Are you his wife?

After knocking, Ji Chi took out a cigarette and lit it outside Huo Jin's door.

Smoke swirled before his eyes, thick enough to choke him.

The door opened, and Ji Chi looked up.

His cool eyes turned even colder.

It wasn't Huo Jin.

Hmph.

He acts so unapproachable, yet he brings someone home for the night.

Slut!

The man looked familiar. Ji Chi narrowed his eyes. He seemed to have seen him at the CE Experimental Institute.

He was a high-level Alpha.

He remembered Huo Jin calling him Zhou something last time.

Zhou Diu?

No, Zhou Qi.

"May I ask who you are?" Zhou Qi rested a hand on the doorframe, staring at Ji Chi outside. He openly looked him up and down as he deliberately asked the question.

Ji Chi stood at the door with a black combination-lock suitcase. Dressed entirely in black, he looked somber, his face handsome enough for a celebrity. Even a photograph of his unsmiling face would have made a poster. The faint light wound around him, obediently finding the perfect places to fall.

Looking farther down, even his shoes were worn through. He looked as though he had come seeking shelter.

An S-level Alpha.

He was in such a sorry state. But who cared whether he was a mess? No cheating bastard was getting in.

Zhou Qi braced a hand against the door, with no intention of letting Ji Chi inside.

Huo Jin wasn't the sort to take just anyone in. Besides, whether this man was a faithless bastard remained to be seen.

The other man's cold words and attitude, as though he owned the place, made Ji Chi deeply unhappy.

Extremely unhappy.

How many days had it been since I left?

He already has someone new?

Even if he had come to throw all caution to the wind, if Huo Jin's dick had so much as rubbed against anyone else, he would kill him.

He stared straight into Zhou Qi's eyes.

Then he took out his phone and called Huo Jin.

Huo Jin answered quickly, almost the instant it started ringing.

"Since when did you keep a guard dog at home?" Ji Chi asked flatly, his tone decidedly unpleasant.

Zhou Qi clenched his teeth. "Hey!"

"Who are you calling a dog?" Zhou Qi rolled up his sleeves.

Ji Chi flicked the ash from his cigarette. "You."

Zhou Qi was about to lose his temper when hurried footsteps sounded behind him.

He turned and found Huo Jin already at the door.

For some inexplicable reason, Ji Chi stubbed out his cigarette the instant he saw Huo Jin.

The thin smoke drifted up, then settled.

Ji Chi shifted the hand holding the cigarette slightly behind him, as though guilty. He couldn't understand it himself. Was he afraid of him?

Have you been fucked stupid, Ji Chi?

With that thought, he took out his cigarette pack and lit another right in front of Huo Jin.

He smoked furiously.

He raised his eyes to meet Huo Jin's.

He said nothing.

Huo Jin had marked him. He deserved to be cursed at.

Ji Chi didn't think he had gone too far.

During his heat, his senses had been amplified a hundredfold, leaving nowhere for any desire to hide. He had begged Huo Jin himself; he admitted that.

Coming to find him today was humiliating.

But after turning it over and over in his mind, he was convinced he had been set up. He couldn't endure three years all alone.

Ji Chi didn't want to keep tormenting his body, either. It wasn't worth it.

If Huo Jin was that calculating, then he had done it deliberately, waiting for Ji Chi to serve himself up for him to devour.

He was rotten to the core.

Everything came at a price.

Including that presumptuous marking.

Huo Jin froze briefly when he saw Ji Chi, concealing the flood of thoughts remarkably well. He pushed Zhou Qi's hand aside and walked over to Ji Chi.

Although he had guessed what Ji Chi meant, Huo Jin still asked.

He looked at Ji Chi's suitcase. "Are you...?"

Huo Jin left the question unfinished, but his meaning was clear. He wanted an answer from Ji Chi.

Ji Chi's expression remained indifferent. He took a drag on his cigarette and lazily pointed at the suitcase. "I'm here to move in with you. Isn't it obvious?"

Huo Jin's fingers curled slightly. He grabbed Ji Chi's suitcase and carried it inside with one hand.

Then he took Ji Chi's hand, ready to pull him into the house.

Ji Chi didn't move, but he didn't pull his hand away either. They had already done everything. Since he had decided to live together, he wasn't going to care about things like this.

But he had to get this straight.

"What's your relationship?" Ji Chi's gaze swept over the two of them.

Huo Jin was momentarily speechless. He hadn't expected Ji Chi to ask about Zhou Qi.

Zhou Qi was even more flustered. With this atmosphere, how the fuck was he any different from a homewrecker? Had these two... gotten together?

"Ah, well..." Zhou Qi hurried to explain. He couldn't bear that accusation.

"He's my subordinate," Huo Jin answered quickly.

"Your subordinate comes to your house in the middle of the night?"

Huo Jin checked the time. It had only just turned six in the evening. "It's not the middle of the night. He's working overtime and came over to have me sign a document."

Ji Chi's expression softened. Only then did he let Huo Jin pull him inside.

Huo Jin asked nothing else, simply saying gently, "I'll go make you dinner."

Watching this entire sequence, Zhou Qi could hardly believe this was the Huo Jin he knew.

Hasn't he completely broken character?!

What the hell?

Carrying someone's suitcase and holding his hand.

Even speaking so gently...

And most importantly, he offered to cook for him?

Zhou Qi stared in shock, his expression growing increasingly astonished.

Seriously?

He wouldn't even let me use his stove to make instant noodles just now.

He said he didn't like cooking fumes.

And now he's going to cook himself???

Zhou Qi clutched his head. Were these two really together?

He abruptly stepped in front of Ji Chi and asked tentatively, "You're not his wife, are you?"

Ji Chi glared at Zhou Qi. "What? Are you one too?"

Fuck...

A jolt ran through Zhou Qi's entire body.

Huo Jin's lashes fluttered lightly at Ji Chi's words. He switched on the living room projector and put on a random movie.

Then he turned and went to the kitchen.

Zhou Qi grabbed Ji Chi and sat him down on the sofa.

His gaze shifted from confusion to outright admiration. He even forgot that Ji Chi had just insulted him.

"You really are his wife?" Then what he had seen at the hotel last time had been a misunderstanding.

Ji Chi pulled his hand away and looked directly at Zhou Qi.

Intimate pheromones carrying faint plum wine and cold purple sandalwood drifted from his gland.

This kind of linked pheromone could be suppressed or released at will.

Unless it was deliberately released, others could only detect it by getting very close or intentionally probing.

It was a marking link.

Utterly unique.

"A marking link..."

They had even gone through with the marking.

"Fuck..." Zhou Qi looked at Ji Chi admiringly. "My name is Zhou Qi. My level is higher than yours."

Ji Chi didn't understand why Zhou Qi was saying that.

The minimum requirement for the CE Experimental Institute was S3 Level. Of course he knew Zhou Qi's level was higher than his.

Apparently, even the Supreme Authority's talented personnel included idiots.

Zhou Qi's gaze burned with enthusiasm. "You're so beautiful."

Ji Chi's fists clenched.

"Have you had work done?"

Fuck.

"Your nose has such a nice bridge."

Fuck.

"Your lips are nicely shaped, too."

"Your eyes look cold, but they're incredibly alluring."

"You really are beautiful."

Fuck.

Ji Chi ground his teeth, his jaw tightening.

Anyone who called him beautiful deserved a good beating.

But Zhou Qi was an S3 Level Alpha.

Ji Chi curled his hands into fists.

Hahahahaha... I can't beat him.

He shifted away from Zhou Qi. "You're prettier. You look like a doll."

"Really?" Zhou Qi asked in surprise. "You're the first Alpha to call me beautiful. They all say I'm big and burly, like a bandit! A bunch of tasteless idiots!"

Ji Chi: ????

Why is he so genuinely pleased?

Why would an S3 Level Alpha be happy to be called beautiful?

The higher the level, the steadier the mindset?

Ji Chi gritted his back teeth. "You do look like a bandit."

Zhou Qi immediately looked crestfallen. "Really?"

"Really," Ji Chi said.

Zhou Qi remained upset for half a minute. His ability to redirect his own attention was exceptionally strong, and he was fine again moments later.

"Can I call you the judge's wife?" Zhou Qi suddenly asked seriously.

"No," Ji Chi refused.

Zhou Qi poured Ji Chi a glass of water. "Then can you tell me how you managed to win Judge Huo over?"

Ji Chi: ???

Pursue Huo Jin?

In his fucking dreams.

Do I look like someone who would chase another man?

Ji Chi grew serious, his patience wearing thin. "Do I look like I chased Huo Jin?"

"Didn't you?" In Zhou Qi's impression, Huo Jin never made the first move. Other people always pursued him.

Pursuing someone was neither something Huo Jin could do nor something he would do. He was a king.

Just then, Huo Jin came out of the room.

Ji Chi raised his voice. "He was the one throwing himself at me! Coercion, illegal methods-if I pressed charges, he'd go to prison!"

Zhou Qi: ????

"What are you talking about?"

"Coercion? Illegal methods? Enough to land him in prison if you pressed charges?"

Zhou Qi: I don't believe it.

Zhou Qi: Absolutely not.

Zhou Qi: That's out of character.

Looking at the two bickering men, Huo Jin took a clean pair of slippers from the shoe cabinet.

He walked over to Ji Chi.

He coaxed Ji Chi just as he had during his heat. "Shall I change your shoes for you, or will you put them on yourself?"

Zhou Qi's eyes went perfectly round: ????

"No?"

Ji Chi said nothing. Huo Jin crouched down to change Ji Chi's shoes.

His movements were gentle, as though this were only natural.

Watching Huo Jin, Zhou Qi would never have believed it if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes!

He was starting to believe that Huo Jin had been the one to pursue Ji Chi.

And, as though he wanted confirmation once more, he asked Huo Jin, "Coercion? Illegal means? If he pressed charges, you'd go to prison?"

Huo Jin raised his eyes and answered Zhou Qi.

"Coercion, illegal means. If he pressed charges, I really would go to prison."