He's my wife. So what?

Huo Jin walked over to Ji Chi, casting a soft shadow over him.

The young man on the couch looked a little more comfortable, though he was still sound asleep.

Huo Jin crouched beside Ji Chi.

It was rare to see Ji Chi looking so docile. His gentle sleeping posture lacked his usual prickly distance, like a cat with its claws sheathed.

Though he still wasn't tame, he made Huo Jin want to stroke him.

Huo Jin raised his hand and brushed aside the strands of hair covering Ji Chi's eyelids.

His slightly warm fingertip traced Ji Chi's features, moving from his forehead down the bridge of his nose to his Cupid's bow, finally resting on his soft lips.

That pale pink was a lethal poison.

Full and beautiful.

They looked very kissable.

As though sensing something in his sleep, Ji Chi's brows twitched slightly.

Huo Jin withdrew his hand, only for Ji Chi to catch it groggily a moment later.

Perhaps entranced by that familiar scent, Ji Chi tugged Huo Jin's hand over to use as a pillow.

He unconsciously pressed the full weight of his head onto it.

As he shifted, his warm lips brushed several times against Huo Jin's upturned wrist.

For a moment, it was impossible to tell which of them was hotter.

Every one of these gestures tested Huo Jin's limits.

He tried to pull his arm free, but the movement made Ji Chi look agitated.

Seeing that, Huo Jin gave up.

Huo Jin lowered his lashes, his gaze never leaving Ji Chi. A hazy warmth lingered around those closed eyes.

Huo Jin held Ji Chi's chin and lightly touched his lips.

The light wasn't harsh. Huo Jin studied the person before him, who seemed wrapped in a fine, soft mist-not merely beautiful, but dreamlike, stirring the anxious sense that he might slip through his fingers.

As if under a spell, Huo Jin leaned down to kiss the young man's enticingly soft lips.

Warm, almost hot.

Like freshly spun cotton candy, sweet and soft.

With a faint scent of plum wine, too.

Huo Jin wasn't greedy. As though another second of kissing would shatter him, he pulled away from Ji Chi before the lingering warmth had fully faded.

This is madness.

Huo Jin's eyes were full of smoldering desire.

I want to tear him apart.

Until nothing remains.

Huo Jin slowly stood, lowering the hand Ji Chi held slightly.

He wanted to slide it around Ji Chi's shoulders and back to lift him.

Ji Chi tightened his grip on Huo Jin's hand.

He was deeply insecure.

Huo Jin gently stroked Ji Chi's face and released soothing pheromones for him.

The invisible pheromones soothed him like a flowing mountain spring.

Once enveloped in those powerful pheromones, Ji Chi was indeed less desperate to cling to Huo Jin's hand.

Huo Jin slipped one hand around Ji Chi's lower back.

He hooked the other beneath his knees.

Then he lifted him into his arms.

Soothed, Ji Chi slept even more deeply.

He nuzzled comfortably against Huo Jin.

He felt as though thousands of little rabbits had wrapped themselves around him, and the sensation made him reluctant to wake.

A concealed door on the right side of Huo Jin's office led to a simple bedroom.

After setting Ji Chi on the bed, he took off his shoes and tucked him in before preparing to leave.

Just then, Ji Chi seemed to dream of something.

Following the strong scent, he grabbed Huo Jin's hand.

Indistinct, incomprehensible murmurs spilled from Ji Chi's lips.

Huo Jin couldn't make them out.

He leaned closer.

"My rabbit..." Ji Chi mumbled in his sleep.

"What?"

"My rabbit..."

A rabbit...

Huo Jin understood.

Ji Chi had mistaken him for the rabbit carrying his pheromones.

That was why he'd been nuzzling him.

Huo Jin pressed his lips together almost imperceptibly, a trace of displeasure coloring his gentle expression.

Then he corrected him in earnest. "I'm Huo Jin."

At those words, Ji Chi gave a soft, sleepy laugh.

"Huo Jin..."

"Huo Jin... is my rabbit..."

Ji Chi bit down on his lip.

"Hate... rabbits..."

"Hate..."

"Rabbits..."

Huo Jin drew a long breath, hurt flashing through his eyes. After those words, his breathing grew heavier.

Thorns scraped through his heart without drawing blood, yet the pain pierced him to the bone, gouging deep into his chest.

The turmoil roiled like boiling water, never settling. It had always been meant to surge fiercely; thinking it through, he shouldn't have been sad.

Just as hating rabbits.

Meant hating Huo Jin.

Huo Jin stared at Ji Chi for a long time, his searing emotions hidden behind the dark emptiness of his eyes. Every attempt to dissect himself only burned him anew.

It was only right to hate rabbits.

Perhaps it was only right to hate Huo Jin, too.

He pulled his hand free and reined in his pheromones.

The instant he sensed Ji Chi's brow furrow-

The pheromones he'd just withdrawn surged out again like a massive wave.

Within a few minutes, Huo Jin had filled the room with enough pheromones to last several hours.

Then he turned and left the room.

When Ji Chi woke, the room was dim, lit only by a faint bedside lamp.

He jolted upright.

Ji Chi checked his watch. 5:23 p.m.!

He'd slept for five whole hours!

How could I sleep that well? I completely forgot what I came here for!

Wait...

Ji Chi looked around. This wasn't the couch he'd fallen asleep on.

He got up, put on his shoes, and headed toward the door.

Only after opening it did he realize this was the private lounge attached to Huo Jin's office.

When did I get into bed?

Time was running short now. Ji Chi couldn't afford to dwell on it.

Ji Chi drew a sharp breath and was about to step outside.

Then he heard Huo Jin reprimanding someone.

His deep voice was sharp and severe, frighteningly dark and oppressive.

"Five reports, and not one meets the standards!"

"Use the international testing specifications. Plus or minus 0.01. Redo all of them."

Ji Chi's grip on the door handle tightened abruptly, even though this had nothing to do with him.

Still, he couldn't help growing nervous.

Huo Jin is so scary.

He peered through the crack in the door.

Huo Jin was seated, while several testing staff stood before him, their heads bowed so low that their faces were hidden.

"Judge Huo, the Supreme Authority's experimental data requirements allow a tolerance of plus or minus 0.02."

One of the bolder Alphas spoke up guiltily.

"And... this is only the preliminary data..."

He thought Huo Jin must have swallowed gunpowder today.

His temper had flared out of nowhere.

He was finding fault where there was none.

"Then tell me why Group A's data is more precise than yours every single time."

Huo Jin set the documents back on the desk, his icy expression making it hard to breathe. "Hand your group's data over to Zhou Qi."

The Alpha immediately panicked. "That's not what I meant, Judge Huo!"

He hurriedly gathered the papers scattered in front of Huo Jin. "We'll redo them right away!"

"Follow international standards. I want new results within three days." Impatience flickered in Huo Jin's dark eyes.

"Yes! We'll work overtime to finish them."

As he spoke, the Alpha signaled to the others behind him with his eyes, then fled from Huo Jin as quickly as he could.

After they left, an Alpha in a lab coat appeared at the entrance to Huo Jin's office.

An ID badge hung around his neck.

The name on it read Zhou Qi.

Zhou Qi leaned lazily against the glass doorway of Huo Jin's office and knocked with the back of his hand.

His teasing tone made it clear he and Huo Jin were on good terms.

"What's got Judge Huo so worked up?"

"Did your wife run away?"

Huo Jin shot him a look. "Get lost."

Zhou Qi clicked his tongue and folded his arms. "Want to grab dinner?"

"No," Huo Jin refused.

Undeterred, Zhou Qi walked straight in.

Ji Chi eased the door a little farther shut, looking exactly like a secret lover terrified of being discovered.

Zhou Qi walked up to Huo Jin, pulled over a chair, and sat down. "You've been acting strange lately."

"Don't tell me you went and got yourself a partner behind my back?"

"People in the department said you brought a pretty Alpha here. Everyone's talking about it."

Zhou Qi spoke animatedly, raising his eyebrows at Huo Jin.

"You never bring anyone into the CE Experimental Institute."

"They're all saying he's your wife."

Zhou Qi grew more enthusiastic as he spoke. "One intern even said they saw you put out his cigarette. Keeping him on a pretty tight leash, huh?"

Huo Jin: "..."

Zhou Qi raised his eyebrows inquisitively. "Tell me he isn't, and I'll clear it up for you."

Huo Jin lifted his dark gaze. "He's my wife. So what?"

Zhou Qi: ???!!!