Green Tea Flavor

"Get lost!"

The moment he saw the other man relax, Ye Qingpu sprang to his feet, hitched up his pants, and viciously kicked Pei Jiaqian in the leg.

Pei Jiaqian had no time to dodge and took the blow squarely.

"Calm down, brother."

Pei Jiaqian braced his hands behind him on the bed, his soul-stealing eyes curving into a beautiful arc.

"I'm calling the cops and having your ass locked up!"

Ye Qingpu's face flushed red. The haze in his eyes had yet to fade as he grabbed Pei Jiaqian by the collar in humiliation and rage.

"For what reason? What reason would brother give the police to arrest me? My only crime is loving brother too much."

Pei Jiaqian raised his brows and shrugged indifferently.

"Love my ass! You're a filthy pervert who loves sexual harassment!"

"But wasn't brother enjoying it too? If I get arrested on that charge, brother won't get away either. Brother's an accomplice—you lured me into committing a crime."

Ye Qingpu was so angry he was speechless.

With his tearful eyes and flushed face, no one would find him intimidating. On the contrary, Pei Jiaqian suppressed the flutter in his heart and simply watched him.

Under Pei Jiaqian's scrutiny, Ye Qingpu forced himself to stay calm.

The man in front of him was a pervert. Don't get mad. Not worth getting mad over.

"If brother is angry and ignoring me just because I have an omega fiancée in name only, then I'm being terribly wronged. My body and my heart belong to brother now and in the future. I won't let any other omega touch me. If brother feels it's unfair, brother can find a fiancé in name only too. Though I'd be jealous."

Pei Jiaqian wore an innocent expression.

"Who wants one? Don't think I'm anything like you!" Ye Qingpu snapped irritably.

"...Looks like brother is very devoted to me. I'm touched."

Pei Jiaqian smiled, wrapped an arm around his waist, and forced him to sit on his lap.

"Touched my ass. Believe it or not, I'll beat your kidney stones out, then use your brain clots to whip you."

Ye Qingpu pressed both palms against Pei Jiaqian's face, trying to force some distance between them.

"Looks like I should work on growing some stones and clots, so brother will have something handy to hit me with."

Pei Jiaqian caught one of his wrists in one hand and pinned it behind his waist. He rested his forehead against Ye Qingpu's chest, listening to his rapid, powerful heartbeat stirred by emotion.

"Brother, let me hold you for a while." Pei Jiaqian's voice was hoarse, pleading in tone.

"Let go."

"Brother knows what he's sitting on, right? If you keep misbehaving, I can't promise I won't do something excessive to you."

Ye Qingpu stiffened all over at those words. Gritting his teeth, he stopped struggling.

Pei Jiaqian let out a mournful sigh, his tone sounding both aggrieved and coquettish—

"Brother clearly kissed me first before. You even said I was an excellent bed partner, but the moment you felt good, you couldn't wait to throw me aside."

"Brother even gave me the cold shoulder. You disappeared for half a month without a word, then went off to enjoy some alone time with Jiang Jifu."

"I was already sad enough about being forced into an engagement at such a young age, and brother kept pushing me away again and again. That's too cruel. It wasn't my fault, and it's not like I wanted to get engaged to another omega..."

"If I could decide for myself, I'd marry brother and bring you home right now... Brother doesn't care about me at all. I'm clearly brother's enigma. I already said I only like brother..."

"Ah..." Pei Jiaqian rubbed his fluffy head against Ye Qingpu's chest and muttered pitifully,

"Brother should be mad at other people. They're the ones making me get engaged, trying to steal me away, trying to take this good-tempered, gentle, faithful, outstanding enigma away from brother... I'm so pitiful. Not only does the omega I marked and like not feel sorry for me, no one even cares that my hands and feet were dislocated because I didn't want to get engaged to another omega..."

Ye Qingpu frowned. Ye Qingpu fell silent. Ye Qingpu took a thoughtful breath—why did he suddenly feel a little guilty?

Seeing the shoulders of the person buried in his arms trembling slightly, Ye Qingpu sighed helplessly. His hand hesitated before he placed it on Pei Jiaqian's shoulder and patted him.

Putting himself in Pei Jiaqian's shoes, if the person he liked gave him the cold shoulder and treated him hot and cold because of uncontrollable circumstances, he would be sad too.

Taking a step back, were the others really blameless? Why were they rushing to arrange an engagement for someone so young?

Though everyone would get married and everyone would get what was coming to them, the young enigma had only turned twenty-four after his birthday. Why were they in such a hurry to bury him in the graveyard of marriage?

Ye Qingpu was already thirty and had never even had a romantic relationship. Why had people become more and more old-fashioned these days?

With a sigh, Ye Qingpu comforted him helplessly.

"Don't cry..."

Pei Jiaqian's arms tightened around his waist. His lowered head nodded lightly, while beneath his curls, his eyes curved seductively and a triumphant smile hung at the corner of his lips.

In the end, it was Pei Jiaqian who took the initiative to let him go and leave the room.

Watching the desolate figure leave with his head lowered, wiping at his tears now and then, Ye Qingpu let out a deep sigh.

The circles of the elite were full of people unable to control their own lives. Pei Jiaqian was forced by the Lineage into a marriage alliance with an omega. He was rather pitiful.

Whenever Ye Qingpu thought of spending the rest of his life treating someone he did not love with mutual respect until half his body was in the grave, he felt stifled. Pei Jiaqian must be silently enduring that invisible pressure too.

Sigh... and he had spoken so harshly to him... Ah, he should have been nicer.

Ye Qingpu lay in bed, agonizing over it until midnight.

Until he turned over and was accidentally poked by something.

He reached out to feel around and pulled a plush charm from the middle of the blankets. He froze instinctively, then felt warmth bloom in his chest.

The plush charm still carried its owner's pheromone scent. Ye Qingpu brought it close and sniffed it. That familiar scent, capable of instantly carrying him across snowy mountains, lakes, and Eden, made him feel at peace.

He wrapped himself in the blankets, his feelings a complicated mess.

But soothed by the pheromones, he slept soundly that night.

When he woke up and washed up the next morning, he felt that even his cold had improved. His nose felt far clearer than it had in a long time.

Only when he saw himself in the mirror did Ye Qingpu's gaze darken.

...Marriage and partners were both illusory, uncertain things. Ye Qingpu had always believed that.

Thinking of Pei Jiaqian, who had suddenly barged into his life, Ye Qingpu belatedly realized—he seemed to no longer be alone?

After getting dressed, Ye Qingpu slung a men's bag crossbody over his shoulder and left the room.

As he went down the stairs, someone suddenly shoved him from behind.

He was startled at first, then reflexively took a huge step forward. The result was that he steadied himself while straddling five stairs downward.

"Mr. Ye, are you all right?"

Jian Wen hurriedly helped him up with "concern."

Ye Qingpu looked at the person beside him with a speechless expression, his gaze complicated.

He impatiently shook off the hand. He did not know whether his strength was truly that great, but the beautiful, delicate omega staggered two steps and fell to the floor.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Ye. I'm just too delicate..."

"Ah... Young Master Jian, are you all right?"

An employee passing by hurried forward to help him up.

"Boss, are you all right?"

An employee from Ye Qingpu's company who was passing by wanted to step forward, but only looked on timidly.

Jian Wen's eyes reddened, and the tip of his nose turned red as well. He looked quite pitiful.

Even Ye Qingpu felt a little guilty. Standing upright and rubbing his twisted waist, he was encountering green tea for the first time and did not know whether he should breathe first or laugh first.

He rarely described someone as complicated, much less an omega. It was his first time encountering such a stupid omega, and he even found it a little novel—Jian Wen, Jian Wen, can you hear it? My silence is deafening.

After repeatedly seeming about to speak but stopping himself, he merely sighed softly, then walked away while rubbing his waist.

After living for thirty years, Ye Qingpu felt for the first time that he had an intolerance for stupidity.