“I really am jealous.”
“Yan Chi, after you left that day, did you and Ji Yueting really just have a bowl of wontons?” Liu Muqing typed away on her keyboard, phone wedged between her shoulder and ear.
“Yeah.”
“You keep saying you’re just ‘friends’ now, but something about it feels off to me.”
Yan Chi sighed helplessly. “You ask me every day, and you still haven’t given up. What else could Ji Yueting and I be if not friends?”
Liu Muqing snorted. “Have you forgotten how he was in high school? He seemed to get along with everyone, but deep down? He’s got that young master temper.”
“Don’t say that. People can change.” Liu Muqing’s words easily triggered Yan Chi’s defensiveness.
“Stop defending him. Honestly, you’re just too naive. You’re quick to react to everything else, but when it comes to this, you’re really not good at it,” Liu Muqing shook her head. “I guarantee you, Ji Yueting is up to something. He’s being overly nice for no reason it’s definitely not simple.”
Yan Chi wanted to argue again.
But Liu Muqing immediately cut in. “Alright, I won’t chat with you anymore. Didn’t you say you have a shoot today? I’ve got to get back to coding. Bye!”
This girl Yan Chi shook his head and took the storyboard script handed to him by the planner.
The PlanB shoot was still at the same location as last time. After changing clothes, Yan Chi filmed a few scenes according to the storyboard requirements. The studio lights were so bright they were almost blinding, but the shoot went relatively smoothly. Still, it took nearly an hour and a half in total. By the time it was over, Yan Chi felt his vision blurring. He sat down and drank several sips of water before finally recovering.
“Teacher Yan, come take a look at the footage. A few shots might need to be retaken. Thanks for your hard work!” the photographer called out.
Holding his water bottle, Yan Chi walked over and reviewed all the clips, nodding. “Everything looks fine for now. Just point out which shots need to be retaken.”
Honestly, the atmosphere in all the clips was perfect. After all, fashion is mostly about the face, and with Yan Chi’s looks, the video couldn’t possibly turn out bad. But the photographer was a perfectionist and soon listed all the shots and details that needed attention.
With both sides cooperating, the shoot progressed quickly. Soon, the day’s tasks were almost complete, leaving only a few concept promotional posters.
“Teacher Yan, go change into another outfit later. We’ll also rearrange the lighting.”
Yan Chi gave an “okay” sign and took advantage of the break to slip away and check his messages.
Apart from the usual morning cat photo and “good morning” message, Ji Yueting hadn’t sent anything else today. Yan Chi opened the photo, zooming in and out, then tapped the keyboard to type something. After pondering for a while, he had just typed a single “you” when he heard an excited exclamation from behind.
“Florian? Is that really you?”
Yan Chi’s hand trembled, and he quickly turned off the screen.
He turned around and met a face he hadn’t seen in years but still recognized instantly, his eyes widening in surprise.
“Senior Chu?”
“It’s been a long time, Xiao Chi. I saw you from afar earlier but wasn’t sure. I just thought your back view looked familiar, but I didn’t want to disturb the shoot or embarrass myself if I was wrong.” Chu Yiming smiled brightly. “I never expected to run into you here. What a coincidence.”
“How did you end up back in the country? I thought you stayed in the U.S. after graduation?”
Chu Yiming was also a student of Grasse, one year senior to Yan Chi, and both were perfumers. Black hair and black eyes were not common in Grasse, and being in a foreign country, all Chinese people naturally stuck together. Although Yan Chi wasn’t particularly keen on socializing, Chu Yiming had taken good care of him during their time at school, so the two had a good relationship.
After graduation, Yan Chi chose to return to China, while Chu Yiming directly joined a well-known fragrance company. Counting the years, they hadn’t seen each other for quite some time.
Seeing Yan Chi’s confusion, Chu Yiming said sincerely, “I’ve hit a bottleneck with the new season’s fragrance, so I thought I’d travel around for inspiration. Many of my friends are in China, so I decided to take this opportunity to come back.”
“By the way, isn’t your studio also in this city? If it’s convenient, would you mind if I visited?” Although Chu Yiming had lived abroad for a long time, his Chinese was still very fluent, his eyes filled with eagerness.
“Of course, just send me a message. It’s rare for you to come back, so I should do my part as the host.” Yan Chi immediately sent him the location of his studio.
Chu Yiming’s gaze was entirely focused on Yan Chi. Before he could say anything else, a photographer shouted from the other end of the venue, “Teacher Yan, the lighting over here is set up!”
“Oh, am I interrupting your work?” Chu Yiming was tactful, not wanting to be a bother. “Let’s catch up later.”
During work hours, work came first. Yan Chi cheerfully said goodbye and headed back.
Chu Yiming seemed to say something behind him, but the venue was too noisy, and Yan Chi didn’t catch it. He turned and entered the dressing room, surrounded by the makeup artist and stylist, so he didn’t dwell on it further.
The outfit for the concept promotional photos was the same one previously given to Nie Tao, but the stylist found it unlucky. After learning that Yan Chi would also wear it, they waved it off and had a new one made with some minor adjustments.
The bright-eyed young girl, after showing Yan Chi how to put it on, left the dressing room and closed the door behind her.
Pulling the curtain shut, a few seconds later, Yan Chi found himself staring wide-eyed at the outfit in front of him.
He always dressed conservatively, wearing long-sleeved shirts even in the hottest summers, with buttons fastened all the way to the top. Now, suddenly faced with such a challenge wearing just a few pieces of fabric it felt quite daunting.
Well, who made him the boss? He’d just have to lead by example. Yan Chi resigned himself to his fate, took off his clothes, and started putting on the pieces.
The lower half of the outfit was fine, but the upper half was rather abstract, with almost the entire back exposed. Although the key areas were covered, Yan Chi was a traditionalist and felt as if he were exposed on all sides. His face in the mirror flushed slightly.
The top had no zipper, only a button at the nape of the neck. Yan Chi tried to fasten it with his hands behind his back but couldn’t manage it.
He leaned closer to the dressing mirror when suddenly, his phone rang. [Ji Yueting: I’m inside.]
“?”
Who’s inside? Inside where?
Before he could react, the dressing room door was pushed open, followed by the curtain being pulled aside. Yan Chi turned his head, his mind blank as he locked eyes with Ji Yueting.
“Ji Yueting?” Yan Chi stammered, speechless.
What was he doing here?
Yan Chi was too preoccupied with his confusion to realize how he appeared in the alpha’s eyes at that moment.
Ji Yueting’s gaze unconsciously darkened, sweeping with tangible weight across Yan Chi’s largely exposed back, the prominent shoulder blades, and the faintly visible tailbone. The gaze was too scorching; Yan Chi sensed it and turned away in embarrassment. So Ji Yueting lifted his head, staring at Yan Chi’s flushed earlobes.
The blatant, almost indecent stare perhaps driven by primal instinct sent a shiver down Yan Chi’s spine.
“Why aren’t you saying anything?” By now, he had no mind to wonder how Ji Yueting had come here, only feeling that the alpha’s mood was off, different from usual. “Ji Yueting?”
Instead of answering, Ji Yueting asked, “Can’t fasten the back clasp?”
Yan Chi was taken aback. “It’s a bit tricky. I should manage if I try again”
Ji Yueting had no intention of giving him that chance.
He stepped forward, gently tugging at Yan Chi’s waist, and said in a low voice, “Turn around. I’ll help you.”
Hearing this, Yan Chi instinctively turned around. From where he stood, a large full-length mirror was just to the side, allowing both of them to clearly see each other’s every move.
Ji Yueting stood behind him, very close.
As Yan Chi breathed, Ji Yueting gathered the two stray pieces of fabric at the nape of his neck, his knuckles brushing against the protruding spine. In the blink of an eye, the clasp was fastened.
After fastening it, Ji Yueting also looked into the mirror, catching Yan Chi’s gaze squarely.
“What are you looking at?”
Whether it was Ji Yueting’s overly warm hands or the breath that fell close when he leaned in, even without a scent gland, Yan Chi couldn’t help but tremble slightly.
“N-nothing, just looking around.”
Seeing this, Ji Yueting finally relaxed his expression and let out a soft chuckle.
That chuckle seemed like a switch. Yan Chi tentatively turned around. “What’s really going on with you?”
“I’m in a bad mood.”
“Why are you in a bad mood?”
Ji Yueting fell silent again. Yan Chi racked his brains and could only guess, “Did someone at the company upset you again?”
Ji Yueting neither confirmed nor denied it. Seeing he didn’t deny it, Yan Chi thought he had guessed right.
“When did you get here?” he asked again.
“When you were talking to that alpha,” Ji Yueting looked at him and asked, “Yan Chi, who is he?”
“An upperclassman from my time studying in France, surnamed Chu.”
“Mm, I see.”
“You see?” Yan Chi was puzzled.
Ji Yueting lowered his eyes. “I heard you call him ‘upperclassman’twice.”
“Did you invite him to your studio too? Will you go out to eat together, or perhaps blend scents together?” Ji Yueting looked straight into Yan Chi’s eyes, unwavering. “You hardly ever call me ‘upperclassman.'”
Yan Chi was left stunned by Ji Yueting.
The current Ji Yueting felt familiar to him, and that familiarity came from that period of rut.
During his rut, Ji Yueting had been like this sensitive, suspicious, alert to every little thing. A single phone call from an assistant could unsettle him and make him feel wronged. Recalling it now, Yan Chi found that version of Ji Yueting refreshing, even giving him a sense of being deeply needed and secure.
But he shouldn’t be having such illusions. The Ji Yueting before him couldn’t possibly be in rut, so he should be clear-headed and mature. Yet the words Ji Yueting spoke made it hard for Yan Chi not to confuse the two.
The alpha scent that had tightly enveloped him during rut now silently drew near again, asserting its presence and faintly carrying a hint of sourness?
Yan Chi didn’t know how to define it, afraid of reading too much into things. His lips moved slightly, but no words came out.
Ji Yueting, understanding and considerate, sensed his distress: “Yan Chi, don’t overthink it.
“I really am jealous.”
Yan Chi clenched his fist.
“Such things are fine between lovers,” Ji Yueting paused briefly, “and naturally, between friends too, right?”
Yan Chi still seemed a bit dazed.
“Will telling the truth scare you?” Ji Yueting lowered his head. “I have many flaws. You saw it during my last rut everything you witnessed was an amplified version of my true self. Possessiveness, territorial instincts, all the typical alpha bad habits I have them all. I’m no better than anyone else.”
The changing room was quiet. Outside, footsteps and voices passed by; inside, a beta and an alpha stood facing each other.
Yan Chi calmed down but disagreed: “Those aren’t necessarily bad habits. Don’t talk about yourself like that.”
How could traits arising from biological structure be called bad habits? The more candid Ji Yueting was, the more Yan Chi felt compelled to defend him.
“Really? You don’t mind?” Ji Yueting pressed further. “Like just now, when there were unfamiliar alphas around you, I felt jealous and wanted to drive them away. Seeing you treat others specially makes me uneasy. And there’s more besides. Even so, it’s still okay?”
Yan Chi thought carefully:
Unfamiliar alphas he hardly had any around him. Even if there were, it was only for work, so it didn’t matter. As for treating others specially. who could be more special than Ji Yueting? Finally, Ji Yueting mentioned there was more but didn’t elaborate, so Yan Chi assumed there wasn’t.
In summary, Ji Yueting’s so-called bad habits had no impact on him at all.
So he shook his head at Ji Yueting: “It’s fine. I don’t mind.”
Ji Yueting’s expression went blank for a brief moment, then quickly turned into a smile: “Then thank you, Teacher Xiao Chi. But I’m still a little unhappy right now. What should I do?”
“What do you want to do?” Yan Chi felt as if he had returned to his early childhood education career.
At that very moment, the minute and hour hands on the clock hanging on the back wall aligned perfectly.
Ji Yueting glanced at it, then looked back at Yan Chi’s earnest face. Cinderella had to flee at midnight, but his own midnight was enveloped in the gentle, pleasant scent of the person before him.
People could be spoiled, Ji Yueting firmly believed. He asked hoarsely, “Yan Chi, could you comfort me a little? I’m easy to please.”