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Shen Wenlang doesn't understand.

It's been 3 days since Gao Tu served his last day at work and completely cut off all contact with him.

His hands shook as he typed fervently into the search bar for the fifth time.

> Why does my employee wants to leave the company??!!!!

• Lack of Challenge

Nonsense! He makes all his secretaries' lives very challenging everyday! Ask anyone!

• Toxic Environment 

Everyone in the office gets along well with Gao Tu!

Hmph, sometimes a little too much..

• Low Pay

He won't find better anywhere else!

• Poor Leadership

Impossible!!!

• Poor work-life Balance

What's there to balance? All he has is that attention-seeking Omega!

• Personal Reasons
  Relocation, family responsibilities, or health issues can lead to an employee leaving a job. 

Shen Wenlang paused. 

The phrase, ‘Personal Reasons’ from Gao Tu's mouth rang through his mind.

But it didn't make sense. If his needy Omega was really pregnant, wouldn't he need funds to raise the child? Why quit the most lucrative job he could get?

If he needs time, he could just negotiate for part time or lesser hours, did he think that Shen Wenlang would be so heartless to deny him!?

The CEO refused to believe it! As his closest friend, he refused to let the other man make the worst decision of his life.

He goes back to the Google page and his eyes caught on ‘health issues’. The last he’d heard from terrorising his other secretaries, Gao Tu had still been having stomach issues, and was seen running off to the bathroom often.

Shen Wenlang scowled. 

That fool! He'd always told him to eat more, get more meat on those bones, but did he listen? Is that useless Omega partner draining his finances so much that he has to starve?? 

Now, look at what's happening! He is both sick and unemployed. Who’s going to cover his health insurance, huh, huh???

Definitely not that Omega!!!

The more Shen Wenlang thought about it, the angrier he got.

In fact, he was so mad, he went to bed that night seething. After tossing and turning like the past few nights, he finally fell into an uneasy slumber..

***

Ring Ring!

“Hello?”

“Shen Wenlang!” A familiar female voice sobbed from the other line, “My brother.. Gao Tu.. he.. he’s dead!”

“W-What do you mean? You better explain yourself clearly!”

“It’s all your fault! He’s sick! He worked so hard his entire life to cater to your every whim.. and you didn't even notice!” Gao Qing wailed.

“I-I..”

“He made me swear not to tell you! But guess what? He's not around to tell me what to do anymore! He's gone! Shen Wenlang, are you happy now? Give me back my brother!!!”

Shen Wenlang woke up from his nightmare in cold sweat.

Panting, he tried to dial Gao Tu’s number fruitlessly again.

So at 4am in the morning, the CEO stumbled out of bed and drove straight to the other man's address.

In the car, the Shen Wenlang felt like all the puzzle pieces were finally clicking into place.

Gao Tu was chronically and terminally ill. 

He didn't want to burden anyone with this knowledge, so he resigned quietly.

The pregnant Omega was just an excuse. There was never an Omega. That's why there were never any pictures or mention of them except when Gao Tu was taking the sick leaves to recuperate from his illness.

The Omega scent? Probably just something artificial to keep up with his act. After all, Hua Yong had been using something similar.

This explained everything.

Gao Tu's permanently gaunt complexion, the fainting spells, the inability to gain weight because his money was all spent on his own medical fees.

But now the act is failing, because his health had taken a turn for the worse and he couldn't hide it anymore. There was only so much he could vomit before anyone suspected anything.

He had to leave the company. Leave Shen Wenlang. 

Suffering silently and dying alone.

Shen Wenlang felt his eyes stung and his heart in a chokehold.

Stupid, stupid man! And stupid, stupid him for not noticing! Just bossing him around all day! Busy being mad over a non-existent partner!

If he could turn back time, he would seriously shoot himself in the head. But he can't, so the next best thing he could do is to invent whatever cure there is to Gao Tu's sickness.

What's the point of owning the best pharmaceutical company if you can't cure the the one thing that matters?

Hell, even Sheng Shaoyou’s dad’s cancer can be treated, what’s there to worry about?

Holding onto this resolve, Shen Wenlang ran through every red light and reached Gao Tu's house in record time.

***

Gao Tu startled awake at the sudden thump at his window.

What was that?

There was a telltale creaking of a metal grill being bent.

He quickly reached for the bedside lamp with trembling fingers.

Gao Tu got the shock of his life when the crumbling metal grill was torn open and a figure jumped in through the window.

“Gao Tu!” A familiar voice called out in relief.

Gao Tu froze with his lamp swung mid-air at the supposed intruder.

“Shen Wenlang?” He questioned in mild hysteria, “W-Why are you climbing through my window in the middle of the night?!”

The Omega scent was so strong in this place, Shen Wenlang absently noted, Gao Tu probably lived amongst the smell so that it would infuse into him naturally..

The CEO grabbed the other man by the shoulders.

“Gao Tu, I know everything.”

Gao Tu stiffened as his heartbeat quickened.

What? How did he find out?

“W-What are you talking about?” he asked carefully.

The other man shook him with a desperate look in his eyes.

“Gao Tu, I'm begging you, please don't try to lie to me anymore. Gao Qing told me everything.”

Gao Qing, she..? But why?

The betrayal felt bitter on his tongue but even so, he couldn't bring himself to blame his sister, who was honest and probably just doing what she thought was right.

Unlike himself, who had always been living in a lie.

But not anymore..

Gao Tu’s shoulders slumped in resignation while he took a cautious step back, hand on his stomach.

He swallowed the lump in his throat. 

“I– I can explain, I–”

Shen Wenlang pulled the other man by his wrist towards the door. 

“No need, just come with me to the hospital, we'll get rid of it right now.”

Terror instantly hit him like a train.

The recent months of pretense and living in fear had finally manifested into his reality.

Shen Wenlang wanted him to get rid of the baby. Their child.

Gao Tu snatched his hand out of the other's grip, taking a few steps backwards while clutching at his stomach protectively.

He was ready.. ready to let go of Shen Wenlang after 10 long years of yearning. All he wanted was a momento, a small piece of his beloved to live by.

Couldn't he even have that?

He abruptly broke into tears, letting out the anguish and sadness he had always kept concealed from the other man.

“NO! N-No! I'm sorry, I know I don’t deserve to,” He sobbed, “but I.. I want to keep it.. please–” 

Shen Wenlang was at a loss. 

His heart clenched fiercely at the sight of a crying Gao Tu, yet his mind cannot comprehend what he was saying.

His gaze dropped to the hand on Gao Tu's stomach. 

So there was indeed something wrong with him.

But why the hell did he want to keep the fucking TUMOUR? 

Was it about the money? Or will removing it endanger his life?

“Are you crazy? You can't keep it! I’ll make sure you get the best medical treatment, you don't have to worry about it!” The CEO insisted in distress.

Shen Wenlang, a stone cold Alpha who had never even cried at his own father's funeral, felt tears trickling down his cheeks when Gao Tu bawled harder while shaking his head fervently.

How bad was his condition??? Was there really nothing they could do??!!!

“Gao Tu..” He rasped and reached out for the other man, but was met with a backwards flinch.

Gao Tu struggled to breathe through the pain overwhelming his chest.

He needed to get out of there.

He turned on his back and ran for the door. 

Unfortunately before he could reach it, his knees gave way and his vision turned black.

***

The one hour Shen Wenlang waited outside the hospital room was the longest hour in his goddamned life.

He was never a religious man, but he prayed to every deity he had heard of while pacing back and forth.

What if his nightmare came true?

His whole world was falling apart right in front of him.

Deep in his bones, he knew that if Gao Tu had died in the room that day, Shen Wenlang was not going to make it out of the hospital in one piece. If the past month had taught him anything, it is that he can barely function in a life without Gao Tu.

Gao Tu was his friend, his partner, his everything.

A warm patch of sunlight in this cold, cutthroat world.

With trembling fingers, he hit the speed dial.

The ringtone went on for a while before it finally picked up.

“There better be a good reason you have caused me to wake Mr. Sheng up at this hour.”

“Hua Yong.. Gao Tu is sick,” Shen Wenlang croaked around the lump in his throat.

He doesn't really know why he called the Enigma, honestly. As much as he hated owing the other man more favours, he felt like out of everyone, only this lunatic would be the only one with a solution.

Hua Yong pursed his lips at the tremor in his friend's voice. The last time he'd heard him like this was at his father's funeral.

Which was the only reason he didn't respond ‘No doubt sick of your shit’ as usual.

“Where are you now?” He asked instead.

“... Hospital.”

“What happened?’

If his intel was right, Secretary Gao was carrying this idiot's child. 

Apart from having unsalvageable taste in men, what kind of illness did he have?

“I don't know! I went to his house and wanted to bring him to the hospital to check his health. Then, he suddenly fainted,” Shen Wenlang explained before confessing helplessly, “Hua Yong, I think.. he's been sick for a long time.”

Wasn't it just the pheromone disorder? The Enigma mused to himself.

If Secretary Gao had stopped taking suppressants for the baby then he should be recovering fine.

Unless..

“How's the baby?”

There was a pause.

“...What baby?” The other man seemed to recover some life in his voice as he started scolding, “Who are you calling baby? I'm talking about Gao Tu here, not your Sheng Shaoyou!”

Hua Yong rolled his eyes. 

It's really troublesome having an underdeveloped brain.

“As much as I enjoy hearing you suffer, I have to get back to Mr. Sheng.”

At the sight of a soft, asleep Shaoyou through the crack of the door, Hua Yong belatedly thought of something.

Little Hua Sheng would need a playmate to occupy him in the future when his fathers would want some alone time.

He gave a reluctant sigh.

“Gao Tu isn't sick,” He eventually relented, “He's pregnant. Don't call me again.”

Hua Yong hung up and turned his phone off.

He had hit his limit of separation duration from his precious Mr. Sheng.

***

“What?! Oi! Hello??!! Damn it!” Shen Wenlang cursed sharply when the line cut after the bomb was dropped.

What in the fresh hell was that crazy man talking about?? 

How can Gao Tu be pregnant? He's a Beta! The odds of getting struck by lightning were so much higher! 

But then..

His mind flashbacked to the scene of Gao Tu rushing to the toilet during office hours, or even just now, cradling his stomach and insisting on ‘keeping it'.

No, if Gao Tu was really pregnant, then.. who was the Alpha?

The CEO felt his pheromones spike at the thought of Gao Tu with another Alpha. The other man spends more than 12 hours a day at the office, where will he even get the time to meet another Alpha?

His mind instantly ran through the list of their Alpha colleagues.

Luo Qingyi.. Jing Yang.. Feng Donghai!

He gasped.

It must definitely be that Secretary Feng! He was always over-friendly and so touchy with Gao Tu. 

Shen Wenlang knew he had never liked that guy for good reason!!!

So, where is he now?

Obviously not here, nor anywhere close to Gao Tu recently, given that the man was left alone and in this miserable state for such a long time!

With a character like his, it's no wonder he'll deny all responsibility!!! 

This must not do! His company can't be keeping such a good-for-nothing employee!

He was about to text HR when the doctor came out of the door. 

Shen Wenlang immediately stood up.

“Doctor, how is he?” He demanded.

“Don’t worry, both the patient and the child are fine,” The CEO’s heart almost stopped at the confirmation of Gao Tu's pregnancy. “Although his pheromone disorder has been recovering from the lack of suppressants, malnourishment and fluctuating emotions makes his condition unstable.”

His eyebrows furrowed.

“W-What do you mean?”

“The patient needs to get sufficient nutrients from a variety of food. He fainted this time due to experiencing extreme emotions from a highly stressed environment, coupled with an already low blood pressure,” She elaborated disapprovingly, “His body is already in a precarious condition in the first place. For the baby to develop smoothly, he'll constantly need the Alpha parent's soothing pheromones. Otherwise, it's going to be a tough and risky labour journey.”

Shen Wenlang paled at that.

“But what if– it's not the Alpha's parent’s pheromones?” He put a palm to his chest. “I'm an S-Tier Alpha, would my soothing pheromones work better?”

The doctor hummed in thought.

“This depends on your compatibility and whether the patient will reject your pheromones,” She replied, “Which has a high chance of happening. It is still best to stick to the Alpha’s parent.”

The CEO nodded numbly with slumped shoulders.

“Got it. Is the patient awake? Can I go see him now?”

“We’ve put him on the drip, he’s still asleep, let him rest. He should wake up in a few hours.”

***

Gao Tu opened his eyes to the sight of Shen Wenlang sleeping by his bedside, warm palms covering his own.

He felt a touch of sweetness before his awareness of his surroundings settled in.

White bedsheets, the antiseptic smell of disinfectants.

He's in the hospital..?

The memory of Shen Wenlang demanding to bring him to the hospital to abort the baby rushed back to him.

Gao Tu instinctively snatched his hand from the other man's grasp as his breath shortened in panic.

Shen Wenlang was awakened by the sudden jostling. He immediately sat up to see a red-eyed Gao Tu staring at him.

“Gao Tu, you're awake!” He greeted in relief.

But upon seeing the other man's devastated expression, his smile instantly dropped.

“What’s wrong, Gao Tu? Are you in pain? Where are you hurting?”

Gao Tu bit his lip and looked away, hand subconsciously touching his stomach.

He knew he never had a say in the first place but.. at least he had the right to grief, right?

Tears spilled from his eyes.

Shen Wenlang tracked the movement of his hand and hurriedly reassured, “The baby is fine, don't cry!”

Gao Tu eyed him in doubt.

“I'm not lying! Gao Tu, hear me out, previously when I said I wanted to get rid of it, I wasn't referring to the baby!” The CEO explained ardently, “I thought.. I thought you were sick and dying, like, from a stomach tumour or something..”

Gao Tu blinked.

“What?” He sniffled, “..Tumour?”

“Well, what am I supposed to assume when you were always looking so frail and puking every other day?” Shen Wenlang defended with wild gestures of his hands.

So the whole fiasco before.. was just Shen Wenlang being worried about him? He didn't want him to abort the child?

His heart warmed and he felt the corner of his lips lifted.

“And you– you didn't even tell me that you were pregnant! So where's the sonovabitch that knocked you up? How could they leave you in this state by yourself this whole time!?” 

Gao Tu was immediately doused with the cold water of reality. Right, if Shen Wenlang didn't even know that he was pregnant, then the entire truth was not exposed.

What on earth did Gao Qing tell him, then?

He averted his gaze.

Seeing Gao Tu’s sad expression, Shen Wenlang felt a stab of anger surge through him.

How dare the Alpha take advantage of the gentle and softhearted Gao Tu like this!

“That bastard! I hope he gets struck by lightning with his genitals eaten by animals!" He spat.

“No!” Gao Tu couldn't help but protest.

That was too cruel a fate to curse himself..

Jealousy pricked at the CEO’s heart.

“He left you alone like this, and you still want to protect him?” He accused hotly before dismissing with a wave of his hand. “Forget it, forget about that asshole!”

He suddenly leaned forward to cup the other man's hands in his.

“Gao Tu, you don't have to do this alone. If you agree, we can raise the child together, okay?” He offered earnestly.

Gao Tu's breath caught in his throat.

Shen Wenlang doesn't mind raising someone else's child with him?

This was everything he'd ever wanted. 

He should say yes.

But if he found out that the child was his own, would he still..?

Gao Tu's been living a lie for the past ten years, he didn't want his child to be born into yet another lie.

He licked his dry lips before confessing in a small voice, “It’s yours.”

“Huh?”

“The baby, it's yours.”

Shen Wenlang froze.

“What are you talking about? Mine? How is that possible, we never even–” The CEO couldn't wrap his head around it. 

Was there a time where he slept with his best friend but forgot? One of those drunk nights from work dinners?

Impossible! Touching Gao Tu so intimately and kissing those plump lips.. he'd remember something like that, definitely!

“Unless..”

Gao Tu closed his eyes, waiting for him to connect the dots like a man at the execution table.

“Unless.. It's IVF???” Shen Wenlang gasped in realisation. 

That made sense!

For a Beta to get pregnant, it's literally one in a million! But if Gao Tu has been somehow using IVF for a few years, the chances would be so much higher!

He flushed at the thought of the other man wanting his child. Honestly, it didn't feel all that disturbing. Did that meant that Gao Tu was actually in love with him? His heart raced.

The only question left was..

“B-But how did you secretly extract my.. sperm?”

Gao Tu side-eyed speechlessly at the man he had once thought was a genius.

He rubbed his stomach in concern.

With genes like this, will the baby turn out okay?

He decided to end the other's wild imagination.

“I didn't! I.. I'm the Omega you slept with that night,” He admitted, voice wavering now he realised how deep that lie ran, “I've been on suppressants but that time my heat hit unexpectedly, I–I’m sorry, I swear it wasn't on purpose–”

“You're an Omega?” Shen Wenlang blurted in disbelief.

Gao Tu blinked.

He wondered if the CEO should get his nose checked if he couldn't smell his obvious Omega pheromones that were leaking all over the hospital room.

Meanwhile, the other man was having an epiphany.

All these time, his most detested Omegas was actually one of his most important people. Every insult he hurled at them was just arrows piling up on Gao Tu's heart. And no wonder he kept it from him!

Oh, how karma hits hard.

He belatedly realised how childish he had been. Hating on Omegas just because he thought it made his father chose dysfunctional love over him. What if his dad was just a wholehearted simp who couldn't give two fucks about his son? Who's to say he wouldn't do the same as a Beta or an Alpha?

And god, did this explain everything. 

The ‘Omega partner heat leaves’, the clinging Omega scent that's actually not unpleasant if not related to Gao Tu's supposed partner. The not-so-random ‘What would you do if an Omega is pregnant with your child?’ question.

Thinking back to that faithful night, he grimaced in guilt. The words he said.. the things he did.. were far from gentle. He could vaguely remember the other man trying to escape and struggling under him..

Smack!

Shen Wenlang abruptly gave himself a tight slap.

Gao Tu jolted at that.

The CEO continued hitting himself on both sides of his cheeks until the other man grabbed his wrist to stop him.

“W-What are you doing?!” 

“What you should have done to me! Gao Tu, I'm so sorry, I really am a bastard! No better than a beast!” He snarled.

Shen Wenlang tried to use the other man's hand to hit himself, but was met with resistance.

“No, stop it!”

“Hit me, Gao Tu! Beat me up like I deserve, but please don't.. please don't hate me,” The CEO begged with swollen cheeks.

Gao Tu's heart ached sharply at that sight.

He burst into tears.

“How can I hate you.. I'm the one who deceived you and made you.. I'm an Omega, I'm the one you should hate!”

Shen Wenlang shook his head furiously.

“No, it doesn't matter! I don't care if you are a Beta, Omega or even a four-headed alien!”

He folded the other's palms in his again.

“Gao Tu, this past month without you by my side was so miserable.. and when I thought that you were on your deathbed, I was.. really going crazy,” He confessed with his lips touching the other's knuckles.

“I’m sorry it took so long to realise how important you were to me. I'm sorry I said all those nasty things about Omegas– I was being a hateful, immature brat because of my useless Omega father. Your very existence proves all those statements wrong. And I'm sorry I forced myself on you–”

“It’s not your fault–” Gao Tu interjected.

“I want to apologise anyway. I know I was.. rough.” He looked downwards in shame.

There was a beat of silence.

Gao Tu tilted the other man's head upwards and thumbed his tears away.

“Shen Wenlang, I forgive you.”

“Huh?” He blinked. “But I'm not done apologising yet!” 

He still had a long list to go through, god damn it.

Gao Tu gave a helpless smile.

“...I don't think there's anything you can do that I won't forgive you for.”

The CEO felt his heart clench and nose sour at the devotion in his words.

“Gao Tu!” He tugged the other man into his embrace and his face into the crook of his neck, inhaling the sweet sage scent.

“I know I'm a dick who doesn't deserve you but I.. I’m in love with you,” He pulled back to gaze deep into his eyes and ask sincerely, “Will you give me a chance to prove myself by your side as our child's father?”

Gao Tu’s heart skipped a beat at the confession.

He’s.. in love with me???

No, he can't get his hopes up so quickly.

“Then, what about Secretary Hua?” He asked in a small voice.

The CEO’s face instantly blackened. 

“What about him? What has anything got to do with him?”

“Don’t you.. like him?” Gao Tu hedged.

Shen Wenlang immediately cringed. 

“Ew, no! Nobody in the right mind will fall for that psychopath!” He spat before shaking the other man by the shoulders. “Gao Tu, you must believe me, it's all an act for that Hua Yong to trap his Mr. Sheng. If I hadn't owed him a favour, I wouldn't have gotten myself involved and beaten up by that Sheng Shaoyou so many times!”

He played it up with wronged, puppy dog eyes, making Gao Tu softened in sympathy.

“I believe you.” He nodded but before the CEO could celebrate too early, he continued, “But.. we still can't be together.”

Shen Wenlang frowned.

“Why not? Gao Tu, don't you like me? If there's anything you're not happy with, I can change, I promise!” he begged.

Gao Tu hurried to correct him.

“It's not you! It's me. Our backgrounds are too different.” He exhaled. “I.. have problems I don't want to burden you with.”

The CEO’s brows furrowed.

“What problems? Me and you, why would there be a distinction? All these years, you've been by my side, doing so much for me, it's only right that I help you out with your problem! I want to do something for you, please?” He pleaded.

Gao Tu hesitated, biting his lip.

“Gao Tu, do you trust me?”

Sister medical fees, father's gambling debts – He had always been carrying the weight of his family's issues on his own shoulders. Bending lower and lower everyday, wondering which would be the last straw to make him break .

But now looking into the other man's imploring eyes, he thinks.. maybe it's okay to share this with someone. Although he'd never wanted to taint the hands of the other with his own dirt, Shen Wenlang might just be happier to stand in the mud with him than watch him drown.

He took a deep breath.

“My dad, he’s a gambling addict,” He finally let out, swallowing the lump of shame in his throat, "And if he finds out that we're together, he'll definitely extort you for money.”

The CEO pondered at his words.

Did this mean that Gao Tu's father had been extorting money from himself instead? No wonder that with his high salary, his friend has still been staying in that shabby house, living like a starving Victorian child!

He thought back to their school days where the other man already had to juggle multiple part time jobs, and still bought breakfast for him. If he knew then, he would have eaten every last drop and then prepared a buffet for Gao Tu everyday. 

Shen Wenlang felt a pang of regret. If only he wasn't so self-absorbed and took Gao Tu’s presence for granted. 

“That's just a small matter,” He declared, “let me deal with him.”

“Don't give him a single cent,” Gao Tu warned. The last thing he'd want to do is fuel his father's addiction and trap them both at his mercy.

“I won't, don't worry. I'll just send him for rehabilitation somewhere far away. He will never find trouble for you and your sister ever again,” He assured resolutely.

Rehabilitation? That did sound better than letting his father gamble his life away, Gao Tu thought. He would admit, it was something he'll never be able to arrange himself.

“Then.. thank you, Wenlang,” He gave a grateful smile that shot through the other man's heart.

It's been so long since Shen Wenlang had seen Gao Tu smile naturally, not counting those forced polite ones during work. 

It brought him back to their carefree school days where once, he had given him some leftover candy and the other man had flashed him that same cute smile. He now realised that the resulting tummy flutter at that time wasn't due to indigestion.

His nostalgic daydream was abruptly broken by the other's next statement: “How much would the rehabilitation be? I'll pay you back.”

‘I’ll pay you back’. Shen Wenlang was getting so sick of these four words. Previously he had used it as a noose to keep Gao Tu by his side but now, did the other man still think that he was some kind of loan shark!

“Aren’t we going to be a family together soon?” He huffed impatiently, “What's there to calculate about?”

Gao Tu blinked as the reality of the situation hit him again.

His crush of ten years had just confessed his love to him and is planning to to raise their child together as one happy family.

He felt his cheeks heat and heart squeeze sweetly.

Still! When the time comes, he didn't want to owe the other man anything. He'll want to stand by his side as his equal with no debts in between them.

“..It's still better to keep the records clean.”

The CEO pouted petulantly.

“Fine, if you insist on paying back, then I'll only accept repayment in one form of currency,” He acquiesced.

“What currency?”

“Time. They say time is money, right? You’ll owe me one– no, ten.. thousand hours of your time!” Shen Wenlang declared haughtily.

Gao Tu paused.

“You mean.. unpaid work hours?”

“No! This has nothing to do with work!” He rushed to clarify, “I meant time spent with me! Like– like follow me to the park, or we can go watch a movie together..”

Gao Tu watched the other man trailed off sheepishly, gaze averted.

Didn't those sound like dates? Was this his way of asking him out?

He bit down on a smile.

Only Shen Wenlang can make going out together sound transactional.

He gave a shy nod.

“Okay.”

The CEO broke into a wide grin.

To think that a month ago, his life came crashing down when his closest friend tendered his resignation. To watch Gao Tu slip away through his fingers, no matter how hard he tried to hold on, helpless, hurt and confused.

His heart ached with no name to it.

Now, he knew better. 

There's nothing like the threat of Gao Tu's death to kickstart his own severely clogged brain. He was in love with his best friend, who happened to be an Omega and was currently carrying his child.

Despite his own disdain towards Omegas, bad temper and venomous tongue, the other man had stayed by his side, catering to his every whim for the past ten years. Despite it all, he wanted to keep their baby, forgive all his sins and agree for them to build a future together.

Shen Wenlang must have been a goddamned saint in his past life to have been blessed enough to meet Gao Tu in this.

“Thank you, Gao Tu,” He said plainly, but felt it lacking to convey the entirety of his feelings to the other man.

He was never good at words. Like the worst at it, actually. So instead, he leaned forward to kiss his beloved’s lips reverently.

He could hear a sharp inhale, feel the man’s lips tremble before pressing back against him.

For Gao Tu, his surroundings faded to white noise and everything boiled down to their point of contact.

He definitely wouldn't lie and say he hadn't thought, or even dreamt about this. But from a few months back, things were hurtling towards a very different, very downhill direction.

Who knew that things could change so much in just a few hours? He will really have to thank Gao Qing for that, although he still has no idea what she had told the other man.

In fact, Gao Tu has no idea what he's doing right now. But it didn't matter. Because Shen Wenlang was kissing him. On the mouth.

He could feel his heart pulse in his throat, hands turning clammy as he forgot how to breathe.

They moved slowly, as if relearning each other once again. This time, without the farce and the lies.

Just a decade's worth of love to make up for.

Well, let it not be said that Shen Wenlang wasn't a fast learner. Whatever he lacked in experience, he made it up with passion.

Although he was out of his mind and barely remembered what he did, he got Gao Tu pregnant at first try, mind you.

Pregnant.. He abruptly recalled what the doctor had said and started releasing some soothing pheromones.

The other man visibly relaxed, letting out a pleased sigh. Which was enough for the CEO to delve in for a better taste of that sweetness.

Unfortunately before he could really start getting into it, there was a knock on the door that startled them apart.

Gao Tu covered his mouth in a sheepish cough while Shen Wenlang was still catching his breath in a daze.

The doctor entered, took a sniff and immediately questioned, “Were you releasing your soothing pheromones?"

Shen Wenlang nodded.

"Yes. Doctor, I'm the child's Alpha parent, don't worry," He clarified with a puff of his chest.

She looked at Gao Tu.

"Is this true?"

The Omega nodded.

She eyed both their swollen lips judgmentally.

".. Alright, then we'll do another check for the patient to see the effects of your pheromones."

"Doctor, is there anything else I can do to help him?" The CEO asked.

"Just make sure he eats a variety of food and keep his emotions stable. We have more information on labour care in our pamphlets. Would you like one?"

"Of course, give me all of them!" He urged, grabbing Gao Tu's hand with a smile that made the other's cheeks flush.

Shen Wenlang was never going to let him go again.