Apex Predator - Chap 25

Shen Dai returned home for lunch with his grandmother, and then in the afternoon he brought her over to see the newly-purchased apartment.

He had handed over the task of a basic renovation over to a company, estimating it to be completed within half a month. As they stepped in the workers were still in the midst of construction.

Taking his grandmother by her hand, he took her through the three-bedroom apartment several times over, the two of them chatting about what was going to go where and how to decorate. He had already bought a considerable amount of things for the house and was waiting for the renovation to be finished before having them delivered. When his grandmother was done with the operation and discharged from hospital, she would have a warm and cosy home to return to.

His grandmother was so elated her cheeks had a rosy glow. Nothing could be more encouraging than planning for the future. Shen Dai hoped that his grandmother would be able to face her surgery with courage because there was a better life waiting for them after.

Ever since the exhibition, Zhou Lan, noticing that Shen Dai was deliberately avoiding him, didn’t dare be too attentive. But whenever there was a chance to buy lunch for Shen Dai, he would always be the first to volunteer. As it was quite a regular thing for the more junior colleagues to buy lunch back for their seniors, and it would never just be for one person, Shen Dai had no grounds to object.

Shen Dai kept waiting for the chance to make his rejection clear to him. But Zhou Lan had never once expressed his feelings outright. He would only quietly try to get close, treating him with consideration, which left Shen Dai no opportunity to speak. Besides, within the laboratory where it was difficult not to cross paths, there was just nowhere for him to hide.

Cheng Zimei had tried a few times to persuade him to try and get along with Zhou Lan, leaving him with no choice but to feign anger, which finally put an end to her eagerness to match-make them.

At any rate, this was not where his attention had been recently. There was just too much to deal with. On top of the renovation and his thesis, he still had to learn about postoperative care, including the numerous dietary considerations for stomach cancer patients that needed to be taken into account. Since he had to work during the day and would only be able to hire part-time help when the time came, it was essential for him to have a clear understanding beforehand of what could or could not be consumed.

With the date of his grandmother’s operation drawing near, even he started to feel anxious. And it was just at this moment of infinite worry when he received the call he had least wanted to receive.

The day had been an absolutely ordinary one. He was on the way back from work when the phone rang with an unfamiliar number. Picking it up, there was a three second silence from the other end of the line before a cautious voice spoke up, “Hello”.

Shen Dai stopped dead in his tracks. His heart trembled slightly. These two syllables alone were enough for him to feel that the voice was familiar.

“A-Dai? It’s…it’s Dad.” The voice at the other end of the line was soothing and pleasant, compelling one to perceive the speaker in a positive light; This voice was highly deceiving.

Shen Dai felt as if he had fallen through ice. A chill ran down his spine. He gripped his phone, his face turning terrifyingly dark.

“A-Dai, I…”

He hung up. But the other person quickly called back. He considered putting the number on his list of blocked callers, but on second thought, the cost of switching to a new number to harass him again was far too low. Hiding like this was not the solution. He once again picked up the call.

“A-Dai. Just let me say a few words to you. Don’t treat your father this way.” The voice was filled with grievance and on the verge of tears. It sounded very pitiful.

Shen Dai said coldly, “What are you trying to do?”

“I miss your grandmother very much. I heard that she’ll be going through an operation soon. I miss you very much too. I really…”

“You better not come back again,” said Shen Dai, his voice flat and devoid of emotion. “We have a great life now. If you have any conscience at all, don’t come back and ruin our hard-earned peace.”

“A-Dai.” The voice on the other end of the line sobbed, “I’m sorry. I’ve made so many mistakes. I also feel too ashamed to see you all, but I really miss you both.”

“Don’t come back.” said Shen Dai, unmoved. “If you truly have any affection left for us anymore, then don’t ever come back again”

Once again he hung up the call. Standing at the entrance of the subway, surrounded by the constant flux of people coming and going, amidst the noise and chaos of the world, he felt a sense of indescribable helplessness.

One could not choose one’s parents, but now that he was all grown up, he could choose to stay away.

Only, he felt this vague sense of foreboding in his heart. Selfish people were selfish because they only considered their own feelings. He feared that sooner or later he would have to face this father of his, who was to him already dead.

Whenever he felt lost and helpless, he would think of Qu Moyu. He knew that this dependence that he had developed for him was very dangerous, because Qu Moyu was not his Alpha. But fondness and dependence were two sides of the same coin. Try his utmost to go against his natural instincts, he could only go so far as to conceal them, even if his heart was already overflowing.

He unlocked his phone and clicked open Qu Moyu’s WeChat. His trembling finger was pressed against the chat window as he gazed at the onscreen keyboard, not knowing at all what to write.

In fact, all he wanted was a reply. Anything would do.

But what should he even say?

Even if they had done nothing at all the other night except to fall asleep soundly in each other’s arms, and to wake in the morning snuggled up against each other, it seemed as if their hearts had grown a little closer. Yet after they had put on their clothes and walked out of that room, they appeared to turn back into complete strangers.

After a long period of hesitation, he forwarded an academic report that had been shared in his office group chat, together with the message: This report has some relevant answers to the question you asked me the other day. It also provides some data comparisons of global and domestic production capacity.

After a short while, he received one word in reply from Qu Moyu: Alright.

Shen Dai stared at the word for a very long time before finally mustering up the courage to reply with a question: Have you gotten off work yet?”

The reply from the other side was almost instantaneous: I’m on the way home.

In that moment, Shen Dai had a sensation he could not express in words, a happiness as precipitous and unexpected as torrential rain on a land long parched by drought. This interchange of dialogue was so ordinary and brief, yet filled with the flavour of everydayness. The two of them seemed to have known each other for a long time, showing their care for each other through the small and seemingly insignificant details of life, which was to him more poignant than physical closeness.

He replied once again: Me too.

Though he didn’t expect for Qu Moyu to reply to him again, he hastened his pace to get home.

At the very same time, Qu Moyu was sitting in the car, staring at the WeChat conversation between him and Shen Dai on his phone.

Shen Dai’s profile picture was a traditional Chinese ink-wash painting of a mountain. Qu Moyu guessed that it had to be the one by his grandfather of Mount Tai that he had mentioned before. Even within the limited pixel resolution, one could still see the vast landscape of mountains and cliffs rising above the skillful strokes of the brush. Well painted as it was, it was hard to imagine that this WeChat profile picture could belong to a young Omega.

Making the mental association between Shen Dai and this profile picture gave Qu Moyu the sudden urge to laugh – yet it also sparked a subtle desire in him to learn more.

He clicked open Shen Dai’s Moments page. It was filled almost entirely with various academic and industry related articles he had reposted. Scrolling down for a long time, he could not find anything personal, save for a single photo of Professor Liu and him attending an academic conference. Shen Dai’s face had been distorted by the camera lens and did not look good.

Shen Dai was for Qu Moyu a type of Omega that he had never encountered before, in everything from his appearance, his name, his occupation, and his temperament. In short, he was the least typical omega he had ever met. There were many omegas that had achieved great success in their careers, but few in the field of scientific research. Rarer still was someone like Shen Dai, who had good looks but didn’t flaunt or use them to his advantage. It was as if he were deliberately obscuring his own gender.

What an odd person, thought Qu Moyu to himself.

But in bed and in his arms, Shen Dai could clearly also be alluring and seductive – a side of him that only he was privy to.

The corners of his mouth turned up slightly.

“Young Master, Uncle Heng is asking if there’s anything you’d like for dinner tonight.”

The sound of Old Wu’s voice broke his train of thought. Due to frequent social commitments, he would often need to inform Uncle Heng in advance through the driver whenever he wanted to have dinner at home.

“Anything is fine.” Looking out the window, Qu Moyu remarked, “The traffic is so congested today.”

“Yeah, could be an accident up ahead.”

As Qu Moyu’s gaze wandered, it fell upon a large LED billboard beside the road. It was playing an advertisement for an exhibition on Planetary Geology, prompting him to recall the one that Shen Dai had recently visited.

The camera switched over to the anchor interviewing one of the visitors at the exhibition. While the two interlocutors occupied about a third of the screen, a familiar figure could be seen in the background.

Qu Moyu slowly rolled down the car window, his eyes riveted to the screen. Despite only the back and side profile being visible, he was certain that the person in the background observing the exhibition was Shen Dai. Standing next to him was a tall and handsome young man, who based on his physique had to be an Alpha. The young man was handing him a bottle of water. The two of them exchanged a few words before bending down to read the description of the exhibit. They were standing very close to each other, their heads almost overlapping, appearing to be very intimate.

“Stop the car,” he ordered, coldly.

“What?” The car was moving forward slowly along with the flow of the traffic.

“Stop!”

Old Wu jammed the brakes, causing the cars behind to honk immediately in disapproval. He turned back to check on Qu Moyu, only to find him completely absorbed in staring at a billboard. Having no other choice, he turned on the hazard lights.

It was not long after Shen Dai had reached the laboratory the following morning when he was informed that some executives from upper management would be paying a visit in the afternoon

Perhaps it was because the end of the year was coming, but lately, if it wasn’t various partners coming for a visit, there would be someone from the upper management coming for an inspection. Though it was something he had become accustomed to, deep down he still felt resentful. They were all busy enough and didn’t want to entertain wave after wave of people, all while presenting the same things and answering the same questions. But regardless of his resentment, the work still needed to be done.

Except shortly after, the administration informed him that the Executive President would also be coming. Shen Dai immediately felt a burst of energy, delighted to show Qu Moyu what he was like at work.

This was most likely a kind of overcompensation; wanting to bring a person he considered so powerful into his own domain where he could demonstrate his expertise and confidence, and in doing so restore some balance of dignity in their relationship.

Getting home yesterday, he first had dinner and subsequently retired to his room to work on his paper. In fact, he had been disappointed. He had intentionally dragged out his dinner hoping to run into Qu Moyu so that they could casually discuss their previous conversation over WeChat. But since he had already gone back to his room, it would have seemed too forced to go back downstairs just for a chat.

In any case, Qu Moyu would be at the laboratory very soon. He would be more at ease and confident speaking with him here.

As much as he kept warning himself to stay clear-headed and rational, he instinctively wanted for Qu Moyu to see his merits and all the achievements he had worked tirelessly to attain. He yearned to ‘show’ the person he liked his true worth – and not just the worth that he had in bed.

…a traditional Chinese ink-wash depiction of a mountain | Traditional Chinese depictions of landscapes are generally known as Shan shui paintings (山水画, mountain and water paintings) Unlike landscape paintings in the Western tradition (西方风景画), which tend to focus on accurately representing the physical details of the natural world, a Shan shui painting seeks to portray both the outward appearance and inward nature of the natural world (Vanderstappen, 2014b), while still following strict conventions for balance, composition, and form.