Bai Long’s words left the young doctor momentarily stunned. The request itself wasn’t hard to understand.
Generally, no Alpha would want others to smell the pheromones of the Omega they had marked—even though he knew Bai Long and Lu Yue’s marking was merely a transactional arrangement.
That was just how Alphas were: overbearing, possessive, rarely considering others’ feelings, riding on their own perceived strength.
In short, textbook Alpha chauvinism.
But compared to other Alphas, Bai Long was much more reasonable—at least her tone was gentle and open to discussion.
If it had been someone else, they might have already released pheromones as a warning.
So the young doctor wasn’t upset, but the bedding was something Lu Yue had specifically asked him to fetch.
Lu Yue had been under his care since being admitted to the hospital, and he knew all too well how short-tempered the man could be.
Even though Lu Yue had never done anything truly excessive toward him, he couldn’t help but feel a subconscious wariness.
After all, given Lu Yue’s status and background, one wrong move could leave him facing serious consequences.
Thinking this, the young doctor’s expression turned troubled. He looked up at Bai Long, who rarely showed such firmness, hesitated for a moment, and finally spoke.
“You don’t need to worry about that. I’ll take another corridor—there’s hardly anyone there, so no one will smell the pheromones on the bedding.”
“But…”
“Bai Long, I hope you can understand my position. We have a lot of patients today, and there’s a shortage of clean bedding. We need to get them washed and replaced as quickly as possible.”
As if anticipating Bai Long wouldn’t easily agree, the young doctor spoke up almost the moment she began.
He tried to keep his expression as natural as possible.
Because in his position, whether Bai Long insisted on taking the bedding to the isolation room or discovered it was meant for Lu Yue, the outcome would be equally problematic.
He was truly caught between a rock and a hard place.
Bai Long noticed the troubled look on the young doctor’s face and the silent plea in his eyes.
She opened her mouth, then hesitated, unsure what more to say.
“…Sorry, I didn’t think it through properly. Since you’re in a hurry, go ahead and take the bedding for washing. I’ll wait in the isolation room and leave in a bit.”
Hearing Bai Long finally relent, the young doctor felt as if he’d narrowly escaped a disaster. A heavy weight lifted from his shoulders.
“Alright then. You have a good rest—I mean, a good airing out. I’ll be going now.”
Without waiting for Bai Long’s response, he turned and hurried toward the elevator with the bedding, nearly fleeing the scene.
“…Airing out? He made it sound like I stink,” After a moment, Bai Long muttered to herself, then lowered her head to take a sniff.
The scent of white cedar mixed with the sweetness of strawberries—pure yet tantalizing, enough to make one’s mouth go dry.
Unconsciously, she recalled last night—the man with flushed ears, gripping his sleeves tightly as he struggled to hold himself together, refusing to let her leave.
Sigh… what a shame.
Such a pleasant scent… she probably wouldn’t get to smell it again.
…
Bai Long stayed in the isolation room for about an hour before finally leaving the hospital.
If she had paid a little more attention when the young doctor left, she would have noticed that he had pressed the button for the third floor—not the second floor where the laundry was located.
The young doctor was a Beta, not particularly sensitive to pheromones, but even he felt his face grow warm from the lingering scent on the bedding during the short walk.
So when he reached the ward door, he paused briefly to steady his breathing before freeing a hand to knock.
As usual, Lu Yue was leaning against his pillow, casually flipping through a newspaper. A stretch of pale wrist was visible, giving him a lazy, almost sensual air.
When the young doctor entered, Lu Yue only glanced at him out of the corner of his eye, as if he couldn’t care less about the bedding.
This left him somewhat surprised.
After all, a recently marked Omega in the dependency period would normally be unable to resist the Alpha’s pheromones—flushed cheeks, hot ears, and in more severe cases, even physical weakness.
Yet Lu Yue showed no such reaction. It was as if he didn’t need pheromonal comfort to get through the dependency period at all.
“Mr. Lu, are you feeling any discomfort? Would you like me to check you over again?”
Even though the man seemed fine, out of a sense of duty, the young doctor asked as he placed the bedding down.
“No need, I’m perfectly fine.”
Lu Yue paused here, his gaze lingering on the young doctor as if he had something to say.
His lips parted slightly, but not a single word came out.
This was rare, but not unheard of.
The last time Lu Yue had shown this hesitant, unspoken demeanor was during his last heat.
He had endured every heat in silence before, but that time, he was overworked and exhausted, and the inhibitors had started to fail. For once, he found it hard to bear.
But the man was too proud to show weakness.
Something as simple as asking for an extra dose of inhibitors, he had nearly passed out from the pain without uttering a word.
If Liang Shen hadn’t arrived in time back then, Lu Yue might have collapsed from the agony.
Remembering this, the young doctor grew anxious. Knowing Lu Yue would never speak up on his own, he quickly stepped forward, offering an opening.
“Mr. Lu, if there’s anything at all, you must tell me. If something happens to you, I won’t be able to take responsibility—no, our entire hospital won’t be able to take responsibility!”
Lu Yue hadn’t expected such a strong reaction. His hand holding the newspaper trembled, startled.
“…I really am fine.”
“Then… why did you look like… you had something on your mind just now?”
He had originally intended to let it go, but now that he’d been noticed, insisting nothing was wrong would only make things seem more suspicious.
“It’s nothing really. I just thought you took a bit longer than expected to fetch the bedding, so I was curious, that’s all.”
Lu Yue’s voice sounded perfectly normal, but his hand gripping the newspaper tightened unconsciously, crumpling the pages.
“Of course, if you’d rather not answer, that’s fine too. Especially if it involves your privacy.”
The young doctor was taken aback for a moment, clearly not expecting this.
He’d thought it was something serious, but it turned out to be just this.
“Ah…”
He responded vaguely, relaxing a little before raising a hand to scratch his nose.
“Actually, it’s nothing private. I just happened to run into Bai Long when I went downstairs to get the bedding. I took her to the isolation room afterward, so it took a bit longer.”
Mentioning it brought back a sense of unease for the young doctor.
“You ran into her?!”
The man, who had been calm moments ago, suddenly straightened up at these words, his voice rising several pitches.
“She didn’t notice anything? Did she ask where you were taking the bedding?! What did you say? Did you give me away?!”
“…”
The young doctor fell silent for a long moment, looking at Lu Yue’s agitated face with a complicated expression.
Lu Yue seemed to realize he had overreacted. He steadied himself, then raised a hand to his mouth, coughing lightly into his fist.
“Ahem, don’t misunderstand. I’m just worried she might read too much into it if she finds out. You know how most Alphas are: overconfident and self-important. The marking between us was just a transaction. If she mistakes it for something more and starts clinging to me during the dependency period, it’ll be a real headache.”
“…You understand what I mean, right?”
“…I do.”
Only then did the young doctor realize that Lu Yue’s earlier composure had been entirely an act.
He was just like any other Omega in the dependency period—emotionally unstable.
Realizing this, the young doctor was careful not to say anything that might upset Lu Yue. He took a moment to gather his thoughts before continuing.
“She didn’t figure out that you asked me to bring the bedding. But she did want me to take it to the isolation room to let the pheromones dissipate. I explained it was urgent and needed to be washed, and she didn’t press further.”
“Oh… I see…”
Somehow, even though he had been anxious at first when he heard Bai Long was involved, worried she might discover something…
Now that he knew she hadn’t reacted much, he felt an inexplicable sense of disappointment.
Seeing Lu Yue’s expression, the young doctor recognized this as typical for the dependency period, especially for an Omega without their Alpha around.
It was easy for depression to set in.
“That girl seems gentle and reasonable on the surface, but deep down, she still has Alpha blood in her. She didn’t want others to smell your pheromones, which is why she asked me to put the bedding in the isolation room.”
As he spoke, he watched Lu Yue’s expression. Seeing the other’s ears gradually redden, he felt reassured enough to continue.
“Mr. Lu, she actually does care about you quite a bit.”
Lu Yue pressed his thin lips together, taking a moment to steady himself.
Then he let out a light humph, raising the newspaper higher to hide his flushed neck and face.
“…”
“…Mr. Lu, I’ve brought the bedding over. If there’s nothing else, I’ll take my leave now.”
The young doctor didn’t call out the man’s hypocrisy. Seeing a slight nod, he stood up and left, closing the door quietly behind him.
Only when he heard the soft click of the door closing did Lu Yue slowly lower the newspaper and place it on the bedside table.
The room had been filled with the sweet strawberry scent of pheromones since the young doctor entered.
His eyes flickered. Now that he was alone, he could finally let his gaze fall openly on the bedding that carried that sweet aroma.
Lu Yue’s fingertips twitched slightly. He pushed aside the blanket covering him and spread Bai Long’s bedding over himself instead.
Lu Yue knew this was a normal reaction during the dependency period: as an Omega, he was bound to become intensely dependent on his marker’s pheromones, even to the point of illusory affection. Still, the sheer magnitude of Bai Long’s effect on him was deeply unsettling.
He held the bedding close, slowly buried his face in it, and took a deep breath.
Remembering what the young doctor had said—that Bai Long had wanted to take the bedding to the isolation room to keep his pheromones from being smelled by others.
Whether it was shyness or just the pheromones at work, beneath his tousled bangs, Lu Yue’s eyes shone brightly, while his neck and face flushed a delicate, rosy hue like brushed-on rouge.
After a while, as the strawberry scent enveloped him completely and the comfort settled in, Lu Yue slowly straightened up.
Outside, the sunlight was bright, casting a faint golden sheen over him, making even the fine hairs on his face clearly visible.
After another pause, a slight smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth, and his eyes seemed to reflect a pie chart of emotions—
Three parts sarcasm, three parts disdain, and three parts aloofness.
“Heh. Women.”