Marked by My Omega Rival After Moving In (GL, ABO) - Chapter 7

The first day of the no-drinking plan was supposed to be spent going out with Yu Xiaoxiao, who had decided on a whim that they should hang out.

—That was the plan, anyway.

When Xiang Shuhuai woke up to the sound of her alarm, her head was pounding, and her whole body felt weak. At first, she just assumed it was the lingering effects of the medication from last night and didn’t think much of it. After checking in with herself, she felt like her mood was okay and figured she was up for going out.

With that in mind, she quickly washed up, changed into something suitable, and got ready to head out.

She sat on the couch for a while, waiting. Sure enough, Yu Xiaoxiao eventually came stumbling out of the bedroom in a sleepy haze, wearing messy pajamas and yawning.

Her hair was sticking out in every direction, and her face was scrunched up from just waking up. The first thing she did when she saw Xiang Shuhuai was frown and mutter, “Why are you up so early?”

Xiang Shuhuai replied, “You didn’t say what time yesterday.”

Yu Xiaoxiao was caught off guard by that and could only grimace and make a silly face before heading into the bathroom.

…With her messy, bouncing hair and those bright eyes, she really did look like some kind of fluffy, energetic puppy.

Sitting there, Xiang Shuhuai couldn’t understand how Yu Xiaoxiao had so much energy. She could rush around all day and never seem to get tired.

For Xiang Shuhuai, just getting out of bed, washing up, and sitting here had already used up most of her strength.

The person in the bathroom still hadn’t come out, and a wave of tiredness started to creep over her. Maybe it was the overly soft couch, or maybe it was the gentle, warm scent in the apartment—something like fresh-baked bread, sweet and subtle, making her want to relax completely and let down all her defenses…

Xiang Shuhuai leaned back into the cushions, closed her eyes, and ended up dozing off without realizing it.

She didn’t know how long she slept before she started to hear a voice.

“…Xiang Shuhuai?”

The voice was getting closer and closer. “Xiang Shuhuai—”

So tired…

She should’ve opened her eyes right away and told that voice to leave her alone, but maybe because of all the hormone imbalances, Xiang Shuhuai was just too exhausted to move. She let herself drift a little longer before finally opening her eyes.

Sure enough, it was Yu Xiaoxiao’s face hovering close.

“—Xiang Shuhuai!”

Xiang Shuhuai said, “Are we going?”

Yu Xiaoxiao frowned, looking serious. Her big round eyes narrowed slightly as she stared hard at her.

“Your face is really red,” she said. “You feeling okay?”

“…I’m fine.” Xiang Shuhuai looked up calmly and motioned for Yu Xiaoxiao to back off a bit. “Aren’t we going?”

Yu Xiaoxiao muttered, “Go where…”

Ignoring Xiang Shuhuai’s look, she leaned in even closer, raised both hands, and placed them firmly around Xiang Shuhuai’s neck—then lowered her head until their foreheads touched.

Xiang Shuhuai froze for a second, then quickly pulled back, covering her neck as she stared at her.

Yu Xiaoxiao just raised an eyebrow without any guilt, straightening up with a knowing look on her face.

…Maybe it was because Yu Xiaoxiao hadn’t gone through differentiation yet. She seemed totally casual and unconcerned about physical contact. That must be it, Xiang Shuhuai thought.

“You say you’re fine, but you’ve got a serious fever. You’re not going anywhere like this,” Yu Xiaoxiao said.

“…I have a fever?” Xiang Shuhuai was confused. Was it because of the burn from last night? But she didn’t feel that bad—nothing really out of the ordinary.

She was a little weak, sure—but emotionally, she was doing okay. Actually, she felt better than usual. There were no bad thoughts or voices whispering in her mind. Xiang Shuhuai had plenty of days when she felt worse than this. On days when those voices came back, she could barely function. With all the hormone chaos in her body, her health had always been unpredictable.

So she said, “I don’t think it’s a big deal—aren’t we going out? You said we would yesterday.”

Yu Xiaoxiao shot her a look.

“Go out? Come on. You’re not my indentured servant. Get back to bed.”

“I’m not—”

But her protest didn’t matter. Before she could even figure out what was happening, Xiang Shuhuai found herself pushed back into the bedroom and onto the bed. Yu Xiaoxiao stood by the side of the bed, arms crossed, looking down at her.

“Sleep,” she ordered, tilting her chin.

Xiang Shuhuai clutched at her rumpled collar. “But—”

“I promised Youyou-jie I’d take care of you,” Yu Xiaoxiao said. “If anything happens, she’s going to ask me about it.”

“But I—”

“Hmph!” Yu Xiaoxiao puffed out her cheeks, looking smug like a child. “I’m not giving you a chance to tattle on me.”

“I—”

“If you don’t listen, I’ll go tell Youyou-jie. I’ll have her scold you.”

“…I need to change clothes.”

Yu Xiaoxiao blinked.

She froze for a second, her gaze drifting to the patch of skin showing through Xiang Shuhuai’s loose collar. Then her face turned bright red.

“Oh… okay.” She turned away quickly, visibly flustered. “Go ahead and change.”

Xiang Shuhuai had only said it without thinking, but seeing Yu Xiaoxiao’s face turn that red—even her ears—made her feel hot too.

She lowered her head and tightened her grip on her collar, covering the skin that was slowly starting to flush.

The room fell into a strange kind of silence.

The air seemed to grow warmer.

Maybe it was the fever, but Xiang Shuhuai felt like her whole face was burning, even her ears were heating up.

Yu Xiaoxiao, still red-faced, finally broke the silence. She spoke quickly: “I—I’m going to get your medicine.”

Before Xiang Shuhuai could answer, she’d already run out and closed the door behind her. A moment later, her voice called out from the other side:

“—What do you want to take? Is ibuprofen okay?”

Yu Xiaoxiao didn’t have a mercury thermometer at home, but somehow she’d dug up a dusty digital one and zapped Xiang Shuhuai with it.

“…38.6,” she said. “Not too bad.”

The cold medicine packaging was crumpled, like it had been shoved into some drawer for ages. Xiang Shuhuai changed into her pajamas, sat in bed squinting at the expiration date. “It’s still good.”

“Then take it,” Yu Xiaoxiao said, handing her a water cup while still avoiding eye contact.

Xiang Shuhuai swallowed the pills and nodded. “Okay.”

For some reason, now that she was tucked into bed, the exhaustion hit her even harder. Her whole body felt light and weak, like the fever was turning her to steam. She lay back, curling up under the blanket.

Yu Xiaoxiao didn’t seem to have anything else to do. Her ears were still red as she sat at the edge of the bed for a while. When her eyes met Xiang Shuhuai’s, she quickly stood up.

“…I-I’ll go now,” she said. “Want me to turn off the lights?”

Xiang Shuhuai shook her head. Then she suddenly remembered, “Oh, the no-drinking—”

“I know,” Yu Xiaoxiao said. “I’m not going out… I’ll stay home. You rest.”

She answered in a rush and left without looking back, closing the door gently behind her.

The door shut with a soft click. As the footsteps faded away, the room fell completely silent.

The curtains were drawn, leaving only a small nightlight still on.

The soft yellow glow came from a lamp shaped like a cartoon Shiba Inu, casting a warm, hazy light across the room. Even though she’d just napped, Xiang Shuhuai stared at the silly little lamp and felt sleep creeping up again.

Her fever-fogged mind was unexpectedly active.

Before long, she sank into a dream about the past.

The huge, unfamiliar Xiang family estate. Countless strange faces. Her old school uniform, faded from too many washes. And pain.

Bl00d soaked into her hair and trickled down her forehead. She could taste the sharp tang of iron.

She was twelve years old. Her biological mother and stepfather had just died, and this was her first day back at the Xiang family home.

The Xiangs were a powerful, complicated family with many branches. As the illegitimate daughter of a low-status, deceased mother, Xiang Shuhuai was naturally not welcomed.

A maid in uniform had led her in and was taking her to her room, but was called away halfway, leaving her standing alone in a strange living room.

The next moment—

Pain exploded in her head.

Her vision went black. Holding her head, she stumbled to the floor, ears ringing violently.

After a while, she realized the warm liquid running through her fingers was bl00d.

A vase had fallen from the staircase and shattered at her feet.

Water pooled around her, scattered with droplets of bl00d. The flowers had fallen among the shards—

And then came a boy’s sharp, cruel laughter.

Her bloodstained vision blurred with dark splotches. Xiang Shuhuai barely managed to look up and saw someone standing on the stairs, pointing at her and laughing.

It was one of her half-brothers from the “second branch,” Xiang Wenze.

…Her head was so heavy.

The pain made it hard to keep her eyes open. She curled up, dazed, as hurried footsteps filled the air.

—Everything that came after didn’t need to be in the dream. She already knew it by heart.

Xiang Wenze’s model mother rushed over, checking if her son had hurt his hand, and of course gave the poor illegitimate girl a proper warning.

The maid ran in too, not to check on Xiang Shuhuai, but to see if the vase could be repaired and whether the floor was scratched.

Xiang Wenze left with his mother. The servants cleaned everything up so thoroughly that not a single stain or mark was left on the floor.

Soon, everyone was gone. Xiang Shuhuai sat there holding her head for a long time. People passed by, but no one noticed her.

It wasn’t until it got dark outside that someone finally told her where her room was. Xiang Shuhuai got up unsteadily and dragged herself there with dried bl00d in her hair, then passed out.

That was everything she remembered.

…But in the dream, it wasn’t quite the same.

Young Xiang Shuhuai heard a soft “cheep cheep” sound.

Confused, she turned her head.

—It was a tiny golden bird, round and fluffy, with cute beady eyes like a little sun wrapped in feathers, fluttering near her cheek.

…A bird?

The golden bird chirped and landed on her shoulder.

Suddenly, all the pain vanished.

Then the entire mansion turned into endless darkness. No more bl00d, no more pain, no footsteps. She felt weightless, floating like she was in a quiet universe.

The darkness was cold but gentle, like waves wrapping around her.

Only the sound of the golden bird’s wings stayed, lighting up the dark.

Xiang Shuhuai reached out, wanting to touch it.

The bird flew toward her, then lightly dodged her fingers.

It only brushed her left cheek, giving the softest, tiniest kiss.

It felt like light had touched her there. That one spot on her icy body burned with warmth, almost painfully hot.

…So hot.

The little bird disappeared.

And as it did, the universe filled with falling stars.

Light rained down gently. In the dream, young Xiang Shuhuai was finally free from pain and loneliness.

She closed her eyes and slept peacefully.