Chapter 7
Testing the Waters
His archenemy stayed in that “pitiful” and “not taking up space” manner.
Two weeks passed in a blink, and the young master awoke in a warm embrace again.
Watching his alpha deftly arrange the pillows, the young master’s eyes met his archenemy’s gaze, his feelings complex.
He sensed his archenemy’s attentive care. Moreover, to better care for him, the alpha had even brought his work home recently.
He really couldn’t help overthinking it.
Yet the old saying goes: “Decisiveness will not let you suffer; indecisiveness leads to disaster.” This had always been his mindset. In his childhood, because of his irresponsible alpha father, he and his omega father endured much hardship. Fortunately, his omega father eventually moved on, and the young master remembered it all vividly.
Thus, he could never repeat those mistakes.
No one treats another so kindly without reason; even the sweetest promises are but deceptions.
So during his studies, he strived to be the top student; after entering the workforce, he boldly forged ahead in his career.
The lack of security and trust from childhood eventually solidified into the shell the young master relied on to survive as he grew into adulthood.
Both a protection and a shackle.
But if that person was—
The young master glanced at the alpha fussing over him.
“Hey?” The young master tugged at his clothes.
“What is it?”
“You alphas, I mean you alphas,” the young master felt awkward, pausing before probing, “Do you like your own children?”
“???” His archenemy froze for two seconds.
What did “like your own children” mean? Was he asking about him or that scumbag A? His archenemy pondered the words “your own,” suddenly feeling a sharp pang.
“I suppose they do.” Yet seeing the young master’s downcast head, his archenemy couldn’t say more.
“Really?” The young master lifted his head, perhaps unaware of the natural smile on his face as he spoke.
“Yeah.” The archenemy’s heart ached more severely.
The young master didn’t ask further, closing his eyes as if to rest. His archenemy gently shut the door, about to leave, when he overheard the young master’s murmurs from inside.
Or perhaps not murmurs, but the young master speaking to his baby.
The young master said, “Baby, do you think your father will take good care of us?”
The young master’s spirits had clearly improved lately, yet his archenemy’s brows furrowed with worry.
What did the young master mean that day?
The archenemy pondered it incessantly, feeling more unsettled the more he thought about it.
How was he not better than that scumbag A?
The archenemy’s mood soured. Out of the young master’s sight, he surreptitiously released his pheromones, staking his claim in secret.
One round, two rounds…
On the curtains, the carpet, the cushions… on the young master’s jacket lying aside…
Not until the room was filled with his own pheromones did the archenemy retract his hand, satisfied.
Hmph, he wouldn’t give that scumbag A a chance!
The next day dawned bright and sunny, with rays peeking through the curtain gaps early in the morning.
The young master felt groggy, stretching out his hand by habit.
“Huh?” He touched the cooled sheets beside him, suddenly wide awake.
Where was he? For a fleeting moment, the young master experienced a long-forgotten panic.
The young master called out his archenemy’s name, his voice echoing in the empty room.
“I’m here.” The response came soon after.
“Don’t come in yet—”
Flustered, the young master followed the voice into the kitchen, only for the deft alpha to promptly shoo him out.
“Why did you come over? The kitchen has a lot of smell; you’ll feel unwell again later.” His archenemy fussed while guiding the young master to the sofa, bringing a plate of his favorite fruits. “The strawberries today are very sweet, do you want some? Or would you like something else?”
“This is fine,” the young master replied. “What were you doing?”
“Simmering a nutritious soup,” his archenemy said confidently.
But the young master clearly remembered his archenemy couldn’t cook.
The soup was quickly served, and the young master looked at the deep brown “Tea Tree Mushroom Chicken Soup” in the bowl, hesitating.
In the end, the young master picked up the spoon.
He had no choice; his archenemy was practically shoving it into his hand.
Yet, surprisingly, the taste was decent.
“How is it?”
“Not bad.”
The archenemy “casually” hid his reddened hand, the exaggerated motion as if fearing the young master wouldn’t notice.
“What happened to your hand?” The young master inevitably asked.
“It’s nothing. I’m not great at cooking, so I started preparing really early, but it took over a dozen tries to succeed. I clumsily got burned in the process,” his archenemy brushed it off, adding a moment later, “But it’s okay, I’ll definitely take good care of you and the baby!”
Chapter 8
Misunderstanding
Days passed by, and the time for the baby’s birth drew closer.
Initially, to keep this precious baby, the young master deliberately told the archenemy that the pregnancy was a month later than it was. Although the alpha often accompanied the young master for regular checkups, the young master never let his archenemy know about the exact week of the pregnancy.
At first, the young master truly didn’t want the archenemy to know about the baby’s existence. However, later on, he became somewhat hesitant. The young master seriously considered this issue and even hinted at it indirectly.
How did the archenemy respond? The archenemy said that no alpha would dislike their own baby.
So, the archenemy…would probably like the cub1崽 zǎi – child / young animal, this is usually used as an endearment for babies. too, right?
The young master lowered his gaze, looking at his swollen belly. As the months passed, his movements had become increasingly inconvenient, and he often experienced back and waist pains whenever he lay down for an extended period. The archenemy had learned some massage techniques from somewhere, and whenever the young master felt unwell, the alpha wouldn’t rest, even if he had worked an extra shift, just to stay by his side.
Sometimes, the young master would also become irritable, perhaps due to the influence of the pregnancy. His temper had worsened significantly, and on several occasions, he felt restless for no apparent reason. However, the archenemy never became annoyed and patiently comforted him.
Yet, there had never been any vows or promises between them. They had never expressed their affection or made any declarations of eternal commitment. The most the archenemy had ever said was that he would take good care of the young master.
However, those words resonated more deeply than any vow. The alpha truly lived up to his words, caring for the young master, accompanying him, comforting him, and even voluntarily providing his pheromones when he didn’t know he was the cub’s father, just to ease the young master’s discomfort.
“Hey?” The young master’s voice was muffled as he watched the person who had gotten up in the middle of the night to warm milk for him after a single word from the young master.
“What’s wrong?” As expected, the archenemy turned to look at him. The young master’s movements were clumsy, and the alpha accompanied him wherever he went recently.
The archenemy never let the young master out of his sight.
“The due date is this week,” the young master decided to give a certain Alpha a hint, casually dropping that statement.
“Hm, the milk temperature—”
“Huh???”
“!!!!! What did you say?”
The glass cup clinked against the ceramic tiles, making a clear sound, as the archenemy fumbled, nearly dropping the cup.
No, it had only been a few months, right?
The archenemy counted and recounted on his fingers, then took out his phone’s calendar to ponder again.
The alpha stared at the small date under the time on the phone screen. Today was May 28th, and according to the time the young master had told him, counting from September until now, even with rounding, it had only been nine months at most, or strictly speaking, just eight months.
The archenemy’s rationality seemed to short-circuit. Although the young master had clearly said “due date2预产期 (yù chǎn qī) – expected date of childbirth / estimated due date (EDD),” the alpha’s ears only registered the words “birth date3产期 (chǎn qī) – time of birth / period of labor / lying-in.”
Birth date?
Why was the cub due in just over eight months?
This… this must be a premature birth, right?
Then… would the young master be in danger?
Would the cub be in danger? The young master had looked forward to this baby so much, and the archenemy had always seen it.
How could this happen? The alpha recalled various materials he had read, not knowing where to place his hands, and his eyes gradually reddened as he looked at the young master.
“What’s wrong?” The young master thought he had explained it clearly enough for the archenemy to figure it out. The due date was now, and roughly estimating the conception time based on the dates, it would be around August. Connecting his own sudden disappearance and the “accident” at the hotel that night, even if the alpha was slow, he should have realized it by now, right?
The young master was completely unaware that a certain Alpha had already envisioned a tragic scenario in his mind.
“No, nothing’s wrong.” The archenemy’s voice trembled, and the hand supporting the young master was shaking.
Young master: ???
“There won’t be any problems, there won’t be—sniff—” The archenemy forced a smile, seeming to want to reassure the young master, but before the words left his mouth, tears had already started falling. The alpha said, “I won’t let anything happen to you two—sniff —”
“There definitely won’t be any problems. You… and the baby will be safe—” Tears were streaming down his face, and a certain Alpha didn’t bother hiding them anymore. The alpha opened his phone and scrolled through his contacts with trembling fingers. “We’ll find experts, the best doctors. Don’t panic, everything will be fine.”
Tears dampened the young master’s sleepwear as the alpha sobbed and gently patted the young master’s back. “If you need to cry, just let it out. You don’t have to be strong in front of me—I’ll always be here—”
“I understand,” the alpha said.
Young master: ???????
Understand what???
This direction seems a bit off…
——————–
Author’s Note:
Alpha: (Sob sob sob) I understand…
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