Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Gao Tu’s phone chimed in his pocket, and he quickly retrieved it when Shen Wenlang was busy talking to one of the board members.
From White Frog:
Are you ready for today? Stick to the plan
If he weren’t in a meeting, Gao Tu would have rolled his eyes. His friend had texted him variations of this message for the last 3 days since they had finalised all the details of their plan. Gao Tu was ready, had been ready for months, actually.
From Gao Tu:
yes i’m ready
yes i will stick to the plan
yes i remember the plan
yes i will distract Secretary Chen so you’ll be alone with him
are you ready? if i didnt know better i would think you’re nervous
From White Frog:
But you do know better
So stop wasting my time and get back to work
Smiling slightly, he let his phone drop back into his pocket. It was so much fun to rile up his best friend sometimes. A tap on his leg drew his attention back to the frankly boring monologue one of the shareholders was holding, and a short glance at Shen Wenlang told Gao Tu that the tap had been deliberate. The annoyed twitch under Shen Wenlang's left eye was a clear warning sign. Not much longer, and the current speaker would be rudely interrupted by the CEO if Gao Tu didn’t intervene.
Gao Tu waited until the board member reached the end of his convoluted argument and smoothly interrupted him with a short question that Gao Tu knew the man couldn’t answer. Shen Wenlage nodded gratefully at him and took over from then on. The rest of the meeting went by smoothly, and Gao Tu enjoyed seeing his alpha in his element.
Later, when they returned to the privacy of Shen Wenlang's office, the man let out an annoyed sigh. “That guy never shuts up. There’s no reason he has to present a 20-page report every other week. He just likes his own voice so damn much.” Shen Wenlang stopped and noticed that Gao Tu was still standing by the door.
“Why are you standing there like a statue. Are you not hungry and thirsty? Grab something!” He gestured at the small snack bar Gao Tu had set up for him in the corner a few weeks after he started as his head secretary, because he had noticed how often Shen Wenlang would forget to eat.
Gao Tu almost cooed at how adorable Shen Wenlang was when he tried to take care of him. He gave him a soft smile instead and went to brew two cups of tea while unwrapping a chocolate protein bar. “I will need to go soon, but I will be back for your evening meeting with Mr. Sheng.”
“What? Where do you need to go in the middle of the workday? Weren’t you supposed to accompany me to the 5pm meeting with those awful people from Samsung?”
Gao Tu had to suppress a laugh. Shen Wenlang was always so easily irritated when his routines were disturbed, and now he was pouting. It was very cute.
“Mr. Shen,” Gao Tu said gently. “You know that I visit my sister in the hospital every Wednesday afternoon. That’s why I usually don’t schedule meetings there. But now that Secretary Hua is here, I thought you would be fine. He will accompany you, and I will be back for your last meeting this evening.”
Predictably, Shen Wenlang huffed and denied that he needed anyone to accompany him at all and that he absolutely didn’t care if Gao Tu was there or not.
“Of course, Sir. I’m just a secretary after all. But please take Secretary Hua along, he’s very capable.”
Shen Wenlang rolled his eyes and mumbled something under his breath, but he then nodded.
Gao Tu placed the sage tea in front of Shen Wenlang and watched as the man frowned at his cup. “A different tea today?”
Gao Tu nodded. “I bought it at a little stall on the market last weekend. They had an amazing variety of teas. I hope you like it.”
“It’s sage; what’s not to like?” Shen Wenlang murmured, but he lifted the cup to take a careful sip. “It’s nice.” He admitted reluctantly. “Did you use the company card to buy it?”
“Of course not, Mr. Shen!”
“You should use it if you buy stuff for the office. That’s what the card is for. Do I need to tell you everything?” Shen Wenlang grumbled and sipped more of his tea. Gao Tu nodded quietly, dropped his head a bit to hide his laugh.
“I will use the card from now on, Mr Shen.” He quickly left the office because Shen Wenlang's satisfied smile was too much for him to handle. How could the alpha be so cute while being so grumpy?
Gao Tu grabbed his back and made his way to the private elevator that only Shen Wenlang and he used, where he ran into a waiting Hua Yong. “Ah, Secretary Gao, can I ask you something about the document management system? It’s very different from the one in my old company.”
Gao Tu nodded and waited until the elevator doors had fully closed before he started smiling widely. “Hua Yong, he was so cute just now.”
Hua Yong rolled his eyes. “I can’t believe you think the rudest man alive is cute.”
“It’s probably because I was already used to your rudeness when I met Mr. Shen.” Gao Tu replied without hesitation. “I’m off to visit A-Qing now, but of course, I will be back early enough to set the stage for your spectacle for Mr. Sheng.” Gao Tu stepped out of the elevator but kept one hand on the door so it stayed open.
“I’m so happy to meet him again today.” Hua Yong had the dreamy look in his eyes that always appeared when they talked about Sheng Shaoyou. Gao Tu gently smiled at the soft look on his normally stone-faced best friend.
“When you asked me to help you all these years ago, I never could have imagined it would turn into something like this.”
Hua Yong gave him a wry grin. “Even I couldn’t predict this.” He waved his hand. “Give A-Qing my well wishes and tell her to call me directly if she needs anything; no need to bother Chang Yu every time.”
Letting the elevator doors finally close, Gao Tu stepped back and nodded. When he left the company building, he thought about how Hua Yong had always ensured that Gao Qing got everything she needed.
The day Gao Tu had met Hua Yong, his life had changed irrevocably for the better.
14 years ago
Hua Yong was bored out of his mind at school. The math class was too easy, and his classmates annoyed him with their whining about the homework. His brother kept encouraging him to at least try making a few friends. Or even just one, but Hua Yong was not interested in spending more time with the boring children who surrounded him every day. None of them was as fascinating as Sheng Shaoyou.
During break, he sneaked out of the room and went to his secret hiding space in the basement. It was a small supply closet that was never locked (because Hua Yong paid the school's caretaker to leave it open) and had a comfortable chair where Hua Yong liked to read without being disturbed by the noisy classmates or the teacher.
On this particular day, however, Hua Yong's peace was shattered when the door slammed open and a crying boy entered. He closed the door in panic and locked it behind him before sinking to the floor. Hua Yong waited a few minutes for the other boy to notice him, but eventually it became clear that the other was sobbing too hard to notice anything at all.
Hua Yong sighed. “Hello, excuse me, could you leave or at least stop crying so loudly?” He asked politely. The other boy flinched and looked up. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t see you.”
Hua Yong now recognised him as a younger student who he knew was being bullied for being poor. The supply closet was small, and so it only took a minute to fill up with the stress pheromones the crying boy was releasing. Hua Yong turned his head in interest and put his book down. “You are an omega?” The smell of burned sage was starting to be uncomfortable even for him. “Calm down, your scent is too strong. Whoever you ran away from will easily find you.”
The boy shuddered and visibly tried to pull himself together. “I’m sorry. I can’t control it. I only presented yesterday evening.”
“You should be resting at home. Why are you at school?” Hua Yong was appalled by that level of recklessness. Since the boy wouldn’t calm down on his own, Hua Yong decided to help him and started releasing his own calming pheromones. The young enigma had never tried calming or helping anyone, and so he wasn’t prepared for the boy to pass out immediately. He stared at the small figure, slumped over on the floor, and rolled his eyes. Who knew omegas could faint that quickly? After a few seconds, the other boy slowly regained consciousness.
“What did you do? What are you?” The omega was calm now; no more tears were clouding his eyes. A vast improvement in Hua Yong's opinion.
“I’m an alpha, of course.” He said with his nicest smile. The boy got up and stepped closer. “Liar, my father and my sister are alphas. My uncle is even an S-level Alpha, and I’ve never seen them releasing strong pheromones like that to make someone sleep.” Hua Yong stared at him. The boy was quite brave and smarter than any of the other kids or the teachers.
No one had figured out that Hua Yong wasn’t an alpha since he had presented a year before. Before Hua Yong could decide if he would tell this omega the truth or not, a loud banging on the door interrupted them. A voice started shouting for them to open up, and Hua Yong's annoyance returned in full force. He looked at the other boy, who was now standing in front of him, as if to protect him, and decided that the other was not brave but foolish.
And intriguing.
Having an omega as a friend could be very helpful in the long run. “If I help you, will you help me with something too?” Hua Yong asked while pulling the boy to his chair in the corner. “They are older than us, they will hurt you, too.” The boy trembled but looked determined. “Just stay out of it.”
Hua Yong shook his head and allowed his eyes to shine in a striking magenta. “Promise you'll help me too, and I will make sure those idiots won’t bother you again.” The omega nodded haltingly, looking at Hua Yong’s eyes with awe.
“Go and sit down, you still look a bit pale,” Hua Yong instructed the other boy before opening the door.
Three students from the year above Hua Yong stood in front of the door. “Where is he? We know he’s here. That disgusting herb stench gives him away.” The ring leader demanded to know. Hua Yong pushed him away from the door, and his new omega, without answering. “Don’t mess with him anymore unless you want to get in serious trouble.” Hua Yong smiled calmly, not at all worried about being cornered by the other boys.
“What? Are you threatening us? Stupid omega!” One of the boys grabbed Hua Yong’s arm hard enough to bruise him. “Yes,” he answered. “I’m glad you’re able to follow the conversation.”
Without warning, he yanked his arm out of the other’s grip and released a wave of his pheromones. Not the soothing ones he had released for the omega only minutes ago. This time, he started with a lower dose, but the three alphas still fell to their knees immediately, gasping for air and, by the looks of it, in pain. “Interesting,” Hua Yong hummed as he crouched down in front of the leading bully. “That omega is under my protection, and if you come near him again, I will get you kicked out of school and make sure your parents will lose their jobs. Do you understand me?” The alpha nodded shakily, and Hua Yong reigned in his pheromones. Hua Yong nodded, satisfied for now and told the pathetic group to leave.
He returned to his supply closet, locked the door again and was met with a brightly smiling omega. “That was so cool! Thank you!” The boy looked at his worn shoes for a second before adding, “No one ever helped me.”
“I need your help, too. Don’t forget that.” Hua Yong didn’t want this boy to think he helped him out of concern. “You need to teach me how it is to be an omega. I need to know everything.”
The boy nodded solemnly. “I will do my best, I promise. My name is Gao Tu.” He offered his hand to Hua Yong. “ Let’s make a pact to always help each other.”
Hua Yong was delighted by how quickly Gao Tu was ready to accept Hua Yong into his life permanently. Hopefully, it would be this easy with Sheng Shaoyou as well. He took Gao Tu's hand. “My name is Hua Yong. I will protect you from now on.”