I Have To Love【Abo】 Chapter 4
byPink Face Takes the Stage
The Su Residence stood amidst the urban cluster of skyscrapers, featuring five ponds and thousands of flowers and trees within its grounds. From above, it looked like an embedded Turquoise Iris. A cool breeze blew, and Xie Qiao sat on the bridge over the artificial river, staring blankly at the light in the study.
He had eaten too much that evening and came out for a walk to aid digestion. The Su Residence had many bridges, but he only liked this one because he could see his brother’s study from it.
After a long time, Xie Qiao saw a tall figure standing by the floor-to-ceiling window, looking directly at him.
His phone rang. It was a message from Su Tai.
“You just finished eating and ran outside to catch a cold? Aren’t you afraid of getting sick?”
“I won’t catch a cold. My body is very healthy.”
“A’Qiao.”
The moment Su Tai called him in that serious tone, Xie Qiao felt nervous and quickly stood up. “I’m coming back right away.”
He ran upstairs, stood panting outside Su Tai’s study door, and knocked. “Brother.”
“Come in.”
He pushed the door open. Su Tai was sitting at his desk working. The screen was projected onto the opposite wall, displaying an online meeting with about a dozen executives. Xie Qiao froze in the doorway, completely still.
The alpha briefly looked up at him. “Why are you standing at the door?” Then he turned his attention back to the screen, continuing to listen to the meeting content.
“Brother, am I interrupting your meeting?”
“No. What do you need?”
Xie Qiao lowered his head, his foot scuffing the imported carpet. “I want to read in your study. My phone is a bit boring.”
Su Tai watched him, looking as if he wouldn’t stop until he ruined that patch of carpet. “Come in.”
Xie Qiao curved his beautiful eyes. A few strands of his fluffy hair stood up like puppy ears. He quickly moved the few steps to his usual reading spot.
This area was where Su Tai used to tutor him when he was in high school.
He randomly picked up a book to read. Su Tai was wearing headphones, so he couldn’t hear the conversation on the other side.
He only heard Su Tai’s occasional words, guessing from the scattered content that they were discussing a merger and acquisition.
The books on Su Tai’s shelf were truly boring, possessing an inherent hypnotic effect. Before long, Xie Qiao actually fell asleep.
“A’Qiao?”
He groggily opened his eyes. Su Tai was squatting beside him. “Brother.”
“Go back to your room to sleep.”
The central air conditioning was on in the study, so it wasn’t cold at all. Xie Qiao obediently got up. “I want to stay with you a little longer.”
“I’ll be busy for a long time. You have an early class tomorrow. Go to bed early.”
“Just a little longer, Brother, just a little. I can’t fall asleep until a certain time.”
Su Tai chuckled. “Didn’t you just fall asleep?”
Xie Qiao said, “It’s because your books are too hypnotic. That’s why I fell asleep.”
“Don’t you have your own books in the study? Comics, novels.”
“Then I’ll read my comics while you handle your work.”
Seeing him acting like a stubborn dog, Su Tai relented. “Go back to your room to sleep in one hour.”
“Got it, got it.”
Su Tai had some strange habit of treating him like a child. Although he was indeed a child when they first met, only 8 years old, Su Tai was already a 16-year-old high school student back then.
His gaze followed Su Tai as he recalled the first time they met.
At that time, Su Tai was attending boarding school and preparing to study abroad. When he returned, he discovered that his home had gained a child and a stepfather.
Eight-year-old Xie Qiao saw such a large house for the first time. Wearing a faded, stiff black T-shirt, he happily ran around the house and accidentally knocked over and shattered a photo frame.
Before he could even cry, he saw 16-year-old Su Tai, dressed in a basketball uniform. The basketball in his hand hit the floor with a thud, shattering a vase. Su Tai walked toward him, radiating hostility. “That’s my dad’s photo, our family portrait. Who gave you permission to break it?”
Eight-year-old Xie Qiao’s collar was grabbed by Su Tai. A fist stopped half a centimeter from his cheek, halted by the alpha’s sharp reprimand.
“A’Tai, what are you doing!” That was Su Tai’s father, one of the people Su Tai disliked the most.
Standing nearby was a delicate, slender omega, Xie Qiao’s father and Su Tai’s stepfather.
“It was already exhausting enough hating one person. Now you bring two new ones in. Great.”
Su Tai held a grudge against his father and didn’t want to deal with them. He found speaking a single word to them disgusting. He picked up the photo and walked over to the omega. “Control your son.”
The omega tearfully hugged 8-year-old Xie Qiao, which caused the alpha to feel intense heartache.
Xie Qiao shook off the memory, got up from the small sofa, and went to the bookshelf to find a comic book.
He stood on his tiptoes and reached a few times, then said to Su Tai, “Brother, I can’t reach it.”
Su Tai walked over and reached it without needing to stand on his toes. “This one?”
Xie Qiao stood behind Su Tai, seeing a small patch of the alpha’s tanned, toned skin exposed where his shirt lifted as he raised his arm. “Brother, will you bring back a sister-in-law for me?”
Su Tai took the book down, turned around, and looked at Xie Qiao’s somewhat sad expression. “No.”
The only thing Su Tai gained from his parents’ relationship was a fear of love. He only wanted sex, not a fixed relationship. Fixed meant attachment, and attachment meant destruction.
If possible, he felt sex wasn’t necessary either, but he was an alpha. Heaven had granted him a powerful physique and exceptional intelligence, but also stronger primal urges.
“Brother, did I really not say anything during my Heat Period?”
“You really didn’t say anything. What do you think you said?”
Xie Qiao stared into Su Tai’s eyes. “Nothing. But why did you give me a Temporary Mark, Brother?”
Su Tai avoided his gaze. “A’Qiao, we are brothers in name. Both our names are on the same household register. I am your Guardian. I have the right to save you when you are in danger.”
“Who asked you to be my guardian?”
Su Tai’s heart tightened, and he remained silent.
“Next time, even if I die, don’t mark me.”
His voice choked up. He left the harsh words hanging and prepared to leave, but Su Tai grasped his hand. “A’Qiao, let me assign two bodyguards to you.”
Xie Qiao raised his hand to wipe away his tears. “To monitor me?”
“It’s because I’m afraid you’ll be in danger,” Su Tai said patiently. “What if something happens during your Heat Period?”
Xie Qiao shook off Su Tai’s hand. “Do whatever you want.”
Tancheng University was full of willow trees. At this time of year, they were shedding leaves, and the willow branches swayed in the wind. Xie Qiao’s class was in Classroom 304 of the First Teaching Building, a Major Course. He was studying law.
On the way, he met a classmate, an alpha girl named Qiao Na. She had long, straight hair and straight bangs, and a red mole at the corner of her eye, in the same position as Su Tai’s tear mole.
“Xie Qiao, is your health better?”
Xie Qiao nodded politely. “Yes, it is.”
“What kind of illness did you have that made you take so much time off?”
“Nothing serious. I’m all better now.”
The alpha took a few pages of notes from her bag. “Here, they’re very comprehensive.”
Xie Qiao waved his hand. “No need, it’s too much trouble.”
The alpha pressed them into his hand. “They’re specifically for you. It would be real trouble if you didn’t take them. All my hard work would be wasted.”
Xie Qiao couldn’t refuse and said, “Thank you.”
Qiao Na was roughly the same height as him. “Xie Qiao, I’ve noticed you’re different from other omegas.”
“How am I different?” Xie Qiao smiled, curving his eyes.
Qiao Na’s breath hitched. “You’re much taller than the average omega. Someone might mistake you for an alpha.”
Xie Qiao’s height of 183 cm was certainly prominent among omegas, but it was common among alphas.
“How could that be? I just ate a lot of nutritious food when I was growing up.”
“I’m just joking. Want to play ball after class? The people in the department said they’re playing at the tennis court,” Qiao Na invited. “There’s been too much going on these past few days you were gone. It’s nice to finally relax.”
Xie Qiao nodded. “Okay.”
Qiao Na suddenly reached out and touched his head. Xie Qiao moved away, and she smiled, awkwardly pulling her hand back.
“I don’t like people touching my head.”
“Sorry.”
Xie Qiao walked silently toward the classroom. This Major Course was Civil Law, and it was nearing its end, so the professor was speaking quickly.
Halfway through the class, Xie Qiao received a message: [There was no autopsy after his death, only a diagnosis from the Family Doctor at the time. I am currently looking for the doctor who was at the Su family back then.]
Xie Qiao typed on his phone, “Let me know when you find them. I want to meet them personally.”
There were over a hundred people in the Major Course classroom. The professor on the podium precisely selected the distracted Xie Qiao from the five-page roster. “Class Two, No. 25, Xie Qiao, stand up and answer. Do you think this matter can be classified as a civil case?”
A large block of material was displayed on the PPT. Xie Qiao stood up, hearing a prompt from the person next to him. “Yes.”
Xie Qiao hesitantly replied, “Yes.”
“Don’t zone out in class.” The professor waved him to sit down.
Qiao Na rested her head on her hand and leaned closer, whispering, “Since I helped you, can you forgive my rashness just now?”
Xie Qiao nodded. “Okay.”
After class, he followed Qiao Na toward the tennis court. The alpha subtly tried to get closer to him.
Xie Qiao suddenly spoke. “Do you like me?”
The alpha was stunned, then admitted frankly, “Yes. What about you?”
“I don’t like you.” Xie Qiao’s voice was cool, carrying the soft lilt of an omega, steaming slightly in the autumn wind.
“I’m very sad,” Qiao Na expressed her emotions directly. Xie Qiao looked at her blankly. His initial sadness was blown away, and his chest felt warm.
“Do you have someone you like?”
Xie Qiao bit his lip and nodded. “Yes, I’ve liked them for quite a while.”
“Do I have no chance?”
“I’m sorry.”
The tennis court was inside the gymnasium, built by Tancheng University two years ago for the Youth Olympics. They had booked four hours, and Xie Qiao and Qiao Na were paired together.
While taking a break from playing, Xie Qiao received a call from Su Tai. “Brother.”
“I’m in the Principal’s office in your school’s Administration Building. Where are you?”
“I’m playing ball with classmates from the department at the tennis court.”
“What time do you finish?”
“What time do you finish, Brother?”
“In half an hour.”
“Me too, in half an hour.”
Su Tai told him to wait at the tennis court and that he would drive over to pick him up. Xie Qiao agreed and hung up.
“Sorry, I have to go home in half an hour.”
Everyone who had worked with Xie Qiao for over a year knew he had a very strict older brother, so they weren’t surprised. “Alright, let’s play for another half hour.”
The streetlights on campus flickered weakly. Xie Qiao stood by the tennis court and saw an Audi pull up.
The car window lowered, and Su Tai was sitting in the back seat. Xie Qiao opened the car door and got in. “Brother.”
Su Tai put down the tablet in his hand and handed him a towel. “Wipe your sweat.”
The car smoothly drove out of the campus. The school was some distance from home. Omegas had low stamina, and Xie Qiao fell asleep in the car.
Su Tai looked at the photos on his phone taken by the bodyguard, showing Xie Qiao with the alpha, and approvingly stroked his head.