As Rong Yi rushed down the stairs, he thought to himself: thank goodness he had broken up with this guy.

Chen Keyao was incredibly reliable in some areas, but in others, he was completely hopeless.

But how often in life does someone encounter such reliability? The pickpocket incident and this break-in—Rong Yi had only experienced dangerous situations like this twice in his whole life.

In comparison, when it came to day-to-day things like cooking and household chores, Chen Keyao was an absolute disaster.

Living with someone like him would be mentally and physically exhausting. Rong Yi kept reminding himself of this, shaking his head hard to interrupt the endless loop of images that had been playing in his mind.

The sound of his voice from outside the door during that moment of panic. The worried look in his eyes when he turned around in the dimly lit room. The way his eyebrows furrowed slightly when he wiped the blood from his face and saw it in his hand.

These things won’t put food on the table.

Stop reminiscing and getting your heart racing like an idiot.

Besides, the guy wasn’t even considering you in that way.

When Rong Yi returned home carrying a bag from the convenience store, Chen Keyao was still obediently sitting on the sofa.

Only now, half of his face looked like a mess, and there were a few blood-stained tissues crumpled up on the coffee table in front of him.

“…What are you doing?” Rong Yi looked at him in horror.

“I just wiped it a bit,” Chen Keyao frowned, “but somehow it started bleeding again…”

Rong Yi was speechless.

As a single Omega, he suddenly felt like a frustrated parent dealing with a mischievous child. The moment he took his eyes off for a second, the kid got into trouble.

He quickly walked over, dropped the bag on the coffee table, and lifted Chen Keyao’s chin to inspect the wound with a frown.

The cut was about seven or eight centimeters long. The shallower parts on the ends had scabbed over, but the middle had reopened thanks to Chen Keyao’s careless fiddling, and blood was seeping out again. The area around the wound was covered in dried blood, making it look dirty.

“Um…” Chen Keyao, whose chin was being held by Rong Yi, stiffened and avoided his gaze. “What did you buy? There shouldn’t be any gauze at the supermarket, right?”

As he spoke, he reached into the bag and froze in shock when he pulled something out.

“Why did you buy this?” He held up a pack of sanitary pads.

“There wasn’t any gauze, so I’ll use this as a substitute,” Rong Yi said, taking out cotton swabs from the bag and grabbing iodine from the first aid kit. “Now hold still while I clean the wound.”

“Wait a minute,” Chen Keyao began to struggle. “Are you really going to stick this thing on my face? I don’t want that!”

Rong Yi sighed. “It’s not like I’m sticking it directly on your face. It’s late at night, and we can’t get gauze anywhere, so just deal with it for now.”

“I still don’t want it!” Chen Keyao insisted firmly. “It’s not even a serious wound. Just clean it up, and it’ll be fine without bandaging it.”

What a handful. Not only did he cause trouble, but now he was being picky.

“It’ll get infected,” Rong Yi said patiently, pulling him back and carefully using the cotton swabs to clean the wound. “What if it scars?”

“I’d rather have a scar than stick that thing on my face,” Chen Keyao muttered quietly.

“What if it gets infected and your whole face rots off? Little kids would cry when they see you, and no one would ever want to take your classes again,” Rong Yi teased.

“…”

“It’s not like I’m sticking it directly on your face, so why are you so hung up on it?” Rong Yi continued as he switched cotton swabs. “If it hurts, just say so.”

“…It doesn’t hurt.”

“Do you even have pain receptors on your face?” Rong Yi couldn’t help pressing a little harder.

“Hiss—” Chen Keyao gasped. “I knew it. If I said it hurt, you’d poke it again. But I didn’t think you’d poke it even when I said it didn’t hurt.”

Feeling a bit guilty, Rong Yi stayed silent.

Once the wound was cleaned, Rong Yi went to get a pair of scissors. He opened a small pack of sanitary pads, sliced them open, and cut them into pieces.

“I looked around, and this is the only thing with a mesh that’s sterile,” Rong Yi said, holding up the cut piece of pad. “It doesn’t even look like what it was anymore, right? My school nurse taught me this trick.”

Chen Keyao frowned, still struggling to accept the idea, but he couldn’t find a good reason to refuse, so he remained conflicted.

Seeing that Rong Yi was about to apply the pad, now unrecognizable in its altered form, to his face, Chen Keyao made a last-ditch effort: “I think tissue paper would work fine. Can we use tissue paper instead?”

“Nope.” Rong Yi unapologetically stuck the pad on. “If you really hate it, I’ll change it for you tomorrow.”

Chen Keyao pursed his lips and looked at him.

“…Or you could go to the hospital and have them change it.”

After saying that, Rong Yi stood up and pointed to the pile of trash on the coffee table. “You clean that up yourself. I’m going to get two more hours of sleep.”

Chen Keyao gingerly touched the bandaged wound. “Oh, goodnight.”

As Rong Yi reached the bedroom door, he heard a soft voice behind him: “Thank you.”

“…It was nothing,” Rong Yi replied.

If it hadn’t been for saving him, Chen Keyao wouldn’t have gotten hurt in the first place.

So, to Rong Yi, it really was just “nothing.” If anyone should be thanking someone, it should be the person whose life was saved.

Not just for tonight—Rong Yi knew he should also be thankful for being allowed to stay here. The place was affordable, in a great location, and nicely furnished. It would’ve been easy for Chen Keyao to find another tenant. In contrast, it would’ve been nearly impossible for Rong Yi to find a place of equal quality at the same price.

Whatever Chen Keyao’s motivations were, Rong Yi had clearly benefited from the arrangement. He had just chosen to avoid thinking about it. But when it came to openly expressing gratitude, he found it difficult to do.

Too many intense things had happened tonight. Lying in bed, Rong Yi tossed and turned. Even as dawn approached, he couldn’t fall asleep.

Under the covers, he thought to himself: maybe he should find out what kind of food Chen Keyao likes.

Despite not being able to sleep at night, when it was time to get up for work, Rong Yi was exhausted.

Yawning repeatedly as he opened the door, he found that the living room had already been cleaned up. He hesitated for a moment, deciding to check later to see where exactly Chen Keyao had stuffed everything.

When he left the house, Chen Keyao’s room door remained firmly closed. After learning there was a camera, Rong Yi felt too self-conscious to sneak over and listen at the door anymore. He even deliberately turned away while yawning in the living room, just in case.

After muddling through a groggy morning at the office, he took a nap at his desk during lunch. When he woke up, he was surprised to see a message from Chen Keyao, saying he had forgotten to mention that he had a class today and wouldn’t be back for dinner. He told Rong Yi not to worry about preparing anything for him. He had also been to the police station, so Rong Yi didn’t need to go, and after checking the security footage, they confirmed the thief had climbed in through the living room window. Chen Keyao had added an extra lock, so the place should be much safer now.

Rong Yi was tempted to joke with him, asking if he had changed the bandage, and warning him to be careful in case any parents recognized that it was made from sanitary pads and thought he was a pervert.

After typing out the message, he hesitated, unsure if it was appropriate, and ended up deleting it.

Just as he put away his phone, he looked up to see Xiao Zhang grinning at him.

Rong Yi felt inexplicably guilty. “What are you doing, smiling like that?”

“Hehe,” Xiao Zhang walked over and sat beside him. “Who’s the lucky person you’re messaging, huh? One minute you’re smiling, the next you’re frowning, your expressions are all over the place.”

Rong Yi’s face froze. “You’re so nosy! You think I didn’t notice you slacking off this morning, sneaking glances at your phone? Want to work overtime?”

“Plenty of time for that,” Xiao Zhang, clearly lacking respect for her superior, scoffed. “Let me show you something good.”

She pulled out her phone, fiddled with it for a moment, then proudly held it out in front of Rong Yi with a dramatic flourish. “Ta-da~!”

Rong Yi looked down and immediately got excited. “Whoa, what’s this?”

“It’s our Momo’s new magazine photoshoot! And you say you’re a true fan, but you didn’t even know! How can you claim to love him now?” Xiao Zhang shot him a look of disdain. “You’re no competition for me. Don’t even try to steal my husband.”

Rong Yi quickly grabbed his phone. “Send it to me, send it!”

After changing his phone’s wallpaper to a handsome photo of his latest celebrity crush, Rong Yi’s mood lightened considerably.

On his way home from work, he passed by a convenience store and hesitated before walking inside.

Actually, the food he bought yesterday was more than enough, and there was plenty in the fridge to last for another two days. But cooking for just one person felt like too much of a hassle.

Unexpectedly, when he walked into the house with a boxed meal, he immediately noticed a figure sitting on the sofa.

“I thought you weren’t coming home for dinner?” Rong Yi asked as he changed his shoes. “I bought takeout for myself. Do you want to eat something, or should I just whip up something quick for you?”

After changing his shoes, he realized the person on the sofa hadn’t replied.

The events of last night suddenly made him alert. He hurriedly stepped further into the room, and as he breathed a sigh of relief, an unsettling feeling crept in.

The person on the sofa looked a lot like Chen Keyao, but noticeably older. Rong Yi recognized him. It was Chen Keyao’s father.

“Xiao Rong, right?” Mr. Chen stood up, smiling kindly. “Is Yao Yao not coming back for dinner today?”

Rong Yi almost laughed at the nickname “Yao Yao.” To prevent his twisted expression from being noticed, he awkwardly lowered his head. “He has class. If you’re looking for him, Uncle, you should give him a call.”

“No need, I just came to check on things,” Mr. Chen waved his hand and sat back down. Then, suddenly, he asked, “Do you two usually eat together?”

“Uh…” Rong Yi didn’t quite know how to respond. “We… kind of share meals, I guess.”

“Yao Yao mentioned you two just met recently?” Mr. Chen continued. “Where do you sleep at night, Xiao Rong?”

Rong Yi felt faint.

In that moment, he understood why Chen Keyao got so stressed whenever his father showed up. This man was handsome and charming, but when he started talking, he was incredibly long-winded and nagging.

“Uncle,” Rong Yi decided to stop beating around the bush and sat down beside him, “I know what you’re worried about, but there’s really nothing going on between me and Chen Keyao.”

“But you’ve only known each other a short time, and you already know about his… condition?” Mr. Chen asked.

“Yes, I know, so it’s impossible between us,” Rong Yi said, pulling out his ID card, which he had just retrieved from a pile of packages at the company reception yesterday. “I’m an Omega.”

Mr. Chen glanced at the ID card, then looked at Rong Yi’s face, then back at the ID card, and back at his face again, repeating this process a few more times.

“It’s real,” Rong Yi put his ID back into his pocket. “Do you believe me now? There’s nothing going on between me and Chen Keyao.”

Mr. Chen looked at him. “You’re really…”

Having experienced similar reactions countless times since his differentiation, Rong Yi resigned himself and nodded. “Yes, I may not look like one, but I’m really an Omega. So, as for me and Chen Keyao…”

“Oh, don’t say that,” Mr. Chen suddenly smiled. “Xiao Rong, our Yao Yao is actually a really good person, you know.”