Chasing Husband

Si Qi put down his pen and rubbed his temples. Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows of his study, night had deepened, the entire city shrouded in a bluish glow. He glanced at his watch—2:17 AM. The financial statements on his desk weighed down like a mountain, suffocating him.

The company has recently run into trouble, with a series of supply chain issues causing a 37 percent drop in quarterly profits. As CEO, he must come up with a solution at the board meeting next week.

He stood up and walked towards the door, but paused the moment he pushed it open. Through the crack in the door, he saw Shao Wei standing in the corridor, holding a steaming drink in his hand. Shao Wei was wearing a dark gray home suit, with his collar slightly open, revealing an old scar on his collarbone - it was the wound that Shao Wei had taken when someone tried to assassinate Si Qi at a business dinner three years ago.

Si Qi held his breath, watching Shao Wei hesitate for a moment before finally placing the cup on the low cabinet outside the door and quietly leaving. He knew it must be chamomile tea with honey, something Shao Wei always prepared when he worked late into the night.

Only after the footsteps faded did Si Qi push open the door and pick up the cup of tea, now perfectly warm. The aroma of tea, mixed with the sweetness of honey, filled his nostrils, and he suddenly realized that this was the seventy-sixth consecutive day that Shao Wei had brought him this cup of tea while he was working. And he had never once said thank you.

The next morning, when Si Qi came downstairs, Shao Wei was already sitting at the dining table, reading the newspaper. Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting a soft golden edge on his stern profile. On the table lay a simple breakfast: whole-wheat toast, a fried egg, and black coffee.

"Good morning." Si Qi greeted briefly and sat down opposite.

Without even looking up, Shao Wei hummed a "hmm" and turned a page of the newspaper. The only sound between the two men was the soft clink of cutlery.

This silence had lingered between them for three years. Three years ago, when two top Alpha families decided to marry for commercial gain, everyone considered it a mad decision. The pheromone repulsion, territoriality, and competitive instincts between Alphas doomed such a marriage to fail. But Si Qi and Shao Wei both accepted the arrangement with surprising calm.

"There's a dinner party today," Si Qi broke the silence, "Lin Group, you have to attend."

Shao Wei finally raised his head, and his eyes, as calm as a deep pool, looked at Si Qi: "I understand."

Just those three words, nothing else. Si Qi suddenly felt an inexplicable irritation. Shao Wei was always like this, with no opinions or emotions about anything, like a perfect statue.

"Don't you have anything to say?" Si Qi heard himself ask.

Shao Wei tilted his head slightly, as if confused by the question: "What do I need to say?"

Si Qi clenched his coffee cup: "For example, if you don't want to go, or want to ask why you should go."

"You need me to go." Shao Wei's tone was as calm as if he was discussing the weather. "That's enough."

Si Qi stood up suddenly, his chair scraping against the floor with a harsh sound. He didn't know why he suddenly got angry, but he knew that every time Shao Wei spoke in such a calm tone, he felt like a stone was pressing on his chest.

"Seven o'clock, don't be late." He said this, grabbed his suit jacket and left the restaurant.

At the dinner, Si Qi was surrounded by a group of business partners, many of whom were flirting with him. Among them was Lin Mu, the young master of the Lin Group. The strong gardenia pheromones on his body made Si Qi frown.

"Mr. Si, I heard your company has been in some trouble recently?" Lin Mu handed the wine glass to Si Qi, his fingers "inadvertently" brushing the back of Si Qi's hand. "Perhaps we can discuss a solution privately?"

Si Qi took a step back and distanced himself: "I have a family."

Those three simple words surprised everyone around them. In this circle, marriages between Alphas were rare, and Si Qi's public admission was even more unusual.

"Mr. Si is really loyal." Someone joked.

Si Qi didn't respond. He looked across the crowd, searching for Shao Wei. Finally, he spotted his partner in a corner of the banquet hall—Shao ​​Wei standing alone in front of a French window, a glass of untouched champagne in hand, his gaze fixed on the distant nightscape. Even in such a social setting, he still felt like an outsider.

Si Qi suddenly recalled their wedding three years ago. At that lavish ceremony, Shao Wei, dressed in a white suit, recited his vows with a blank expression. When the emcee announced they could kiss, Shao Wei simply touched his lips gently, as if completing a task. Si Qi thought, at least this Alpha wouldn't be as clingy and emotional as an Omega.

Now thinking about it, maybe he was wrong.

After dinner, Si Qi drank a bit too much. He sat in the back seat of the car, his head against the window, feeling the slight dizziness from the alcohol coursing through his blood. Shao Wei sat on the other side, as quiet as ever.

"Why me?" Si Qi suddenly asked.

Shao Wei turned his head, the moonlight filtering through the car window casting a mottled shadow on his face. "What?"

"Three years ago, the marriage partner could have been your cousin, an Omega." Si Qi stared into Shao Wei's eyes. "Why did it end up being you?"

Shao Wei was silent for a moment, then said, "He doesn't want to marry you."

"So you're taking his place?" Si Qi laughed, a bitterness in his laughter that he himself didn't even notice. "Just because you don't care?"

Shao Wei looked out the window at the passing street scene and said, "Life is meaningless. What difference does it make who I marry?"

Those words stabbed Si Qi like a knife in the chest. He suddenly grabbed Shao Wei's wrist and pulled him towards him. Their faces were so close that Si Qi could smell the faint cedar pheromone on Shao Wei. It was the pheromone of an Alpha, which should have repelled him, but instead made him feel strangely familiar and at ease.

"You really are..." Si Qi couldn't finish his words because Shao Wei calmly interrupted him:

"You've drunk too much, Siqi."

Si Qi let go of his hand and leaned back in his seat. Yes, he was drunk, otherwise why would he ask such boring questions.

After returning home, Si Qi went straight to the bathroom. The warm water washed over his body, but it couldn't wash away the irritation in his heart. As he walked out of the bathroom, drying his hair, he found a cup of hangover tea and two hangover pills on the bedside table.

Shao Wei was no longer in the bedroom. Si Qi knew he must have gone to the guest room. As usual, they never shared a bed except during their sensitive periods.

Si Qi swallowed the pills and lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. He still had a lot of work to do tomorrow, so he should fall asleep as soon as possible. However, Shao Wei's words, "Life is boring," kept replaying in his mind.

The next day at noon, Si Qi was reviewing a contract in his office when his secretary knocked on the door and said, "Mr. Si, Mr. Shao's medical examination report has arrived. You need to sign for it."

Si Qi frowned: "Why send it to the company?"

"The hospital said that there are some indicators that the family needs to pay attention to." The secretary handed over a sealed folder.

Si Qi opened the file, and when he saw the diagnosis, his fingers trembled uncontrollably. "Alpha pheromone disorder, late stage. If not treated promptly, it may cause the pheromone system to collapse and be life-threatening."

The diagnosis date was three months ago.

Si Qi stood up suddenly, his chair slamming against the bookcase behind him. Three months, Shao Wei had kept it a secret from him for three months!

"Cancel all my plans for today." He grabbed his suit jacket and rushed out the door.

When Si Qi burst into Shao Wei's office, the latter was in a meeting with several senior executives. Seeing Si Qi's gloomy face, Shao Wei calmly ended the meeting. After the last person left and closed the door, Si Qi slammed the medical examination report on the table.

"Explain," he said through gritted teeth.

Shao Wei glanced at the report, his expression unchanged: "Nothing serious."

"Nothing serious?" Si Qi's voice trembled with anger. "The doctor said you could have a pheromone collapse at any moment! Do you know what that means? Pain, organ failure, death!"

Shao Wei sorted the documents on the table: "I know."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Si Qi grabbed Shao Wei's collar, "Why did you hide it?"

Shao Wei finally looked up at him, and in those eyes, which were always as calm as water, there flashed something that Si Qi had never seen before: "What's the harm in telling you?"

Si Qi was stunned.

"You know better than me what our marriage is." Shao Wei gently pushed Si Qi's hand away. "It's a deal, a play. You play your role, I play mine. Besides that, what else is there?"

Si Qi opened his mouth, but found himself speechless. Shao Wei was right. For three years, they had established nothing more than a superficial marriage. They'd eaten together, occasionally had sex, but no communication, no commitment, and no love.

"What is the treatment?" Si Qi finally asked in a low voice.

Shao Wei sat down again. "Pheromone regulation therapy requires deep involvement of the partner to establish an emotional connection." A self-deprecating smile played at the corner of his mouth. "For us, it's impossible."

Si Qi felt a wave of suffocation. Alpha pheromone disorder often occurs in Alphas who have chronically suppressed their emotions and instincts, especially those who have been in stressful situations without the comfort of their partners. In other words, he had driven Shao Wei to this point.

"Starting tonight, I'll move back to the master bedroom," said Si Qi.

Shao Wei looked up suddenly: "What?"

"I said," Si Qi repeated word by word, "I'm moving back to the master bedroom. We'll sleep together, every day. Also, starting tomorrow, I'll accompany you to the hospital for treatment."

Shao Wei's eyes flashed with disbelief: "There's no need for this. We..."

"It's necessary." Si Qi interrupted him, "I'm your man."

This was what he said to Shao Wei at their wedding three years ago, at the time simply out of Alpha possessiveness. But now, this sentence has taken on a whole new meaning.

That night, when Si Qi stood at the master bedroom door, hugging a pillow, Shao Wei had already changed into pajamas and sat by the bed. He looked a little uneasy, his fingers unconsciously tugging at the corner of the quilt.

"You can regret it." Shao Wei said.

Si Qi threw the pillow onto the bed: "Shut up and go to sleep."

They lay side by side in bed, separated by an invisible line. Si Qi could hear Shao Wei's steady breathing and smell the familiar scent of cedar. He suddenly realized that this was the first time they had shared a bed when they were not susceptible.

"This time." Shao Wei suddenly spoke in the darkness.

"Um?"

"If treatment fails..."

"It won't fail." Si Qi said firmly.

Shao Wei was silent for a moment, then said softly, "I just wanted to say thank you for being here tonight."

Si Qi turned around and looked at Shao Wei's profile in the moonlight. He suddenly remembered the details he had overlooked: the breakfast Shao Wei prepared every day, the scented tea that appeared on time outside the study door, the shirts that were always neatly ironed in the closet... For three years, Shao Wei had been expressing something in this way, but he had never truly seen it.

"Shao Wei," Si Qi heard himself say, "Starting tomorrow, I'm going to pursue you."

Shao Wei turned his head, his eyes slightly widening in the moonlight: "What?"

"I said," Si Qi moved closer, so close that he could feel the other's breath, "I want to pursue you. The formal kind. Dates, gifts, sweet words, everything."

Shao Wei's Adam's apple rolled: "Why?"

"Because..." Si Qi reached out and stroked Shao Wei's cheek. For the first time, he looked so seriously at the man who was legally his partner. "I suddenly realized that I might have fallen in love with you a long time ago, but I was too much of a jerk to realize it."

A glint flashed in Shao Wei's eyes, a wave of emotion Si Qi had never seen before. Then, unexpectedly, Shao Wei smiled softly: "Then you'll have to work hard. I'm very hard to pursue."

Si Qi also smiled. He put his forehead against Shao Wei's: "Challenge accepted."

Outside the window, moonlight quietly streamed onto the bed, casting a silver glow over the Alpha couple. After three long years of silence, something finally began to change.