The Mushroom Effect - ZhanYi

Chapter 6

Xiao Zhan changed into his casual clothes and found Wang Yibo waiting for him in the lounge. Chen Zhihuan invited her husband and two other flight attendants to join them, along with Song Li, making a group of seven people for hotpot.

By the time they returned home, it was almost 10 o'clock. Xiao Zhan placed his and Wang Yibo's bags on the sofa and said, "Let's take a shower. You go first."

"Okay," Wang Yibo nodded after changing his shoes. He glanced at Xiao Zhan, who was sitting on the sofa, massaging his neck, and recalled the moments they shared with Song Li during the hotpot dinner.

Wang Yibo knew that Song Li was an apprentice captain assigned to Xiao Zhan. They had crossed paths before, but he had never initiated social interactions. It was amusing to him that today was the first time he had a conversation with Song Li. Song Li had a completely different personality from him. If he was introverted, then Song Li was extroverted. Song Li could easily get along with everyone at the table, never running out of things to say. He entertained the two flight attendants with his jokes and didn't hold back when teasing Xiao Zhan.

Xiao Zhan's helplessness, disdain, and laughter in front of Song Li were all observed by Wang Yibo. He noticed them clearly and remembered them vividly. It was a side of Xiao Zhan that was unfamiliar yet vividly present.

Wang Yibo hadn't realized yet that he cared about Xiao Zhan's different treatment towards him and others. He just felt uncomfortable, as if something was stuck in his throat, unable to move up or down. He took the towel and pyjamas into the bathroom but came out again. Xiao Zhan was still sitting on the sofa, looking at his phone. Wang Yibo went back and forth a few times as if hesitating, but Xiao Zhan remained focused on his phone.

"What are you looking at?" Wang Yibo walked back to the living room and asked.

"Huh?" Xiao Zhan looked up to see Wang Yibo's expressionless face, feeling a bit puzzled. He turned his phone around to show him and said, "Looking at the flight schedule for the next couple of days."

The screen displayed the itinerary, and Wang Yibo shifted his hands behind his back, rubbing his fingertips against the edge of his pants. He glanced at Xiao Zhan and then lowered his head to ask, "Did you invite Song Li to join us for hotpot today?"

"Yeah, I did," Xiao Zhan retrieved his phone and assessed Wang Yibo, sensing that something was off about him, but he couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was.

"Why did you ask him to come?" Wang Yibo started to speak for the first time, trying to speak casually, "It's nothing, I'm just curious. You never organise dinners, we just had dinner with Huan jie and you called him?"

"Oh I'm sorry for the trouble, I was tired and I just want to go home and sleep after flying" Xiao Zhan didn't think much, smiled and said, "I invited Song Li because he did me a favour. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother with him. He was driving me crazy on the plane. I'll have to properly treat him to a meal another day."

Wang Yibo couldn't figure out what favour Song Li could have done for Xiao Zhan, but Xiao Zhan had no reason to lie. He looked at Xiao Zhan and asked, "What kind of favour?"

Xiao Zhan paused for a moment before saying, "It's work-related."

His heart skipped a beat at Xiao Zhan's hesitation. Wang Yibo had never thought that Xiao Zhan would lie to him, and he couldn't understand why he would.

He suddenly felt a bit lost, especially as he looked at Xiao Zhan's expression, which was no different from usual. He realized that he didn't really understand Xiao Zhan - his personality, preferences, and friends. He didn't even know Xiao Zhan's phone number or see his social media posts.

There was no need to expose the lie. If Xiao Zhan didn't want to tell him, it was more polite to lie than to be direct. After all, Xiao Zhan was a respectable person.

Wang Yibo stood in silence for a long time, so long that Xiao Zhan became puzzled. He put down his phone, took Wang Yibo's hand, and asked, "What's wrong, Yibo? If there's something you want to say, why don't you sit down and tell me?"

Wang Yibo shook his head but still sat down. His shoulder was against Xiao Zhan's, and his hand was held by him. He suddenly wanted to be hugged by Xiao Zhan, but he was startled by his own thoughts and quickly let go of Xiao Zhan's hand.

Xiao Zhan became even more perplexed, furrowing his brow as he asked, "What's really going on? Yibo? If there's something, just tell me."

"I don't know," Wang Yibo said, feeling his mind and heart in chaos.

He knew he was prone to overthinking, and ever since he became an Omega, his personality had changed drastically. His thoughts used to have nothing to do with Xiao Zhan, so he could occasionally chat with him. But lately, all he could think about was Xiao Zhan, and he didn't know how to talk to his real self about it.

"Maybe it's because, you know, that time is approaching," Wang Yibo stumbled over his words, "I've been thinking a lot lately. I don't know why... Is it almost time for my heat?"

Upon hearing this, Xiao Zhan picked up his phone, opened a notepad, and said, "It's in about two weeks... Tsk, sorry, Yibo, I forgot. Have you been feeling unwell recently?"

Wang Yibo was surprised that Xiao Zhan had recorded his heat period on his phone. He shook his head in a daze and was suddenly pulled into Xiao Zhan's embrace. He caught a whiff of the strong scent of cedarwood and murmured, "Zhan ge."

"Why didn't you tell me you were feeling uncomfortable?" Xiao Zhan released his pheromones, and Wang Yibo's protruding spine pained his palm.

It was only before and after Wang Yibo's heat that Xiao Zhan could hold him like this.

Xiao Zhan wearily closed his eyes. "I know you want to be strong, and you hate everything about being an Omega. But things have turned out this way, after all these years..." Can't you try to accept it?

He still couldn't bring himself to say it.

Omega identity had shattered Wang Yibo's dreams of becoming a pilot since childhood. He knew how many tears he had shed for it back then. How could he bear to persuade him to reconcile with it?

Xiao Zhan sighed and said, "If you want to rely on suppressants for the rest of your life during your heat, that's fine. But at least, a little bit of Alpha pheromones can make you feel better. Why do you have to resist so stubbornly?"

In the past, Wang Yibo would have been angry to hear these words. He hated this lingering heat and didn't even want to utter the word "heat" in its entirety. But now, hearing Xiao Zhan speak like this, why did he feel a bit teary? Xiao Zhan was just too sincere, so sincere that it felt like a plea. Only if he had gone crazy would he not hear the tenderness in Xiao Zhan's words.

"Zhan ge," Wang Yibo clutched the fabric on Xiao Zhan's back tightly, and his hand began to tremble. He buried his face in Xiao Zhan's shoulder, and his eyelashes gradually became moist.

"Thank you," he said hoarsely.

"No need to thank me," Xiao Zhan whispered, stroking the back of his head, feeling every strand of hair taking root in his palm. Xiao Zhan looked down at the person in his arms and said, "Yibo, I can do anything for you."

He heard Wang Yibo choke, and his lips curved upwards, a smile mingled with the sadness in his eyes, illuminated by the light in the room and the darkness outside the window. He heard Wang Yibo ask, "Why are you so good to me?"

"Because Yibo, you're my family," Xiao Zhan said, smiling as he raised his head. "Family is for a lifetime."

They were holding hands now, and they had their names written on the same family register. It would be great to grow old together, without caring about whether their love existed or not.