DMPSA CH 21

Chapter 21: A Kiss on His Lips

“Go ahead, ask. Whatever you want to know, I’ll answer,” Su Qing said.

Yue Qi was curious about everything when it came to Su Qing—he wanted to know it all.

There were so many questions he wanted to ask, but hearing Su Qing’s openness left him momentarily unsure where to start.

“I… I want to know everything,” Yue Qi said, noticing the surprised look in Su Qing’s eyes. He couldn’t help but smile. “How about this: whatever you feel like saying, I’m all ears.” He raised his beer to Su Qing and took another sip. “Tonight, I’m your best listener.”

Su Qing was already on his third beer. Slightly tipsy, he was in just the right state to open up. Leaning back against the sofa, his head tilted as he stared blankly into the distance. Slowly, he began to speak about himself.

“My father was an Alpha, and my mother was a Beta. They were deeply in love at first, but then my father met an Omega who had a high compatibility rate with him—someone powerful and wealthy. My father couldn’t resist… maybe he never even tried to. In the end, he left us.”

“My mom raised me on her own. She always thought I was a Beta like her and constantly reminded me that, in the future, I should find a Beta to be with. She’d tell me we couldn’t reach for Alphas or Omegas—they were out of our league.”

“Who would’ve thought I’d differentiate as an Omega after graduating from college? My mom was furious.” Su Qing let out a pale, bitter laugh. “I think she really went a bit crazy. Sometimes, she’d look at me as if I were the Omega who stole my father away. She’d yell awful things at me, so loudly the neighbors could hear. They didn’t know what was going on, but they’d point at me and call me names, mimicking her, calling me a vixen.” Su Qing took a long swig of his beer.

Hearing the word “vixen” spoken with such grievance, Yue Qi felt a mix of shock, heartbreak, and absurdity.

A vixen? Describing Su Qing as one was so utterly ridiculous that it was almost laughable.

There wasn’t an ounce of seductiveness about him. If someone had to compare him to an animal, he was more like an innocent newborn cub. Sometimes silly and lovable like a puppy, other times mischievous like a kitten. Never cunning like a fox, let alone the seductive kind.

He was miles—no, lifetimes—away from being a so-called vixen.

Yue Qi patted Su Qing’s head, trying to comfort him. Su Qing turned to look at him, his cheeks flushed and his eyes reddened. Yue Qi thought he was about to cry, but instead, Su Qing just rubbed his nose with the wrist of the hand holding the beer. Then, he kept talking, looking at Yue Qi.

“Sometimes, I really hate my mom. I never did the things she accused me of. I didn’t seduce anyone—I don’t even know how to seduce anyone,” Su Qing grumbled, his voice tinged with frustration. “I don’t have the ability to seduce anyone, and she knows that. Yet she’d call me a broken Omega and accuse me of luring people in. Doesn’t that make no sense?”

This time, Yue Qi felt a sharp, searing pain in his chest.

How could a mother turn her child’s vulnerabilities into weapons against them? How could she say such cruel things to her own son?

It finally made sense to Yue Qi. That day, when he’d asked Su Qing why the diagnosis hadn’t led to further tests or treatment, Su Qing had merely shaken his head.

Now he understood. Su Qing’s mother would never have allowed him to seek treatment. And if Su Qing had dared to suggest it, it would have caused an even bigger uproar.

“But after my mom passed away, I found myself missing her. Before my differentiation, she was good to me—she worked so hard for us,” Su Qing continued. “Growing up, I always wanted to make a lot of money and give it all to her so she could live comfortably. But she left so early. Who am I supposed to give all this money to now? Why work so hard anymore?”

“Later, when Qin Yang’s family had their accident, I took him in. Finally, I had someone to take care of again. And… I was happy. Does that make me a bad person?” Su Qing frowned, looking conflicted. “Qin Yang was going through so much, but I was secretly happy.”

“No, you’re not bad. You’re kind. You took care of Qin Yang and helped him grow up. That’s not wrong,” Yue Qi reassured him.

“To be honest, maybe I needed him more than he needed me. All these years, he’s been the one keeping me going.”

“But I never tried to seduce Qin Yang,” Su Qing suddenly declared, leaning closer to Yue Qi, his eyes wide. “I really didn’t! He was so young, and his parents had just passed away—it was such a huge blow. I just wanted to help him.”

“I know, I know,” Yue Qi said, patting him again.

“But they don’t believe that,” Su Qing said, his voice rising. “They say I was playing some twisted grooming game. That because I’m flawed, I was afraid I wouldn’t find a partner later, so I tricked a kid and raised him by my side. But that’s not true!” Su Qing’s hand waved through the air in agitation, spilling a bit of his beer in the process.

“It was Qin Yang who said he wanted to date me. He said he liked me. What was I supposed to do?” Su Qing took another swig of beer, his voice heavy with emotion. “If I didn’t agree, he would’ve left. After all these years of taking care of him like a little brother, what would I have done if he left? He’s my only family.”

“So, you agreed to be with him?” Yue Qi asked, trying to understand. “You don’t love him, but you agreed to date him?”

“Who says I don’t love him? I do love him,” Su Qing protested. Hearing his rebuttal, Yue Qi felt a twinge of unease in his chest. Su Qing continued to ramble, his tone insistent: “I love him—a lot. I love him like a younger brother!”

“…Like a younger brother?” Yue Qi couldn’t help but question. “That’s not romantic love. What you two have is familial affection, isn’t it?”

No wonder Qin Yang had shouted that day: I don’t want to be your family! What he wanted was to be Su Qing’s lover, not a sibling-like family member.

At that moment, Yue Qi could suddenly understand Qin Yang’s anger. He even felt a little sorry for him. Those harsh words Qin Yang had spoken were likely born of desperate frustration.

“Yes! It’s familial love,” Su Qing declared. The beer in his hand was already empty. He tilted the bottle, shook it to get the last drops, and managed to coax out two tiny drops of beer. “It’s all gone.”

Yue Qi noticed that Su Qing seemed to be drunk. Yue Qi himself had finished his bottle too, but one beer didn’t affect him much. Even so, he had no intention of drinking more. An Alpha and an Omega drinking alone together was too risky. He decided that there would only be one drunk person in this house tonight.

He reached out to take the bottle from Su Qing, intending to replace it with a glass of water. However, Su Qing suddenly looked at him intently and asked, “Did I mess up?”

“Did I do something wrong?” Su Qing’s eyes reddened further, as if he wanted to defend himself. “But I didn’t know! I’ve never been in a relationship before. I only realized it wasn’t love after we got together. And that made me so upset!”

Qin Yang was right: Su Qing had never been in love.

Yue Qi couldn’t blame him for saying that.

What they had couldn’t really be called a romance.

Su Qing had never felt his heart race for Qin Yang.

Not like how his heart raced now, when he looked at Yue Qi.

He could smell it again—that faint osmanthus scent.

Su Qing felt even dizzier.

“Do you know what it’s like to be in love?” Su Qing asked woozily, grabbing onto Yue Qi. “What does it feel like to like someone? Is it like this for me?”

Listening to Su Qing’s drunken ramblings, Yue Qi suddenly caught a whiff of that soft, elegant tea-like scent.

“Is it like this?” Su Qing mumbled. “Seeing you makes my heart skip a beat, race so fast I can’t breathe, pounding until my chest hurts?”

By now, Su Qing had climbed onto Yue Qi, grabbing him by the collar. His eyes were slightly unfocused, but he stared intently at Yue Qi.

He whispered, “I want to kiss you.”

Before Yue Qi could react to what sounded almost like a confession, Su Qing leaned down and kissed him on the lips.

(To Be Continued…)


T/L: OH MY GOSHHHHH! EVERYONE, THEY… (˶ ˘ ³˘)ˆᵕ ˆ˶)

***
If you enjoy this translation, consider giving it a high rating on Novel Updates! 🩷
Stay tuned, and happy reading! 📖✨