The scene was a chaotic blur.
The shrill sirens of police cars and ambulances mingled with the frantic shouts of the paramedics: “Make way!” “The patient’s heart rate is slowing down and blood loss is too severe! Contact the blood bank for reserves immediately!”
It took a great deal of effort for the medical staff to pry open Yan Jiu’s death-grip on Shen Hui and place him onto a stretcher.
Shen Hui felt a chill settling over him, but he lacked the strength to move, so he finally gave up.
Fine, let this be it.
The heavy doors of his consciousness slammed shut, and Shen Hui slowly sank into a silent abyss, swallowed entirely by darkness.
Shen Hui, Shen Hui. Shen Hui!
Shen Hui was utterly exhausted, wanting nothing more than a deep, undisturbed sleep, but a voice at his ear kept nagging persistently, refusing to let him find peace.
Unable to endure it any longer, Shen Hui irritably pried his eyes open. The blinding white glare forced him to shield his vision with his hand, and as the light settled, he realized he had fallen asleep slumped against the side of Yan Jiu’s hospital bed.
Nineteen years old, and just fresh out of his differentiation treatment.
Yan Jiu’s differentiation had not gone smoothly; he had suffered severe rejection symptoms, running a high fever continuously for two whole days.
Shen Hui had stayed faithfully by the bedside for three full days and nights, until Yan Jiu’s alpha pheromones completely stabilized and he regained full consciousness.
The newly differentiated alpha’s very first reaction upon seeing Shen Hui was sheer joy, followed closely by immense pride. With a raspy voice, he announced: “I got it.”
Shen Hui paused for a moment before realizing he was referring to the final block of Yan family shares they had been plotting to acquire for so long.
Years ago, Chen Shang had taken over all of Yan Jiu’s shares under the guise of family friendship and quickly diluted and sold them off, reducing Yan Jiu’s holdings to a nominal status where he would eventually become nothing more than a sidelined mascot. Over the past three years, Shen Hui had secretly helped Yan Jiu claw back the majority of the equity, leaving only the final major block held by Yan Jiu’s second uncle.
On the surface, this second uncle of the Yan family lived the life of a wealthy idler, but he had long since colluded with the Chen family and was even the mastermind behind the murder of Yan Jiu’s parents, securing a massive chunk of shares in exchange and becoming the public face of the Yan Group.
However, the wealthy idler had a fractured household. To appease his third sister and secure her peace of mind, he had transferred this portion of shares directly to an illegitimate son. Following Shen Hui’s instructions, Yan Jiu spent several years buddying up to him while playing the part of a profligate second-generation heir, ultimately seizing the opportunity when the illegitimate son fell deep into gambling debts. Pouncing on the opening to negotiate a purchase, the illegitimate son eagerly agreed and arranged to sign the contract at a bar, while secretly slipping Yan Jiu a drugged drink on Chen Shenzhi’s orders.
That, of course, was how Shen Hui ended up at the bar pulling Yan Jiu out of the fire in the first place.
Watching Yan Jiu fish for praise, Shen Hui narrowed his eyes and gave him a scrutinizing look: “You knew he spiked your drink?”
Hearing that, Yan Jiu bolted upright, looking immensely proud: “Did he really think his little tricks could slip past me? Though it was just some cheap, sleazy drug anyway, probably hoping to dig up some dirt on me so he could sleep easy.”
His voice trailed off as he wilted under Shen Hui’s increasingly gloomy gaze, eventually shutting his mouth altogether.
“Isn’t that right?” Yan Jiu asked nervously, his conscience acting up.
Shen Hui sighed, choosing not to press the issue further as he pressed the bedside call button: “This time, my judgment was flawed. I clearly sensed Chen Shenzhi making a move, yet I failed to stop you in time.”
Thump!
The next second, Shen Hui was pinned flat against the mattress as Yan Jiu loomed over him, his eyes burning with absolute possessiveness.
The temperature in the hospital room spiked abruptly.
“Don’t you dare say his name.” Yan Jiu commanded in an overbearing, tyrannical tone.
Shen Hui raised an eyebrow in mild surprise. He knew that newly differentiated alphas could become emotionally volatile and clingy due to a lack of a sense of security, but that typically applied toward highly compatible omegas.
“Stop acting crazy and get up.” Assuming the kid was just out of his mind, Shen Hui reached out to shove him away, only for the little punk to push his luck. Leveraging the physical strength and stature of an alpha, Yan Jiu directly grabbed both of his wrists and pinned them above his head.
It was an intensely ambiguous and dangerous posture. Furthermore, because they were pressed so close together, the thin fabric of the hospital gown failed to hide the hard, striking contours of the alpha’s prime physique.
“Don’t say his name, don’t go see him, and definitely don’t like him.” As the alpha made one outrageous demand after another, he instinctively leaned in to nuzzle against him.
Even though Shen Hui was a beta, his body possessed the supple, cool softness of an omega, making one instinctively want to.
The alpha’s gaze grew increasingly heated.
Beyond his limit, Shen Hui prepared to yank his hand free and slap some sense into him, when the ward door suddenly flew open.
“Is he awake? I brought the students to.”
Professor Zhao’s voice cut off mid-sentence, while the doctors and nurses trailing behind him widened their eyes in shock.
The thin blanket had slid down to the floor during their scuffle. On the hospital bed, the fully conscious alpha was pinning Shen Hui down aggressively, holding both of his wrists locked above his head with one hand. Shen Hui’s shirt was thoroughly rumpled, exposing a stretch of fair, resilient skin, and his knees were firmly trapped, leaving zero breathing room between their bodies.
Both of them whipped their heads around to meet half a dozen searchlight-like stares, their expressions blank for a split second.
Thump!
With decisive speed, Professor Zhao slammed the door shut, and his muffled scolding of the students filtered through the wood:
How can you not knock before doing ward rounds?! You need to respect patient privacy!
The students nodded in aggrieved, cowed silence.
Too exasperated for words, Shen Hui snapped: “Get off me!”
Reluctantly thwarted, the alpha let go with visible reluctance, muttering under his breath that Shen Hui still hadn’t given him an answer.
Five minutes later, Professor Zhao walked back in with an entirely nonchalant expression to check Yan Jiu’s vital signs.
“Top-tier alpha.” Professor Zhao felt a hanging rock finally drop back into his chest. At least he managed to preserve his old friend’s bloodline; if Yan Jiu had actually turned into an omega and then gotten sliced up by Shen Hui, he would have had zero face left to show anyone.
He flipped open the chart to continue reviewing the reports: “The pheromone scent is fire? Natural elements?”
Catching the anomaly, Shen Hui asked: “What is it?”
“Pheromones manifesting as pure natural elements are extremely rare,” Professor Zhao explained: “There’s an avant-garde theory in glandology suggesting that A-Os gifted with natural elements might possess the capacity to control or wield those matching elements under specific conditions.”
Both of them looked skeptical: “If that’s even possible, what would that be? Superpowers?”
“No way, right?”
Professor Zhao shot a side-eye at the student who spoke: “A century ago, before secondary genders were discovered, people wouldn’t have believed men could give birth or that women could grow prickly and penetrate men!”
While the logic is rough, your phrasing is way too rough.
Yan Jiu had little interest in these theoretical musings, but when Professor Zhao dropped those last four words, his gaze instinctively drifted back to Shen Hui.
The pads of his fingers still retained the memory of that jade-smooth texture, and the hot-blooded young alpha suddenly realized that Shen Hui was exceptionally alluring.
Aside from the formal occasions requiring him to step out in his capacity as a steward, Shen Hui wore crisp, proper button-downs and trousers year-round, his wardrobe consisting of matching sets as repetitive as copy-paste. Yet, simple as the attire was, it accentuated Shen Hui’s broad shoulders, long legs, and a perfectly proportioned waistline.
Clean-cut and sharp in a way that made someone want to break him down and ravage him.
Suddenly feeling that a certain organ wasn’t quite listening to his brain post-differentiation, the alpha awkwardly shifted his sitting posture, only to look up and run straight into Shen Hui’s blade-like warning glare.
Cursing the little alpha whose head was currently overflowing with yellow daydreams, Shen Hui turned his attention back to Professor Zhao.
“Are you certain there are no underlying issues with his health? What about what you mentioned earlier regarding.”
Carefully reviewing the numerical metrics, Professor Zhao shook his head: “He’s just freshly differentiated right now; even if symptoms exist, they won’t manifest immediately. But nobody can predict long-term sequelae for sure, so make sure he comes back for a full panel check every year.”
Shen Hui nodded to acknowledge the instructions, grabbed Yan Jiu by the back of his collar, and dragged the little alpha away.
Yan Jiu trailed behind Shen Hui obediently like an oversized golden retriever, though his mind remained entirely consumed by thoughts like betas can form bonds too, right? Shen Hui’s glutes are so full.
“Do you remember what we’re doing today?” Sitting in the driver’s seat, Shen Hui turned to look at Yan Jiu, who clearly hadn’t recovered his wits.
Huh?
Fixating a silent stare on him, Shen Hui watched as Yan Jiu finally dug down past his dirty thoughts to retrieve his professional responsibilities: today they were heading to the shareholders’ meeting to strip the chairmanship directly out of his second uncle’s hands.
The process went remarkably smoothly. Second Uncle was still living in the blissful delusion that Yan Jiu had differentiated into an omega and that Shen Hui was merely a pawn of Chen Shenzhi, completely unprepared for his eldest nephew, dripping in alpha pheromones and flanked by Shen Hui, to kick him straight out of the company.
The two of them moved with blistering speed to clear out remaining vulnerabilities within the corporation, and by the time they caught their breath, three days had passed.
Yet, on their drive home, they ran straight into an assassination attempt: needless to say, the handiwork of some brainless mastermind.
That day marked the first time Yan Jiu witnessed Shen Hui wielding a blade: a stunning Tang sabre.
Back-to-back against each other, surrounded by dozens of foreign mercenaries armed with cold weapons, Yan Jiu relied on the formidable physical prowess of a top-tier alpha to disarm an attacker barehanded and repurpose the weapon like a heavy club.
Unlike his own reckless charging, every single movement of Shen Hui’s was precise and clinical. His strikes never missed, and though his silhouette appeared lean and slender from behind, every sweep and thrust carried crushing momentum, resembling a chilling, picturesque dance of slaughter.
Yan Jiu found his gaze helplessly tethered to Shen Hui, right up until Shen Hui snapped his head back, hurled the Tang sabre straight toward him, and barked a sharp warning: “Don’t move!”
The blade shaved past Yan Jiu’s temple with pinpoint accuracy, pinning the assassin creeping up behind him straight into the wall.
Calmly retrieving his weapon, Shen Hui glanced sidelong at the young alpha: “You can zone out while your life is on the line? You’re getting bolder by the day.”
Before he could react, the alpha lunged forward, hooking an arm tightly around Shen Hui’s waist while executing a lightning-fast grab to snap the neck of another approaching assailant with a crisp crunch.
He then tossed Shen Hui a provocative look: “Right back at you.”
Shen Hui arched an eyebrow in mild surprise before rubbing the bridge of his nose with a weary sigh.
He had been stretched too thin lately; ever since the incident with Yan Jiu, he had been running on fumes across a relentless half-month marathon.
“Let’s go.” Reaching out, he tried to push Yan Jiu aside to leave, but Yan Jiu refused to budge.
Frowning in confusion, Shen Hui opened his mouth to speak, only to be abruptly slammed back against the wall behind him. Both of his hands were pinned behind his back, and his thighs were forcibly parted by the press of Yan Jiu’s knee.
Before him was the alpha’s scorching chest; behind him was the freezing brick wall.
“What kind of madness are you on?!” Shen Hui struggled to carve out some distance between them, only to have Yan Jiu lock their foreheads together.
Gazing down at him with burning intensity, maintaining a distance so close it practically begged for a kiss, Yan Jiu demanded: “Shen Hui, why did you insist on making me differentiate as an alpha?”
Why help me?
Why treat me this way?
Every past interaction, every expression Shen Hui had ever worn suddenly rushed into vivid, blinding focus.
The newly differentiated alpha attained a sudden spiritual awakening in that instant, staring tenderly at the guarded beta before him, the depths of his eyes awash with a raw, uncontainable passion even he hadn’t anticipated.
The emotion that had suddenly snapped into clarity poured straight from his heart.
“Shen Hui, I like you.”
Gender be damned. Male or female, the only person I want is you.