I Have To Love【Abo】 Chapter 10
byPink Face Takes the Stage
Su Tai drove aimlessly for a while, found a long bench on the street, and sat down with a freshly bought cappuccino beside him.
Across an asphalt road about ten meters wide, sanitation workers were sweeping willow leaves. In this season, the willow leaves turned from green to yellow and fell quickly. Before they could finish sweeping, more fell, repeating the endless cycle of cleaning.
Su Tai watched the sanitation worker diligently clear the fallen leaves, then lowered his gaze to his own feet. After staring for a moment, he bent down and picked up a yellow willow leaf speckled with black spots.
The coffee emitted a slightly bitter aroma, a bitterness that even the sweetest milk could not mask. He remembered when Mei Yuren used to take him walking through the city. Mei Yuren liked to experience life and perceive things through his steps, but he disliked willow trees. He would absolutely never go out during the season when willow catkins flew.
His thoughts were interrupted by a notification from his phone—a work message.
Secretary: “Mr. Su, there is a technology exhibition tomorrow afternoon. You are invited to attend and speak.”
Su Tai rubbed his brow. “Decline it. I am busy all day tomorrow. Handle what you can online, and push the rest to the day after tomorrow.”
Secretary: “Understood.”
Disturbed by work, Su Tai lost his contemplative mood, stood up, and took his coffee home.
Aunt Wang noticed his lack of enthusiasm and asked, “Did things go smoothly today?”
Su Tai replied, “Smoothly. Aunt Wang, I’m going upstairs to rest now. Wake me up in two hours.”
“Do you need me to prepare the sleeping incense?”
Su Tai usually had excellent sleep quality and rarely needed such things. He only used it in one situation: when he was frowning and said he needed to sleep, like now.
“Prepare it.”
The hazy autumn weather made him feel dizzy, weakening his brain nerves.
The maid softly lit the incense. The agarwood scent was rich and mellow, and the smoke rose like a ribbon as it burned. The alpha’s face was buried in the down pillow, long eyelashes casting a shadow. His breathing was steady. When he turned over, his loose sleeping robe exposed a large expanse of skin.
When Xie Qiao returned, he saw this scene. His brother was sleeping too deeply; he didn’t react even when the door opened. The alpha’s keen senses seemed to be dulled.
He wanted to close the door, yet he didn’t want to miss a single moment. He stood at the doorway, lingering, utterly captivated, as if he wanted to devour the alpha whole.
“A’Qiao, you’re back.”
Su Tai had woken up when Xie Qiao opened the door, but he was too deeply asleep and lazy to get up. He sat up, gathered the folds of his loose sleeping robe, and called out to Xie Qiao.
“Yes, Aunt Wang said to wake you up in two hours. She was about to come up, but I happened to be back, so I came instead.” Xie Qiao remained standing at the doorway.
“How did you get back?”
“By taxi.”
Su Tai ran a hand through his hair, feeling slightly better, and continued, “Come in. I have something to talk to you about.”
Xie Qiao stepped inside, closed the door, walked to Su Tai’s bedside, and waited obediently for Su Tai to speak.
“That…” The words reached his lips, but Su Tai didn’t know how to say them. “…Is Aunt Wang’s dinner ready?”
Xie Qiao watched him hesitate for a long time only to ask this question. “It’s ready. Is it something difficult to say?”
Su Tai had never found words so difficult to utter. Before saying it, he knew that whatever he said, Xie Qiao would comply, but he didn’t know how to phrase it. It felt as if those few words would be a knife slicing through his throat as they came out.
Xie Qiao was still standing. Su Tai said, “Sit down.”
Xie Qiao watched him, sat down, and quietly waited for him to speak.
“Brother.”
“Hm.”
“If you don’t want to say it, let me guess.” He looked into Su Tai’s eyes, then gave a slight chuckle. “Did he ask you to come home?”
Xie Qiao never called Su Kun ‘father.’ Even when Xie Renqing and Su Kun were deeply in love and wanted Xie Qiao to take the Su surname, Xie Qiao refused. The usually well-behaved child had overturned a table for the first time to express his emotions, and it was then that Su Tai first truly looked at this step-brother.
Su Tai paused.
Xie Qiao continued, “Did he ask you to bring me back?”
If Xie Qiao hadn’t used a question mark, Su Tai would have thought Xie Qiao had planted a wiretap on him.
However, with Xie Qiao saying it, Su Tai felt relieved. “A pretty accurate guess. The old man is celebrating his birthday tomorrow, and it’s a big event. He asked me to bring you along. I told him you didn’t want to go, but…”
“But he said that since I was raised by the Su family, I should go back.” Xie Qiao curved his eyes, but no smile reached them. “Is that right?”
Su Tai hummed in affirmation. For all these years, the Su family had never publicly acknowledged Xie Qiao. Su Kun specifically requesting Xie Qiao’s presence this time gave him a bad feeling. “If you don’t want to go, then don’t. He can’t do anything to you.”
“I’ll go,” Xie Qiao’s voice was soft. “I should go.”
Xie Qiao’s sensibility made Su Tai feel uneasy. Su Tai usually liked people to be subservient to him, but Xie Qiao was different; he actually wished this omega would be a little more aggressive.
Su Tai ruffled his hair. “Alright. I’ll make sure we leave early tomorrow.”
“Okay. You should change and go down for dinner. Aunt Wang must be getting anxious.”
Xie Qiao stood up and handed Su Tai a new set of pajamas. “You change. I’ll wait for you downstairs.”
“Hm.” Su Tai watched Xie Qiao leave, noticing the redness in his ears. He wondered if his Gland had released pheromones during his sleep, making the omega uncomfortable, but after checking carefully, he found none.