Li Yuheng narrowed his eyes, his gaze sweeping back and forth between Shu Bai's feigned composure and the pillow where the communicator was hidden, a playful smile curving his lips.
"Really can't watch it?"
He leaned closer, his arms resting on the mattress beside Shu Bai, the warm scent of black tea carrying the dampness of her recent shower enveloping her.
"I'm so curious! My 'ex-boyfriend's' little secrets—maybe it's something juicy about me?"
Shu Bai was trapped in a small space by him, but she could clearly feel the heat from his body and his undisguised desire to explore.
He turned his head away, avoiding the overly intense gaze, and said firmly, "No. Li Yuheng, this is a matter of personal privacy."
So Li Yuheng got up, took a pillow from his bed, and gently placed it beside Shu Bai's pillow, his tone carrying a hint of playful nonchalance: "Alright then, I won't watch it. But as compensation—"
He paused deliberately, then lay down on the bare bed. "I have to sleep here tonight."
"...Don't you have your own bed?"
"Yes, but my bed was just soaked in my pheromones, and it's uncomfortable to sleep on. Yours smells much better. Besides, I'm a 'vulnerable' Alpha in my sensitive period right now, and I need close care. That's what you said."
When did I say I needed to be 'close to' him?
"Oh, I misremembered, it was me who said it."
"..."
Shu Bai straightened up and moved her pillow further in, deliberately drawing a clear dividing line between the two of them.
He pointed to the pillow he had taken from the opposite bed, which was under Li Yuheng's head, and said in an unquestionable tone: "This is your territory. Stay put and don't cross the line."
He paused, then added, his voice tinged with barely perceptible tension: "Just sleep like this, each of us sleeping separately."
Li Yuheng blinked, propped his head up on his side, and said with an innocent and harmless look: "Why? Weren't we just hugging each other nicely? Alphas in their sensitive period need to be comforted, that's scientific evidence."
Shu Bai lay down expressionlessly, her back to him, and pulled the thin blanket over herself: "Scientific evidence has never said that comforting includes holding someone all night. Li Yuheng, don't you know your own situation? Do you think you can sleep peacefully in each other's arms during your vulnerable period?"
This is like setting off fireworks next to a barrel of dynamite; it's pure suicide.
Just imagining the unconscious physical entanglement and pheromone collisions at night makes Shu Bai's scalp tingle.
His previous attempt to "help" had already pushed the boundaries of control to the brink, and he didn't want a full-blown fight or anything worse to actually happen in the middle of the night.
Li Yuheng looked at his taut back, a hint of a smile flashing in her eyes, her voice sounding aggrieved: "Oh... so that's what you're worried about. But Xiaobai, I'm really weak right now, dizzy and weak, my hands and feet are cold, I just want to hug something warm... I promise I'll be good, I'll just hug it, and I definitely won't move around, okay?"
As he spoke, he tentatively reached out a finger and carefully tugged at the hem of the pale white pajamas.
Shu Bai didn't turn around: "Your hands and feet are cold? Who took a shower with cold water just now? Li Yuheng, playing the victim is outdated. Close your eyes and go to sleep."
"Tsk, how heartless." Li Yuheng withdrew his hand, sighed, and obediently lay down within his pillow area. "Fine, fine, I'll listen to you. Sigh, even during my vulnerable period I'm being disliked, what a life—"
"Turn off the lights."
"...Tsk."
The room finally quieted down.
Shu Bai's consciousness teetered on the edge of sleep. In the half-awake state, she felt the edge of her pillow sink slightly, carrying a warmth and weight that did not belong to her.
He was so sleepy he could barely keep his eyelids open, and on instinct, he mumbled incoherently, his voice heavy with drowsiness: "Li Yuheng... this is my seat..."
Behind him came Li Yuheng's confident whisper, his breath brushing against the back of his neck, making it a little itchy: "I'll borrow a little bit, just a tiny bit of space."
"Who agreed..." Shu Bai's voice grew softer and softer, almost swallowed up by sleepiness, but the will to refute was still stubbornly struggling.
"The pillow agrees."
Li Yuheng's voice carried a triumphant smile as he carefully moved closer to him, his arm resting on Shu Bai's waist, his palm warm and soothing through the thin nightgown.
“...soliciting nonsense.” Shu Bai made a vague criticism, but her body was like a cat tamed by warmth. In that familiar embrace and scent, even the last trace of her consciousness dissipated.
He leaned back, sinking deeper into the embrace, his breathing becoming long and steady.
Listening to the even breathing of the person in front of him and feeling the real fullness in his arms, Li Yuheng silently raised a huge smile on his lips.
He carefully pulled his arms closer, holding the person more securely in his embrace, his chin gently brushing against the soft, white hair.
In the darkness, he closed his eyes contentedly.
Goodnight, my love.
...
midnight.
Shu Bai was awakened by a sudden heat and a certain undeniable, grating sensation on her back.
The moment he regained consciousness, the first thing he felt was a chest pressing against his back, radiating heat like a furnace, and a strong, heavy arm wrapped around his waist, almost completely locking him in its embrace.
Then, there was that clearly visible thing pressed against his lower back...
Shu Bai's drowsiness vanished instantly, leaving her frozen in place.
Li Yuheng's breath sprayed evenly onto the back of his neck, as if he were fast asleep.
But the extremely strong presence of the reaction, and the even more intense and restless red tea pheromones in the air than before falling asleep, all indicated that this body was in a state of excitement.
Shu Bai took a silent breath, trying to calm himself down.
He moved cautiously, trying to get himself out of Li Yuheng's embrace.
However, as soon as he made the slightest movement, the arm around his waist tightened even more unconsciously, and the person behind him even unconsciously shoved forward, making a muffled nasal sound.
"Um……"
Shu Bai froze, his scalp tingling.
Even worse... this is going to be fatal.
He gritted his teeth, telling himself not to act rashly.
Alphas in their vulnerable period may maintain a high level of alertness and instinctive reactions even in their sleep; any excessive movement could detonate this "bomb."
He slowed his breathing and tried little by little to pry open the hand wrapped around his waist.
The moment his fingertips touched the back of Li Yuheng's hand, the scalding heat made his fingertips tremble slightly.
Just as he was struggling to pry open a finger and thought he saw a glimmer of hope,
Li Yuheng suddenly moved.
It's not the kind of movement you make when you're awake, but rather the unconscious adjustment of posture while you're asleep.
As if he wasn't close enough, he tightened his arms and pulled Shu Bai even closer into his embrace, making them fit together perfectly.
Caught off guard, Shu Bai's back slammed into that burning hot chest.
And that uncomfortable thing, therefore...
"!!!" Shu Bai gasped sharply, all his movements stopping abruptly.
Destroy it.
Li Yuheng seemed to feel comfortable because of this action, letting out a satisfied sigh, his warm lips even unconsciously rubbing against the sparse white skin on the back of his neck.
Shu Bai held her breath, not daring to move, feeling as if her back was about to be scalded by the astonishing heat.
He closed his eyes and mentally cursed himself countless times for "absolutely not to move."
Is this what you call not moving around? Is this what you call being well-behaved?
This is simply...
Just as Shu Bai was contemplating whether to risk breaking free or to endure a little longer and wait for an opportunity, he sensed that Li Yuheng's breathing rhythm had changed.
It was no longer so long and steady, but rather a little more rapid.
The hand around his waist began to unconsciously and gently caress the fabric of his pajamas.
Shu Bai felt a sudden alarm bell ringing in his heart.
This guy looks like he's waking up.
Or rather, it's in a semi-conscious, half-awake state.
Sure enough, the next second, a hoarse, languid voice, thick with sleepiness and a nasal tone, rang close to his ear:
"noob……?"
Li Yuheng's voice was muffled and unclear, clearly not fully awake yet, more like a subconscious muttering.
"Hmm..." He seemed to have confirmed something, and hummed contentedly, tightening his arms to hold the person in his arms even tighter, and even subconsciously... gently ( ).
Shu Bai felt as if all the blood in his body rushed to his head.
He could no longer bear it and slammed his elbow backward!
"Hmm!"
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