Chapter 007: "Su Tang, Su Bing"
Night slowly descended upon the city, the orange sunset spilling into the small home of the Su siblings. The fragrance of dinner wafted from the kitchen.
Su Bing, who had just finished work, barged through the door, immediately tossing her backpack aside. She changed her shoes and, following the smell, headed straight to the kitchen.
"Su Tang, what the hell happened last night? Huh? You actually dared to stand me up!"
Without even washing her hands, she grabbed a garlic chicken wing and stuffed it into her mouth. She kicked Su Tang lightly, only then noticing the bandage wrapped around Su Tang's ankle.
"Injured? How’d you get hurt?"
Su Tang, looking sheepish, handed her a disinfectant wipe, though internally he was panicking.
"I twisted it by accident. Sis, don’t get mad just yet. I’ll explain everything after dinner."
Su Bing, a beta, couldn't sense the changes in Su Tang's pheromones. She was used to being carefree and, nodding, agreed without a fuss.
Throughout dinner, Su Tang barely tasted the food, his mind preoccupied. On the other hand, Su Bing was fully satisfied, letting out a content burp. The siblings cleaned up together, tossing the dirty dishes into the dishwasher.
"Alright, spill it. What were you up to last night? You didn’t answer your phone or reply to any of my messages."
Su Bing, a martial arts coach, sprawled on the sofa, opening a bag of chips as she started watching the day’s matches.
Su Tang, afraid of getting smacked, didn’t dare sit next to his sister. Instead, he obediently sat in the single armchair and began recounting everything that had happened the previous night and today, not leaving out a single detail.
At first, Su Bing listened while lying down, her expression unreadable. But when Su Tang mentioned that he had agreed to marry Ye Chiyu, she abruptly sat up, tossing the chip bag at Su Tang.
"Su Tang, where’s your brain? You agreed to something as big as marriage without even discussing it with me first?"
Covered in chip crumbs, Su Tang lowered his head, quietly enduring the scolding, not daring to make a sound.
"And another thing—you're still in college! You’re thinking about marriage now? Are you even planning to finish school?"
Su Tang shrugged, muttering softly in protest, "You can get married in college. It might even... give extra credit..."
"Shut up!"
Su Bing was so angry she stood up, jabbing her finger at Su Tang’s forehead.
"Do I look like I need you to tell me about extra credit from a marriage certificate? You think those few practice points are worth it?"
"You’ve only just met him! You know nothing about that alpha—what if he has bad intentions? Aren’t you worried you might be jumping into a trap?"
Su Tang didn’t have any concrete evidence, but for some reason, he was convinced that Ye Chiyu couldn’t possibly be a bad person.
The last rays of the setting sun had completely disappeared from the living room. Su Bing wasn’t sure how long she had been reprimanding her clueless little brother.
Eventually, when she ran out of things to say, she sat back down in frustration. She looked at her omega brother, who had somehow grown to be half a head taller than her.
She seemed tired. Leaning back, she muttered, "Su Tang, do you like him?"
Her brother’s eyes sparkled, shy but sincere, as he answered, "Mm, I like him."
The little brat who had always been by her side had grown up and found someone he liked.
"Fine, I’ll meet him some other day."
Su Bing huffed awkwardly, got up, and headed to the bathroom to shower.
There was no helping it—after all, her little brother was in love.
________
Chapter 8: Time to Get Up
It was past 8 in the evening. After a long and exhausting day, Su Tang lay dazedly on his bed, reflecting on the strange events of the past two days. The realization that he was soon going to marry someone finally hit him.
Now that the wedding was approaching, shouldn't he try to get in touch with his fiancé, Alpha Ye Chiyu, and build some familiarity?
Su Tang opened WeChat and looked at Ye Chiyu's profile, but before he could even think of sending a message, he chickened out. After hesitating for a long time, he still didn’t dare to send a greeting. Instead, he exited the chat screen and changed Ye Chiyu's contact name from “Mr. Ye” to simply “him.”
He raised his hand and peeled off the suppression patch on the back of his neck. Immediately, the faint scent of green tea from his Omega pheromones filled the air, mixed with a barely detectable hint of Alpha's whiskey-like pheromones. Any Alpha or Omega who smelled it would instantly know that this Omega had already been marked.
Their pheromones intertwined, and Su Tang could almost hear Alpha’s deep, magnetic breathing in his ear, heightening his desires. The green tea scent in the air grew stronger.
Su Tang, who had just finished his heat period, felt his face flush. Silently, he dragged himself to the bathroom, dawdling for a while before finally washing his hands. His face still red, he crawled back into bed, unable to shake off the vivid images in his mind.
As an Omega, it must be his instincts reacting to being marked by an Alpha! It’s not like he was craving Mr. Ye’s body!
Su Tang, who was usually calm and composed, rolled around in bed, trying to convince himself that he wasn’t some shameless person.
Suddenly, the phone rang, disrupting the quiet room. It was an unexpected call from his manager, Lin Xun. Su Tang was surprised but answered the call anyway.
Lin Xun rarely cared about him. Most of the scripts he received from Lin Xun were of poor quality, so Su Tang usually found roles on his own through school connections. Lin Xun only contacted him when it was time to distribute his payments.
Back in his freshman year, Su Tang had heard from upperclassmen that signing with a management company would help with career development. So, he randomly signed with a small company called Chengran Entertainment. Lin Xun had taken over his management from that time.
Later, Su Tang realized the company couldn't offer him any real acting opportunities. He wanted to terminate the contract, but the contract he signed was for three years, and breaking it early would mean paying a hefty fine—something he couldn’t afford. He didn’t dare tell his older sister either, so he just had to bide his time, counting down the days until the contract expired.
“Hey, Xun-ge, what’s up?” Su Tang asked.
The background on Lin Xun’s end was noisy. Su Tang could barely make out what Lin Xun was saying.
“Su Tang, when will your pay be deposited into the company’s account? Didn’t they say it would be paid shortly after you wrapped up? You finished shooting a few days ago, right?”
Su Tang glanced at his injured foot, feeling slightly exasperated. “Xun-ge, I just wrapped up this morning. The payment should come in a few days.”
“Huh? Really? Alright then, I’ll wait. Once your pay comes in, I’ll give you your share.”
Lin Xun didn’t wait for Su Tang’s response before hanging up. Su Tang sighed as he listened to the dial tone.
The role he had just finished was much bigger than his previous ones. Lin Xun mentioned that the contract for this role promised a payment of 30,000 yuan. After the company's cut, Su Tang felt his half-month of hard work had been worth it.
Feeling content, he excitedly shared the news with Ning Yang. Because he had bailed on their gaming session, all he got in return was a rolling-eyes emoji.
The two of them were used to playing around, so Su Tang didn’t mind. He opened his class schedule.
After realizing he had a "Ideological and Moral Cultivation" class tomorrow, Su Tang took a picture of his medical report from the hospital and sent it to his class representative, Jiang Ke, asking for a leave of absence.
He attended S University, which was in the same city, so ever since starting college, Su Tang had been living off-campus. If he had classes, he’d just ride his little electric scooter to school.
But now, with his injured foot, he couldn’t drive. Besides, the professor who taught "Ideological and Moral Cultivation" was notorious for putting students to sleep. Su Tang hadn’t managed to stay awake during a single one of his classes this semester.
Once Jiang Ke confirmed that he would handle the leave, Su Tang finally relaxed. Still basking in his satisfied mood, Su Tang fell into a deep sleep without even turning off the lights.
“Little Su Tang, time to get up. We’re going to get our marriage certificate.”
Ye Chiyu’s gentle voice sounded in his ear. Su Tang, still half-asleep, rubbed his eyes groggily, whining like a little pig unwilling to wake up.
Alpha remained patient, his smile warm as he ruffled Su Tang’s messy hair. “Be good. I know it’s early, but if we wait too long, the line at the Civil Affairs Bureau will be long.”
Slowly regaining his senses, Su Tang reluctantly sat up, still clutching his big gray rabbit plushie. He then looked up, only to see the impossibly handsome Alpha standing by his bed, smiling at him.
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