye asked the question he was most concerned about: “How did that scar happen?”

Did it hurt then?

Did you cry?

Do you dislike the smell of my pheromones because you were injured in a fire?