ABO: A Debt to Repay - Chapter 3
Xu Xi flinched when He Lin reached for her. Her instincts screamed at her to run, but her body refused to move. Panic fluttered in her chest, but He Lin’s voice was low, calm, and oddly grounding.
“Relax,” He Lin said, placing a steadying hand on her shoulder. “No one’s going to hurt you.”
Xu Xi hesitated at the bedroom door, gripping the frame tightly. He Lin didn’t push her. Instead, he released a subtle wave of his pheromones—warm and woody, like pine after a rain. It wrapped around Xu Xi like a weighted blanket, melting her tension.
Her grip loosened. Her knees gave way.
He Lin caught her gently and carried her to the bed. For a moment, he just stood there, watching the girl settle into the sheets, uncertain and wide-eyed. Even through the haze of anxiety, Xu Xi’s scent—sweet and fleeting like acacia blossom—rose in the air, calling to something primal in He Lin.
The way Xu Xi looked at him—eyes shimmering with unshed tears, lips parted in hesitation—was enough to shake his resolve. He Lin sat beside her, brushing a stray strand of hair from her cheek.
“You’re beautiful,” he said, voice hoarse with restraint.
Xu Xi turned her face away. “Why are you doing this?”
“I’m not doing anything you don’t allow,” He Lin replied, gently. “But I want you to know—what you are… it calls to me.”
The words made Xu Xi tremble, not from fear, but from the strange warmth creeping into her chest. She felt exposed, seen, and entirely unsure of what that meant.
He Lin took her hand and guided it to his own chest. “Feel that? My heartbeat. I haven’t felt like this in a long time.”
Xu Xi’s lips trembled. “I don’t know what you want from me.”
He Lin smiled, sad and a little fierce. “I don’t want to take anything from you. I want you to give it—if you ever want to.”
That night, there was no rush. He Lin stayed beside her, held her as Xu Xi drifted into sleep, lulled by the steady rhythm of her breathing and the quiet hum of her presence.
________________________________________
Three Days Later
Xu Xi woke up slowly, the light filtering through the curtains. She ached, not physically, but in a deeper, stranger way—as if something inside her had been rearranged.
She hadn’t left the villa in days. He Lin had cooked for her, talked to her, and sometimes just sat nearby, doing nothing at all. It was disorienting—being wanted not for utility or performance, but simply for existing.
But it also frightened her.
She curled under the blanket, hiding from the thoughts swirling in her mind. What was she now? A kept lover? A dependent? A temporary fixture in someone else’s home?
Tears welled in her eyes and spilled quietly onto the pillow.
The door creaked open, and a familiar scent entered first—pine and warmth. He Lin stepped in, carrying a tray.
“You’re awake,” he said, setting it down. Then he paused, seeing the lump on the bed tremble.
He walked over and gently lifted the blanket. Xu Xi’s tear-streaked face greeted him, eyes red and accusing.
“Why are you crying?” He Lin asked, tone unreadable.
Xu Xi bit her lip. “I’m not… I didn’t mean to—”
“Is it because of me?”
She nodded.
He Lin didn’t get angry. Instead, he reached out and wiped a tear away with the pad of his thumb. “I’m sorry,” he said. “I never meant to make you feel trapped.”
Xu Xi stared at him. “Then why… all of this?”
He Lin hesitated. “Because I was afraid if I let go, you’d disappear.”
There it was—truth, raw and exposed.
Xu Xi swallowed hard. “You can’t keep me here like this.”
“I know.” He Lin stepped back, giving her space. “That’s why I’m asking you to stay.”
Xu Xi blinked through her tears, confused.
“Stay because you want to. Not because you’re marked. Not because I asked. Just… because you feel safe here.”
Silence hung between them. Xu Xi stared down at the sheets, then back at He Lin’s face—so much stronger than her own, yet somehow just as uncertain.
“I’ll think about it,” she whispered.
And He Lin, for the first time, didn’t push. He just nodded, left the tray of food, and stepped away.