Orange: “……”
Whether it was threats or temptation, this wasn’t a question of whether he could do it, nor was it a question of whether he wanted to.
It was a question of whether he could.
The suppressant had already been injected, and the whole process had been completed. If he bit him now, wouldn’t that be… going completely out of control and running wild?
All the rules and regulations from his health textbook crowded into his vision. Every question he had done and every answer he had chosen came pushing forward, holding the thread of his rationality together.
But the person whose consciousness was gradually becoming hazy refused to let up. He clutched Xiao Yan by the collar, his half-open eyes unbelievably beautiful. His expression and the words coming out of his mouth were both fierce, yet somehow he seemed to be acting spoiled.
And this wasn’t… really such an unreasonable request, was it?
He wasn’t exactly willing to hand Luo Zhiyu over to some other alpha to calm him down at a time like this, either.
After all, from a scientific perspective, there wasn’t any particularly clear boundary between the two of them. So where was the line to cross?
It made sense.
Xiao Yan convinced himself using Luo Zhiyu’s own logic.
The orange tree toppled over, and oranges came tumbling all over the floor.
“Little troublemaker, you’re the one who asked for this. Don’t regret it.”
Xiao Yan grabbed Luo Zhiyu’s wrists and pinned those restless hands against the sofa. Supporting Luo Zhiyu by the shoulder, he gently stroked his shoulder twice in what was meant to be comforting.
“It’s fine.”
The other person was incredibly generous.
“I’ve bitten you before, too. This is nothing. Who hasn’t done something stupid once or twice when they were young?”
Xiao Yan: “……”
Perhaps he shouldn’t have tried reasoning with the little troublemaker from the very beginning.
The long-missed scent of oranges filled the air. Luo Zhiyu seemed to feel somewhat better. He stopped tugging at Xiao Yan’s clothes and instead stared blankly ahead, as though he couldn’t quite remember where he was yet.
“I…”
Luo Zhiyu tried to reach for the glass of water on the table, but Xiao Yan stopped him and pressed him back down by the waist.
Whether he was afraid Luo Zhiyu would regret it or afraid that he himself would regret it, Xiao Yan didn’t hesitate any longer.
He held Luo Zhiyu in place, and his sharp teeth pierced the omega’s gland at the back of his neck. He felt Luo Zhiyu give a slight shiver.
The orange taught the unreasonable peach a lesson.
Luo Zhiyu’s eyes widened slightly. He weakly kicked Xiao Yan once, but couldn’t break free. It felt more like he had merely scratched the other man’s calf.
A temporary mark was indeed the process Xiao Yan had explained to him earlier while helping him with his homework. But actually going through with it wasn’t nearly as easy.
The moment his teeth pierced the gland, Luo Zhiyu’s entire body went limp. He could barely maintain a sitting position without Xiao Yan supporting him.
The invasion of alpha pheromones brought an unfamiliar shiver through him. His fingers dug into Xiao Yan’s wrist, leaving a tiny crescent-shaped mark right beside that “peach blossom.”
“Aren’t you done yet?”
Luo Zhiyu shifted restlessly. Because of the movement, a thin line of blood seeped from the back of his neck, and he flinched from the pain.
Xiao Yan released him and raised a hand to wipe away the trace of blood at the corner of his mouth. The tip of his tongue swept across his lip, taking away the crimson stain.
For some reason, Luo Zhiyu felt that Xiao Yan at this moment really had the air of the school heartthrob—
So captivating.
He attributed it to the immediate reaction caused by the temporary mark.
When Xiao Yan let go, Luo Zhiyu couldn’t support himself at all and simply collapsed onto the sofa. Lying on his side, he reached toward the back of his neck, covering the fleeting trace of tears at the corner of his cheek.
Xiao Yan stopped him. A medical alcohol swab gently wiped across the back of Luo Zhiyu’s neck.
The temporary mark had formed, and Luo Zhiyu’s heat was gradually being soothed. The peach pheromones filling the room had receded considerably, leaving behind only faint fruit scents intertwined in the air.
A feeling of unprecedented satisfaction swept through Xiao Yan’s heart almost the instant the temporary mark formed, closely intertwined with the selfish feelings he had for Luo Zhiyu that had nothing to do with pheromones.
If it really was related to pheromones, then was Luo Zhiyu, during this period of time, truly his, just as he had said?
An alpha’s temporary mark could soothe an omega’s emotions. Luo Zhiyu was no longer interested in peeling oranges. He leaned against a throw pillow with his eyes half closed, resting while ordering Xiao Yan around and making him bandage the wound on the back of his neck.
“So this is what a temporary mark is like.”
Luo Zhiyu lay on the sofa in the lounge, extremely sleepy.
“It’s kind of like… you’re hiding inside my heart.”
“……Then let me stay there.”
Xiao Yan said softly.
When Luo Zhiyu woke up, the moon had just climbed to the center of the night sky.
Xiao Yan was standing on the balcony outside the glass door, his back against the railing, his head lowered as though he were thinking about something.
His heat hadn’t passed, but all the uncomfortable sensations had disappeared.
Luo Zhiyu was clearheaded again.
Luo Zhiyu: “……”
From the scattered fragments of his memory, he seemed to have done quite a few disgraceful things.
He had forced Xiao Yan to give him a temporary mark.
Luo Zhiyu: “Heh.”
As for whether he had said anything else embarrassing, he couldn’t quite remember yet.
“Sleep well?”
Xiao Yan pushed the door open and walked inside. He was wearing his pair of non-prescription glasses, though Luo Zhiyu had no idea when he had put them on. He looked as though he were contemplating the meaning of life.
“What were you doing while I was asleep?”
Luo Zhiyu reached out and touched the gland at the back of his neck.
He was draped in his school uniform, while Xiao Yan was dressed formally for the banquet. Xiao Yan looked even more handsome like this than he normally did as the school heartthrob.
“Listening to you curse at Stinky Orange in your sleep.”
Xiao Yan knocked him lightly on the head, sounding rather annoyed.
“Let’s go. I’ll take you home. My family’s car is downstairs. These banquets go on until late, and they’ll be discussing business afterward. We’re both students. Don’t stay up with them.”
As the two of them went downstairs, Xiao Yan received a phone call from his mother.
“I’m heading home first,” Xiao Yan said. “Yeah, alone. The banquet’s boring. I want to get some rest early.”
As soon as Xiao Yan hung up, someone from Luo Zhiyu’s family called to ask where he was. Luo Zhiyu repeated exactly what Xiao Yan had just said, word for word.
The two people who had just finished making up excuses in the elevator had done something their parents knew nothing about not long ago.
They exchanged a smile, sharing a level of understanding they had never had before.
The elevator stopped on the first floor. As soon as the doors opened, Zhang Qi, the alpha who had spoken to Luo Zhiyu earlier, was standing outside.
His keen sense of smell caught the faint scent of pheromones.
“You two…”
He froze in place.
“What were you doing just now?”
“We high school students are going home to do our homework.”
Luo Zhiyu’s expression was so cold that it revealed nothing.
“Goodbye.”
Xiao Yan’s family driver had met Luo Zhiyu before. He was simply a little surprised to see Xiao Yan going home with Luo Zhiyu.
“Uncle, just pretend you didn’t see me today.”
The moment Luo Zhiyu got into the car, he spoke.
“You can’t let his mom know he was hanging out with me.”
Luo Zhiyu continued,
“Just pretend we’re not close. Brother Yan discovered his conscience and gave a schoolmate a ride home.”
The driver: “……”
Xiao Yan: “……”
“That little troublemaker Luo Zhiyu absolutely cannot corrupt our Xiao Yan.”
Luo Zhiyu pompously imitated a parent’s tone. Xiao Yan pinned him against the back seat and gave him a thorough ruffling.
“Ahhh! Don’t touch the back of my neck! Isn’t that what happened?”
“My mom never said that.”
Xiao Yan fastened Luo Zhiyu’s seat belt for him and moved his backpack aside.
“Though I bet you’ve said plenty of bad things about me at home.”
“I haven’t.”
The driver drove ahead while the two people trying to create an atmosphere of being completely unrelated chose to chat on WeChat instead—
[Not a Cicada]：QAQ My neck hurts a little. Are you alphas always this rough with your teeth?
[Orange Is Kind of Interesting]：You were the one moving around.
[Not a Cicada]：Was I? I don’t remember.
[Orange Is Kind of Interesting]：I should’ve recorded it.
[Not a Cicada]：You would record yourself giving me a temporary mark? You’re a pervert.
[Orange Is Kind of Interesting]：……I should’ve let you see how much of a little pervert you were acting like.
[Orange Is Kind of Interesting]：This time was an accident, understand?
[Not a Cicada]：Got it.
[Orange Is Kind of Interesting]：It’s fine. Unless there’s an alpha with highly compatible pheromones nearby, this usually won’t happen.
[Orange Is Kind of Interesting]：You’re not allowed to let another alpha give you a temporary mark, understand?
[Not a Cicada]：Got it. Only you can, because the two of us are absolutely pure.