A Fatal Attraction from Lawyer A - Chapter 68

Having finalized the handover of his duties at the group, Gu Yuqi realized as he left the building that he was about to face a very long, boring stretch of time—and he was the one who had proposed it.

Since he’d have so much free time, he felt he ought to do something. Perhaps he could try things he’d never had time for before.

The sunset bled into a romantic, mesmerizing palette of pink and purple, reflecting off the streaming traffic below.

Luo Panzhi was driving. It was the peak of rush hour, and the traffic was crawling. Perhaps out of boredom, he rested his elbow on the window frame, his fingers idly brushing his lips. The dim light entering the car contoured his sharp profile, and the ring on his left ring finger glinted with a cold luster.

Every gesture this Alpha made exuded an indescribable sexiness. It was the sexiness of a mature man. Though only twenty-five, he possessed an air of stability and maturity far beyond his years—a sense of security that made one fall for him uncontrollably.

“Luo Panzhi,” Gu Yuqi called out, his heart itching as he watched him.

“Mhm?!” Hearing his full name, Luo Panzhi snapped his head toward him, his expression bordering on panic. “What’s wrong? Do you feel like throwing up? Dizzy? Uncomfortable?”

Gu Yuqi pressed his lips together, smiling. “Nothing. Just calling your name.” Maybe I can spend this time learning some of Luo Panzhi’s ‘ideal house-husband’ skills.

Luo Panzhi narrowed his eyes. Seeing Gu’s mischievous smile, he let out a helpless sigh. “Call me if you want, but don’t use my full name. It’s terrifying. It makes me feel like I’ve done something terribly wrong.”

“Why are you so afraid of people using your full name?” Gu Yuqi suddenly realized he’d never asked. He just knew that whenever he used it, Luo Panzhi responded instantly.

“In our house, being called by your full name means things are serious, or you’ve been caught doing something bad. Ever since I was a kid, whenever my dad [Chu Yiqiao] called my big dad [Luo Qingye] by his full name, we knew there’d be no dinner that night. Plus, we’d get dragged into the crossfire and face my dad’s cold shoulder too.”

“If my parents called one of us three siblings by our full name, they were slightly more lenient—we’d have to face the wall and write self-reflections, or use towels to hand-scrub the floors of the entire villa. But I was the troublemaker; almost every time my full name was called, I ended up spending the night in the boxing gym.” Luo Panzhi brushed a lock of hair from his forehead, looking puzzled. “I was so outstanding as a kid, top of my class, yet I could never escape the judgment of the ‘full name’ trial.”

Gu Yuqi leaned back, staring pensively out the window. He lowered his eyes to hide a flash of melancholy, his lips curving into a faint smile. “So that’s how it is.” It was a family atmosphere he had never experienced.

The moment he finished speaking, Luo Panzhi reached over and squeezed his hand. Gu blinked in surprise and turned his head.

“It’s okay. You have three ‘dads’ now.”

Gu was surprised that Luo had caught onto his dip in mood. “Three?”

Luo Panzhi smiled and patted his head. “I’m your ‘daddy’ too.”

Gu Yuqi: “…” He swatted Luo’s hand away. “Keep dreaming.”

“How am I not? Look at how much I dote on you—like a nagging old father. Whenever I’m not traveling, I’m the one who buys the groceries, right? I cook the meals, I do the chores, I even blow-dry your hair. At this rate, all that’s left is for me to bathe you every day.” Luo Panzhi winked. “I’m game, if you are.”

Gu Yuqi turned his face toward the window, unable to stop his lips from curling up. “No need.”

It was true. Everything Luo Panzhi did for him was in the details—details that were hard to imagine coming from someone as privileged as him. He didn’t do these things just because he was being attentive; they were habits ingrained in him by his family since childhood.

This was the power of a healthy original family.

“When you love someone, you really do want to dote on them like a child.” Seeing the light turn green, Luo Panzhi gripped the steering wheel and accelerated. “I enjoy taking care of you; it gives me a lot of pleasure. So don’t be sad. Having me to dote on you in this world is enough. In the future, we’ll become good parents ourselves. That’s all we need.”

Gu Yuqi adjusted the lumbar cushion behind him—another detail Luo had prepared to prevent him from getting backaches in the car. He watched Luo’s reflection in the glass, his expression softening as he heard those words.

“Then… how do you become a ‘good’ parent?”

“By having an Omega like my brother.” Luo Panzhi started his “Omega obsession” nagging again. “Completely sweet and heartwarming. Then the two of us would definitely be the gentlest dads in the world.”

“But differentiation doesn’t happen until sixteen. You can’t tell when they’re born.”

“Based on our family genes, the noisier, more disruptive ones who love to fight and cry are definitely Alphas. Like me, my sister, and Jian Wenxing.”

“What about Zuo Gu [Luo’s twin]?”

“He’s gentle but has a very distinct personality. When we were little, no matter how much Xiao Yu and I fought or screamed, he always had a way to make us quiet down. Even though we’re twins—only three minutes apart—our personalities are polar opposites. He’s gentle and resilient, and he almost never cries. In all the time we’ve been brothers, the only time I saw him cry was when Lawyer Yan rejected his confession. Honestly, I was secretly thrilled at the time.”

“Why?”

“He’s the only Omega brother I have. Why should some jock with more brawn than brains get to take him away?”

“But their baby is already born now.”

Luo Panzhi steered the car into the underground garage of their complex. The dim lights flickered over his face, making his expression hard to read. “That’s why if our child is an Omega, I really won’t want them to get married. I’ll keep them by their father’s side forever.”

Gu Yuqi looked at him, detecting an unusual emotional weight in his tone. “Why?”

“I’m afraid of any possibility in this world that might lead to them being hurt. I want to eliminate that possibility entirely.”

The car came to a smooth stop. With a click, Luo Panzhi unbuckled his seatbelt. He leaned over, bracing his hand against Gu’s headrest to reach for Gu’s seatbelt.

Gu Yuqi watched Luo’s arm cross over him, feeling as though he were being enveloped in a hug. He smiled. “Then why do you want an Omega so badly? If you’re so worried?”

“Because you used to be an Omega. You are the lucky one among the lucky, but in my heart, that past will never truly be ‘over’.” After unbuckling the belt, Luo Panzhi pressed a kiss to Gu’s lips, gazing at him intensely. “Baby, do you understand what I mean?”

It wasn’t that he only liked Omega children, or that he wouldn’t love an Alpha or a Beta. He simply wanted an Omega child to compensate for the lingering fear he could never quite erase.

Gu Yuqi understood. His heart was deeply moved. “I understand,” he whispered.

He couldn’t even bring himself to say “let the past be the past,” even though he himself had chosen to let it go. Luo Panzhi’s love was so vast that while Gu had moved on, Luo still carried the weight of it, perhaps wishing he could have met him sooner. This level of devotion made it impossible for Gu to resist Luo’s fantasies; he, too, began to silently pray for an Omega.

I hope five months from now, Luo Panzhi gets his wish.

Luo Panzhi smiled, leaned down to kiss Gu’s belly, and then got out to open the passenger door.

Upon arriving home, the first thing Gu Yuqi did was head to the apartment across the hall to find Xiao Pan. Although a housekeeper came by during the day to clean and walk the dog, the Corgi was his, and his companionship was vital.

“Xiao Pan~”

“Woof! Woof!!”

At the sound of the door and his master’s voice, the Corgi, who had been busy scratching the carpet, snapped his head up and charged toward the door in a frenzy of joy.

Luo Panzhi shivered at the barking. Seeing the “peach-butt” dog rubbing against his wife’s shoes, he let out a cold snort and walked inside to change his shoes. He called out to Gu: “You come back when I call you. Shower first, then dinner. And don’t pick him up; he might bump your stomach.”

“I know.” Gu Yuqi glanced back at their main apartment. Seeing that Luo had already gone inside, he immediately crouched down to scoop up the wiggling Xiao Pan. “Xiao Pan, Daddy’s home! Did you miss me?”

“Woof woof woof!” Xiao Pan, thrilled to be held, rubbed his head against Gu’s chin and tilted his head sweetly.

The four-month-old Corgi had put on quite a bit of weight; he was significantly rounder than when they first got him. Gu Yuqi didn’t dare hold him for long while crouching—at five months pregnant, it was getting harder to stand back up. He put Xiao Pan down after a minute.

“Wife!”

Less than ten minutes later, Luo Panzhi called out, “What is it?”

“I have an urgent meeting in the study. Go take a shower now.”

“Oh, okay.” Gu Yuqi quickly patted Xiao Pan’s head, scooped him onto the sofa, and turned on the TV. “I’ll put on Peppa Pig for you. Daddy will come back to play after dinner.”

“Woof!”

When Gu Yuqi returned to their main apartment, he saw Luo Panzhi entering the study while on the phone. He was still wearing an apron. Luo pointed toward the bathroom; Gu nodded to show he was going.

Luo Panzhi closed the study door.

Gu Yuqi intended to shower, but then he remembered: Wasn’t Luo Panzhi just cooking? He wandered into the kitchen and saw that the vegetables and meat were all prepped on the cutting board. There were beaten eggs, a bowl of tomatoes, and something smelling wonderful in a clay pot.

It looked like he was about to start stir-frying when the emergency meeting popped up.

Gu couldn’t help but sigh. Luo Panzhi was simply too busy. I can cook too, he thought. I lived alone for many years. Even if he had eaten out five days a week and barely used his kitchen, he wasn’t completely helpless.

After two seconds of deliberation, he grabbed a second apron from the wall and put it on. He would cook dinner for Luo Panzhi tonight.

Luo Panzhi’s meeting lasted about fifteen minutes. When he emerged from the study, he instinctively glanced at the bathroom. No steam. No sound of water. He didn’t shower? Frowning, he walked into the living room, only to hear the sound of a sizzling pan.

In the open-plan kitchen, he saw Gu Yuqi’s back. His face went black instantly.

“…Isn’t this a non-stick pan? Why is it sticking? The quality must be bad.” “This isn’t salt or sugar… what is this flavor? A bit strange.” “Do you add ketchup to Tomato and Eggs? Probably, right?”

Gu Yuqi was muttering to himself as he cooked. He stared silently at the mess in the pan. Why aren’t the eggs in nice chunks? He looked at his own hands. His hands look like mine; how does he do it?

“GU. YU. QI!!!”

Gu Yuqi jumped at the sudden, thunderous voice behind him. As he spun around, his elbow accidentally clipped a glass bowl on the counter.

The bowl shattered on the floor with a sharp crash. Shards and remaining egg liquid splattered everywhere, some landing on Gu Yuqi’s bare feet.

Startled and annoyed, Gu didn’t realize a small shard had nicked his foot, drawing a bit of blood. He glared at Luo Panzhi. “Why are you shouting? I was just trying to help! Seriously, you scared me so much I broke the bowl.”

He started to bend down to pick up the shards.

“Who told you to bend over? Stand still!” Luo Panzhi barked. He rushed into the kitchen, his heart racing. He saw the mess—glass shards, egg slime, and then he saw the blood on Gu’s foot. His face darkened further.

Gu Yuqi frowned, staring back in silence. Before he could speak, he was swept up and sat onto the kitchen counter.

Luo Panzhi stripped the apron off Gu and tossed it aside. He yanked open a drawer, grabbed a pack of wet wipes, and spoke with a low, simmering intensity: “I told you to shower, not to come into the kitchen. Did I stutter? I said shower, right?”

He knelt down to wipe Gu’s foot, but when he saw the cut, his expression turned grim.

“I heard you, but I thought since you were busy, I’d cook. It’s not that hard. Look, I finished it.” Gu Yuqi pointed with his chin toward the rather tragic-looking pan of Tomato and Eggs.

Luo Panzhi gripped his ankle, carefully cleaning the egg off his foot while avoiding the cut. Hearing the slightly proud tone above him, he asked, “So, am I supposed to praise you now?”

“Mhm.”

“Praise your head.” Luo Panzhi tossed the wipe into the bin, stood up, and looked Gu Yuqi in the eye. “If I ever catch you in the kitchen again, you’re dead meat.”

He turned to go get a band-aid. Gu Yuqi shifted his weight, looking like he was about to hop down.

“You dare jump down? Sit still!” Luo Panzhi pointed a menacing finger at the counter. “Don’t you move an inch. You want to see what happens?”

Gu Yuqi looked innocent. “I wasn’t jumping. The edge of the counter is uncomfortable; I was just adjusting.”

“Heh.” Luo Panzhi went to get the first-aid kit. “And you say cooking ‘isn’t hard’? If I hadn’t visited your old place, I wouldn’t have known someone’s kitchen could stay that brand new. You hadn’t even taken the plastic wrap off the cutting board.”

Gu Yuqi felt a wave of grievance. Does he really have to be this mean about my cooking? “I didn’t break the bowl on purpose.”

“Is the bowl the problem?” Luo Panzhi tore open a band-aid, knelt back down, and carefully applied it to the cut. “The problem is that the bowl hurt your foot.”

Gu Yuqi looked down. He genuinely hadn’t felt it. “It doesn’t hurt.”

Luo Panzhi looked up and glared. “It hurts me!”

Gu Yuqi: “…Why are you so fierce? I just thought you were busy and wanted to help.” Big voices are so annoying.

Luo Panzhi seemed to notice Gu’s unhappiness. He let out a tiny sigh, lifted Gu down from the counter, and then washed his own hands. “Regardless, stay out of the kitchen from now on. Come wash your hands.”

Gu Yuqi walked over. Under the tap, Luo Panzhi took Gu’s hands and lathered them with soap. “I’m not looking down on you. I just think one person in a home who can cook is enough. Mastering the kitchen takes time, and right now, you aren’t in a condition to be experimenting.”

“But when you’re busy, I can do it. I can’t just rely on you for everything.”

Luo Panzhi laughed and looked at him. “If you don’t rely on me, who are you going to rely on? Xiao Pan?”

Gu Yuqi reached out and flicked a handful of water into Luo’s face. “Fine. Big voices win.”

“What, you’re angry?” Luo Panzhi turned off the tap, dried Gu’s hands with a paper towel, and looked at him. “Did I scare you when I shouted?”

“Heh.” Gu Yuqi gave a fake smile.

Luo Panzhi found this version of Gu Yuqi adorable. He glanced at the pan of Tomato and Eggs. His eyelid twitched, but he managed a compliment: “Actually… the presentation of the eggs isn’t too bad.”

Gu’s face brightened slightly. “I told you I can cook.”

“You did great. Now, never do it again.”

Gu Yuqi: “…” He silently balled his hands into fists.

Luo Panzhi caught those fists and laughed, leading Gu out of the kitchen to the dining table. “Just sit here and be good. Leave the kitchen to me, okay?”

Gu Yuqi stared at him with resentful, brooding eyes. His lips moved as if he were silently cursing.

“Ah, well. I guess I should throw those Doberman ears away.” Luo Panzhi stood up casually. “Some people clearly don’t want to see me wear them anymore. They’re just taking up space. Might as well toss them with the broken bowl.”

Before he could turn, his hand was caught. As expected, a smirk played at the corners of his mouth.

“I’ve only seen you wear them once. It’s a waste to throw them away.” Gu Yuqi hadn’t expected Luo to use that as a threat. The mere mention of the dog ears made his heart itch. His libido had been high during the pregnancy, and right now, it took almost nothing for him to surrender.

He even started fantasizing again.

Luo Panzhi lowered his head and met Gu’s eyes with a smirk. “So, are we staying out of the kitchen?”

Gu Yuqi nodded.

“Want to see me wear the dog ears?”

Gu Yuqi nodded again.

“Then from today on, be good. Don’t go into the kitchen unless it’s to grab a drink or a snack. Can you do that?” Luo Panzhi added a heavy incentive: “If you can, you can buy whatever style of dog ears you want after dinner. I’ll wear them for you every day.”

The calm in Gu Yuqi’s eyes vanished, replaced by a visible ripple of desire. His throat bobbed. “Really?”

“When have I ever lied to you?” Luo Panzhi winked. “Can you be good?”

Gu Yuqi decided that trading kitchen access for such a massive reward was the best deal in the world. He nodded firmly. “I can be good.”

“Mhm. Now repeat after me: ‘Husband, I’ll be good.'”

Gu Yuqi thought: That’s easy. He hooked his finger into Luo’s hand, gave it a gentle tug, and looked up with sincere eyes. “Husband, I’ll be good. Can you put on the dog ears now?”

“Of course.” Luo Panzhi laughed, patted his head, and stood up. “Sit tight. I’ll go put them on and then finish making dinner.”