The carved mermaid and waves on the body of the piano were improvised masterpieces by Italian artists. When played, the rich timbre was ethereal and clear, like waves washing away the beautiful scales of the mermaid’s tail. Ye Wan had prepared this five years in advance for Lu Shangjin’s birthday, carving a bouquet of lilies and tulips nestled together at the foot of the piano as his signature as the sender.
Yan Yi sat and watched silently without a word. When he met Lu Shangjin, he refused to touch it after many years, but today, he gently stroked the ivory keys and occasionally pressed down to listen to the pitch.
He only stared at Lu Shangjin’s hands, thinking that when he first saw them, they were still as warm and fair as jade, and they later became more and more scarred.
Yan Yi silently counted the scars on his hands, confident that he knew the origin of each wound. The slightly deeper one was cut by the dagger of the drug traffickers’ leader when they were discussing the arms business in Southeast Asia. Those people couldn’t do business without using reckless means and had intentions to kill if they didn’t achieve anything. Unfortunately, they injured Lu Shangjin’s hand and were then slaughtered by Yan Yi.
There were also several traces of shrapnel wounds, all from protecting Yan Yi. After being wounded by a deep scar, Lu Shangjin no longer cared about his own hands and cared more about Yan Yi’s tofu-like little face. He used both hands to shield him from all the gunfire and smoke, unhappily saying that no alpha liked ugly little rabbits.
There were four to five cigarette scars of the same age hidden in the layers of scars which Yan Yi couldn’t recognize. He also didn’t get to the bottom of it because he was destined to achieve no results.
This piano piece was also one of Yan Yi’s favourites. In the middle of playing, Lu Shangjin suddenly pressed an off-key note, and the sound of the piano stopped abruptly.
The pitch wasn’t accurate anymore after being untuned for such a long time. Yan Yi stood up to help him tune it, but he saw Lu Shangjin wave his hand and said that it was okay, before he hurriedly ran into the bathroom.
Lu Shangjin hid in the bathroom, his face already turning pale as fine cold sweat trickled down along his forehead. He clenched his right hand with difficulty, his fingers stiff and trembling.
He took off his shirt in front of the mirror to reveal his right shoulder; the three deep blackened wounds had become pus again. His injury had actually been worsening these days. As the medication was suitable, the rate of it worsening was slower. Lu Shangjin simply acted like he had healed to let Yan Yi focus on taking care of the baby instead of worrying about his alpha’s health.
He was also afraid that Yan Yi would be suspicious. The reason he could only conceal the truth from Yan Yi was because he hadn’t been thinking about his own glands. Lu Shangjin liked to see how Yan Yi felt sorry for him because of this injury, but he didn’t need to know more beyond that.
It would be too hard for Yan Yi to be hospitalized until the baby was born and not receive any comfort from soothing pheromones while he was carrying the baby.
Lu Shangjin pulled out a new gauze to pad the wound with to avoid smearing his clothes. As he was putting it under his sleeve, Yan Yi pushed the bathroom door open.
He was holding his phone and had already contacted the hospital. He supported himself against the door frame with one hand like he was trapping a good student at the school gate and asking for money, raising his chin slightly as he said, “Go have your arm checked at the hospital this afternoon.”
Lu Shangjin froze and suddenly couldn’t feel the pain in his shoulder. Holding his soft little wife, he pinched his waist and hips, reprimanding in a whisper, “You’re becoming more and more overbearing.” He was starting to dislike the tiny one hiding in Yan Yi’s belly. He wanted to dote on his wife dearly, but there were so many constraints.
The omega in his arms bit his light red lips. Lu Shangjin looked down and stared intently, his mouth becoming dry and astringent. His Adam’s apple bobbed violently up and down as he wanted to carry the little white rabbit in his mouth into the nest on the cliff and eat him clean.
He lowered his head and approached tentatively, gently touching the corner of Yan Yi’s mouth with his lips to request permission. Moving his head to the side, Yan Yi began to push him with some resistance, but Lu Shangjin suddenly couldn’t control himself and pressed Yan Yi against the door frame, holding his cheek and biting his lips hard.
Oblivious of himself, Lu Shangjin closed his eyes and kissed him. When they parted in between, he even held Yan Yi’s hand and coaxed in a deep and suggestive tone, “You have to learn how to seize your own things, let me plant a few strawberries here.” He took Yan Yi’s hand to touch his own neck.
The direct kiss made Yan Yi dizzy and weak in his legs. He fell into Lu Shangjin’s arms and was carried out. The hands holding his buttocks even naughtily rubbed the ball of tail squeezed out of his pants.
Yan Yi hid the sorrowful look in his eyes but he actually wanted to say something. He stopped trying to speak after several attempts and buried his burning face into the crook of the alpha’s shoulder, licking his reddened lips while his rabbit ears hung over Lu Shangjin’s shoulder.
Failing to talk Yan Yi out of it, Lu Shangjin could only obey and stay in the hospital to treat his injury. Yan Yi conveniently stayed in the hospital ward as it was near his expected due date and not seeing him for even a minute made Lu Shangjin extremely nervous.
Xia Jingtian and Gu Wei had visited Yan Yi in the ward these few days. Lu Shangjin would peel fruit for Yan Yi and later come in again to pour juice for him. With his face full of generosity and gentleness, it looked like the behaviour of an elder, and in fact, the entire ward was full of his oppressive pheromones.
Bi Ruijing came by to have a look as well and told Lu Shangjin some important things. After that it was all chatter. Yan Yi also heard that Tan Meng had lost his temper in private, saying that Bi Ruijing’s old friend came back from abroad and caused him trouble.
But he didn’t say that the old friend was found on the lawn on the first floor. The nanny at home had called an ambulance. Bi Ruijing didn’t even dare to ask what state he had fallen into. As soon as he got home, pots, vases and bowls were thrown at him head-on by Tan Meng, who then finally spat out a ‘pervert, get lost’.
After sending off waves of their visiting friends and colleagues, Lu Shangjin set Yan Yi on his lap, holding him from behind as he freed his hands to peel an apple. He cut it into small pieces and fed them into Yan Yi’s mouth while Yan Yi ate silently.
He wasn’t picky about what was in his mouth anymore. Lu Shangjin became sensitive and alert, rubbing him from behind like a big dog, assuring him dejectedly that this would definitely never happen in their family in the future.
In fact, no one would find Yan Yi to cause trouble. Anyone who had enough self-awareness knew that Lu Shangjin’s wife was untouchable.
However, Yan Yi always looked like his spirits couldn’t be lifted. He reluctantly cheered himself up and comforted the alpha not to think too much.
Every night when Lu Shangjin went to apply medicine, Yan Yi was the only person left in the quiet room. He sat by the bed to eat porridge and touched the little foot that occasionally imprinted through his belly.
Lu Shangjin actually already had a hunch early on that he would fall into the enemy’s hands now, it was just a matter of time. His heart trembled and he couldn’t help but feel a trace of guilt. He was only tripping over himself and wanted to push the blame on the child.
After eating the porridge, Lu Shangjin still hadn’t returned, so Yan Yi put on his slippers to take a look.
Standing outside the debridement room, he could see the topless alpha sitting inside through the glass, with a broad-shouldered, narrow-waisted, lean figure that always caught the eye.
The three deep wounds on his shoulder were recut to be disinfected. The instant the liquid medicine was pressed onto it, blue veins burst out all along Lu Shangjin’s arm to his neck as he gripped the snowy white bed sheets by his hand. He calmly tilted his head slightly as the blood in his face disappeared like a falling tide.
Yan Yi remembered following him out to play when he was very young. When he went out in the morning, Lu Shangjin whispered that his shoes were wearing his feet down a little. After coming back happily at night, Yan Yi then realized that a piece of flesh had been abraded off his heel.
The alpha had been mute as a fish since young. No matter how painful it was, he would swallow it silently by himself, like a pearl clam using its soft flesh to dissipate the pain.
Yan Yi didn’t wait for him and instead acted like he hadn’t been here before. He went back to his ward and washed up cleanly before leaning by the bed to read, but actually, he couldn’t even absorb a few lines of the book.
More than half an hour passed and Yan Yi was about to fall asleep hugging the book. He vaguely remembered someone sitting next to him, slowly pulling the book out of his arms, and placing it by the head of the bed.
Lu Shangjin gently placed his finger in Yan Yi’s palm, and the little rabbit’s hand tightened in a muddled daze, holding Lu Shangjin’s finger in his hand. Feeling delighted as though he had obtained candy, Lu Shangjin’s tired eyes lit up with light.
Yan Yi was held by a large hand covered with old scars. Lu Shangjin leaned down and pressed his hand to Yan Yi’s lips, bending his index finger to gently touch his curly and pale eyelashes. He then carefully touched the baby in his stomach and whispered good night.
After turning off the lights, Lu Shangjin sat on the other bed and single-handedly unbuttoned the buttons of his chest with some difficulty. He casually tossed his shirt onto the coat hanger before lying down wearily under the quilt, but he got thirsty before even lying down firmly and raised his hand to feel for the thermos hanging by the head of the bed.
His fingers shook and he almost didn’t hold the thermos steady, the hot water spilling out on his fingers. Lu Shangjin frowned and got up in a hurry to put the bottle back safely. He glanced over at Yan Yi, afraid of waking him up as pregnant omegas sometimes had poor sleep quality.
However, Yan Yi had already sat up, his feet sweeping the ground to find his slippers. He then poured out a cup from the thermos and handed it to Lu Shangjin.
Lu Shangjin said apologetically “I still woke you up“, while reaching for the cup of water, but he didn’t expect that Yan Yi had been holding the cup up to his lips.
Overwhelmed by the flattery, he drank the water from Yan Yi’s hand, coaxing him with a faint smile, “I just had a cramp, really…”
Instead, his neck was held in a soft embrace.
Lu Shangjin was stiff and unable to move, his mind turning blank. Until delicate and gentle soothing pheromones wrapped around his body and the sweetness of milk-candy soothed the pain in the shoulder.
The alpha couldn’t help but childishly hug his waist and bury his head in Yan Yi’s chest. He let Yan Yi put his hand on the agonizingly unbearable pain on his shoulder, unable to stop the slight trembling of his body.
Yan Yi stood in front of him, holding the alpha’s head and gently petting him. He quietly and slowly hummed a tune he had played for him not long ago.
Lu Shangjin carried him into bed and squeezed together onto the single hospital bed. The two pressed tightly together, forehead against forehead, entangling with each other as they kissed. The tips of their tongues entwined as their ten fingers intertwined.
Neither of them remembered when they fell asleep. Yan Yi only remembered that Lu Shangjin kept whispering “I love you” in his ear dozens of times, and at the end, Lu Shangjin’s voice had a hint of hoarse with a hint of grievance before his breathing gradually calmed down.
Yan Yi was awakened by a slow to sharp pain.
When he woke up, his whole body was drenched in cold sweat and something wet was flowing down his thighs.
He opened his eyes hazily and saw Lu Shangjin telling him to lie flat and not move, calmly and skillfully ringing the call bell, but in actuality, his eyes looked so panicked like he was about to suffocate.
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