The phone vibrated again. Yan Yi lowered his gaze and saw that Lu Shangjin had messaged him from yet another number.
“Give me your address. I’ll come pick you up.”
Yan Yi tugged at the corner of his mouth and lightly smoothed the little tufts of his ash-gray hair. His feet rested on the crossbar of the high stool, and his eyes, heavy with frustration, stared blankly at the screen.
Lu Shangjin was contacting him through different numbers and even offering to come pick him up—he had never shown this kind of patience to coax him, not even during their passionate days together.
“Why didn’t you do this sooner,” Yan Yi muttered under his breath, his hair falling over his eyes. His fingertips trembled as they hovered over the screen; his lips parted slightly, and the bite of his teeth left a small trace of blood on his lip.
“I’m at the bar we used to go to.”
Those few words lingered in the editor box for three minutes before he finally pressed send.
After a brief silence, Lu Shangjin asked, “We used to go to a lot of bars. Which one?”
Yan Yi’s eyes dimmed, even the faintest glimmer extinguished. He lowered his head and looked at the ring on his right hand’s ring finger.
He wondered if he was really being overly dramatic. Perhaps ordinary people wouldn’t remember such trivial things.
In the dilapidated bar, there was a wall filled with postcards left by passing couples—a gimmick by the owner to make a quick buck—but for lovers who had only ever been there once, even a single postcard could leave an indelible echo.
Among all the faded postcards, Yan Yi’s eyes immediately found the weathered one with a landscape image.
Written on it was a line in ordinary ballpoint ink, yet sharp and elegant:
“Yan Yan, I love you until the end of my life.”
The words were extravagant, but at that tender, awkward age, it was exactly the right thing to hear.
Back then, after surviving a near-death ordeal in the Golden Triangle, the two young men had returned to the bar named “Dilapidated.” On the loft’s window sill, they shared the most unrestrained and exhilarating night of their lives.
The ring placed that night still encircled his ring finger, but the intimacy had long decayed, like a once-bright ring now tarnished and scarred.
That night, Yan Yi had received promises, the mark of gentle yet possessive love, a ring he had never thought he would lose—and a kind of affection he had never expected to be taken away.
Like a ritual, solemn and romantic.
Yet it became nothing more than a reflection collapsing in water—ungraspable, shattered cleanly.
Yan Yi knew he wasn’t really expecting Lu Shangjin to guess which bar he had in mind, just as he knew Lu Shangjin would never play the piano for him.
He just wanted to confirm that the moments he cherished and replayed in dreams had left even a trace in Lu Shangjin’s heart.
“Forget it then. If you can’t remember, forget me too,” Yan Yi typed.
“Are you angry? You didn’t used to act like this. Don’t throw a tantrum,” Lu Shangjin’s replies came unusually fast today, as if he had all the time in the world.
Yan Yi clenched his phone, then let it go weakly.
“Didn’t used to act like this?” He no longer expected to have his repeatedly broken self picked up and pieced together. No matter how carefully he tried, the shattered fragments could never be fully restored.
If only Lu Shangjin had said these things earlier.
Yan Yi fiddled with the ring on his ring finger, wanting to pry it off and throw it away, but his hand wouldn’t obey.
Never mind—it’s expensive.
He didn’t block Lu Shangjin again. Quite impressive for a young master to lower himself and say such flattering things.
Meanwhile, the husky alpha holding a guitar noticed Yan Yi’s daze. His eyes were a little sad, occasionally shivering in the cold wind, evoking some pity for the omega. “Alright, alright. Look pitiful enough. Make me a cocktail, and let’s see if it’s good.”
Snapping back to reality, Yan Yi carefully concealed the sorrow in his gaze and turned to the bar. With practiced ease, he simmered a handful of cranberries into juice, chilled it, and with his left hand sliding over the cup rack, spread four highball glasses in a swift motion. With a flip, he lifted a bottle of tequila, pinching it between his fingers while supporting its body with the back of his hand.
Every pour from the shaker just filled each glass halfway. The bright red cranberry juice with ice perfectly adorned the rims. He repeated the process, maintaining precise consistency.
The four glasses lined up, balanced and flawless in color, clarity, and taste.
The husky alpha, impressed by Yan Yi’s gentlemanly poise, put down the guitar and took a seat at the bar. He examined the four glasses, tasted one, and said, “Wow. Impressive. What’s this called?”
Yan Yi leaned slightly forward, propping his cheek on one hand while flipping his wrist to reveal a rose clutched between his fingers.
He placed the rose in the glass and lowered his gaze. “Christmas Rose.”
A love remembered.
The husky alpha whistled long, scrutinizing the omega in front of him. “Your name?”
Yan Yi answered calmly.
“And what else can you do?”
Yan Yi thought a moment. “Nothing I can’t do.”
The husky chuckled. “You’re an omega, huh? Can you fight?”
Yan Yi considered it. “I used to fight.”
“Good!” The husky approved and bumped fists with him. “Gu Wei, call me Boss.”
Yan Yi held a cup of hot coffee and toured the bar with Gu Wei. The place had hired new staff; Gu Wei was clearly excited, ranting about the incompetence of former employees and the recent decline in public safety. He stomped on the wooden stairs in frustration.
Yan Yi quietly watched, his eyes curved slightly as he sipped his steaming coffee.
It felt good to have a friend.
On the second floor, an open-air rooftop garden awaited. Gu Wei settled into the swing with his guitar, singing to the new staff.
“I’ve been working on this song for ages. I never finish it. When I don’t write, business is dead. But when inspiration strikes… hey, tourists swarm in for drinks. Troubles come piecemeal. If you run this place, I’ll have it easy.”
“Why not run the bar seriously?”
“I don’t need the money. I just like it here.” Gu Wei plucked the strings, creating a wild yet serene melody.
His voice was unique, both untamed and ethereal.
Yan Yi sat casually on the railing, one leg dangling, tracing the ring on his finger unconsciously.
Curious, Gu Wei asked, “Married? Your lover lets you work outside?”
Yan Yi smiled faintly. “My lover’s perfect in every way, just doesn’t like me. So, of course, they let me.”
Gu Wei frowned, expecting him to elaborate, but seeing Yan Yi remain silent, he asked, “So… where’s your home?”
Yan Yi pondered long and hard.
The question seemed to stump him. He looked at the alleyway in the sunset, wanted to light a cigarette—but he remembered he was carrying a baby and had thrown his pack away.
“I… don’t know.”
It felt like he had always been wandering.
The reason he chose this bar on the vast map was simple: it held the twenty-year-old Lu Shangjin who could accompany him for the rest of his life.
——
A new bartender had arrived at the “Dilapidated” bar. The slender tailcoat outlined a slim waist, the bow tie concealing any hint of allure within restrained elegance.
Yan Yi stood behind the bar, quietly polishing glassware. By evening, the bar was lively and bustling.
An alpha sat at the bar, ordering two glasses of whiskey. He slid one toward Yan Yi, raising an eyebrow and releasing courting pheromones. “Hey, baby.”
Yan Yi leaned back against the bar, fingers toying with his loosened bow tie, legs crossed under his fitted trousers. He picked up a glass of juice and offered the alpha a faint smile. “Sorry, can’t.”
He pushed open the low bar door and hurried to the loft.
His body, wrapped beneath his uniform, burned hot. Yan Yi splashed cold water on his face at the sink, but cold sweat still ran uncontrollably down his body.
He was in heat.
The various alpha pheromones lingering in the bar agitated him further. For a heat-stricken omega, this place was akin to a torture chamber.
Every cell in his body screamed, blood coursing furiously. Yan Yi knelt on the floor, rolled up his sleeve, and injected a high-concentration suppressant into his veins.
“Pain…” He clenched the bed sheets, writhing like a drug addict deprived of relief. Only an alpha’s dominating pheromones could soothe the agony threatening to burst his blood vessels.
Even the highest concentration of suppressant failed. His arms were covered in swollen, bruised needle marks, new and old. Years of forcing himself through heat cycles had issued a final warning.
Might as well find any alpha and surrender; what had he been enduring all these years for? Foolish rabbit, only moving himself.
Habitually, he bit his ring at the peak of pain.
Just as his bones felt about to shatter, the phone rang like a life-or-death alarm. Gu Wei’s urgent voice rang through: “Quick! J1 alphas, several of them! I can’t handle it!”
“Now… really…” Yan Yi forced himself up, face pale from excess suppressant, breathing heavily. “…On my way.”