You're not really going to fight Huo Xingye for him, are you?

"Maybe he had something more important to do back then, or someone he cared more..." about.

Huo Xingye left those last words unspoken.

Like a poison called jealousy, it had spread uncontrollably through his heart the moment Nan Zhou said he had a first love.

Even though Huo Xingye knew full well that this jealousy was shameful and unreasonable, he still could not help speculating about who that person was.

Who had been lucky enough to win his affection?

Was it that former teammate of theirs who seemed to have no strengths whatsoever and was completely unworthy of him?

Or was it someone else he knew nothing about?

Xie Yan was quite helpless when it came to this friend who willingly drowned himself in the mire of love. "Sometimes I really don't know what you're thinking."

"You could just tell him you're the online friend he asked to meet and then stood up. You hit it off so well before, and you even wrote lyrics for his songs. There's no reason he'd dislike you."

"Speaking of which, he's really strange. He's written so many songs but hasn't released a single one. Even a turtle couldn't keep things under wraps as well as him. What's he waiting for?" Xie Yan's thoughts leaped around, and he quickly processed that on his own and moved on to the next topic.

"I don't know," Huo Xingye said.

"You... you really don't know anything I ask. With everything you've got going for you, you let someone you've never even met, someone you don't even know is an A, B, or O, string you along on WeChat for three years. And the one time you were supposed to meet, you got stood up. Who would believe that?" Xie Yan sighed in exasperation at his lack of initiative.

"I did it willingly," Huo Xingye said.

"All right, all right. The title of the world's most devoted alpha belongs to you. If you claimed second place, no one would dare claim first. You deserve to fall flat on your face over him."

Then Xie Yan changed the subject. "Right, you're coming to your grandfather's birthday banquet next week, aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Let me tell you, this isn't like the charity gala. Skip that, and at most you get yelled at. Skip this, and you're an unfilial grandson! Who knows how hard that so-called brother of yours will work to turn everyone against you."

"I'm not interested in fighting him over the family fortune."

"Yes, yes, you're so noble, so amazing, you couldn't care less about a family fortune worth hundreds of billions."

"I'll be there."

"That's more like it. I'll be waiting. My old man insists I stick with you and meet more people. Tch, it's always the same people at these banquets. They're either sucking up like dogs or putting on airs. So boring. I'd rather go deep-sea fishing with you. At least it's peaceful."

Xie Yan complained.

To his surprise, Huo Xingye said, "Didn't you always complain that deep-sea fishing was boring?"

"...Bro, not everyone has the patience to wait for hours like you." Xie Yan rambled about a few other things before they ended the call.

Huo Xingye closed WeChat, opened his music app, and found "Copulate," the massive hit that still held firmly to the number-one spot.

Repeat one. Play.

He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and surrendered all his senses to his ears.

The hypnotic melody, the sultry female vocals, the lyrics both bold and restrained-everything came together as the images and scents of his birthday played through Huo Xingye's mind.

The omega's soft laughter, his furrowed brows, his falling tears, his lovely little moans, his sweet pheromones, his complete surrender in body and mind, and the marks his fingers had clawed into Huo Xingye's skin.

Everything was so alluring and perfect, even less real than the scenes he had imagined countless times in his dreams.

Reason had all but ceased to function, leaving his senses to rule everything.

Utterly satisfying, yet nowhere near enough. He could not help going again and again, each time as though it were the last time in his life.

Terrified that he would open his eyes and no longer find his lover in his arms, that this was merely one of those dreams that were the same yet different across countless nights.

Wen Yu got into the van. The door closed, and they drove away from the place where he had spent the past several days filming.

His agent turned around from the front seat, only to see his beautiful omega, gentle and aloof in public, pull a hidden pack of cigarettes from the van's storage compartment and expertly light one.

Closing his eyes, Wen Yu took two deep drags in bliss before speaking, his voice no longer cool and clear as usual but tinged with a tobacco-induced rasp.

"If we're hyping a pairing anyway, why did you pick Lu Zhou instead of Nan Zhou before?"

His agent was speechless. "Lu Zhou acted in a drama with you. What connection do you have with Nan Zhou?"

"How much of a connection is doing a drama together? Connections have to be developed. How do you get one without developing it? Nan Zhou is more my type than that clown Lu Zhou."

"You two have overlapping images, okay!"

"A strong O and a weak B is better than a strong O and a weak A." At that, Wen Yu laughed several times and tapped off some ash. "Did you know that guy Lu Zhou kept bragging about his muscles in front of me? Looking at that protein-powder-fed stuff, I almost couldn't help myself."

His agent said, "...As if you've held yourself back that often?" Others might not have noticed, but he certainly had: the little things his troublesome charge had done several times when Lu Zhou made a fool of himself.

"He couldn't even ride an electric scooter in a straight line. How boring. Back when I was racing on Mingqiu Mountain, who knows where that guy was still drinking milk." Wen Yu crossed his legs and leaned back in his seat.

"How many times have I told you not to bring up your shady past! If someone digs it up, do you still want a career? Besides, Lu Zhou is a year older than you. What do you mean, drinking milk!"

Wen Yu took a few drags with his eyes half closed. "Hasn't Director Liang been looking for someone to do the opening and ending themes lately? I'll recommend Nan Zhou to him."

"Stop stirring things up! If you recommend anyone, it has to be Lu Zhou. What would recommending Nan Zhou look like!"

"Is anything Lu Zhou writes even listenable?"

Ignoring his agent, Wen Yu took out his phone and began contacting Liang Feng, the director of the historical xianxia drama he had recently finished filming.

This was not the first time he had been so willful. Unable to talk him out of it, his agent let him be. Anyway, as long as Wen Yu could maintain his current public persona without exposing himself, that was the best outcome for them.

The van fell quiet for a while.

His agent asked, "You're not really planning to fight Huo Xingye for him, are you?"

"In matters of love, everyone competes on their own merits."

His agent looked as conflicted as if he were constipated.

After sending the message, Wen Yu slipped his phone back into his pocket, stubbed out the cigarette in his mouth in the ashtray, and pulled out some alcohol with practiced ease.

"All right, don't overthink it. Some things are worth working for because you can see a result. But with some things, you can tell at a glance that nothing will come of it, so why bother? I'm not that idiot Lu Zhou."

Wen Yu removed the cap and drank straight from the bottle.

Watching him, his agent kept shaking his head, unable to bear the sight.

Nan Zhou indulged in KFC, McDonald's, and the like in private, while his own charge indulged in cigarettes, alcohol, and the like.

Wait, what did he mean just now?

Nan Zhou and Huo Xingye were a couple? Nan Zhou liked Huo Xingye?

Then what had been going on between Lu Zhou and Nan Zhou before?