The bedroom was shrouded in the coolness of the night, the air feeling like a tightly woven net that stifled every breath.
Although they shared the same physical space, the distance between them remained intact. Despite several reminders, the clear boundary defined by the blanket drew a stark line between them.
Shen Luo lay with his back turned, trying his best to maintain his composure.
He knew what was going on.
Ming Shao would rise calmly, perhaps with a hint of relief, then, once he was more awake, would resume his day. How could Shen Luo not notice this pattern?
It had happened too many times, yet his heart still raced each time.
The darkness of the bedroom was so thick it was almost tangible, like a vortex pulling him down into its depths. Shen Luo suddenly wondered how much longer he could hold on.
The next day was Monday. Ming Shao left early, and by the time Shen Luo opened his eyes, the Alpha was already gone.
As usual, there was nothing left behind. Shen Luo had never known the details of the Alpha’s schedule.
In the drawer of the shoe cabinet was an unopened box of sticky notes, something Shen Luo had prepared. They had different work schedules and routines, but since they were married and living together, there had to be some semblance of a “home.”
Shen Luo hadn’t originally thought this way.
But thinking back to last night, the bitterness in his heart made Shen Luo pull out a weak smile as he put the sticky notes away along with the other “unnecessary” things.
On the other hand, Ming Shao had already reached the company. The moment he arrived, it felt as if a heavy weight had settled on his heart, which had been there since early morning, preventing him from getting a good night’s sleep.
He thought that a Beta’s body wasn’t particularly resilient, that their energy would deplete over time, and Ming Shao found himself growing more distant from these thoughts, hiding within his own logic.
It’s not as if Alphas and Betas never get together. In fact, Ming Shao’s own family head had married a Beta, a thought that suddenly surfaced in his mind.
But that wasn’t entirely rational.
Without the soothing presence of an Omega, an Alpha would expend several times more energy during certain periods, enduring considerable pain and suppressing their instincts. This wasn’t practical.
Ming Shao stared blankly at a document for a while, absentmindedly twirling a pen and leaving scribbles on the paper.
He scrolled through the document, and the densely packed characters on the screen made his eyes hurt.
Annoyed.
His chair scraped across the floor as Ming Shao pinched the bridge of his nose, staring out the window in a daze.
Outside, there was an evergreen tree. He remembered Shen Luo telling him a story about someone who wrote their feelings on the leaves of an evergreen tree, and when the leaves turned yellow, they would let go.
But do evergreen tree leaves even turn yellow?
The chair slid back, and the Alpha returned to his computer.
What was he thinking about? He wasn’t interested in evergreen trees. Whether their leaves turned yellow or not was a matter of botany, nothing to do with him.
When his assistant came in to report on work, the Alpha seemed distracted. It wasn’t until the assistant called his name twice that Ming Shao finally looked at the document sent over.
And that’s when he saw what he had unconsciously typed into a search engine:
“Do evergreen tree leaves turn yellow?”
Ming Shao: …
Half a year passed in the blink of an eye, and neither of them brought up that night again.
At the beginning of the year, for the first time, they left the house together in the morning.
In the evening, it started to rain. Shen Luo’s workplace was two streets away from the Alpha’s. As the rain intensified, Ming Shao thought about it and decided to check on him.
Besides, from what he remembered, Shen Luo didn’t seem to like driving.
Since they were both heading home, it was just on the way.
When the car pulled up in front of Shen Luo’s office, sure enough, Shen Luo was standing by the entrance, seemingly looking at his phone.
Ming Shao drove up and parked by the curb, and the Beta, as expected, looked up.
“Get in,” the Alpha said without explanation.
“Oh, okay.” Shen Luo was clearly happy, and he still felt a bit unreal as he got into the car.
“Why did you come? I was just about to ask Uncle Wu to pick me up,” Shen Luo said. He usually didn’t like to trouble others and mostly commuted on his own. “I was just about to call.”
“It was on the way,” the Alpha replied.
“Mm.” Shen Luo didn’t think too much about it, though he knew it was in the opposite direction from where the Alpha usually went after work. Not only did it mean taking a detour, but it also meant risking getting stuck in traffic. But seeing the Alpha’s expression, Shen Luo smiled and said, “Still, thank you.”
As the car slowly started moving, Shen Luo thought they’d be heading home together tonight. However, they soon ran into someone along the way.
It was an Omega holding an umbrella. Despite the rain, the Omega seemed to recognize the Alpha’s car and waved from the roadside.
Ming Shao stopped the car and rolled down the window.
“Ming-ge, I’ve been waiting for you! What’s with this awful weather—” The Omega completely ignored the other person in the car, focusing solely on Ming Shao. “Can I hitch a ride?”
Without waiting for Shen Luo to react, Ming Shao made the decision. “Get in.”
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