Chapter 31

Someone knocked on the door.

Lin Si got up to open it and saw Lu Wei through the small gap before fully opening the door.

“What’s wrong?” Lin Si asked.

As soon as he spoke, he realized his voice was a bit hoarse. Clearing his throat, he asked again, “What’s wrong?”

Lu Wei looked into his eyes for a long time, confirming that Lin Si wasn’t in any significant emotional distress before saying, “Nothing.”

“Huh?” Lin Si blinked. “If there’s nothing, why did you knock on my door?”

“…” Lu Wei lowered his eyes and came up with an excuse. “Thank you for the midnight snack.”

“Oh,” Lin Si said. “No need to thank me, just consider it a thanks for helping me with the suppressant last time.”

Lin Si thought the conversation would end there, but Lu Wei asked him, “Has your attending doctor talked to you?”

Subconsciously, Lin Si touched the gland at the back of his neck. “He talked to me… said not to use suppressants anymore.” His expression turned uneasy. “But as for a temporary mark, I… I don’t really want that.”

Lu Wei’s gaze dropped, noticing Lin Si gripping his phone tightly.

He’s thinking about Y.

In Lin Si’s mind, whether it was a temporary mark or a lifelong one, it was something only very close people could do. If Lu Wei temporarily marked him, Lin Si would feel it was a kind of contamination.

And if one day, Y truly became his partner in every sense, Lin Si would feel it was a kind of betrayal.

The displeased expression on Lu Wei’s face softened a bit as he asked, “Then what do you plan to do the next time you enter pseudo-heat?”

“I’ll figure it out next time,” Lin Si replied. “I’ve asked Liao Ji to carry low-efficiency suppressants with him. After an injection, I’ll just tough it out.”

“Who told you that you could just tough it out?” Lu Wei looked at him, his brows furrowing.

Under Lu Wei’s gaze, Lin Si unconsciously stepped back, feeling guilty, and murmured softly, “I told myself that.”

Lu Wei took another step forward, now half inside the doorway. “Lin Si, don’t joke around with your own health.”

His tone was stern, and Lin Si felt inexplicably lectured for no reason. His naturally combative temperament that clashed with Lu Wei instantly flared up, and he grabbed the door, pressing it forcefully. “This is my own business.”

Lu Wei hesitated to say more, pinching the bridge of his nose as if in frustration. Then, with a hint of apology and a softened tone, he said, “I’m not blaming you.”

“I know,” Lin Si quickly replied. “Thanks, but I want to rest now.”

Lu Wei seemed a bit frustrated and murmured softly, “Sorry for disturbing you,” as he stepped back two paces.

Lin Si nodded in acknowledgment, considering it a goodbye, and closed the door.

It felt like the midnight snack had gone to waste… They had another unpleasant encounter.

He took a deep breath and picked up his phone. The screen was full of missed calls. The emotions that Lu Wei had interrupted came flooding back. He quickly called back and, the moment the call connected, anxiously asked, “What’s wrong?”

Y was slow to respond. After digesting his emotions, his voice sounded lower than usual, and his tone was far from light. “Why didn’t you answer your phone?”

The moment Y spoke, Lin Si felt his nose sting.

He sat back down on the floor, looking dejected for a long time before replying, “I… I was feeling a bit down just now. I zoned out and didn’t hear it.”

Y didn’t dig deeper, only asking, “Do you want to talk about what’s bothering you?”

With Y’s gentle reassurance, Lin Si’s nose stung even more. The long-repressed emotions bubbled up, and he let out a small outburst. “You’ve been ignoring me! I don’t want to talk to you about it! I called, and you didn’t answer! You didn’t even call me back!” He paused and added, “It’s been more than a week!”

“I’m sorry,” Y said. “It’s my fault.”

“Are you planning to just stop talking to me?” Lin Si asked, his voice tinged with a nasally whine as he grew more emotional. “I’m busy with work too, but I always find time to text you. You don’t reply. And when you finally do, you disappear again!”

“I’m sorry,” Y said again after a long pause. “I’m really sorry.”

“You’re giving me the silent treatment,” Lin Si accused.

“I am,” Y admitted.

“You only send ‘good morning’ and ‘good night’ like some kind of robot!” Lin Si suddenly stopped himself, then continued in a dejected tone. “Did you find another Omega to match with? Is that why you don’t have time to talk to me?”

“No,” Y denied firmly. “I haven’t matched with anyone else but you.”

“But you have time to water and care for your little sapling, yet you don’t have time to send me a single message!” Lin Si said. “The tree has already bloomed, and you still won’t talk to me!”

Lin Si kept circling back to his complaints, not even sure what he really wanted. Deep down, he knew Y hadn’t matched with anyone else, but he just wanted to pour out all the uneasiness and loneliness he’d been feeling over the past few days.

After Lin Si finished venting, Y spoke in a serious tone, “There are some things I’ve been thinking about for a long time.” He paused again, holding back a thought he didn’t voice:

Some things I’ve been thinking about for a long time, but the moment I saw you at the door, everything became clear.

“Then play games with me tonight,” Lin Si said, “and take the compatibility test with me.”

“Okay,” Y agreed.

Lin Si’s lips twitched slightly. “Have you really been busy recently?”

“There have been some things going on,” Y admitted. “But not so busy that I couldn’t talk to you.”

“Fine,” Lin Si huffed. “If you do this again, I won’t answer your calls anymore. I’ll delete you and block you.”

His tone sounded like a warning, but Y chuckled softly on the other end of the line.

“You’re still laughing!” Lin Si grabbed at the soft carpet with his fingers. “If our intimacy level wasn’t about to hit a thousand, I wouldn’t even be talking to you today.”

Y stopped laughing as expected and asked seriously, “If the intimacy level wasn’t a thousand, when would you talk to me again?”

“At least…” Lin Si thought for a moment, “At least you’d have to come see me every day for a week before I’d talk to you.”

“Okay,” Y replied.

Lin Si panicked. “I didn’t mean for you to come find me next week! Anyway, I’m already talking to you now, so forget it. You just need to play games with me.”

“Alright,” Y said with a chuckle. “What game do you want to play?”

Lin Si had been waiting for this moment. He minimized the call interface, pointed to the game on his screen, and recommended, “This one—Tetris. Oh, and do you know how to play Gomoku?” Lin Si slapped his leg. “Oh, right, I recently met this really amazing friend. He taught me a lot of stuff and even recommended a bunch of games, like…”

“What friend?” Y asked.

Lin Si hesitated for a moment. “A friend I met through work.”

In fact, after the audition that day, as soon as he added Lu Nan as a contact, Lu Nan excitedly greeted him with a [Hey bro!]

Lin Si imitated him, replying with a [Hey bro] but without the exclamation mark.

Lu Nan asked, [Wanna go surfing the web with me?]

That question hit Lin Si’s soft spot.

Lin Si thought, They always say I’m outdated and clueless. Well, now I’m going to dive in headfirst.

…secretly, without Liao Ji knowing.

Aside from his bank account, everything else was managed by Liao Ji. Because of his gland issues, Liao Ji had taken on the roles of both a parent and a protective internet monitor, constantly worried that inappropriate content online would corrupt Lin Si.

His principle was clear: even if Lin Si had to remain an oblivious little fool, it was better than exposing him to any unpredictable changes while his glands were still developing.

As a result, Lin Si rarely went online, let alone scrolled through social media. The most he did was watch food videos. Thanks to the algorithms, his limited online activity was almost entirely dedicated to food bloggers.

Although Lin Si couldn’t avoid seeing some trending topics, he’d always forget the memes as soon as he got busy.

Lu Nan told Lin Si: [Step one of surfing the web: get yourself a side account.]

Lin Si replied: [If my agent finds out, he’ll scold me.]

Not to mention deducting his monthly dessert allowance.

Lu Nan: [Who cares about your agent? You’re Lin Si! Do you want to surf the web or not?]

Lin Si hesitated: [Then… I’ll go back and apply for one right away.]

And so, under Lu Nan’s guidance, Lin Si secretly created his very first side account, opening the door to a whole new world.

“Is he an Omega?” Y’s voice interrupted his thoughts.

Lin Si: “No, he’s an Alpha.”

Y fell silent for a moment before changing the subject: “What games were you talking about earlier?”

“Oh, the ones I mentioned need to be downloaded. They’re not in the romance system,” Lin Si explained. “How about we play the ones here first, then do the compatibility test?”

“Sure,” Y said.

Lin Si invited Y to join him, and they played through all the two-player games in the system. By the time they were done, it was almost midnight. Lin Si yawned and said, “Still 17 points away from hitting the intimacy goal…”

“Get some sleep. We can continue tomorrow,” Y suggested.

“I have work in the afternoon tomorrow,” Lin Si replied. “How about we do one last compatibility test before bed? That way, I can sleep in tomorrow morning.”

“Alright,” Y agreed.

As soon as they entered the test, the voice call was cut off. Lin Si tapped to start.

Question 1: What type of movies does your A/O like?

[Comedy]
[Action]
[Romance]
[Romantic Action]

Thanks to his newly acquired surfing skills, Lin Si immediately thought, Alright, let’s go with the fourth one.

“Wow~ Great minds think alike! Correct answer!”

Lin Si’s smile froze.

???

???

Y, why are you like this?

---

Question 2: Does your A/O prefer rice or noodles?

[Rice]
[Noodles]

This one was easy for Lin Si. People from Northern City loved rice. Without hesitation, he clicked [Rice].

“Wow~ Great minds think alike! Correct answer!”

---

Next, the perspective shifted. Lin Si provided the answers while Y guessed.

Question 3: If he and his dad both fell into the water, who would you save first?

[Him]
[Dad]

Lin Si: “…”

Why are today’s questions so ruthless?

After some hesitation, Lin Si clicked [Him].

“Wow~ Great minds think alike! Correct answer!“

“How could this be right?” Lin Si muttered, touching his nose. Today feels way too weird.

---

Question 4: Does he prefer summer or winter?

[Summer]
[Winter]
[Neither]

This one’s a freebie, Lin Si thought as he confidently selected [Winter]. The screen shifted gently again.

“Wow~ Great minds think alike! Correct answer!”

---

Question 5: How would you like your partner to address you?

[Darling]
[Sweetheart]
[Full Name]
[Nickname]
[Baby]
[Other Specific Term]

“This is way too many options…” Lin Si frowned.

The more options there were, the harder it would be for them to match.

Besides, in all the time he’d known Y, Y had never actually called him anything specific. Lin Si’s finger hovered over the five choices before finally picking the one he liked the most.

The screen shook slightly, revealing an X.

---

After answering a few more questions, the compatibility test ended. The system, ever so considerate, displayed a message stating that their score had far surpassed the previous one, awarding them bonus intimacy points as a reward.

A total of 20 points.

Lin Si and Y’s intimacy level finally surpassed 1,000.

But as Lin Si exited the test, the only thing he cared about was: What exactly does Y want to call me?

He called him.

“Hey?” Lin Si called out.

“We hit 1,000.”

Lin Si: “That’s not the point. For that question about what you’d call your A/O… What answer did you pick?”

Y paused on the other end before saying, “Full name.”

Lin Si’s Adam’s apple moved, and he awkwardly said, “Forget… Forget love?”

“No…” Y sounded confused as well.

The silence lasted less than two seconds before both of them burst out laughing.

“Now I know how lame my username is,” Lin Si said. “I’ll think of a better one and change it.”

“Forget Love is fine,” Y said.

Lin Si teased, “Wow, you’re even lamer than me. You’re so corny.”

Y: “…”

Lin Si brought up another complaint, “And the first question! What did you pick? Do you even know what a romantic action film is? Why’d you pick that?”

“…” Y sounded helpless. “I picked romance. I clicked the wrong one by mistake.”

Lin Si: “Oh… that makes sense.”

“But your answer was romantic action film,” Y said.

Lin Si: “…”

Y’s low laughter continued to drift through the phone, making Lin Si’s cheeks heat up. “I didn’t! I just didn’t know what to pick, so I clicked randomly to mess with you.”

Y replied softly, “Alright, I get it.”

Lin Si squinted suspiciously. “I think you’re still laughing at me.”

“I’m not,” Y said with composure.

“Fine…” Lin Si relented, but then another thought struck him. “One more thing—how did you know I’d pick you in the question about you and my dad falling into the water?”

Y answered calmly, “Just a guess.”

“Oh…” Lin Si hesitated before explaining, “I’m on my own. I don’t even know who my parents are. So during New Year’s, it’s just me by myself. If you fell into the water, I’d obviously save you.”

“I know,” Y said, quickly moving past the topic. Then, he asked, “So, what do you want me to call you? In that question, what did you pick?”

Lin Si’s tongue darted out to lick his lips. “Baby.”

The air suddenly went silent.

“…Baby?”

Lin Si’s ears burned as though Y’s breath had brushed directly against them, sending an electrifying jolt from his spine straight to his heart.

“Yeah,” Lin Si mumbled.

“You… like being called that?” Y’s voice was rough, almost hesitant.

Lin Si brazened it out. “Yeah, ‘baby’… sounds great.”

Y fell silent again, his voice dropping to a murmur.

Lin Si, emboldened but also flustered, added, “But if you think it’s awkward…”

“Give me some time,” Y finally said, his voice hoarse, “to get used to it… Baby.”

---

Author’s Note:
Lu “Humble Devoted Dog” Wei: An Alpha who brought himself to his wife’s door offering to help with a marking… and got rejected.

T/n : Well Gong has to do some groveling here our Si Baby is so miserable 😭😖 hang in there Si cub😺😺. Stay tuned for more dog food people😂 if you want to support me you can buy me a Ko-Fi or go to my paypal page. Happy Reading 💐