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Wei Ying felt sick. He felt as if he were about to throw up. The omega opened his eyes, slowly turning over onto his side. The movement displaced Lan Zhan's arms from on top of him, the alpha rumbling at the discomfort.
Wei Ying turned on his phone, one of Lan Zhan's rare soft smiles lit up the room. It was 4:13 am. He could feel the bile rising up in his throat. He sat up, trying to make it settle down. It didn't. At 4:14 am, Wei Ying was seen bolting towards the bathroom, only to be found bending over the toilet bowl just moments later.
He emptied the contents of his stomach; not much was in it in the first place, considering he hadn't eaten dinner yesterday, resulting in him dry heaving for what felt like hours, but was more likely to be minutes.
He was breathing heavily, every breath he took just wasn't enough. He still felt queasy. The bathroom tiles were freezing, but he was sweating from every pore on his body. It was agony.
Wei Ying lied down on the cold bathroom floor, his throat and stomach still seeming to be on fire. Today marked the third day that he woke up early, only to end up with last night's dinner rushing out of his mouth. Yesterday had him puking out his lunch as well.
He thought about what could have happened to him. His heat was late; it didn't show up this month. It had always been regular, taking place every eight weeks, ever since he'd first presented. It was supposed to have happened last week. Maybe that's why he felt like shit?
He was so tired. Tears rolled out of his eyes, down his face. Something was wrong with him. He curled up on his side, feeling himself shake as a sob tore out of his sore throat. It hurt. His stomach hurt. He felt as if he were boiling and freezing at the same time. He cried, sobbing softly at first, before he couldn't hold back anymore; He was bawling. Everything hurt.
"Wei Ying."
That was Lan Zhan. His alpha. His mate. Lan Zhan would make everything feel better, he was sure.
"Wei Ying. Distressed."
Wei Ying looked up at him. Lan Zhan's eyes were swimming in concern. It made Wei Ying feel happy to see Lan Zhan so openly caring for him.
Just then, a cramp in his stomach made itself known. He whined in pain, "Lan Zhan." He breathed in sharply, "Hurts. Make it stop, please Lan Zhan, please make it stop."
He didn't know if or when he closed his eyes, but he must have, because he was suddenly lifted off the ground in Lan Zhan's arms, having to force himself to open his eyes. Lan Zhan looked tired, dark circles prominent under his eyes. Wei Ying felt bad. Lan Zhan needed his 8 hours of sleep, sleeping at 9:00 and waking up at 5:00. But he'd been waking up at ungodly hours of the morning because of Wei Ying.
Lan Zhan should have never courted an omega like him. The only thing he did was disrupt Lan Zhan's sleep schedule and make him worry about him. He couldn't even cook. The Jiangs, his family in all but blood, had completely banned him from going into the kitchen. What's an omega if they can't cook?
Wei Ying knew for a fact that there were many omegas, and even betas, behind Lan Zhan back when they were in school. He thought of MianMian, Luo Qingyang; He was almost certain that Lan Zhan had a crush on her, and she certainly knew how to cook, considering they do meet up every once in a while. They're good friends, Wei Ying thinks, maybe. He's never actually asked, they just kind of started hanging out one day and never stopped.
She would've been a better omega for Lan Zhan. He knew that for a fact. She's both smart and pretty. She'd be a great asset to the Lan family, unlike him. Lan Qiren absolutely hated him. He was a distraction. Wei Ying was a nobody whose father happened to be friends with a rich person, and then said rich person just happened to adopt him. He was nothing compared to Lan Zhan. Lan Zhan was perfect, he was the heir to the GusuLan School & University franchise. Honestly, Wei Ying didn't know what Lan Zhan saw in him.
A soft voice jostled him out of his thoughts, "Wei Ying. Lost in thoughts? Feeling better?"
Wei Ying was already sitting in bed, propped up with a bunch of pillows, a light blanket wrapped around him. A half-empty glass of water laid beside him, along with an open strip of painkillers. He'd clearly taken one, but he can't even remember.
He didn't even realise Lan Zhan had done all this for him, he was just lost in his thoughts. His stomach felt better, but he just felt worse for not recognizing his mate's efforts.
A few more tears slipped out, and Wei Ying could see Lan Zhan panic slightly. "Lan Zhan? Why did you—" he took a slow, deep breath, "—Why did you court me? There were so many better omegas, especially when they're compared to me. I'm annoying, I can barely keep the house clean, I can't cook, and I'm making you wake up earlier than you usually wake up and I'm making you worry about me. I'm making you worry about me when- when I don't even deserve it and,"
And his lips were covered with Lan Zhan's own.
"Wei Ying is not annoying. Wei Ying is beautiful. Wei Ying is smart. Wei Ying is an amazing artist. Wei Ying writes amazing stories. Wei Ying is an amazing photographer. Wei Ying is mine."
"Lan Zhan—"
"Wei Ying will not be self-depreciating. It is against the rules."
Wei Ying chuckled wetly, "What rules? I don't remember there being any rules when we moved in here,"
Lan Zhan smiled at him, "Are you in pain?"
Wei Ying smiled back, as much as he could with tears still in his eyes, "Not anymore, but my throat is still a bit sore. Probably from all the vomiting,"
Lan Zhan's face went carefully blank, his eyes contemplative, "Mn. That's good." He sucked in a small breath, "Wei Ying, I was thinking. You should take the test."
Wei Ying was confused, "Test? What test?"
Lan Zhan stared back at him, his golden eyes staring into his very soul, "Wei Ying. That test."
Oh. He meant the covid test.
Coronavirus has been taking over the world, Wei Ying knew he'd contract it sooner or later, he was too extroverted not to, but he just wished it wouldn't have been now.
Wei Ying let out a wet laugh, "I didn't know excessive vomiting was a symptom."
This time, it was Lan Zhan's turn to be confused. "What do you mean? Wei Ying, nausea is one of the most common symptoms."
"Huh?"
"Mn.
… Shall I google it?"
"Yeah, I think you should."
Lan Zhan whipped out his phone, the light of his lockscreen shining on his face for a few seconds. His lockscreen was a picture of their family, Lan Zhan, Wei Ying, and their two little bunnies, Teddy and Pepper. Wei Ying could see him smile at it as he unlocked his phone, it always warmed his heart to see him do so. His alpha always looked adorable when he did.
Lan Zhan typed on the search bar, before reading out the results;
"Stomach cramps, Changes to the Breast tissue, Nausea and Vomiting, Missed Heats, Mood Swings, Constipation, Frequent Urination, Dizziness, Headaches, and Back Pain, are all common symptoms."
Wei Ying was screwed. He didn't know any of those were symptoms of covid, but google's never wrong, "I guess I really do have it then, huh?"
Lan Zhan looked at him weirdly, "Mn. Maybe. Should I get the test ready?"
"Do we even have any at home?" Lan Zhan nodded, "Then yeah, you probably should. I don't think I want to move right now."
"I bought the tests yesterday. Three of them. You should finish this bottle of water."
And thus, Wei Ying's alpha disappeared into the bathroom, leaving him alone with his thoughts for a while.
What if he really did have covid? What would he do then? He had that workshop coming up in America in a week. He was going to be paid for it too! How was he supposed to go all the way over there? What about Yanli-jie? She'd come over to their place yesterday, what if she caught it? Wei Ying couldn't be the one to give her covid, he couldn't! Yu-furen and Jiang Cheng would both kill him in cold blood!
Yu-furen may have been delighted that his marriage made a profitable alliance between the Jiangs and the Lans, but that doesn't mean he can just infect her only daughter with the coronavirus. What would Jiang-shushu say to him? He'd be so disappointed.
And what about Lan Zhan? He'd been by his side the entire time. He'd almost certainly be affected. He'll be suffering too. Wei Ying can't have let this happen. He can't be the reason his entire family gets covid, he just simply can't be.
They've all given up so much for him, and he repays them by giving them the very thing the entire world is trying to hide from? How could he have done that? How dare he do such a thing?
Lan Zhan's voice shook him out of his thoughts, "Wei Ying? I've gotten the test ready. Do you want help getting over here?"
Wei Ying got up on his feet, "Nope, I'll be right there. Thanks for the offer, though."
He slowly made his way to the bathroom. He really didn't feel like he could walk at his normal speed, not with how tired he was.
Lan Zhan nodded at him as he walked in, "Wei Ying. You need to pee on this."
… What?
"Lan Zhan is this some kind of new test?"
"I bought the newest one in the market."
Wei Ying was still slightly confused, but he did as was told. "Lan Zhan? How will we know what the results are?"
Lan Zhan raised an eyebrow, "The result will appear on the stick in a few minutes. Patience, Wei Ying."
"Lan Zhan! How can I be patient about this sort of thing?"
He laughed softly to himself, "Mn. I know. I'm feeling weird too. It'll all be alright."
Lan Zhan was feeling weird too? Wei Ying really is the worst kind of mate, to be getting his alpha sick like this. It's all his fault!
"Wei Ying, look."
It was a big plus sign. If that weren't enough, the word was written on it right next to the plus. And if that weren't enough, all three of them had the same result. The test was positive. Wei Ying could hear the blood rushing to his head. He felt dizzy.
He was on the floor with a loud thump.
"Wei Ying!"
—
Wei Ying woke up feeling as if he were about to throw up, again. Even if logically there is nothing in his stomach.
Wen Qing was standing right in front of him. He rubbed at his eyes, squinting at her figure. "Wen Qing, what are you doing here?" Then, when he gained more clarity, "Wen Qing! You can't be here!"
She raised an eyebrow, "Wei Ying you have a mild concussion, you buffoon. Lie back down. Lan Zhan called me after you blacked out and hit your head on the floor."
Wei Ying could feel the tears welling up in his eyes, "But Wen Qing! I have covid."
Lan Zhan made his presence known, "Wei Ying. What."
Wen Qing's eyebrows reached the top of her forehead, "What do you mean, 'you have covid'?"
Wei Ying felt like he was on the verge of a mental breakdown, "You know! The-the nausea, missed heats, stomach cramps? And- and I did the covid test! It was positive! I know it was positive. I–"
Lan Zhan was absolutely baffled. "Wei Ying, that was a pregnancy test. The symptoms I googled were symptoms of pregnancy. You're pregnant, you don't have covid."
… What.
Wen Qing smacked her forehead, "Wei Ying, are you alright in the head? Why would missed heats and stomach cramps be a symptom of covid?"
Wei Ying felt weak, "You mean I don't have covid?"
"No."
Oh.
Wei Ying started crying in relief. He honestly didn't know why he was crying. He can't even remember the last time he cried.
Wen Qing gave out a long suffering sigh, "I looked you over while you were passed out. You seem to be around 8 or 9 weeks along, so I'm going to assume you started carrying on your last heat. The concussion is just mild, so it should be better by tomorrow or the day after. You will rest. I'm prescribing you anti-nausea tablets. Take it every night before you fall asleep, and take it if you feel queasy during the day. If the nausea persists, see me at my office." She whipped around to face Lan Zhan, "And you! Don't call me during ungodly hours of the morning unless it's a major emergency. And actually communicate with your omega, god only knows how he ended up thinking he had covid. I blame it on you."
She walked out the bedroom door, "I'll show myself out."
Wei Ying was left staring at the closed door with tears still streaming down his face.
Lan Zhan sat down silently beside him, Wei Ying leaned on him, just a bit. They both heard the front door close shut in the distance, automatically locking in place.
They both spoke at the same time,
"Lan Zhan,–"
"Wei Ying,–"
They both looked at each other for a while, Lan Zhan's eyes really were beautiful, before Lan Zhan relented. "You speak first."
"Lan Zhan, I'm sorry. I'm such an idiot, I don't know why I thought I had covid, I was just so sure that I did and I just freaked out and got myself a concussion. Lan Zhan, why did you court me? There are so many other, better, omegas around, and I'm just a plain old,–"
Lan Zhan let out a sigh, "Wei Ying, you asked me this before. My answer will not change. You are perfect and you are mine. I am sorry. I did not explain myself clearly, and I let you think something completely wrong and different from what happened."
"Lan Zhan, you know, back then, I was really worried about everyone else. I would have infected everyone with covid, Yanli-jie came over just yesterday, and you've been beside me this whole time. And really, Yu-furen and Jiang Cheng would completely, totally kill me if I was the one who gave Yanli-jie covid. And your uncle? Your uncle hates me so much, and if I gave you covid he'd hate me even more. And the workshop I had next week? I was really excited about the workshop, I'd really wanted to go, but if I had covid then I wouldn't be able to and everything would all go to waste."
A few more tears came out of his eyes. Wei Ying was surprised he still had water left for his body to pour out of those two holes in his skull.
"Wei Ying. I am…not good with words. But I love you. Uncle doesn't hate you. Uncle is… Uncle doesn't know how to behave around Wei Ying. If Wei Ying had covid, Uncle would be worried. If Wei Ying had covid, the Jiangs would be worried. Jiang Yanli would be especially worried, even if Wei Ying gave her covid too. I would also be very worried, even if I had covid too. Wei Ying, I love you. I need you to be here." Lan Zhan inched closer towards Wei Ying, "I need you to be mine."
Wei Ying leaned in even closer, "But the Jiangs would be more worried about Yanli-jie than me. And your uncle would be more worried about you than me. That is only fact."
Lan Zhan moved closer, so close that it felt like they weren't two different people, but were one single entity, "But they would still be worried, that is also fact."
"Lan Zhan, I love you so much.
Do you think we're ready to become parents?"
"Mn. You will be the most amazing parent our child could ever ask for. Wei Ying, you should rest now."
Lan Zhan kissed the top of his head, "Sleep."
Wei Ying closed his eyes. Everything would be alright.
Lan Zhan dried the remaining tear tracks on his face with a cloth. Wei Ying didn't have to cry anymore today. His alpha would take care of him.