FRGL chapter 76

Living in the Lightwing Hotel, Luo Hai struggled with more than just boredom—there was something even harder for him to adapt to.

He had no luggage, no personal belongings—including the injections he had relied on for over a decade.

For the first week, his pheromones still retained the scent of an Alpha. But after a few more days, that scent began to fade, until it could no longer mask his real one.

By the two-week mark, the sharp minty scent he had lived with for years had completely disappeared, leaving only the faint, natural fragrance of an Omega.

Even he hadn’t smelled this scent in years. The artificial pheromones in his injections had always been much stronger, suppressing his original Omega scent entirely. Even when he lost control before, his body had never emitted its natural fragrance.

In all those years, he had never gone this long without his medication. He hadn’t even realized his glands were still capable of producing Omega pheromones.

When the Alpha scent completely disappeared and his Omega pheromones began to spill into the air, the members of Lightwing surrounded him as if he were some rare species.

They gathered around, sniffing the air curiously.

“It smells so good! Not overwhelming, just light and fresh.”

“Is it lily? Or rose?” Li Jie sniffed again, trying to guess.

“What kind of nose do you have?” Xiao Lau looked at her disdainfully. “Lily or rose wouldn’t smell like this. This is… uh, some kind of tea?”

“No way, I smell a hint of cream. Is it some kind of spice?”

Luo Hai sat frozen in his chair, his hands stiff as stone.

He knew they meant no harm, but he had no idea how to handle this kind of situation. He didn’t know how to respond, and he didn’t know how to escape.

Just as he was about to suffocate from sheer awkwardness, a voice laughed from the doorway.

“Stop guessing—it’s iris flower.”

Everyone turned to look.

Eugene stepped inside, wearing a long, gray coat covered in dust. Only after entering did he remove his hat.

Luo Hai didn’t turn around. He didn’t need to. He already knew who it was.

That familiar scent—mixed with dust and cold air from outside—told him everything.

“Iris!” Li Jie’s face lit up in realization. “No wonder we couldn’t place it. They don’t grow much of that in Nantes or Lansai.”

“It really smells nice. Why don’t I get fresh, pleasant pheromones like that?” Xiao Lau clicked his tongue. “Mine’s chocolate, and everyone complains that I make the room smell like a bakery. Apparently, I’m ruining their diets.”

“Alright, alright, enough sniffing someone else’s Omega like a bunch of creeps.” Eugene shot them a glare and waved a hand, shooing them away like flies.

The group laughed and dispersed, leaving only Eugene and Luo Hai in the room. Li Jie, the last to leave, even thoughtfully shut the door behind her.

With a quiet click, the room fell into silence.

Luo Hai glanced out the window. The sun was still high in the sky—Eugene had come back early.

“I’m not your Omega,” he said quietly.

“Mm. You’re not.” Eugene smiled as he stepped closer, wrapping his arms around Luo Hai’s shoulders.

“But I’m your Alpha.”

Luo Hai’s entire body broke out in goosebumps. He pushed against him, but Eugene’s grip was firm, unyielding. Warm breath brushed against the sensitive skin of his neck.

“Let me smell you,” Eugene murmured, his nose tracing slowly down Luo Hai’s neck. His voice was soft, almost nostalgic.

“It’s been so, so many years since I last smelled your scent.”

These words felt like they drilled a small hole in Luo Hai’s heart. Frustrated yet helpless, he could only let Eugene have his way with his neck.

When he left Fuba Port, he had only just differentiated. Luo Hai didn’t even think that, after all these years, Eugene would have any memory of his original scent. But Eugene held him tightly, his furry head nuzzling affectionately into the crook of his neck, sniffing endlessly like a cat intoxicated by catnip.

Luo Hai’s patience had its limits. After Eugene had clung to him, sniffing and rubbing against him for seven or eight minutes, he finally couldn’t take it anymore and pushed him away.

“Are you done yet?”

Only then did Eugene reluctantly lift his head from Luo Hai’s neck. He teasingly bit near his gland and murmured, “I missed this. Back then, after you stayed cooped up in your room all day, when you finally walked out, this was the scent you had. Sweet and fragrant, making me want to take a bite.”

“I don’t miss it,” Luo Hai said softly. “I don’t remember what it’s like to be an Omega anymore, and I don’t want to.”

The sweet scent his body exuded disgusted him, and the ease with which people could now identify his gender unsettled him.

Even Eugene’s proximity no longer caused him pain. Their pheromones were now a perfect match, and every cell in his body screamed for the Alpha before him—to be touched by him, marked by him, possessed by him, to become his.

And that was far more unbearable to Luo Hai than pain.

At this moment, it felt as if all his years of stubborn resistance had been meaningless. Eugene was no longer just Eugene, and he was no longer just Luo Hai.

Sitting here were merely an Alpha and an Omega.

“Where did you stash all the inhibitors you stole from Nantes?” Luo Hai asked.

“Some are here, some are scattered across other bases,” Eugene replied casually. “Why?”

“Where exactly here?”

“Locked in the basement storage room. Xiao Lau and I each have a key.” Eugene looked at Luo Hai, as if waiting for him to continue.

Luo Hai had already pushed the conversation this far, and he wasn’t sure if Eugene was playing dumb. He had no choice but to be direct. “Can you give me a few doses?”

Although the pheromone inhibitors developed by the Lightwing Society were somewhat different from the drugs he had used before, at least they would help erase the cloying sweetness emanating from him and allow him to pass as a normal Beta.

Eugene’s expression remained unchanged. His pale, beautiful eyes still gazed at Luo Hai. “No.”

“What?” Luo Hai hadn’t expected such a straightforward rejection. He had even endured until the drugs in his system had completely worn off before making this request. “Why not?”

“Inhibitors are an important resource for the Lightwing Society. They can’t be wasted,” Eugene said.

“Wasted?” Luo Hai almost laughed at the word. “So when Xiao Lau and Li Jie use them, it’s not wasting, but when I do, it is?”

“They use them because they need to go out during the day and handle tasks for the Lightwing Society. Being identified as Omegas would be a disadvantage for them,” Eugene said calmly. “You’re a hostage. You don’t need to go out. Staying in the hotel all day and still using inhibitors—if that’s not wasting, then what is?”

Luo Hai’s anger flared instantly. “So you really see me as your hostage? My legs are my own. If I want to, I can leave this hotel anytime!”

“You won’t,” Eugene shrugged. “Now that you’ve stopped the drugs, no matter where you go, people will recognize you as an Omega at a glance.”

“What’s wrong with being an Omega?” Luo Hai raised his voice. “Is there a law that says Omegas can’t go out, can’t walk on the streets? Omegas are people too! Before I have a gender, I am first and foremost a person!”

Eugene smiled. The moment Luo Hai saw that smile, he knew he had fallen into the cunning crime lord’s trap once again.

“Yes,” Eugene leaned in closer, pressing down on him. “‘What’s wrong with being an Omega?’”

“You set me up!” Luo Hai fumed.

“Only those willing take the bait.” Eugene grinned and draped an arm around Luo Hai’s shoulders. “Haven’t you been cooped up in the hotel for too long? Want to come out with me for a walk?”

“No.” Luo Hai firmly removed Eugene’s arm.

“There’s no law saying Omegas can’t go out. You said that yourself.” Eugene’s expression was innocent.

“That doesn’t mean I—”

“Besides, aren’t you curious about where I go every day from nine to five?” Eugene raised an eyebrow. “Maybe I’ve been out there flirting with some shady little Omega behind your back—”

Luo Hai replied coldly, “With so many Omegas in the organization, do you even need to look elsewhere?”

“You never know.” Eugene said with mock seriousness. “What if there’s a breathtaking, drop-dead gorgeous little Omega out there who just happens to land right on me, like a flower on a cow pat?”

Luo Hai: “…”

Luo Hai could hardly stand Eugene’s shameless jokes, but what bothered him even more was that he actually wavered because of them.

The truth was, despite everything, he and Eugene had never defined their relationship. There had never been a real confession. Their feelings were buried beneath the guise of rivalry and playful banter—neither of them had ever promised to belong to the other.

By all accounts, Eugene was completely free. He had the right to mark any unmarked Omega he wanted. He didn’t even need Alpha privileges—there were already plenty of Omegas who would follow him unconditionally. He could pick any one of them, and they would be more than willing to be marked by him.

Even though Luo Hai knew Eugene was teasing him on purpose, he still couldn’t stop his face from darkening. In the end, his expression cold, he stood up from the chair, brushed past Eugene’s shoulder, and practically snatched his coat off the rack.

“Fine, let’s go. You think I’m scared?” Luo Hai said stiffly. “So what if I have to be an Omega again? I’ve been an Alpha for so many years—why wouldn’t I be able to handle being an Omega?”

Eugene laughed for a long moment before wrapping his arms around Luo Hai from behind and giving his ear a playful bite. “You’re so easy to read. I feel like you could be easily tricked away with a single lollipop.”

“That depends on whose lollipop.” Luo Hai muttered. “Idiot.”