IM Chapter 37
by Volare“Senior,” Xu Chen said anxiously, grabbing his arm. The words in his heart almost blurted out, “Even if you did it with him, I wouldn’t mind. I don’t care. As long as you still want me, I will still come back to you. Senior, please don’t reject me, okay? I really can’t live without you.”
Shen ChiTai frowned, his expression fading. He pushed his shoulder, but it didn’t budge, “You’ve been drinking. I’ll call a taxi to send you back first.”
“I’m not drunk.”
“You are drunk.”
“Am I drunk? Hehe, but I don’t want to go anywhere. I just want to stay by your side, even if it’s just watching you. I wish I was an alpha, so I could mark you and make you belong only to me.”
Shen ChiTai’s eyes suddenly changed, turning cold, “Don’t say that.”
Xu Chen tightened his grip on his shoulders, his fingers almost digging into his flesh, “Senior, have you ever liked me at all? Tell me, please?”
“Does it matter?” These things were no longer important to him. Shen ChiTai said helplessly, “It’s all in the past. So what if I liked you? Can we stop dwelling on it?”
Xu Chen was silent for a long time, then suddenly burst out laughing, “Senior is avoiding the question, so that means you did like me.”
“Xu Chen,” Shen ChiTai pushed at his body that was pressing forward again, half-closing his eyes. When he looked up again, his eyes were unusually firm and slightly distant as he looked at him, “Let me send you back first.”
Xu Chen didn’t say anything. Shen ChiTai helped him into the car, afraid that if he drank too much, it would affect his driving. He simply put him in the back seat.
“Where are the keys? Give me the keys.”
“In my pocket,” the beta said.
Shen ChiTai frowned slightly when he heard him speak but not move. He leaned over, supporting the back of the seat with one hand to reach into his pocket for the keys.
Xu Chen wrapped his arms around his waist and pulled him into his arms. The space in the car was limited. Shen ChiTai realized that he wasn’t joking with him. His face turned pale instantly, and he hurriedly tried to push the man away and run out of the car.
Xu Chen’s face was cold. The man was strong from drinking. If this were before, if Shen ChiTai said he was in pain, he would immediately let go, afraid of hurting him.
He was a beta and wouldn’t be affected by omega pheromones, but the scent on Shen ChiTai was more deadly to him than any omega pheromones. The omega desperately pressed against his shoulders. In the narrow space, he could clearly feel Xu Chen’s increasingly rapid breathing and bloodshot eyes.
“Xu Chen, if you really dare to do this, I will hate you for the rest of my life.”
“Hate me for the rest of my life?” The beta chuckled, “Even if I stop now, Senior won’t forgive me.”
Xu Chen frantically trapped his waist and raised his head to kiss the omega’s mouth. The space to move in the car was too small, and Shen ChiTai couldn’t dodge. Angered, he angrily raised his hand and slapped him on the left cheek.
“Calm down.”
Xu Chen’s head was turned by the slap, and he stopped moving for a moment.
Shen ChiTai lowered his hand and was silently quiet for a moment. Taking advantage of his daze, he got up to get out of the car. A black shadow flashed quickly before his eyes. Shang Jue didn’t know where he came from, scaring the omega.
The alpha rushed forward and punched Xu Chen hard on the right cheek.
“Xu Chen, I told you if you keep bothering my brother, I won’t spare you.”
Xu Chen had just raised his head when he took the full force of his punch, his head spinning and his ears ringing.
Shen ChiTai saw that he had punched him and didn’t seem to want to stop, so he punched him in the face several times in a row. The beta couldn’t dodge. Plus, he had been drinking, and his reactions were slow. He could only raise his arms to block.
Watching the two of them tear and wrestle together.
Shen ChiTai was tired, exhausted, and helplessly shouted, “Shang Jue, stop it!”
“Brother.”
Shang Jue had no intention of letting him go.
Shen ChiTai was annoyed.
“He’s drunk. If you continue like this, I won’t see you again.”
If he hadn’t stopped him, Shang Jue would definitely have continued to beat him. Looking at the alpha’s angry appearance, even if he didn’t beat Xu Chen to death or cripple him today, he would at least send him to the hospital.
Shen ChiTai stood by the roadside, and people passing by couldn’t help but stop to take a few more glances, almost turning their heads every few steps. The omega took out his phone and flipped through it, calling Xu Chen’s friend to come and take him back.
The process of waiting wasn’t too long. Shang Jue stood next to him, the two of them not saying a word.
It wasn’t until Xu Chen’s friend came to pick him up that Shen ChiTai turned to look at the alpha behind him, who was looking down with a grievance and not daring to breathe loudly. A trace of coldness gradually covered his eyes.
On the way back in the car, neither of them spoke. Shen ChiTai closed his eyes as soon as he got in the car, feeling a little irritable. From time to time, he turned his head to look out the window, not knowing what he was thinking.
The car stopped in the yard, and the omega walked ahead without saying a word. As soon as he stepped into the door, Shen ChiTai suddenly stopped, and Shang Jue, who was walking behind him in a daze, almost bumped into him.
“…Brother.” The alpha called out softly, full of apology.
A hint of sarcasm and bitterness flashed across Shen ChiTai’s lips. He took a small step toward him, staring intently at the alpha’s aggrieved and guilty face, “Why aren’t you pretending anymore? Didn’t you want to do it? Do it, why don’t you do it? Threaten me? Doing things I hate regardless of my wishes, what’s the difference between you and him? You wanted to beat him to death just now, didn’t you? As always, being willful and acting without considering the consequences. Shang Jue, are you still a child?”
“Brother…”
Shen ChiTai angrily interrupted him, “It’s always like this. You’re so sure that I’ll be soft-hearted, so you unscrupulously bully me. Am I really that easy to bully? Am I destined to be bullied by all of you?”
Shang Jue anxiously explained, “Brother, I really didn’t mean that.”
“Heh.” Shen ChiTai coldly laughed, “If I hadn’t stopped you today, would you really have wanted to beat him to death? Shang Jue, I really hate you like this. I hate you for doing things without considering anything else. Have you ever thought about me? If something really happened to you, what would I do? How would you face Dad?”
Shang Jue’s expression was a little dazed. Shen ChiTai smiled bitterly and shook his head gently, staggering back two steps.
Shang Jue lowered his eyes, his voice low and full of apology, “Brother is right to reprimand me. I’m sorry, I was too willful.”
Shen ChiTai turned around swiftly, not looking at Shang Jue’s face that was so good at making people feel soft-hearted, “Maybe we all need some time to cool down. I’ll move out for a few days. When we’ve both calmed down, I’ll move back.”
Shang Jue suddenly looked up, “Where will Brother move to?”
“That’s none of your business.” Shen ChiTai’s tone was indifferent. Just as he was about to leave,
“I’ll move out,” Shang Jue said. After a long silence, he finally walked past Shen ChiTai, brushing shoulders with the omega and walking out.
Shen ChiTai didn’t stop him either.
Shang Jue stayed at the company for almost a week, occasionally sleeping in a hotel. His attitude towards work was serious, he was able to endure hardships, and his performance in all aspects was outstanding.
Shang Lu even praised him unreservedly in front of Shen ChiTai.
Shen ChiTai’s initial reaction was very cold. He just responded to the man a couple of times out of politeness, then lowered his head and ate quietly. Shang Jue hadn’t returned, and his seat was still empty, with a clean set of dishes placed on the table.
Shen ChiTai had long been accustomed to setting out three sets of dishes at the dinner table, and the meals were always made according to the portions for three people. Xu RuZhou also came occasionally, but he sat next to Shang Lu. The seat that belonged to Shang Jue was still empty.
Even though it had been almost a week since the two of them had quarreled, he still couldn’t change his old habits.
When Shang Jue was at home, the man was like a clingy lapdog, following him wherever he went. Now that Shang Jue was no longer around, Shen ChiTai’s days were still considered leisurely, going back and forth between home and the store every day.
He originally thought that he could adapt to this kind of life very well, after all, this was what he had always wanted. But when he really lived this kind of leisurely life, he felt like something was missing.
Every day he worked, ate, and slept according to the routine, saying almost the same greetings to different customers. He took care of the cats, cleaned up, and took out the trash on the way home. With one less person at home, it seemed much colder, and the empty seat at the dinner table always made it hard for him not to notice.
Shen ChiTai occasionally flipped through their old chat logs. When there were no new messages, he flipped up, rereading all their previous conversations.
He would always stare blankly at a certain message that the man had sent him.
In the days without contact, he seemed to be starting to miss any little detail of their past interactions. He would always retreat from their chat interface in a disheveled manner, just afraid that he would impulsively send a message to the other party.
All along, he had arrogantly thought that Shang Jue was the one who couldn’t live without him. But reality gave him a hard slap in the face. Without the alpha, it was only him who was suffering and tormented.
Having not seen Shang Jue for half a month, he was unusually unaccustomed, which was completely different from the self he had imagined.
When he was eating with his dad at night, he heard Shang Lu say that Shang Jue was on a business trip. The person who used to hate going on long trips the most had actually volunteered to go on a business trip to Beijing this time.