In the laboratory of Capital University, the light of early autumn spilled faintly through the thin gray of the sky.
Wisps of soft cloud broke apart, letting slanted sunlight filter down onto the glass culture dishes lined neatly on the workbench.
“I’ve finished slicing the samples. Once the professor gets here, we can hand them in.”
Zhang Beihan took off his safety goggles and glanced toward Lu Yicheng. “Lu-ge, you’re still doing plasmid transformation?”
Across the bench, the man didn’t lift his head. He picked up a single colony with precise, practiced movements and transferred it into a tube of liquid LB medium. “Mm.”
Even sitting down, it was easy to tell he was tall, lean lines, broad shoulders, the kind of proportion that naturally drew the eye.
His features carried a cold, cutting edge: deep-set eyes, sharp bone structure, a high nose bridge, and thin lips that seldom parted.
A pair of gold-rimmed glasses rested on his face, and when he lowered his gaze to screw the cap onto the shaking flask, his profile looked both distant and immaculate.
“Alright, I’m heading out then.”
Zhang Beihan stood, stuffing things into his bag out of habit, but when he looked toward the doorway, he suddenly froze. After a second, he sat back down and reached over to tap Lu Yicheng’s arm.
“Hey….Hey.” Zhang’s voice lowered conspiratorially. “That little Beta is here again.”
Only then did Lu Yicheng raise his eyes.
At the doorway stood a youth, caught half in light and half in shadow. His hair glowed faintly gold under the corridor lamps, soft and downy.
His complexion was rich with color, smooth and luminous like polished jade, and his cheeks carried the pale pink of life. He was peeking inside, clearly looking for someone.
The moment his gaze met Lu Yicheng’s, his whole face brightened. His eyes curved into crescents, and he lifted a hand high to wave, a smile blooming like sunlight.
Lu Yicheng’s brows drew together, just a faint, fleeting crease that disappeared almost instantly.
The lab, filled mostly with science students who spent their days surrounded by petri dishes and bacteria, collectively turned to look. A living, breathing, delicate little beauty was a rare sight here.
“Wow,” Zhang Beihan whistled softly. “That Beta’s ridiculously cute today. Honestly, if I didn’t know better, I’d think he was an Omega. Too pretty…”
“Zhang Beihan,” Lu Yicheng interrupted. “Put those media flasks on the shaker.”
Zhang blinked, taken aback by the sudden order. Before he could react, his group leader had already risen from his seat, stripping off his gloves and goggles with a calm efficiency.
“I’ll step out for a moment,” Lu said quietly.
Every pair of eyes in the room followed him as he crossed the lab, white coat swaying slightly with each step. When he reached the door, he pulled it shut behind him, the soft click cutting off the buzz of curiosity inside.
He was tall, close to one meter ninety and standing this close, the sheer presence he exuded made the narrow hallway feel smaller.
He looked down at the Beta, whose bright round eyes were fixed on him, gleaming like polished glass.
When Shi You saw him, his expression instantly softened, eyes lighting up like a kitten’s ears pricking at the sound of a familiar voice.
Zhang Beihan hadn’t exaggerated. Shi You was indeed more beautiful than most Omegas. His frame was slim and delicate, his skin pale to the point of translucence, and his cheeks soft with a natural flush.
Lu Yicheng noticed then that the boy was wearing a lab coat clearly borrowed or stolen from somewhere. It hung off him loosely, sleeves falling past his wrists, making him look even smaller.
“Yicheng,” the boy said softly. “These are cookies I made myself in my baking elective. I brought them for you.”
His voice was gentle, almost whispery, and before Lu Yicheng could respond, the box of cookies was already pressed into his arms.
Lu looked down at it, unmoving. His pupils were dark, deep as ink, and after a few seconds of silence, he finally began, “You don’t have to… ”
“Shh.”
The boy’s voice was clear and bright. He reached out, a finger pressing lightly against Lu Yicheng’s lips.
“No need to thank me,” he said, eyes curving. “This is something I should do, for someone I love.”
Lu Yicheng froze.
The little Beta quickly withdrew his hand, beaming up at him as he formed a heart with his fingers. “I really like you today, too~”
Lu Yicheng: “…”
“Remember to eat the cookies, okay? You should focus on your experiments. I won’t bother you anymore. Bye-bye~”
Without giving him a chance to react, the boy spun around and ran off down the hall, the oversized coat fluttering behind him. Just before disappearing around the corner, he turned back to blow him a kiss.
Lu Yicheng stood there, silent.
What in the world?
His gaze lowered to the heart-shaped cookie box still in his hands. For a moment, the faintest tremor crossed his lashes, and the sharp lines of his face softened with a kind of baffled stillness.
What the hell just happened.
Outside the lab building, Shi You quickly slipped off the stolen coat and hung it back on the office rack before strolling out the door as if nothing had happened.
The weather was nice that day, clouds drifted lazily across the sky, half-hiding the sun, and a few cool gusts of wind swept through the campus.
His phone had been vibrating nonstop. When he finally checked, the messages from a contact labeled “Crazy X” were still flooding in. Shi You didn’t hesitate; he blocked the number with a flick of his thumb.
“Shi You! Where are you? Why didn’t you pick it up earlier?”
It was Bai Yuanshan’s anxious voice on the other end.
Shi You glanced at the time. “Professor Qi’s class runs through periods seven and eight, right? I just went to see Lu Yicheng.”
The sound that came through the receiver was a sharp inhale.
“So the rumors on the school forum are true?!” Bai Yuanshan’s tone jumped an octave. “The whole campus is going crazy! They’re saying that the pretty Beta from the Art Department went to the Science Building to give Lu Yicheng homemade cookies!”
In the past few days, gossip about Shi You and Lu Yicheng had spread across every student forum and anonymous wall on campus.
【@CapitalU CampusWall: Oh my god I can’t believe it!!! I just saw that gorgeous Beta from the Art Department in the Science Lab building! AND!! he was looking for Lu Yicheng! My CP that used to exist only in photoshopped edits is real now!!! Someone hold me!!!】
Shi You brushed the wind-tossed hair off his forehead, puzzled. “How did they even find out?”
“You’re famous, that’s how!” Bai Yuanshan was practically exasperated. “You don’t realize it, but you were voted the most attractive Beta in the entire Art Department! higher than most Omegas!”
“Oh.” Shi You didn’t sound particularly interested. He’d never cared much about things like that.
Bai sighed. “And the rumors about Han Xiao confessing to you, they’re true too, huh? I just heard a bunch of Alphas talking about how the ‘department’s top Alpha’ confessed to his roommate.”
Shi You’s voice was lazy. “Ah, you mean that annoying guy.”
Bai was speechless.
Han Xiao was Shi You’s roommate, one of those people who claimed he’d broken up with his girlfriend for Shi You, trying to guilt-trip him with fake sincerity. He was the kind who dripped tea from head to toe, and somehow, despite Shi You’s total indifference, gossip had exploded anyway.
“But Shi You, are you really moving out? Will you be okay living alone?” Bai asked, still worried.
Shi You laughed. “It’s fine, Yuanshan. It’s awkward seeing him every day in the same room, pretending everything’s normal. Besides, I’d been planning to move out anyway.”
“True enough,” Bai muttered. “Staying with someone like Han Xiao would drive anyone crazy.”
“Then what’s with Lu Yicheng?” Bai pressed. “You don’t actually like him, do you?”
“I do,” Shi You said immediately.
His voice carried the soft, lilting tone common to people from the south, gentle, slightly drawling, effortlessly sweet.
“You what?!” Bai nearly shouted.
“When did you start liking him? He’s practically an ice cube! You know he’s impossible to flirt with, right? That face of his? he looks like a playboy, but he’s colder than liquid nitrogen!”
Shi You only smiled, tilting his head slightly as he walked under the shifting patches of sunlight. He didn’t answer. But the quiet curve of his lips said everything.
“I think he’s really nice.”
Shi You’s tone was soft and matter-of-fact.
“And besides,” he added seriously, “The most handsome guy in the entire Life Sciences department…. no, the entire Capital University, is obviously Lu Yicheng.”
Bai Yuanshan went silent.
While listening to his friend sputter on the other end, Shi You opened his memo app and neatly drew a check mark next to the item labeled “Deliver heart-shaped cookies.”
His fingertips still carried the faint scent of Alpha pheromones he’d brushed against earlier, dry cedarwood and red autumn leaves, a cool, woody fragrance that seemed made for this season.
Shi You lowered his head and sniffed lightly.
Ah. It really did smell amazing.
There was, in truth, another reason why he wanted to move out.
Shi You wasn’t just a Beta. He was also a mushroom.
A small, sentient mushroom that had, through some strange mutation, taken human form.
As a mushroom, he was different from ordinary Betas. He could feel pheromones, his own were unstable, and he needed regular “nurturing cycles” to maintain balance.
Normally, he used a specialized pheromone spray to stabilize himself during these cycles, but because his dorm mixed Alphas and Betas, the pheromone environment was too chaotic. He’d been thinking of leaving for a while.
And recently, he’d discovered something even more troubling, his spray had stopped working.
He’d been worrying about how to handle the next cycle when fate intervened. On his way back from class, he’d encountered Lu Yicheng walking out of the plant biology lab.
The Alpha’s pheromones had been clean and crisp like autumn wood and cool pine, sharp yet warm, carrying that faint dry sweetness of fallen leaves in sunlight.
A mushroom’s favorite scent.
Just sensing it had made Shi You’s entire body feel comfortable and light. From that moment on, he started trailing Lu Yicheng whenever he could, finding excuses to approach him.
From his research, Shi You knew that mushrooms like him could seek a fixed “nurturing host” , someone whose pheromones were compatible, to help them stabilize during these cycles.
Lu Yicheng was perfect in every way. Handsome, intelligent, calm, well-off, with high-quality pheromones and a botanist, no less. Who better to take care of a mushroom?
Other than being a bit cold, he really had no flaws.
If Lu Yicheng would agree to be his host, Shi You thought, that would solve everything.
“Shi You? Shi You!” Bai Yuanshan’s voice brought him back. “You seriously like Lu Yicheng, don’t you?”
Shi You didn’t even hesitate. “Of course I do. Why wouldn’t I?”
He grinned. “I really, really like his pheromones.”
“Alright, alright, enough already! I’ve got class,” he said, ending the call.
He looked up at the sky. The once-clear clouds had thickened into dark gray and the weather in this city changed as fast as flipping a page.
Shi You broke into a run. But before he could make it out of the building, the rain came down, fine, steady, whispering rain that pattered across the stone steps.
He didn’t mind.
As a mushroom, Shi You loved rainy days.
Mushrooms thrived in shade and moisture, and the damp air made him feel calm, even happy. His skin would turn soft and smooth, and his tiny, invisible mycelium tendrils would become especially lively.
Sometimes he liked to take slow walks in the rain, it felt like his way of connecting with nature again, even in this human body. Besides, class was about to start; he couldn’t linger.
He lifted his foot to step into the drizzle… and a hand caught his wrist from behind.
Shi You turned.
Lu Yicheng stood there, no longer wearing his lab coat. Beneath it, he had on a black shirt that outlined his tall, straight frame, the fabric fitting close around his shoulders and back.
That same faint cedar scent drifted over, the one that always made Shi You’s senses go soft.
His eyes brightened instantly, and a smile burst across his face. “Yicheng, are you done with your experiment?”
Lu Yicheng nodded, releasing his hand. His gaze dropped briefly to Shi You’s orange hoodie, the childish color clashing with the pale skin of his throat. His brows drew together slightly.
Shi You opened his mouth to speak again, but Lu Yicheng moved first. He held out the heart-shaped cookie box and handed it back.
His voice was flat, calm, and faintly distant. “Don’t bring me things like this again.”
Shi You blinked, startled.
Then he saw the man’s expression, cool, severe, emotionless and bit down gently on his lower lip without realizing it. His lips were soft and full, and the light pressure left them rosy and deformed, a picture of reluctant obedience that could melt anyone’s heart.
Lu Yicheng, however, didn’t move. He just looked at him for a long moment, silent. Finally, he spoke again.
“No food is allowed in the lab,” he said evenly.
A pause.
“And I don’t like sweets.”
Shi You stared at him for a few seconds, then lowered his head and nodded faintly.
Lu Yicheng’s expression didn’t change. His face remained as cold and immaculate as carved ice, even his lashes looked as if they’d been dusted with frost.
Then, without another word, he extended an umbrella toward Shi You.
He opened his own and stepped out into the rain, leaving behind only the scent of cedar and the sound of wet petals crushed underfoot.
Shi You stood there holding the spare umbrella, the cookie box still clutched against his chest. He opened it, took out one of the heart-shaped cookies, and bit into it.
It was too sweet.
Rain whispered softly all around him, the cool wind threading through it.
He looked up, eyes following the retreating figure disappearing into the curtain of rain.
Alright, then.
He was, after all, a good man, solid, disciplined, and utterly impervious to charm.
Completely resistant to sugar, both literally and figuratively.
✦ ✧ ✦
Cressilia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
The Realm accepts your wallet. The translator accepts coffee. ✦
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
Next →
ChaptersChapter 1 · MushroomChapter 2 · Blocking The RoadChapter 3 · Pectoral MuscleChapter 4 · Delivering MealChapter 5 · CoatChapter 6 · NeighbourChapter 7 · CookiesChapter 8 · BalconyChapter 9 · MyceliumChapter 10 · Don’t PinchChapter 11 · Warmth and NourishmentChapter 12 · Speak without RestraintChapter 13 · On the bedChapter 14 · InterviewChapter 15 · InjuredChapter 16 · So WetChapter 17 · Drink WineChapter 18 · Play AgainChapter 19 · HostChapter 20 · RomanceChapter 21 · KissChapter 22 · What should Daddy do?Chapter 23 · Washing FeetsChapter 24 · MoodChapter 25 · No kissing allowedChapter 26 · Broken BridgeChapter 27 · Blind DateChapter 28 · Dinner PartyChapter 29 · FamilyChapter 30 · Heat Sensitivity PeriodChapter 31 · LickChapter 32 · AgainChapter 33 · BabyChapter 34 · SeminarChapter 35 · Matcha TroubleChapter 36 · SpankingChapter 37 · EroticChapter 38 · JealousyChapter 39 · Little Male ServantChapter 40 · I want…Chapter 41 · Deep ConnectionChapter 42 · ToothpasteChapter 43 · DifferentiationChapter 44 · A KissChapter 45 · The Taoist TempleChapter 46 · Chasing SomeoneChapter 47 · Feeding the MedicineChapter 48 · The MessageChapter 49 · Get DownChapter 50 · Soft WaistChapter 51 · HeatChapter 52 · Deep Within the ForestChapter 53 · SensitivityChapter 54 · The Little Perverted MushroomChapter 55 · Turn AroundChapter 56 · DisappearanceChapter 57 · Don’t NurtureChapter 58 · MadnessChapter 59 · The ReasonChapter 60 · Declaring OwnershipChapter 61 · I Love YouChapter 62 · KitchenChapter 63 · Sneaking into BedChapter 64 · AdulteryChapter 65 · The Muscle Show!Chapter 66 · Was It Fun?Chapter 67 · In Front of the MirrorChapter 68 · The LondonChapter 69 · Don’t Be SadChapter 70 · End of Main StoryChapter 71 · Extra 1Chapter 72 · Extra 2Chapter 73 · Extra 3Chapter 74 · Extra 4Chapter 75 · Extra 5