After being moved to tears by the sworn enemy's pheromones - Chapter 56

Amidst the entangled breaths, Shen Jin remained silent for a long time, not answering Gu Yu.

The answer was already clear. Gu Yu felt a sense of loss, realizing for the first time how little his affection meant to Shen Jin.

It wasn’t much more than helping out in times of need, accompanying someone to the hospital, or spending a bit of money on small gifts—things any friend could do.

Gu Yu rarely expressed his feelings, but Shen Jin wasn’t a child who grew up in a loving family; he needed others to be warm and straightforward enough for him to understand that he was loved.

Just like now, Shen Jin couldn’t even answer his question.

Gu Yu lowered his head, wiping his damp eyes on Shen Jin’s shoulder, and said, “You’re not telling me the truth?”

When Shen Jin remained silent, Gu Yu simply pulled Shen Jin onto his lap, cupping his soft, wet cheeks.

Their size difference was enough for Shen Jin to sit on Gu Yu’s lap, completely enveloped by his arms. Shen Jin reached for the cigarette box on the bedside table, trying to play the role of the older brother, but Gu Yu, like teasing a child, squeezed Shen Jin’s cheeks, trying to make him open his mouth. “Unwilling… or afraid?”

“…Don’t squeeze.” Shen Jin futilely struggled against the air, his voice muffled, “What am I afraid of?”

He said, “The truth is… over all these years, you’re the person who likes me the most.”

Gu Yu’s gaze swept over Shen Jin’s curled-up fingers, his eyes glistening like wet onyx, reflecting a moist light. “You’re lying to me, aren’t you?”

Due to Gu Yu’s persistent questioning, Shen Jin desperately closed his eyes. “Can’t you just pretend I fooled you?”

Gu Yu was unwilling to compromise, leaving Shen Jin no choice but to grip the cigarette box tightly and mumble, “It’s just that… sometimes it feels like you really like me, and other times it feels like you’re annoyed with me, like you might leave me at any moment.”

Gu Yu opened his mouth, struggling to respond. “For example? When do you feel… like I might leave you?”

He had thought that he, being young and immature, had neglected his omega, maybe forgetting some important anniversary. However, Shen Jin’s response left him utterly confused.

Shen Jin said, “For example… last time, when I was talking to you about a game, you frowned like you didn’t want to listen. I had planned to teach you how to play the new version of the Glowing Knight, but I didn’t know if I should continue. And the time before that, I wanted you to go to the supermarket with me to buy groceries, but you said you were busy with your assignments and didn’t have time. It wasn’t that I meant to interrupt your work; I just really missed you after not seeing you for a day…”

As he spoke, Shen Jin paused and explained, “Not a lot, just a little.”

Gu Yu was stunned, unable to recall when Shen Jin mentioned the “frown” or “doing assignments later.” Shen Jin kept his head down, still reminiscing. “The time before that, I sent you three messages in the morning, and you didn’t reply. So, the next day, I thought about going to the third cafeteria to buy your favorite handmade yogurt to see if it would make you feel better. And just now, you got angry and wanted to leave…”

Gu Yu tried to remember, but only the yogurt from the third cafeteria seemed familiar.

It was handmade by an aunt and usually only about ten boxes were available daily. It was something only the few diligent dance students, who still kept up their morning exercises in college, managed to get.

So, it turned out Shen Jin had woken up at 6 a.m. those two days, waiting for the cafeteria to open, all under the guise of exercising, just to get him a box of yogurt because he thought Gu Yu was angry?

Gu Yu’s mind was a mess. He quickly turned Shen Jin’s face toward him and said, “I remember I told you that day that I didn’t reply to your messages because I fell asleep in the morning.”

Seeing Shen Jin nod while repeatedly fidgeting with the cigarette box, Gu Yu understood something. “Is it because I never sleep in, so you thought I was just making an excuse?”

No one knew how much he liked the fact that Shen Jin’s first act upon waking was to message him, but recently, Shen Jin seemed to have delayed this routine until after 10 a.m.

If he had known, he wouldn’t have told Shen Jin that only those with no self-discipline would often linger in bed.

“You said you wanted to build the country, that you wake up whenever your alarm rings, and that only I would roll around in bed like a little cat or dog without any principles.” Shen Jin kept fiddling with the cigarettes, saying, “So, I thought—”

In the quiet, warm breeze, Shen Jin painted a picture of his imagination: In that scene, Gu Yu would wake up, glance at his phone messages, frown deeply, and mutter, “Are all omegas this annoying? We’ve only been dating for a few days… what’s with these early morning messages?”

Then Gu Yu would go on to wash up, eat, play games, and read, only replying around noon with a sense of annoyance while considering how to break up with Shen Jin to avoid him coming to his door and threatening suicide.

“…You.” Gu Yu suddenly began to doubt his own feelings of sorrow and longing. “If I broke up with you, would you really come to my door and threaten to hang yourself?”

“Probably.” Shen Jin bit down on a cigarette to ease his emotions. “I can’t exactly show up at your company pregnant and start handing out flyers.”

Despite his words, Shen Jin still threatened, “I know where you live, and I know where the Gu family’s factory is located. Remember, don’t mess with me.”

Gu Yu’s throat tightened as he nuzzled Shen Jin’s ear, suppressing the warmth in his eyes from earlier. “Even my frown can be misunderstood by you, so how dare I mess with you?”

The unlit cigarette’s faint scent blended into their breaths. The person in Gu Yu’s arms, like a once-warm but now lifeless furry creature, didn’t resist, letting him be squeezed and prodded.

“You forced me to say it.” Shen Jin seemed dejected to the point of resignation. “I didn’t plan on telling you. I’m just a sensitive, fragile, sweet-smelling omega who can’t stand your frowning. Got it?”

As he spoke, Shen Jin looked up at him. “Now you know how annoying I am, right?”

Gu Yu smoothed out the messy hair on Shen Jin’s forehead and tightened his embrace. “I don’t find you annoying; I just think you’ve regressed. Before we were dating, you would come to annoy me for no reason. Now that we’re dating, you’re not as clingy.”

Shen Jin remained silent for a long time before giving a self-deprecating laugh and responding, “Because… my way of loving might be different from others.”

He didn’t measure love by its duration, but every step he took as a teenager, daring to reach out only to be scared away, left scars on his heart. Each memory brought back the same pain as when it first cut into his flesh.

“The Shen Jin from before was rejected by you too many times…” He lowered his eyes and leaned helplessly against Gu Yu’s shoulder, as if telling a story that had nothing to do with him. “No one knows how happy he was when he received your chocolate. But… why did you play such a cruel joke on him by giving him expired chocolate?”

In the past, he probably would never have spoken up or tried as hard as he did, despite repeated failures.

But the person in front of him was no longer the intimidating boy he feared, but someone willing to listen to how fragile his heart was. So he gave up resisting, as if complaining to his alpha. “If you really hated him that much, you could have given him a dead frog, a rat, or a bug—why did you have to make him so happy, running home only to realize he’d been tricked?”

Shen Jin knew he was crazy to be so hung up on the past. Gu Yu indeed licked his lips, not remembering or acknowledging such trivial matters. “…Did I ever give you expired chocolate?”

At that moment, Gu Yu was utterly bewildered. Years ago, he had learned that Shen Jin liked sweets, so he saved up his allowance to buy a small, exquisite box of chocolates, intending to give it to Shen Jin. Since Shen Jin liked nuts, he had specifically chosen hazelnut flavor—when had he ever deliberately deceived Shen Jin in the slightest?