Tao Fengche froze for a moment, staring blankly in the face of Sui Yuesheng’s aggressive questioning. He blinked in confusion.

In the next second, he quickly put the medicine bottle back in its place, trying to pretend nothing had happened. But it was clearly a futile effort; the obviously displaced photo frame made his actions blatantly obvious.

Sui Yuesheng’s gaze swept over the nightstand, confirming that Tao Fengche hadn’t taken anything he shouldn’t have, and then turned his gaze back to him.

“What are you doing in my room in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?”

He repeated the question, his voice flat, sounding somewhat fierce.

Why so irritable? I didn’t break anything, I just came in to take a look… Under Sui Yuesheng’s reprimand, Tao Fengche’s mind suddenly flashed back to his childhood.

When he was eight years old, he once came into Sui Yuesheng’s room and accidentally knocked over an ornament, causing a loud crash, but Sui Yuesheng hadn’t spoken to him so sternly back then!

Why is he suddenly so fierce now?!

Tao Fengche felt wronged for a moment, while Sui Yuesheng just stood there silently watching him. Moments later, Tao Fengche’s long-dormant intelligence finally kicked in, and he began to realize something was off.

• Although Sui Yuesheng’s pheromones had long since dissipated, and to outsiders, he appeared to be an ordinary beta, Tao Fengche knew the truth. Sui Yuesheng was an omega, a genuine one.

And he, Tao Fengche, as an alpha, had barged into Sui Yuesheng’s room just like that…

An alpha sneaking into an omega’s room in the dead of night and rummaging around—this was a horror movie from the omega’s perspective, already at a level worth calling the police.

When the police arrived, not only would they arrest this creepy alpha, but they would also feature him on a law enforcement TV show to warn other alphas not to do such despicable things.

Tao Fengche: “…” He blamed himself for brainwashing himself too successfully the moment he entered the room.

In his nearly eighteen years of life, Tao Fengche had never felt so embarrassed. He chuckled awkwardly, trying to break the suffocating silence, and waved the paper and pen in his hand: “I missed a notice earlier, I came to get your signature.”

“Oh.” Sui Yuesheng nodded, surprisingly accepting Tao Fengche’s explanation just like that. He took the paper and pen, used the wall as a support, and removed the pen cap, signing his name with bold strokes.

Even in such an odd position, his handwriting was still beautiful.

Tao Fengche watched intently from the side, waiting for the impending sword of Damocles to fall. But when Sui Yuesheng finished signing and handed everything back to him, his tone was even somewhat gentle.

“Next time, don’t be so careless, and remember to knock before entering a room.” As he said this, he reached out and patted Tao Fengche’s head.

Tao Fengche couldn’t believe his ears.

Does this mean… it’s all over just like that? But this lenient approach isn’t Sui Yuesheng’s style at all?!

He was completely stunned, not even having the chance to argue that he had knocked but Sui Yuesheng didn’t hear. His mind was in a haze, especially wanting to ask why Sui Yuesheng was acting so strangely today.

Fortunately, his temporarily absent intelligence had returned, preventing him from blurting out “Why didn’t you hit me this time?” and seeking unnecessary trouble.

Tao Fengche finally came to his senses, determined to treat his brother well, and decided not to be annoying at this moment. Seeing the sleepiness in Sui Yuesheng’s eyes, he hurriedly nodded and quickly made his escape.

Sui Yuesheng, being an omega, had a dressing table added to his room by Xu Song after moving into the Tao household, which had remained unused for years. As Tao Fengche was leaving, he glanced at it and suddenly noticed a stack of books on it.

With his keen alpha senses, he squinted and easily made out the titles of the books: “How to Accompany Teenagers Through Adolescence,” “100 Things Excellent Alphas Must Do,” “Making Peace with Adolescence,” “Decoding Alpha Adolescence”… and so on.

The book on top showed signs of being read.

Tao Fengche: “…”

He seemed to suddenly understand why Sui Yuesheng had been so amiable lately.

Feeling like he had uncovered a secret, Tao Fengche didn’t dare say more, but when he reached the door, he paused for a moment, then mustered the courage to call out: “Ge!”

Sui Yuesheng, who had been standing by the bed, staring at Tao Fengche’s back, suddenly had a change in expression—

Tao Fengche, unaware of what had happened, gathered his courage and continued, “Goodnight, Ge.”

Excluding the time he had to act in front of others, this was the first time in ten years he had calmly called Sui Yuesheng “Ge” and said this phrase they both were very familiar with from ten years ago.

Sui Yuesheng blinked slowly, his expression somewhat vacant, but he quickly composed himself and replied as usual: “Goodnight, Xiao Che.”

Tao Fengche left, the door slowly closing, while Sui Yuesheng remained in his original position. Only he knew that his voice had trembled slightly when he said that last sentence.

He stood in place for a while longer, his expression complex, as if he were savoring the conversation he’d just had or perhaps something else entirely.

In an instant, he seemed to snap back to reality, quickly sitting on the edge of the bed. With a mix of urgency and gentleness, he carefully examined the photo frame in his hand.

The security at the Tao residence was tight, and only a few people could enter his room. But it’s always better to be safe than sorry. At the moment he heard the noise from the bathroom, Sui Yuesheng quickly tidied himself up and came out.

As he pushed open the bathroom door, he happened to see Tao Fengche adjusting the overturned photo frame and then beginning to examine the medicine bottles on the desk.

Sui Yuesheng was sure that Tao Fengche hadn’t been in the room for long, but…

He gently gazed at the photo frame, his right thumb brushing softly over the elderly face through the glass, as if wiping away a layer of nonexistent dust.

Then he turned the frame over and slowly took it apart.

Noticing that the item sandwiched between his grandmother’s photo and the wooden frame was still there, he let out a long sigh.

Great, Tao Fengche hasn’t discovered it yet.

But even so, the Tao house was no longer a safe place. Today Tao Fengche stumbled upon it by accident, but what if tomorrow or the day after, he sneaks in when he’s not around and discovers the secret of the photo frame?

Before taking a shower, Sui Yuesheng had briefly glanced through the educational books he’d bought, which clearly stated, “Adolescents in their alpha phase have a strong curiosity.”

Compared to the photo frame, the medicine bottles were a minor issue. But still, they should be tidied up as well. The former should be taken back to the office, and the latter moved to a different spot in the room…?

From the perspective of “protecting against Tao Fengche,” the office was obviously safer than the Tao residence. Sui Yuesheng thought slowly.

···

In the room adjacent to Sui Yuesheng’s, Tao Fengche was holding his phone, typing out those letters in the search bar from memory.

He had an excellent memory, and his short-term recall was almost photographic. Those unfamiliar words were nothing to him.

The browser spun briefly, and the search results appeared—a brand of melatonin, with the medication made into gummy bear shapes.

Tao Fengche couldn’t help but smile. His brother was still his brother after all these years, still loving sweets, even choosing gummy bears for melatonin.

After laughing, he carefully examined the page, but then suddenly felt concerned. If this was melatonin, then the other medicine bottles were probably similar types of things. But why would Sui Yuesheng have trouble sleeping?

Tao Fengche clearly remembered that ten years ago, Sui Yuesheng had very good sleep quality.

Even though he would occasionally wake up from dreams during the initial period of living at the Tao house, he would quickly fall back asleep. Over time, Sui Yuesheng’s sleep became even deeper, sometimes even the alarm clock couldn’t wake him up.

After a stretch of over ten days of snow in Jingpu, Sui Yuesheng also started to sleep in. On a few occasions, when Tao Fengche didn’t see Sui Yuesheng at breakfast, he’d go find him after morning classes and discover his brother still curled up in bed. He would sneak over, take off his shoes, and playfully bother him.

…Though most of the time, Sui Yuesheng would throw a pillow at him, the pillow was very soft, and the thick, long-haired carpet on the floor was also soft. Even if he accidentally fell to the ground, he could quickly get up and whine about how cold it was.

Actually, the house had heating, maintaining a comfortable temperature year-round. Even in a single layer of clothing and running around barefoot, it didn’t feel cold. Yet, whenever Tao Fengche mentioned it, Sui Yuesheng would groggily open his eyes and roll them, saying it was his fault for wearing so little.

Sui Yuesheng’s words were full of disdain, but he would still lift the covers for Tao Fengche to crawl in, and they would both snuggle together for a nap.

Sui Yuesheng was always the first to fall asleep, his breathing becoming steady within moments. Even though Tao Fengche couldn’t sleep, he would obediently lie beside him, sometimes counting Sui Yuesheng’s eyelashes out of boredom.

This was one of Tao Fengche’s warmest memories of winter.

But how did the Sui Yuesheng who used to sleep so soundly suddenly need melatonin to fall asleep?

What happened over those ten years?