Jiang Yumiao was a little fool. He naively assumed the second male lead was looking out for him, even giving him a touched look before pushing him out of the walk-in closet and happily changing clothes.
Given the difference in their builds, Ning Chunchi's white T-shirt was indeed far too long on Jiang Yumiao, reaching halfway down his thighs.
Jiang Yumiao looked in the mirror, intending to find a loose pair of pants to wear.
The system, which had been silent all day, suddenly appeared. "Host, perhaps you've heard of the boyfriend shirt?"
Jiang Yumiao: "..."
Jiang Yumiao understood almost instantly, but he wished he had no idea what the system meant.
Unfortunately, he understood all too well. The system wanted him to wear only the second male lead's white T-shirt, without any pants.
The system continued its sales pitch. "It's a rare opportunity to wear the second male lead's clothes. Don't let it slip away, host."
Jiang Yumiao looked at himself in the mirror again. The shirt draped over him carried a gentle scent of cedar mingled with the ocean, making him feel almost tipsy.
Steeling himself, he abandoned the search for pants and picked up the clothes he had worn that day. Then he braced himself, opened the closet door, and met the Alpha's gaze head-on.
After being pushed out of the closet, Ning Chunchi had done nothing but sit expressionlessly on the sofa facing its door, ensuring he would see the Omega the moment he emerged.
The door moved. The Omega, swathed in an oversized T-shirt, poked his head out first. Seeing him sitting there, a flicker of panic crossed his face, and he swiftly retreated.
Less than two seconds later, the Omega seemed to make up his mind again. He pulled the door all the way open, presenting himself fully to Ning Chunchi.
Ning Chunchi's gaze instantly clung to Jiang Yumiao like a cold, damp snake, starting at his smooth, fully exposed calves and brazenly crawling upward.
That look alone made Jiang Yumiao's legs so weak he could barely stand.
He steadied himself against the wall, glanced at the silently seated second male lead, and said with a slight tremor, "Ning... big brother, I'm dressed. Thank you for the shirt. I-I'll get going now!"
Jiang Yumiao fled.
He ran so fast he did not even have time to say good night.
Ning Chunchi watched Jiang Yumiao's retreating figure, his eyes reddening.
This little prey, who had provoked him and then refused to take responsibility, set him on fire.
Not the fire of anger.
The Alpha leaned back on the sofa and swept up the loose strands of hair that had fallen over his forehead after his shower, revealing an intensely predatory air. Finally unable to endure it any longer, he moved his hand downward, shredding every pretense of restraint and propriety.
Jiang Yumiao did not merely flee to his room. Still feeling unsafe, he jumped straight under the covers, only then finding a little peace of mind.
He suddenly remembered that, during the quiz on the first day, he had learned that Ning Chunchi hated people deliberately seducing him more than anything.
Wasn't this exactly what I was doing...?
This is insane. Absolutely insane.
Jiang Yumiao felt as though Ning Chunchi's final look had meant to devour him on the spot.
So embarrassed that even his neck flushed red, he rolled around on the bed, wrapping himself into a cocoon.
He could not sleep. Not at all. If anything, he was unusually wired.
Jiang Yumiao had no choice but to spend some time on his phone.
Remembering that Director Yang had promised to issue a statement explaining that day's events, he opened the show's Weibo account. At three that afternoon, the production team had posted a statement saying, in essence, that President Ning had been passing by on his way back from a business trip and happened to see Jiang Yumiao surrounded, so he had gotten out of his car to help. It had not been a private date.
Apart from the "passing by" part, it was all true, but the commenters were not buying it.
[Tsk, tsk. Production team, do you even believe this yourselves? Passing by? And he just happened to pass by that nobody's home?]
[You spent an hour cooking up an explanation, and this was the best you could do.]
[A little off topic, but Yuyu looked so scared he was about to cry when they surrounded him. Could your show please pay some attention to the guests' safety?]
[Thank goodness President Ning was "passing by." Now that's how you protect your wife!]
[At this point, everyone basically knows where Jiang Yumiao lives. He'll definitely have to move.]
[I humbly propose that he move straight into President Ning's mansion.]
[Didn't Yuyu get into President Ning's car? Maybe President Ning really did bundle him up and whisk him away.]
Jiang Yumiao: "..." Are you people all prophets?
He shrank back guiltily and put down his phone.
Lying under the covers in the second male lead's clothes, he could faintly smell Ning Chunchi's cool fragrance. Subtle as it was, its presence was impossible to ignore.
It was almost as though Ning Chunchi were soothing him to sleep...
He could not help remembering the ABO novels he had read. When Alphas or Omegas went unsatisfied during their sensitive periods, they would engage in "nesting," wrapping themselves in their partner's clothes.
Now he felt he understood why they did it.
Some people woke to an alarm, others to their dreams, but Jiang Yumiao was awakened by his determination to make Ning Chunchi a feast.
Unexpectedly, he woke without a headache that day. Although he had not slept long the night before, his sleep had been unusually restful.
Waking up enveloped in Ning Chunchi's pheromones felt so wonderful that Jiang Yumiao was reluctant to take off the white T-shirt.
Maybe... I could take it off after I finish cooking?
Wandering around bare-legged in broad daylight left him feeling far too exposed, so he put on pants after all.
Ning Chunchi had already gone to work. He had sent Jiang Yumiao a message on WeChat saying he would be home for dinner.
Jiang Yumiao planned to spend the day brainstorming his new book, have something simple for lunch, then take a nap to catch up on sleep before getting up to prep the ingredients.
He actually already had an idea in mind. Despite his cool, aloof looks and gentle personality, Jiang Yumiao's strongest genre was supernatural infinite-flow fiction. His most famous achievement was frightening a thirty-year-old reader so badly that they had slept with their parents for a week after finishing his book.
Once he immersed himself in writing, time always flew by. By the time Jiang Yumiao finished going over his outline, it was already afternoon, leaving no time to catch up on sleep.
When he was busy, he did not feel hungry. He hastily ate a few snacks to tide himself over and began prepping the ingredients.
The cylindrical tower beside the Peak of Xin Sea housed Ning Chunchi's company, Jingxing. Its name came from the verse, "I gaze up at the lofty mountain; I follow the noble path."
Riding the internet boom, and aided by Ning Chunchi's exceptionally sharp judgment, his company had become an internationally renowned maker of smart mobile devices in just a few years. Its most famous offerings were its smartphone lines, which were not only hugely popular with young people in China but also frequently topped the charts overseas.
This was also a major reason the Ning Family was so eager to welcome Ning Chunchi back.
For employees at a major tech company, overtime was routine. Their president often did not leave until after ten at night; even an early finish might mean eight or nine.
That evening, however, Jingxing's many little employee group chats were buzzing, because word had spread that the boss had left at six sharp.
A few fearless souls even took their gossip to the president's office. The final verdict was that Ning Chunchi really had bolted the moment the clock struck six.
Everyone's jaws nearly hit the floor. Their boss was a workaholic who would return to the office after getting an injection while sick and stay until almost midnight!!!
Lurking in the employees' lively WeChat group, He Yuan helplessly adjusted his glasses. Sometimes, knowing too much was not a good thing either.
He was the only person in the entire company who knew the boss was keeping a sweetheart tucked away in his luxurious home, and keeping it to himself was killing him.
Before you continue