Pain Fetish

Abusiness trip planned for two weeks was strangled in the cradle by a kitten, and the Enigma, who had been restless for many days, plunged into the gentle trap.

The little Beta’s begging caused his sanity to completely collapse, and the rut period started half a day early, trapping them in the building.

Today, everyone in the Chamber of Commerce was notified to get off work early. From noon, the building had to be emptied and guarded on every side, because this was the first rut period after Qi Han differentiated into Enigma. The Health Control Centre expected that his pheromone level would rise rapidly in a short period of time and even might violently injure people.

There were three layers of security outside the building, two medical teams on standby, and a crane machine sprayed the area with an odour blocker every fifteen minutes to prevent Qi Han’s pheromones from leaking out and triggering other Alphas.

Some doctors even proposed to immediately tranquilise Qi Han and use the drugs to calm him down, worried that Fu Ge would be in danger in the same room with him.

After all, no one would believe that a Beta could pacify an Enigma in rut.

However, to everyone’s surprise, when Qi Han walked out of the Chamber of Commerce building with Fu Ge in his arms at six o’clock in the evening, there was no sign of getting out of control.

He was neatly dressed, his appearance was dignified, and his pheromones were also very restrained. Except for a layer of hot sweat shining on his neck, there was no sign of entering the rut period all over his body.

The medical team was stunned for a moment; they looked at each other in disbelief and hesitated for two seconds before taking the instruments to measure his level, heartbeat and blood pressure.

Qi Han nodded slightly and said “Wait a minute”, walked around them to the car, gently put the sleeping baby in his arms into the car and coaxed him softly.

The doctors could only see him bending over and saying something affectionately to the person in the car. Then a slender hand tremblingly stretched out from the blanket. Qi Han immediately held it and put it to his mouth to kiss lightly.

“Be good, I’ll do a check-up and be back in five minutes.”

The person wrapped in the blanket shivered a little. Fu Ge couldn’t even open his eyes; his thick black eyelashes were wet, fluttering pitifully.

Like a kitten drenched in rain, Fu Ge poked out his fluffy head and rubbed against Qi Han’s hand: “Then hurry up…”

The young nurse with a stethoscope stretched her neck and looked into the car, and was smacked on the head by the doctor, “What are you looking at! Who is in there, can you watch casually?”

The young nurse blushed and covered her head, “Hey, Sister Liu, do you think that Enigma has entered the rut period? There’s such a big fuss, isn’t it a false alarm?”

Sister Liu scolded her, “Are you blind or ignorant? Didn’t you see that Enigma’s neck?”

“Neck? What’s wrong with his neck?” The nurse stood on tiptoe in confusion; she saw Qi Han’s neck in the light of the street lamp, and suddenly sucked in a breath of cool air, “My god… He, he is…”

“He is holding back,” the doctor said.

The back of Enigma’s neck exposed by the clothes was covered in a red rash, almost purple, the glands were scratched several times, oozing blood that mixed with sweat in the way that was painful to look at.

“Damage to the glands can reduce mania during the rut period. It’s obvious he scratched them in desperation.”

The young nurse touched the back of her neck empathetically, “No, he… why? Isn’t his boyfriend there? Why bother…”

The doctor sighed: “Don’t be poisoned by nonsensical fiction. The rut period is not a good thing for any Alpha. If you don’t want to hurt your mate, you can only hurt yourself.”

After settling Fu Ge comfortably, Qi Han came out and finished his examination as quickly as possible. The doctor specifically asked about the injury on the back of his neck, “President Qi, do the glands need to be bandaged for you?”

Qi Han fastened the button with one hand and said casually, “Don’t bother.”

Even if you bandaged them on for a while, they would still have to be scratched again.

The first wave of bonding fever passed almost without incident. Fu Ge was unconscious for more than half an hour before waking up in Qi Han’s arms. He opened his eyes in a daze, and the accumulated tears immediately slipped down.

“Why are you crying so much?” Qi Han teased him, kissing the corners of his eyes, “Delicate baby, begging for mercy before I even did anything?”

The little Beta didn’t have the strength to bicker with him anymore. He just leaned on his shoulder obediently to adjust his breathing. He was dazed for a while before regaining a trace of strength. He raised his hand to Qi Han’s forehead and touched it, “It doesn’t seem to burn anymore… Is it still as uncomfortable as before?”

After being tossed so much that he couldn’t speak clearly, he still cared about whether Qi Han had a fever. Qi Han’s heart softened into a mess. He held Fu Ge’s hand and kissed every fingertip, as if the rough wolf king was helping a kitten smooth its fur.

“It’s not uncomfortable anymore, it’s much better.” His voice was full of pity: “Go to sleep, I will hold gege in my arms.”

Fu Ge lay in his arms half-asleep and half-awake for a while, but the car still showed no sign of stopping. Fu Ge looked out and said, “Aren’t we going home?”

“No.” Qi Han said harshly. “We’re eloping today.”

As long as they had each other by their side, they had no fear of going to the ends of the earth.

After Fu Ge confirmed that Ah Jue was staying with his grandfather for the next few days, he completely relaxed, tilted his head and fell asleep comfortably. 

He was so exhausted that he woke up just to check whether Qi Han had a fever again. After closing his eyes, he slept for more than ten hours, and he didn’t even know that he was being carried onto the plane.

When he woke up, he had already been abducted to Switzerland.

There was a completely unfamiliar wooden ceiling, the light outside the window was hidden by heavy curtains, the dim bedside lamp was in the shape of a small bear, and a muscular arm was pressed against his body.

“Had enough sleep?” Qi Han kissed his forehead and wrapped his arms around him, “If you don’t wake up, our vacation will be over.”

“Vacation… are we going out?!” Fu Ge’s eyes were bright and his voice was still hoarse from sleep: “Where are we now?”

Qi Han stood up and pulled him to the edge of the bed with one arm, “Go see for yourself.”

The little bird who loved freedom was looking forward to every trip. Fu Ge excitedly jumped from the bed barefoot and rushed to the window.

With a swish, the curtains opened, and the towering Alps suddenly came into view. The solemn mountains were covered with snow, and the secluded forest valleys were plunged into the sea of clouds. Further down was an endless green grassland. The wooden houses with warm orange lights on the grassland were like a nest of cute little birds, spreading out to the foot of the mountain.

The quiet wind, the cold snow, the oil painting-like Alpine style, and the lover snuggling up behind him…

Fu Ge held his breath for an instant and stretched out his hand stiffly out of the window. A thick white mist fell into his palm and then suddenly dissipated.

“So beautiful, like a dream…”

The shockingly ethereal feeling was like travelling through time and space, falling into a dream, shaking off the dust of the years, fulfilling a promise that was long overdue.

“Can you guess where this is?” Qi Han interlocked their fingers as they looked at the firs in the distance together.

Fu Ge’s lips trembled: “…Murren?”

“Yes, we made a promise five years ago that our second trip after graduation would be here, but we failed to come.” Qi Han put his arms around Fu Ge’s waist and kissed him before saying, “This rut period, will gege accompany me here?”

The second wave of bonding fever came so hard that Fu Ge didn’t even have time to take a step out of the room before he was caught on the bed.

The initial gentleness faded and the aggressiveness in Enigma’s bones slowly emerged. Qi Han began to gradually lose control. Even though he scratched his glands until they bled again, he could not suppress the manic heat. Fortunately, Fu Ge was able to withstand all he had to offer.

The warm lights in the cabin were on all night, and the manic Enigma was only barely able to enjoy himself.

The rut period lasted for three days in a row, and the first thing they did after it was over was to go out and soak in the hot springs.

Murren is a famous fairy tale town in Switzerland, also known as the town in the clouds, because the houses here are built on the hillside, you can see the Alps in the distance when you open the window, and you can touch the sea of fog and clouds when you raise your hand.

The hot spring hotel was at the foot of the mountain. You had to take a cable car ride over a deep valley. On the way, you could also see bright paragliders flying among the clouds above your head.

“Do you like it here?” Qi Han scooped the warm water and poured it on Fu Ge’s shoulders, every movement full of tenderness and compassion, “I bought the cabin on the hillside, we can come back next holiday if you like it.”

“Okay, next time we come with Ah Jue, he’ll love the docile little horses from yesterday.”

As he said that, Fu Ge hooked the tray floating on the water, took the glass of red wine and shook it. After taking a sip, he turned his head and leaned shyly to Qi Han’s lips.

Qi Han bowed his head and kissed him, turning from the guest into the host immediately (turning from passive to active behaviour). The red wine was slowly passed between their mouths, mellow and sweet, dyeing the little Beta’s lips in sweetness and sourness.

“From the age of fourteen to the present, this is the most comfortable rut period I have ever had. There are no nightmares, no injections, and no bleeding. Only you are always by my side, so good and so lovely.”

Qi Han held him in his arms and murmured softly as if in retrospect: “Xiao Ge, you have turned all my painful memories into joy.”

During the seven-day vacation, they went to a lot of places, as if to leave footprints of themselves from five years ago.

Taking a bus through the valley to the waterfall town, seeing the yellow calves pacing along the mountain, Fu Ge painted the scenery along the way in a sketch book, and without exception, the C-position of each picture was firmly occupied by Qi Han.

Sitting in a coffee house close to the edge of the snowy peak, reading a book, with the entire sky dome lit with the setting sun was as if you could reach the sky by raising your hand.

Qi Han took a lot of photos of Fu Ge here, saying that he wanted to replace the regrets of those that were burned.

The little Beta bought two postcards, one for Qi Han and the other for himself, mysteriously writing something on it.

Qi Han thought he was going to send it to Ah Jue, and he helped him with a lot of childish words. As a result, after coaxing Fu Ge to fall asleep at night, he pulled the postcard out from under his pillow. The postcard only had a drawing of them two when they were eighteen years old.

Under the drawing, Fu Ge wrote a line of small characters: Still together five years later, never to be separated.

On the last day before the return trip, Qi Han took him to skydive.

The wind direction and temperature were very suitable that day, and there were a lot of people paragliding. Bright umbrella-like cloths floated from the slopes in all directions, like oversized coloured dandelions falling into the sea of clouds.

Fu Ge had never tried such an exciting project before. He was so thrilled that he couldn’t wait to try. He specially picked the most colourful umbrella cloth, and asked Qi Han when he learned to paraglide.

Qi Han didn’t want to say; his eyes were evasive and he concentrated on helping Fu Ge strap on his protective gear. The two of them played together without an instructor, and Fu Ge’s life was tied to his.

“Are you flying with me in your arms?” The little Beta turned his head and asked him.

“Correct.” Qi Han pressed him tighter in his arms, leaned to his ear and whispered: “The vertical distance from the top of the mountain to the foot of the mountain is 500 metres, and the horizontal distance has no limit. So gege is free to ride the wind as he wishes. I will always be behind you to protect you.”

In the blink of an eye, a gust of wind came from the snowy mountain and rushed straight at them. Qi Han took Fu Ge and ran down the mountain. When he reached the edge of the cliff, he jumped suddenly. The colourful umbrella cloth floated high, and the two hugging each other rode the wind.

Harnessing the wind was like measuring the earth with your height.

The mountains in the distance were covered with snow, but the land under their feet was tinged with endless green. They were looking down, feeling that they were as small as a piece of gravel.

“Ah ah ah— so exciting!” Fu Ge screamed against the wind, shuttling freely in the air. His adrenaline soared to its peak. He turned his head and kissed Qi Han recklessly.

The moment their lips and tongues touched each other, even their souls trembled silently.

High in the air, between the snowy mountains, committing one’s life into the other’s hands required trust to be rooted in one’s bones.

“When did you learn to skydive?”

Qi Han was startled helplessly, as if remembering something. He finally spoke after crossing two low mountains.

“After letting you go five years ago, I actually came here alone and did nothing. I paraglided for half a year as if I was sick.”

Fu Ge was taken aback for a moment, “Were you looking for excitement…”

“No.” Qi Han said, “To make a wish.”

“They said that there is a high chance that the wish made during skydiving will come true, because you are betting your life against the heavens. Jump once, if you’re safe and sound, your wish will be null and void. If you die, your wish will come true.”

The little Beta’s heart trembled, “Then what was your wish?…”

He wanted so badly to know what Qi Han would pray to the heavens betting his life after the two of them were separated in such a tragic way.

Great wealth and prosperity for the rest of his life? An untimely death for his enemies? Or to get out of this embarrassing relationship as soon as possible and meet a new lover?

But the Alpha behind him just smiled bitterly when he heard the words, and spoke in a hoarse voice, sending his secret wish to the wind and the clouds: “I made a wish, if there is the next life, can you make Fu Ge love me sincerely…”

Even though he thought at that time that the love that the little Beta gave him was only use and betrayal, he still wanted to use his life in exchange for the perfection of the next life.

A mirror-like lake slid past them. Cold snowflakes hit his cheeks and made his eyes sour. Fu Ge’s nose twitched. He tried to stifle sobs in his throat, and when he turned his head to Qi Han, his heart ached numbly: “Ah Han, no need for the next life, your wish has come true now. I will always love you with all my heart.”

Qi Han smiled and kissed the top of his hair, “It’s not enough.”

Fu Ge blinked: “…what?”

“Gege, look below.”

As they paraglided through the valley, the field of vision instantly widened.

Qi Han began to take him down slowly. At an altitude of 200 metres from the ground, the little Beta looked down and saw that on the endless grass under his feet, there was his portrait made out of edelweisses. 

It could be vaguely seen that it was a small photo of Fu Ge posted on his student ID card when he was eighteen years old.

“This is… me?”

Tears rushed out of his eyes uncontrollably, and he was stunned, his heart beating like a drum louder than the whistling of the wind.

“It’s not very similar,” Qi Han whispered. “But I want everyone to know how beautiful my baby is.”

The little Beta choked and covered his mouth, unable to believe it: “It’s only been a few days, where can you find so many flowers…”

“I searched all the flower fields and gardens here, and told them that I want my lover to be the happiest bride in the world.”

The paraglider finally landed smoothly, and the two landed in the field of edelweisses. Qi Han took out the ring he had prepared a long time ago and knelt down on one knee, holding Fu Ge’s fingers reverently, “Little prince, I dedicate everything I have to you, will you give yourself to me?”

Fu Ge’s answer was the lingering kisses and a soft sob hidden under the umbrella.

—I have always belonged to you.