Tong Sui touched his forehead, and the temperature felt normal.
How strange.
He took his clothes to the bathroom, adjusting the water temperature upward. The hot water poured over him, intensifying his previous restlessness.
Along with this came a sense of emptiness.
Dazed, Tong Sui dressed, his hair still wet, but the strength in his body seemed to have been completely drained, making even his movements feel heavy.
The back of his neck was becoming increasingly hot.
Feeling uncomfortable, he flopped onto the bed, his cheeks red as an apple.
His mind whirled with chaotic images, magnifying every detail, blurring the line between reality and illusion.
His pitch-black eyes resembled cold obsidian, filled with intense emotions, softly calling his name.
Tong Sui reached out but grasped nothing.
All he could do was clutch his blanket, curling up like a cooked shrimp.
However, even this could not counteract the odd sensations in his body.
Tong Sui furrowed his brows tightly.
Tears welled up at the corners of his eyes, and the damp mist clung to his eyelashes, making him feel as helpless as a drenched kitten lost in the rain.
“Ye Lin Yuan…”
He murmured softly, unconsciously slipping into sleep.
The surrounding darkness surged like a tide, pulling him down, dragging him into a silent abyss, where the cold seeped slowly into his very bones.
“Buzz, buzz, buzz.”
He vaguely sensed something humming but was unable to move his body. As he listened to the fragmented sound, his consciousness ebbed and flowed.
Night Lin Yuan frowned.
After several unsuccessful calls to Tong Sui, he managed to reach the communications officer at the mech base.
“Hello?” the officer responded.
“It’s me. Is Tong Sui there? Please have him take my call.”
“Director Ye,” the officer flustered for a moment, “You’re looking for Tong Sui? He’s not at the training ground.”
Night Lin Yuan replied coldly, “Where did he go?”
The officer felt the sudden pressure from his tone and stammered, “He… he seems to have gone back to the dorm. Should I go look for him?”
“No need. I’ll go personally.”
Night Lin Yuan ended the call, grabbed a jacket, and headed out.
He nearly collided with an assistant entering the building.
Night Lin Yuan kept walking, saying, “I’m going out for a bit.”
“Uh? But the meeting later—”
“Postpone it.”
The assistant watched as Night Lin Yuan’s figure hurriedly disappeared, realizing that only that young Alpha could make him show such a tense expression.
Night Lin Yuan did not wait for a driver and drove the floating car himself, rushing toward the mech base and cutting the travel time in half.
He pushed open the door to the dorm and saw Tong Sui lying on the bed, letting out a sigh of relief.
Night Lin Yuan quietly approached.
He saw Tong Sui curled up in a ball, holding onto the blanket for comfort, his cheeks unusually flushed.
A tightness gripped Night Lin Yuan’s heart.
He leaned down, scooping Tong Sui into his arms and gently shaking him. “Sui Sui, wake up.”
Tong Sui’s eyelashes fluttered, like a butterfly caught in a web, and his brow furrowed even tighter.
After a few moments, he struggled to open his eyes, his gaze misty and staring directly at Night Lin Yuan’s face, somewhat dazed.
“Am I dreaming?” Tong Sui raised his hand, unsure of what to grasp.
Night Lin Yuan quickly held his hand.
Tong Sui smiled foolishly, the corners of his eyes arching, “That’s great; this dream feels so real.”
He traced the thin calluses on Night Lin Yuan’s palm, saying, “Though I know it’s fake, it feels like you’re really here beside me.”
Night Lin Yuan embraced him tighter.
He had been overwhelmed with too many matters to handle lately, wanting to quickly finish them all so he could truly accompany Tong Sui.
Yet he had overlooked Tong Sui’s feelings during this time.
His voice was slightly hoarse. “It’s not a dream. I’m right here with you.”
Tong Sui seemed not to hear his words and murmured to himself, “Do you not like me anymore?”
Night Lin Yuan lowered his head and gently kissed the corner of his lips.
“I will always like you.”
The corner of Tong Sui’s lips grew warm from the kiss. He pressed them together and asked, “Really?”
Night Lin Yuan affirmed, “Really.”
Tong Sui cautiously asked, “Can you say it again?”
Night Lin Yuan cupped his chin, pressing a deep kiss to his lips, releasing everything he felt.
The spicy rum-flavored pheromones enveloped Tong Sui tightly, capturing his uncertain heart.
“I like you.”
Tong Sui felt as though he were immersed in a bath of warm water, even his breath was infused with heat.
He clutched Night Lin Yuan’s clothing.
His fingertips and wrists turned a faint pink from the warmth of their bodies.
“I don’t even know what’s happening to me,”
His voice was soft yet a bit hoarse, like melted cotton candy, with droopy eyelids conveying a sense of helplessness. “I didn’t mean to cling to you, I just… I miss you a little.”
Night Lin Yuan’s kiss landed soothingly on the back of his neck. “It’s okay. You’re just in your sensitivity phase; feeling restless and insecure is completely normal.”
Tong Sui blinked, confused. “…Sensitivity phase?”
“Yeah, it’s normal. Every Alpha goes through it.”
Night Lin Yuan soothed him as he felt the growing heat at the back of Tong Sui’s neck.
“It’s just like my heat phase—both are completely normal occurrences. You don’t have to worry with me here.”
Before going through the secondary differentiation, Night Lin Yuan had naturally experienced the sensitivity phase as an Alpha.
He was used to suppressing it with medication.
Plus, his tolerance was stronger than that of an average Alpha, so the sensitivity phase had little impact on him.
However, Tong Sui clearly didn’t know how to cope with such a situation, curling up in bed with the blanket, eyes and nose red from crying.