Chapter 14: Little Husband

Chapter 14: Little Husband

At the sound of the youth's clear voice, the figure on the bed froze mid-motion.

Then, the woody pheromone scent grew even more intense.

Yan Wanqiu's mind was in complete chaos, and he could only desperately cling to Xie Chi's blanket on pure instinct, trying to ease the burning sensation coursing through him.

After fleeing from the palace, Yan Wanqiu had originally planned to take out his aggression on the remnants of the Night Owl Syndicate.

But this flare-up of Pheromone Dysregulation Syndrome was incredibly bizarre. With his head splitting in pain, besides the barely controllable murderous urge, images of Xie Chi kept flooding uncontrollably into Yan Wanqiu's mind.

Xie Chi's round, startled eyes when he was first straddled beneath him; the red at the corners of Xie Chi's eyes when his embarrassment turned to fury; Xie Chi looking at him with cautious yet eager eyes, begging for kisses and caresses...

And the conversation between Xie Chi and Yan Baiyue—Yan Baiyue's call of "A Chi."

That damned shadow guard, Xie Chi.

He should've killed Xie Chi a long time ago.

So Yan Wanqiu, who had been heading out of the camp, forcibly turned on his heel and barged into Xie Chi's room.

It wasn't until he'd smashed through the window that he remembered Xie Chi should be at his palace right now, chatting and laughing it up with Yan Baiyue.

He couldn't even find a single person to kill. At this moment, Yan Wanqiu wished he could dig up Xie Chi's ancestral graves. He just took his fury out on Xie Chi's room instead.

After smashing every single thing he could see, Yan Wanqiu was banged up all over, but his emotions had settled quite a bit, and his headache had eased as well.

He sat on Xie Chi's bed to rest for a moment, originally planning to leave directly and let Xie Chi deal with the mess himself.

But after the headache faded, other sensations, temporarily ignored because of the pain, came sweeping back.

Heat.

Not the restless urge to kill, but a more unbearable heat—the same scorching heat as that night the Night Owl Syndicate drugged him.

Only then did Yan Wanqiu suddenly realize he'd been surrounded by a faint orange scent the whole time.

It was Xie Chi's pheromone.

That guy had been injured today and was bleeding like crazy. Although Yan Wanqiu didn't know how the guy had healed so fast, the bloodstained combat uniform he hadn't managed to wash clean was still in the trash can.

The blanket, the sheets, the air... Xie Chi's pheromone scent was everywhere, seeped in over time through long-term accumulation.

Surrounded by this all-pervasive pheromone, Yan Wanqiu's rationality crumbled bit by bit.

By the time he came to his senses again, he was already curled up on Xie Chi's bed, clutching the guy's blanket for dear life, greedily breathing in the faint orange pheromone scent from the fabric.

Then Xie Chi's puzzled voice came from behind him.

Yan Wanqiu froze as if dunked in ice water, completely snapping back to reality.

He wasn't wearing his mask, nor his colored contacts. If his face weren't hidden behind Xie Chi's blanket, he'd have been recognized long ago.

No way. He absolutely couldn't let Xie Chi recognize him right now.

Xie Chi, seeing that Ji Chou hadn't answered for a while, tentatively spoke up again: "Ji Chou? What's wrong? You've got so many wounds."

"...I'm fine."

Yan Wanqiu clung tightly to Xie Chi's blanket, refusing to look up.

Xie Chi could tell something was clearly wrong with him. Snapping out of the shock of his "wife from the sky," a terrible thought crossed his mind.

He cautiously stepped forward a few paces: "Did Yan Wanqiu give you a hard time? Did he do this to you? Did he torture you?"

Feeling Xie Chi getting closer, Yan Wanqiu's body went rigid, curling up even tighter, and he snarled viciously: "Get lost. Stay away from me."

Scolded, Xie Chi stood there helplessly, not knowing what to do.

"Th-then I won't move... Does it hurt? Let me get you some medicine."

Flustered, Xie Chi shoved the gun back into his space ring and pulled out a bottle of repair serum.

Looking at Ji Chou's black-and-blue body, he felt a tightness in his chest.

How could Ji Chou, a guy who stays in the kitchen, possibly get hurt like this? This had to be Yan Wanqiu's handiwork.

That's why Ji Chou was so mad—who wouldn't be pissed after getting dragged into someone else's mess?

After Yan Baiyue dragged him into trouble, Xie Chi had even thought about just killing the guy.

Xie Chi gritted his teeth.

He thought that as long as he didn't bring up Ji Chou in front of Yan Wanqiu, Ji Chou would be safe.

He never expected Yan Wanqiu to not play by the rules and suddenly go after Ji Chou.

So that's why Yan Wanqiu was so easygoing today—not pressing him about the repair serum and even giving him double pay. So this was his game all along.

Yan Wanqiu had just thrown the abused Ji Chou at him. Even if Xie Chi wanted to hide the repair serum, there was no way he could keep it from Ji Chou.

That tyrant!!

And to think he'd even given Yan Wanqiu cake tonight! So Yan Wanqiu had been scheming against his wife all along!!

Looking at Ji Chou's injuries, Xie Chi felt both pained and furious, his eyes going red. When he spoke again, his voice was already thick with a stuffy, teary nasal quality: "I've got medicine for your wounds. It'll heal you up fast. I'm sorry... It's all my fault. I got you caught up in this."

Yan Wanqiu hesitated for a moment.

The tears in Xie Chi's voice were way too obvious.

Why was he crying? Because he'd been mean to him?

So dramatic.

Even as he thought this, Yan Wanqiu didn't lose his temper at Xie Chi again. He said in a stiff tone: "Put the medicine down. Turn around and close your eyes."

Xie Chi, full of guilt, just figured his wife didn't want him to see her looking so rough. He lowered his head, set the repair serum next to Yan Wanqiu, then obediently backed off and turned around.

"Okay, eyes closed."

Yan Wanqiu took a few deep breaths, struggling to keep his wits about him to deal with Xie Chi. He kept his face covered with the blanket, peeking through the gaps to make sure Xie Chi wasn't peeking, before getting up from the bed and grabbing the medicine Xie Chi had left by the bed.

Hearing the sound of him getting up behind him, Xie Chi added: "That's for external use. Rub it on the wound and it'll heal right up."

Yan Wanqiu looked at the small oval bottle in his hand, raised an eyebrow, and cautiously poured a little out onto the wound on his waist.

The liquid was clear and odorless, water-like in texture, and spread easily over his skin. Yan Wanqiu watched in amazement as the wound on his waist disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Such an immediately effective healing medicine was the first he had ever seen.

Xie Chi must have used this on himself earlier today.

Hearing the sounds behind him, Xie Chi whispered in apology: "I'm sorry. Today I made Yan Wanqiu suspicious, and that's why he went after you. I didn't expect him to be so cruel. I've done my best not to bring you up in front of him. I thought he'd come straight for me..."

Xie Chi sniffled.

"If you blame me or hate me for dragging you into this mess, I'll go to Yan Wanqiu tomorrow and cut ties with you. I'll make sure he never bothers you again. First, take care of yourself—oh, wait—"

As he spoke, something occurred to him. Still keeping his back to Yan Wanqiu, eyes closed, he hurried over to the wardrobe, lifted the fallen cabinet, and fumbled around inside and pulled out a suitcase.

"I've got money too—I'll give you all of it. I—I've never had a wife before. I don't know how to treat you right. I was gonna use this money to buy you stuff. I just wanted to make money to take care of you..."

Xie Chi's voice choked up mid-sentence, and he couldn't go on.

He didn't know what to do anymore.

Ever since he'd crossed over, he'd been cautious, careful, step by step, all to survive under the Tyrant and take care of his wife.

He wanted a family so bad.

But his colleagues had only said that assassins like them, with no parents, could only have a family by finding a wife. He hadn't had time to learn how to take care of a wife from his colleagues before he crossed over, so Xie Chi had to start with making money.

He cherished Ji Chou—this was the first time he'd ever had family, the first time someone had kissed him gently and cared about him.

But instead, he'd hurt the person he cared about most.

Being hurt like that must hurt so bad.

Ji Chou, hurt as badly as he was, had only told him to get lost without saying anything harsher—that was already something.

Xie Chi crouched on the ground, trying to comfort himself with these thoughts, but the tears kept welling up in his eyes.

But he was still so sad.

In all eighteen years of his earliest memories to now, Xie Chi felt such a bitter, wrenching ache for the first time.

Sad that his own cleverness had backfired and he'd failed to protect Ji Chou, and sad at Ji Chou's fierce, unyielding attitude.

No one would want a marriage this unstable and dangerous. Ji Chou would definitely break it off with him.

He hadn't even gotten the marriage certificate, and he was already a failed marriage T^T

He heard rustling behind him—Ji Chou was getting up from the bed.

Xie Chi bit his lower lip hard, trying not to sob, but a few low whimpers escaped his throat like a wounded cub's.

"Tsk." The man's impatient tsk came from behind, carried on a rich woody scent. "What are you crying for? Is that all the spine you've got?"

At that, Xie Chi's tears flowed even harder.

Wuwuwu, his wife was even calling him useless before the divorce.

He didn't even want to live anymore.

Yan Wanqiu: "..."

Yan Wanqiu watched Xie Chi cry with his back to him like he'd suffered some great injustice, and fell silent for a moment, wondering why he'd ever thought this fool was up to something.

Oh. Because of Yan Baiyue.

That was suspicious, sure.

Regardless, now wasn't the time to cut ties with Xie Chi. Yan Wanqiu softened his voice: "I don't blame you. I never thought about cutting ties with you. Stop crying."

Xie Chi immediately listened and stopped crying.

"Really?" He kept his head down, his voice muffled.

"Really."

As he got closer to Xie Chi, the intoxicating orange scent grew stronger. Yan Wanqiu forced down the heat rising in him again and spoke tersely.

"I was just feeling off earlier—it wasn't that I resented you for dragging me into this. You said you never mentioned me in front of Yan Wanqiu—what's that all about?"

Xie Chi nodded and explained seriously: "Because that tyrant Yan Wanqiu is ruthless, treats lives like grass, and is cold-blooded. He threatened me with your life from the very start. If I showed too much concern for you, he'd probably use even our meetings as leverage against me. I wanted to protect you, keep him from making trouble for you, and have him come to me instead."

The ruthless, cold-blooded tyrant who treated lives like grass, Yan Wanqiu himself: "..."

Learning the reason Xie Chi didn't meet with "Ji Chou," what rose before the irritation of being insulted was actually pleasure.

Yan Wanqiu couldn't help but let out a soft laugh: "You're right. He might indeed use our meetings to threaten you. You handled it well."

He looked at Xie Chi's profile—the pretty little assassin's eyes were already red from crying, and the teardrop mole at the corner of his eye glistened with moisture, looking especially alluring.

Yan Wanqiu's Adam's apple moved, and his gaze darkened.

There it was again—that restless heat.

At this moment, Yan Wanqiu finally understood what the desire beyond his murderous urges was when his Pheromone Dysregulation Syndrome flared up.

Xie Chi, unaware that the wife beside him had already drifted into dirty thoughts, stopped crying once he realized Ji Chou had no intention of divorcing. He wiped his tears and muttered with his head down: "It's all Yan Wanqiu's fault—to go after you like that over a bottle of healing liquid. Wait for me, wife. I'll go find him tomorrow and get justice for you—oh, right, you must have spent a lot of money passing me information and greasing palms, right? I have money now. I'll give it to you."

As he spoke, Xie Chi opened his eyes, popped open the suitcase, grabbed a big handful of cash, and tried to stuff it into Ji Chou's hands.

But just as he grabbed the bills, the world before him suddenly darkened.

It was Yan Wanqiu blindfolding him with a tie.

"...Wife?"

Suddenly losing his sight, Xie Chi felt uneasy.

"Let's not talk about that for now," Yan Wanqiu said, his voice hoarse.

His Pheromone Dysregulation Syndrome wasn't over yet. Regaining a stretch of clarity from the chaotic desires was already the result of Yan Wanqiu's extreme restraint.

Being this close to Xie Chi now, his already thin rationality began to waver again.

"Then what do we talk about?" Xie Chi asked, confused, instinctively looking toward the source of the voice.

Yan Wanqiu didn't answer.

He looked down at Xie Chi, thinking, since they'd already done it once, doing it again wouldn't hurt.

It would also be a good chance to test what was so special about Xie Chi's pheromones to him.

With that thought, Yan Wanqiu reached out, pinched Xie Chi's cheek, and said bluntly: "Come here and hug me."

Xie Chi's eyes widened in shock, frozen in place.

Hug—hug what?

Yan Wanqiu, seeing him hesitate for so long, grew annoyed by his dawdling. He leaned in and captured Xie Chi's rosy lips in a kiss.

Their lips and tongues intertwined, and an unfamiliar, soft, woody scent washed over them, mingling with the tart-sweet scent of orange pheromones.

This was Xie Chi's first real deep kiss.

He didn't have a clue how to kiss. Caught completely off guard, he was left dizzy and disoriented, forgetting where he even was—only able to remember that lingering, seductive pheromone.

When the kiss ended, a teasing silver thread of saliva stretched between them.

Yan Wanqiu half-closed his eyes, watching Xie Chi, who looked drunk off the kiss. As he regained a sense of control, he couldn't help the darker, more wicked desire rising in him.

Last time, it was because of the drug. This time, he wouldn't let Xie Chi flip things on him so easily.

This time, he wouldn't just ride him—he'd ride him until Xie Chi cried.

Yan Wanqiu roughly tore at Xie Chi's formal suit. Xie Chi, still dazed from the kiss, only snapped back to reality when his clothes were completely gone.

"Wait—" Xie Chi tried to grab his last piece of underwear. "Wife, you were just injured!"

"You gave me the medicine; I'm already healed." Yan Wanqiu yanked it off without hesitation.

Xie Chi struggled to pull it back up, fighting desperately: "If you don't come home all night, Yan Wanqiu will know I care about you, and he'll definitely find ways to make things harder for you!!"

Yan Wanqiu let out a low laugh. "So what?"

With a soft "rip," the poor pants were torn in two between their hands.

Yan Wanqiu propped himself up, gazing down at the beautiful black-haired youth from above.

He leaned in close, his voice dropping low.

"Isn't it you who's protecting me? My little husband."