He crossed the room and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Guiying."

Nothing.

"Guiying." He placed a hand on his shoulder and shook gently.

Guiying made a sound that communicated several things, none of them cooperative, and pulled the blanket tighter without opening his eyes.

"We have a hospital appointment," Liuxian said.

"Tomorrow," Guiying said, to the pillow.

"Today."

"Tomorrow."

Liuxian looked at him for a moment. Then he reached over and pulled the blanket off entirely.

Guiying’s eyes opened immediately. He looked at Liuxian, then at the blanket in his hand, then at Liuxian again with the expression of someone who had been genuinely wronged.

"That was cruel," he said.

"Get up, Wifey." Liuxian said. "We also have a gala tonight."

Guiying sat up slowly, pushing his hair out of his face. "What?"

"Charity gala. I will explain in the car." He stood and set the blanket at the foot of the bed. "Get ready. Thirty minutes."

Guiying looked at the blanket longingly.

Then he got up.

He went to the mirror, assessed his face, and reached for the disguise kit.

By the time he was done the person in the mirror was the same pleasant, forgettable stranger he had been taking out into the city all week.

He looked at the ring on his finger. Still there.

He changed into a clean outfit, neat and presentable without being formal, picked up his phone and his card, and headed downstairs.

Liuxian was already waiting in the entrance hall, jacket on, car keys in hand, looking at his watch with the patient expression of someone who had said thirty minutes and was prepared to mean it.

He looked up when Guiying came down the stairs.

His eyes moved over the blonde wig and the hazel contacts and said nothing about either of them.

"Ready?" he said.

"Ready," Guiying said.

They walked out to the car together.

The car pulled out of the mansion gates and Liuxian glanced at Guiying from the corner of his eye.

"You did not need the disguise today," he said. "I own that hospital. Nobody on that staff would dare say a word about who walks through those doors." He paused, his eyes moving briefly over Guiying’s face. "Though I have to say, I prefer your actual face."

Guiying looked at him. "Is that so?"

"Mm." Liuxian looked back at the road. "The brown eyes especially."

Guiying turned to look out the window before his expression could do anything inconvenient.

"About tonight," Liuxian said.

"What about tonight?" Guiying said.

"There is a charity gala. I should have mentioned it earlier." He kept his eyes forward. "I will not be introducing you as my wife. Tonight you are simply a guest I brought along. We will be removing our rings before we go in."

Guiying looked down at his hand.

"Alright," he said.

"It is not permanent," Liuxian said. "The marriage is not public yet and I would like to control when and how that changes. Tonight is not the right moment."

Guiying nodded. That made sense. He had no objection to it.

"What kind of gala is it?" he asked.

"Charity. The Omega Rights Foundation." Liuxian glanced at him briefly. "There will be Omegas there, more than you would find at most events of this kind. But the ratio of Alphas will still be significant. Most of the headline sponsors are Alpha run corporations."

Guiying processed that.

"Who runs the foundation?" he asked.

"Bai Feng," Liuxian said.

Guiying turned to look at him.

"The Bai Feng?" he said.

"The same." Liuxian’s mouth curved slightly. "The country’s top lawyer. Founder of the most powerful law firm in China. One of the wealthiest Omegas alive and a die hard Omega rights activist who has never once softened his position to make anyone more comfortable." He paused. "The Alpha sponsors at this gala think they are attending a charity event. What they are actually attending is Bai Feng’s territory. He built that foundation specifically to ensure that Omega rights work could not be co-opted or diluted by the people funding it."

Guiying looked out the window.

Bai Feng.

He had heard that name his entire life, in whispers and in headlines, in the particular tone people used when they were talking about someone who had made the powerful uncomfortable and intended to keep doing it. An Omega who had broken through every barrier placed in front of him not by asking permission but by making the barriers irrelevant.

"I want to meet him," Guiying said.

"I thought you might," Liuxian said.

The hospital was nothing like Guiying expected.

He braced himself for the particular atmosphere of medical institutions, the antiseptic smell, the fluorescent lighting, and the general energy of a place where people were not having a good day. What he walked into instead was closer to a high end private clinic, clean and quiet and designed with the particular thoughtfulness of someone who had decided that healing environments should not feel punishing.

The receptionist looked up when they walked in and bowed slightly. "Welcome. How may I help you today?"

"Liu Liuxian," Liuxian said. "I have an appointment with Doctor Gu."

She checked her screen, nodded, and picked up the phone. "Of course sir. I will let Doctor Gu know you are here." She looked up after a brief exchange. "Third floor, room seven. He is ready for you."

"Thank you," Liuxian said, and headed for the elevator.

Guiying followed.

The third floor was quieter than the lobby, a long corridor with soft lighting and doors spaced generously apart. Liuxian knocked on the door marked seven and pushed it open without waiting for an answer, which suggested a level of familiarity that confirmed something before anyone had said a word.

The man behind the desk looked up.

Guiying’s first impression was height. Doctor Gu was tall in a way that registered immediately even sitting down, long limbed and lanky, the kind of frame that suggested he had grown very quickly at some point and his body had not entirely caught up with the idea. His face was striking in an understated way, clean features, the kind of face that took a second look to fully appreciate. He was wearing his white coat open over a plain shirt and looked, broadly, like someone who had decided a long time ago that urgency was optional.

He looked at Liuxian with the unhurried ease of someone who was genuinely unbothered by the unannounced entrance.

"Little Xian," he said.

"Brother Yanchen," Liuxian said. He stepped aside slightly. "This is Guiying."