The sound of rolling bowling balls and the crash of falling pins echoed throughout the spacious hall, blending with bursts of laughter and cheerful shouts. The atmosphere was lively, filled with energy, motion, and excitement, yet Su Xu had never been fond of such games.
He sat quietly in one corner of the lounge area, half leaning against the soft leather sofa. His slender fingers moved lazily across his terminal screen as he asked Qiu Jiang to help him draft a leave application.
With his other hand, he lifted a glass containing a cold, pale blue drink to his lips. The contrast between his fair skin and the translucent icy color was striking, making even the simple act of drinking seem like a scene from an art piece that one could not look away from.
“Why aren’t you playing, sister in law?” one of the group members called out cheerfully. He had just finished his turn and collapsed onto the seat beside Su Xu, grabbing a bottle of water and gulping it noisily.
Su Xu lowered his gaze slightly. “I am not much into sports.”
“Oh, right. Omega usually are not,” the man replied casually, his tone carrying the smug superiority of an Alpha who believed himself naturally above others.
Su Xu did not bother to respond.
After a few quiet seconds, he stood up and said evenly, “I am going to the restroom.”
There were no restroom signs visible nearby, so he simply chose a direction and began walking. On his way, he encountered the attendant who had shown their group inside earlier.
“Excuse me,” Su Xu asked politely, “where is the restroom?”
“This way, please. I was just about to look for you,” the attendant replied with a courteous smile.
Su Xu tilted his head slightly, a faint trace of confusion in his expression. “For me?”
The attendant slowed his pace as he led the way, lowering his voice to a discreet and confidential tone. “I happened to notice that among your group, you are the only Omega, correct? You might find this useful.”
From his pocket, he took out two small adhesive patches and presented them respectfully. “A nearby guest reported that you might be experiencing mild pheromone leakage. They guessed that your last suppressor patch could be losing its effectiveness, so they asked us to bring you these. I hope I am not being intrusive.”
Su Xu blinked in mild surprise. “Pheromone leakage?”
“Yes,” the attendant confirmed gently. “Is there a problem?”
“…Nothing.” Su Xu reached out and accepted the patches, glancing down at them. Both were premium grade Omega suppressors, the kind manufactured only by top tier brands. “Thank you.”
“There is no need to thank me,” the attendant said warmly. “It is our duty to take good care of our guests.”
He led Su Xu to the entrance of the restroom and left after giving another polite bow.
Su Xu had used the restroom merely as an excuse to step away for a bit, so instead of entering the Omega exclusive section, he stayed in the public wash area and simply rinsed his hands.
The mirror reflected his calm expression, though his mind was wandering elsewhere. After a pause, he reached up and unbuttoned two of his shirt buttons, tugging the collar slightly lower to reveal the pale curve of his neck and the faint outline of the gland at the back.
He tore open one of the suppressor patches, lowered his head, and with one hand traced lightly along the edge of his gland while the other pressed the patch carefully into place. It was slightly larger than the gland area, and his placement was a little crooked, but it would suffice.
He exhaled softly, feeling a hint of relief, then lifted his head again, and in that instant, his heart skipped a beat.
In the spotless mirror before him, another figure had silently appeared behind his reflection.
A tall man with long hair stood there, dressed impeccably in a dark suit. His golden eyes gleamed faintly under the soft light, cold and unreadable, shining like powdered gold muted by indifference.
He stood behind Su Xu, looking down at him, not with hostility, but with a detached neutrality, as though the young man reflected in the mirror were no more significant than a random pebble by the roadside.
Caught off guard, Su Xu froze for half a second before awkwardly tugging his collar upward to cover the gland on his nape. His brows furrowed slightly. Because he had unbuttoned three buttons for convenience, his collar now gaped wider than intended, revealing smooth porcelain skin with a faint blush of pink beneath the fabric.
Not wanting to waste time fumbling with the buttons, he clenched his hand around the edge of his shirt instead. The loose fabric tightened instantly, outlining the slender curve of his waist.
Pressing his lips together, eyes lowered, Su Xu turned abruptly and walked quickly into the adjacent Omega restroom.
The restroom was empty.
He clicked his tongue lightly and finally relaxed, then began smoothing out the wrinkles on his shirt before fastening the buttons again.
Lantern Bloom, the entertainment club they were at, was enormous, filled with games, bars, lounges, and private rooms. Membership was highly exclusive, and since it was a weekday afternoon, Su Xu had assumed the place would be quiet. Clearly, fate had other ideas.
That man… he was certain he had never seen him before.
A few minutes later, his terminal buzzed. The message was from Zhong Heng. 【Where did you go?】
Su Xu replied,【Restroom. Coming back】
When he returned, the mysterious man was nowhere to be seen.
That evening, after a long round of food and games, the group finally left the club.
“If it were not for Brother Heng, I would never have the chance to visit a place like Lantern mountain!” one of them gushed. “That dinner tonight, my goodness, not only free but so luxurious! The plating, the flavors, everything was incredible. I swear I am holding onto Heng’s thigh from now on. Maybe next time he will bring me again!”
Another joined in with a laugh. “Same here! I took so many photos inside, I cannot wait to post them later just to make my friends jealous. I will say Brother Heng personally brought us in!”
Their flattery left Zhong Heng grinning from ear to ear, clearly pleased with himself.
Su Xu walked beside them, glancing at the time. “It is getting late. I should head home.”
“Sure,” Zhong Heng said easily.
“See you next time, sister in law!” someone shouted from behind.
By the time Su Xu reached home, night had already fallen.
He opened the refrigerator and saw the small cake and cream puffs still sitting untouched on the middle shelf. He frowned. They had been there for more than a day now. If left any longer, they would spoil.
Since Su Rui did not seem to have come downstairs, Su Xu decided he might as well eat them himself.
Carrying the plate, he was about to go upstairs when faint voices drifted from Su Dianlin’s room. Among the low murmurs, he caught the name “General Chu.”
He stopped in his tracks.
The walls here were not thick, but the speakers were talking quietly. Su Xu could only catch fragments, enough to know they were discussing General Chu, though not what exactly.
He deliberately made a little noise on the stairs. As expected, the voices inside fell silent immediately.
Satisfied, Su Xu continued up to his room.
A few minutes later, someone knocked on his door. It was Zhu Pan. When Su Xu opened it, she greeted him with a warm smile. “How was your outing with Zhong Heng today?”
“It was fine,” Su Xu replied. “Did something happen?”
“Not really. I just came to tell you that Mr. and Mrs. Zhong would like to have dinner with you before the wedding,” she said pleasantly.
“Since your brother’s differentiation is approaching, I scheduled it for two weeks from now. You will need to bring a bit of his pheromone with you then. Does that sound alright?”
Su Xu nodded. “That is fine.”
“Good, then it is settled.”
After a brief pause, Su Xu spoke again, his tone thoughtful. “But since I will be meeting his parents, I should probably dress formally, should I not?”
Zhu Pan blinked, then quickly nodded in agreement. “You are right. I did not even think of that. You have always been so sensible, Xu. I will transfer you some money. Go buy a few outfits, choose something elegant, and make sure you look refined. Buy at least two, so you have options. We cannot let the Zhong family see anything inappropriate.”
“Understood,” Su Xu said softly.
The next morning, he went alone to a pheromone testing center.
Jing Chang had once mentioned that he smelled something sweet on him, but Su Xu had not paid it much attention at the time. Now, after what had happened at the club, and with someone even offering him suppressor patches, he could no longer ignore it.
He decided to get retested.
The process was familiar, routine, almost mechanical. Yet when he received the new report, the result was exactly the same as before: “Substandard Omega, estimated differentiation in three months.”
“How strange,” he murmured softly, touching the back of his neck out of habit.
Testing centers rarely made errors, but he still made a mental note to remain cautious.
At home, Su Rui’s differentiation was drawing near, and Su Xu used that as an excuse to take a leave from school as well.
Omega differentiation was unpredictable and could arrive suddenly. The buildup of pheromones often triggered an intense burst that even suppressors and inhibitors could not completely contain.
It was always safer to stay home and prepare. The reports could only provide rough estimates, after all.
Since Su Xu was using Su Rui’s identity as a top tier Omega, his act had to be flawless.
Once the news spread, his friends began sending him messages.
Qiu Jiang wrote: “Congrats! You are finally about to become an adult.”
Jing Chang added: “See? I told you that sweet scent I noticed last time was your pheromones! And you lied, saying your report said the differentiation was still far away. Far away, my foot!”
Su Xu replied obediently, “I was wrong, I was wrong, my mistake.”
Chi Lin chimed in: “About time, Xu! I looked it up once out of boredom, the latest differentiation on record in our country is at age twenty three. Keep waiting and you will make history!”
“Stop joking,” Su Xu replied.
After sending those, he attached the IP address he had gotten from General Chu and forwarded it to Chi Lin. “Look into this person for me. Teach him a lesson while you are at it. I swore I would not lay a hand on him myself, so I am counting on you. No rush, whenever you can.”
“No problem,” Chi Lin replied. “Easy job. But why did you swear not to deal with him yourself?”
Su Xu tapped thoughtfully on his terminal before finally replying with only a sticker.
There was no need to let Chi Lin know about his entanglement with General Chu. It would only invite unnecessary drama.
Switching to the school network, he intended to check if anyone had been badmouthing Su Rui again, but the homepage was filled with posts complaining about banned accounts.
Over the past few days, dozens of student IDs had been suspended, forcing people to create new ones just to ask what was happening.
Su Xu paused. His first thought was of Chu Xi’an.
Was he the one helping clean things up?
Just then, his terminal buzzed again with an incoming video request, from none other than Chu Xi’an himself.
Since he had stopped attending classes, Su Xu had practically merged with his bed. At that moment, he was lying on his stomach, wearing loose sleepwear that gaped slightly at the chest, revealing pale skin and the graceful line of his neck. His legs were lazily raised. It was definitely not a posture suitable for a video call.
He immediately declined the call and typed back, “Sorry, it is inconvenient for me to video right now. Did you need something, General Chu?”
“I noticed you logged in,” came the reply. “Do not worry about the school forum. I have assigned someone to monitor it. Any defamatory post will be deleted and the account banned immediately.”
So it really was him.
Su Xu raised an eyebrow, amused rather than surprised that his online activity was under Chu’s watchful eye. He typed, “Thank you. I will treat you to dinner sometime.”
There was a long pause before Chu Xi’an replied, “I am afraid we will not be able to continue our little affair. I will be leaving the capital for a while.”
Su Xu blinked at the screen. “…What a shame. I cannot go out anyway, so I suppose I will wait until you return to the capital to thank you properly.”
“Alright,” Chu answered simply.
Their conversation ended there.
Su Xu remained sprawled across his bed, feeling bored once again. He sent a few teasing emojis to Su Rui, who ignored him as usual, then switched to a small mobile game to pass the time.
He was mid match when his terminal pinged again, showing a new message from Chu Xi’an. Too absorbed in the game, Su Xu did not check it until much later that night, after his shower, when he was lying back under the warm, soft glow of his bedside lamp.
It was a voice message.
A soft chime sounded, and then Chu Xi’an’s low, steady voice filled the room.
“Be careful of Chen Tingyi.”
✦ ✧ ✦
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
(≧▽≦)ﾉ☕ coffee!
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
← PreviousNext →
ChaptersChapter 1 · The Inner WorldChapter 2 · Pheromone Testing CentreChapter 3 · Low Grade OmegaChapter 4 · Faking to be Top tier OmegaChapter 5 · Zhong YiChapter 6 · The culprit behind the videoChapter 7 · Lecture ticket of powerful military OfficerChapter 8 · Zhong Heng acting like a thugChapter 9 · General ChuChapter 10 · Do you really like that good for nothing, Alpha?Chapter 11 · Chen TingyiChapter 12 · Class AssessmentChapter 13 · Call me HusbandChapter 14 · Almost Like AffairChapter 15 · Lantern BloomChapter 16 · Mild Pheromone overflowChapter 17 · Hi, WifeChapter 18 · Or you can kiss me. I’m not pickyChapter 19 · It’s not too late for you to call off the engagementChapter 20 · My BoyfriendChapter 21 · Kidnapped?Chapter 22 · Sister in LawChapter 23 · So you didn’t differentiateChapter 24 · PrinceChapter 25 · That Alpha… is none other than His MajestyChapter 26 · My mom said you’re too oldChapter 27 · Do you still have me in your heart?Chapter 28 · You Can call me Brother in law or sister in lawChapter 29 · I fell in love with you at first sight.Chapter 30 · What kind of friend? Alpha, Beta, or OmegaChapter 31 · Your current boyfriend is hereChapter 32 · I can protect youChapter 33 · Mental suppressionChapter 34 · It doesn’t matterChapter 35 · Watched another horror movie?Chapter 36 · Did you hear thatChapter 37 · You’d know what it tastes like once you try itChapter 38 · He is my boyfriend, his name is Zhong YiChapter 39 · This is what I just received from your father todayChapter 40 · Who did you return the photos of me and Su Rui to?Chapter 41 · As a result, Rui Rui ran away with meChapter 42 · Constitutes accomplice behaviorChapter 43 · You can’t stay in the second bedroomChapter 44 · No one will think you are inferior anymore.Chapter 45 · I am inferior, what’s it to you?Chapter 46 · Let’s wait until the debt collectors come knockingChapter 47 · Focus on your studiesChapter 48 · Am I that valuable?Chapter 49 · From now on, call me MasterChapter 50 · I have always been tolerant of beautiful MenChapter 51 · Don’t be so recklessChapter 52 · He’ll only get more excitedChapter 53 · Call him sister in lawChapter 54 · You haven’t even fulfilled your obligations yetChapter 55 · What? Grandma Su Xu is sick?Chapter 56 · That wasn’t what he meant at all!Chapter 57 · I could actually share him with youChapter 58 · Why was someone added at the last minute?Chapter 59 · You can’t record videos here.Chapter 60 · I like it tooChapter 61 · Distinguish between two similar pheromones.Chapter 62 · Why do you think I blocked you?Chapter 63 · Why hasn’t Su Xu replied yet?Chapter 64 · His Majesty never comes back to eatChapter 65 · Hide your things wellChapter 66 · Connection?Chapter 67 · Maybe I can even inhale it for some comfortChapter 68 · So you don’t run awayChapter 69 · Will you be with His Majesty?Chapter 70 · Take itChapter 71 · Who is this person?!Chapter 72 · Who did you just call worthless?Chapter 73 · Weren’t we talking about Mr. Su and His Majesty?Chapter 74 · Aren’t you very capable?Chapter 75 · As expected of Wu ChuChapter 76 · Help him sleep?Chapter 77 · Su Xu’s Alpha was His MajestyChapter 78 · You really are something, playing favorites like thatChapter 79 · World of a novelChapter 80 · I simply… know them inside outChapter 81 · Wait for meChapter 82 · But I think you’ve become a lot cuter latelyChapter 83 · The feeling of me kissing you?Chapter 84 · Our Xuxu… is finally becoming an adultChapter 85 · Rare stolen moments for an affair like this.Chapter 86 · What kind of death-level love triangle battlefield was this!?Chapter 87 · It was practically torture!Chapter 88 · What sinful karmaChapter 89 · You weren’t worried I’d get angry?Chapter 90 · I’m going to mark youChapter 91 · Who did you go with?Chapter 92 · Chu Xian….. You really aren’t humanChapter 93 · Did this man actually know how to kiss?Chapter 94 · After all, he’s still the current boyfriendChapter 95 · Did they mark you again?Chapter 96 · It’s not my bloodChapter 97 · Did you seduce another alpha??Chapter 98 · After that, don’t use that kind of thing anymoreChapter 99 · Even at this point, Su Xu is still lying to him!Chapter 100 · What’s wrong with you?Chapter 101 · Don’t tell anyoneChapter 102 · I Think my hear startedChapter 104 · A wedding?Chapter 104 · You’re Wu JiChapter 105 · Exceptionally Beautiful OmegaChapter 106 · If you’re with him, aren’t you afraid of being cheated on?Chapter 107 · “Am I the same person as him?”Chapter 108 · What important matter could Chu Xian possibly have to do?Chapter 109 · Did the boss actually steal someone else’s partner?Chapter 110 · Wu Chu is preparing for his weddingChapter 111 · I know better than you what’s so great about Su XuChapter 112 · Chu Xian had gotten a bit tannedChapter 113 · Su Xu, your boyfriend is here!Chapter 114 · I’ve completely lost face!Chapter 115 · Don’t you think your sister-in-law is interesting too?Chapter 116 · I will definitely tell Wu Chu the truth.Chapter 117 · Didn’t you already meet your boyfriend today?Chapter 117 · Why do I need to take a day off on Saturday?Chapter 119 · This is a TrapChapter 120 · This is the future queen chosen by their monarch!Chapter 121 · Could it be that Su Xu went directly to the scene?Chapter 122 · Slipped the ring on Su Xu’s ring fingerChapter 123 · You have no experienceChapter 124 · I haven’t even mentioned your lover in Galaxy A yetChapter 125 · He suddenly had a strong urge to kiss Qi YanChapter 126 · May I ask what you encountered?Chapter 127 · It’s not Jiang Cang, it’s Jiang CangxingChapter 128 · Where does the money come from for a single line of code?Chapter 129 · This is unbelievable!Chapter 130 · Su Xu slammed the box shut.Chapter 131 · This is so weird!Chapter 132 · This person and Teacher Sang are mutual followers!Chapter 133 · I can finally keep my promise and come see youChapter 134 · Extra 1: He’s mango FlavouredChapter 135 · Extra 2: Boyfriend meets ParentsChapter 136 · Extra 3: The Game (1)Chapter 137 · Extra 4: The Game (2)