Lop-Eared Guard

His phone vibrated again. Yan Yi looked down and saw that Lu Shangjin had changed his number again and sent a text message. 

“Give me the address, I’ll go pick you up.”

The corners of Yan Yi’s mouth tilted as he gently smoothed out his tied-up light-grey hair. Both his feet were stepping on the beam of the high stool. The expression in his eyes was vexed as he stared dazedly at the screen. 

Lu Shangjin was willing to change his number to contact him, even wanting to come and pick him up. During the time when they were still passionately in love, Lu Shangjin wasn’t even this patient in coaxing him. 

“What have you done.” Yan Yi lowered his head, his hair covering his eyes as his fingers trembled while holding the screen. His rosy lips were slightly opened, and his little white teeth bit his lips until blood came out. 

“I’m at the bar where we once stayed before.” 

Such a short sentence remained in the editing column for three minutes, only then did he make up his mind to send it. 

After a brief silence, Lu Shangjin replied, “We used to stay at many bars before, which one?” 

The slightly bright light in Yan Yi’s eyes had already been dimmed out. He lowered his head and looked at the ring finger on his right hand. 

Among the various colourful postcards, Yan Yi could still see the faded postcard of a landscape with just a glance. 

A line of words was written on the postcard with the markings of an ordinary ball-point pen, but it was very sharp and beautiful: 

Yan Yan, I love you until my last breath. 

The words were unscrupulous, but teenagers at that youthful age would accept these things happily. 

At that time, they had finally come out of Southeast Asia with a slim chance of survival. On the windowsill of the attic in this bar called “Ruins”, two teenagers full of youthful vigour had made the most heartfelt contented love in their lives. 

Back then, the ring was still looped around the ring finger, but their intimate feelings had already declined unbearably, just like the surface of the ring that was no longer shining, covered with scars.   

That night, Yan Yi had achieved a promise. He had achieved the gentle and strong symbolic possession of a mark. He had achieved the ring that he refused to remove until this day. And he had achieved the love that he never thought he would lose. 

Like a ceremony, solemn yet romantic. 

But it still became the collapsed reflection in the water, unable to grasp onto as it broke into clean fragments. 

In fact, Yan Yi knew that he wasn’t expecting Lu Shangjin to guess which bar he was thinking about, just like how he obviously knew that Lu Shangjin wouldn’t have guessed that he wanted to listen to him play the piano just once. 

He just wanted to confirm whether he was able to leave traces in Lu Shangjin’s heart at all after reliving the cherished scenes again and again in his dreams.

“If you forget then so be it, just forget about me too.” Yan Yi replied. 

“Are you angry? You wouldn’t be like this before, don’t lose your temper.” Lu Shangjin seemed to be very free today as he replied to every text really quickly. 

Yan Yi clutched his phone, then weakly loosened his grip. 

He wouldn’t be like this before? Now, he no longer expected to be picked up and pieced together after being broken so many times. No matter how careful he was pieced together, the broken edges couldn’t be amended and glued back. 

How nice would it be if Lu Shangjin had said these words earlier. 

Yan Yi grasped the ring on his ring finger, wanting to pull it out and throw it away, but he couldn’t do it. 

Forget it. It’s quite expensive. 

Yan Yi didn’t blacklist Lu Shangjin again. What a fucking great young master. It’s not easy for him to be willing to condescend to nobility and say such flattering words. 

Holding the guitar by the side, the husky alpha watched him fall into a daze; Yan Yi’s eyes were desolate and he occasionally hugged his arms from the gust of cold wind. It’s inevitable to avoid taking pity on the omega, “Alright, alright, you look quite pitiful. Let me see you mix a drink, if it’s good, I’ll take you.” 

Yan Yi came back to his senses, then perfectly put away the sadness in his eyes. After turning around to the bar counter, he skillfully simmered a handful of cranberries into chilled soup, swept up a cup holder with his left hand, picked up four tall glasses between his fingers and lined them up on the bar with speed. He turned over his hand and took a bottle of tequila, sandwiching it between his index and middle finger, then held the bottle against the back of his hand. 

Every time the liquor was poured out of the english-style cocktail shaker, just half a glass would be filled. The bright red cranberries and vapour from the ice dotted along the rim of the glass, then resetting in the next glass. 

The liquor levels of the four glasses lined up were evenly matched. Whether it was the colour translucency or the flavour, they were just right. 

Drawn to Yan Yi’s gentlemanly temperament, the husky alpha picked up his guitar and sat on the bar counter. He first looked at the liquor that was prepared one by one and compared its colours, then took a glass to taste, “Yo, impressive. What is this called?” 

Yan Yi leaned over, propping himself on the bar with one hand supporting his cheek. His right wrist turned over and a rose was suddenly caught between his fingers. 

He stuck the rose into the wine glass, his eyes dropped, “Christmas rose.” 

Recollecting love. 

The husky alpha blew a long whistle as he measured up the omega in front of him seriously, “What’s your name?”

Yan Yi answered indifferently.

The husky alpha touched his chin and asked, “What else can you do?”

Yan Yi thought for a while, “There’s nothing I don’t know.” 

The husky alpha smiled cheekily, “You’re an omega, can you fight?”

Yan Yi pondered over it for a moment, “I used to fight in the past.” 

“Good!” The husky slapped the counter and bumped his fist with Yan Yi’s, “Gu Wei. Call me boss.” 

Holding a cup of hot coffee, Yan Yi walked around up and down the bar with Gu Wei. Having recruited a new employee, Gu Wei was clearly a little excited. He vented about how the previous employee was unbearable, and complained about how the public security was too poor recently. Saying this, he became so angry that he caused the wooden stairs to make “ge-ge” noises as he stepped on them. 

Yan Yi looked at him quietly with his eyes curved and occasionally took a sip of the steaming coffee. 

It’s very nice to have a friend to talk to. 

There was an outdoor rooftop garden on the second floor. Gu Wei nestled onto the swing with his guitar and sang a song to the new employee. 

“I’ve been writing this song for a long time but I couldn’t finish it every time. When I don’t write songs, I never had business. Whenever I have inspiration, ai, those crowds of tourists would squeeze in for a drink. Trouble would come through the door continuously from time to time. I’d be more at ease when you’re here to take care of this shop in the future.” 

“Why don’t you run the shop seriously?” 

“I’m not short of money, I just like it here.” Gu Wei plucked a guitar string, emitting a clamorous noise, the sound of strings were irregular yet made one have a tranquil state of mind. 

His voice was unique; coarse and wild yet artistically free and airy. 

With one leg hanging, Yan Yi casually sat on the railing, his finger unconsciously tracing the ring on his ring finger. 

Gu Wei asked curiously, “You’re married? And your lover is willing to let you come out to work?”

Yan Yi smiled, “My lover is okay with everything. He just doesn’t like me, of course he’s willing.” 

Gu Wei couldn’t understand. Knitting his brows, he waited for Yan Yi to elaborate. Seeing that he didn’t want to say more, he subconsciously followed up, “Where’s your house?”

Yan Yi tried his best to think about it for a long time. 

This question seemed to have baffled him. He looked at the sun setting down the alleyway, wanting to light a cigarette, but then remembered that he’s pregnant with a baby and had already thrown the cigarette box away long ago. 

“I…don’t know.”

It seems like, I’ve always been wandering around. 

The reason for choosing this bar on such a huge map was because there was a twenty-year-old Lu Shangjin in this bar who could accompany him for the rest of his life. 

    ——

A new bartender came into the bar “Ruins”. The thin swallowtail vest drew out the outline of his slender waist and back. The occasional radiance of spring that spilled from the bow tie when he bent over was all gathered together within the boundary of suppressed desire. 

Yan Yi stood behind the bar counter as he quietly wiped the glass cup in his hand. Business was good at night and the shop was very crowded. 

An alpha was sitting in front of the bar counter and ordered two glasses of whiskey. He pushed one glass to Yan Yi, raising an eyebrow at him as he released courting pheromones, “Hey, baobei.” 

Yan Yi leaned back behind the bar counter. With fingers hooked, he loosened the bow tie, then crossed his pair of long legs that were wrapped under the thin and slender trousers. He took a cup of juice for himself and smiled faintly towards the alpha, “Apologies, excuse me.” 

He pushed open the low door of the bar counter and hurried up to the attic. 

His body wrapped under the work uniform was burning with heat. Yan Yi gripped the sink and flushed his face with cold water. Cold sweat was still dripping down his body uncontrollably. 

He was in heat. 

It was provoked by the pheromones of different alphas. The traces of pheromones left by people coming in and out of the bar could indeed obstruct Lu Shangjin’s ability to track and locate him. But for omegas in heat, this place was equivalent to a torturous hell. 

Every single cell in his body was clamouring to crush his blood vessels. Yan Yi knelt down on the floor and flipped open his sleeve, then injected a tube of highly concentrated inhibitor into his body along the artery. 

“Hurts.” Yan Yi knelt by the bed, hands gripping the sheets, like having a drug addiction without a medicinal cure, desiring to be inserted and marked. Only the comfort of an alpha’s strong and overbearing pheromones could relieve the pain of his blood vessels almost bursting. 

Increasing the concentration of inhibitors was useless. His arm was already covered in blue and purple needle holes, some old and some new. Being forced to rely on inhibitors to endure his heat for the past few years sent a final warning to Yan Yi through a frightening resistance.

Why not randomly find an alpha to have sex with? He really didn’t know what he had been so persistent on these past few years. Idiot rabbit, only knowing how to be moved1 by himself. 

He had the habit of biting his ring when he was in the most pain. 

As his bones were about to break from pain, his phone rang as if it was persistently urging him. Gu Wei’s voice sounded urgent on the phone, “Quick! Come down quickly! Several J1 alphas just came in! I can’t handle it!” 

“It had to be now…” With a dreadfully pale face caused by injecting excessive inhibitors, Yan Yi climbed up, out of breath as he struggled, “…that they come.”

Footnotes

感动自己/ moved by himself:  In most cases, self-motivation is derogatory. Without asking what the other person thinks, you will make assertions and do things. In the end, you only feel move yourself.