Chapter 45

“What’s wrong with you?” Liao Ji waved his hand in front of Lin Si’s eyes.

Lin Si quickly masked his shocked expression and locked his phone screen. “Nothing…” But not even a second later, he couldn’t suppress the excitement bubbling inside him. He blurted out, “That! Y! Asked me out—”

“What is crooked (T/n: Y is pronounced similar to 歪 which means askew or crooked) ?” Liao Ji stretched his neck forward, looking completely confused.

Lin Si’s mouth opened, then shut again. He awkwardly said, “Nothing, nothing at all.”

“Huh?” Liao Ji was baffled. “What’s up with you today?”

Lin Si pushed him away. “Nothing, I’m totally fine today. Go back to work.”

Even after Liao Ji turned away, Lin Si’s heart was still pounding wildly.

A meeting?!!

Y actually asked to meet up!!!

Aaaahhhh!!!

He took a shaky breath, realizing even his breathing was unsteady.

Gripping the hem of his shirt, Lin Si glanced at Liao Ji, then sneaked another look at his phone, before finally lowering his head in a hurry, pretending he hadn’t done anything.

The sheer joy threw him into the sky, lifting him to a peak where no one else could share it—only to come crashing down again.

Lin Si raised his hand, touching the gland at his nape.

It didn’t hurt anymore, but the strange sensation lingered. When he pressed against it, he could still feel the scar hidden beneath the healing patch.

If they met, would Y be able to accept his identity?

A public figure. A celebrity.

An Omega who had been pretending to be an Alpha, deceiving everyone.

Even harder—how was he supposed to explain his relationship with Lu Wei to Y?

An Omega who lived with an Alpha.

An Omega who had been temporarily marked.

Lin Si gripped his phone tightly, unable to come up with a response for a long time.

Back at Liao Ji’s place, he was practically forced into the shower. Then, he obediently stretched his neck as Liao Ji applied a fresh healing patch.

“Liao Ji,” Lin Si called him softly.

“Don’t move.” Liao Ji pinched his neck. “You’re making me put it on crooked.”

Lin Si bit his lip and asked, “Do you think I can fall in love before I turn 25?”

Liao Ji’s hand slipped, pressing directly onto his gland.

Lin Si let out a yelp. “Ow! What the hell? It wasn’t hurting before, but now you made it hurt!”

“You suddenly started talking about dating—I almost thought you were about to tell me you’re in a relationship!” Liao Ji swatted his hand away and pressed down on all four corners of the healing patch. Once it was secured, he stood up and tossed the sterile packaging into the trash.

Lin Si: “…”

“Did they get to you today?” Liao Ji sighed. “If it weren’t for that situation, I wouldn’t stop you from dating. Even if everyone else objected, I wouldn’t.”

Lin Si’s lips turned down at the corners. Liao Ji glanced at him. “But right now really isn’t the best time. You’re in a career growth phase—I wouldn’t recommend it. Especially since… once the other person knows you’re an Omega, can they really keep it a secret? Whether they’re in the industry or not, I wouldn’t fully trust anyone.”

Lin Si sprawled across the sofa, staring at the ceiling light. “With that logic, I’ll be single for life. What’s the point of living then?”

Liao Ji froze and looked down at Lin Si’s eyes. “Do you actually like someone?”

Lin Si pulled his hands back and averted his gaze. “What makes you say that?”

“It’s rare to hear you say life is meaningless.” Liao Ji grabbed him and pulled him upright. “If you have something to say, spit it out now—I’m not listening after tonight.”

Lin Si peeked at him cautiously, his Adam’s apple bobbing. Then he scooted closer and pounded Liao Ji’s leg like he was trying to butter him up. “I’m in a relationship.”

“…?” Liao Ji froze for a second.

Two seconds.

Three seconds.

…

Nearly ten seconds passed.

At the eleventh second, Liao Ji grabbed Lin Si by the back of his neck, eyes wide, just a hair away from completely losing it. “Say! That! Again!”

Lin Si, resigned to his fate, shoved him away and stood in the middle of the living room, hands on his hips, shouting—

“I’m in a relationship!”

“I’m in a relationship!”

“I have a partner!”

“I’m going to meet him—”

Liao Ji clamped a hand over his mouth.

“Do you have a death wish?! You think I own this whole building?!” Liao Ji wished he could smother Lin Si into taking back everything he just shouted.

“Mmff…” Lin Si shook his head. “Mmm mm mm mmm!”

Liao Ji let go—then immediately covered his mouth again. “No yelling!”

Lin Si nodded in agreement.

Liao Ji actually let go of him, storming off to shut all the living room windows with a loud bang, bang, bang. Then he turned around, pointing a finger at Lin Si. “Explain yourself!”

Lin Si, knowing his place, clasped his hands together obediently. “I’m in a relationship…” His next words were even softer. “And… I’m planning to meet him…”

Liao Ji took a second hit, barely managing to steady himself against the back of the sofa. “Why do I know nothing about this?! Who is this person? What’s his name? Is he in the industry or not? When did you two meet?”

This flood of questions was something Lin Si had already rehearsed in his head multiple times today, so he remained calm. He patted Liao Ji’s shoulder to get him to sit down and cool off, even sucking up by pouring him a glass of water.

“He’s not in the entertainment industry,” Lin Si swallowed. “And… he’s also from Beicheng. We’ve known each other for almost six months now.” He hesitated before admitting, “We met online.”

Liao Ji nearly dropped his water.

“Are you messing with me, Lin Si?” Liao Ji stared at him. “You—Lin Si—are in an online relationship?”

Lin Si shrank under his gaze, mumbling, “Even though it’s online, we’ve talked on the phone…”

“Only talked on the phone?” Liao Ji rubbed his temples, feeling like he was about to die from frustration.

Lin Si quickly added, “I was the one who didn’t want to video chat. I mean, looking like this… how could I show my face?”

“What do you mean, looking like this? Do you think the whole nation is blind?” Liao Ji snapped. “Online dating, online dating—I never thought you’d actually go for it. If you told me you were dating someone in the industry, I wouldn’t even be this mad!”

Lin Si countered, “Oh, please. If I were dating someone in the industry, you’d have called their agent a million times by now.”

“At least that’d be a real person! And here you are, settling for an internet boyfriend?” Liao Ji couldn’t comprehend Lin Si’s logic. He reached out. “Give me your phone.”

Lin Si clutched his pocket. “No way.”

“Fine! Then show me his picture!” Liao Ji demanded. “You haven’t video chatted, but he’s sent you photos, right?”

Lin Si: “…”

Liao Ji took a deep breath, downed his entire glass of water, and let out a long sigh. “So you don’t even know what he looks like, and you’re calling this a relationship? This isn’t dating, this is playing house!”

Lin Si refused to let his love life be disrespected. He straightened his back and declared righteously, “You’re so outdated! Liao Ji! You’re ancient! Online dating isn’t about scamming money anymore!”

“And now you’re insulting me? Sure, fine, online dating doesn’t scam money anymore—it scams people’s bodies instead!” Liao Ji clutched his side, feeling like his liver was about to explode. “This must be karma. No child is ever truly worry-free. You didn’t skip your rebellious phase—it just arrived late…”

Lin Si lowered his gaze. “Well, you were the one who said my dating life was just playing house…”

A strange silence filled the living room.

Lin Si inched closer to Liao Ji and said in a small voice, “He really likes me. I mean it.”

“You don’t know shit,” Liao Ji shot back.

Lin Si puffed up. “I do now! I know a lot! I know how an Alpha permanently marks an Omega… No wonder Dr. Li said your butt would hurt after…”

Liao Ji was too frustrated to argue anymore. He got up and walked toward his room.

Seeing that he was genuinely angry, Lin Si quickly grabbed his hand, ready to fake-cry for sympathy. But as soon as his nose tingled, the pressure of the entire day caught up with him. His eyes turned red in an instant, and tears started falling uncontrollably, like a natural reflex.

“He’s really a good person,” Lin Si sobbed, “He’s not the kind of scammer you think he is.”

Liao Ji sighed and turned back. “Lin Si, do you know what fantasy means? You’ve only ever heard his voice, and you’re already planning to meet him? Do you even know what he looks like? Let’s not assume he’s ugly—what if he doesn’t even meet basic expectations? And what about his family, his job, his character—do you have any idea about any of those things?”

He continued, “You have so much to lose, and he has nothing to fear. Do you even realize the risks? What if you meet and things don’t work out? What if he leaks the fact that you’re an Omega? Then what? Lin Si, people lie. You’ve seen enough of it in the entertainment industry—have you learned nothing?”

Lin Si couldn’t argue with him, but he still insisted, “He’s only heard my voice too. It’s not about who has the upper hand. If he didn’t truly like me, he wouldn’t have agreed to be with me. And I can feel it—he’s a good person.”

To Liao Ji, Lin Si looked exactly like a naive kid being scammed. He pressed his fingers against his temples, pacing the living room twice before muttering to himself, “I regret it. I should’ve raised you differently. If being ‘pure’ just means being this clueless, I’d rather you had grown up sooner.”

Lin Si picked at his fingernails, his tears dripping onto the back of his hand. “You can’t do this… You haven’t even met him, and you’re already dismissing him.”

“Fine,” Liao Ji sat down. “Then have him call me. Let me talk to him.”

Lin Si froze, his face still streaked with tears. He hesitated for a long time before saying, “But calling him out of the blue like this is too sudden…”

Liao Ji nodded. “Then I take back everything I said. I don’t approve of this relationship. Of course, you don’t have to care about my opinion—I’m just your manager. If you end up paying a price for this in the future, I’ll do what I can to clean up the mess. But that’s where my involvement ends.”

“Don’t say things out of anger…” Lin Si clutched his phone, his voice dropping. “Honestly, I don’t even dare tell him who I really am. My situation with Lu Wei is so complicated…”

“What do you mean, ‘complicated’?” Liao Ji frowned. “Do you have some special relationship with Lu Wei?” Then, as if realizing something, he said, “Right, he temporarily marked you. But that was just a medical procedure. There’s no emotional connection between you two. Lin Si, are you an idiot?”

Lin Si’s mind was in chaos. “But a temporary mark is still a mark!”

“So what? It’ll fade in a couple of days,” Liao Ji said. “As long as you and Lu Wei don’t have those kinds of feelings, then a temporary mark is just routine treatment.”

Lin Si hesitated. “But…”

“You don’t actually think that because Lu Wei temporarily marked you, you’re somehow cheating on your online boyfriend, do you?” Liao Ji exposed him in one sentence.

Lin Si silently accepted it. He wiped his tears away with the back of his hand, sat back down on the sofa, and lowered his head, speaking slowly. “I’m not happy about it either… Just thinking about Lu Wei biting my gland, about how I might have looked when I went into heat in front of him last night… I feel like I have no face left to see Lu Wei. And no face to see… him.”

Liao Ji had so many things he wanted to complain about that he didn’t even know where to start. He sat down next to Lin Si and asked in a low voice, “Then what do you want to do?”

“I don’t know. I really want to meet him, but you won’t let me,” Lin Si said.

Liao Ji: “…”

“You all say a temporary mark doesn’t mean anything, but that’s because you’re all speaking from my side,” Lin Si wiped his eyes again. “I don’t know if he will mind.”

Liao Ji wiped his face clean with a tissue and, unable to hold back his frustration, scolded him, “What the hell are you crying for? So damn useless. Have you even looked at your script? All you do is think about romance all day. What was the point of fighting so hard to get this role?”

“I have looked at it! I memorized my lines before I even went to the audition,” Lin Si said, still feeling wronged. “I was going to write a character profile for You Yu these past two days, but you told me to record a song instead—”

“Fine, fine, fine. You’re right. You’re always right,” Liao Ji cut him off.

Lin Si sniffled. “I do have a good work ethic.”

Liao Ji sighed, ultimately giving in. “Alright, how about this? Tell… that person that your phone got confiscated by a strict parent. Say you’re pissed off and insist on talking to him. Just blame it on me and let me talk to him first.”

Lin Si gripped his phone. “Right now?”

“Whenever you want,” Liao Ji said. “My point is the same—if you don’t even know who this person is, don’t go meeting him in real life.”

Lin Si made up his mind. He figured he had to get past this step sooner or later. Without Liao Ji covering for him, meeting Y in person with his identity at risk could spell disaster any day.

Just as he was about to call Y, a call from Lu Wei came in first.

The awkwardness Lin Si had finally buried flared up again. He pushed the phone away and decided to just let it ring until it hung up by itself.

“Pick up the call,” Liao Ji said.

Lin Si muttered, “It’s Lu Wei.”

“So what if it’s Lu Wei?” Liao Ji replied. “Just answer it. Like I said, as long as you have a clear conscience, there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.”

Lin Si closed his eyes, let out a breath, and picked up the call.

“President Lu?”

There was a brief silence on the other end before Lu Wei, his voice hoarse, asked, “What’s wrong with your voice?”

“Hm?” Lin Si answered, his nose still stuffed up.

“You were crying?”

Lin Si instinctively sniffled. “Oh… I’m fine.”

“What happened?” Lu Wei’s voice, soaked in exhaustion, carried a weight that made people ache just hearing it. “If it’s about last night—”

Lin Si immediately cut him off. “No, I really am grateful to you.”

“Lin Si,” Lu Wei took a moment to collect himself, clearing his throat before speaking again. “Duan Yang has been busy with work lately. His cat has no one to take care of, so he sent it to Xijiang. I have no experience with this—can you come home?”

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T/n: Awww Our ML is really exhausted but our Si cub is more miserable. He’s really a child nd has the innocence nd naive thoughts of purity towards relationship especially an ideal relationship nd I really think it’s a good thing becoz these things even if it’s naive give birth to a stable relationship if u meet a right partner who could cherish these qualities of yours🤔❤️. Stay tuned guys. If you want to support me you can buy me a Ko-Fi or go to my paypal page. Happy Reading 🤩❤️