The apartment had a two-bedroom, one-living-room layout. Judging by the interior design and furnishings, it was no different from an ordinary residential apartment and hardly resembled a dormitory at all. Most of the people living in this building were military officers, which was why they were provided with such accommodations.
Lu Heyang poured Xu Ze a glass of water and placed it on the coffee table.
“I already said that I didn’t need to be included in this round of medical examinations. I didn’t expect them to send you over this late at night anyway. Sorry to trouble you, Dr. Xu.”
“It’s all right. It’s my job.” Xu Ze forced himself to concentrate so that he wouldn’t say anything inappropriate. “It’s just a routine examination.”
“Then let’s get started. What do you need me to do?” Lu Heyang stood in front of Xu Ze, his head tilted slightly to one side. He looked relaxed and perfectly cooperative.
Xu Ze instinctively looked away. “Just sit on the sofa.”
Lu Heyang sat down. Xu Ze set down the medical kit and opened it, then pulled up the medical examination form and the external stethoscope software on the system. He stood beside Lu Heyang’s legs, put on the stethoscope, and then bent down to place the chest piece against Lu Heyang’s chest. As he listened, he watched the fluctuations on the screen.
Xu Ze had used a stethoscope on countless people. Some would lower their heads to watch his hands as they moved, some would look at the screen with him, and others would simply zone out. But very few people were like Lu Heyang, calmly and directly watching his profile from such close range.
Xu Ze was glad that he wasn’t the one being examined.
Time passed unusually slowly. When he silently counted to the final second, Xu Ze finally breathed a sigh of relief. He saved the data to the information system, removed the stethoscope and put it away, then went to open the collection tube packaging.
The packaging was usually easy to tear open, but this time, no matter how many times he tried, he couldn’t get it open. Xu Ze’s brows knitted together slightly. It wasn’t annoyance, but frustration with himself.
A hand reached over and took the collection tube from him. Lu Heyang tore open the packaging and handed it back to Xu Ze.
“Dr. Xu, don’t be upset.”
Xu Ze froze for a moment, then lowered his head to take out a cotton swab and explained, “I’m not upset.”
“I know,” Lu Heyang said.
“I need to collect a little pheromone.” Xu Ze closed the cotton swab container. Trying to sound as though he were simply asking about the physical condition of a patient undergoing a routine examination, he asked, “Are your glands and pheromones… both doing all right?”
“Fairly well.” Lu Heyang turned around, presenting his back to Xu Ze to make the procedure easier. “But I probably go through a rut once every three months.”
Xu Ze thought he had misheard. His entire body went still.
Cases of S-rank Alphas experiencing ruts were extremely rare. Because of his secondary gender differentiation, Xu Ze had experienced them many times himself. By now, the physical discomfort was no longer the main issue. The greatest inconvenience was how they interfered with his work. And Lu Heyang held such an important position—he could have been someone who never had to suffer the inconvenience of a rut at all.
When Xu Ze still hadn’t begun collecting the pheromone sample after a long pause, Lu Heyang turned his head slightly and reminded him, “Dr. Xu?”
Xu Ze murmured, “Mm.” He lowered his hand and relaxed his slightly trembling wrist for a few seconds before raising it again. He disinfected the skin over Lu Heyang’s gland with iodine tincture, then slowly pushed the needle in.
After collecting the pheromone sample, Xu Ze withdrew the needle and pressed a cotton swab against the puncture site on Lu Heyang’s gland.
The living room lights were set to a soft mode, not particularly bright. Xu Ze’s gaze slowly traveled over the contours of the muscles in Lu Heyang’s shoulders and back. He didn’t see any obvious scars.
It was true that Air Force personnel rarely got injured. An injury meant the fighter jet had already been damaged. It meant the pilot might lose the ability to continue operating the aircraft or even eject. To some extent, the moment a pilot was injured high in the sky, he had to be prepared to face death.
A dozen seconds later, Lu Heyang raised his hand. “I’ll hold it myself.”
His hand inevitably covered the back of Xu Ze’s. It looked at least a size larger, large enough to completely envelop Xu Ze’s hand. When the calluses on Lu Heyang’s palm brushed against him, Xu Ze felt an itchy, tingling sensation on his skin. Somewhat awkwardly, he withdrew his hand and went to put away the collection tube. Then he crouched beside the coffee table, lowered his head, and wrote two characters on the label.
“Colonel?” Only after Xu Ze had stuck the label onto the collection tube did Lu Heyang speak. “I remember telling you my name before.”
“It’s just a temporary marking,” Xu Ze explained. “After I get back, it’ll be entered into the system together with the other samples, and a unique identification code will be generated and attached to it to prevent names from being exposed.”
As he answered, Xu Ze still hadn’t stood up. Lu Heyang’s knee was right beside his shoulder, making it seem as though he were crouching at Lu Heyang’s feet. Xu Ze explained very seriously and in great detail, as if he were worried that Lu Heyang might be displeased.
Lu Heyang looked down at him and told him, “I’m not angry.”
Xu Ze paused, looked up at Lu Heyang, then quickly turned away again. “I know.”
“When did Dr. Xu start wearing glasses?” Lu Heyang suddenly asked.
“In high school… during my senior year.” Xu Ze pushed his glasses up.
His very first pair of glasses had been a gift from Lu Heyang.
Lu Heyang threw the cotton swab into the trash can. “Can I have a look at your glasses?”
Xu Ze nodded, not even considering what there was to look at. He took off his glasses and handed them up to Lu Heyang.
His myopia wasn’t particularly severe, and he could still get around normally without his glasses from time to time. But the moment he took them off, his eyes narrowed slightly as they struggled to adjust. The light was broken into countless fragments by his eyelashes. He felt as though Lu Heyang was looking at his glasses, yet also somehow looking at him, giving him the illusion that their eyes were meeting.
By the time Xu Ze’s vision had adjusted, Lu Heyang had returned the glasses to him. Xu Ze put them back on and stood up.
It was time to leave. Xu Ze packed up his things. After hesitating for a moment, he asked, “What do you usually do when you’re going through a rut?”
He wasn’t a doctor assigned to the military district, so perhaps it wasn’t an appropriate question. But Xu Ze still asked.
However, Lu Heyang seemed rather interested in the way he had addressed him as “you” so formally. He smiled and asked, “Aren’t we the same age?”
“Yes.” Xu Ze thought for a moment. “But you’re my superior.”
“Back in high school, you were He Wei’s deskmate.” Lu Heyang rested both hands on the edge of the sofa and tilted his head up slightly to look at Xu Ze. “We must have talked before, right?”
Xu Ze looked at the medical kit on the coffee table. He suddenly wished that He Wei had never mentioned him to Lu Heyang. Then they could have become complete strangers, with no knowledge of each other whatsoever. Instead, now, to Lu Heyang, he was merely an alumnus from high school whose face and name were both rather vague.
“We talked a little,” Xu Ze answered. He couldn’t bring himself to lie about their past and pretend they had never had any connection.
Lu Heyang nodded. “Sorry. My memory isn’t very good.”
Xu Ze closed the medical kit and suddenly gave a very faint smile, one that was difficult to describe, carrying both a hint of regret and a distant, absentminded quality.
“Mm. Your memory isn’t very good.”
The living room fell quiet. Realizing that he had said something strange, Xu Ze stood frozen for a moment before saying, “Please get some rest early. I’ll be leaving now.”
Lu Heyang didn’t answer. He stood up instead. There was only a little over half a meter between the sofa and the coffee table, making the space feel somewhat cramped with two adult Alphas standing in it. Xu Ze could clearly feel the heat radiating from Lu Heyang. He instinctively stepped backward, but the back of his lower leg immediately bumped against the edge of the coffee table.
“Would you like some water?” Lu Heyang picked up the glass on the coffee table.
It was phrased as a question, but Xu Ze reacted as though he were obeying some kind of request or command. After a brief hesitation, he took the glass and said, “All right.”
As Xu Ze tilted his head back to drink, his eyelashes naturally lowered, casting two fine shadows beneath his eyes. He seemed genuinely thirsty. His lips rested against the rim of the glass as he drank more than half of the water in one go. His Adam’s apple bobbed, accompanied by the faint sound of swallowing.
“Thank you.” He was speaking to Lu Heyang, but Xu Ze didn’t look at him. He licked his moist lips and placed the glass back on the coffee table.
He didn’t know where to direct his gaze, so he could only look out toward the balcony. He could see the top of a lush tree, its branches and leaves swaying. It reminded him of his old house. There had been a tree just like this outside that little room.
He had already adjusted his wristband to its highest setting before entering the room, but Xu Ze could still smell Lu Heyang’s pheromones. They were very faint, but enough to bring countless memories flooding back.
Lu Heyang’s face, his body, his eyes—every feature that made up the man had always remained vivid and deeply etched in Xu Ze’s mind. But only when he caught the distinctive scent that belonged to him did all those scenes become complete: that summer filled with nighttime thunderstorms, afternoon sunlight, white gardenias, and the sound of a heart pounding with excitement.
Lu Heyang didn’t say, “You’re welcome.” Just as Xu Ze’s thoughts wandered, he asked, “Dr. Xu, would you mind if I smelled your neck?”
The habit of never refusing Lu Heyang, and never questioning his intentions, had never changed, even now. So much so that Xu Ze instinctively nodded in agreement before he had even thought it through.
“I don’t mind.”
They were standing very close. Lu Heyang could reach Xu Ze with just a lift of his hand. He gently pressed a hand against the side of Xu Ze’s neck, lowered his head, and brought the tip of his nose close to the area at the back of Xu Ze’s neck near his gland.
His warm breath brushed against Xu Ze’s skin. Xu Ze’s shoulders suddenly tensed, and he stared blankly straight ahead, his eyes widening. This gesture was far too familiar to him. It was like the way they used to kiss.
The contact lasted only a very short time. Lu Heyang straightened up and lowered the hand resting beside Xu Ze’s neck. He stepped to the right, moving a full step away to a normal social distance. Xu Ze, however, remained standing motionless where he was. The light fell on him, and his white coat made his hair appear unusually black. A more pronounced flush showed beneath his fair skin than before.
“Ruts are generally managed with suppressants and certain special medications.” Lu Heyang only now answered Xu Ze’s earlier question. Then he said, “You’ve worked hard today, Dr. Xu.”
Xu Ze’s gaze shifted. It took him a moment to react. He bent down, picked up the medical kit, and said softly, “It’s no trouble.”
“Did the sergeant first class who came in with you arrange a vehicle to take you back to the dormitory?” Lu Heyang walked past Xu Ze into the room to retrieve the black T-shirt he had taken off earlier and put it back on.
They had passed the medical staff dormitory on the way here. Xu Ze estimated that walking there from this building would take about five minutes—a very short distance. He gave an ambiguous “Mm,” without mentioning that he intended to walk back later.
Lu Heyang came out of the room. Whether he hadn’t heard him or for some other reason, he looked directly into Xu Ze’s eyes.
“Dr. Xu?”
Under that gaze, Xu Ze could no longer give an evasive answer. He avoided Lu Heyang’s eyes and said, “It’s only a few minutes on foot. I’ll be there soon.”
Lu Heyang said nothing. He walked across the living room and opened the door. Xu Ze immediately walked out on his own.
After stepping outside, he couldn’t help turning around for one last look. He had thought he would see only the door about to close, but unexpectedly, Lu Heyang was right behind him.
“I can go downstairs by myself,” Xu Ze said.
“Really?” Lu Heyang asked.
“Mm.” Xu Ze nodded.
“But the elevator requires a fingerprint to operate,” Lu Heyang kindly informed him.
“…All right.”
After the fingerprint scan, Lu Heyang selected the first floor for Xu Ze. Then he stepped out of the elevator and stood facing him. Xu Ze held the medical kit. He probably wouldn’t have many opportunities to see Lu Heyang again after this. He actually wanted to say something, but the things he most wanted to say were all unsuitable to say to the Lu Heyang standing before him.
Xu Ze suddenly raised his head and looked straight into Lu Heyang’s eyes for a moment. Then his gaze fell back to the floor.
The elevator doors slowly closed. Xu Ze heard Lu Heyang say, “Dr. Xu, see you next time.”
Xu Ze wanted to answer, “All right,” but the doors had completely shut before he could open his mouth.
After leaving the residential building, he had been walking for less than half a minute when a military vehicle approached from behind and stopped beside him.
“Dr. Xu, I’ll take you back to the dormitory.”
The soldier was a stranger. Since the vehicle had already pulled up beside him, refusing would only waste time. Xu Ze said, “Thank you,” and got into the car. He didn’t ask whose orders the soldier was following in coming to pick him up. Most likely, it was the sergeant first class who had escorted him earlier.
Lu Heyang returned to his apartment and heard his phone ringing. He searched around the living room for a while before finding it. Since he usually only used his military communications device, his phone had practically been left unused.
“Hello?”
“Did I hear that wrong? Has Colonel Lu’s phone finally become reachable?”
Lu Heyang smiled. With one hand, he pulled off his T-shirt and tossed it into the laundry basket. “I don’t think you heard wrong, Officer He.”
“It’s already been three hours since I returned to the capital. I’m very puzzled. Why hasn’t Colonel Lu come to welcome me back yet?”
“I’ve been a little busy these past two days. How about Thursday?”
“Great. Please have Colonel Lu fly a helicopter over to pick me up.”
“Sure.”