The scene was truly something to behold.
The desolate-backed Ji Qiu began a game of “Qin King Chasing the Column” with the grudgingly aggrieved Liang Yan.
“Yan Yan, listen to me! Let me explain!”
“…”
“Yan Yan! Don’t act rashly! Anger is bad for you!”
“Shut up.”
“Before defining something, we need to approach it from all perspectives…”
“All perspectives?”
“Yes, yes!”
“And what perspectives would those be?”
“All perspectives! Every angle!”
“For example, good big brother?”
“…”
“Good sister?”
“…”
“Rich and sweet pheromones?”
“…”
“Trouble magnet?”
“…”
In this dramatic round of “Qin King Chasing the Column,” the climax was Ji Qiu nearly dropping to his knees to clutch Liang Yan’s leg, shouting for mercy like a desperate child begging their father.
“Yan Yan!!! Yan Yan, I was wrong!!!”
“Life is like a play; we met because of fate!!!”
“When others get mad, you stay calm! Stress causes illness, and no one else will bear it for you, Yan Yan!!!”
“Yan Yan! Please say something! I know I was wrong! I promise I won’t lie to you anymore!!”
“Good big brother, that’s me! Good sister, also me! I’m not a trouble magnet! I’m just a little brother!!!”
Liang Yan, bombarded by Ji Qiu’s loud whining, felt his eardrums ache but fortunately hadn’t lost all sense of reason. “Just… go treat your wound first.”
He stepped forward to hold the umbrella for Ji Qiu.
But as Liang Yan approached, Ji Qiu let out an involuntary “Eek!” and shrank back instinctively.
Liang Yan’s hand paused mid-air. His icy glare swept over Ji Qiu. “Still acting?”
Ji Qiu swallowed the rest of his performance and, looking thoroughly pitiful, muttered, “No.”
In the late autumn rainstorm on a university campus, the road to the campus clinic was particularly desolate.
Yet, some students still happened upon the following scene:
A cool and composed Omega holding an umbrella, concern etched on his face, trying to shield his injured companion with the small umbrella as best he could.
The other Omega, clearly trying to avoid trouble, occasionally looked up to check if his partner was getting wet. The atmosphere between them seemed harmonious.
The two Omegas appeared to be whispering softly to one another as they walked toward the campus clinic together.
Elegant, warm, and peaceful.
Onlookers who recognized them couldn’t help but admire the serene bond of sisterhood between the two Omegas.
…Of course, that’s because they couldn’t hear what was being drowned out by the rain:
“—Walk properly.”
“—Walk in a straight line.”
“—Why are you trembling?”
“—Stop squeaking.”
“—Don’t turn your head, don’t look at me.”
“—Stand up straight!”
“—Still pretending?!”
Meanwhile, poor Ji Qiu trailed pitifully behind, replying only with a series of meek “No,” “It’s not,” or “I don’t want to.”
He was having a tough time.
When they reached the campus clinic, the sound of the rain drowned out their knocks on the door. After receiving no response, Liang Yan turned the knob and entered directly.
The on-duty doctor at the clinic, a Beta, had assumed no one would visit in such weather and was dozing off on a sofa. Startled to see the dean’s son walk in, the doctor quickly straightened up, nervously asking, “What’s the matter?”
Liang Yan pointed at Ji Qiu, whose arm was still bleeding profusely. “Bandage him up.”
Then he pulled out a chair, sat down, and said nothing further.
The pheromones in the air made him uneasy.
It wasn’t that they were bad, but rather… they were too in sync, making him feel somewhat anxious.
If there were any more of it, he wasn’t sure if he could keep his cold expression.
Ji Qiu, after all, was a well-known Omega on campus, and the campus doctor had seen him before. After Liang Yan and Ji Qiu walked in, Liang Yan hadn’t said a word, and Ji Qiu had been unusually obedient, doing exactly what Liang Yan said without any resistance.
The doctor, who couldn’t smell the pheromones, muttered to himself, “No wonder he’s the dean’s son; he really has a presence.”
The doctor worked quickly, and before long, Ji Qiu’s hand was bandaged. After giving a few instructions, he went downstairs to fetch some medication.
When the doctor returned, he thought for a moment and then suggested, “Why don’t you two rest in the next room for a while? The rain has gotten much heavier. Even if you have an umbrella, you’ll still get wet when you go out. Ji Qiu’s hand is freshly bandaged, so it’s better to wait a bit.”
“Okay,” Liang Yan nodded. “You go ahead and get busy, we’ll just sit next door and wait until the rain calms down.”
“Alright.”
As the doctor nodded, Liang Yan swiftly stood up, gesturing toward Ji Qiu’s freshly bandaged hand as he headed toward the adjacent room.
Ji Qiu reluctantly got up and followed behind.
The doctor couldn’t shake the feeling that Liang Yan might have wanted to grab Ji Qiu by the collar and toss him into the next room, but was just too lazy to do it.
The dean’s son really lived up to the reputation.
But the young campus doctor, who occasionally browsed the school website, was puzzled. Weren’t these two supposed to be the best of friends?
The next room was very quiet. Liang Yan turned on the light, closed the door, and then sat down with his arms crossed.
“Come on, let’s get started,” he said coldly.
“Slow down.” Liang Yan leaned back in his chair, looking relaxed. “Speak one by one and be clear about everything.”
“I…” Ji Qiu opened his mouth but stopped himself.
Liang Yan didn’t rush him; he was waiting for an explanation.
“How about this,” Liang Yan picked up a nearby stethoscope, fiddling with it absentmindedly, “Let me ask?”
“—Why did you mark me?”
Ji Qiu didn’t expect such a direct question and tried to struggle for a last chance. “I, I…”
“You?”
Liang Yan casually played with the stethoscope, the chest piece tapping rhythmically against his palm. His expression remained unreadable, and with his other hand, he tugged at the rubber tubing, the motion leisurely but with an underlying hint of something else.
“Don’t hit me! Don’t hit me!!!” Ji Qiu shielded his forehead with both hands, shouting, “You said you didn’t mind!!!”
“…Hmm?”
Ji Qiu bent his elbows to cover his ears, as if afraid that if he spoke too slowly, Liang Yan might act. He quickly added, “I had my reasons!! And last time, when I texted you, you said you wouldn’t mind me lying to you!!”
“Oh.” Liang Yan thought for a moment. “I think that’s true.”
Ji Qiu looked fearfully at the stethoscope in Liang Yan’s hand, worried that in the next second, he’d be the helpless lamb and the stethoscope would become a whip, striking him mercilessly.
Liang Yan, now sitting properly, tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Maybe you should take a look at the chat records again.”
Ji Qiu was confused. “?”
“You asked me if I’d be angry and whether I’d forgive someone who accidentally lied to me.”
Ji Qiu, feeling as if he’d been pardoned, seized the critical point. “Yes! You said you wouldn’t!”
“Yeah,” Liang Yan offered a new interpretation, “I meant I would be angry, and I wouldn’t forgive.”
Ji Qiu: “…………QAQ”
Chinese characters truly are profound.
Five minutes later, Ji Qiu finally surrendered under Liang Yan’s cold gaze.
“Fine, I can say part of it, but there’s some stuff I can’t explain right now.” Ji Qiu relaxed, lowered his voice, and no longer spoke with the usual feigned sweetness. His tone was much more measured, and when he spoke again, Liang Yan was momentarily surprised.
The other’s voice was deeper, his behavior more composed. Liang Yan suddenly realized that everything about the other person’s voice had been an act. If Ji Qiu had spoken like this from the start, even without showing his ID card, no one would have guessed he was an Omega.
“My ID card says Omega,” Ji Qiu said. “I guess I found a loophole.”
“As for the pheromones, I won’t hide it anymore. You’ve already smelled it—those sweet ones are fake. My real pheromones… probably don’t smell very pleasant.”
Liang Yan frowned.
Actually, Ji Qiu’s pheromones weren’t entirely rosemary. There was a unique spicy note to them, mixed with a faint herbaceous scent.
But now wasn’t the time to discuss that.
“Originally, when I saw you for the first time in the laboratory building, it was really just a coincidence. I was about to leave the room, and then you came in. I couldn’t just stand by and watch you get bullied by another Alpha… so I released just a little bit of pheromones. I hope it didn’t make you uncomfortable at that time.”
Right, at that time, after releasing the pheromones, this person didn’t forget to add some fake scent, then pretended to be a frightened little lamb after Zhou Jiapeng left.
Thinking about this person’s exaggerated acting skills, Liang Yan didn’t want to say much, just nodded for him to continue.
“Later… about the incident in the anatomy building, it wasn’t a coincidence. After leaving the hospital, I kept feeling something was off. I was worried you’d be too kind and agree to go, so I followed you.” Ji Qiu stretched his legs out, resting his head on the back of the chair, staring at the pale ceiling and the chandelier. “But I was careless, I even forgot my phone, and that’s why it took so long to open the door.”
Liang Yan recalled something and carefully asked, “I think I was asleep at that time… but later, I sensed a pheromone scent, was that you?”
Ji Qiu was silent for a moment before nodding, “Yes.”
Liang Yan felt a bit complicated. The fact that he had been marked without his consent was certainly not something he could forgive easily, but aside from that, Ji Qiu, as an Omega… no, as an Alpha, his actions had been quite measured.
He remembered the first time in the bathroom when he couldn’t even control his own pheromones, and Ji Qiu had been a bit flustered, not daring to touch him. He must have been afraid of something going wrong.
“But…” Liang Yan hesitated for a second before he couldn’t hold back, “What’s with you constantly boosting your own image?”
“Uh…” Ji Qiu coughed awkwardly a couple of times, then started fidgeting again, “Well, I… I just wanted to distract you, so you wouldn’t doubt me…”
“Stop acting.” Liang Yan gave him a sideways glance. Ji Qiu had already started to twist his fingers, and if he didn’t stop him now, Ji Qiu’s theatrics would start again. “No one’s here to play along with you.”
“Okay.” Ji Qiu bit back his tears.
Fortunately, Liang Yan didn’t push the issue further, as even he felt embarrassed thinking back to it.
Outside, the heavy rain seemed to have lessened, and the sound of water dripping from the roof became clearer.
Neither of them spoke at that moment, and after Ji Qiu counted the tenth drop of water hitting the ground, he tucked his long legs in and stood up.
“I know what I did was a bit too much, but I don’t want to reveal my secondary gender just yet. If… if you don’t hate me that much, I selfishly hope you can keep this secret for me, just for now.”
Ji Qiu walked in front of Liang Yan and spoke.
Liang Yan looked up at him. Perhaps due to the angle, as he sat in the chair and Ji Qiu stood in front of him, the harsh white light only outlined his figure before being blocked. With his head lowered, Ji Qiu looked unusually tall, exuding a natural Alpha’s oppressive presence.
Strange.
Why had he never felt this way before?
However, Ji Qiu did nothing else. He simply bowed deeply to Liang Yan. “As for the marking… it was impulsive. I didn’t have the suppressants at the time, and I had other intentions, so I…”
“Anyway, I am really sorry.” Ji Qiu continued, “If there’s anything you’re dissatisfied with, you can tell me. I’ll take responsibility.”
Liang Yan pursed his lips, instinctively feeling that this wasn’t right.
“You… stay away from me for now.”
Ji Qiu was momentarily stunned, but quickly stepped back as requested.
“I had already asked my roommate to bring me suppressants, and it was you who took advantage of the situation,” Liang Yan tried to push away the strange feelings he had during the marking. “I don’t have a reason to forgive you.”
“But one thing… how did you know the password to that classroom?”
At this point, Ji Qiu wasn’t very surprised, but after a long pause, he spoke again. “The classroom password… was something Dean Liang told me a couple of times when we were in the laboratory.”
Liang Yan nodded in understanding. “Did my dad say that he thought I was too solitary, and since you happen to be an Omega, you could come and be friends with me?”
Ji Qiu didn’t deny it. That was how he had gotten the password to the classroom.
But he wasn’t an Omega.
In the end, he was just a liar.
“I…” Ji Qiu steadied himself as if making a decision. “The reason I chose to impulsively mark you was because…”
“I didn’t want to see you using KB suppressants. Three doses at once—it’s too much.”
Scenes that were almost forgotten flashed before his eyes. Ji Qiu gritted his teeth. “The side effects from three doses are huge, what if… what if…”
“It was my fault, but if something like that happens again, I can’t guarantee I won’t mark you.”
“I’m sorry, I know saying this is really excessive. I controlled the amount of pheromones I released, and I can go with you to the hospital to check our compatibility, or any value you want to check, I…” but I really don’t want to see the pain on your face when you suffer from side effects.
“Enough.” Liang Yan interrupted him. “You don’t need to explain.”
Compatibility, synchronization…
At the time, the pheromones he couldn’t control had already put the facts right before him.
But of course, Liang Yan couldn’t say it all out loud. He turned his head without looking at Ji Qiu. “I’ll help you keep it a secret. As for the other things… we’ll talk about it later.”
Because even he himself hadn’t figured out how he would face this fake Omega.
Liang Yan stood up and glanced at the window, saying, “The rain has stopped. We should go.”
His heart felt like a tangled mess, and he realized that, even when the answers were unclear, he had never been this indecisive.
Just as he was about to open the door, he suddenly felt a heaviness beneath his feet.
Just now, Ji Qiu, who was a head taller than him and gave off a strong sense of pressure, suddenly disappeared.
???
Before Liang Yan could react, he heard a sound coming from below.
Ji Qiu swiftly hugged his own thigh, raising his voice and returning to the exaggerated tone he had used earlier while pretending to be an Omega: “Thank you, Yanyan, for your great generosity! Wuwuwu!! I, Xin A, swear I’ll never mark anyone else again! Please forgive me, Yanyan! I was wrong!!”
“……”
Liang Yan kicked his leg. Great, he was holding on tight.
And he even used the word “wrong” now.
“Get up.” Liang Yan stared at Ji Qiu’s round head, imagining what kind of flower his fist would bloom if it landed there.
Ji Qiu continued hugging Liang Yan’s leg: “Wuwuwu Yanyan! You’re electricity! You’re light! You’re!”
“Shut up.”
Seems like he was overthinking it.
Liang Yan thought.
An idiot is still an idiot.
After successfully performing his crying act of hugging Liang Yan’s leg without a stage, Ji Qiu looked up at Liang Yan: “QAQ.”
“By the way,” Liang Yan said, “Don’t spray that sweet fake pheromone of yours anymore.”
“Ah?” Ji Qiu hadn’t expected the topic to change so quickly. “Oh, okay.”
“Your pheromones… they’re not unpleasant,” Liang Yan said, putting his hand on the doorknob.
“Wuwuwu okay, Yanyan!”
“Get up,” Liang Yan said expressionlessly, “We have a surgical practice tomorrow, and I still haven’t written my pre-report. I’m leaving.”
“Oh, okay,” Ji Qiu let go of him without hesitation, adding obediently, “Can I still come to audit the class?”
Liang Yan raised an eyebrow. “The classroom isn’t mine, do whatever you want.”
Ji Qiu didn’t expect hugging his leg to be so effective, and Liang Yan was so easy to talk to. “Got it! What’s tomorrow’s surgery practice? I’ll go prepare too.”
Liang Yan thought for a moment. “Nothing much, just practicing sutures and knots. You don’t need to prepare; I have some extras.”
He had already handed out various types of needles and sutures in the last class, and since he didn’t know Ji Qiu was an Alpha back then, he had worried that Ji Qiu might want to audit the class and had prepared an extra set for him as well.
Ji Qiu’s eyes shimmered with tears of gratitude: “Yanyan…”
“Don’t thank me. I also want to practice more,” Liang Yan said casually.
“Huh? Practice suturing?”
“No.” Liang Yan replied, “Practice how to stitch you into a burial shroud.”
[mfn]You can support me if you like my translations by leaving a comment below, or by sending me a Ko-fi. Thank you and Enjoy reading! ❤️ -TL: Ysiad [/mfn]
