After the Breakup, He Washed Away the Memories Chapter 72

Chapter 72

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Unfortunately, Qin Muye’s mind was too foggy at the moment.

Initially, the alpha wasn’t aware that he had a fever, but he knew that the current situation was different from the onset of his susceptible period, because his neck wasn’t hot. Qin Muye rarely fell ill, and eventually, based on his few instances of falling ill, he attributed this sudden rise in body temperature to having a fever.

When you have a fever, you take fever-reducing medication or get a shot, but before the alpha could act, he was interrupted by Rong Qiu knocking on the door.

Seeing Rong Qiu, Qin Muye was very happy.

This happiness wasn’t just psychological; it had already become a physiological reflex. His eyes, the corners of his lips, and even the section of his throat above the black information molecule collar were all subtly revealing his joy.

But when Qin Muye realized that Rong Qiu was about to move out of his villa, a huge sense of loss instantly engulfed the alpha from head to toe.

Even so, he still tried to cheer up and talk to Rong Qiu.

He said he could handle it.

But in reality, not only was his mind foggy, but his limbs were heavy, and his body felt like it was filled with cold iron, making every movement of raising his hand and stepping feel exhausting.

At this moment, the only thing the alpha longed for was the delicate, fair, and cool touch on his forehead. Qin Muye had never known that Rong Qiu’s casual actions and expressions could easily make him feel like he was living or dying.

Especially when he heard Rong Qiu’s fluently scolding: “Bullsh*t. Did you check your temperature? How many degrees is your temperature? Have you taken medicine for your illness? What medicine did you take? You don’t know, do you? You haven’t done anything and you’re still here saying ‘yeah’ to me?!”

Qiu Qiu, so fierce.

The alpha’s pupils widened.

From the moment Rong Qiu spoke his first word, the alpha felt like he was in another parallel world. Rong Qiu cared for him, took care of him, wiped him down with medical alcohol when he was dizzy from the high fever, opened the window for ventilation, and even skillfully placed the fever-reducing pill in his palm.

Qin Muye lay on the bed with the bitter pill in his mouth, but warmth surged in his heart.

Although Rong Qiu had a stern face and didn’t speak while doing these things, Qin Muye still sensed the rare tenderness.

If Rong Qiu knew what Qin Muye was thinking, he would definitely retort, “What display of tenderness.”

Rong Qiu kept a straight face throughout.

Just now, he had measured Qin Muye’s temperature, and it was 39.5 degrees Celsius.

Seeing the digital display on the thermometer, Rong Qiu immediately found the medical kit in Qin Muye’s house as he had instructed. There were many things in the medical kit, but he easily found the fever-reducing medicine, the same type Qin Muye had taken before, and fed it to him.

It seemed that Qin Muye’s current situation was quite easy for Rong Qiu to control. He asked Qin Muye to insert the thermometer, and Qin Muye opened his mouth; he asked Qin Muye to take the medicine, and Qin Muye swallowed the pill down, even drinking up the full cup of hot water he poured.

After taking the medicine and wiping with alcohol, Qin Muye needed Rong Qiu to stay by his side, waiting for his temperature to drop.

“Close your eyes and sleep.”

The Qin Muye beside Rong Qiu closed his eyes and then opened them again.

But it seemed difficult for Qin Muye to fall asleep with his eyes closed. However, under the effect of the medicine, drowsiness gradually surged up. The alpha’s eyelids became smaller and smaller, and finally, his long and curled upper and lower eyelashes overlapped peacefully, indicating that their owner had fallen asleep.

Rong Qiu watched the sleeping alpha. He vaguely understood why Qin Muye suddenly had a high fever.

Back when they were still together, Qin Muye often caught a cold during the change of seasons. The temperature difference in the Thirteenth Military District was quite large. Although the beginning of autumn had arrived, the daytime temperature could still reach 34 degrees Celsius, dropping to just a few degrees at night.

Such drastic temperature changes indeed made it easy for people to catch colds.

Rong Qiu almost caught a cold last week, but fortunately, he immediately drank a large amount of hot water before his nose got stuffy, which prevented him from catching a cold.

Who would have thought that Qin Muye not only couldn’t escape it but also got caught by him.

He complained inwardly about Qin Muye’s use of such a trick on him and despised himself for not being able to resist taking care of Qin Muye.

His thoughts changed quickly, but time passed slowly.

He thought the time he spent accompanying Qin Muye was very long, but it had only been a short five minutes.

Five minutes later, Rong Qiu had already counted the 207 eyelashes on Qin Muye’s eyes, with an average length of 12mm, slightly curved forward and upward, and the upper eyelashes were more prominent. The length of the eyelashes, when closed, was 140 degrees upwards, dense and curly.

A particularly clear set of data appeared in Rong Qiu’s mind—

12mm, 130 degrees

These were the data he had counted six years ago, but even after six years, they still appeared in his mind the first time.

But now, thinking about these things, doing these things, all seemed meaningless.

Rong Qiu waited in Qin Muye’s master bedroom.

Every once in a while, he wiped Qin Muye’s forehead to lower his temperature. He was very skilled at this cooling method, and amidst the smell of alcohol in the air, Rong Qiu could faintly smell the fragrance of agarwood.

This is a kind of ancient woody scent, like the oldest tree of life appearing in front of Rong Qiu. The breeze passing through the canopy, like the sky, suppressed endless decay, spreading the ancient tree’s life breath to every corner of the world. The three words “sense of security” were interpreted to the extreme.

In fact, he had smelled this scent when he was with Qin Muye before.

He had even tried different woody fragrances to find this scent; however, none of the available perfumes smelled as good as the scent of wood emitted by Qin Muye.

Whether any spice smells good depends on whether it’s excessive.

Due to illness, Qin Muye’s pheromones were slightly uncontrollable, and the scent of sandalwood became stronger and stronger, passing through Rong Qiu’s nasal cavity, stimulating the sensitive olfactory cells at the tip of Rong Qiu’s nose.

Rong Qiu frowned slightly, contemplating whether to close the window, when the originally bright master bedroom suddenly went dark.

Rong Qiu immediately got up, squinting alertly.

A rumbling sound accompanied by the merciless alarm of the machine erupted.

“Alert! Alert! Your pheromone concentration has exceeded the limit, defensive measures will be taken now!”

“Alert! Alert! Your pheromone concentration has exceeded the limit, defensive measures will be taken now!”

“Alert! Alert! Your pheromone concentration has exceeded the limit, defensive measures will be taken now!”

Defensive measures?

What defensive measures?

Soon, Rong Qiu knew what the so-called defensive measures were. The master bedroom of Qin Muye turned into an invisible prison, the wooden door disappeared, replaced by a black metal barrier, the same with the window, leaving the room pitch black.

Vision was impaired, and the sense of smell was amplified to the maximum.

The familiar metallic smell immediately took Rong Qiu back to the past, to the office where he and Qin Muye reunited.

Back then, he thought Qin Muye’s office smelled of formaldehyde, but today, he finally realized what this scent was.

Type K-VIII metal.

It had excellent barrier properties against liquids and gases, often used to make containment devices for biochemical experiments.

If a cage were cast with this metal, it could indeed completely seal off the pheromones of an alpha or an omega inside. But how could complete isolation allow normal breathing?

The air purifier that started buzzing answered Rong Qiu’s question.

Whether it was Rong Qiu’s psychological effect or not, the air he breathed suddenly felt exceptionally fresh, and the scent of sandalwood pheromone emitted from the back of the alpha’s neck gradually diluted.

But this also meant that he and Qin Muye were both trapped in this invisible cage at the same time.

***

Qin Muye fell into a deep sleep and had a good dream.

He dreamed of returning to his college days when he had a cold and fever. His nose was blocked by two heavy cotton balls, and before he could take medicine, he fell into a deep sleep on the bed.

It was the small Rong Qiu who lay beside him, taking care of him day and night.

At that time, the beta was very green, his appearance hadn’t matured yet, his eyes were still round and deer-like, guarding him like a child guarding a toy on the verge of breaking, the internal heartache fully materialized. When he woke up, the little beta immediately held his hand and said, “You scared me, Aye, luckily the fever has subsided.”

Even now, he could recall the temperature and humidity of Rong Qiu’s palm back then. The beta’s hand was soft and delicate but cold as ice, sticky in the palm, like a piece of sugar that had melted for thousands of years.

Beta was always like this.

It could sweeten the depths of his heart.

But he didn’t know when he had lost this little sweet cake.

Over the years, Rong Qiu’s figure had appeared countless times in his susceptible period. Sometimes Rong Qiu would accompany him through the entire susceptible period, sometimes he would only catch a glimpse of him, disappearing in an instant.

In his dreams, he could do anything.

But the customized silver handcuffs he designed could never restrain Rong Qiu.

Qin Muye felt a vague unease.

The boundary between dreams and reality gradually blurred, and he saw the green beta gradually fading away, replaced by the more mature and handsome Rong Qiu.

Rong Qiu’s figure was concealed in the dim light at the head of the bed, half dark and half light.

Qin Muye blinked and even saw the fine fuzz on the half-lit face of Rong Qiu, like invisible claws gently scratching the softest part of his heart. As consciousness gradually became clear, negative emotions surged continuously, tearing and pulling at his pheromones, making him wish he could dig out a piece of flesh from his heart and completely wrap Rong Qiu in it, stitching him together into his own flesh.

Qin Muye weakly closed his eyes.

He must be in his susceptible period again, that’s why he saw Rong Qiu in the confinement room again, but the Rong Qiu in the confinement room was all fake.

He had seen Rong Qiu countless times in the confinement room before, and he had seen all kinds of Rong Qiu—

The Rong Qiu who still loved him, who would eat with him, study together, and even do happy things together at night. But he clearly knew that these fantasies and dreams were his self-deception, a dream he wove for himself during the most uncomfortable and painful susceptible period, ready to collapse at any moment.

So they were all fake.

***

Rong Qiu saw that Qin Muye had awakened and was about to take his temperature for the second time.

Unexpectedly, Qin Muye glanced at him, then immediately closed his eyes again, lying flat on the bed like a dead body, hands folded on his abdomen.

He slept peacefully.

Rong Qiu: …

“Qin Muye?”

“Are you awake?”

“Answer me if you’re awake.”

No one responded. The brief opening of the eyes was just Qin Muye’s short-lived wakefulness.

Qin Muye laid on the bed, resembling a corpse.

Rong Qiu was somewhat astonished.

He should have been used to it by now. Qin Muye was different when he was sick, compared to his usual self. Normally, Qin Muye was cold and restrained, decisive in his actions. But when he had a cold and fever, Qin Muye seemed to be somewhat delirious, suddenly opening his eyes when he closed them, like a big cat patrolling its territory, then closing them again, showing an inexplicable vigilance.

So Rong Qiu didn’t take Alpha’s abnormality seriously.

Unable to use an oral thermometer, Rong Qiu reached out and touched Alpha’s forehead, and the temperature had noticeably gone down.

Since Qin Muye’s fever had subsided, Rong Qiu was no longer worried.

Rong Qiu breathed a sigh of relief and stretched lazily. His sore muscles finally felt a bit better.

But when could he get out?

Rong Qiu tried to explore the confinement room.

Clearly just an ordinary master bedroom, it now looked completely different. This was Rong Qiu’s first time entering Qin Muye’s bedroom, which was as spacious and minimalist as he had imagined. Except for the bed, there were only necessary furnishings. Fortunately, there was also a long sofa. If he couldn’t get out and had to stay here, he might have to spend the night on the sofa.

Perhaps due to prolonged exposure, the scent of pheromones in the air had become so faint to him that he could hardly smell it anymore. The scent of sandalwood gradually faded away, leaving only a hint of woodiness in the air.

Not finding anything remarkable, Rong Qiu sat back on the single sofa beside Qin Muye’s bed.

Unexpectedly, Qin Muye was now wide awake, and his phoenix eyes stared at him like copper bells.

“You…” Awake?

Rong Qiu’s words weren’t finished when his wrist was fiercely seized by a large palm. The icy and heavy feeling overturned onto his wrist. A shiny silver handcuff was clasped around his wrist, one end attached to his wrist and the other to Qin Muye’s.

Rong Qiu: “?”

Rong Qiu was absolutely certain that this handcuff was not some cheap toy.

Because he tried to break free but couldn’t do so with his bare hands. Having just completed an experiment on metal materials last year, even without having studied all the knowledge of metal materials systematically, Rong Qiu could quickly recognize the handcuff on his wrist as silver handcuffs.

Rong Qiu furrowed his brow.

The Alpha showed no guilt, with his face flushed, he sat up, his gaze fixed in a certain direction. Over the next few minutes, Alpha stared blankly at his own handcuffs, then at Rong Qiu’s, his mouth suddenly curved into a surprised and strangely satisfied smile.

This was the first time.

He had successfully captured the illusion of Rong Qiu.

***

Rong Qiu tried to struggle, but this handcuff could only be opened with a key.

Rong Qiu felt flooded with frustration.

He looked up, and the Alpha’s current state was very wrong.

If the Alpha were just running a high fever, he wouldn’t even be able to shout to wake him, but now the Alpha had his eyes open. His phoenix eyes were embedded with a pair of dark, glossy beads, surrounded by prominent bloodshot veins. Moreover, Alpha’s eyes were wide open, and Rong Qiu could clearly see Qin Muye carefully admiring the handcuffs that bound them both.

Yes, “admiring.”

Rong Qiu shivered involuntarily.

He looked at the Qin Muye in front of him, feeling as if the person in front of him had been possessed by someone else. The Alpha was looking at him, but it seemed like he was seeing through him into some fantasy that Rong Qiu didn’t know.

Rong Qiu’s tone became serious: “Qin Muye!”

“Qiuqiu.”

The Alpha, still intoxicated in his own fantasy, responded to Rong Qiu’s tone affectionately and tenderly. Even his originally deep voice sounded more magnetic due to the fever.

The Alpha raised his arm lightly, listening to the crisp sound of the chains intertwining, as if he were listening to a divine melody. The Alpha’s other hand gently stroked the silver chain, his gaze somewhat intoxicated, somewhat ecstatic, with even a hint of excitement flashing in his eyes.

Seeing this, Rong Qiu was clear. Qin Muye was very abnormal now.

Was Qin Muye running a fever?

If it were just a fever, how could he exhibit such perverted symptoms?

Or did he take the wrong medicine?

Could it be that all the medicines here were fake?

But time wouldn’t allow Rong Qiu to ponder deeply.

“Qin Muye, unlock the handcuffs.”

“Releasing Qiuqiu will make him disappear.”

The Alpha shook his head, like the most excellent hunter in the jungle who had caught his prey but, due to being full, didn’t eat, only played with it.

This was his first time seeing Rong Qiu in the confinement room, and he wouldn’t let go.

What Qin Muye didn’t know was that due to relying too much on pheromone comfortants over the past few years, especially after injecting thirteen doses of pheromone comfortants during the last high-susceptibility period, irreversible effects had occurred on Alpha’s glands.

This also meant.

More frequent and more intense susceptibility periods.

Rong Qiu had never seen an alpha in susceptibility, let alone an S-class alpha. So he attributed Qin Muye’s symptoms to common symptoms that everyone would experience—fever.

In a sense, Rong Qiu’s judgment was not wrong.

Qin Muye indeed had a fever, but after the fever came a high fever, which led to the loss of control of the glands, bringing on an early susceptibility period.

Qin Muye was now officially entering susceptibility.

Rong Qiu didn’t know any of this. He was still questioning his common sense of life over the years. Qin Muye had a fever, he gave Qin Muye fever-reducing medicine, but there was still no improvement. Now Qin Muye looked like this; did his brain get fried from the fever?

Rong Qiu’s expression became solemn.

Qin Muye’s brain wasn’t just his brain; it was also related to the Thirteenth Military District and even the future of the entire federation. If possible, Qin Muye’s brain should be heavily insured. How could a clever alpha be turned into a foolish alpha by just a slight fever?

Rong Qiu looked at Qin Muye, who was playing with his right hand. Even though he knew Qin Muye was very abnormal now, he couldn’t find a reasonable explanation for Qin Muye’s abnormal behavior.

And Qin Muye was stubborn.

No matter what, Qin Muye just didn’t want to unlock these handcuffs with the key.

“So why do you say I’ll disappear?”

The conversation between the two returned to the beginning.

“This question has already been asked by Qiuqiu.” Saying this, Qin Muye unexpectedly showed a touch of tsundere and paranoia, “Because Qiuqiu appears in my hallucinations, and if I let go, Qiuqiu will disappear.”

“How could I be your hallucination? Wake up, this is reality. You and I are in your bedroom right now, and your bedroom suddenly turned into an airtight confinement room. Is there something wrong with you?”

“Yes, this is my bedroom.” Qin Muye echoed Rong Qiu’s words about being unwell, but he quickly retorted, “My bedroom is indeed a confinement room. Qiuqiu cannot appear in a confinement room. Only the illusion of Qiuqiu can appear in a confinement room.”

Qin Muye’s words were like a tongue twister, leaving Rong Qiu confused.

Finally, Rong Qiu managed to gather his thoughts.

Qin Muye thought that he was currently an illusion.

Rong Qiu was somewhat angry. He, a living person who could speak, laugh, and move, appeared in front of Qin Muye, and yet Qin Muye thought he was an illusion.

And handcuffing him, was that something Qin Muye had always wanted to do?

What kind of scene had Qin Muye set in his fantasy to take out handcuffs the moment he saw him…

Everything was terrifying upon closer examination.

Rong Qiu should have felt terrified.

But the handcuffs on his hands weren’t uncomfortable at all. There were no sharp edges, everything was smooth, and it looked more like a pair of silver bracelets with silver chains attached. Even the engravings on them were exquisite.

Seeing Rong Qiu continuously staring at the handcuffs, even though he was an illusion, Qin Muye couldn’t bear to see Rong Qiu uncomfortable.

The Alpha nervously held Rong Qiu’s hand. “Did you hit your hand?”

After speaking, the Alpha lowered his head, holding Rong Qiu’s hand with the handcuff, carefully searching for any injuries. After a while, the Alpha’s tense shoulders gradually relaxed.

“It’s okay, Qiuqiu, the handcuffs are custom-made and won’t hurt your hand.”

Every expression and movement of his was captured by Rong Qiu’s eyes.

“It’s not about whether it hurts or not. Let go of me. I won’t run away.”

“Letting go won’t affect Qiuqiu in any way.”

“It will.” Rong Qiu’s face was stiff and sour, “I need to go to the bathroom now.”

Rong Qiu was serious. He had endured for so long just to stay by Qin Muye’s side, and now he felt the urge.

But for some reason, when he said this, Alpha’s expression became even brighter. To be precise, the black beads in Alpha’s eyes were shining brightly.

Rong Qiu felt a different kind of sensation.

Sure enough, Alpha suddenly got up from the bed, his movements even quicker than Rong Qiu’s. “Let’s go together.”

“What… together?”

Rong Qiu really didn’t know how to describe his current feelings.

It felt like he had been blindfolded before.

Was Qin Muye still in elementary school?

Going to the bathroom required forming a gang?

But Qin Muye didn’t allow him to refuse. Perhaps Qin Muye knew that this was his own dream, so Qin Muye’s attitude towards Rong Qiu was indulgent, with a hint of not allowing any objections. In reality, he couldn’t get close to Rong Qiu; but in his fantasy, he wanted to be bound to Rong Qiu every moment.

So even though Rong Qiu needed to use the bathroom, Qin Muye insisted on being by his side.

It had been a long time since he had been close to Qiuqiu…

The Alpha’s heart beat slightly faster than usual.

But the Alpha tried his best to maintain his composure. When Rong Qiu was using the bathroom, he stood up straight, deliberately turned his body away, and didn’t look.

When he looked in the mirror, he found Rong Qiu staring at him intently.

Rong Qiu’s eyes were sharp: “Turn around!”

Qin Muye: “?” But he had already turned around.

Rong Qiu pointed to the mirror, and Qin Muye understood. He rubbed his nose and turned away.

Perhaps because he had been holding it in for too long, Rong Qiu didn’t find it easy to release at first.

Rong Qiu wasn’t in a hurry, and with someone else present, he couldn’t let go completely.

But Qin Muye misunderstood something.

The Alpha was very considerate—

Before the sound of Rong Qiu’s trickling water reached him, Alpha puckered his lips slightly, and a rhythmic whistling sound transmitted to Rong Qiu’s ears.

Rong Qiu shuddered.

What else could he say?

All his desires to release were deflated by Qin Muye’s whistling.

Qin Muye didn’t understand why the Rong Qiu in his fantasy was so irritable. He helped Rong Qiu whistle, but Rong Qiu still kicked him fiercely. Perhaps the Rong Qiu in this fantasy combined the characteristics of the Rong Qiu after memory erasure, which made him fierce and bright, like a little lion that kicks someone and shows its claws.

But Rong Qiu was already boiling with anger.

He quickly finished and washed his hands. He didn’t want to deal with the man thirty centimeters away from him now, so he pulled on the chain of the handcuffs, turned his head, and tried to run out of the bathroom. But before he could take a step, he was pulled back by a strong force.

It was Qin Muye pulling him in.

“Qiuqiu, don’t go. I want to go too.”

“What do you want?”

“I also need to take care of things.”

Thinking he was in a hallucination, the Alpha was very bold and even had many mischievous thoughts that only children would have.

Such as suddenly whistling, comparing it to Rong Qiu’s, definitely not intending to mock Rong Qiu, but still couldn’t help but curling his lips; or wanting to reciprocate, thinking that Rong Qiu blowing a whistle for him during release would be great, but seeing Rong Qiu’s rare and stubborn back, Qin Muye wisely kept silent.

The Alpha whistled quietly on his own.

Although Rong Qiu tried his best to ignore the barely audible sound, his excellent hearing still caught the Alpha’s whistling.

How did he not notice before? Qin Muye was surprisingly insistent on this matter.

Finally, out of the bathroom, in just five minutes, Rong Qiu felt completely drained.

“Give me your phone.”

Although he really wanted to know why Rong Qiu needed the phone, Qin Muye obediently handed it over. As long as Rong Qiu didn’t leave, he was willing to fulfill all of Rong Qiu’s wishes.

Rong Qiu took the Alpha’s phone with one hand. The new black phone looked like a flat black brick in Rong Qiu’s hand, with a good feel to it, but it was a bit large and heavy, pressing against his hand. Just as Rong Qiu was about to ask for the password, he noticed that the screen lock wallpaper was his photo.

It was still the picture from the graduation ceremony.

“Where did you get this photo from?” Rong Qiu asked.

Alpha honestly replied, “I got it from Chu Ming’s social media posts.”

“How do you have Chu Ming’s contact information?”

“Su Ran sent it to me.”

“Where did Su Ran get it from?”

“Su Ran is friends with Chu Ming.”

“…”

The complexity of Alpha’s social circle was beyond Rong Qiu’s understanding.

Rong Qiu wanted Qin Muye’s phone just to check if there was any signal. His own phone had turned into a brick, unfortunately, Qin Muye’s phone had also turned into a brick.

“Alright, that’s enough. Quickly unlock the handcuffs for me.”

Rong Qiu’s face was tense, and he shoved Qin Muye’s phone back, not gentle in his actions or words.

Qin Muye, who had been proud and aloof, suddenly began to sob softly. The sudden change left Rong Qiu dumbfounded.

Rong Qiu had never seen Qin Muye cry before.

He had seen Qin Muye’s eyes turn moist once, but crying so heartbreakingly, shedding tears of sorrow, was a first. It had to be said that no matter how handsome a face was, it wouldn’t look good when distorted in agony. Qin Muye cried until the muscles of his face lost control, his already reddened eyes turned scarlet in an instant, all the water Rong Qiu had fed him turned into tears, overflowing from his deep eye sockets.

And Qin Muye’s hands clenched into fists tightly. “I wasn’t joking, I sincerely want to apologize to Qiuqiu.”

It seemed like encountering something bone-chilling, the Alpha’s tall figure trembled violently. Muscles that had been quiet and dormant swelled up, veins bulging, tears bursting forth uncontrollably. The drops of tears didn’t gather in the same spot on the ground; they scattered everywhere as Qin Muye shook his head. 

He tightly embraced the figure in front of him. 

It was as if he was holding onto a dream he had been chasing but couldn’t catch. 

“Qiuqiu, I was wrong.” 

“Qiuqiu, don’t leave me.” 

“I wasn’t joking; I truly apologize.” 

The Alpha repeatedly apologized and begged him not to leave, shocking Rong Qiu momentarily. 

“You haven’t done anything wrong; now, please let go of me.” 

Rong Qiu tried to push away this out-of-control and unhealthy Alpha, but it was futile. 

The Alpha’s neck was pressed tightly against his, tears streaming down his neck. It was a warm, almost scorching embrace, from every angle, Rong Qiu felt tightly trapped. He could even sense Alpha’s heart beating violently and the pulsing veins in his neck. 

“Qiuqiu, I was wrong. I shouldn’t have said those hurtful things to you at the bar, and I shouldn’t have been ignorant of my own feelings. I was wrong, truly wrong. I’ve always loved you, ever since the first time I saw you… Qiuqiu, please don’t leave me. I’ll do anything, you can hit me, curse me, even use me as a substitute.” 

The Alpha’s mind was obviously in complete chaos, even memories were being arbitrarily replaced by Qin Muye: “I can be Ah Ye’s substitute, I can learn everything about him, I can become gentle, become the person you like.” 

“Qin Muye, you…” Did he remember wrong?

Rong Qiu was interrupted again. Qin Muye was still talking to the imaginary Rong Qiu, choked up: “You can continue wearing your and Beta Ah Ye’s rings, I won’t be sad or upset… as long as I can be with you, even if I’m just a substitute, I’m willing.”

“Qin Muye, you don’t have to be so submissive.”

Rong Qiu closed his eyes heavily, his voice barely audible: “My ring is gone. This was the ring made for my past lover. My ring went into the water with the key, and all the past went with it.”

After Rong Qiu finished speaking, the room suddenly became very quiet, except for the sound of the air purifier running, only the Alpha’s low growling voice remained. Each sound was like a hamster gnawing, tearing at Rong Qiu’s originally calm heart.

The Alpha who had been hugging him tightly suddenly opened his arms.

Rong Qiu watched as Qin Muye turned to the side, his eyes red, rummaging through the drawer by the bed. Under the dim light of the bedside lamp, the string of keys that Rong Qiu was very familiar with quickly appeared in front of him. The pendant wasn’t a soft plush toy or a plastic ornament, but a shiny silver ring engraved with words.

And the Alpha in front of him held the ring in one hand, with red eyes and a haggard face. This wounded beast, unable to lick its wounds in time, repeatedly rejected and torn apart, made him unable to hold back his tears, but he still smiled softly, “Qiuqiu, I’ve already found it.”

***

Rong Qiu was already too shocked to know what to say.

Seeing the ring now made his heart beat even faster.

He looked up at Alpha, his lips moving up and down, but he said nothing.

Rong Qiu didn’t ask Qin Muye how he found the ring.

Because Qin Muye’s possessiveness didn’t allow them to separate. Just thirty seconds after they parted, Rong Qiu was tightly hugged again.

Rong Qiu felt like a giant doll. The keys with the ring had already been stuffed into his pocket by the Alpha, and even fearing the keys might run away, Alpha gently patted Rong Qiu’s pocket, sealing the slightly open pocket shut.

After doing this insignificant little action, the Alpha stopped crying.

It seemed that with the ring given away, he could continue to accompany Rong Qiu. The Alpha’s emotions finally eased up a bit. From his back to his shoulders, and then to his arms, all the swollen muscles slowly returned to a dormant state.

“Qiuqiu, are we reconciled?”

Rong Qiu didn’t speak.

The silent Beta in front of him made Qin Muye, who had just gained some sense of security, burst into tears again.

Silent yet crashing.

It seemed contradictory.

But Qin Muye in front of Rong Qiu was like this, biting his teeth and crying without making a sound; yet the intensity of his tears reminded Rong Qiu of a suddenly opened faucet.

Rong Qiu’s shirt had long been soaked.

But Rong Qiu still didn’t respond to him. Nestled in the man’s embrace, Rong Qiu lowered his head, his expression cold: “These handcuffs, unlock them for me.”

This was the umpteenth time today that Rong Qiu had asked Qin Muye to unlock the handcuffs.

But no matter what Rong Qiu said, Qin Muye continued to plead, “Qiuqiu, just let me accompany you. I love you, I’ve always loved you.”

Each repetition of “love” seemed like another hammer striking Rong Qiu’s heart.

If Qin Muye had said this earlier, why would they have ended up like this?

Rong Qiu didn’t doubt Qin Muye’s love for him, but he just couldn’t easily let go.

Rong Qiu felt a little distracted, then he lowered his gaze and composed himself: “Qin Muye, listen to me. We’ve already separated, six years ago, not because I didn’t want you, but because back then you didn’t want me. We’ve already gone our separate ways.”

The Alpha shook his head, seemingly stimulated by something. Amidst his sobbing, his whole body trembled, as if he might faint at any moment.

The scene of the ruined walls under the sunset, the mourning parasol in the fading light, couldn’t compare to the desolation of Alpha at this moment.

“If Qiuqiu doesn’t forgive me, if Qiuqiu still wants to leave me, I’ll endure all the pain you’ve suffered, Qiuqiu, will you still want me…”

Mumbling “Qiuqiu will you still want me,” Qin Muye smashed the mug on the table, the porcelain cup shattered into pieces, and there was still a sharp fragment in Alpha’s hand, under the dim bedside lamp, exuding a chilling sensation.

The Alpha then resolutely and ruthlessly aimed the broken fragment at his own neck.

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