Lop-Eared Guard

Shao Wenjing received overseas encrypted mail in his mailbox. A number of precision medical equipment orders were temporarily cancelled. The other end would rather pay liquidated damages terminating the cooperation.

“…What a profitable thing to be put aside.” Shao Wenjing leaned back in his soft chair and propped his long legs up against his desktop, taking a leisurely sip of his coffee.

He checked his watch. It was already 9PM.

He scratched his hair, found a rubber band, tied the ends of his mid-length hair together,  and headed downstairs.

Wenchi was playing with a two thousand piece puzzle bought last week. It was put together in just a few days, and Shao Wenjing’s friends with the same hobby brought a ten thousand piece 3D puzzle of a small castle for Wenchi to play with.

When he stood by Wenchi’s door, the little guy was still concentrating on the splinter in his hand.

“Sleep time little spidey.” Shao Wenjing gently knocked on the door.

Wenchi looked back for a second and carefully gathered the unfinished pieces into the box. He walked barefoot on the carpet and gently held Shao Wenjing’s hand.

Whenever Wenchi was sad, he would silently hold his hand.

He lifted the little one onto his forearm, turned off the lights, and slept with him for a while.

Wenchi nestled in the thin quilt. Shao Wenjing laid down on the side of the bed slowly patting him over the thin quilt and holding up his head to ask, “Has someone bullied you at school?”

Wenchi shook his head.

Shao Wenjing waited patiently.

After a while, Wenchi asked carefully, “Is bunny never coming back?”

Shao Wenjing was stunned but smiled and patted him, “I’m here yet you’re still worried about others.”

At the time under those circumstances, he had no choice but to save Wenchi first, and he was unable to take Yan Yi back from the alpha, an M2 peregrine falcon, while bringing Wenchi with him.

Insects and spiders were no match for birds and beasts of prey.

Watching Lu Shangjin grab people when in the momentum of life and death, thousands of calculations could not work out how to turn a prodigal son back. If he appeared in front of Lu Shangjin again at this time, it would be to hit him with the muzzle of the gun.

Wenchi shrank into the curve of Shao Wenjing’s arm, raising his large eyes and said lightly, “Why are my parents the only ones who have become stars?”

The words came out thin, piercing Shao Wenjing’s heart like tiny thorns.

He hugged him into his arms and leaned against the bed, asking in a low voice, “I didn’t take enough care of you?”

“But you can’t make me milk candy or tell me nice stories.” Wenchi’s small, soft hands looped around Shao Wenjing’s neck, “I’m not saying you are not good. You are very good, but it’s different.”

“Oh baobei, you really hurt my heart.” Shao Wenjing gave a smile and released soothing pheromones to lull him to sleep.

“Given the chance, I’ll bring the little rabbit back.” Shao Wenjing pondered when to act as he patted him to sleep.

“He has my mark on him, he’ll come back sooner or later.”

“Do you like him?” Wenchi obediently sat on his lap and looked up at him, “Do you?”

Shao Wenjing thought deeply.

He was amazed when the little white rabbit jumped down from the high platform with his knife in both hands.

Right then, there was a small electric current crawling through his heart, not only from the pheromone match, but also the yearning and appreciation of a beautiful work of art.

He probably liked him.

Without waiting for him to say the answer he had been thinking about for a long time, Wenchi asked again, “Do you like him more than Lu Shangjin does?”

Shao Wenjing frowned slightly.

At least he won’t make himself look bad in order to try to get the omega back.

“If there is an omega I like, you’ll be the first to know.” Shao Wenjing kissed his forehead. “I’m going to go work, goodnight.”

Perhaps his feelings were too weak. Even though he had marked Yan Yi, he still felt that kind of care and attachment growing more distant day by day.

As if the mark was gone.

Shao Wenjing didn’t think much of it.

In his opinion, love should be elegant and in moderation. Lu Shangjin’s way was like a pursuit of heaven from earth; it wasn’t love, but bad spirit.

Lu Shangjin sat in the nursing chair beside the hospital bed to cut Yan Yi’s nails.

The lop-eared rabbit needed to cut nails and foot fur regularly to keep clean and healthy. Lu Shangjin cleaned up the nails and took a cotton ball to Yan Yi to wipe the curves of his ears.

After grooming Yan Yan into a clean little white rabbit, Lu Shangjin rested on the edge of the bed for a while, releasing the last of his soothing pheromones for him.

His own recovery required energy from his glands, which were damaged by a series of overruns. Only a tiny amount of energy could be recovered each day, released as soothing pheromone.

These last few days, he didn’t dare to slacken even a bit.

Within a few days after the successful operation, there were continuous suspected rejection reactions. The machine alarm sounded at two or three in the morning, and Yan Yi was pushed into the operating room several times, during which Lu Shangjin was asked to sign a critical illness notice again.

He didn’t dare to sleep anymore.

Lu Shangjin set up a chair at the door of the ICU and sat there at night leaning against the wall, waiting for the most feared instrument alarm to bring Yan Yan back from the brink of death.

Once Yan Yi’s situation stabilised and he was transported back into a singular private room, Lu Shangjin could stay beside him at his bedside to keep him company.

This morning, he gave his face a serious wash and looked at himself closely in the mirror. He had forgotten to shave again. There were some white, shiny strands in his hair.

Lu Shangjin gave himself some eye drops to relieve the discomfort of his eyes. His hands trembled slightly and he accidentally squeezed too much of the drops, which ran down his face when he closed his eyes.

Right after, his nose felt sour.

He fumbled and grabbed Yan Yi’s hand, put it to his lips and kissed it.

Yan Yi’s ring was still in his pocket. He wanted to wait for him to wake up and until he was willing to put the ring on his hand once again.

This pair of wedding rings was too old and carried too many bad memories. Lu Shangjin wanted them to change to a new pair, but then thought of how Yan Yi loved this old pair. Maybe not changing them would be better.

“When its 520, wake up and look at me.” Lu Shangjin closed his eyes and pressed his forehead against Yan Yi’s fingertips, “You’re always like this, you sleep so endlessly. Look at you, you’re so thin that there is no meat on you at all.”

“We’ll go home once you wake up.” Lu Shangjin mumbled, “You’ll be the happiest little rabbit.”

Yan Yi suddenly curled up slightly, as if he was trying hard to roll over.

Lu Shangjin was shocked. He immediately took his other hand together, making sure not to touch the needles and carefully helped him roll over while supporting his back. 

Right after flipping over, Yan Yi curled into a ball. His little rabbit ears covered his face, and like a little child, he gave a light whine.

Lu Shangjin hurried around to the other side of the bed, brushed away his little ear and looked at his slightly wrinkled face with relief.

The scent of the narcissus gently soothed the curled rabbit as he squeezed out the bit of energy he had recovered from his glands.

“Good boy.” Lu Shangjin half knelt down to look at him and pinched his thin soft face. He looked up to see the infusion bag deflated, and quietly left the ward to call a nurse to come and change his medicine. He went to ask about the examination results while he was there.

Dr. Zhong held up and pointed at the glandular CT scan for Lu Shangjin to see, “Rest assured, the glands are developing well.”

The glands on the scan looked much smaller than normal adult glands.

“The new glands are not mature yet. They’re only the size of the glands of a seven-year-old child right now. Additionally, the previous mental stimulation was too intense. Many of the aftereffects need to slowly recuperate to complete recovery.” Dr. Zhong explained.

Lu Shangjin continuously nodded. He almost put on his glasses and started taking notes in his little notebook.

“So you should also pay attention to wound recovery. The alpha’s soothing pheromones can help speed up healing.” Dr. Zhong instructed Lu Shangjin on each of the precautions, “Try not to have intercourse until the glands mature. The new glands are too fragile to withstand the tear marks and the high concentration of heat pheromones.”

Having intercourse under this situation would be too beastly.

Lu Shangjin paused for a moment and said from the bottom of his heart, “Thank you.”

Dr. Zhong was stunned, his eyes curved as he smiled, “You’re very welcome, young master Lu.”

He knowingly left out how Lu Shangjin had lost control and held him threateningly by the collar outside the ICU. He had seen his fair share of these kinds of situations. It was hard for anyone not knowing the condition of a family member in the emergency room to not go crazy.

In the days that Lu Shangjin spent with him at An Fei Ya, Dr. Zhong had seen just how considerate a person could be.

Even more to his surprise, it was a lop-eared rabbit whose compatibility with him was only 75% that made young master Lu crazy.

This, on the other hand, brought the preconceived image of the aloof young master down from the altar.

Dr. Zhong was unexpectedly talkative, from the illness to the current situation, and later to the business. It didn’t make Lu Shangjin feel impatient or disgusted.

As he got to the point, Dr. Zhong asked about Xia Pingtian’s preferences in passing.

Lu Shangjin gave a light smile, “He said earlier that his brother broke a purple clay tea set he liked when they were having an argument.”

This little love wanted to please his benefactor, Lu Shangjin didn’t need to guess on this thoughtfulness. 

After leaving Dr. Zhong, Lu Shangjin went and washed his face. He pushed open the door to the ward and his body suddenly jerked.

His hand on the doorknob quivered and he hurried over.

“You’re awake?” 

Yan Yi was sitting on the corner of the bed hugging his legs. His little ears pressed nervously to the side of his face as he held a thin quilt in his arms.

Lu Shangjin’s voice wasn’t loud, but in the silence of the hospital room, to the lop-eared rabbit’s sensitive ears it was almost like a crash of thunder. Yan Yi gave a sudden shudder, the little rabbit’s ears stiffened and then hung down. He looked at him in horror while holding his beating heart, his nose slightly quivering.

Lu Shangjin realised he scared him, so he slowed down his footsteps and slowly moved towards the bed while trying to release soothing pheromones.

The smell of narcissus permeated his whole body. Yan Yi looked up and sniffed the scent. There was no rejection, but he also did not seem comforted, he actually became more afraid and shrank into the corner.

Lu Shangjin hugged him and rubbed his back, doing his best to squeeze out soothing pheromones as he whispered, “Don’t be scared, it’s me, don’t be afraid.”

Yan Yi curled up against the crook of Lu Shangjin’s neck, his eyes were stiff and foreign. He slightly shrank his hands and feet, and nestled in Lu Shangjin’s arms into a ball of rabbit. 

After Lu Shangjin’s joy passed a bit, his boiling heart gradually cooled down.

Trembling, he looked up and down at the soft ball in his arms. Unease spread to every cell in his body and then burst into panic.

Why was he… like a child?

…a seven year old child.