Jin Yan’s plan for a grand, formal wedding—one he had yet to even fully map out—withered away in a single night. Looking into Zhou Duo’s shimmering eyes, he found it impossible to say no.
But what truly swayed him in the end was the phone Zhou Duo had slid toward him. On the screen was a memo, a page filled with the boy’s innermost thoughts.
Jin Yan’s eyes had reddened by the time he finished reading. The moment he reached the end, Zhou Duo deleted the entry from the phone, and Jin Yan pulled him gently into his arms. Once he had seen those words, he could no longer hesitate for even a second.
Regardless of whether Zhou Shu would be furious at this outcome when he woke up, Jin Yan was prepared to do whatever it took to coax him back home.
Thus, early the next morning, Zhou Duo gathered his ID card and household register, leading Jin Yan by the hand toward the Marriage Registration Bureau.
The sunlight was exceptionally bright today, dancing in golden flecks upon Zhou Duo’s eyelashes. The innocent youth wore a smile more radiant than the sun itself. Jin Yan’s heart trembled along with that smile, yet he remained clear about his own feelings—he was finally, at long last, registering his marriage with Zhou Shu.
Even if this "act now, explain later" approach would anger Zhou Shu, Jin Yan didn't want either of them to endure any more endless speculation or longing. After all, his "brother" was a prickly, stubborn man; following the standard procedure might have taken forever. At worst, he would just have to kneel and confess everything after the certificates were in hand.
Jin Yan was well aware of the potential consequences, yet he resolutely chose to follow his own selfish desires. Besides, he now shared a "secret" with Zhou Duo.
They arrived at the Haicheng Marriage Registration Bureau just as it opened. When Jin Yan filled out the forms, he wrote his name alongside Zhou Shu’s. They became the first couple of the day.
Zhou Duo happily "disguised" himself as Zhou Shu, filling in all of Zhou Shu’s information on the registration form. When he finished and glanced over at Jin Yan’s form, his eyes widened. He stared at Jin Yan for a moment, then quietly pointed to the "Gender" column. With a faint smile, Jin Yan winked at him, a silent exchange passing between them.
Zhou Duo took a few seconds to process this, then he too began to smile.
Even after they left the bureau, Zhou Duo was still smiling. He flipped open the red booklet in his hand, staring at the photo on the first page where the two of them stood shoulder to shoulder. An indescribable emotion welled up within him.
If there was one thing about Zhou Duo’s performance today that didn't quite match, it was his smile in the photo. Zhou Shu was far too fond of acting cool; he would have certainly pressed his lips together to keep himself from smiling.
"Still grinning like a fool?" Jin Yan teased, tugging at the swaying, beaming Zhou Duo to guide him to the inner side of the sidewalk.
Zhou Duo naturally interlaced his fingers with Jin Yan’s and handed over his own marriage certificate as well.
"For me?" Jin Yan reflexively took it, looking at him.
Zhou Duo nodded. "Give it to Brother Zhou Shu yourself when the time comes." His eyes were crinkled with joy as he spoke, like a sparkling, leaping wave under the sun. Jin Yan stared at him, dazed.
He wondered if he had been this pure when he was eighteen. But one thing Jin Yan knew for certain: no matter what age he was, he would never have been able to smile and bless Zhou Shu as he walked into a Marriage Bureau holding someone else's hand.
Yet, in the end, Zhou Duo was him, and yet he wasn't. For Zhou Duo, his only wish was to never be parted from his "brother," and at this moment, he had indeed fulfilled that wish.
The two walked home along Haicheng’s coastal road. They didn't know how long they could keep this secret between them. When Zhou Duo said he was tired and wanted to sleep, Jin Yan knew that an unpredictable storm was brewing on the sea.
But the little wave, having completed its mission, was remarkably carefree. Before falling asleep, he stole a kiss from Jin Yan and whispered "Good luck, Brother" into his ear before his eyelashes fluttered shut in sleep.
Jin Yan didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He settled for a gentle poke at the adorable beauty mark beneath the boy's lip as a punishment.
After Zhou Duo fell asleep, Jin Yan remained by the bedside. His current state of mind was no less anxious than when he had watched over Zhou Shu, waiting for him to wake up for the first time in five years. Eventually, exhaustion caught up with him—after all, he had stayed up all night talking with Zhou Duo.
Jin Yan set an alarm, climbed onto the bed, and pulled the other man gently into his arms. Still feeling uneasy, he got up and found a silk ribbon used for tying curtains. He lightly bound their hands together before finally falling into a peaceful sleep.
Three hours later, it was indeed the alarm that woke Jin Yan. But to his surprise, the moment he turned his head, he met a pair of open eyes... Zhou Shu?
Jin Yan’s heart plummeted. He tried to scramble up, only to be yanked back onto the bed because his hand was still tied by the ribbon.
"Ahem..." He coughed awkwardly, hurriedly untying the butterfly knot while his gaze darted nervously. "Ge?" he called out cautiously.
To his shock, the moment the restraints on his hands and the embrace were broken, the man before him stood up and started walking out without a word.
"Ge!" Panicking, Jin Yan rushed after him, catching Zhou Shu in a tight embrace before he could reach the door. He refused to let go. He could feel the rise and fall of Zhou Shu’s chest and his restrained emotions. He leaned in and whispered coaxingly against his ear, "Ge, please don't be angry, okay? I love you."
As expected, the words "I love you" acted like a potent inhibitor. The moment Zhou Shu heard them, the blood in his veins seemed to freeze for an instant. His heart stopped for several seconds before resuming its beat.
However, it only lasted a few seconds. Zhou Shu broke free from Jin Yan’s embrace again. This time, he seemed shrouded in exhaustion, as if he didn't even want to speak.
Jin Yan’s heart raced with dread. He knew he would have to coax him for a while, but he hadn't expected Zhou Shu to be so unwilling to even look at him. He used all his strength to pull Zhou Shu back, and following his instincts, he pressed his lips against the other man's in a kiss.
The next second, he was met with the sharp pain of a bite.
Jin Yan winced as his lip was bitten through. A small gash opened, and a bead of blood trickled out. Perhaps having tasted the pheromones, Zhou Shu’s body softened slightly after that "bite." He stopped struggling, but his face remained expressionless, his gaze cold as he looked at Jin Yan.
That look chilled Jin Yan to the bone. His eyes began to redden, and his voice trembled.
"Ge, I beg you, don't look at me like that... Whatever you're thinking, whatever you want to say—hit me, scold me, do whatever you want. Just... don't leave me..."
Zhou Shu stood frozen by Jin Yan’s show of vulnerability. After the initial fury, an endless sense of helplessness and uncontrollable jealousy surged within him. Now, softened by a few words of coaxing, he found he couldn't maintain his hardness. He couldn't help but lament how Jin Yan truly had him wrapped around his finger.
"Jin Yan..." Zhou Shu swallowed hard, his eyes clouding with mist. "Am I... am I holding you back?"
"Wh-what?" Jin Yan had finally waited for Zhou Shu to speak, but the words made no sense to him.
Zhou Shu shook his head helplessly and fell silent again, pushing Jin Yan aside. He no longer tried to leave the room; instead, he opened his suitcase and began packing his things.
"Ge..." Jin Yan grabbed Zhou Shu’s hand, his eyes shimmering with a pleading light.
Zhou Shu turned his face away and said flatly, "My flight is tonight. I need to get to the airport."
Only then did Jin Yan let go, hovering obediently by Zhou Shu’s side to help him pack. Later, Zhou Shu called Xiao Zhang to pick him up early. Jin Yan tried to follow him into the car, but Zhou Shu blocked him.
Jin Yan stood by the car door, his fingers still hooked around the chain of the bracelet, gazing deeply at Zhou Shu. Zhou Shu did not look back. He only dropped a few words that sounded calm on the surface, yet were devoid of any ripple of emotion.
"Jin Yan, after you came back, your first hug wasn't for me. Your first kiss wasn't with me either..." He paused, then continued, "I could let all of that go. But now, you didn't even fucking marry *me*." Zhou Shu shook his head with a bitter smile. "I guess, in the end, my status as an Alpha really did get in your way."
Jin Yan fell into a suffocating silence, blindsided by those words. He had never known that his prickly, proud brother harbored such thoughts. For a moment, he didn't know whether to feel relieved or heartbroken.
"Forget it. I'm tired. Next time Zhou Duo wakes up, I'll have her call you." As he spoke, he silently pulled the bracelet from Jin Yan’s grasp. "After I woke up just now, I thought about it for a long time. I think we should..."
After a pause that felt like a century, his voice trembled as he finished, "I think we should get a divorce."
***
| Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation |
| :--- | :--- | :--- |
| 婚姻分配局 | Marriage Registration Bureau | Literally "Marriage Distribution Bureau," common in ABO/dystopian settings. |
| 抑制剂 | Inhibitor | In ABO contexts, refers to suppressants for pheromones/heat. |
| 信息素 | Pheromones | Biological scents in the ABO genre. |
| Alpha | Alpha | One of the three primary genders in the ABO setting. |
| 唇下痣 | Beauty mark below the lip | A physical trait of the character. |
| 小张 | Xiao Zhang | A minor character, likely an assistant or driver. |
