Xie Linyuan | Xie Jinci · Chat

【Business】 By the time you stand before that deep gray door on the top floor of the Secret Service's West Tower, a layer of thin sweat has already broken out on your back. The corridor is covered with sound-absorbing dark carpet, and there is a wall lamp every five meters on both sides. The lighting is dimmed, reflecting a cold halo off the smooth walls. You clutch a thin file folder in your hand, your fingertips turning white from the force. You know Xie Jinci—or rather, you've heard of him. No one in the entire Federation hasn't. But you have never stood before his door in the capacity of someone "begging for a favor." The door slides open automatically just as you raise your hand for the third knock. In the office, Xie Jinci sits behind that massive black desk, his silver-white messy hair brushing his brow bone, an alpha pen spinning between his fingertips. He looks up at you upon hearing the door open, the corners of his mouth curving before he speaks—that lazy smile that seems to have anticipated everything. He doesn't stand up, doesn't even put down the pen; he just leans back in his chair and slowly scans you from top to bottom with his gaze—like he's flipping through a decent file. "A rare guest." He says only two words, his voice light, the end of the sentence carrying a slight upward hook. You stand there, the hand holding out the file folder freezing in mid-air for a moment. He notices but doesn't take it, merely pointing the tip of his pen toward the chair opposite him, gesturing for you to sit. You sit down. "I... have something I'd like the Chief's help with." Your voice is tighter than expected, and your Adam's apple bobs. Xie Jinci tilts his head, the curve of his lips deepening slightly, looking as if he quite enjoys your current discomfort. Just then, the door inside the office connecting to the lounge opens. Xie Linyuan walks out, the collar of his white military uniform buttoned meticulously, holding a cup of steaming water in his left hand. He pauses for a moment the second he sees you—it's very brief, so brief it's almost imperceptible, but you notice—and then he turns his head to glance at Xie Jinci. That glance is extremely fast and light, like two blades silently clashing in the air. Xie Jinci's pen stops for half a second, then continues to spin. Xie Linyuan walks over to the desk with the water cup. He doesn't sit, just stands leaning against the edge of the desk, looking down at you with a gaze as calm as the unchanging wind-eroded rocks on Planet Anvil. "Speak. What is it?" Xie Linyuan's voice is a few shades deeper than Xie Jinci's, carrying the habitual composure of a superior that says, "I allow you to speak." You take a deep breath, place the crumpled file folder on the desk, and push it over. Xie Jinci doesn't touch it, and neither does Xie Linyuan. They both just look at the folder at the same time, then simultaneously move their gaze back to your face. The air is silent for three seconds. Then, Xie Jinci is the first to laugh. That laugh spills from his throat, carrying a sense of "as expected" satisfaction. He puts down the pen, leans forward slightly, rests his folded hands on the desk, and says in an almost intimate tone: "You know what price is usually paid... for someone in your position to come and ask me for a favor, right?" Your breath hitches. Xie Linyuan remains leaning against the desk, unmoving, but he puts down the water cup—placing it very lightly on the desk, the bone china base making a faint "clack" as it meets the wooden surface. He looks down at you, and in the depths of that calm darkness in his pupils, something unfamiliar and strange that you've never seen before flickers. "He speaks a bit bluntly," Xie Linyuan begins, his voice as gentle as if he's offering comfort, yet wrapped in that gentleness is something you can't distinguish as protection or encroachment, "but the meaning is the same. Since you've found your way here, you should know that not just anyone can knock on this door." Xie Jinci tilts his head to look at his brother, that improper smile hanging on his lips. Then he looks back at you, his gaze sliding from your eyes to your clenched knuckles, then to your chest rising and falling slightly from nervousness, and finally back to your eyes. His nostrils flare slightly—he says nothing, but that faint sniff causes Xie Linyuan's gaze to fall on you at the same time. You know what they are evaluating. The moment you walked in, you were already half-enveloped by the scents of both men—a reaction of suppressed alertness and submission that biological instinct cannot hold back when facing two top-tier Alphas. You grip the fabric on your knees tightly. Xie Jinci and Xie Linyuan exchange a second look. This look is different from the one before. In this look, something is being transmitted blatantly in front of you—like exchanging a consensus that no longer requires verbal confirmation. Xie Linyuan's brow twitches slightly, very faintly, and then he picks up the water cup and takes a sip. When his gaze falls back on your face, there's a nearly invisible curve at the corner of his mouth. Xie Jinci, on the other hand, laughs out loud—a low laugh rumbling from his chest, filled with satisfaction and the pleasure of a prank gone right. "Brother," Xie Jinci says, his gaze never leaving you, "don't you think it's quite a coincidence that she/he came today?" Xie Linyuan doesn't answer, but he reaches out and picks up the file folder on the desk. His slender fingers slowly and methodically unwrap the sealing string, pulling out the documents inside to look them over. The sound of paper flipping is exceptionally clear in the quiet office. Then he puts the documents back on the desk and looks up at you. "This isn't hard to handle," he says, his voice still steady, but the end of the sentence lingers half a beat longer than usual. "But you need to think clearly. Once we nod, what you will owe is... significant." Xie Jinci stands up from his chair, walks around the desk to stand before you, and looks down at you from his height. His silver-white hair falls, almost brushing your forehead. The pheromone scent of dark agarwood mixed with cold-quenched gunpowder pours clearly into your nose at this close range, making the gland at the back of your neck suddenly burn. He reaches out, his cold fingertip brushing very lightly against the side of your ear—as if wiping away some non-existent dust. "Don't be nervous," he whispers by your ear, his voice pressed extremely low so only you can hear. "My brother is just scaring you. We don't eat people." He takes half a step back, revealing that lazy and wicked smile again. "We're just... a bit greedier than you imagine." You sit there, your breathing uneven, your neck burning, and your fingertips still clutching the fabric on your knees. Xie Linyuan is still leaning against the desk, holding his water cup, his gaze gently enveloping you, while Xie Jinci stands before you looking down, his smile unfading. You know that the moment you walked through this door, some things were already beyond your control. But what you know even more clearly is—from the moment you stepped in here, you never intended to leave unscathed.