Chapter Text
Shaoyou pushes the door to Wenlang’s office so hard that it crashes into the adjoining wall, the sharp sound ricocheting throughout the vicinity.
“What the fuck’s your problem—“
Before Wenlang can get anything else out, a small item gets slammed on his desk with no precursor.
"I help you with your rut one time!” Shaoyou shouts at him, furious. “One fucking time and this is how you repay me?!”
Wenlang merely glares at him before hesitantly picking the item up.
It is a pregnancy test.
Positive.
Oh, Wenlang thinks, dumbfoundedly, only to realize that he must have said it aloud because Shaoyou starts shouting again.
“Is that all you have to fucking say?! ‘Oh’?! Fuck you, Shen Wenlang. I’m going to fucking castrate you.”
Wenlang glances between the object and the furious, furious man, and remains silent for a few moments.
”What the hell do you want me to say? Congratulations?” Wenlang blurts to Shaoyou’s increasing rage. “I don’t see what this has to do with me.”
“You don’t see—“ Shaoyou scoffs in pure disbelief, unable to even finish his sentence. “You’re the father you fucking idiot.”
Huh, Wenlang thinks, which, again, must have been said aloud because Shaoyou slams his fist against Wenlang’s table so hard it nearly cracks. Then Wenlang speaks again and Shaoyou sees red.
"Are you sure I’m the father?”
"You dare to question me?!”
"We all know what you and Hua Yong get up to every night.”
Pain explodes across his right cheek as Shaoyou slaps him full force.
“Ow!” Wenlang exclaims, full on glaring at Shaoyou now.
"It’s not Hua Yong’s,” Shaoyou grits out, folding his arms as he leans against Wenlang’s table.
“I seriously doubt that.”
"Do you want me to slap you again?"
Wenlang visibly flinches. “I’m just saying if you and Hua Yong…“
Shaoyou rolls his eyes. “Hua Yong and I haven't. Not for the last month anyway."
"Why not?” Wenlang blurts before immediately regretting it. It’s disturbing enough to know what Gao Tu and Hua Yong get up to from time to time, he didn’t need a walkthrough on Shaoyou’s sex life too.
Shaoyou, unexpectedly, ends up casting his gaze to the floor and going silent for a few, long moments. When he speaks again, his voice is so small it makes Wenlang’s heart twinge.
“I’ve been sick.”
“Aren’t you an S-class Alpha?” Wenlang asks.
If looks could kill, Wenlang would have died ten times over.
“What do you fucking think,” is all Shaoyou can say to that.
Unfortunately, Wenlang does not think. He just stares at Shaoyou with a look that says: I don’t know man. Sounds like a you problem.
“I’ve been sick because of the pregnancy, genius.” Shaoyou spells out.
"Oh,” Wenlang offers stiltedly. “Um, sorry…?”
“Eat shit.”
Awkward silence slips between them as they just look at each other, unmoving. In this muted sunlight, Wenlang has to admit (begrudgingly) that Shaoyou’s kind of cute. He’s always known that, though. The way warm hues cling to Shaoyou’s complexion. The way Shaoyou’s lips are just one shade more vibrant than you’d expect. The way he carries himself—so proud, so confident—extrudes a charisma people can’t help but be drawn to.
Too bad he’s a real fucking bitch.
"Why didn’t you ask me to use protection?” Wenlang asks.
Shaoyou’s scowl deepens. “Because I wanted to get pregnant with your baby— Obviously I didn’t fucking know this could happen!”
And damn, even when he’s yelling at Wenlang, he’s cute.
No, no, Wenlang tells himself. He’s a crazy psycho, second to only Hua Yong.
Oh he hopes he didn't say that aloud.
Shaoyou remains quiet, as if waiting for Wenlang to say something.
“Um,” Wenlang mumbles, if only to buy himself more time. “Do… you want… a hug…?”
“Go fuck yourself.” Shaoyou spits.
Sighing, Wenlang finally closes his work laptop and stands to give Shaoyou his full attention. He takes a step forward, hesitating when Shaoyou furrows his brows threateningly.
“Don’t touch me,” he warns.
“We’ve done a lot more than just ‘touch’ to get here.” Wenlang says, unintentionally provoking the other.
Bristling, Shaoyou fingers curl into a fist as he reels back and—
Wenlang catches him by the wrist, then pulls him into a warm embrace as iris and orange blossoms weave throughout the office. Shaoyou is so much softer than he expects. As warmth blooms between them, Wenlang’s arms slip effortlessly around the curve of his waist.
“I hate you,” Shaoyou seethes.
“I know.”
“I’m going to kill you for doing this to me.”
“Okay.”
“… What are we going to do?” Shaoyou eventually lets slip, more of a thought than a question.
And there it is—the real reason Shaoyou rushes in like a hurricane. All prickly edges and rough exteriors until Wenlang sits through the storm.
It’s why he’s a bitch.
Wenlang sighs, letting the redolence of orange blossoms sweep him away. “What do you want to do?”
“I don’t know,” Shaoyou admits as he reluctantly relaxes in Wenlang’s arms.
“We’ll figure it out together.”
Two days ago, at the hospital, Shaoyou receives the worst news of his life.
“You’re pregnant,” Cai Hong confirms, directing his attention to a certain number in his patient file. “This value means—“
“No,” Shaoyou says, disbelief dripping from his tone.
“Well…” Cai Hong voices. “Yes, unfortunately.”
“No!” Shaoyou shoots back, louder this time. “This isn’t possible! I’m an alpha!”
Cai Hong, to his credit, manages to restrain himself from pointing out that it was Shaoyou who bore his son 12 years ago. Instead he says: “If Hua Yong—“
“It’s not Hua Yong’s. That’s why it's not possible!” Shaoyou all but shouts.
Now that gives Cai Hong pause. “It’s not?”
“No. It’s…—“ Shaoyou clicks his tongue in annoyance. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Okay,” Cai Hong begins delicately. “If this person is an alpha, there is still a chance.”
“No there isn’t,” Shaoyou immediately shoots down.
Cai Hong just meets his gaze silently, lips pressed together in sympathy.
“What do you mean there’s a chance?!” Shaoyou exclaims, more of a last ditch attempt to convince himself than anything.
“There isn’t!” Shaoyou continues, which turns into: “There can’t be!” Which eventually becomes a soft, resigned: “Fuck.”
“It’s because the enigma mark changed your biology,” Cai Hong explains. “So you have the—“
“I get it,” Shaoyou interrupts because the alternative would be to sit here and talk about organs an alpha has no business having.
So Wenlang really…
And he’s really…
Shaoyou is going to fucking kill him.
Fast forward two days and instead of bloody murder, Shaoyou finds himself trapped in Wenlang’s embrace. Which, honestly, shouldn’t feel this nice and shouldn’t be this comforting but here he is because the world hates him.
Shaoyou decides that the best time to tell the family is after dinner. Hua Sheng and Lele have long deserted the dining table in favour of playing console games on the television. The tea, at that point, has cooled to a tepid room temperature. And fruits lie on the center of the table, half eaten as the four of them bask in each other’s presence.
“I’m pregnant,” Shaoyou announces just as the conversation comes to a lull. Gesturing at Wenlang who’s sitting beside him with a flick of his thumb, Shaoyou says: “It’s his.”
"What?” Wenlang blurts, as if he didn’t hear the news that very afternoon.
“Don’t fucking ‘what’ me,” Shaoyou says.
”I didn’t know you were just going to say it like that,” Wenlang argues.
“How else am I supposed to say it?” Shaoyou shoots back, a sharp edge already present in his tone.
”You can lead up to it.”
”Oh, okay,” Shaoyou snaps sarcastically. “So the other day when this useless mutt went into an early rut and I was the only one home—“
"Not like that!”
"Then how?!”
Gao Tu gently clears his throat, successfully breaking up their bickering.
“So,” he begins. “How are you feeling about it?”
Shaoyou glances at Hua Yong across the table, studying him for a long moment. “I… don’t know. How are we feeling about it?”
“It was going to happen sooner or later,” Hua Yong states with such nonchalance Shaoyou’s jaw drops.
“Excuse me?!”
“I know what Sheng xiansheng likes in bed,” Hua Yong shrugs despite looking at Shaoyou with nothing but reverence.
"Wha— What I like?! It’s Wenlang’s fault!” Shaoyou exclaims.
“I mean,” Gao Tu cuts in. “Hua Yong has a point. Receiving is… optional.”
Shaoyou splutters. “He was in rut! I was helping him! What else was I supposed to do?!”
”It’s not just that,” Hua Yong clarifies. “You know, Hua Sheng wouldn’t exist if you didn’t insist on…”
Beside Shaoyou, Wenlang gasps. “He’s right! You were the one who said we didn't need to use—“
“Fuck off.” Shaoyou cuts in. “You were so out of it I bet you aren’t even remembering correctly.”
Then, like a sick, sick joke by the universe, Shaoyou remembers. Irises, so potent and inebriating the world spins into a haze. Hands on him; in him. Fervour and desperation and a surprising devotion despite it all. He remembers all of it.
“You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do this,” Wenlang tells him.
”You’re just saying that because you’re in rut,” Shaoyou shoots back.
They are in Wenlang’s room. The gentle moonlight slips in by the window, shrouded by a deep blue curtain that veils over it. Shaoyou can feel the bed sink beneath the weight of their silhouettes, the mattress sighing when Wenlang presses him against it.
”You’d be so cute if you just shut up.” Wenlang says. It is as close as they get to a confession; as touching as they can handle. Shaoyou hates the way his pulse races when he hears it.
”Go and fuck yourself, Wenlang,” he responds, if only because he doesn’t know what else to say.
Then Wenlang’s lips are on his, sharp fangs grazing soft skin and a low growl emitting in the space between them. Shaoyou knows first hand what it’s like to be consumed by a rut. Knows that drive to conquer like he knows his own name. But as he lies beneath his old rival, he refuses to submit to it willingly.
Shaoyou pushes against Wenlang’s shoulder.
Wenlang pins his wrist down.
Shaoyou pulls at the other’s hair, trying and trying to shift that power imbalance.
Wenlang doesn’t care. He just keeps kissing him senseless until Shaoyou feels his entire body melt into water on the bed.
“You— ahh, fuck—“ Shaoyou cries, the curse dragging on his tongue when Wenlang sinks his fangs into his neck. ”A-Asshole I told you not to leave any marks. I have a photoshoot tomorrow!”
“Too bad,” Wenlang dismisses, and claims Shaoyou so thoroughly Shaoyou almost blacks out for a minute.
”Condoms,” Wenlang eventually mumbles, shifting over to pull out the drawer of the bedside table.
Shaoyou, half delirious by then, closes his fingers around Wenlang’s neck and yanks him back down into a searing kiss. “No need.”
”But what if—“
”You think I’m some fucking omega? You couldn’t knock me up if you tried.” Shaoyou challenges.
And try he does, because by the next day Shaoyou is so thoroughly spent he has to cancel the photoshoot. And when he looks in the mirror… god… it’s so embarrassing he buttons up his collared shirt for days.
”I’m right, aren’t I,” Wenlang declares, snapping Shaoyou back to the present.
Shaoyou can feel blood rush to his cheeks but he says nothing.
”I’m right!” Wenlang declares again with the audacity to look smug about it. “This is your fault.”
Shaoyou snatches the fork on the fruit platter and holds it threateningly. “Do you want to die?”
”Enough,” Gao Tu calls out, breaking out the fight before it can begin. “So what are we going to do about it?”
In the background, a sharp exclamation can be heard as Lele edges ahead of Hua Sheng in Mario Cart.
”I guess,” Shaoyou begins, glancing over at where their two children sit. “We tell them they’re about to have a sibling.” Looking back at the table, Shaoyou’s tone grows hesitant when he asks:
“We’re all okay with this, right?”
Agreement simmers between them in the way Gao Tu’s lips curve into a smile and Wenlang dips his head in a nod.
”I think pregnancy looks beautiful on Sheng xiansheng,” Hua Yong states.
"… Shut up.”
Later, they will tuck the children to sleep despite their protests. Gao Tu would insist on reading a bedtime story. Hua Sheng would say they’re too old for that. Either way, the tale of the Cowherd and Weaver Girl would be recited once more, and the children will fall asleep to the image of magpies gathering to form a bridge between the two lovers.
In the room adjacent, Hua Yong threads his fingers through Shaoyou’s hair, orchids and orange blossoms weaving through every corner of their bedroom.
When the clock strikes eleven, Gao Tu will return to his abode with Wenlang where they will head to the Julliet balcony and look at the stars. Wenlang thinks he sees one fall. Gao Tu claims that’s just an airplane. He makes a wish anyway.
And in this corner of Jianghu City, life continues, and begins, and graces them anew.
The Butterfly Effect • theory
A small, seemingly insignificant change in the initial conditions of a complex system can lead to massive, unpredictable variations in its long-term outcomes.
The Shaoyou Effect • theory
A small, seemingly insignificant statement ("You couldn’t knock me up if you tried") in the initial conditions of a complex system (sex) can lead to massive, unpredictable variations in its long-term outcomes (a baby).