Chapter Text
Gao Tu is a resilient man. He knows this himself because how many people do you think could love someone in secret for ten years and keep their baby from them without their knowledge. Only Gao Tu does.
Loving Shen Wenlang was never an easy feat. Wenlang is a sharp-tongued alpha, always wants to get his way, and has a short temper. One would never even think of falling for him at a first glance. But Gao Tu did double take, which was honestly his mistake.
He noticed Wenlang’s softness, his way of showing appreciation, the way that he cares. Like that time when he gave that drink to Gao Tu. Like that time when he sponsored his tuition. And all the times that Gao Tu had to think twice about the Alpha's actions which seemed so in contrast with his harsh words.
If words could kill, Gao Tu would be six feet under already. Shen Wenlang is ruthless, not even sparing Gao Tu. However, he's also kind, and Gao Tu sees him behind that killing glare. So he had to be resilient.
Wake up, like Shen Wenlang.
Go to work, like Shen Wenlang.
In heat, want Shen Wenlang.
He had to work around his unrequited feelings lest he drops dead from how much he wanted this man with that chilling mask and a soft heart. But alas, ten years was enough.
Waking up one day, post-heat making his back ache, sweat sticking to him like a second skin, and tears already dried on his cheeks. He barely managed to get up and go to work, finally handing in his resignation letter that day. It went how well one would think it would—which is to say, an absolute disaster.
Now, Gao Tu is at the Secretary Division, separated from his former office upstairs, and still working to the bone for the rendering period of his contract. He prepared files, notebooks full of personal notes, and various things to get the next appointed secretary a good start for the storm coming for them.
Maybe if Hua Yong were here right now, I wouldn't be so anxious to hand over Mr. Shen's work to someone else. At least Mr. Shen likes the omega enough to probably cut him some slack if the omega makes a mistake.
His thoughts were just bitter like that, but he couldn't help it. With the constant vomiting and pregnancy hormones, he's bound to lose it at some point, but not today, as you see, he's very resilient.
He swallows down another incoming bile of vomit forming, instead focusing on the task at hand. The office was quite busy today, Mr. Shen’s temper had been increasingly getting worse as day passed along with the amount of work poured onto the secretariat department.
There's a major project going on, so he can't afford to slack off even when he's about to resign. He needed to support him even in his last moments here at the company. And so he works himself till his eyes feel dry, his back aching, his stomach swirling in pain, his temperature feverish, and-
Wait, what?
He glances at the clock on the computer which reads 6:07 pm. It was 7 minutes past his injection.
Shit.
He rushes towards his bag and gets the metal container and inhaler. Running to the bathroom as fast as he could despite the pain coursing through his body. One hand on the inhaler in his mouth and the other pushing open the bathroom door at lightspeed, leaving it echoing with a bang as he rushes to a stall with shaky hands and blurry vision.
He prepared the shot in well known movements and breathed a sigh of relief as the needle broke his bruised skin. The effect wasn't immediate which made him panic for a bit, but as he felt his senses coming back, he leaned back on the door of the stall to take a breather for his pounding heart.
His intake in suppressants these days have been borderline abuse—no, it is abuse. The doctors have already told him to stop for the sake of his health and for his child. But he couldn't stop now. Now when his hormones are all over the place and his pheromones being uncontrollable, it would easily be detected by anyone within meters of radius.
The doctor also said the danger of his pregnancy without his the alpha’s pheromones to help him through it, but that option was out of the picture. It didn't matter if Gao Tu was harmed, as long as he could deliver this baby safely and away from its unwanting father, he'd be glad to take all the pain in the world for his baby.
He just had to wait till the end of the handover period and he swore to himself to stop once and for all. But for now, Wenlang still comes first.
A few minutes passed, and Gao Tu felt the heat fading from his body, his limbs back and functioning, and his vision clearing. It felt as if his body was new which was odd, but great, since he still had to finish his last work and clock out. He goes to the sink and washes his face, calming down from the sudden adrenaline he had as he ran down the halls of their office.
He wished he had been fast enough not to leave a trail of scent—otherwise, he was utterly fucked, since Shen Wenlang had been staying overtime just to corner Gao Tu into a conversation he could barely avoid, sprinting in the opposite direction whenever he caught even the faintest whiff of the Alpha's iris scent.
He reaches for a paper towel and froze. A bile of vomit wrecks through him before he could stop it. His throat dry as he bends over the sink, his hands gripping the ends so tight his knuckles turn white. He wheezes out a breath, barely catching himself as his knees gave up on him.
Fuck.
He could feel the heat in his skin, making him sweat and his head light and heavy at the same time.
Why aren't the suppressants working? He thought in panic. He had only brought a set and didn't bring any extra, his mind reeling from the sheer feeling of the heat consuming every nerve on his body—slowly but surely.
He's in heat. He needs his nest. He needs to get out of here.
Only, he can't feel his legs. He can't feel his surroundings. His ear rang with his heightened senses, sensitive with every sound, feel, and smell. He could even smell his own heat, even felt sensitive by the steady breeze in the bathroom.
In his last attempt to get a hold of himself, he tried to reach out for the inhaler abandoned on the floor, he seemed to have dropped it when he was busy throwing up his guts out. Shaky fingers barely brushes with the hard plastic before his upper body is gone too, out of his control.
Laying on the cold tiled floor of their office bathroom was not at all how Gao Tu envisioned his evening was going to be. But he feels his control slip, his eyes heavy, and his abdomen in absolute fire.
Everything hurts. It hurts- hurts, hurts hurts-
With barely a thought left, a second of consciousness lets him wrap his arms around his belly, his child.
He wishes that maybe when he opens his eyes it's all just a dream. That this isn't really happening. He wished that no one would find him and hurt his baby. He wished he wasn't so damn unlucky all his life.
And with that his consciousness fades away.
-
Shen Wenlang knows that he has a bad temper. It has always been like that. But that omega Gao Tu’s resigning for was the peak of his anger. For what right did that omega have to take Gao Tu's attention away from him? They had no right at all.
He doesn't understand what's the hype about some stupid omega anyway. They're disgusting, have a horrid smell, and are annoying as hell. Unlike the beta Gao Tu totally is, who's always there behind him, supporting him, and always having his back for years.
Which he’s all throwing away because of that damned omega who couldn't seem to get enough of Gao Tu. Maybe he could relate in some way, like—who doesn’t want Gao Tu by their side 24/7? But this omega was just greedy as hell. You don't see him making Gao Tu take absences to work because of his rut, in fact he wants him at work all day long.
Huh?
Well, that resignation was just the last straw. He didn't want to see that face ever again. Gao Tu wants to be with his omega so bad? Then so be it. ‘Get lost’ just as he had said to the beta.
It doesn't mean anything when he's constantly hanging around the hall where the secretary division resides despite having a substitute secretary right outside his door. It doesn't mean anything when he's overworking the said department just so they could stay longer in their office and he could glance at the said face he never wanted to glance at again.
He’s so pale and sickly. What the hell is he even doing, working in that state? Fucking dumbass.
He tries to make a beeline for his office, pushing away the thoughts, only to be startled at the sudden movement in the certain table where his eyes lingered. He ducks out of sight, hiding behind a wall in his own company like a thief.
What am I even doing?
He snaps out of his thoughts when he catches a whiff of a wood sage scent that Gao Tu always brings to work, as if rubbing on his face that he has other priorities now. He scoffs and tries to turn away, somehow he couldn't resist his curiosity so instead he calmly follows the trail of scent which leads right where Gao Tu had run off.
The bathroom? Again?
These past few weeks he had noticed that Gao Tu very often goes to the bathroom, probably spends half his office hours lounging in there. He always gets out paler than the way he was before he got in. Which itched the back of Wenlang's mind but he pushed it away, deciding to figure out what the hell is wrong with Gao Tu? Does he pay him to slack off? What, because he resigned he doesn't care for his work anymore?
Anger, again, flared in his chest. He was always so angry these days that he couldn't remember the last time he had felt relaxed. He could only rest the fit of anger in his heart whenever he sees Gao Tu’s figure, instead replacing it with something unrecognizable, something he couldn't point his finger at, but it was better than feeling that disgusting anger.
He was so tired of being angry. But he just can't help it. He's angry that he can't get angry at Gao Tu even when he wants to. He's angry, that as a grown man, he's blaming a faceless omega whom he didn't even know a single thing of. He's angry that it feels like he's being abandoned again.
He stares at the door and waits for the beta to come out. Absolutely preparing to have a go at him about work ethics and laziness that cannot be tolerated just because he's resigning. But it never came. Minutes passed and he started to doubt his own nostrils. The door was pheromone-proof so he can't be sure if he's really there or not, but the omega scent stopped right at this door so there were no other places Gao Tu could be.
…three minutes, another five passes, and Wenlang is totally not getting worried.
He's finally had enough and pushed open the door only to have to take a step back at the burning smell that he inhaled. It smelled of burning forest, making his head spin and light. What brought him out of it was the sight before him—Gao Tu on the floor and unconscious.
Fuck.
His heart stops for a second before he's rushing in and scooping the beta up in his arms. He shakes him repeatedly, “Gao Tu! Gao Tu!! Wake up! What happened? Fuck, wake up please.” His hand reaches for the beta's cheek only to find it freezing cold, “shit.”
His hands tremble as he tries to find Gao Tu's pulse, reaching for his wrists where it lays. He only let out a sigh of relief after he felt it weakly pulsating against his fingers, weak but still there. Gao Tu's breathing was shallow, his face was pale, and despite being cold his forehead was drenched in sweat.
Wenlang ignores the ache in his heart and hastily picks Gao Tu up in a bridal style. He rushes to the parking space, pace faster than anyone had seen him ever run, and into his private car he goes. He gently places Gao Tu at the back seat and rushes to the driver's, starting the engine in record speed and getting the hell out of his company by spamming the gas in seconds.
His engine roared with how fast he's going. His hazards were on and his horns in constant noise, silently cursing other cars who couldn't get the hint of his urgency. He parks right outside the hospital’s entrance without a care in the world, picking Gao Tu up in his arms again then rushing to the emergency room.
He couldn't remember what he was doing; if he was shouting, if he was crying, if his voice was cracking, if his pheromones were all over the place. But he's sure that the doctors’ ears probably bled with how loud and how much he begged him to save Gao Tu.
The next moments went by in a flash, the nurses stopped him from getting any further as they took Gao Tu's cold body away from him. He stood there, right outside where they left him, and stared into nothing. His thoughts still lingered on Gao Tu's pale face and cold body. He remembers how Gao Tu felt in his arms, so light and thin— has he even been eating?
His chest tightens further with him being separated from the man he just held, anticipation was making him sweat and his legs feeling like jelly. Minutes or hours probably had passed, but he couldn't tell. Wenlang just sat there, at the hospital chair alone with his anxious thoughts, waiting for the doctors, who took Gao Tu in, with good news hopefully.
When the doctor came out with a disdainful face, Wenlang felt his heart stop. “How's Gao Tu?” He rushed in as soon as he saw the figure coming out of the ER. With a sigh, the doctor looks up at him and asks, “You're his alpha?”
Wenlang's brain does NOT short circuit at all. But he dumbly nodded with whatever the doctor was saying, “Come with me.”
They arrive in an ABO Consultation Office, he reads the name plate of the specialist in front of him, Dr. Wang Wu, and then up at the man whose face was looking at him with a hidden glare. He could feel his temper rising but he bites it back down for the sake of knowing Gao Tu's state.
“How's Gao Tu?” He asks again.
“Right now, the patient is stable and not exhibiting active signs of heat. However, his system appears to have entered a dysregulated cycle, fluctuating in and out of heat due to the excessive presence of suppressants. Our findings suggest that his body is currently developing a resistance to the suppressants, likely as a physiological defense mechanism in response to the ongoing strain and cumulative damage caused by prolonged usage.”
Heat? Suppressants?
“As I’ve repeatedly warned Gao Tu, the use of suppressants during pregnancy is extremely dangerous—moreso without the stabilizing effect of a permanent mark or pheromones of his alpha. This is precisely what I warned him about just a week ago. As a doctor, I should report you for neglecting your omega’s medical needs, you know? But right now, I believe he needs you more than a disciplinary report. When he wakes up and his body finishes the transformation, he’ll likely be in heat again.”
Gao Tu? Pregnant? What?
“What are you saying?” Then, it clicks. “Gao Tu is an omega.”
Not a question, but a realization. The doctor looks at him with a baffled face, as if he couldn't believe Wenlang was real. “Right.” The doctor trails, “Here is a prescription for the medications Gao Tu will need for recovery. I strongly recommend allowing this heat to run its course naturally—his body cannot tolerate any further suppressant use at this point. I’ve prescribed painkillers, but these must not be administered while suppressants are still active in his system. You’ll need to wait several hours before giving them.”
Shen Wenlang was barely listening at this point, nodding his head after every sentence with just a single thought on his head— Gao Tu is an omega.
He didn’t notice that his hands were shaking, his breathing quickening, or that his legs were carrying him toward the omega. His fingers slipped into the now-warm hands of said omega without thought. What he did notice was that the color had returned to Gao Tu’s face, and the scent of a burnt forest had greatly diminished. Though he still looked sickly and tired, his eyes were closed, and his expression was finally relaxed.
Shit. Gao Tu is an omega all along.
All his words come crashing back at him, running through his head like a broken record. Disgusting. Foul. Smelly. The things he said right at Gao Tu’s face unknowingly and oblivious to the omega’s situation made his heart twist into something ugly. His mind reeling and his anger flaring again but not at Gao Tu, never at Gao Tu, but at himself for being so blinded by his own anger.
He had said those things to insult the person he thought that Gao Tu was wasting all his time with instead of focusing on work, on him. He never meant for his words to be directed at the beta omega himself.
And pregnant? His mind flashed at the time of the banquet where he was entrapped by an omega in heat, he never got to point out what the scent that allured him in the first place but he remembers an earthly scent, and right now, while laying on that hospital bed—Gao Tu’s sage scent was making it all clear for him.
It was Gao Tu all along.
‘I’d have it aborted, obviously’, he wanted to punch himself for ever saying that to Gao Tu. Back then, seeing Gao Tu’s broken expression made him seethe. He was ready to fight Wenlang for that omega of his—and it drove Wenlang insane. Now, it still drove Wenlang insane, because the broken expression made sense now. He didn’t know. He should’ve known.
He held the omega’s hand between his own, placing a gentle kiss on the back before setting it down softly. Without breaking skin contact, he caressed the smooth skin as he released a string of calming pheromones.
He should take him home. No one wants to spend their heat in a hospital. Gao Tu would probably find more comfort in his nest. Does he even have one? Shen Wenlang had an internal battle with himself on where to take Gao Tu after the doctor had given him a go sign to take him home.
His hands gripped the wheelchair so tightly he thought his veins might burst. He glared at anyone who so much as glanced in Gao Tu’s direction. Getting him in the car made his heart ache a little, his Gao Tu looked so fragile, like a gasp of wind could take him away from Wenlang. He almost was taken away, Shen Wenlang can’t let that happen now.
The drive to Gao Tu’s house was almost torture, entrapped in a small space with that alluring scent—it could probably drive him insane. Gao Tu’s scent still had a hint of burnt forest, it made him want to pull him close and cover him with his pheromones so there was nothing left but a strong iris scent.
Standing outside the tall building of the omega’s apartment honestly made Wenlang doubt his choice of picking the omega’s home. He should’ve just taken him to his den, or a private island if they weren’t such in a hurried schedule. This thing didn’t even have an elevator, which was pathetic, where does all the money I give him even go if not for himself?
It was a good thing that Shen Wenlang worked out sometimes, although Gao Tu was basically weightless, carrying someone while going up stairs was no easy feat. I should’ve taken him to my home instead. He pushes away the thought as he puts the comfort of his omega first; an omega in heat needs their nest, even an omega-hating alpha knows that.
Pushing open the door earned him a greeting of that wonderful wood sage scent which made him instantly buckle his knees in response. He takes a deep breath to calm himself and tries to swallow the saliva pooling in his mouth.
As soon as he placed the omega on his bed, he looked around to find where the nest might be.
Is it… This is it?
Wenlang should’ve just taken him home. He would’ve showered the omega with all the soft blankets and pillows one could ever wish for. He sighed at the sight of a few pieces of clothing gathered around the bed, some of which he could only assume was Gao Tu’s sisters’, then spotting a dark blue fabric that made him stop dead in his tracks.
It was his handkerchief.
A soft whine brings him back from his thoughts. A powerful sage scent filled his nose, as if wanting to take over his entire body—and he’d gladly let it. He brought a hand to Gao Tu’s cheek, releasing calming pheromones as the frown forming on the omega’s brow softened and his eyes slowly blinked open.
Gao Tu was finally awake.