Lu Yue probably wouldn’t contact her again. The dependency period was over now.
He didn’t need her anymore.
…
Yicheng Central Hospital.
Liang Shen looked at the man who had been discharged not long ago only to land himself back in the hospital again, his feelings were complicated, to say the least.
On the hospital bed, Lu Yue had just received an inhibitor injection and now lay there pale and motionless, like a salted fish.
If it weren’t for the occasional flutter of his eyelashes, Liang Shen might have thought he’d stopped breathing.
“…What’s the point of all this? Didn’t I tell you to call Bai Long if you couldn’t hold out? Instead, when she reached out, you ignored her, and here you are, suffering through four or five times the inhibitor dose.”
“You don’t understand. You don’t know how terrifying she is to me…”
The man looked drained, replying weakly, almost lifelessly.
His hand hung weakly by the bedside, like a broken flower stem, flushed with an unnatural shade of pink.
“What’s so terrifying? That little girl didn’t do anything to you. On the contrary, you were the one who lured her into marking you all night, then made her think she was the one taking the initiative. If anything, you’re the one who got swayed by looks.”
“…”
Lu Yue didn’t know how to explain it to Liang Shen. He did like Bai Long’s face, and he did like her pheromones.
That kind of liking was surface-level, manageable—so he let himself indulge, even considering a long-term arrangement.
But yesterday… that clearly wasn’t what he meant.
He wasn’t some naïve teenager anymore. He knew exactly why those words had slipped out in that moment.
“…I like her.”
After a long pause, Lu Yue spoke in a hoarse voice. Perhaps afraid Liang Shen would see his expression, he turned his face to the side.
Whether it was Liang Shen’s imagination or not, toward the end, the man’s voice seemed to tremble slightly, his tone thick with emotion.
Liang Shen’s pupils contracted slightly. It took him a while to fully absorb what Lu Yue had said.
“…Seriously? You… you two have barely just met. How did you suddenly fall for her?”
“I know you must think it’s absurd—after all, I haven’t known her long. At first, I thought it was just the pheromones… but it’s not.”
“…The dependency period is over now, and I’m still thinking about her.”
“…I miss her so much.”
As he spoke, Lu Yue’s hand unconsciously clenched the bedsheet tighter. He buried his face in the pillow, but his flushed ears remained exposed, clearly visible.
If Lu Yue hadn’t mentioned that the dependency period was over, Liang Shen might not have even realized how much time had passed.
—Because right now, Lu Yue looked no different from how he had during the dependency period.
The young doctor opened his mouth, still feeling a bit dazed.
He wasn’t one to dismiss love at first sight, but he had a hard time believing it could happen to someone like Lu Yue.
“…So if you like her, why are you ignoring her? Why did you ask me to reply to her messages and lie, telling her you were fine?”
Liang Shen rubbed his temples, a headache forming. He really didn’t understand Lu Yue’s logic.
“Because I don’t want her to know I like her.”
He took a deep breath, slowly pushing himself up to sit.
“If she finds out I fell for her this easily, she’ll definitely think I’m a frivolous, loose Omega. So at least for now… I can’t show how much I care.”
“So you plan to just keep ignoring her? Leaving her hanging?”
Lu Yue’s eyes flickered slightly, damp strands of hair clinging to his forehead from sweat.
“…That’s why I’ve decided to sign a long-term marking contract with her. She needs money so badly—she won’t refuse.”
An Alpha might resist after just one or two marks, but long-term marking is a different story.
An Omega’s pheromones have a powerful pull on an Alpha, especially with compatibility as high as theirs.
Got it. He’s planning to simmer this frog slowly in warm water.
…
Meanwhile, the ‘frog’ that was about to be simmered was still brooding over Lu Yue’s hot-and-cold behavior.
When Bai Long sighed for the third time, Chen Lan beside her couldn’t hold back anymore.
“Hey, Lao Bai, it’s been days now. If there’s something on your mind, just tell me. What’s the point of just sighing?”
Chen Lan might be thick-skinned, but she wasn’t stupid. Over the past few days, it was obvious Bai Long was bothered by something—she just kept it to herself.
“Sighing now and then is one thing, but you keep sighing right next to me. It’s sucking the energy out of me.”
“…Sorry, I didn’t mean to.”
She didn’t speak up before, but now that she did, her voice sounded completely dejected.
Bai Long slumped over the desk, burying her face in her arms, leaving only her amber eyes visible.
Usually bright and clear, they now looked dull and listless.
“Lao Chen… what do you think Omegas are thinking about all day? Why can they be laughing and talking one second, then suddenly get upset and ignore you the next?”
Hearing this, Chen Lan’s whole body jolted, and her energy instantly peaked.
Damn, no wonder she’s been out of it for so long—she’s nursing a broken heart!
“Give me the details. Which Omega? Someone from school or that friend from the café? How far did things go? Or is this just you being a one-sided simp?”
“…I’m not a simp.”
Bai Long weakly protested, then gathered her thoughts and gave Chen Lan a general summary—leaving out the transactional marking part.
“…Anyway, I was really grateful for his help, so I invited him over and cooked dinner for him. Everything was fine while we were eating, but then he said something and ran off. These past few days, I’ve tried reaching out, but he seems genuinely upset—he hasn’t responded at all.”
“Lao Chen, do you think my cooking didn’t suit his taste, or did I say something wrong?”
“…No, I don’t think that’s it.”
“Babe, have you ever considered… maybe he likes you?”
After saying this, Chen Lan swallowed hard, wondering if her mouth really was some kind of prophet.
What had she been saying all along? Someone as attractive as Bai Long could definitely find someone to take care of her—it was a sure win. Back then she was just talking big, but now it seemed it might have actually happened.
He likes her?
If it hadn’t happened during the dependency period, and if Lu Yue hadn’t fled in such a panic and fear, Bai Long might have believed it a little.
“You’re overthinking it. He wouldn’t like me. At most, he just felt sorry for my situation and took extra care of me.”
“No, how can you be so sure? What Omega would be bold enough to go home with an Alpha, especially alone together at night—that’s risky!”
“He must be interested in you!”
Bai Long was taken aback. She hadn’t thought much of it before, since in her previous world, only women were considered at risk.
But this world was different.
Even though Chen Lan’s reasoning made some sense, deep down, Bai Long still found it absurd.
“But…”
“But what?”
“But he’s old enough to be my dad if he were a few years older.”
“Hah, what’s that got to do with it? Nowadays, grandparent-grandchild romances are everywhere! Have you seen the grandpas complaining?”
“…?”
…
After Lu Yue ignored her, Chen Lan’s words successfully kept Bai Long in a daze for the next two or three days.
She felt like there were two little voices fighting in her head. One said she was too close to the situation to see clearly—maybe, just maybe, he really did like her but was too proud to say it.
The other insisted she was overthinking it—that it was just the closeness caused by pheromones during the dependency period.
Bai Long knew herself well. She leaned toward the second explanation.
Not only because of the dependency period, but mostly because she believed that with Lu Yue’s status, he could have any Alpha he wanted. He probably wouldn’t even look twice at someone like her.
At that thought, Bai Long sighed and patted her cheeks, trying to shake off the overthinking and pull herself together.
She and Lu Yue were from two different worlds—they shouldn’t have crossed paths in the first place.
This was just things returning to how they should be.
Thankfully, she had only just begun to rely on Lu Yue a little. Since they weren’t from the same world, stopping now and cutting losses was for the best.
Bai Long took a deep breath, steadied her emotions, and with a bit more resolve, headed straight for the café.
But she hadn’t taken more than a few steps when, from the corner of her eye at a turn, she caught sight of a familiar black car.
It looks like Mr. Lu’s car.
That thought flashed through her mind for just a second before her eyes lit up and her body moved on its own.
However, when she jogged closer, she didn’t see the man himself.
Just as Bai Long thought she might have mistaken the car for a similar model, she noticed that even though Lu Yue wasn’t inside,
The driver was the same one.
Bai Long remembered him—he was the man who had driven her home before.
“Miss Bai, long time no see.”
“Ah, h-hello, long time no see?”
The man looked to be in his thirties or forties, with a clean-cut, pleasant face and a close-cropped haircut, giving off an efficient, sharp vibe.
While Bai Long was feeling awkward, he appeared relaxed and at ease.
Just as he was about to exchange a few more pleasantries with Bai Long, the rear car door opened and two men in black suits stepped out directly.
They wore sunglasses, making it impossible to read their expressions.
Tall and imposing, they stood before Bai Long, casting a long shadow and bringing with them a familiar sense of pressure.
These two were also familiar faces.
They were the lead bodyguards among the ones who had hauled her back to the hospital that time.
“…You too, long time no see?”
Since she’d been captured once before, Bai Long couldn’t help but feel a little nervous.
She shrank back slightly, taking a step away to keep some distance, then mechanically raised a hand and waved in greeting.
“Miss Bai, the boss had an urgent meeting today and couldn’t come himself, so he specifically asked us to pick you up.”
The Beta in black gave a slight nod as a greeting, then pulled a business card from his suit pocket and handed it to her with both hands.
“This is the boss’s business card. Take it with you, and you’ll be able to go straight to the top-floor CEO’s office to see him.”
She looked at the person before her, then down at the card with the two gilded characters “Lu Yue” on it.