Married the Abandoned Puppy Alpha - Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Dissociative Disorder

It wasn’t until he perceived the warmth in the other’s embrace that He Xinglou snapped out of his dissociated emotions.

He had had this problem for several years.

Once a strong emotion occurred that he could not process, he would be forced into a state of rigidity, requiring quite a while to regain control over his body.

However, as a transmigrator, He Xinglou could be considered to have experienced great storms and waves; he rarely encountered instances of losing emotional control anymore, so the impact of this illness was not particularly large.

It was just that the current situation was a bit awkward.

Two people who were pretending not to know each other a few hours ago were now standing in the rain embracing, motionless. Were they acting in a melodramatic drama? Or did they intend to both die from catching a cold?

He Xinglou hurriedly pushed the person in close proximity: “Why are you here?”

Unexpectedly, Shi Qingze was pushed away very easily, retreating two steps before answering in a low voice: “Out of business, a coincidence.”

Is that true? I don’t believe it.

He Xinglou gave him a suspicious glance.

Just as he intended to pursue the matter further, the voices of search officers came from afar.

“They ran in this direction, right?!”

“Tough to handle, it’s raining tonight, the footprints have been washed clean!”

“Release the drone swarm! I’ve been watching for a long time, and Omega is definitely undocumented, chase him!”

He subconsciously wanted to find a place to hide.

Shi Qingze quickly gripped his arm: “Come with me, I have a car.”

Given the urgent situation, He Xinglou naturally nodded readily and followed.

Shi Qingze’s suspended car was parked in a tricky and secluded corner, with the front facing inward, directly against a dead-end alley; the glass on both sides had privacy mode turned on in advance, so even the searchlights of the drones could not penetrate a single bit.

Sitting in the passenger seat, He Xinglou felt that all of Shi Qingze’s arrangements were too “just right,” and even less like the “coincidence” he claimed.

He furrowed his brow and got straight to the point: “Are you stalking me?”

“Shh.” Shi Qingze placed his index finger against his lips. “They are coming over, don’t speak for now.”

Just as his voice fell, the buzzing of the drone swarm approached from a distance.

Hurried footsteps stopped behind the car, and someone began to pace hesitantly.

“How could such a luxury car appear in the slums? It’s a bit suspicious.” The search officer who had caught up sensed something was wrong.

Xinglou’s breathing suddenly slowed for an instant, and he involuntarily looked at the car logo on the main control console.

Indeed, it was… a luxury car he couldn’t afford even if he sold all the organs in his body.

The sound of footsteps rang out; that suspicious search officer prepared to walk toward the car.

Another voice attempted to stop him: “Hey, don’t go over there. Even if this car is suspicious, if you accidentally nick or bump it, our combined salaries won’t be enough to pay for it.”

The footsteps stopped abruptly: “Then we can only use the drone to fly over and take a look.”

Shi Qingze suddenly moved at that moment.

First, he raised his hand and pressed a button on the main control console; the driver and passenger seats moved back noiselessly, leaving a large space beneath the console.

He Xinglou did not understand the intent, only thinking of what the search officer had said about “not being able to pay for nicks or bumps,” so he sat obediently in his seat, not daring to make any extra movements.

Then, however, he saw Shi Qingze embrace him, using force in both arms to bring He Xinglou to hide beneath the main control console.

The world spun; He Xinglou felt the back of his head rest on a soft surface, realizing that Shi Qingze had cushioned the back of his head with his palm while leaning down to press over him.

“…” He Xinglou slightly furrowed his brows, raising his eyes to conduct a silent interrogation.

Shi Qingze’s expression, however, was exceptionally calm; even though the distance between the two was extremely close, he supported himself with one hand on the floor, trying his best not to touch He Xinglou’s body.

Then he tilted his head, listening to identify the direction the drone was flying from.

The mechanical buzzing moved from the back to the front of the car. Considering safety factors, the front windshield of the suspended car would not be set to privacy mode, so the drone could successfully probe inside, its searchlight sweeping through the car like a light-saber.

“Did you detect anything?”

“It seems there is no one in the car.”

Shi Qingze cautiously leaned down, with only a half-finger’s distance between his face and He Xinglou’s; the two shared the same inch of air, and a slight movement would touch noses or cheeks.

In this world, as long as an Alpha and Omega are not in heat, they will not smell each other’s pheromones at a social distance.

But now that the two were so close, He Xinglou soon smelled a faint scent of pine wood.

Three years ago, when Shi Qingze differentiated, he had also smelled this scent.

He Xinglou couldn’t help but want to turn his head to dodge; however, space was limited. If he turned his head, he would touch Shi Qingze’s profile, making it look entirely like he was proactively offering a kiss;

But if he didn’t turn his head, the closest thing to him was the side of Shi Qingze’s neck, and he completely could not avoid the Alpha pheromones drifting from the gland.

He Xinglou closed his eyes in despair, only able to pray that those search officers would leave quickly.

After he closed his eyes, Shi Qingze quietly turned his head; his face did not have the caution and alertness from just now at all, as he focused solely on looking at He Xinglou’s face, finally curling his lips.

“No one inside,” the search officer concluded.

“Probably some young master out looking for fun, don’t worry about it.”

“Waste of so much time, that Omega won’t be found anymore either.”

The sound of the drones faded, and only the slightly frustrated discussion of several search officers came from outside the car.

“Is there any identity record for that Omega? Even if he’s undocumented, there should be data left behind.”

Hearing this, He Xinglou’s heart tightened, and he opened his eyes to look out the car window.

“There weren’t any useful clues in the room. He probably anticipated it and transferred his data in advance. He protected his privacy very well, not even a photo was left.”

“We did find some of his experiences from these past few years, though”

He Xinglou completely could not restrain himself, quickly raising his hands to cover Shi Qingze’s ears with both palms.

Shi Qingze was very surprised by his action and looked over inquiringly, but He Xinglou only lowered his gaze and did not look at him at all.

Fortunately, the search officers outside did not find very deep information, scattered words about He Xinglou’s part-time jobs over these years, none of which were significant.

The sound of rain gradually stopped, and the footsteps of the search officers also grew further away.

He Xinglou lowered the hands gathered around Shi Qingze’s ears: “Can you get up now?”

Shi Qingze stood up quickly and was extending his hand toward He Xinglou, intending to pull him up, but He Xinglou directly avoided it, returning to the passenger seat with a faint expression.

He had no intention of explaining his behavior just now at all, only tapping his terminal: “Thank you for today. I will call my friend now, someone will come to meet me. If you have other things to do, you can go ahead and be busy.”

Shi Qingze lowered his hand and stopped moving.

“Whom are you going to contact to pick you up? Song Xiao? Or Lin Shuyan? Or the blind date you chose today?”

No matter how slow he was, He Xinglou could hear the faint displeasure in his words.

He Xinglou stopped his movements: “This seems to be my private business. Aren’t you meddling too much?”

He saw Shi Qingze’s expression freeze, and the atmosphere in the car suddenly tightened.

Xinglou retracted his gaze and continued to flip through contacts on the terminal, but his mind gradually drifted away.

Actually, since picking up Shi Qingze three years ago, the two had never been so “swords drawn and bows bent” (at loggerheads) before.

Even at the end when He Xinglou heartlessly left him at an amusement park during a heavy snowstorm, the Shi Qingze of that year would only say pleading words while shedding tears.

Now that Shi Qingze had deliberately mentioned the blind date, he was indeed unhappy, but thinking of the youth who had fallen in the snow, he couldn’t help but soften his heart again.

At that time… Shi Qingze had just differentiated into an Alpha and was even running a high fever.

He thought it was because he had done something wrong during differentiation, or had differentiated into a gender He Xinglou didn’t like, so He Xinglou didn’t want him.

But it wasn’t like that.

Only He Xinglou knew that it wasn’t for that reason at all.

Thinking of this, he spoke slowly: “Sorry…”

“I’m sorry, I was wrong.”

The two of them spoke almost simultaneously.

He Xinglou was tongue-tied, but Shi Qingze spoke up first: “I was wrong. The blind date is your private business, I shouldn’t have been meddlesome.”

This kind of rapid “sliding-kneel” (submissive apology) attitude… How could He Xinglou still be angry?

Shi Qingze continued to explain, his tone carrying a good-natured negotiation: “I didn’t want to interfere in your affairs, I just felt it’s already very late. Can you contact the other party?”

This did remind He Xinglou.

It was already three o’clock in the morning, and both of his friends had partners; they were definitely asleep now, and He Xinglou couldn’t disturb people on short notice.

As for the blind date… that was Shi Qingze’s subjective assumption and was not in his consideration at all.

He Xinglou pondered and spoke slowly: “Then I’ll still find a place myself”

“How about going to my house?” Shi Qingze interrupted.

He Xinglou immediately declined: “No, I can’t keep troubling you.”

“It’s no trouble, it’s on the way.” Another split-second reply.

He Xinglou felt his “on the way” was as untrustworthy as his “coincidence.”

“Brother.”

Seeing that he didn’t speak, Shi Qingze suddenly leaned over, attempting to make eye contact.

Xinglou noticed that he was still wearing the same clothes from the room escape; even after being washed by the rain, that bullet mark could still be identified on his chest.

Shi Qingze continued to persuade him: “I’m already here anyway, and I have to go home regardless. This ‘on the way’ isn’t lying to you. What’s more, it was you who picked me up back then and allowed me to survive”

“Stop talking.” He Xinglou couldn’t bear to hear him mention the past and interrupted.

As if escaping, he turned his head to look out the car window. Now that privacy mode was canceled, he could see the empty and desolate slum streets through the curtain of night; the rusted nets were wobbling under the torrential rain, and there was no place to hide anywhere.

Actually, he also understood that if Shi Qingze left, he might be living on the streets tonight, or in a worse situation, he might encounter the returning search officers.

Xinglou’s throat choked for a moment, and he said with a bit of a tremble: “Okay, I… I can pay you money.”

This was the only way he could think of not being in Shi Qingze’s debt.

Even though he didn’t have much money either.

Shi Qingze was silent for a moment, then nodded: “Okay, just treat it as me renting the room to you.”

After speaking, the engine of the suspended car started, taking off from this lifeless slum.