Even if it's for you, I'll keep living well

Wen Zhiyan reached out and stroked Jiang Lan's thigh. "Don't listen to her nonsense. There's no omega. Even I don't know anything about this."

Jiang Lan scoffed. "You didn't know how many alphas had designs on you back then, either."

Wen Zhiyan took it as a matter of course. "Why would I pay attention to them? I don't like them. Lan-ge, I only like you."

Wen Zhiyan's sappiness gave Qiao Xin goosebumps all over. She shuddered and let out a string of tsk-tsks.

Although Jiang Lan was thick-skinned, even when they had actually been together in the past, their genders had meant they could only love each other in secret. They had never shown affection in front of anyone else.

Now that Wen Zhiyan was saying something so direct right in front of Qiao Xin, Jiang Lan still couldn't help feeling his face heat up.

He turned away a little awkwardly, looked toward the coastline beyond the rooftop, picked up his beer can and took a long gulp, then stood.

"It's getting late. Let's go back to bed."

With that, he headed downstairs on his own, the tips of his ears red. Wen Zhiyan stood up after him and, before leaving, cast a casual glance at Qiao Xin.

That look from Wen Zhiyan sent a chill down Qiao Xin's back. She pressed her palms together in an apologetic gesture.

This is bad, she thought, wondering whether Wen Zhiyan, with his petty streak as narrow as a needle's eye, would retaliate against her.

Jiang Lan walked ahead without saying a word. Only when he reached the third-floor corner did he stop, whip around, and pin Wen Zhiyan against the wall behind him.

He stared into Wen Zhiyan's eyes. "Wen Zhiyan, what exactly are you hiding from me?"

Wen Zhiyan knew Jiang Lan all too well.

He seemed to have been prepared for Jiang Lan's sudden confrontation. He wrapped an arm around Jiang Lan's waist and leaned in to kiss him.

Jiang Lan raised a hand and gripped Wen Zhiyan's throat. "Don't try to fool me, Wen Zhiyan. I'm asking you a question. Answer me."

One look at Jiang Lan's fierce expression told Wen Zhiyan that brushing him off definitely wouldn't work. At the very least, he needed an excuse that sounded reasonable enough to convince Jiang Lan.

So he said, "It's about my suicide attempt, Lan-ge. Qiao Xin's alpha father was my attending physician."

Jiang Lan knew about Wen Zhiyan's suicide attempt. He didn't release his grip on Wen Zhiyan, only eased the pressure a little. "You're not lying to me?"

Wen Zhiyan looked straight into Jiang Lan's eyes. "Lan-ge, I just don't want to bring it up again. I only chose to tell you because I figured I wouldn't be able to hide it forever anyway."

As long as Jiang Lan agreed to get back together with Wen Zhiyan, there was no way the deep scar on Wen Zhiyan's wrist would escape his notice.

There was no avoiding this interrogation, no matter what.

He reached out and patted Jiang Lan's back reassuringly.

"Qiao Xin's alpha father currently works at Imperial Capital First People's Hospital. My medical records are there. Lan-ge, if you don't believe me, you can check anytime."

Wen Zhiyan's reassurance and explanation dispelled most of Jiang Lan's initial doubts.

But he didn't want to speak. He merely released Wen Zhiyan's throat and took his wrist instead, slipping his index finger beneath Wen Zhiyan's watchband and stroking that scar over and over.

Wen Zhiyan reached out to embrace Jiang Lan, brushed his cheek against the hair at Jiang Lan's temple, and smiled. "Feeling sorry for me?"

Jiang Lan's heart ached so badly it clenched. He didn't answer Wen Zhiyan's question, only said, "If you hurt yourself like that again, I'll never forgive you for the rest of my life."

"I won't, Lan-ge," Wen Zhiyan said solemnly. "Even if it's for you, I'll keep living well."

Jiang Lan shook his head. He raised his head, pressed his lips to the corner of Wen Zhiyan's mouth, and told him:

"Wen Zhiyan, I don't want you to live for me. I want you to live well for yourself."

Wen Zhiyan didn't respond to Jiang Lan's words again. He lowered his eyes, tilted his head, and caught Jiang Lan's lower lip between his own. Before Jiang Lan could try to push him away, he ended the brief kiss and raised a hand to stroke Jiang Lan's face.

"Let's head back, Lan-ge. It's getting late."

When they gently pushed open the door to Room Five again, only a dim yellow night-light was on inside. Lin Ziyou lay on the bed with his back to the door, playing a game on his phone.

Jiang Lan and Wen Zhiyan came in one after the other. Lin Ziyou merely looked up at them before turning his gaze back to his phone screen.

"You were gone so long, I thought you two had considerately decided to make do in the living room for the night for my sake."

Jiang Lan wasn't in the mood to chat with Lin Ziyou just then and only replied offhandedly, "I'm going to take a bath with President Wen. Want to be considerate and step outside to give us some privacy?"

"No," Lin Ziyou refused. "I'm not considerate. I want to eavesdrop."

Jiang Lan snorted. He changed his shoes and was just about to pull off his shirt and head to the bathroom when he caught Wen Zhiyan's sudden look and lowered the hem again.

Then he bent down and rummaged through the suitcase beside his bed for his pajamas. From a stack of new underwear, he chose Wen Zhiyan's old pair, tucked it into his pajamas, and headed for the bathroom.

When the sound of running water began, Lin Ziyou's ears grew a little red. He looked at Wen Zhiyan, who sat in the chair by the desk, thinking about who knew what, and extended an invitation.

"President Wen, want to queue as a duo? To pass the time."

"I don't know how to play games," Wen Zhiyan declined.

Lin Ziyou really didn't believe there was a male alpha these days who didn't know how to play games. He shot Wen Zhiyan a reproachful look and said bluntly, "I think you just don't want to play with me."

Wen Zhiyan didn't explain. He simply took out the phone provided by the production team and checked the mini-task message that had arrived half an hour earlier.

He tapped into it. In the upper left corner was still the chubby, bare-bottomed child with wings holding a little arrow, but the prompt below had changed.

[Please rate each of the following guests!]

Beneath the prompt were the names of the nine people taking part in the show. Scores were to be entered manually, with a maximum of ten points.

After giving Jiang Lan ten points, Wen Zhiyan was about to exit the task page when he hesitated for a moment, then gave himself nine points. He then assigned everyone else scores below five as he saw fit before putting his phone away, leaning back in his chair, and concentrating on the sound of running water in the bathroom.

When Jiang Lan came out after his shower, he found Wen Zhiyan staring straight at him. He glared at Wen Zhiyan and pulled his pajama collar closed. "Hurry up. Wash up and go to bed."

With that, he climbed into bed, leaned against the headboard, and started on the mini-task.

Jiang Lan was different from Wen Zhiyan.

He gave every alpha full marks.

Then he gave every beta and omega a uniform zero.

After that, he switched screens and asked Lin Ziyou, "What are you playing?"

Lin Ziyou showed Jiang Lan his phone screen and asked, "Want to queue as a duo?"

Jiang Lan opened the same game too, logged in using the account the production team had already signed into, and told Lin Ziyou:

"No duos. I'm damn good at this game. I'm not taking you along. I'm afraid you'll drag me down."