What's wrong with letting me touch you?!

"Are you crazy? Can't you be gentler?"

Pulled tightly into Wen Zhiyan's arms, Jiang Lan cursed under his breath.

Wen Zhiyan shushed him, flung away the tangled, inconvenient thin blanket covering Jiang Lan, and shoved it aside. He slipped one hand beneath the hem of Jiang Lan's pajamas and pressed it against his smooth back.

Perhaps his blood was circulating too quickly, making Jiang Lan's body unusually hot.

Wen Zhiyan's slightly cool hand touched Jiang Lan's burning skin, making him shudder helplessly as his scalp tingled.

An alpha's competitive nature made it hard for them to tolerate being suppressed or getting the short end of the stick.

Without even thinking, Jiang Lan's first reaction was to return the favor, refusing to be outdone as he reached out to touch him back.

He was far less gentle than Wen Zhiyan, pinching his waist while using his leg to pin Wen Zhiyan's legs down.

Knowing what Jiang Lan was like, Wen Zhiyan did not fight him head-on. He merely brought his cheek close to Jiang Lan's neck and kissed his collarbone.

Warm breath washed over the sensitive, vulnerable side of Jiang Lan's neck, making him ease his grip involuntarily.

He pressed a hand against the back of Wen Zhiyan's head, slipping his fingers into his soft hair. As he tugged him back, he voiced his refusal:

"Don't kiss me, Wen Zhiyan. I'm not your alpha."

His tone was fierce, but his pull on Wen Zhiyan's hair was gentle, as though he could not bear to hurt him, or as though he was only making a show of resisting.

Wen Zhiyan stopped kissing him and buried his face in the crook of Jiang Lan's neck, his voice muffled:

"Then whose alpha are you?"

His hot breath tickled Jiang Lan, who poked Wen Zhiyan's abs. "Don't play innocent. It won't work."

Wen Zhiyan was an obedient man.

At least, until Jiang Lan agreed to get back together with him, he had to be.

So after Jiang Lan rejected him, he merely restrained himself obediently, holding Jiang Lan without taking things any further.

But Jiang Lan was no obedient man.

Not only was he anything but obedient, he also had double standards, holding others to strict rules while going easy on himself, utterly shameless.

At first, Wen Zhiyan tacitly accepted the hand Jiang Lan kept moving over his waist and abdomen, simply letting him sneakily take liberties.

But soon, that sneakiness began turning into utter brazenness.

Wen Zhiyan's brow twitched, and he caught Jiang Lan's hand.

"Lan-ge, what are you doing?"

Jiang Lan's attitude was nasty, like a complete bully. "What's wrong with letting me touch you?!"

Jiang Lan silently cursed Wen Zhiyan for being a bastard. Back when they first got together, he had always thought Wen Zhiyan was an omega.

Every time Wen Zhiyan showed a keen interest in his splendid, perky ass, he had foolishly felt proud.

He had believed there was no other alpha in all of S University with a better waist-to-hip ratio than his.

He had only been waiting for Wen Zhiyan to differentiate so he could show him what a true top-tier alpha was.

And look how that turned out.

Wen Zhiyan differentiated.

And Jiang Lan was dumbfounded.

Even now, thinking back on it still made him gnash his teeth.

He withdrew his hand, turned over, and told Wen Zhiyan, "Go to sleep."

Despite saying that, he did not move toward the edge of the bed, instead staying right beside Wen Zhiyan.

Although Wen Zhiyan now took a very humble stance around Jiang Lan, no alpha could calmly close his eyes and obediently go to sleep after being left hanging halfway through.

So he reached out and wrapped his arm around Jiang Lan's waist from behind.

Wen Zhiyan worked in design and had spent years holding a pen.

His hands had thin calluses that were barely visible unless examined closely, and not particularly noticeable to the touch, either.

But the sensitivity of skin differed from one area to another.

At least now, Jiang Lan could distinctly feel that Wen Zhiyan's hand felt different from his own.

He swore he had struggled.

But when desire took over, most people found it difficult to control themselves.

Jiang Lan was no exception.

Especially when Wen Zhiyan licked and kissed the back of his neck while shamelessly murmuring seductive words, tempting Jiang Lan as he said:

"It's not our first time, Lan-ge. If you don't want to get back together right now, I won't force you. When we wake up tomorrow morning, I won't bring it up, and you won't think about it. We'll just pretend it never happened, okay?"

Those words sounded scummy.

But both Jiang Lan and Wen Zhiyan knew perfectly well that this was merely an excuse to let Jiang Lan accept it without reservations.

And Jiang Lan needed an excuse like that.

Much later, Wen Zhiyan went to the bathroom. When he came out, he stood beside the bed and watched Lin Ziyou for a long time.

Only after confirming that Lin Ziyou was indeed asleep did he lie back down, pull Jiang Lan into his arms, and close his eyes.

Over those seven years, Jiang Lan had needed to light his aromatherapy every night before he could fall asleep.

Part of it was because of the physically unbearable withdrawal symptoms, but as for the other part, no one knew better than Jiang Lan himself that it was merely an affliction of the heart.

Now, with his back against Wen Zhiyan's chest and Wen Zhiyan's arms around him, his unsettled heart seemed to have found somewhere to rest. Within minutes, drowsiness truly swept over him, and he fell asleep.

But perhaps because he was used to the scent of his aromatherapy, just as he had dreamed of the past the last time he had gone without lighting it, Jiang Lan once again dreamed of that late summer.