Bai Long was momentarily dazed by the sight, nearly swayed by his beauty, instinctively about to agree.
But just as she was about to nod, she snapped back to reality and quickly shook her head.
“No, no, not for free. A 50% discount.”
“…”
Tch.
Little money-grubber.
…
As soon as Bai Long finished speaking,
The man beside her, who had been wearing a cold expression ever since he saw her, unexpectedly curved his lips and smiled—a rare sight.
This was the first time Bai Long had seen him smile.
His lips were naturally dark, and when they curved upward, they looked like a pair of unfurling begonia petals—bold and beautiful.
Lu Yue was already good-looking, with fine features and a sharp jawline.
But he usually frowned, had a bad temper, and mostly wore a stern face as if everyone owed him millions.
Seeing him smile now—
Even though it was fleeting, it still left Bai Long feeling both flattered and overwhelmed.
Lu Yue saw the stunned look on the girl’s face and belatedly realized he had just smiled.
He frowned in annoyance, then pressed his lips flat again, as if nothing had happened.
“What are you staring at? Do I have a flower on my face?”
Even though he had stopped smiling, the girl beside him still hadn’t looked away.
He shot her an irritated glare.
“Could you have a little self-awareness as an Alpha? Do you know how rude it is to stare at an Omega like this?”
“S-sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it. I’ve just never seen you smile before, so I couldn’t help but look a little longer. Please don’t be angry.”
Bai Long quickly averted her gaze and covered her eyes with her hands as if making a promise.
“Don’t worry, I won’t look anymore, I won’t. No matter how pretty you are, I won’t look.”
Lu Yue had been annoyed—after all, no Omega liked being stared at by someone of the opposite sex.
But when he heard the second half of Bai Long’s sentence,
He froze for a moment. Once he processed what she meant, his ears, face, and even his neck flushed bright red in an instant.
“Wh-what the hell are you talking about?! What ‘pretty’ or ‘not pretty’? How dare you say that—I’ll sue you for harassment!”
“Don’t sue me! I’m sorry! I’ll never say anything like that again!”
“Damn it, what do you mean ‘say anything like that’? Are you implying I’m ugly?”
“…Eek!”
“…”
‘What kind of grade-school bickering is this?’ The driver, who had been quietly listening to the whole exchange from the front, mentally sighed this thought before silently turning the steering wheel.
Bai Long now switched from covering her eyes to covering her mouth, her amber eyes cautiously glancing sideways at the man.
At first, Lu Yue had only been flustered and annoyed at the unexpected compliment—his emotions flared up, and he’d blurted things out without thinking.
Now, realizing he’d once again been influenced by her and had done something so silly in front of an audience,
He was so ashamed he wished he could crawl into a crack in the ground and hide.
Luckily, the driver was tactful—he hadn’t said a word the entire time, keeping his presence minimal and acting like a complete bystander.
Lu Yue lifted a hand and pressed the back of it against his warm cheek. He tried his best to ignore the girl’s gaze on him, afraid that if he said another word to her, his emotions would boil over again.
After all, every inch of him was saturated with her pheromones—his moods, whether joy or irritation, were easily swayed by them.
With that thought, the man took a deep breath, rolled down the car window, and turned his face toward the outside.
From Bai Long’s angle, she couldn’t really see Lu Yue’s expression.
Only glimpses of his slightly pursed lips and defined jawline, caught briefly under the shifting light outside.
“Mr. Lu…”
“…Mm?”
Lu Yue paused noticeably before responding, his voice already low, the slight upward lilt carrying a nasal tone.
It tugged at something in her chest, itching slightly.
“Where are we heading now?”
If Bai Long hadn’t asked, Lu Yue might not have realized—he hadn’t actually told her where they were going.
His eyes flickered slightly. He had originally intended to tell Bai Long he was taking her to a Western restaurant for dinner.
But just as he was about to speak, the words that came out took a different turn.
“I’m not sure either.”
“Is there anything you’d like to eat?”
Alphas were a group born at the top of the pyramid—their average physical stamina and mental energy were notably higher than Betas and Omegas of the same rank.
They typically held decision-making and leadership roles across various fields.
As a result, few Alphas enjoyed having things arranged for them. In the past, Lu Yue hadn’t given much thought to others’ feelings.
But if the person in question was the girl before him, he was willing to be a little more accommodating.
So, not wanting Bai Long to feel displeased and to respect her preferences, Lu Yue didn’t mention his original plan.
Instead, he asked for her opinion in a gentle, inquiring tone.
As soon as the words left his mouth, Bai Long didn’t think much of it, but the driver who had been calmly driving in front glanced back with clear surprise through the rearview mirror.
Bai Long didn’t notice, and Lu Yue simply avoided the driver’s gaze, a little uncomfortable.
“…I already ate a bit at the company, so I’m not really hungry right now.”
Meaning she didn’t need to worry about him—she could choose whatever she wanted to eat.
Bai Long wasn’t stupid. Even with her usual thick skin, she could tell Lu Yue was being considerate.
At first, she had been a little afraid of him—thinking he had a bad temper, but he was generous and easy to approach.
Now, she was genuinely touched by his behavior.
Ever since transmigrating into this world, her weak body and impoverished situation had made every step feel like a struggle.
Lu Yue’s appearance not only improved her living conditions but also made him one of the few people who had shown her genuine warmth—aside from her only close friend, Chen Lan.
Suddenly, she felt that she had been too cold and detached before—taking the money and leaving right after the marking, without considering Lu Yue’s emotions or feelings at all.
And yet here he was, being so considerate toward her.
The more she thought about it, the guiltier Bai Long felt.
“Mr. Lu, you really are a good person.”
“…That’s enough. If you don’t have anything else to say, just stay quiet.”
Mr. Lu seems embarrassed.
Looking at the faintly red tips of his ears peeking out from beneath his hair, Bai Long’s heart softened, and an urge rose in her to reach out and gently pinch them.
But that was just a fleeting thought. Bai Long had the impulse but not the courage.
“Mr. Lu… what if we don’t go out to eat?”
She paused, then tentatively asked.
But Lu Yue misunderstood her. Hearing this, a crease formed between his brows, and he looked at Bai Long with displeasure.
“What do you mean? You don’t want to have dinner? You didn’t eat at school, right? You just got out of the hospital—do you really not care about your health?”
His tone was still commanding, as it often was.
As soon as the words left his mouth, Lu Yue remembered the person in front of him wasn’t an employee at his company, and a wave of regret washed over him.
Would she be angry? Feel that he was overstepping?
After all, he wasn’t anything to her. They were just a transactional relationship.
A transactional relationship.
Right, Lu Yue—you’re just affected by the dependency period. Stop worrying about her.
You didn’t pick her up today specifically to take her to dinner. She’s just a tool you paid for marking. All you need from her is her pheromones.
Just as the man was mentally reinforcing this to himself, trying to steady his emotions,
A glimpse of Bai Long’s reddening eyes in his peripheral vision made him freeze. All his internal reassurances crumbled instantly, falling apart completely.
“You—you—why are you crying all of a sudden!”
Lu Yue was genuinely panicked. He hadn’t expected his casual reprimand to provoke such a strong, sensitive reaction.
“Alright, alright, it’s my fault. I overstepped. If you don’t want to hear it, I won’t say it anymore.”
As he spoke, he clumsily grabbed a tissue and handed it over.
At that moment, Lu Yue was no different from any young man who had accidentally made the girl he liked cry, fumbling and unsure how to comfort her.
Gone was his usual decisive, sharp-edged demeanor.
“…No, I’m not angry.”
“I’m just… touched. Really touched. Because it’s been such a long time since someone cared whether I’ve eaten or not.”
Bai Long’s voice was soft, her eyes downcast, as if she didn’t want Lu Yue to see her expression.
But as she lowered her head, a crystal-clear teardrop fell onto the back of his hand, still holding out the tissue.
It was scalding hot, sending a tremor straight to his heart.
“Mr. Lu, I’m… not like other people. I’m an orphan. Before I turned eighteen, I lived in an orphanage. It was only in the last month or two that I started living on my own.”
“My body is weak, my rank is low. My friend worries I won’t be able to find a job in the future and often jokes that she hopes I find a sugar daddy to rely on, saying I can’t survive on my own.”
“Whether you believe it or not, I really am grateful for how you’ve taken care of me all this time. Thank you… for not minding how clumsy I was and how little I knew…”
Bai Long’s words came partly from the original owner’s memories of loneliness over the years, and partly from her own feelings of helplessness and fear when she first arrived in this world.
She knew that here, she was truly alone—no family, no support.
Even Chen Lan was her good friend, but Bai Long wasn’t her only friend, and Chen Lan had her own family to rely on.
There were many times when the kind of companionship and care Bai Long longed for simply couldn’t be given by Chen Lan.
And the simple, familial warmth she hoped for—unexpectedly, she found it in Lu Yue.
Even though it was just a casual question, she couldn’t explain why. Maybe because they had marked each other, because each carried the other’s pheromones, she felt an unusual closeness to him.
Bai Long’s nose stung, and tears began to fall uncontrollably.
Lu Yue knew some of this, not because he had hired a private investigator afterward, but because he had noticed it himself.
When Bai Long was in the hospital, the only people who had come to see her were a teacher and that female Alpha named Chen Lan.
Liang Shen had mentioned it when he first discovered Bai Long could give him temporary marks—he’d said the girl seemed to be an orphan and not in the best health.
Since the conditions aligned and the other party needed money anyway, Liang Shen suggested hiring her for a marking and seeing how it went.
Lu Yue agreed.
When he found out Bai Long’s rank was only around C, he didn’t expect the marking to be very effective—but he agreed anyway.
Unlike Liang Shen, who was motivated more by sympathy, Lu Yue simply felt a spontaneous curiosity—he wanted to know what the pheromones of this Alpha, whose compatibility with him was so high, actually smelled like.