After a few years away from China, Wei Zhan decided it was time to come back.
What has been lost is gone. Regrets were never a thing for him.
But who would've thought the last person he was expecting to see was just hiding in his right-hand man's h...
With all fairness to Zhan, he really made an effort to win Yibo and their son's favour.
Firstly, he had changed his routines to include time for them.
Family breakfast became a norm. Lunch unfortunately, Zhan still has to spend it at his office. What had improved though was that he makes sure he doesn't skip it and eats on time, as Yibo had always reminded him in worry. And! Dinner is almost always splendid together with Yibo and Su'er if not that Zhan needs to work overtime at times. When this happens though, he will still make sure to sneakily see the two most important persons in his life, plant a kiss on their forehead while they sleep, before he goes to his own room and settle for the night.
One time, Zhan reached home past 10 pm and thought the two were already fast asleep. To his surprise, Yibo was still wide awake and fresh from bath when Zhan came into his room. Zhan was speechlessly flustered ogling the water droplets clinging onto Yibo's hair and nape. Zhan never felt so parched and thirsty as that night!
Since then, Yibo get the hint that Zhan was paying them a visit whenever he reaches home late. In recompense, the next time Zhan was late going home again, Yibo made it a habit to always wait for Zhan to come back home.
Life is going great for this little family. Even Su'er started going to a nursery and the little munchkin liked it a lot. He had earned two best friends since his first day at school: a menace Jing Yi who couldn't stay put for even a single second and his twin brother, the timid Shizui, who is an angel.
Zhan is quite in dilemma though.
Sitting in his office, staring in space, Ning had caught him quite distracted from work in the last few days. Zhan sighing depressedly while glancing at the clock too often, 'It seems someone is gravely missing someone.' Ning inferred.
His Boss' mind seemed to be a universe away. Only with mentioning Yibo's name did he gained Zhan's attention which fused an idea into Ning's mind.
"Just reminding you Mr.Xiao that the meeting will start in 15 minutes and that you should now start walking your way to the board room." Zhan glared at Ning for the specifics and gutted that he was fooled and that it wasn't anything related to Yibo at all. Ning mischievously grinned back at him, poking fun as he bribed. "I'll make sure that your favourite lunch and snack are ready as soon as the board meeting finishes, Mr.Xiao."
What he meant by that, Zhan won't fall victim to his palm-greasing. Zhan wants nothing except to go home and see his kid and his honey. *cough* He meant Yibo!
------------
Two hours later, the secretary sprang to his feet hearing the loud thumps of Zhan's shoes against the granite flooring which meant his Boss is in a foul mood. Surely, what greeted the poor secretary as Zhan passed by him was the Alpha's ominous wrinkled forehead.
But Ning wasn't perturbed. He even jived, "Enjoy lunch, Mr. Xiao!" Only for his Boss' office door to shut in front of his face.
Ning tittered to himself and counted, "One...Two..." And before three came out of his mouth, Zhan's head poked out of his office, eyes bright while grinning crazy! "Wen Ning, do you want a new car or do you want something else as your bonus?"
His Boss is f*cking hilarious at times! "I think that could wait, Mr. Xiao." Zhan's eyes widen, and he cussed internally realising he shouldn't really waste time. "Right!" Zhan then schooled his expression. "Don't let anyone disturb. At least for the next hour or so. I am gonna take time lunching."
------------
Inside Zhan's office, Yibo was neatly arranging the home cooked meals he had brought for Zhan. He was deft with his movements yet Zhan noticed his silence and the gloom that hangs around.
Zhan's happy grin turned flat and a heavy weight pressed on his chest as he continued to watch Yibo's movements. Unable to hold himself any longer, Zhan carefully took Yibo's hand on his, urged Yibo to look at him and when the latter refused, Zhan pulled him to his embrace and crafted his pheromones to comfort his omega. "Tell me what's wrong, Yibo."
Yibo resisted initially, trying to pull away, wanting to hide his qualms. But equally as persistent as him was his Alpha.
Involuntarily, Yibo softened in Zhan's hold. The younger's eyes were tinged red and he buried his cheerless face in Zhan's chest. Yibo helplessly glued himself to his alpha and let Zhan thoughtfully stroke his back.
What was wrong, Yibo couldn't say it.
When Secretary Ning called him to come into Zhan's office, he was rather surprised. He was quite ecstatic being invited to come over and somewhat nervous, as Ning didn't tell him why.
Noting the time and having gut-feelings that Zhan hadn't had lunch yet, Yibo asked their Chef Han to prepare sumptuous healthy meal for his Gege.
When he arrived at the Wei's headquarters, he felt inadequate being scrutinised by the receptionists when he told them he was there to meet Zhan. His name wasn't in the CEO's appointment lists neither was his name ringing a bell to be granted unbridled entry. If Ning didn't come and meet him downstairs, Yibo was sure they would have called the guards to drag him out.
As they walked around the building and Ning showed him Zhan's empire, Yibo was blown-away by its extent and triumphs. He had always known Zhan as a successful character but never in his wildest dream did it occurred to him that Zhan's accomplishments were these ginormous.
To a degree, Yibo peered through himself: noting his insubstantial status and his ill-suited disposition compared to his successful Gege. It dawned to him: He is just a male omega, with a child. He didn't even finish high school and never had any accomplishment to be proud of.
What's worse, didn't Zhan only took him as a child because of his mother's wishes? And now, didn't he only took him in for the sake of their son?
As they continued on their course, Yibo felt the eyes on him. The hushed whispers of judgments made the weight on his shoulders too heavy that his shoulders slumped and he couldn't even raise his head high.
The atmosphere was suffocating but Yibo knew he was the one being harsh on himself and was the one choking his own neck due to his missteps and own failures.
Yibo refused to say it. Refrained to cry and show the weakling he is.
Gradually, his eyelids turned heavy and Zhan's soft words 'Rest.' quietly lulled him to sleep.
-------------
A/N:
This is supposed to be a happy chapter but ended up quite sad. What am I doing?! 🫣
Happy 32nd birthday to XZ!
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
