The name on my certificate, the light in my heart

They came out of the marriage registration office.

Wu Jiangyuan stared at the little red booklet in his hand, feeling that it was a little unreal.

He and Pei Jinghe had gotten married just like that.

The two of them were now legally husbands.

"Satisfied?"

Pei Jinghe waited for him to stand there in a daze for quite a while before asking.

Wu Jiangyuan glanced at him, then looked back at their marriage certificate photo, snapped the booklet shut, and walked down the steps.

"It's all right, I guess."

The photo made him look like an idiot.

Pei Jinghe had been smiling all this time. Where Wu Jiangyuan couldn't see, he pressed a light kiss to the marriage certificate.

Then he looked up, his gaze following Wu Jiangyuan's hand. The blue diamond set in platinum glittered brilliantly in the sunlight.

The thin red document built them a nest.

From now on, you are the name on my certificate, the light in my heart.

When he caught up, Wu Jiangyuan was standing beside the car, talking on the phone.

As he approached, he could hear words like home, getting up, and food.

Pei Jinghe's eyes darkened a little. The tone reminded him of the last time at the old family residence; the person on the phone with Wu Jiangyuan then was probably the same person as now.

He said nothing.

Only after Wu Jiangyuan hung up did he ask softly, "When are you moving into my place?"

Wu Jiangyuan said, "Later. I'll drive over myself. Send me the door code."

Pei Jinghe felt a little relief. "Okay."

On the way back, just before they reached his place, Wu Jiangyuan asked him to drop him off somewhere with fewer people.

"Here is fine. I need to buy a few things. Don't you have an important meeting? Go on back."

As he spoke, he moved to close the car door.

Pei Jinghe tightened his grip on the steering wheel and called his name.

"Wu Jiangyuan."

Wu Jiangyuan paused in the act of closing the door. "What is it?"

Pei Jinghe stared steadily at him and asked with a serious expression, "You'll come over tonight, right?"

Wu Jiangyuan blinked, then chuckled. "Don't worry, Young Master Pei."

With that, he closed the door.

While no one nearby was paying attention to him, he first went into a pharmacy, bought a mask, and put it on.

By the time he came out of the pharmacy, Pei Jinghe's car was nowhere in sight.

He went into a supermarket.

He bought some daily necessities and food.

These were all for Dai Lan.

The guy had made a point of calling an hour ago to say he was starving to death.

Wu Jiangyuan figured that since he was moving into Pei Jinghe's place anyway, he could reluctantly let Dai Lan stay at his home for a while.

After all, he was the guy's only friend in the country. In his current state, he couldn't be allowed to run around alone.

There would still be time to pack up and head to Pei Jinghe's place after getting a few things ready for him.

When he got home, Dai Lan was sitting on the sofa wrapped in a blanket, staring blankly at the television.

Wu Jiangyuan took a look and raised an eyebrow.

Animal World?

He set down the takeout congee. "One illness and all your energy's gone."

Dai Lan sniffled, his cheeks flushed and his voice heavily nasal. "What did you bring me?"

Wu Jiangyuan said, "Congee."

Dai Lan knitted his brows. "Tasteless."

Wu Jiangyuan sneered. "You think you can eat anything else in your condition? There's shit if you want it. Interested?"

Dai Lan pouted, muttered a few things under his breath, and obediently opened the congee and started eating it with the lightly seasoned side dishes.

Wu Jiangyuan used the time to go back to his room and pack.

Clothes and the like were secondary. The main issue was that he had quite a few items in his various collections.

By the time he finished packing them, it was completely dark outside.

Wu Jiangyuan was already exhausted.

If he'd known, he would have called someone to help.

He got up to get some water, but the moment he opened the door and smelled sea salt filling the home, his expression changed sharply.

As a fellow Alpha, he could of course tell that these were Dai Lan's pheromones.

They were out of control and had completely blanketed his home.

Wu Jiangyuan forced down his irritation and strode over to the sofa.

Dai Lan was curled up in his blanket, his eyes tightly shut.

"Dai Lan, wake up."

Wu Jiangyuan crouched down to check on him. Dai Lan's temperature was frighteningly high. His persistent fever had caused him to start releasing pheromones unconsciously.

Wu Jiangyuan cursed inwardly and quickly went to his room to fetch a dose of suppressant, injecting Dai Lan with it first.

A few minutes later, the sea-salt pheromones filling the home began to recede.

Dai Lan opened his eyes groggily. "Jiangtang'er... I'm so dizzy..."

Wu Jiangyuan pressed the back of his hand to his forehead. "What's going on with this fever? Even the medicine didn't help?"

Dai Lan shook his head. The dizziness and pounding in his head left him listless.

"This won't do." Wu Jiangyuan pulled him up and said, "Get up. I'm taking you to the hospital."

This time, Dai Lan didn't stubbornly refuse, mainly because he had no strength left.

Wu Jiangyuan drove him to the hospital.

As he got into the car, he suddenly remembered that he was supposed to move into Pei Jinghe's place tonight.

Given the situation, there was no telling when he would get back. After some thought, he sent Pei Jinghe a message.

3Q: [My friend is sick. I'm taking him to the hospital. If I get back too late, let's make it tomorrow.]

After sending it, he switched off the screen without another glance, tossed his phone aside, and started the car.

At the hospital-

After examining him, the doctor said it was nothing serious. His gland had been bitten and hadn't been treated promptly, and excessive drinking on top of that had disrupted his pheromones, causing the high fever.

A special fever-reducing injection and a few days of rest would take care of it.

"His gland was bitten?"

Wu Jiangyuan frowned in confusion. "Why didn't I see any tooth marks?"

The doctor explained, "Only Alphas and Omegas can leave tooth marks on glands."

In other words, the person who had bitten Dai Lan was a Beta.

Wu Jiangyuan immediately thought of the Beta Dai Lan had mentioned when he'd come crying to him last time.

Unfortunately, Dai Lan was sound asleep now, so he had no way to ask.

After all the running around that evening, he glanced at the time in the hospital.

23:34

It's this late already?

Wu Jiangyuan froze, then hurriedly took his phone out of his pocket, only to discover that its battery had died and it had shut down.

He borrowed a charger and turned his phone back on.

No reply notification popped up.

Wu Jiangyuan frowned slightly. Had Pei Jinghe not seen his message?

He opened his chat with Pei Jinghe, only to find a glaring exclamation mark beside the message he had sent earlier.

The message had actually failed to send.

That meant Pei Jinghe hadn't received it.

Wu Jiangyuan felt a headache coming on.

He pinched the bridge of his nose and called Pei Jinghe himself.

The phone rang for quite a while. No one answered the first call.

Wu Jiangyuan called a second time. This time, it rang for a few seconds before being answered.

But there was only silence on the other end.

"Pei Jinghe," Wu Jiangyuan spoke first. "My friend got sick, and I took him to the hospital. I won't come over tonight. I'll come tomorrow."

"I meant to tell you, but I didn't notice that the message failed to send."

The other end remained silent for so long that Wu Jiangyuan almost thought a ghost had answered.

Only then did Pei Jinghe give a one-word reply.

"Okay."

Remembering the veiled anticipation in his eyes when he'd left that afternoon, Wu Jiangyuan hesitated, then said, "Pei Jinghe, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to stand you up."

Pei Jinghe's voice sounded flat. "It's fine."

Two seconds later, he asked, "Do you need my help?"

Wu Jiangyuan said, "No."

Pei Jinghe said, "Okay."

Although he hadn't shown any displeasure, Wu Jiangyuan could still sense that something was off.

A little guilt suddenly welled up in him.

Wu Jiangyuan's voice softened unconsciously. "Then get some rest."

In the end, he was the one who hung up.

Wu Jiangyuan sat on a hospital bench, staring blankly at the ended call on his screen.

Hearing Pei Jinghe's voice just now, he had felt sad for a moment.

Author's note: No angst, no angst, no angst! Our couple is just in a transitional phase. Tooth-rotting sweetness will be served up any moment now.

For Tangtang, it's marriage first, love later. There will be flashbacks woven in. He's the type to be in love without realizing it. (͡°͜ʖ͡°)✧