When Song Qi arrived at the manor, Fu Yu was smoking in the first-floor living room.
Song Qi, one hand tucked into the pocket of his white coat, waved the maid who had been guiding him away. He walked straight up to Fu Yu and plopped down on the sofa. “Are you always like this now?” he asked, gesturing to the cigarette. “Smoking day and night.”
Fu Yu crushed the cigarette butt into the ashtray. “He’s had no appetite lately. I’ve tried everything to get him to eat, but he just can’t keep anything down. Tonight, I watched him struggle through half a bowl of millet porridge, and he barely took ten bites of the side dishes. I thought it was because of me, but the butler said he ate the same way when I was away.”
Song Qi had only softened his tone and made small talk because he felt a momentary pang of pity seeing Fu Yu smoke so miserably. He hadn’t expected Fu Yu to be so ungrateful, ignoring the pleasantries and cutting straight to the point.
Song Qi’s initial annoyance flared, and he was tempted to mock him: Oh, so you’re worried now? Wasn’t it your torment that drove him to this state in the first place?
But then he saw the dark circles under Fu Yu’s eyes and fell silent. Such profound exhaustion couldn’t be faked. It was the kind of fatigue that only came from true sleeplessness, from tossing and turning all night. Especially for a top-tier Alpha like Fu Yu.
For once, Song Qi didn’t offer a sarcastic retort. “I understand,” he said. “Take me to see him.”
He adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses. “I’ll collect some of his pheromones to analyze his emotional state. I brought a portable analyzer; it’s not high-precision, but it can give us a general idea.”
Ruan Luo was deeply unconscious, sedated by the clornitrazepam. He didn’t stir as Fu Yu sat by his bed.
Yet his sleep was far from peaceful. He tossed and turned, perhaps trapped in a nightmare. His breathing was ragged, the stray hairs on his forehead clung to his skin with sweat, and a persistent dampness lingered at the corners of his eyes, refusing to be wiped away.
Fu Yu took a silk handkerchief from his suit pocket and gently dabbed the cold sweat from Ruan Luo’s forehead and the tip of his nose. Then, he used his thumb to softly wipe the corners of Ruan Luo’s eyes. “His defenses are so high,” he murmured. “He even wears a suppression patch while he sleeps.”
Song Qi glanced at Fu Yu and reached toward Ruan Luo’s neck.
Fu Yu’s hand shot out, clamping Song Qi’s wrist and seizing the small cotton swab from his grip. “I’ll do it. I’ve got this.”
Song Qi shrugged and stepped back from the bed.
Pheromone sampling was a simple process: just place a cotton swab soaked in a special solution on the gland for one minute.
The gland was one of an Omega’s most sensitive areas.
Even though Ruan Luo was deeply unconscious, Fu Yu was still extremely careful. Yet, the moment the cotton swab touched the gland, Ruan Luo’s body began to tremble unconsciously.
Cold sweat, which Fu Yu had just wiped away, broke out again. A low, kitten-like whimper escaped his throat.
“Shh… be good…” Fu Yu’s back stiffened instantly. He kept his voice incredibly soft, one hand gently cupping Ruan Luo’s face to prevent the cotton swab from harming the gland as he unconsciously struggled and shook his head. “It’s okay. Go back to sleep.”
He handed the cotton swab to Song Qi, reapplied a suppression patch to Ruan Luo, gently lowered him back down, and tucked the blanket around him.
But because the patch had just been removed, the room was now filled with the scent of white tea pheromones.
The sample needed to be analyzed by a portable device, which would take some time.
Fu Yu led Song Qi to the study to continue his follow-up examination.
As they left the room, Fu Yu didn’t notice his hand linger on the door handle as he closed it. He unconsciously caught the faint, lingering scent of white tea in the air and took a deep, gentle breath.
Fifteen minutes later, Song Qi stared at the instrument panel and said, “The emotional temperature of the pheromones is only about 3 degrees. If it drops any lower, it’ll freeze. The pheromone health index is still low. But what’s strange is that the pheromones have actually resolved into a color.”
“A color?”
“Yes. In a normal environment, an Omega’s pheromones are transparent or pale white. But Ruan Luo’s pheromones are a pale pink.” Song Qi glanced at Fu Yu with a complicated expression. “To be honest, I’m quite surprised to detect this color in Ruan Luo’s pheromones. Because this color usually appears in the pheromones of Omegas who are emotionally happy. Whether it’s familial love, friendship, or romantic love, when an Omega is able to secrete pink pheromones, they must be experiencing this kind of happiness. But the standard color for this is a true pink. Ruan Luo’s is leaning towards white; you wouldn’t even notice it without looking closely, and it’s even only semi-transparent… But this is enough to prove that being by your side, he may have gained some emotional dependence…”
Song Qi pushed up his glasses. “You said some of his actions triggered a stress response in him, but after the emergency passed, he resisted his body’s rejection of you and pressed closer into your arms… I’ve found the reason for this.”
“What is it?”
Song Qi tapped the floor-to-ceiling window with his finger, as if to confirm whether he himself was also dreaming. “There’s a phenomenon in psychology called imprinting. Suppose a newly hatched duckling identifies its caregiver; then, even if it knows its caregiver is dangerous, it will still choose to rely on them. Even if its caregiver will kill it.”
Fu Yu had smoked three cigarettes in a row. He listened intently, but by this point, his mind began to wander. He said nothing, and Song Qi had no idea what was going through his head.
After a long pause, Song Qi pushed up his glasses. “As long as you know the reason… The rest is just that his pheromone concentration is slightly high, accompanied by characteristic hormones.”
Song Qi curved his lips into a smile and sighed softly. “Fu Yu, his heat is coming soon.”
Fu Yu asked in a low voice, “What do you suggest I do?”
Song Qi straightened his posture, hands in his pockets. “Anyway, he can’t take any more inhibitors.”
Song Qi walked toward the floor-to-ceiling window, observing Fu Yu through the dim reflection on the glass. “If he takes any more inhibitors, he’ll die. But he can’t go without them either—it’s very difficult for an Omega to get through heat alone. You have no choice.”
Song Qi stared at Fu Yu for a moment, his expression turning strange. “Fu Yu. Have you really never marked him before? Sometimes I truly don’t understand what you’re pretending to be. You’ve already…”
After a pause, Song Qi said, “…You’re not acting like yourself.”
Fu Yu snapped in a low voice, “Stop judging me. Song Qi, the Fu Yu from these past three years—that wasn’t the real me.”
Song Qi’s lips twitched, as if he wanted to say something, but he felt a strange sense of dread.
He put away his equipment. “These are the re-examination results. His emotional state hasn’t improved, but fortunately, he’s developed a damn imprinting on you. Also, his heat is coming up, so keep an eye out.”
He paused at the door. “Whether it’s dissociative disorder or depression, both are incredibly difficult to deal with. Having one is a nightmare; having both… Fu Yu, please keep caring for him. We’ll just take it one step at a time. I need you to collect a pheromone sample from Ruan Luo every week and send it to me. My team and I will do everything we can medically. I wish you luck.”
After Song Qi left, Fu Yu didn’t sleep all night. He stood by the floor-to-ceiling window and smoked half a pack of cigarettes.
As dawn broke, he showered, brushed his teeth, and changed into a fresh set of clothes that didn’t smell of smoke. Then, he tiptoed to Ruan Luo’s room. He had promised Ruan Luo last night.
That this morning, the first thing Ruan Luo would see upon waking up would be him.