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Gao Tu had just gotten off work and was waiting for his taxi to arrive when he heard a child crying. Looking around and finding no one he entered in a sideway alley to check .
And there was a child no older than five years crying. Gao Tu, feeling sorry for the kid, called out to him, "Hey kid, are you lost?”
The child looked up at his voice and his crying stopped as he immediately darted towards Gao Tu, “Baba!!”
The child slammed into Gao Tu wrapping his hands tightly around the man's waist as he started talking," I was so scared. I couldn't find you or Daddy! And Peanut is gone too.” His words made no sense to Gao Tu as he tried to process the situation.
"Wh-What?” Gao Tu stammered, "kid, I am not your Baba. You must be mistaken. What are your parents' names? I'll help you find them. “
"But you are my Baba! Your name is Gao Tu. You like strawberries.” The child insisted as tears started welling up in his eyes."Why don't you remember me? Was the magic candy real?”
Gao To truly felt helpless not understanding what to do in such a peculiar situation. The child knew his name, knew his likes and kept insisting on him being his father. Gao Tu has never even been in a relationship so where did this child come from? Surely he would know if he had to ever have gotten pregnant and give birth? And what is this magic candy he keeps talking about?
Gao Tu squatted down to the child's level and gently wiped his tears as he released his soothing pheromones and asked, “Okay! I believe you. But can you tell me your name and everything about how you ended up here? What is this magic candy you mentioned?” That seemed to calm down the child who instinctively reached out and embraced Gao Tu and breathed in this scent.
Gao Tu stiffened at the movement as the child stepped back and nodded." I am Lele. We were on a vacation on this mountain with lots of temples and me and Peanut were walking ahead. And then there was this grandpa with long hair, he gave me and Peanut these candies and he said it would take us back in time. Peanut said time travel isn't real so we ate the candy and nothing happened. But then we were feeling kinda sleepy and then I woke up and I was here.” Lele said everything in one breath.
Gao Tu caressed the boy's head as he still looked anxious and tried processing his rambling. There was too much information and yet nothing much useful other than the child's name.
Before Gao Tu could ask for more relevant information, the smart watch on Lele's hand started ringing.
"It's Peanut!” Lele announced happily as he picked up the call." Hello! Peanut! Did you come back in time too? I found Baba but he doesn't recognize me.”
Gao Tu listened as a child's voice came through," Lele, are you OK? I found my Baba too and he also doesn't remember me. Looks like the scary grandpa was telling the truth.”
“I am ok now. I have Baba." Lete replied and Gao Tu felt this sense of happiness wash over him. Even though he had clearly refused to recognize the child, Lele still felt safe with him.
"Where are you now? Me and Baba will come find you.” Peanut said and Lele looked at the surrounding once and I aimed to Gao Tu for help.
"Tell Peanut to tell his Baba to bring him to the City Park.” Gao Tu told Lele who repeated the address on the watch and the call cut. The city Park wasn't far away from here and there wouldn't be too many people there right now.
Gao Tu led Lele to the Park and they waited for Peanut and his Baba to arrive.
On the other hand, Sheng Shao You had gone through something similar. He had come out of his office building ready to go home and had met with a crying child calling him Baba and claiming he had time traveled to the past after he ate a magic Candy. He had been ready to call the police and hand over the child but the child seemed to know things about Shao You that not many people were aware of. Now that he looked at the child carefully, the child did seem to resemble Hua Yong.
Finally he decided to believe the child, so sending a flabbergasted Chen Pin Min off on his own he asked the child for more details. Unfortunately, he had no experience in handling a five year old so the only information he got was that the child was named Peanut and his best friend named Lele had also eaten the magic candy.
The child, no Peanut, then called Lele on his smartwatch and it worked. Honestly at this point Shao You will even believe that he and Shen Wen Lang are friends in the future.
So that led him to this very surprising moment.
"Secretary Gao?”
"President Sheng?"
"Peanut!" “Lele!”
As the adults looked at each other confused, the children hugged each other. Gao Tu and Sheng Shao You looked at each other and then at the children.
Shao You sighed, “I think we need to talk.”
I live nearby, we can go there.”
With that the four of them sat in Sheng Shao You's car and left for Gao Tu's place.
As they reach the place Shao You was really taken aback. “Does HS group even pay you?”
"It's not that President Sheng. Please don't misunderstand. I just happen to have a lot of expenses.” Gao Tu clarified by Shao You clearly didn't take his word.
They all went in and Shao You honestly didn't understand how anyone could live in a place like this. He decided to leave this matter for later and to focus on the matter at hand.
The children had been whispering for a while now and even kept giggling with each other.
Shao You raised an eyebrow and asked, “What are you two giggling about? What's so funny?”
Lele and Peanut giggled again and Lele spoke up," You two are being soooo weird.”
"What do you mean weird?" Gao Tu asked as he and Shao You exchanged glances.
"Usually you two talk normal not serious like now. You keep calling each other secretary and President but normally you just call each other by names.” Peanut informed them .
"Well, that's because in the future we are probably closer than we are now.” Sheng Shao You said as he led the children to the sofa to sit." How about you two tell me more about how you got here. Did that scary grandpa tell you anything about how to return back?”
“No”, Peanut said as he made a sad face and asked, “Do you not want us here?”
“It's not that Peanut. We are just worried. I'm sure your parents are worried too. “ Gao Tu said as he reached for some paper kept on the side table and handed the papers to the children, “ How about the two of you draw something while me and President Sheng talk.”
The children nodded and took the papers from Gao Tu. Gao Tu then moved towards Shao You and said in a lowered tone , “What do we do now? Should we try and find their other parents?”
Sheng Shao You gave him a pointed look and asked, “ Do you really not see it?”
“What?”
“Peanut looks exactly like Hua Yong and Lele clearly takes after Shen Wen Lang.” Shao You said and Gao Tu’s eyes widened.
“Wh-what?! That's impossible though. President Shen will never like me. He hates Omegas. Secretary Hua is the only exception. “ Gao Tu said in a resigned tone and Shao You asked, “ But you do like him? Right?”
Before Gao Tu could even try denying , Shao You stopped him short, “ Don't even try. Anyone with eyes can see you are head over heels for that idiotic Alpha. And don't think I missed that photo frame on the shelf. Honestly If it wasn't for his unwanted attention on Hua Yong, I was pretty sure he was in love with you too. I thought you two were probably just keeping it under the wraps for the company. “
Gao Tu was left completely speechless with that. Was he really that obvious? And what even made President Sheng think that Shen Wen Lang could like him?
Seeing the lost look in Gao Tu's eyes, Shao You honestly felt a bit sorry for him. He deserved way better than Shen Wen Lang. “ Look if you are still in denial we can just ask the children about their other parents.”
Gao Tu nodded as they both went to the kids drawing on the papers . The adults shared a look before Shao You spoke up, “ Kids can you tell us more about your parents. Since you have come back in time, don't you want to meet your other parents as well .”
Lele immediately perked up at that, “ I want to meet Daddy! “
Peanut on the other hand took a moment as he thought that his Father was stealing away his Baba even in the past now. But he did miss his Father as well so he also nodded. “ I want to meet Daddy Wen Lang and Hua Yong, I mean Father too. “
“ Daddy Wen Lang??” Gao Tu and Shao You spoke up at the same time in surprise. Gao Tu having finally realized that Shen Wen Lang was indeed the father of his future child and Shao You at the fact that his child was calling another Alpha Daddy and that too Shen Wen Lang of all people?
“Peanut , why are you calling Lele's Father as Daddy?” Shao You asked him knowing very well he wasn't going to like any answer he would get.
“ Because he is my Godfather.”
“Shen Wen Lang!!! Why is he your Godfather?” Shao You looked exasperated as he looked at the confused child.
“ Because he and Father are best friends.” Peanut said in a very obvious tone not realising that he has just set off a bomb in both the adults’ minds.
“Shen Wen Lang….” Shao You started.
“And Secretary Hua … “ Gao Tu continued.
“Are best friends!?” They said together as they looked at each other in utter confusion.
“ Yeah, you say that they will never accept it but they care a lot for each other. And they always make fun of each other just like best friends. “ Peanut informed them happily as the adults devolved into more confusion.
“ Yes, Baba, you say the same thing. That Daddy only says that he doesn't like Uncle Yong because Uncle Yong will tease him a lot if he accepts it. “ Lele piped in after Peanut leaving the adults even more muddled.
“I think it's us who need support now.” Gao Tu said with a laugh as tried making sense of what the children had said. If Shen Wen Lang and Secretary Hua were truly best friends then what was all this fighting with President Sheng over him about?
Shao You was also wondering the same thing when Peanut decided to drop an even bigger bomb, “ Baba!, Uncle Tu! Look at my drawing, I completed it. “
“ Me too! Me too!” Lele also jumped in .
Gao Tu and Sheng Shao You decided to leave this topic for later and to focus on the children for now .
“What did you guys draw?” Gao Tu asked the children.
Lele had drawn a garden while Peanut had drawn a beach. Gao Tu and Shao You both were truly impressed at their future children's works and praised them.
“Wow! Lele, Peanut, these are such good drawings.” So Tu said and Shao You nodded. The children brightened up at the remark and started talking about why they had drawn these pictures.
“This is the garden at our home, Baba! You and Daddy said we can plant more flowers for the butterflies and bees this year.” Lele told them excitedly and Gao Tu couldn't help but smile at how cute his child was.
Peanut also chimed in at the moment, “ And this is the beach we will visit next year. All of us. Even Uncle Yu and Uncle Pin Ming. And Uncle Zuo and Auntie Bea and jiejie! We were supposed to go this year but since Meimei is in your tummy and the beach is super far away we have to wait until next year.” Peanut rambled on listing off people who would go and the activities they would take part in but both Gao Tu and Shao You had frozen in shock .
They again shared glances that seemed to convey the same thought. Surely the child was simply mistaken or had misspoken?
“Peanut, don't you mean your other Daddy has your Meimei in his tummy? “ Gao Tu tried to correct the child seeing Shao You still completely unresponsive and in shock.
Peanut just looked at the adults confused as he stopped his rambling and said in a very matter of the fact tone, “ No, it's Baba who has Meimei in his tummy. That's why he is more sleepy and eats weird things. I have pictures.”
With that said Peanut started fumbling with his smart watch and then handed it over to the adults. The watch seemed to be highly advanced, something Gao Tu had never seen on the market. It also seemed to be custom made .
Taking the watch from the child, Gao Tu checked it and found a gallery . “ Do you want to have a look? “ He asked Shao You who seemed as if he was questioning his entire existence itself.
“Do I want to see if I am truly pregnant in future despite having been an S class Alpha all my life? “ Shao You asked and Gao Tu had no answer to that. That man was traumatized already.
Shao You then took the watch from Gao Tu and opened the gallery, the first few pictures were nothing special. All blurry, out of angle pictures of just Peanut and Lele. Sometimes their faces were only halfway in the frame.
Scrolling past such pictures, Shao You found one that truly gave a glimpse into his future. He was sitting on a sofa wearing loose pajamas leaning on a casually dressed Hua Yong who was looking at him as if he were the centre of his entire universe. That picture truly caught Shao You off guard. He looked so unguarded and at ease. And Hua Yong, Shao You had seen the look of love in the omega's eyes but in the picture he looked utterly devoted. And then Shao You's eyes dropped down to his body. He didn't look too different but his abdomen area looked a bit rounded.
Surely he can't actually be pregnant. Maybe he is just bloated. Heavily bloated. Or maybe he had a pillow stuffed under his shirt.
“No..I .. But I am..How is this even possible???” Shao You finally voiced out his frustration startling Gao Tu and the kids.
“Baba? Are you ok? “ Peanut asked him and Shao You realized if he can get answers from anyone it's him.
“Peanut, I- can you …” Shao You couldn't even think of what to ask. It's not like he could just ask his five year old son on how he got pregnant in future? “ Do you know what Alphas and Omegas are , Peanut?”
“ Peanut quickly nodded and replied, “ Yeah, I know . They are secondary genders. There are Omegas, Betas and Alphas. Uncle Tu and Uncle Zuo are omega. Uncle Pin Ming is a Beta. Uncle Yu and Auntie Qing are A-class Alpha. You and Daddy Wenlang are S class Alpha. And Father is Enigma. But I am not supposed to say that to anyone outside family. “
If Shao You was shocked before he was utterly flabbergasted now. An Enigma? Hua Yong is an Enigma? Then why is he pretending to be a pitiful Omega?
Gao Tu too was taken aback at the revelation. Here he thought Hua Yong was the only Omega Shen Wen Lang was close too but turns out he isn't even an Omega? So what was all this fight with Shao You about?
While the kids were blissfully unaware of the chaos they had created, both Gao Tu and Shao You were realising a lot of things. The dots were connecting yet there were a lot of things unknown and only two people could answer the questions they had.
Shao You at the moment decided he had to take action. He turned to Gao Tu, explained his plan and then sent him out with kids . The kids being told they would get icecreams and candies happily went with Gao Tu. Shao You then took out his phone and messaged both Shen Wen Lang and Hua Yong to come to Gao Tu's apartment as soon as possible. And then he waited.
Fifteen minutes later there was a knock on the door and Shao You opened it to reveal a confused Hua Yong.
“Mr. Sheng! I was so surprised when you asked me to come here. What happened? “ Shao You was honestly getting irritated at the pitiful Omega behaviour Hua Yong was displaying after finding out the truth.
“ Get in first. We are waiting for someone else to arrive as well. “ He said and stepped aside for Hua Yong to enter. He saw Hua Yong stiffen and quickly compose himself as he breathed in the mix of sage and orange blossoms in the apartment.
Before either of them could say anything, the door swung open again and Shen Wen Lang strode in. “ Sheng Shao You? Why are you here? Gao Tu? Where is he?”
Shao You and Hua Yong both rolled their eyes at the dumb Alpha. Honestly he and Gao Tu seemed to be the only people unaware of Shen Wen Lang's feelings towards his secretary.
“ Calm down will you? Gao Tu isn't here. I sent him out. “ Shao You said as he motioned the two to take a seat . “ Sit down, I have got a few things to say and a few questions to ask. “
While Hua Yong immediately complied despite seeming hesitant seeing Shao You's changed behaviour, Shen Wen Lang of course decided opening his mouth was the better idea.
“ What makes you think I will take orders from you? Why are you even here in the first place? Did you do something to Gao Tu? And why does the place stink with your toilet scent and that filthy Omega’s scent? “ He rambled on and Shao You took a deep breath. Gao Tu truly deserved better than this.
Hua Yong on the other hand glared at Wen Lang from behind. He didn't want him to cause unnecessary stress to his Alpha.
“Gao Tu is an omega.” Shao You declared as he watched surprise flicker at Hua Yong’s face for a second and Shen Wen Lang's face contorting into various forms of confusion as he opened and closed his mouth multiple times without any sound coming out.
“ The filthy Omega scent you keep talking about is Gao Tu's. The reason I asked you both to come here was to propose some offers. “ Shao You said and again motioned Wen Lang to sit down who did comply this time seemingly still in shock.
“So since we all know about your deep hatred towards Omegas I propose you hand over Gao Tu to Shen Fang Group. He is one of the best in the field and I would love for him to join my company. Also Hua Yong I am sorry but I don't want to continue our relationship. I realized today that I do not like pitiful Omegas like you anymore. To be honest someone like Gao Tu is more suited to my taste. No wonder I couldn't stay in a relationship for long. I needed to find someone like Secretary Gao. Someone reliable, hardworking and capable. “ Shao You said and he saw a flash of pink in Hua Yong's eyes for a second before confusion took over.
“Mr. Sheng? Are you saying you don't need me anymore? “ He said in his pitiful voice and Shao You immediately stopped him.
“Stop it. Your pitiful voice is honestly irritating me. I told you I don't like you anymore. It's not like you change who you are, can you? “ Shao You asked in a dismissive tone . “ You can leave now. “
Hua Yong looked like he was contemplating something for a moment before he finally got up and moved towards the door. But before he could reach it, Shao You grabbed him and pulled him back. “ Really? You would rather leave than tell me the truth , Mr. Enigma?”
He saw as shock covered Hua Yong's face as he asked , “ You know?”
“ So you really are an Enigma. Why did you lie to me then? What else have you lied about? Is your name even Hua Yong? Do you even have a sister in He Ci? And what is your relationship with Shen Wen Lang? “ Shao You at once poured out everything going on in his mind. He simply couldn't take it anymore. He needed answers. Right now.
“ I -” Before Hua Yong could start Shen Wen Lang spoke up after having been silent all this time.
“ Gao Tu is an omega?” He asked, still not quite believing it and again Shao You and Hua Yong rolled their eyes at his stupidity.
“ Really? I said so many things and you are still hung up on that. Yes he is an Omega. The same kind you hate so much. “ Shao You told the other Alpha who seemed to have finally started using his brain.
He pointed an accusing finger at Hua Yong first, “ You knew this! You're an Enigma, it's impossible that you didn't know!” And then turned to Shao You, “ And Gao Tu is mine. I mean my secretary. You can't have him. “
Hua Yong shook his head at his dumb friend while Shao You gave him a pointed look, “ Really? I don't have time for your dumb ass to figure out why you don't want Gao Tu to leave. And just for your information it's definitely not because he is your secretary. Honestly!”
Shen Wen Lang was completely taken aback by the other Alpha's response who completely ignored him and turned to Hua Yong. “ I want the complete truth. You lie about a single thing and I will know . And I will dump you right then and there. “
Hua Yong was truly taken aback at the change in his beloved Alpha. He had no idea how he even knew about him being an Enigma. Hua Yong wasn't going to take any chances now. So he started talking . Right from the moment they first met fifteen years ago.
“ So you have been in love with me for fifteen years now? And you are the controller of X Holdings? And you named it X because of the x I wrote on that paper?” Shao You asked, completely bewildered by the new information he got. Hua Yong was definitely not lying now. He had even said he liked everything about him except that he was a player!
“Mhm “ Hua Yong nodded at his Alpha while Shen Wen Lang rolled his eyes at the Enigma trying to play cute. Disgusting. He would be long gone from here if it wasn't for the fact that he still didn't know where Gao Tu was.
“But Mr. Sheng, how did you find out about me being an Enigma? No one outside of my close circle knows this information.” Hua Yong asked his Alpha still pleased at the fact that his Alpha hadn't thrown him out or dumped him after knowing the entire truth.
“ Ah! About that. It's better to show you both.” Shao You said as he reached for his phone and messaged Gao Tu to return to the apartment.
Five minutes later, there was knocking on the door and the door opened to reveal a nervous Gao Tu holding hands with five year olds . As soon as the children saw Hua Yong and Shen Wen Lang they broke away from Gao Tu and ran towards their respective fathers.
“ Father!” “ Daddy!”
Both the Enigma and the S class Alpha were taken aback as the children clung to them like koalas. “What???”
“Hua Yong, Shen Wen Lang. These are Lele and Peanut. They are our children from the future. Don't ask how they ended up here, me and Gao Tu are still having a hard time wrapping our heads around that. “
For the next an hour or so the kids rambled leading to shock and astonishment from everyone and showed pictures from their watches . At one point Shao You was worried that Hua Yong would die of happiness with how hard he was smiling. Shen Wen Lang on the other hand was seeing Gao Tu in an entirely different light. Gao Tu was laughing openly at something the kids had said and Shen Wen Lang wished time to freeze at that moment.
But soon enough the kids were starting to feel sleepy so Gao Tu and Shao You tucked the children in on his bed and came out . Now it was just the adults and they all looked at each other a bit awkwardly. “So..” Gao Tu started but before he could say anything else there was this bright flash of light in his bedroom.
They all ran in only to find the bed empty and the children gone. “Did they go back to the future? “ Shen Wen Lang asked no one in particular.
“They did say they came here after falling asleep . Maybe sleeping again was the way back.” Gao Tu replied and everyone nodded.
“I think we all need to talk. “ Shao You said in a tone that didn't leave much room for arguments as he raised an eyebrow at Gao Tu and Shen Wen Lang who looked like they would love to just forget this night ever happened and go back to how things were before. “Especially the two of you.” Seriously, these two really need to communicate.
With that said, Shao You grabbed Hua Yong's hand and pulled him towards the door. “ We are leaving. You two better talk about everything and Shen Wen Lang, if you hurt Gao Tu, I'll kill you.” He didn't wait for anyone to reply as he left the apartment pulling Hua Yong along with him.
Reaching his car, he motioned the Enigma to get in and got in himself as well. He then turned to him and said, “We are going to my apartment and you are going to tell me everything about how this- “ he moved his hand between him and Hua Yong,”-is going to work, starting right off from how the hell am I supposed to get pregnant when I am an S class Alpha!”
Hua Yong was taken aback for a moment but quickly nodded at his Alpha who shook his head and started driving. Hua Yong had thought it wasn't possible to love his Alpha more than he already did but seeing his new personality he was falling in love with his Alpha once again.
That night the two couples talked freely with each other for the first time. It was awkward, a bit uncomfortable but completely real. The children hadn't revealed great secrets from the future but they had definitely shown their parents past shelves that they belonged to families that were happy and safe. Considering the family situation of all the four people involved, that was more than enough information they needed to know that the future will be alright.
In the future Peanut and Lele woke up from their nap and looked at each other. “ Did you see that dream too?” They asked together at the same time and then ran to tell their parents. The adults listened to their children ramble about how they actually went into the past and met their parents . Children have such imaginative dreams.