An alpha’s susceptible period was always a long process. By the time he fully came back to his senses, several days had already passed.
When Ji Chenxi first woke up, he was still a little dazed, staring blankly at the ceiling for quite a while.
The mix of rose scent and alcohol in the air wasn’t as strong as it had been at the start. Instead, it had settled into a deep, lingering fragrance, like the soft aftertaste of something rich. His gaze slowly drifted away from the ceiling and landed on Chi Zhuo not far away.
Chi Zhuo was fiddling with his light brain, probably replying to messages. When he noticed Ji Chenxi staring at him, he seemed to think Ji Chenxi wanted a kiss. Without hesitation, he closed the virtual screen, pulled Ji Chenxi into his arms, and lightly kissed his lips.
That smooth, almost practiced way of coaxing with a kiss made Ji Chenxi’s expression turn a little strange. He even asked, a bit puzzled, “That way you kiss…?”
Chi Zhuo, who had just scooped him up and kissed him like it was second nature, lifted his eyes and studied Ji Chenxi’s expression. “You’re better now?”
“Mm.” Ji Chenxi gave a low, muffled reply.
“Do you remember what happened these past few days?” Chi Zhuo asked, gently patting Ji Chenxi’s head, as if checking his temperature.
Ji Chenxi nodded at first, then after thinking for a moment, shook his head instead. Only the tips of his ears quietly turned red.
To be honest, he did remember quite a bit. But as for why Chi Zhuo was kissing him with such ease, like he’d done it many times before… that part, he really couldn’t recall.
“I see,” Chi Zhuo murmured, thinking for a moment before explaining, “After the first couple of days of your susceptible period, Your Highness started running a high fever that just wouldn’t go down.”
Ji Chenxi nodded. When he woke up earlier, he’d already felt how dry his throat was, burning with pain. It matched the rare times he’d had a cold before. As for why no treatment device had been used, it was probably because this susceptible period had been triggered by an omega’s heat, and later there had been an inhibitor injection along with some unknown catalyst.
“Anything else?”
Chi Zhuo nodded. “There’s more.” He continued, “These past few days, your fever never went down, and you never fully came out of your susceptible state. Every day, you were crying, acting spoiled, begging me to hold you.”
By the time he heard that, Ji Chenxi’s brows were already tightly furrowed. He didn’t think he would act like that at all. But Chi Zhuo’s earlier, completely natural movements seemed to back up his words, like there wasn’t a single lie in them.
Ji Chenxi found himself half-convinced. An alpha in a susceptible period was naturally more sensitive and prone to tears. Even though the idea of himself crying and acting clingy felt unbearably embarrassing… maybe it really had happened.
But none of that showed on his face. If anything, his expression turned even stranger. “I was in a susceptible period, not drunk and blacked out.”
The meaning was obvious—’stop messing with me.’
Chi Zhuo let out a soft laugh. “So Your Highness really does remember.”
Ji Chenxi: “…”
So Chi Zhuo really had been fooling him.
“Must’ve been hard for you, keeping such a straight face.”
Chi Zhuo chuckled again. “Even if that’s not what actually happened, am I not allowed to imagine it?”
Ji Chenxi was a little curious about what really happened, but if he asked now, wouldn’t that make his earlier confidence look fake? He had only just gotten over the fever, his body still weak, his mind a bit sluggish. He was about to skip the topic when Chi Zhuo suddenly added—
“Though, when Your Highness was in your susceptible period, those fierce, bossy orders of yours… they were kind of cute in their own way.”
“Cute? I’ll give you one chance to pick a different word.”
Chi Zhuo paused, briefly at a loss, before offering, “Another kind of… enjoyable—”
He didn’t even get to finish before Ji Chenxi cut in, putting on a fake shy look. “Enjoyable fun?”
“I believe what I meant to say was situation.”
Of course, Ji Chenxi knew exactly what he had been trying to say.
Now that the susceptible period had passed, everything felt laid out in the open. He could clearly feel Chi Zhuo’s feelings for him—and his own feelings, too, were far deeper than he had ever expected. Neither of them planned to say it out loud. It was enough that they both understood. That was also why, after Ji Chenxi woke up, neither of them brought up that “inappropriate” thing he had said before. Given how things stood now, even if it had been inappropriate before… it no longer mattered. It had to fit, whether it should or not.
After a brief moment of tidying up and lingering warmth, Ji Chenxi got straight to dealing with the matter of his forced susceptible period.
At first, he thought Chi Zhuo had already handled everything cleanly, leaving nothing for him to do. But it turned out Chi Zhuo had only sorted through the entire situation from start to finish, completed all the groundwork, and deliberately left the final step—the closing move—unfinished.
“Your people getting less efficient?” Ji Chenxi teased, even though he knew full well Chi Zhuo had done it on purpose, leaving him a chance to handle things personally.
“Mm,” Chi Zhuo agreed without hesitation. “They’ve been on break lately, so efficiency hasn’t been great. Your Highness want to step in and help?”
Ji Chenxi took the investigation report Chi Zhuo handed over. Normally, a reluctant “fine, I’ll do it” would’ve fit his usual style. But this time, after taking the documents, he spoke with rare sincerity.
“Thanks.”
Chi Zhuo could’ve stayed out of this completely. Putting in extra manpower and resources like this was nothing more than helping him catch the enemy by the tail.
“No need to thank me. Why not take a look and see who’s behind it?”
“Actually, I don’t need to. I already had a guess.” As Ji Chenxi quickly scanned through the files, the answer in his mind was confirmed.
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
