The Protagonist and the Villain Both Kissed Me [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 21

He stood by the second-floor window, watching the noise and bustle below. All the lively joy seemed to have nothing to do with him; he could only watch from the silent shadows, unable to empathize with such extravagance.

He had Su Xi, and that was enough.

Su Xi was woken up in the middle of the night by thirst. He opened his eyes to a dim ceiling; the room was unlit, and his head felt muddled from a hangover.

Duan Cheng noticed the movement on the bed. He pulled the curtains shut, walked to the boy’s side, and poured a glass of water, patiently feeding him half a glass. “Did the noise wake you up?”

“What time is it?” Su Xi shook his head. His gaze landed on the clear red marks on Duan Cheng’s neck, and the memories of the night began to surface. He turned his head away guiltily. “I want to go to the restroom.”

“Do you have the strength? Let me help you.” Duan Cheng watched as the boy’s jade-like face flushed a pale pink again. He placed the haphazardly kicked-off shoes by the bedside and reached out to help him up.

“I can do it myself.” Su Xi avoided his touch and stepped down from the bed, but the moment his feet hit the floor, his legs went soft, and he involuntarily pitched forward.

The expected pain never came; he was caught firmly by a quick-reacting Duan Cheng. The man’s warm chest carried a faint scent of soap. Su Xi held onto the man’s arms to steady himself, letting out a soft cough as he looked away.

Ultimately, Su Xi, who had to be supported to resolve his physiological needs, buried his head in the quilt, not daring to look at the man again. He only peeked at him secretly out of the corner of his eye.

When he had been kept by obsessed fans before, he had no freedom at all, let alone privacy. It had been embarrassing at first, but later…

“Host, what’s wrong?” System 1368, noticing Su Xi’s mood was off, asked promptly.

Su Xi blinked. “Nothing, just remembered some things.”

System 1368 naturally knew what those things were. It didn’t bring them up again, instead offering comfort: “Don’t worry, Host. The mission is nearly finished. For the next world, I’ll pick a good identity for you.”

“Mm,” Su Xi responded softly as Duan Cheng pulled the quilt down from his head.

“You’ll suffocate if you stay smothered like that,” Duan Cheng explained, his eyes fixed on the boy’s face. “Two gifts were delivered earlier. Do you want to see them?”

“What gifts?” Su Xi looked at Duan Cheng blankly. It took a moment of recollection before he realized they were likely the gifts from Fu Heng and Li Huai.

“No, throw them away.” He claimed not to know anyone would send gifts specifically to him, and he knew Duan Cheng must have seen them give him gifts at the front hall. Having just confessed his sincerity to the man, accepting other people’s gifts now would seem far too hypocritical.

Duan Cheng, however, didn’t think so. He stood up, walked to the table, and picked up the two boxes that looked clearly expensive. “Gifts prepared with such care… the owners must have put in a lot of effort. Are you really not going to look?”

Su Xi never lacked people exhausting their wits to make him happy, nor did he lack expensive gifts. He pursed his lips and said casually, “It’s probably just some jewelry or accessories. I don’t like those.”

“Oh?” Duan Cheng was curious. He continued to ask, “Then what do you like?”

“What I like…” Su Xi lowered his eyes, thinking for a moment before answering, “I like candy.”

As he spoke, he watched Duan Cheng calmly unwrap the two gift boxes. The deep blue box contained an exquisitely crafted blue rose brooch, while the dark green box held a vivid little rabbit carved from ruby.

Looking at these two gifts, Duan Cheng felt that the gift he had prepared in his own pocket was simply too shameful to give.

“A-Cheng, come sleep with me.” To stop him from looking at the other gifts, Su Xi moved over and invited the man to join him.

Duan Cheng remained silent for two seconds before walking over. He sat beside Su Xi, a flash of complexity in his eyes as he met the boy’s gaze. “Go to sleep early.”

Su Xi wasn’t sleepy at all. He leaned closer to Duan Cheng. “I can’t sleep. Tell me a story.”

“Alright, I’ll tell you a story then.” Rarely, Duan Cheng didn’t refuse. He tucked the boy’s cool hand into the soft quilt and began to speak in a flat tone.

In the large room, Su Xi leaned against the bed and listened in silence. He furrowed his brow and, after a long silence, asked, “So in the end, did the little bird fly out?”

“No,” Duan Cheng replied calmly.

The story he told was roughly about a beloved parrot that was adored by many townspeople because it was beautiful and could talk. Over time, the parrot became increasingly skilled at making people happy.

However, it later went missing in the forest and was caught by a hunter from a rival country, who kept it in a cage. The hunter took the bird everywhere to see the scenery and perform, but the parrot wasn’t happy. It took the chance to escape when the hunter was out.

Of course, the ending was… just as Duan Cheng had said.

“That story is too tragic,” Su Xi said muddledly, clutching the quilt as his eyes lowered.

He drifted off into a daze during the latter half of the night. As the warm sunlight spilled into the room through the curtain gap, Su Xi, who had slept comfortably, blinked and instinctively reached for Duan Cheng. His hand met empty air; the temperature of the sheets told him the man had already left.

He blocked the slightly stinging light with his hand and asked the system, “Xiao Ba, what time is it?”

His communicator had been snatched and thrown to the floor by Duan Cheng last night, and he hadn’t picked it up yet. Now, he was too lazy to climb out of bed to get it, so he asked the system instead.

System 1368 answered quickly: “It’s already nine-thirty in the morning.”

“Nine-thirty?” Su Xi sat up in bed, looking around the empty room with a scowl. “What day is it, the day after my birthday banquet?”

“It’s not any special day,” System 1368 replied blankly after searching its database.

“…”

Su Xi could already imagine how silly the system would look if it had a physical form. He let out a helpless sigh and stopped talking to the system, getting up to wash in the bathroom. When he came out, he saw that the mess from the night before had been cleaned up by Duan Cheng, and his communicator had been placed on the coffee table in front of the sofa.

He turned on the device and saw the “99+” red notifications. He flipped through them; most were birthday wishes or people asking if he liked their gifts. Su Xi recalled the two entire rooms filled with gifts from the day before and thought there was no way he could unwrap and see them all himself. The rest were messages from acquaintances.

Su Xi unhurriedly replied to the messages and headed downstairs. The elaborate decorations in the courtyard had been cleared away. A few people in cleaning uniforms were finishing up; they only bowed in silence when they saw him.

“Xiao Xi, you’re awake.” Mother Su, who was preparing breakfast in the kitchen, walked out when she saw him. She took his hand and sat him at the dining table. “Breakfast is almost ready. Have a glass of milk first.”

“Thank you.” Su Xi accepted the warm milk somewhat unnaturally. He took a few sips it was sweet milk. Looking at the ingredients piled on the kitchen counter, he felt conflicted about whether he should help. But in the next second, Mother Su spoke again.

She put down a tomato and turned back. “Xiao Xi, about you and Duan Cheng…”

Su Xi let out an “Ah,” and seeing her hesitate, he lowered his eyelashes with feigned indifference. “It was just an impulsive whim. He’s a Beta; I don’t actually like him.”

The original owner indeed hadn’t liked him. And given the heat situation yesterday, any man would have been unable to resist; he had practically thrown himself at the man, yet Duan Cheng had used suppressants to get through it.

However, the current Su Xi thought things weren’t so bad. He instinctively detested overly intimate contact; kisses and hugs were his limit. If it truly came to the final step, he was absolutely unwilling.

Fortunately, according to the system, such a situation was highly unlikely in this “Green Harmony” world.

“Is that so? That’s good. I think Fu Heng is quite nice, and that boy from the Li family isn’t bad either.” A smile touched Mother Su’s eyes, and her expression relaxed. She was just worried about her precious son.

Su Xi had been pampered since childhood, but he was an Omega after all. Things were fine normally, but if anything happened, how an Omega without an Alpha’s support would survive and protect themselves in society was a major concern.

Su Xi understood her meaning. He set the glass on the table and replied perfunctorily, “I know.”

After breakfast, Su Xi took a private car back to school. He spent the whole trip thinking about what to do next. He had already raised Duan Cheng’s salvation value to 90%; now, he just had to follow the original plot seeking death and provoking others, then waiting for the “face-slapping” and the tragic ending.

He stared out the window at the scenery flying by, leaning against the seat and napping.

The self-driving vehicle stopped smoothly at the entrance of Qingling. Beneath the dense green shade, Su Xi stepped out. Ignoring the strange looks from those around him, he headed into the school with his head down. Crossing the flower beds and corridors, his destination was clear: the laboratory building.

“Host, are you looking for Fu Heng?” System 1368 asked, puzzled.

Su Xi didn’t stop. He replied in his mind, “Mm.”

“But Duan Cheng is on his way to find you right now.” System 1368 detected Duan Cheng’s route; he was clearly heading for Su Xi after receiving word of his location.

At the entrance, Su Xi used the identity permissions Fu Heng had given him last time and stepped inside. “Didn’t he install a monitor on my communicator? He’s probably angry after seeing the message I sent to Fu Heng.”

“Really? No wonder his face looks so grim,” the system said. Being just a string of cold data, it didn’t understand human emotions.

Based on his last visit, Su Xi easily found the lab where Fu Heng was. He stood at the door and looked through the transparent glass window, seeing Fu Heng focused intensely on an experiment. The man looked serious and concentrated, strictly following dosages as he poured silver-blue reagent into a test tube.

Su Xi watched from the door, fascinated, and didn’t notice when someone approached from behind. He only felt his legs go a bit numb and took a few steps back, only to bump into someone. Knowing who it was, he didn’t turn around, instead taking a few steps forward to distance himself.

“Why have you come to the laboratory?” A familiar voice rang in his ear.

Su Xi blinked and made up an excuse: “I left something here when I came for the lecture last time, so I just came to get it.”

“Standard lectures are held on the third floor; this is the fourth floor.” Duan Cheng’s brow furrowed as he heartlessly exposed the clumsy lie.

He had left early this morning because he had business, but he had left a note on the nightstand. Seeing Su Xi now, he clearly hadn’t seen it.

The boy had rushed to find Fu Heng as soon as he woke up; the things he said last night truly were all lies.

Seeing the man’s persistent questioning, Su Xi dropped the act and said bluntly, “Do I need to report everything I do to you?”

“Xi, I didn’t mean it that way.” Duan Cheng took a few steps forward, wanting to take Su Xi’s hand, but he froze upon seeing the boy’s look of resistance and disgust.

He didn’t know what Su Xi had heard or what he was thinking; he only knew that the boy seemed to have lost interest in him. He didn’t like him anymore.

Su Xi pursed his lips, clearly unwilling to say more to Duan Cheng.

The closed door was pulled open, and Fu Heng, dressed in a neat lab coat, removed his gloves and mask, tossing them into the nearby bin. Only after disinfecting did he see the people at the door. His gaze landed on Su Xi, a flash of surprise in his calm eyes. “Xi, why are you here?”

It wasn’t a question; it was more like a statement.

The irritability between Su Xi’s brows smoothed out and was replaced by a smile. He walked to Fu Heng’s side, seemingly ignoring Duan Cheng’s grim face, and affectionately took the man’s arm. “Can’t I come looking for you just because?”

“Class is about to let out. Let’s head out first.” Fu Heng’s gaze remained fixed on Su Xi; he didn’t give Duan Cheng even a single glance. He checked the time; the lab building would be crowded once class ended, and it would be a struggle to leave.

Su Xi followed obediently as they headed downstairs. As he passed Duan Cheng, he clearly felt the man reach out to grab him, a gust of wind lifting the hem of his clothes.

“Host, the salvation value is at 92!” System 1368 only dared to exclaim after Su Xi and Duan Cheng had left the lab building.

Su Xi didn’t know why, but he felt sleepy again. He forced himself to stay alert. “Normal. I should be able to reach 95 later. If I’m lucky, maybe even 100.”

Completing a mission in two weeks was something System 1368 could never have imagined. It was just a common rookie system; it hadn’t expected to be assigned a “big boss” who looked soft but was actually incredibly capable.

It felt that the day it became a high-level system was just around the corner, and those who used to look down on it would have to greet it with respect.

Su Xi didn’t know what the silent system was thinking. He only knew he desperately needed a candy to wake up his brain. He reached into his pocket, which felt a bit bulged.

He instinctively thought it was candy and naturally pulled it out, only to find a ceramic kitten pendant. It had heterochromatic eyes of blue and light green. He squinted at it; it was the exact same model as the kitten he had traded for at the store.

“…” Su Xi’s mood turned complex.

This must be the birthday gift Duan Cheng gave him.

“What’s wrong?” Fu Heng, who was walking slightly ahead, turned back. The small pendant in Su Xi’s hand didn’t escape his notice. He furrowed his brow almost imperceptibly and made a mental note that Su Xi liked kittens.

“The sun is too strong. Let’s go sit in a cafe for a while.”