A trace of unnoticeable joy rose from the depths of Jiang Chu’s eyes, but he quickly suppressed it ruthlessly, returning to his cold and aloof composure. He felt a tightness in his throat, his delicate pink lips pressed into a straight line, and his fair fingertips unconsciously clutched the microphone.
Complex emotions churned within Du Jinchen’s dark eyes. The veins on the back of his hand stood out, straining so hard that his fingertips turned pale. He stared fixedly at that pretty face, his back molars clenched as he squeezed the words from his throat: “You.”
“Hey, Jiang Chu, what are you doing? Hurry up and give the microphone to Du Jinchen!” Shuxin’s anxious voice rang out from behind. “The host is almost done speaking. If you don’t get on stage now, it will be too late!”
Seeing the host on stage walking toward them with cue cards, Du Jinchen didn’t have time to say anything more. He had no choice but to take the microphone from Jiang Chu’s hand.
He didn’t touch Jiang Chu’s fingers.
With the palm of his hand empty, that warm sunlight scent washed over him, only to flash past instantly. Jiang Chu’s fingertips grew cold, failing to brush against any warm skin.
Jiang Chu loosely withdrew his hand, lowering his eyes as his fair fingertips curled up involuntarily, as if trying to grasp that unattainable warmth.
Du Jinchen held the microphone. The chilly microphone had not absorbed a single shred of the omega’s body temperature, yet it carried that cool, detached, fresh-snow-like pheromone mixed with frost, eroding Du Jinchen’s sanity inch by inch.
Look, what a vicious omega. Even though he had learned to walk away unhesitatingly and mercilessly, upon meeting again, he still hadn’t learned to keep his pheromones in check, easily teasing Du Jinchen’s emotions.
Yet stubbornly, Du Jinchen was damnably and deeply obsessed with this scent. He couldn’t control the urge to step forward and embrace this wicked omega, wanting to bury his face deeply into the omega’s neck and shoulders, greedily inhaling that fresh snow scent that obsessed him.
A cold and detached scent, as merciless as its owner.
Du Jinchen reined in his selfish desires, gripping the icy microphone tightly as he brushed past the omega’s side, carrying a gust of wind with him. His voice scattered into the breeze: “Don’t leave, wait for me.”
There was no time left. Du Jinchen didn’t hear Jiang Chu’s reply as to whether he would wait or not.
On stage, Du Jinchen delivered his speech in the absolute shortest time possible, giving a concise and to-the-point mobilization summary. As soon as the applause from the audience rang out, Du Jinchen couldn’t wait to step down from the stage.
It wasn’t until he saw Jiang Chu standing in the corner of backstage that the heart hanging in Du Jinchen’s chest slowly settled back down, transforming into a steady and composed demeanor.
Jiang Chu stood quietly in a quiet nook. People bustled noisily all around him, lively and boisterous, but it was as if all of this had nothing to do with him. He stood like an independent, cold cypress tree amidst the clamor, indifferent to any worldly commotion.
His pretty eyes stared blankly at a certain spot, though who knows what he was thinking. It wasn’t until Du Jinchen appeared that those eyes finally gained focus, the hazel pupils reflecting nothing but Du Jinchen’s figure.
Du Jinchen casually handed the microphone to a staff member and strode toward Jiang Chu.
Jiang Chu’s gaze locked onto Du Jinchen’s glowing eyes, his heartbeat suddenly accelerating. Seeing Du Jinchen walking toward him with long, decisive strides, for some reason, an instinctive urge to flee welled up inside him.
Unable to help himself, Jiang Chu averted his gaze, hastily pulling down his baseball cap and pushing open the heavy door to rush out, his slender figure melting into the glaring white light.
Du Jinchen let out a low, dark curse, then strode after Jiang Chu.
Right in the middle of class time, the vast campus appeared empty. The scorching sunlight blanketed the earth, and the air was as muggy as a steamer, leaving people feeling restless and agitated.
With his long legs and large strides, Du Jinchen closely followed behind Jiang Chu. Seeing that Jiang Chu had no intention of stopping, he took a deep breath, caught up in just two strides, grabbed the omega’s slender arm, and pulled him into the narrow gap between two teaching buildings.
The midday sun left only a single corner of shadow here. Jiang Chu was pushed into the shadow by Du Jinchen, who blocked the vast expanse of scorching sunlight behind him, his figure enveloping Jiang Chu.
Du Jinchen’s gaze stared intently at Jiang Chu, wanting to read every subtle micro-expression through Jiang Chu’s face. He felt as if a heavy stone was blocking his chest, suffocating him with heartache. After calming down for a moment, Du Jinchen finally spoke:
“Why are you hiding from me?”
Du Jinchen thrust both hands into the pockets of his windbreaker. The collar of the black windbreaker stood up high, covering half of his jawline and making his facial features appear even more profound.
Jiang Chu was left panting continuously from being chased by Du Jinchen, his pretty lips opening and closing as he breathed heavily through his mouth, the corners of his eyes reddening.
His delicate nostrils flared slightly. The mint-like, cool pheromone scent untimely leaked out, causing Du Jinchen’s Adam’s apple to slowly roll downward.
Du Jinchen lowered his gaze, leaning in closer as he asked again: “Hmm? Why are you hiding from me?”
“It is not.” Feeling the burning, scorching pheromone scent emanating from Du Jinchen, Jiang Chu didn’t even dare to breathe heavily through his mouth anymore. He turned his head away, not daring to meet Du Jinchen’s gaze directly.
Du Jinchen let out an extremely faint chuckle, as if seeing right through Jiang Chu’s embarrassment and bashfulness: “After all this time, you still haven’t learned how to lie.”
Jiang Chu’s arm pressed tightly against the hem of his clothes, his slender fingers pinching tightly until they turned white, shifting his focus in an attempt to mask his composure.
Yet Du Jinchen was right there before him, and the back of his neck began to burn and itch uncontrollably. That familiar, fiery, out-of-control sensation of lost pheromones came rushing back.
Du Jinchen lowered his gaze to stare at Jiang Chu. At that moment, whether from tension or shyness, the pretty omega’s fair cheeks were stained with a pink blush. Slightly long, wispy bangs partially veiled those round, translucent eyes, yet failed to hide the bright highlights within them. His lips habitually pressed into a straight line, though it seemed difficult to maintain his detached facade any longer.
Du Jinchen recalled the Jiang Chu of back then, who had always loved staring at him with innocent, pure eyes, causing him to fall defenselessly into those eyes that were more brilliant than starlight, unable to extricate himself.
His gaze drifted to Jiang Chu’s upper ear. With his head turned aside, Jiang Chu happened to expose his left helix to Du Jinchen’s sight. Three cartilage piercings adorned his small ear cartilage, currently wearing three silver butterflies.
Looking with dissatisfaction at the unfamiliar new markings added to Jiang Chu’s body, the possessiveness in Du Jinchen’s eyes deepened a fraction.
“Three cartilage piercings?” Du Jinchen asked in a deep voice. “When did you get the third one?”
The low voice made Jiang Chu’s ears tingle. He instinctively raised a hand to touch the earrings, his voice tight: “A few days ago.”
Du Jinchen’s tone was cold and detached, devoid of any discernible emotion: “Very good.”
Faced with the sudden reappearance of Jiang Chu, Du Jinchen had too many questions he wanted to ask.
He wanted to ask Jiang Chu why he had left without a word, why he had deleted all his contact information and forcefully vanished from his world, why he had appeared here now, and why he was releasing pheromones to tease him.
Yet when Du Jinchen’s gaze drifted downward, past the wide collar of Jiang Chu’s oversized hoodie, he saw that small, slender patch of collarbone. Aside from that tiny black mole still embedded upon it, all those colorful stickers had completely vanished, fading away alongside the footsteps of summer.
It was as if everything that happened over the entire summer was merely Du Jinchen’s illusion.
A gentle breeze blew past, and Du Jinchen felt as though he could smell that detached pheromone scent once more. It was a cool, refreshing sensation that involuntarily sent Du Jinchen into a trance, dragging his thoughts back to that scorching, burning summer.