Her gaze was scattered, as if she were talking to herself, lost in the previous scene in her memory.
“Lin Xi…” Zhong Xiu couldn’t hold back her tears.
“Hmm.” The Alpha heard the voice, looked up with a confused expression, her consciousness clearly not yet restored.
“Could you let go of me first, please?” Zhong Xiu’s voice was very soft, carrying the gentle, tender quality of a girl who had been crying. Her pleading tone held no aggression. Lin Xi, sensing no threat, slightly loosened her grip.
The Omega in her peripheral vision was completely subdued, but Zhong Xiu didn’t dare to distract herself by looking at him. The Alpha in front of her domineeringly monopolized her line of sight, forbidding her from giving attention to anyone else.
Lin Xi felt that the person in front of her was very familiar. Although there was none of the feeling of ‘marking’ written about in biology textbooks, this person felt like the only piece of driftwood she could grasp in her world.
“Do you know who I am?” Zhong Xiu asked her.
“Zhong Xiu,” she said softly, and then added, “I’m sorry.”
The apology was for the guilt of having offended Zhong Xiu’s mother earlier. Zhong Xiu’s tears flowed even harder, but she felt much better inside.
Seeing her continuously crying, Lin Xi subconsciously and slowly searched the pockets of her school uniform. There were no clean tissues; they seemed to be in her backpack.
The backpack on the ground was not far from them. She glanced over there, but the Alpha didn’t move. With other pheromones in the vicinity, she didn’t want to leave Zhong Xiu’s side.
So the two of them faced off like this. Zhong Xiu slowly stopped crying, not daring to look into her eyes for too long, and instead shifted her gaze to other parts of her body.
She hadn’t noticed before, but when Zhang Mingming struggled, he had ripped open a button on the collar of Lin Xi’s school uniform, and the clothes were completely wrinkled.
“What are you looking at?” Perhaps sensing the overly bold gaze, Lin Xi slightly pressed down.
“N-Nothing,” she said. She seemed to be trying to block the view but didn’t quite succeed. Perhaps because she saw Zhong Xiu as her possession, she didn’t care much about being watched. Zhong Xiu was completely flustered.
She was grateful that Lin Xi was holding her hands, or she wouldn’t know where to put them.
Zhong Xiu was too compliant, showing no signs of resistance, and Lin Xi’s hands slowly relaxed.
“Can I button it up for you?” Zhong Xiu stared at the collar of her school uniform and tried to move her wrist. She was not refused.
After her hands were completely free, Lin Xi rested her arms on either side of Zhong Xiu’s body, letting Zhong Xiu pull at her collar.
While buttoning it, Zhong Xiu’s finger accidentally touched the skin near her neck, which was still very hot.
Is she running a fever?
Zhong Xiu reached out to touch her forehead. It didn’t seem very hot there; only the area behind her ears and neck, the tissue around the scent gland, was severely engorged.
She didn’t know what the scent gland looked like. Although she didn’t lift her hair, Zhong Xiu could completely imagine what that delicate, slightly raised bump looked like now; she had seen it before.
Unknowingly, she finished straightening her collar, and Zhong Xiu’s palm slid to the sides of her neck, to the especially hot areas.
Her hand was cool. Lin Xi slightly tilted her head back, even closing her eyes, as if enjoying the contact.
Breaking the peace was Zhong Xiu’s phone. On the screen, Gao Lan’s name was flashing.
“I need to take a call,” Zhong Xiu seemed to have realized that if she proactively reported to Lin Xi, she was less likely to be rejected.
Sure enough, the Alpha just opened her eyes, gently frowned to show reluctance, but did not forcibly take her phone.
“Hello, where are you?” Fearing the Alpha might mind, Zhong Xiu didn’t even say Gao Lan’s name.
“You Tian and I are both in the back mountain, but Lin Xi’s pheromones are too strong, we can’t get close.” Gao Lan’s tone was weak, with a trembling sound of fear. “How is she? Her pheromones are so aggressive.”
“She’s fine for now.” Lin Xi was still scrutinizing her. Being stared at with such focused attention, it was difficult for Zhong Xiu to concentrate, and thinking became hard.
“What about Zhang Mingming?” With the Alpha pheromones so intense, Gao Lan was worried that Lin Xi had permanently marked him.
Omega resources were scarce, and secretly permanently marking an Omega without matching and certification was a serious crime. Expulsion would be a light punishment; Lin Xi could be facing jail time or, at least, never being able to raise her head again.
“He…” Zhong Xiu restrained herself from looking over there. “He might not be great, but Lin Xi didn’t mark him.”
“That’s good,” Gao Lan sighed in relief. “We need to find a way to get Lin Xi to stop releasing pheromones.”
As soon as Gao Lan finished speaking, Zhong Xiu’s call was cut off. Lin Xi was probably unhappy that she was talking to someone else for so long.
“Look at me.”
The two domineering words were uttered coldly from her mouth, almost setting Zhong Xiu’s face on fire. The bland descriptions of an Alpha in the biology textbook had become a physical reality right in front of her.
“I am looking at you,” Zhong Xiu’s voice was as quiet as a mosquito, but her head was lowered, clearly not meeting her gaze.
The next moment, her jaw was gently lifted by a pair of long, slender hands. Lin Xi’s gaze shone like a strong light onto the lakes of her eyes, stirring up small waves on the calm surface.
Towards the Beta who did not comply with her intention, the Alpha did not try to control her with pheromones, as she would an Omega, but instead acted physically.
“Can you, please, stop releasing pheromones?” Facing the Alpha’s assertiveness, Zhong Xiu had a sudden inspiration. She raised her hands to hug Lin Xi’s waist, rested her head on her shoulder, and said softly with a hint of a spoiled tone, “I’m a little scared.”
Taking this opportunity, Zhong Xiu secretly glanced at the unconscious Omega. Thankfully, his chest was rising and falling; he wasn’t dead.
The embrace lasted for a long time. Zhong Xiu couldn’t tell exactly how long until she felt the breathing next to her become even, and a weight settled on her shoulder.
Lin Xi had fallen asleep.
…
“She didn’t fall asleep; she fainted from too much pheromone depletion,” Gao Lan said, pouring a nutrient solution down her throat.
“What about this guy?” You Tian pinched his nose. Zhang Mingming had also passed out at some point.
“Let’s take him to the hospital to get checked,” Zhong Xiu worriedly suggested.
“Seriously, Lin Xi’s pheromones are too fierce. I’m shaking from this distance,” You Tian said to Zhong Xiu, shrinking his neck in fear.
“I can’t feel it,” a hint of loss flashed in Zhong Xiu’s eyes.
“That’s good,” Gao Lan said, staring at the dirt on the back of Zhong Xiu’s school uniform for a few seconds.
“Tsk, I still feel like her pheromones haven’t dissipated.” You Tian sniffed around.
Zhong Xiu felt a little guilty. She stayed close to Lin Xi, supporting her, not daring to get too close to them. She definitely smelled of it.
“Hey, Zhong Xiu, your eyes are so red, and your hair is a mess. Did you guys…” You Tian suddenly leaned over, full of gossip.
“No, we… we argued earlier,” Zhong Xiu skirted the issue, adjusted her hair to cover the back of her neck. “She made me angry.”
“I figured. She wouldn’t be so crazy as to attack a Beta, not with an Omega right here.”
The three of them sat on the hill, waiting for Lin Xi to wake up.
“What’s this?” Gao Lan picked up a cigarette butt. “Not many people smoke this brand.”
“It’s Lin Yucheng’s,” Zhong Xiu remembered seeing the same brand tucked behind his ear in the cafeteria that day.
“What are you planning to do?”
“Clear her name,” Zhong Xiu looked down at Lin Xi, who was still closing her eyes, the Alpha’s head resting on her lap.
“Mhm. Those people were just acting. You Tian and I checked; they’re playing ‘eat chicken’ at an internet café right now.” Knowing they were faking it made things easier; there were many ways to expose them.
“What about him?” You Tian kicked Zhang Mingming, who was lying on the ground in a severely twisted posture. “Lin Yucheng had malicious intent this time.”
“If he dares to spread rumors, we’ll just expose the ugly photos of him and Lin Yucheng,” Gao Lan said, putting the cigarette butt into a small plastic bag, making it look like evidence for court.
“You have them?” You Tian was intrigued. “Show me, quick.”
“If I don’t have them, can’t I just trick him?” Gao Lan squinted, pointing at Zhang Mingming. “He doesn’t look very smart.”
“I like this job! Let me do it, let me do it!”
You Tian took out his phone and snapped a few pictures of Zhang Mingming first. “Should I take off his clothes and take a few more?”
“I think so,” Gao Lan rubbed his chin. “Go on, strip him.”
“Huh?” You Tian hesitated. “He’s an Omega; that wouldn’t be appropriate for me, would it? How about you, Zhong Xiu?”
“No,” Zhong Xiu wasn’t interested in Zhang Mingming, and besides, what if she got too close to him and angered Lin Xi again?
“Rock, paper, scissors!” Gao Lan and You Tian started a best-of-three game on the side. The loser strips him.
Lin Xi’s head moved, and her eyes slowly opened.
From this perspective, she saw a sky full of stars and the staggered tree branches, but unlike that day, she also saw Zhong Xiu’s still-present smile.
“Are you awake?” Zhong Xiu quickly called them over.
“…” You Tian and Gao Lan were both quite hesitant to approach the conscious Lin Xi. It wasn’t just fear of ‘bad luck’; on one hand, Lin Xi was a top-tier Alpha, their pheromones suppressing them; on the other hand, they weren’t very familiar. The class monitor was aloof and didn’t talk much to others normally.
“Let’s hurry to the hospital,” Zhong Xiu mediated the atmosphere.
“Alright,” at this point, the two Alphas started fighting over who got to help Zhang Mingming up.
They couldn’t quite explain it, but whenever they got too close to Zhong Xiu, they felt a murderous intent in Lin Xi’s eyes.
“Are you feeling better?” The three of them walked ahead, and Zhong Xiu quietly asked her.
“Mhm.” She lowered her head, seemingly focused on walking, not wanting to engage with Zhong Xiu.
She didn’t lose her memory, did she? Zhong Xiu muttered internally. She hadn’t heard of an Alpha losing their memory from releasing pheromones. This was beyond dramatic.
Then I’ve lost out too much!
Just as she was about to speak, Lin Xi suddenly put one hand on her shoulder and used the other to lift her hair.
The bite mark was obvious, with a thin layer of dried blood.
“Don’t try to deny responsibility,” Zhong Xiu said nonsensically.
Lin Xi silently let go of her hair and said nothing.
If Zhong Xiu could peer into her brain, she would find that the electrophysiological responses in the cerebral cortex were already in utter chaos.
“Zhong Xiu, five people won’t fit. We’ll take a taxi first, okay? See you at the hospital later.”
“Okay.”
Knowing they were uncomfortable, Zhong Xiu didn’t stop them.
“I…” Evasion wasn’t Lin Xi’s style, but facing it, she didn’t know what to say.
Once they were in the taxi, she finally spoke slowly, “Didn’t I tell you that getting close to me would make you unlucky?”
After so much time had passed, Zhong Xiu had already prepared her counter-strategy.
“But I’m not an Omega. You biting me is no different from my cat biting me, except I don’t need a rabies shot.”
A lie.
But what did it matter?
It was Lin Xi’s turn to be speechless.
“Lucky or unlucky, I decide.”