Yun Xunlan didn’t have a suppression patch on the back of his neck.
But Yu Chen did.
If he didn’t remove it, there were only two ways for Yu Chen to smear his pheromones all over Yun Xunlan—
One was to mark Yun Xunlan.
The other was to lick every inch of Yun Xunlan’s skin with his tongue.
But an alpha can never mark another alpha. Forcibly biting the nape and injecting pheromones into their glands would only cause endless pain from the instinctive resistance of the other alpha’s pheromones, with no pleasure to speak of.
So no matter how much Yu Chen wanted to mark Yun Xunlan, he wouldn’t do it.
As for the second method…
Yu Chen felt that he and Yun Xunlan had just confirmed their relationship, and doing this now would be progressing too quickly. They had plenty of time in the future, there would be many opportunities to do it later, so there was no rush. Thus, he only asked the youth to remove his pheromone suppression patch.
And Yun Xunlan did indeed do as Yu Chen wished, gently raising his hand to caress the man’s nape.
The blue-eyed alpha likewise didn’t dodge, allowing another alpha to freely touch his forbidden area.
His gland was confined under a small flesh-colored suppression patch.
Yun Xunlan peeled it off with his fingertips, and that fishy, cold, salty, and bitter damp scent instantly engulfed him. He felt as if he was falling into the sea, endlessly sinking.
All the surrounding air was forcefully pushed aside by seawater, yet at this moment, the man pressed his lips against his again, his palm burning hot as it gripped the back of his neck, plundering all his breath.
Yun Xunlan instinctively opened his mouth to save himself before suffocating, but was invaded even more deeply by the alpha’s enveloping tongue.
Finally, when he felt the man’s restless canine teeth, Yun Xunlan reached out to grab Yu Chen’s small bun at the back of his head, pulling him away, and said breathlessly: “Don’t bite.”
“Did I hurt you?” The man obediently stopped when pulled. “I’m sorry.”
His chest was heaving rapidly, and Yun Xunlan could almost hear his intense heartbeat through it.
Yun Xunlan told him: “You didn’t hurt me, but you can’t bite.”
“Okay.” Yu Chen was unusually compliant.
He agreed to Yun Xunlan’s request, then tilted his face up towards the youth again. However, he didn’t continue kissing Yun Xunlan, he just nuzzled the silver-haired alpha’s collarbone with his high bridge of his nose, then moved from the collarbone to the shoulder hollow, and from the shoulder hollow to the neck.
Yun Xunlan gently embraced him, like a deity showing mercy to their devotee.
Yu Chen wrapped his arms around the youth’s waist, like a heretical rebel claiming the deity for himself.
“I believe you like me, and I like you too,” he said, half-opening his lips against Yun Xunlan’s Adam’s apple, seeming both threatening and pleading, “Yun Xunlan… don’t deceive me.”
Yun Xunlan lowered his eyes, his fingers curling slightly as they pressed against the back of the man’s head: “…I won’t deceive you.”
And the blue-eyed alpha was clearly appeased by these four words from Yun Xunlan.
Even though Yun Xunlan had never explicitly said the word “like” to him from beginning to end.
He was addicted to the taste, insatiably nuzzling the youth’s neck, being clingy in an unusual way.
As a fellow alpha, Yun Xunlan also felt that Yu Chen was being overly clingy, and the concentration of the sea tide scent pheromones in the hospital room was rising rapidly, abnormally fast. He tentatively released a tiny bit of pheromones through his nape gland, and Yu Chen keenly caught this trace of lychee rose fragrance, his nose moving towards the silver-haired youth’s nape to sniff.
Yun Xunlan was stunned for a moment, his tone hesitant: “Yu Chen, are you… in your susceptible period?”
Yu Chen instantly froze.
A few seconds later, he raised his head somewhat reluctantly from Yun Xunlan’s neck, moving back a bit to prevent Yun Xunlan’s knee, which was between his legs, from touching something that was no longer quietly dormant. He pressed his lips together and said: “…Yes.”
Yun Xunlan asked him: “I remember you had a susceptible period this month already?”
“…It’s my first time kissing someone,” Yu Chen glanced at Yun Xunlan’s lips, which had turned red and slightly swollen from his kisses, still bearing a shiny trace of moisture. For some inexplicable reason, he suddenly didn’t know where to look.
Even though he hadn’t blushed at all while kissing, now he couldn’t help but feel his ears burning.
Yu Chen uncomfortably shifted his gaze, explaining in a hoarse, quiet voice: “I’m… a bit out of control.”
After saying this, Yu Chen looked at Yun Xunlan again. Seeing the youth’s eyes clear and lucid, even stingy with releasing pheromones to him, his face suddenly darkened, and he coldly added: “Maybe after a few more kisses, I’ll get used to it.”
Yun Xunlan didn’t understand why Yu Chen’s mood had soured again.
He thought: Maybe this is what an alpha in their susceptible period is like—irritable, moody, prone to anger.
Yun Xunlan’s eyelashes lowered, his gaze sweeping over Yu Chen’s lower body—hmm, and prone to arousal.
But come to think of it, it was his first time kissing someone too, how come he didn’t seem to lose control?
The system offered a timely, incisive comment: “Yu Chen is still too young after all, like a tender melon vine, can’t keep his cool.”
Tender?
Yun Xunlan’s eyes turned to Yu Chen’s lips. He recalled the feeling of kissing just now and thought: Yu Chen isn’t even a fraction of his age, indeed tender, his lips quite soft too, but he’s so fierce when cursing people, truly blessed by heaven.
With such innate talent, others could only envy and be jealous, unable to learn even half a trick.
And the tender melon vine Yu Chen indeed didn’t know how to please people, he only knew how to bully them.
Yun Xunlan stared at Yu Chen’s mouth, thinking for a few seconds, and when he came back to his senses, he found the man pressing on his lips again.
Yu Chen slipped his index and middle fingers between his lips, gently prying open his teeth, pressing his fingertips against the sharp ends of the canine teeth that all alphas use to mark their lovers, and said: “I want your pheromones.”
“It’s not suitable for an alpha to receive pheromone injection from another alpha,” Yun Xunlan said, his speech a bit unclear with the fingers in his mouth. “My mark would only cause you pain.”
Yu Chen pressed down with his fingertips, pressing against the youth’s teeth, his blue eyes deep, his throat a bit dry: “As your lover, can’t I have some privileges?”
Just as Yun Xunlan was about to say “you can”, Yu Chen’s fingertips suddenly exerted force, pulling his face closer.
“Bite me—” the blue-eyed alpha licked his chin, lapping up the traces of moisture that had slipped from the corners of his lips that couldn’t fully close, and said in a commanding tone, “—from now on, only mark me, that’s the privilege I want.”
So Yun Xunlan closed his teeth, biting Yu Chen’s fingertip.
Their pheromones mingled in the blood, turning into gossamer threads, binding Yu Chen’s soul. It should have brought intense pain.
Yun Xunlan could feel the alpha’s body instantly tensing, but looking at the man’s reaction… it didn’t seem like he was in pain?
Yu Chen withdrew his fingers, placed Yun Xunlan on another chair, then stood up and turned his back to the youth, secretly doing something.
When he turned around, Yun Xunlan saw that Yu Chen’s fingers were no longer bleeding, only some damp traces remained.
Yun Xunlan began to speak: “You…”
“Is there any suppressant here?” Yu Chen abruptly asked, “I need to go.”
As soon as he said this, perhaps feeling he had been too cold and fearing Yun Xunlan might misunderstand, he quickly added: “My pheromones seem to be a bit out of control… If I stay here any longer, I might make you uncomfortable.”
Yu Chen wasn’t lying.
Even after reapplying the torn-off suppression patch, his pheromones were still desperately leaking out. If he couldn’t control it any longer, Yu Chen might need to take pheromone suppression gun bullets.
“Yes, I’ll get it for you.” Yun Xunlan opened the medical safe in the corner to get suppressants for Yu Chen.
After Yu Chen took the suppressant, Yun Xunlan held up a black bite guard and said to him: “The hospital is a public place, you need to wear this when you go out.”
“…”
Yu Chen was silent for two seconds, then lowered his head in front of Yun Xunlan, letting the youth put the bite guard on him.
Then he looked at the lychee roses on the round table and hinted: “That bouquet of roses…”
Yun Xunlan understood immediately.
Another physiological phenomenon that occurs during an alpha’s susceptible period is nesting.
Yu Chen asking him for pheromones and roses was all due to the nesting instinct.
Yun Xunlan took the roses and gave them to him, then released some non-threatening pheromones from his nape gland and applied them to Yu Chen.
Yu Chen sniffed himself, hugged the roses tightly, satisfied. Then he looked at the wine: “The wine… never mind, I can’t drink with the bite guard on.”
Yun Xunlan also agreed in his heart: This is the oath-taking wine, it’s better if you don’t drink it.
He only called out to Yu Chen: “Yu Chen, before you go, can you say your oath to me one more time?”
“Mm, okay.” Yu Chen was obedient in a way that didn’t seem like an alpha in his susceptible period. Not only was he not hostile towards the other alpha in the room, but he was also completely compliant. “I swear, my heart will forever only beat for you…”
“No, no, no, not that one.” Yun Xunlan gently tugged at the man’s fingers, interrupting him. “The one from your Royal Guard interview.”
Yu Chen: “…”
Why, on, earth, is, this, happening?
Yu Chen couldn’t understand.
Regarding Yun Xunlan’s constant desire to hear him say this nonsensical “oath”, Yu Chen had many guesses. At first, he thought Yun Xunlan wanted to punish him; later, he thought it might be Yun Xunlan’s little trick to attract his attention.
And now that he had fallen for it, completely hooked by the youth.
Why did Yun Xunlan still want to hear him say this “oath”?
Could he change to a different oath?
Yu Chen wanted to negotiate with Yun Xunlan: “Your Highness, I…”
Seeming to guess what he was about to say, Yun Xunlan said: “I just want to hear that one.”
“That’s our love oath, so from now on, you don’t need to say it in front of others, just say it to me alone. Is that okay?” The silver-haired youth moved up along his fingers, interlocking their hands, his eyes like gold dust were filled with Yu Chen’s image, “This is the privilege I want to have as your lover.”
But Yu Chen resisted this wave of attack, saying helplessly, “That’s a curse. You’re my lover now, I can’t say it to you anymore.”
An alpha who curses at his wife, is he even worthy of being called an alpha? He’d be a beast.
“It’s still daytime, not night yet,” Yun Xunlan smoothly changed his words. “So we’re brothers, you can say it.”
Yu Chen: “……”
Fuck!
Yu Chen gave in.
“I can’t say it,” he stubbornly insisted on his principle of not cursing at his wife. “You can treat me as a brother, but whether it’s day or night, I’ll only treat you as my… lover.”
Old lover Yun Xunlan: “…”
Seeing that emotional appeal didn’t work, Yun Xunlan could only try to reason: “Yu Chen, I have a compelling reason, but I can’t tell you why… I must hear it.”
Yu Chen was silent for a few seconds: “Must?”
“Mm.” Yun Xunlan looked at Yu Chen and nodded, “I’m not lying to you.”
He didn’t know that his eyes revealed struggle and pleading.
But Yu Chen saw it.
Yu Chen yielded to him as well.
The blue-eyed alpha lowered his head close to Yun Xunlan, pressing against the youth’s cheek through the cold bite guard, and reluctantly said in a low voice the “oath” that Yun Xunlan wanted to hear. After saying it, he seriously added: “I’m sorry.”
Amidst the system’s notification of “Task completed”, Yun Xunlan stared blankly into Yu Chen’s eyes—gazing at that cold yet gentle blue.
“Yu Chen.” He called out to the man who was about to leave.
The alpha stopped for him without hesitation, but after turning around, he said seriously: “This kind of talk can only be heard once a day at most, and you’ve already heard it today.”
Yun Xunlan shook his head, curved his eyes and asked: “To be your lover, how many points do I need to score in ‘War Psychology’?”
“For you…”
Yu Chen raised an eyebrow, waving the bouquet of roses at Yun Xunlan: “0 points is enough.”
Yun Xunlan smiled as he watched Yu Chen leave. Only when the hospital room door was completely closed did the smile on his lips gradually fade away.
The system spoke in silence: “You really kissed him?”
“What’s wrong with a kiss?”
Yun Xunlan took a deep breath of Yu Chen’s lingering pheromones in the room, then pulled out a lighter and cigarette from under the pillow.
“Click—”
A small warm red light lit up in the darkness, the flame steady as if it would never extinguish.
Yun Xunlan used it to light a cigarette and continued talking to the system: “Isn’t this all what you taught me?”
After all, from the very beginning, they had made up their minds.
Whatever Yu Chen wanted, as long as it could keep him, any price could be paid.
Besides, Yu Chen wasn’t a fool.
Without some real action, would he believe?
Yun Xunlan didn’t even know if he had deceived Yu Chen, or if Yu Chen had willingly let himself be deceived.
“My time is precious. As long as the outcome is what we want, the process doesn’t matter,” Yun Xunlan held the cigarette butt, exhaling a puff of white smoke, his voice as ethereal as smoke. “It’s just kissing, not making love. Otherwise, what reaction did you want to see from me?”
“…’See’?”
The system slowly repeated this word.
“Hahahahahahahahaha!”
As if pleased by Yun Xunlan, it burst into a frenzied, sharp laugh the next second. The laughter seemed both male and female, human yet like lifeless machinery, finally settling on Yun Xunlan’s own voice: “Except for you, I can’t see anything.”
“But you can see so many things,” the system suddenly changed its tone, its voice returning to the metallic electronic synthesized sound. “Open the curtains.”
Yun Xunlan smiled, flicked off some ash, and gave an order to the light brain system: “Butler, open the curtains.”
The curtains parted on command, letting the brilliant and beautiful light from outside shine through the large floor-to-ceiling windows, enveloping Yun Xunlan.
“Such beautiful sunlight—”
The system sighed and asked him: “Yun Xunlan, can you see it? Look carefully.”
“I see it,” Yun Xunlan’s eyes still couldn’t handle strong light, and physiological tears from the stimulation flowed down his cheeks, but he stubbornly looked at the window without lowering his head, also sighing, “The sunlight today is really nice…”
“Including this life, I’ve lived for 2,418 years.”
“Such nice sunlight…”
Yun Xunlan reached out towards the warm light, looking at the halo on his fingertips as he spoke: “…I haven’t seen it for 300 years.”
The system continued his words: “Until you met me.”
“…Until I met you.”
Yun Xunlan inhaled the last puff of smoke into his lungs, letting the highly concentrated calming cigarette freeze his body and thoughts.
“Go on, go date Yu Chen, enjoy your ten years together. After ten years, he will leave you, but I won’t,” the system’s voice still lingered in his mind. “I will never leave you.”
“Your special attention, noted as [Yu Chen], has posted a new status. Do you want to read it?”
The light brain butler’s voice notification brought Yun Xunlan back to his senses.
He clicked into Yu Chen’s starnet account page to see what Yu Chen had posted—
Yu Chen had reposted the status from yesterday where he said he was going to do something very important. Not only had he changed his username from just “Blue”, but he had also changed his profile picture from an all-blue image to an all-pink one. Finally, he added the caption:
[Lanlan’s: I succeeded!]
