Seduced By My Omega Stepsister - Chapter 30

“How wonderful.”

Fu Zhou had originally planned to wait for a moment when Chu Xiyu wasn’t paying attention to bring out the cake. However, the others had dawdled for half an hour, and the girl’s gaze remained fixed on Fu Zhou’s shoulder like a thin layer of moonlight, unblinking.

Left with no choice, Fu Zhou turned sideways and covered Chu Xiyu’s eyes with one hand. “Could you close your eyes for a bit?”

Though she didn’t know why, Chu Xiyu nodded and complied. The girl’s long, thick eyelashes brushed lightly against Fu Zhou’s palm as she closed her eyes, sparking a subtle, fine itch.

Fu Zhou lowered her gaze, inconspicuously withdrew her hand, and moved toward the door. Zhou Heyu carefully shifted her body to stand in front of Chu Xiyu as a shield, while Zhang Meng stood between them.

She carefully brought out the cake and placed it in front of Chu Xiyu. The spot where the little cat and dog designs connected had blurred slightly, making the boundary between them appear more intimate and relaxed.

“You can open your eyes now.” Fu Zhou’s eyes crinkled as she smiled at the girl.

Chu Xiyu’s eyelashes fluttered, and those pale peach-blossom eyes slowly opened. Her first instinct was to look into Fu Zhou’s eyes, for a long time.

“Look down.” Fu Zhou’s eyes flicked downward first. Only then did Chu Xiyu lower her gaze. When her eyes landed on the cat and dog cake, she froze, her gaze fixed there for a long while.

“Well? Is it pretty?” No response came at first.

The girl nodded gently. When she looked up again, a shallow layer of watery light shimmered in her eyes, her pupils swirling with emotions Fu Zhou couldn’t quite decipher.

But it seemed to last only an instant before those beautiful peach-blossom eyes were once again filled with a clear, gentle smile.

“Is it someone’s birthday today?”

That was the only thing she could think of.

“Does it have to be a birthday to eat cake?” Fu Zhou asked curiously. Still, she tore open the birthday hat and the packaging for the cutlery. She placed the crown hat onto Chu Xiyu’s head with a beaming smile and set the small knife by Chu Xiyu’s hand, handing out plates to the four of them.

“But this is a celebration… celebrating the fact that we’ve known each other for two months.”

Fu Zhou pressed the small knife into Chu Xiyu’s hand, her other hand wrapping around the girl’s fingers. “Come, let’s cut it together.”

No wishes.

She knew Chu Xiyu wouldn’t pin her hopes on a flickering, ethereal candle flame. So, she gripped Chu Xiyu’s hand tightly. She wanted to tell her that she could be her support and her ace, sharing in every unfair or aggrieved moment.

The girl’s movements were gentle and cautious, following Fu Zhou’s lead as they slowly sliced into the cake that belonged to them.

A hardened heart seemed to soften for a moment, soaked in the scent of green plum wine. Rose-scented pheromones quickly entwined with their breath, creating a damp, ambiguous atmosphere in the entanglement.

Behind them, Zhang Meng’s nose twitched. Sniffing the intermingled pheromones in the air, she silently pulled Zhou Heyu, who was waiting to eat cake, back a little.

“What are you doing?” Zhou Heyu looked at Zhang Meng in confusion.

Her friend had been acting stranger and stranger lately, seemingly trying to prevent her from getting too close to Fu Zhou.

“You don’t… like me and want to be alone with me, do you?” Zhou Heyu suddenly crinkled her eyes and leaned toward Zhang Meng with feigned shyness, stopping at an extremely close distance, almost feeling each other’s breath.

“Our ‘roles’ clash, Zhang Meng. What a pity, I’m an ‘attacker’ (Top/Seme).” Zhou Heyu sighed regretfully. The cold air from the air conditioner rushed into the widening gap between them the moment she pulled away.

She turned back and met Fu Zhou’s horrified gaze. She hadn’t thought much of it, but being stared at like that made an odd sense of unease well up in her heart.

“Don’t look at me like that, it’s creepy.” Zhou Heyu rubbed the goosebumps that had just appeared on her arms.

“You two, please, whatever you do, do not get together. If you break up, who am I supposed to hang out with?” Fu Zhou leaned toward Chu Xiyu in fear.

The girl smiled and patted Fu Zhou’s back, but her gaze lingered on Zhang Meng. “Is that even a possibility?”

It would be best if there was no such possibility.

For some reason, she didn’t like the idea of an Omega disguised as an Alpha staying so close to Fu Zhou.

Even though…

Even though Zhang Meng had known Fu Zhou longer, and they were supposed to be closer than she and Fu Zhou were.

Zhang Meng pursed her lips and said nothing. Beside her, Zhou Heyu jumped up like a startled cat.

“No way! Zhang Meng and I are childhood friends, we know each other too well. You can’t make a move on someone you’re that close to. Besides, she’s an Alpha, and I can’t be a ‘receiver’ (Bottom/Uke).”

Zhou Heyu stepped forward and took a piece of cake, her tone casual as if she truly had a clear conscience. As she spoke, she shoveled a large bite of cake into her mouth.

Zhang Meng lowered her gaze. “Wasn’t Fuzhou going to sing? Have you picked a song?”

The air went silent for a moment.

Zhou Heyu widened her eyes at her “dear” childhood friend.

Why bring up the one topic they shouldn’t? Her usually steady and reliable top-tier high schooler friend, why was she slipping up today?

But she quickly calmed herself. Singing could, to some extent, help feelings heat up. She would just turn Fu Zhou’s microphone volume down a bit, turn the background music up, and keep the original vocals on. No matter how bad Fu Zhou sang, she could pull it back.

As expected of Zhang Meng, she had even thought of this.

She really needed to learn more from Zhang Meng.

Realizing she had said something she shouldn’t have, Zhang Meng looked down, her fingers unconsciously gripping the edge of the table. When she looked up, she met a pair of admiring, encouraging eyes. Her heart skipped a beat.

She looked at Zhou Heyu and parted her lips. “Did you… get triggered by something?”

The girl made a “I get it” gesture with her mouth and began scrolling through the song list on the screen.

“What are you singing?” She cupped her hands like a megaphone and shouted toward Fuzhou.

Fu Zhou: “…”

How did these two manage to reach such a sudden, perfect agreement to make her sing?

The eldest Miss Fu had few fears since childhood. Aside from studying, she was naturally gifted at everything, she mastered things as soon as she touched them. Except for singing. Each time was worse than the last, yet she stubbornly insisted on singing several songs every time, only to realize the first one was always the best.

“Nothing I sing sounds good. Just give her that ‘Lesbian Anthem’ from back before the ABO era.”

“Which one?”

“Courage.”

When the intro started, the microphone was handed over. Fu Zhou pursed her lips, the tips of her ears turning red beneath her hair. The cake, now divided into four, sat in different spots. Her throat felt strangely tight as she looked at the girl beside her. “Do you want to eat the cake first?”

“I want to hear you sing.” Chu Xiyu’s smiling peach-blossom eyes curved upward, crashing into Fu Zhou’s gaze with a pool of gentle warmth.

The rose pheromones wrapped around her entirely, sounding both soothing and expectant.

Fu Zhou’s thumb rubbed lightly against the matte texture of the microphone. She sat there and began with the next line of the song.

She didn’t sing loudly; her voice was even slightly drowned out by the original vocals.

Chu Xiyu leaned in slightly, closing the distance between them. Every beat of the KTV speakers hit the drum of her heartbeat. Amidst their intermingled breath, Fu Zhou felt her voice tremble slightly.

The song ended quickly. Fu Zhou put down the mic, only then realizing how close they were, so close that every breath and its humidity were fully perceived by the other.

Fu Zhou instinctively tried to back away, then forced herself to stop.

What was she running from?

She was going to be the “official” Alpha. Only those without a proper title needed to hide and dodge.

Fu Zhou met those glistening peach-blossom eyes head-on. She saw Chu Xiyu’s lips curl. “You were great, Little Dog Fu.”

Zhou Heyu and Zhang Meng exchanged a look.

That sounded terrible.

The microphone was set on the table, and the big screen automatically began playing a sentimental ballad.

Fu Zhou scooped up a small bite of cake with a spoon and held it to Chu Xiyu’s lips.

The girl opened her mouth slightly, taking the spoon and the cake into her mouth.

Seeing the hint of pink inside her mouth, Fu Zhou’s ears grew hot again. She used the same spoon to scoop another bite, but as she went to offer it to Chu Xiyu, the girl turned her head.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” Chu Xiyu asked back.

Fu Zhou’s peripheral vision caught her own piece of cake, and she quickly looked away. She put on a sunny smile. “I am.”

Chu Xiyu seemed to really like sweets. She usually barely ate anything at home, but this time, she had eaten nearly half of the little dog cake.

Fu Zhou swallowed the last bite of the cat’s ear that Chu Xiyu fed her. “Do you want to go for hotpot?”

Chu Xiyu shook her head. “No. Could you… accompany me home this afternoon to take a look?”

Fu Zhou’s heart skipped a beat. Her knowledge of Chu Xiyu was limited to a few words here and there, or through Fu Li.

But she was always afraid. If she went to Fu Li to ask about Chu Xiyu’s past, Fu Li would investigate and dissect her, pulling out the past Chu Xiyu didn’t want to face and listing her scars in front of Fu Zhou.

That wasn’t what she wanted.

She didn’t want to use a superior stance to forcibly intrude into any fragment of her past.

She would rather learn if Chu Xiyu needed her to.

And now.

She looked at the girl’s cool, beautiful face. Her pulse seemed to slow down over a few breaths.

So, she spoke very softly, like a murmur, a probe, a cautious fear that the other might change her mind.

“Is it okay?”

“It is.”

The affirmative answer was laced with the girl’s gentle smile.

“Do you live here too?” Before this, Fu Zhou had always assumed Chu Xiyu lived in another city because she never went home, not even during monthly breaks or National Day.

She had also never heard Chu Xiyu mention her family.

“My grandmother lives here, on the edge of the city. It’s a bit of a distance from here.”

The city’s edge. Fu Zhou had only been there as a child. The high-speed rail station was built there, and Fu Li would take her there when they went traveling.

She had never imagined that beside those unobstructed fields, dilapidated residential buildings would be where some people called home.