IF

8

The early summer sunlight lazily pounced on the asphalt road, ShangYu squinted as he walked along the road of Imperial University. Seeing the signboard of the business school from afar, he fished out his cell phone and called ShiWen: "Hey, I'm here, where are you?"

"Em, I'm coming, wait for me." ShiWen seems to just have gotten out of class, among the loud noises of the crowd, there was the hurried sound of things being hastily packed. ShangYu glanced up at the Business Academy's blindingly sunlit school building, lips curling into a smile, "Don't rush, take your time."

They have been together for four years, and their tacit understanding of each other has been growing ever since. His fake Omega gland is well soothed too, and ShiWen's cheerful, reckless smile has returned to his face. ShangYu looked at their photo on his lock screen, just by the glance at it, it had softened his heart. Just as he decided to step inside the college building and hunt for ShiWen himself, the rash omega came running down from the corner of the stairs.

"Have I kept you waiting?" ShiWen was out of breath, a beads of sweat were still hanging on his forehead. ShangYu took his bag, and fished out a handkerchief to wipe the sweat off his boyfriend's face. Warm sunlight cast a shadow on ShiWen's thin shoulder, his white tee glow in the shine, ShangYu kissed ShiWen's cheek and ruffled his hair, grinning. Light shone in his inky pupils. "Of course not, let's go."

ShiWen nodded obediently, holding ShangYu's hand, and walked towards the school gate.

Today they are going to an old market in the city center; ShiWen enjoys studying ancient earth recipes, but the necessary furniture can only be purchased at the old market. ShangYu checked his own work schedule and ShiWen's course schedule and called his Beta secretary to confirm, finally deciding that it would take place this afternoon.

The driver was waiting outside the gate, opening the door for them, when he saw the two. ShangYu put ShiWen's bag beside him, and grabbed his boyfriend's hand, playing with it carelessly. "Food first or shopping first?"

"Well, I'm fine with both." ShiWen mused, resting his chin on his hand, "We could go to the market first, actually; there are quite a few restaurants around there. If you're hungry, we could grab some food and then go shopping."

"That sounds nice," ShangYu said, looking up and informing the driver of the new plan.

As the black car travels on the flat road, the high-rise buildings on both sides reflect the sun's blinding light. As ShiWen happily shares his anecdotes from school in his ear, ShangYu plays with his partner's tender hands, echoing occasionally, with a doting look in his eyes that belongs only to him and his ShiWen.

ShangYu and ShiWen did not have a chance to attend the same college because of their rank difference, and he will begin to gradually take over the family business after graduating from high school, so down to the full count, they won't be able to be as leisurely out shopping as they are now anytime soon.

ShiWen was pretty fine with that; after all, he was happy with all the things or changes that were about ShangYu, but his boyfriend apparently wasn't. Every night, returning from work, ShangYu would curl up into a ball and weep silently for the unfairness of life. ShiWen found it pretty amusing, yet also vaguely bittersweet.

ShangYu changed a lot in the past few years, the youthfulness of his was now completely displaced by maturity and introversion, even at times, very occasionally, when he had to face a camera, he still soldered his face with a poker face.

Yet for such an Alpha that everyone fears, his favorite thing to do was to cuddle up to ShiWen after a long day at work. ShiWen recalled the way ShangYu rested his head in his chest last night. Now looking at the man who was listening to his ramble in attentive ears, staring at him with gleam in his eyes, everything was softening ShiWen's heart. He reversed his position, clenching his fingers around ShangYu's hand, which had been playing with his. He leaned to his boyfriend's side and whispered quiet words.

The old market is large; their driver dropped them off at the entrance and parked in the nearby parking lot to wait. Goods piled up one store after another; ShangYu even saw many gadgets that he'd never seen in books, ShiWen was having his time shopping in the next store, and ShangYu busied himself in a different store, lazily looking over the fine little items on the shelf, The old market sanitation was not very good, therefore many of those items were covered in dust. As ShangYu's eyes swept over the displayed item, a small wooden frame suddenly caught his eye.

It was the photo frame, the photo frame that ShiWen had put at his bedside in his previous life, the same one in which ShiWen had put their supposedly group photo.

"......" ShangYu felt as if his throat was blocked with cotton, even his breathing was painful as if it were rubbing over gravel. ShangYu gasped, trembling, and reached out to it.

ShangYu's tender finger brushed over the wooden frame. The memory of his past life gradually flooded his heart like a tidal wave, and his heart throbbed violently. His eyes began to blacken. "ShiWen..." ShangYu struggled, his partner not far away heard his call, ShiWen hurriedly ran back to his side, worriedly looking at the man who was leaning against the wall, gasping for breath. Suddenly, his arms were caught by ShangYu.

"ShiWen, ShiWen" ,the taste of syrupy red wine lingered between the nostrils, soothing his nerve. ShiWen panicked and tried to pat his back to comfort him, trying to stop the man's trembles, "ShangYu? ShangYu? Are you alright? I'm here, ShangYu, I'm here, I'm not going anywhere, what's wrong?"

"No-Nothing." ShangYu tightened his grip, ShangYu buried his head in the side of ShiWen's neck, his breath was hot and wet on the omega's smooth skin. "Let me hold for a while, it will be alright..."

ShiWen didn't dare to move.

T/A : Honestly I've no excuse for putting this thing on hold for half a billion years, but yay we have a new chapter. I'll probably continuously update this in two months since I have a pretty relaxed schedule, and probably do some editing on that rubbish translation I did several years ago (I'm honestly sorry for every one who got to read that, I'll try to make it as bearable as it can be, but it could get pretty tricky since I'm not good at re-translating works).