After a brief daze, Xiao Can turned pale.
He had indeed secretly thought about it, feeling that He Xingzhou’s actions towards him were somewhat too ambiguous. But He Xingzhou always acted differently from others and presented himself with an upright demeanor, which made him persuade himself not to overthink it.
If someone else had said this to him, he might have expressed his doubts and tried to discuss it with the other person.
But now the person expressing this viewpoint was Tan Zhen, who had a marriage contract with He Xingzhou, and the implications were quite different.
“No way!” Xiao Can raised his voice because of nervousness, “Stop guessing randomly!”
Tan Zhen didn’t say anything.
“I’ve only met He Xingzhou a few times in total,” Xiao Can said, “We’re not familiar at all!”
“In fact, I haven’t met him many times either,” Tan Zhen said.
Xiao Can nervously swallowed and decided to only protect himself, regardless of He Xingzhou’s fate: “I don’t know why you would think that. Anyway, I don’t get along well with him.”
“Uh…”
“What I mean is, I don’t find him attractive.”
“Uh, you don’t need to be so nervous, you’re making me nervous too. I didn’t mean that, nor did I suspect you,” Tan Zhen reassured him.
“If you want, I will never meet him privately again in the future,” Xiao Can said.
“It’s not… what I mean is…” Tan Zhen was a bit hesitant to speak, “Actually, I don’t mind…”
Xiao Can blinked twice, “What?”
“I’ll tell you the truth,” Tan Zhen awkwardly chuckled twice, “I want to break up with him.”
“…”
“And then, for some reason, I hope he’ll bring it up with me on his own.”
“…”
“I trust you, that’s why I’m telling you,” Tan Zhen emphasized.
Xiao Can thought, you really don’t have to trust me like this.
Everything is messed up now. What do you want to achieve by saying these things? I can’t help you.
“I also think he likes you?” Tan Zhen continued, “But he’s a bit stubborn. I’m afraid if things continue like this, we’ll end up getting married.”
“Are you trying to trick me?” Xiao Can asked.
“No!” Tan Zhen said, “How can I make you believe me?”
Actually, Xiao Can already believed a little bit.
The conversation they had at He Xingzhou’s house last time allowed him to roughly guess why Tan Zhen and He Xingzhou ended up together.
Initially, Tan Zhen had accepted the relationship with He Xingzhou because it was a fact, but later found it difficult to get along with him, leading to thoughts of breaking up, which was completely reasonable.
The problem was, why did Tan Zhen tell him these thoughts?
“This is your private matter,” Xiao Can said, “Whether I believe it or not doesn’t affect you, right?”
“Because, um…” Tan Zhen seemed hesitant to speak, “It’s just that… I’ve always thought… uh…”
“What?”
“… you two are quite compatible,” Tan Zhen said.
Xiao Can was dumbfounded, “Are you crazy?”
“Do you really not like him at all?” Tan Zhen seemed unwilling to give up, “Not even a little bit?”
Xiao Can felt a hint of hesitation in his heart. But he quickly came to his senses and said firmly, “I don’t like him.”
“Ah,” Tan Zhen sighed sadly, “Alright, let’s not force it. What I just told you, don’t tell anyone else.”
“Are you hoping that I’ll get together with him, and then he’ll break up with you on his own?” Xiao Can said.
Tan Zhen coughed.
“Have you ever thought that there’s a big flaw in this plan,” Xiao Can said, “If I really get together with him, I might tell him about your calculations based on proximity and familiarity.”
“Don’t, that would be so embarrassing for me!”
“So you should be grateful that I won’t get together with him.”
Tan Zhen sighed softly.
Although this conversation was absurd, it was quite private. Xiao Can inexplicably felt a bit closer to Tan Zhen.
“Have you ever been marked by him?” he asked Tan Zhen, “Breaking up like this… wouldn’t it be very troublesome?”
Xiao Can had suffered a lot during this time and subconsciously worried about Tan Zhen.
Who knew Tan Zhen sounded cheerful, “No, we haven’t done that kind of thing.”
Xiao Can was surprised, “How could…”
Wasn’t it because Tan Zhen, like him, mistakenly entered He Xingzhou’s room and, affected by pheromones, had sex with He Xingzhou, that the two ended up together?
Or did it not even reach the step of marking?
“In fact…” Tan Zhen hesitated for a moment and then seemed determined, “I haven’t told anyone about this, because it was between you and me.”
Xiao Can perked up his ears, “I’ll keep it a secret!”
“It’s just that during that event, I smelled a strange smell in the corridor,” Tan Zhen said, “It was especially bad.”
“Bad smell?” Xiao Can was puzzled.
He Xingzhou’s pheromone scent was very pleasant, slightly sweet but not cloying, refreshing and mellow. If it weren’t for being enchanted by this scent, Xiao Can wouldn’t have approached him in a daze.
“Yes, it was so unpleasant, like something rotting and fermenting. I was curious, so I went to take a look and found a room door not properly closed. When I opened it…”
“It was He Xingzhou’s room?”
“Yes,” Tan Zhen lowered his voice, “He was lying on the ground in disarray, motionless. I was shocked on the spot, thinking he was dead, and what I smelled was the stench of a corpse. I screamed in fright.”
“…”
“Then he woke up,” Tan Zhen said, “Before I could breathe a sigh of relief, I found out he wasn’t wearing pants, so I hurriedly avoided him and scolded him not to behave like a hooligan… and then he seemed to misunderstand?”
Xiao Can vaguely guessed the answer, “Misunderstand that something happened between you two?”
“Yes,” Tan Zhen said, “He later told me he was drugged by someone. I suspect that he had a confused dream during the episode and thought it was real, waking up to see me, and since I scolded him as a hooligan, he assumed something happened between us.”
“Um…” Xiao Can asked, “You didn’t explain?”
“I was a bit confused at first, and then…” Tan Zhen felt embarrassed, “He said he could compensate me as much as possible.”
Xiao Can was dumbfounded, “And then you suggested starting a relationship?”
“How could that be!” Tan Zhen said, “I was out of my mind at the time and just said, why not write me a song instead.”
“That’s actually pretty good,” Xiao Can nodded, “But how did it escalate to what it became later?”
“He refused, saying that it would seem like I’m selling myself for benefits, tarnishing his character, that his integrity wouldn’t allow him to do that.”
“…”
“I thought, then what use is he? He told me he could take responsibility for me,” Tan Zhen said, “After thinking it over for two days, I felt it wasn’t impossible. After all, as an Alpha, he seemed quite charming at first glance, right?”
“Was the official announcement also your idea?” Xiao Can asked.
Tan Zhen smiled embarrassedly, “Hehe.”
Xiao Can completely understood his thoughts and even guessed his unspoken intentions.
Publicly announcing a relationship with He Xingzhou would inevitably attract a lot of attention, and as a lover, He Xingzhou probably wouldn’t be so cold-hearted and would be willing to provide resources.
Tan Zhen made the right bet. After publicly announcing his relationship with He Xingzhou, who was originally lukewarm, his career soared.
Unfortunately, there was no spark between them privately; they were fundamentally incompatible.
Tan Zhen had already obtained what he wanted and was unwilling to maintain this false romantic relationship any longer.
“You’re not trying to use this opportunity to break up with him and clear yourself, are you?” Xiao Can cautioned.
An Omega who had been hurt making a decisive move to stay away from a scumbag Alpha was both pitiful and admirable, undoubtedly very endearing behavior.
“If the third person involved wasn’t you, I might consider it,” Tan Zhen said, “But I wouldn’t do that to you.”
Xiao Can breathed a sigh of relief.
If Tan Zhen had those intentions, he wouldn’t have revealed those past events to him.
“So what are you planning to do now?” Xiao Can asked.
“I was thinking, if you also have feelings for him, I could issue a statement saying that I broke up with He Xingzhou long ago but just didn’t make it public,” Tan Zhen said, “But then you two would have to be together.”
“That’s a bit difficult…” Xiao Can said, “No, it’s extremely difficult.”
“That’s the best solution I can think of,” Tan Zhen said, “Or you could endure it for a while and pretend.”
“It’s not about whether I can endure it,” Xiao Can said, “It’s that He Xingzhou is stubborn and wouldn’t agree to pretend.”
“Actually…” Tan Zhen lowered his voice, “We’ve been together in name only during this time, but we hardly ever meet, and communication was limited. He hasn’t made any demands in that regard…”
“…”
“Pretending shouldn’t be too difficult… oh, wait,” Tan Zhen realized something as he spoke, “No, it won’t work. He doesn’t have feelings for me, but he likes you.”
Xiao Can finally managed to ask, “Why do you think he likes me?”
“It’s hard to explain in just a few words,” Tan Zhen said, “It’s many details… like, if I asked him to come out for dinner late at night, he probably wouldn’t agree.”
“He said he’s very curious about me,” Xiao Can said.
“Curious about what?” Tan Zhen laughed, “That’s just another way of saying he’s very interested in you.”
“…”
“Oh, by the way,” Tan Zhen said, “He watched all your videos.”
Xiao Can couldn’t help but sigh. He originally thought he just randomly picked a few, but he actually watched them all.
Doesn’t that mean he even saw the videos of me singing his songs in the early days?
“Only the most loyal fans like me would do such a thing,” Tan Zhen emphasized, “I did it because I like you. But him? An Alpha, can’t stop watching videos of a beautiful Omega, what other reason could there be?”
“You seem to have a bit of a filter on me,” Xiao Can said.
“No, I’m very rational,” Tan Zhen said, “You’re just very good, very cute, and very outstanding, so it’s not strange for him to like you.”
“That might not be appropriate for me to say,” Xiao Can said embarrassedly, “But you should probably reevaluate your ‘rationality’.”
“Modesty is also one of your virtues. Not realizing how cute you are will only make you cuter.”
Xiao Can, who had always considered himself “beautiful and self-aware,” blushed speechlessly.
Tan Zhen thought for a moment and then said, “Oh, right, there’s one more thing. I said it and you believed it.”
