As the final exams of the first semester of sophomore year came to an end, Du Jinchen mapped out his summer travel plans.
Du Jinchen wanted to travel alone, without inviting any friends. When he first announced this decision to his fathers, Du Chengming was not opposed at all and instead gave it his full support. Xu Xian held a dissenting attitude, but after Du Jinchen repeatedly guaranteed that he could take care of himself out there and would definitely mind his safety, Xu Xian finally gave his reluctant consent.
Before boarding the plane, Chen Wen called Du Jinchen to say that Tan Yan seemed to be coming back soon.
Du Jinchen was busy picking up his boarding pass, gave a hum of acknowledgment, murmured an excuse me to the person behind him, squeezed through the queuing crowd, walked through the gate, and joined the security check line.
“Just a hum?” Chen Wen’s voice came through the phone. “Hearing this news, you shouldn’t be reacting like that.”
“Then what should my reaction be?” Holding a black crossbody bag with long arms where veins strained against his skin, his white short-sleeved shirt rolled up to his shoulders and boarding pass and ID clutched in his hand, Du Jinchen responded lazily to Chen Wen.
Chen Wen said, “Come on, your white moonlight is returning to the country. Logically speaking, shouldn’t you be overjoyed, ecstatic, and immensely excited?”
Du Jinchen said speechlessly, “Who told you Tan Yan is my white moonlight?”
“Oh, oh, oh, I wonder who cried his eyes out the night before Tan Yan left the country?” Chen Wen’s teasing voice carried a provocative lilt. “No wonder people always say Alphas are heartless playboys. Tan Yan hasn’t even been gone for three years, and you’ve already forgotten him completely.”
Du Jinchen twitched the corner of his mouth and said, “That night…”
“Next, please.”
The security officer’s voice came from ahead, forcing Du Jinchen to cut short his explanation. He said to Chen Wen, “I’ve got to go through security. Let’s talk later.”
After hanging up, Du Jinchen handed his boarding pass and ID to the security officer, cleared security, and boarded the plane. Many passengers were already seated inside the airliner, most of whom were likely choosing to transfer through Jingzhou City.
Du Jinchen glanced down at the boarding pass in his hand, verified his seat number, swung his crossbody bag behind his back, walked down the aisle into the cabin, and spotted the location corresponding to his seat number.
Just then, an elderly grandmother walked down the aisle. Du Jinchen leaned backward to make room for her. Seeing him stop, the grandmother tremblingly took out her boarding pass and said to Du Jinchen, “Young man, grandma can’t see the words clearly. Could you help me figure out where this seat is?”
Du Jinchen took the boarding pass, glanced at it, handed it back, and said in a deep voice, “Grandma, your seat is further up front. I’ll take you there.”
After walking the grandmother to her seat, Du Jinchen returned the way he came.
Du Jinchen’s seat was in the middle of the cabin. After sitting down, he noticed that the window seat on his right was still empty, so he didn’t fasten his seatbelt right away and opened his phone to reply to some messages.
The cycling friends group chat was bustling with activity. Several students who had just finished the national college entrance exams were frantically refreshing the screen like crazy, declaring that they were going to take back everything they had lost and ride a hundred-odd trips in one breath.
Ignoring them, Du Jinchen tapped into the family group chat and typed: “Already boarded.”
Xu Xian must have just finished a class because he replied quickly: “Got it. Be careful on the road, and make sure to take good care of yourself.”
Du Jinchen replied: “Okay.”
After exchanging a few more words with his father, Du Jinchen sent a message saying he would chat again after landing and closed his phone.
The air conditioning in the cabin was a bit too generous, blowing cold air down from overhead. Du Jinchen raised a hand to press against the vent, his well-defined fingers giving it a light twist to reduce the airflow speed.
Withdrawing his hand, he raised his gaze in an unintended glance, and a slender, tall figure entered his field of vision.
The Omega wore a solid-colored hoodie, its drawstrings tied into small butterflies. His pink-purple hair swayed in the air, bobbing with the rhythm of the Omega’s pace, though it was pressed down by a silver-gray over-ear headphone. He carried a wide white backpack on one shoulder, with a delicate silver skeletal butterfly dangling from the zipper.
Jiang Chu had arrived a bit late and must have been the last person to board. The cabin was already packed, and looking up revealed a sea of heads. Jiang Chu stood alone in the aisle, everyone’s gaze involuntarily drifting toward him.
To outsiders, Jiang Chu wore an unapproachable expression on his face, but anyone looking at him up close would notice his pupils flickering slightly, his long eyelashes trembling, and his fair, tender earlobes flushed with pink.
He was too nervous, being watched by so many people.
Lowering his gaze to confirm his seat number on the boarding pass, Jiang Chu pressed his lips together lightly and stepped forward.
His thin lips were pressed into a straight line as Jiang Chu tightened his composure, trying to use cold indifference to mask his panic.
Jiang Chu lifted his over-ear headphones, hanging them around his slender neck. The headphones brushed a small lock of pink hair against the Omega’s jawline, which he tucked away with fair, slender fingers.
Raising his eyes, Du Jinchen caught sight of Jiang Chu’s hand. The long, crystal-white fingers were printed with a few pink butterflies, sparking Du Jinchen’s utmost interest. His gaze followed the Omega involuntarily, wanting to get a clear look at the butterfly pattern on the Omega’s hand.
Noticing Du Jinchen’s gaze, Jiang Chu met his eyes for a split second before averting his gaze, his heart fluttering.
Involuntary, Jiang Chu squeezed his fingers tighter, his fingertips clutching the backpack strap as he glanced back at his seat number, matched it with the cabin layout, and walked toward it.
Seeing the Omega walking toward his side, Du Jinchen watched the butterfly patterns on the back of his hand grow clearer, those few butterflies seeming to flutter gracefully around the Omega.
Du Jinchen thought to himself, with these butterflies vividly surrounding the Omega, could he possibly be prettier than flowers?
With that thought, Du Jinchen’s gaze drifted upward instinctively, feeling curiosity about an Omega’s appearance for the very first time.
The Omega was stunning. His delicate facial features looked as though they had been painstakingly crafted by a deity. His rounded almond eyes were partially veiled by stray locks of hair, yet nothing could hide the sparkling light within his pupils. It was clearly a pair of eyes that looked like they knew how to act spoiled, but the detached coolness hidden deep within his gaze when he lifted his eyes made those eyes appear a fraction colder.
Du Jinchen’s heartbeat skipped a beat with a dull thud, as if he had fallen right into those beautiful eyes. Watching Jiang Chu’s approaching footsteps, a voice welled up from the bottom of Du Jinchen’s heart: If only he could walk right over here.
As if hearing his inner voice, Jiang Chu walked over the very next moment.
“Excuse me, could you let me pass, please?”
A cool, refreshing voice, matching the Omega’s demeanor, rang in Du Jinchen’s ears. He snapped out of a momentary daze and replied, “Of course.”
Du Jinchen stood up to make space for Jiang Chu. Jiang Chu slipped past very carefully without brushing against him, moving as lightly as a cat, while a lock of pink-purple hair accidentally brushed against Du Jinchen’s wrist, leaving behind a soft sensation.
Just like a cat.
This was Du Jinchen’s second impression of Jiang Chu: deeply resembling a pampered, delicate little cat.
A clear, light scent of mint seemed to drift through the air, reminiscent of fresh snowflakes falling in a frozen world. Distinct from the chilly air conditioning inside the cabin, the scent smelled so pleasant that Du Jinchen couldn’t help taking another deep sniff.
Moments later, Du Jinchen’s peripheral vision swept across the back of Jiang Chu’s neck. The pink-purple hair covered a small patch of pristine white skin, and his slender neck was half-hidden beneath the collar of his hoodie, right near where a small patch of pheromone suppression patch was applied.
Du Jinchen suddenly realized that the wonderful scent was emitting from that very spot!
Du Jinchen’s ears flushed red, and his cheeks instantly turned burning hot. Feeling the heat surge upward in the cramped cabin, he pulled his jacket zipper down a bit, raised a hand into a fist near his mouth, and coughed lightly.
It smells so good.
Steadily gathering his wits, Du Jinchen tried hard to ignore the pheromones that were disturbing his peace of mind, pulled the seatbelt across, and fastened it.
Yet, after plugging it in several times, it failed to click into place. He lowered his gaze to look at the seatbelt in his hand, only to realize that the buckle in his right hand wasn’t his at all, but Jiang Chu’s.
Du Jinchen’s cheeks burned slightly. Intending to pretend nothing had happened and return the seatbelt, before he could pull his hand back, another pair of icy, soft hands pinned his down.
Jiang Chu had also just intended to fasten his seatbelt, only to find that his belt was held in Du Jinchen’s hand. His cold fingertips brushed against the warm back of Du Jinchen’s hand, feeling like touching a blazing heater.
Both of them froze slightly. Jiang Chu pulled his hand back as if electrocuted, raised his head, and locked eyes with Du Jinchen.
“Sorry,” Du Jinchen blurted out, “I accidentally grabbed the wrong one.”
The more Du Jinchen looked at Jiang Chu, the more he thought he looked like a cat. At this moment, Jiang Chu was looking up at him, his two amber pupils reflecting his entire silhouette. Upon hearing his apology, those rounded pupils could clearly be seen blinking twice.
In a daze, the scent of mint in the air seemed to grow even stronger.
Jiang Chu shook his head. “It’s fine.”
Du Jinchen handed the seatbelt buckle back to Jiang Chu. After fastening his own seatbelt, he finally redirected his attention back to the scent of pheromones lingering around his nose.
For some reason, Du Jinchen felt that these pheromones were making his whole body burn, causing his blood to boil and race as if searching for an outlet. His chest felt restless and constrained, unable to hold back a craving for more of this scent.
The Omega had a pheromone suppression patch stuck to the back of his neck, so why could he still smell these pheromones?
Could the suppression patch have failed?
Du Jinchen wanted to turn his head and ask Jiang Chu what was going on, but seeing Jiang Chu’s face out of the corner of his eye, he saw that Jiang Chu had already put on a black eye mask, and the oversized hoodie hood had pulled over half of his head, leaving only a small, sharply pointed chin exposed.
With no other choice, Du Jinchen turned to ask the older man sitting next to him: “Did you smell a hint of mint in the air?”
“Nope, little bro,” the man said in a local dialect, taking off his headphones and twisting the cord around his fingers. “What’s up? Is the cold air blowing from overhead making you uncomfortable? Do you want me to turn it off?”
“Nothing?” Du Jinchen asked. “Never mind, mister, I’m fine. Leave it on.”
Could this scent of pheromones be something only he could smell?