The Dangerous Omega Who is Good at Disguising Always Wants to Hook Me! - Chapter 11

Chapter 11: No Such Thing as a Coincidence

“I didn’t sneak out!”

As soon as Qi Yan stepped into the bar, he heard You Yi shouting back in protest: “It’s just family property! I’m not some useless, pampered second-generation rich kid who can’t do chores. I have plenty of strength and means; I definitely won’t bow down to money easily! I’ve already shown my dad my determination to chase my dreams. This time, no one can stop me!”

Looking up, Qi Yan saw the band members and the bar staff sitting together. They were grinning at You Yi, saying, “Haha, so if you don’t work hard enough and your dream-chasing fails, do you have to go back and inherit a billion-dollar estate?”

“Wow, that’s not bad at all. You have a way out whether you move forward or back.” Xu Langlang clapped her hands. “The moment you don’t want to work hard anymore, you have to go home and inherit ten billion. You Yi, you’re so pitiful.”

“Damn it, can you guys be normal for a second and listen to what I’m saying!” Annoyed, You Yi hooked his arm around the lead singer’s neck and kicked out at Xu Langlang. “I’m serious this time!”

Xu Langlang dodged You Yi’s foot, laughing as she spread her hands. “We’re serious too! You’re just too enviable, kid. Everyone thought you were so poor you couldn’t afford to eat, but it turns out you’re a damn rich kid. If you don’t work hard, you have to inherit the family business. It’s truly… despicable!”

“Exactly, exactly! And now he’s trying to murder the person who picked up this ‘stray puppy.’ Ahhh, You Yi is so cruel!” The lead singer wiped away non-existent tears, speaking mournfully.

“Damn it, who’s a stray puppy? You drama queen, stop fake-crying. You’re clearly the kidnapper who tried to trick me into your band!”

“I’m talking about whoever I picked up!”

“Hahaha, if Old Zhou hadn’t picked you up, you probably wouldn’t even need bodyguards to kidnap you—you’d have bowed down for a piece of bread by now—ouch… holy shit, Qi Yan!”

Xu Langlang had laughed and stepped back two paces, accidentally treading on Qi Yan’s foot. She nearly lost her balance, but he pushed her toward the bar counter in the opposite direction, preventing her from hitting the floor or falling into his arms.

“Seriously, Qi Yan, couldn’t you just give me a hand? You had to push me. Do you not only have a phobia of Omegas but Alphas too?”

Xu Langlang simply went with the momentum and sat on a high stool at the bar, teasing the suddenly appearing Qi Yan.

“Yeah, I have a phobia of all genders. ABO, I fear them all.” Facing her teasing, Qi Yan talked nonsense without blinking.

“Tch, you better be telling the truth.” Xu Langlang rolled her eyes and lit a cigarette, her posture effortless. “Want one?”

Qi Yan declined. “No thanks. Smoking is bad for your health. I don’t touch them.”

“…You better not let me see you smoking or falling in love in this lifetime. Otherwise, I’ll have to mock you relentlessly.” Xu Langlang pursed her lips.

Qi Yan gave a short laugh. “You definitely won’t see it in this life. Maybe in a past life.”

Speaking of which, sometimes those dream fragments felt like traces left from a past life. In those strange, fake yet inexplicably real dreams, he was a heavy smoker. Upon returning to reality, Qi Yan would feel a strong sense of dissonance; after all, he was a non-smoker.

But he also felt that maybe he would smoke in the future. Some dreams were too much like precognitive dreams—when reality and dreams overlapped, it created a sense of déjà vu.

Just like this lively bar scene before him; it had happened in a dream too, like a feast of blooming flowers drawing him in to admire them.

But once Qi Yan walked toward it, that dream would undergo a cataclysmic reversal. Everyone would disappear. The dim, flickering lights, overturned tables, broken chairs, smashed bottles, and the wine and glass shards trailing across the floor… a total mess.

All that remained was a pair of eyes, cold as a venomous snake, tightly entwined around him, bringing a powerful sense of deterrence and aggression—controlling him, making him very uneasy.

“Here, have a drink.” Xu Langlang pulled a bottle from the bar and poured a glass for each of them.

Qi Yan stared at the wine she had opened. It was expensive. After a moment of silence, he warned: “Brother Xu is going to beat you up.”

Just as he spoke, Brother Xu’s irritable voice rang out from above: “Xu Langlang, you brat! How did you sneak my wine again?! Aaaah! You little rascal! And you specifically picked such an expensive bottle!”

“Oh come on, it’s a rare occasion that You Yi has escaped the ‘sea of suffering.’ Let’s drink a bottle to celebrate!”

“Hey, don’t use me as an excuse! I’m penniless right now and can’t afford to pay!” When You Yi was kicked out, he only had the hundred-dollar taxi fare his dad had secretly stuffed into his pocket.

The lead singer dragged You Yi over, saying with great delight: “Hah, since it’s open, give me a glass too. It would be a waste not to drink the manager’s favorite wine!”

“Qi Yan, have you touched yours? If not, give it to me!”

The noisy crowd squeezed in, and the surroundings suddenly became lively. Everyone scrambled for the wine amidst Brother Xu’s cursing. There were too many people wanting a drink; seeing there wasn’t enough, Xu Langlang took the opportunity to open another bottle. This made Brother Xu, who was on the second floor, run down in a fit of rage. He grabbed her by the collar and gave her a few “bonks” on the head, sighing over the empty bottles, wanting to hit her again.

“Blehh, it’s just two bottles of wine. Why be such a miser!” Xu Langlang twisted her body and escaped from his grip, hiding behind Qi Yan and continuing her provocations.

“Hey, stay away from me. Don’t let the innocent get caught in the crossfire.”

Qi Yan didn’t want to be a human shield. He tried to leave but was squeezed in by the crowd. He listened to the two people on either side of him arguing across him while taking time to answer other people’s questions.

Yes, it was very lively, but also very noisy.

You Yi took a sip, couldn’t finish it, and stuffed it into the hands of the eager lead singer. He remembered the night he was kidnapped; Shen Xiliu had appeared then. Because he had talked with Ye Chengcheng, he noticed one thing.

“Hey, Brother Qi, the person who came to kidnap me that night was my cousin. Chengcheng said it seemed like you mixed a drink for him. Did he cry because it was so bad? Did he give you any trouble because of it?”

You Yi had an enthusiastic smile on his face. Fearing Qi Yan wouldn’t remember, he specifically described Shen Xiliu’s appearance: “The guy who wears a black suit all day, has three moles under his left eye, is good-looking but extremely arrogant and cold. A truly annoying guy!”

His expression looked as if he were eagerly expecting Shen Xiliu to have suffered an embarrassment.

Qi Yan hadn’t expected You Yi to ask about this. Furthermore, he felt that the Shen Xiliu he knew was different from the one You Yi described. If he hadn’t mentioned the physical traits, Qi Yan would have thought You Yi had the wrong person.

Unexpectedly, when he met Shen Xiliu this morning, the way he spoke about his cousin was very affectionate, making Qi Yan mistakenly believe the cousins had a great relationship.

As it turned out, that didn’t seem to be the case.

“No, that gentleman was very polite. Even though the Mojito I mixed was terrible, he didn’t say anything. He was quite gentle and good-tempered.” Qi Yan only spoke of his own impression of Shen Xiliu.

You Yi’s expression changed instantly, his eyes widening in disbelief. “Eh? Really? Does that guy even know how to put on an act like that? Unbelievable! That guy has a terrible personality!”

Had he changed his nature? Learned to be kind, enthusiastic, and cheerful like me?

Just what kind of existence is your cousin in your eyes?

Qi Yan laughed. “It wasn’t that exaggerated. He was quite courteous and finished the whole drink.”

“I think there must be a mistake.” You Yi pondered for two seconds and said decisively, “If the temper was that good, the person you met definitely wasn’t my cousin.”

“After all, my cousin doesn’t go with words like ‘polite,’ ‘gentle,’ ‘courteous,’ or ‘good-tempered’ at all. You probably got the wrong person.”

Because You Yi’s tone was so certain, it actually sparked a trace of curiosity in Qi Yan. After all, from his perspective, Shen Xiliu was a person with a good temperament, yet the person in You Yi’s mouth was poles apart from the man he knew.

…But thinking about it, it was normal.

Most people add a layer of protective camouflage in front of outsiders to make themselves look decent, so as not to appear as a misfit or an outlier. This camouflage is often only removed in front of close, trusted people.

As Shen Xiliu’s cousin, You Yi had grown up with him, so he naturally counted as a close, trusted person. Siblings who grow up fighting together often find each other annoying, just like Qi Yan’s own cousins.

So Qi Yan didn’t think much of it, and certainly didn’t suspect Shen Xiliu was intentionally disguising himself to get close to him. After all, he had no value; he wasn’t worth the effort of designing a meeting. Let alone acting like a coward—elegant on the surface but inwardly awkward, engaging in stiff conversation.

Or even distorting the relationship with his cousin just to use the “cousin” they both knew as conversation fodder, just to chat with him for a few more minutes.

With the start of the school term approaching and the night hour arriving, the bar opened on time. Dazzling lights intersected, and the band’s music roared, impacting every inch of space. Cheers of revelry rose, bodies swayed on the dance floor, and the booths were filled with guests. The atmosphere was high.

Everyone was quite busy tonight. The bar staff wove through the crowd. Xu Langlang sat in a booth like a social butterfly, almost buried by beautiful Omegas. Even Qi Yan didn’t have a single spare moment. The bar was surrounded by people, and all four bartenders were dealing with customers, busy without pause. Carnival nights were always exceptionally rowdy.

It wasn’t until midnight, when someone took over, that Qi Yan found a chance to step out and catch his breath, even though the bar’s ventilation added an appropriate amount of pheromone neutralizer.

But when there are too many people, it’s inevitable that small amounts of pheromones leak out, mixing with perfume. Coupled with the passionate atmosphere of the bar, it was highly infectious, stimulating the brain to secrete dopamine and leading to sustained excitement. Even Qi Yan was inevitably affected.

However, he didn’t stay outside for long. He went to the restroom to wash his face. As the ten-minute mark arrived, he estimated that the most passionate and intense game in the bar tonight was about to begin.

“What kind of psycho came up with this lousy idea, insisting on playing this unlucky game?”

Qi Yan rubbed his shoulders helplessly, preparing to go back and help. However, as soon as he stepped in, he immediately spotted that extremely striking and familiar figure. He was keeping a certain distance from the reveling crowd, remaining quite conspicuous even in the darkness.

Shen Xiliu seemed to be looking for someone, but didn’t want to squeeze into the crowd, so he didn’t go further in. He was probably looking for You Yi, right?

Qi Yan thought to himself, his steps pausing for a moment. But Shen Xiliu, who was originally searching for someone, seemed to accurately hear Qi Yan’s footsteps amidst the cacophony. He turned his head abruptly and looked over.

The very second he saw him, the eyes behind the lenses instantly filled with joy. The corners of Shen Xiliu’s mouth curled up. “Qi Yan, what a coincidence.”

“…”

Unconcealable joy. Their eyes met. Qi Yan didn’t hear his voice, but he read what Shen Xiliu wanted to say.

There’s no such thing as a coincidence. This is where I work; it’s clearly intentional.

This sentence flashed through his mind.

At the same time, the music in the entire bar suddenly stopped. Shen Xiliu was still looking at Qi Yan, his gaze not diverted by the unexpected silence.

Everyone heard the voice echoing through the bar—it was Xu Langlang’s bright voice, full of passion and mischief: “Friends, the special program you’ve all been waiting for, the ‘Carnival Game,’ is about to begin! The curtain is about to rise. Everyone, please get ready to welcome this incredibly unforgettable and passionate—”

Listening to Xu Langlang’s mischievous voice and looking at Shen Xiliu standing next to the excited, reveling crowd, Qi Yan’s expression changed slightly.

“Oh no! Shen Xiliu, don’t stand there! Get out of here right now!”

Without asking, he knew Shen Xiliu definitely didn’t know what kind of activity the bar’s “Carnival Game” was!