Chapter 23

Shi Yu's fever lasted for two days, rising and falling repeatedly. Yun Lin'ai would apply medicine to his wounds every day and feed him antipyretics.

Although he was drowsy from the fever, he still only dared to hold Yun Lin'ai's sleeve and never took the initiative to shake his hand.

Yun Linai sat on the bedside, brushing away her messy hair. "What if he gets burned and becomes insane?"

Shi Yu was still frowning slightly because he was dizzy and couldn't see him clearly. He muttered: "Then just be a fool..."

It’s better than worrying about this and that every day.

A chuckle came from his ear, but Yun Linai still held his hand: "Even fools can shine."

Be as carefree as a cat, and ride the waves like the sea.

Yun Lin'ai hoped that Shi Yu could remain free forever. He touched the jewel bracelet on the man's wrist, and the butterfly on the pendant sparkled even in the dark.

He thought that Shi Yu was the freest butterfly.

A month and a half had passed since Yun Lin'ai expressed his feelings, Shi Yu entered his susceptible period, and then the two of them returned to the beachfront villa. Yun Lin'ai guessed that the other party might have something to say, but he waited patiently for many days, and Shi Yu didn't seem to want to say anything to him.

At night, Shi Yu had difficulty breathing due to a fever and woke up alone.

He opened his eyes and saw Yun Lin'ai lying flat beside him, one arm resting over his eyes, breathing steadily.

Even though they had such close contact during the susceptible period, Yun Lin'ai never did anything that would make Shi Yu feel uncomfortable after they woke up.

Just like now.

But the Alpha beside him always noticed something was wrong quickly: "Can't sleep?"

Shi Yu was still not used to sharing the same blanket with him. He shrank back a bit and replied with a nasal voice, "I couldn't breathe. I woke up because of the suffocation."

Yun Lin'ai took his arm away, and Shi Yu could see his bright eyes in the night.

Then he saw the other person stand up, take out something from the drawer beside him, and turn on the night light.

Shi Yu vaguely saw Yun Lin'ai holding a tube-shaped object in his hand, unscrewing the lid, and moving closer.

"Smell it."

The other person's voice was still hoarse when he just woke up. Shi Yu couldn't tell what the other person's temper was, so he obediently sniffed it through his nose.

The minty scent quickly cleared his nasal passages, which were causing him to have difficulty breathing, and he felt much better.

Shi Yu always found that Yun Lin'ai's house had many things that he usually didn't notice but were very useful. He couldn't help but sit up out of curiosity and asked: "When did you buy it?"

Yun Lin'ai's pupils trembled under the warm light of the night lamp, and he looked at Shi Yu.

The words "bought it casually" were on the tip of his tongue, so he said tentatively, without revealing any flaws in his tone, "I bought it because of you."

The quilt slipped off Shi Yu's shoulders, but he just stood there in shock and ignored it. Yun Lin'ai lowered his head to roll up the messy quilt, not wanting him to catch a cold.

Shi Yu's gaze kept revolving around Yun Lin'ai's movements. He hesitated for a moment before speaking, "You seem a little too nice to me."

Yun Lin'ai reached over and pulled the blanket over Shi Yu's shoulders. He then asked nonchalantly, "Really? Does it bother you?"

Because of the other party's actions, Shi Yu shrank his shoulders: "No."

Yun Lin'ai calmly retorted, "I think so."

Shi Yu frowned and looked at Yun Linai in confusion.

"When I'm on a mission, you always say 'stay safe' at the end of the phone call."

Yun Linai paused after he finished speaking.

"...Knowing I was injured, he insisted on going to the hospital with Grandpa no matter what. Even though he knew I was seriously ill, he still insisted on going into the isolation room to help me."

"Let me bite you."

The four burning words made Shi Yu's eyelashes tremble.

Yun Linai asked him, "Don't these bother you?"

"Shi Yu, your thoughts are easy to guess, but also not so easy to guess."

"You're smart enough to see what I want to do to you."

It was rare for Yun Lin'ai to speak so frankly, but he just couldn't wait for an answer that both parties knew the answer to.

"Or do you have some concerns that make you think over and over again even a simple thought?"

Yun Lin'ai suddenly stopped talking, and silence returned to the room. Shi Yu also knew clearly that he was waiting for his answer.

Fortunately, he admitted it after thinking about it for a while.

"I like you, and I know exactly how I feel."

Admit that the coward had thoughts that he shouldn't have had about someone who was out of his reach.

So Yun Linai tried again, "Really?"

"Are you sure that your love for me isn't just a fantasy formed by long-term dependence? Shi Yu, I don't have time to play tricks with children."

These few words made the child anxious, as if he was afraid that his feelings would be misunderstood by Yun Lin'ai. With his back to the moonlight, the corners of Yun Lin'ai's mouth rose slightly.

"Sure." Shi Yu said anxiously, and took the initiative to cover the back of Yun Lin'ai's hand, which was casually placed on the bed sheet, with his hot palm.

"How long did it take to confirm?"

Shi Yu began to bite his lips in distress again, tearing some skin off his cracked lips. Yun Lin'ai's entire chest was almost shattered by his answer.

"Every night."

He got a positive answer from Shi Yu, and while staring at him intently, he finally laughed softly.

He extended his other hand and gently stroked the person's cheek, saying softly, "That's enough, Shi Yu."

"Don't think about anything else. You like me, that's enough."

At least until now, the two of them can snuggle together tightly, hug each other regardless of everything, and no one can disturb them. It is enough for Shi Yu to just stay by his side with peace of mind.

Shi Yu fell drowsy and was coaxed to sleep in someone's arms. Yun Lin'ai took his temperature again at night and saw that it had dropped by one degree before he lay down again.

The dark color in her eyes softened, and instead of hugging him, she held Shi Yu's fingertips in her palm, stroking them a few times before closing her eyes.

Shi Yu's fever completely subsided after three days. Yun Lin'ai also had some free time during his vacation, and Lu Yichuang was like the sun rising from the west, and he no longer came to his place for dinner.

After Shi Yu's fever subsided, although he still had some aches and pains that were hard to ignore, he was no longer dizzy. When Yun Lin'ai carried him back, he didn't even notice the eye-catching yard outside the villa.

The shabby yard that was originally overgrown with weeds and despised by Lu Yichuang has now been cleared of dead branches and leaves and covered with green lawns. Several workers are bent down and sowing something.

Shi Yu realized that they were a few familiar gardeners in the manor.

Hearing footsteps behind him, he asked without turning around, "What are they planting?"

Yun Lin'ai approached the French window, glanced up casually, and said simply: "Flowers."

Shi Yu looked back in a strange way. Of course he knew that they were planting flowers, but Yun Lin'ai didn't seem to want to tell him what kind of flowers they were.

The Alpha, who always liked to be mysterious, looked up at the sea which was farther away than the yard, and asked Shi Yu in a godly tone.

"Have you ever seen the other side of the ocean?"

Yunlinai refers to the coastline far away in the horizon.

Shi Yu shook his head.

"I'll take you to see it once."

So Shi Yu was pulled by Yun Lin'ai onto the yacht docked at the seaside pier with a confused look on his face.

There was no one on the three-decker yacht. The only crew member checked the infrastructure and planned the route in advance with Yun Lin'ai, then went down with a toolbox.

Yun Lin'ai took Shi Yu directly to the cockpit. He asked Shi Yu to sit in the back, started the engine himself, and carefully checked the dashboard before daring to control the steering wheel and let the yacht leave the port.

The yacht slowly accelerated, and Shi Yu saw that Yun Linai's villa was already very far away.

So he couldn't help but ask, "The coastline is very far away, right? Do you really want to go?"

The sky turned egg-yolk yellow, and the sun slowly descended without anyone noticing. The incomplete circle was very close to the coastline.

Shi Yu only saw Yun Lin'ai's profile, and his angular jaw revealed a slight coldness, but as the warm sunset fell, Shi Yu only saw the other party's inadvertent tenderness.

He looked up at him and felt that Yunlin'ai was the coastline that he would never be able to reach.

Too far, too far.

Later, Yun Lin'ai did not really take Shi Yu to chase the unreachable coastline, but docked the yacht at the center of the sea within Shi Yu's sight.

“It’s actually very close.”

Yun Lin'ai took Shi Yu to sit on the deck, still staring blankly at the yellow and red sunset.

The sea surface in winter is a deep and silent dark blue, but at this moment, under the golden light of the sunset, it reveals a brilliant mystery.

Yun Lin'ai deliberately picked a day when the wind was not very strong to take Shi Yu out to sea. Even if everything was prepared in advance, there was rarely any sea breeze on the deck to blow Shi Yu's hair.

So when the other person was stunned, he found a blanket and draped it over his shoulders.

Shi Yu seemed not to notice this little movement until his cold hands were also held.

He lowered his eyes and stared at his clasped hands, recalling the first time he met Yun Lin'ai. He pondered for a moment and said, "On Dong'ao Island, that night when I was pushed out of the car, were you really just passing by?"

There was no response for a long time. Shi Yu raised his pale face, but his eyes were burning.

Yun Lin'ai couldn't answer him. Sometimes it was difficult to find an answer to things. He couldn't say that when he was patrolling the prison through the small glass window, the strange emotions grew with time, and his feelings towards Shi Yu became different from the first day.

There is no need to be overly affectionate. Sometimes, too deep feelings can cause trouble to others. What's more, Yun Lin'ai himself doesn't even feel that he has given too much to Shi Yu.

Then there is no need to be fussy about those unnecessary emotions.

"In the past, Lu Yichuang and I rescued many Omegas who were wrongly imprisoned." Yun Lin's voice came through the sea breeze.

"Area 116 has become their safe zone, so you will be rescued."

Yun Linai spoke very officially and calmly, but underneath his calmness, he always showed his greed for Shi Yu alone.

"Apart from those insignificant sympathies, you are the only Omega I want to introduce to my family."

Having said that, Shi Yu was not a fool, and he knew that Yun Lin'ai fell in love with him even earlier than he did.

The sun was halfway down and the sky was about to get dark. Before the darkness rose over the sea, Shi Yu took the initiative to hold Yun Lin'ai's hand and leaned over to kiss him.

"The sunset is very romantic. Let me ask you out next time."

Yun Lin'ai lowered his eyes and looked at him. His always cold eyes always revealed deeper meanings in front of Shi Yu. Then he smiled lightly and kissed Shi Yu again.

Even though the person in her arms had difficulty breathing, she never thought of letting him go.

-----------------------

The author has something to say: I’m flying!