PTBC chapter 25

A few minutes later, Xia Yan and Xu Cong had changed their clothes.

The car Xu Cong arranged was ten minutes away.

Although Xia Yan had applied suppressor patches, he could still faintly smell the rose pheromones leaking from him, making him extremely irritable. He could only spray the inhibitor desperately.

“Does it still hurt a lot?” Xu Cong asked, gently pushing open the door.

“Of course.”

Xia Yan snapped, “I feel like smashing things right now, and I want to blow up this whole building. You better not let me run into anyone, or I might hit them.”

But just as if in response to his words, as soon as they walked a few steps, the door of the room next door quietly opened just a crack.

Both Xia Yan and Xu Cong immediately became alert.

Xu Cong’s arm tensed.

The door opened carefully…

Behind it appeared Jiang Chuxin, dressed in an outfit as if he were going out, but looking a bit sneaky.

When he saw Xia Yan and Xu Cong, he jumped in surprise. “What are you two doing?”

Seeing it was Jiang Chuxin, Xia Yan relaxed a bit and replied irritably, “Are you blind? I’m not feeling well, and Xu Cong is taking me to the hospital.”

Jiang Chuxin had only come out because he heard the noise. He hadn’t expected to run into Xia Yan and Xu Cong.

He nervously looked at Xia Yan. “What’s wrong with you?”

Xia Yan was truly irritated now. He lowered his voice and shouted, “What’s it to you? You know it’s because of the pheromone imbalance from the differentiation period. What else do you think it is?”

After saying that, he ignored Jiang Chuxin and directly told Xu Cong, “Let’s go.”

He was already angry just by looking at this idiot.

The two of them headed straight for the elevator, but just as they pressed the button, they heard footsteps behind them.

Xia Yan turned around and saw Jiang Chuxin chasing after them with a coat in his hand.

“Are you going to the hospital? I’m coming with you,” Jiang Chuxin said. He seemed a little unsure in front of Xia Yan’s glare but still stubbornly raised his chin.

Xia Yan truly felt that this person’s brain wasn’t functioning properly.

He looked at Jiang Chuxin with a “are you crazy?” expression on his face.

Xu Cong also cast a cold glance at Jiang Chuxin. Unlike Xia Yan, he understood exactly what Jiang Chuxin was thinking. He said, “This has nothing to do with you. Go back to your room.”

Jiang Chuxin, however, suddenly jumped up. “How does it have nothing to do with me? Xia Yan’s pheromones are acting up. You’re an alpha—what if you lose control and mark him halfway?”

Xia Yan wanted to kick him for that. If it weren’t for his current condition, he even wanted to fight Jiang Chuxin.

He was so angry that he cursed, “You’re fucking crazy. You think Xu Cong is like you? Only you would lose control and mark someone. Stop trying to drive a wedge between me and Xu Cong.”

Xu Cong truly didn’t know whether to feel happy or frustrated by Xia Yan’s trust.

The elevator had already arrived. He no longer paid attention to Jiang Chuxin and, holding the eager-to-fight Xia Yan, walked inside.

But just as the elevator door was about to close, a hand pried it open.

Jiang Chuxin stubbornly squeezed inside.

He felt like this was the first time in his life he’d been so shameless.

He decided to go all in.

He crossed his arms and stood facing Xia Yan and Xu Cong. “I don’t care. I’m going with you. You two are both artists under my uncle’s company. If a scandal breaks out, it will be bad for our company. I’m going to follow you and keep an eye on you.”

He was boiling with anger, glaring coldly at Xia Yan, practically furious with him for being so naive.

“You trust Xu Cong this much? You really don’t know much about alphas. I took the suppressant earlier, so I won’t do anything to you. But he might not be as restrained. Don’t you know that suppressants have a weaker effect on higher-level alphas? They need to take the maximum dosage.”

Xia Yan couldn’t hold himself back this time and kicked him. But because he was too weak, Jiang Chuxin managed to dodge.

Xu Cong, however, frowned slightly, unfazed.

He hadn’t taken any suppressant pills. His pheromone level was too high, and he hadn’t been affected by that incident earlier.

So, he was just using the pheromone-suppressant patch.

But after all this commotion, he began to suspect that his pheromone patch might be loosening.

But there was no time to worry about that now. As they left the inn’s front door, the car Xu Cong had arranged was already waiting outside.

Jiang Chuxin showed no intention of being polite and squeezed into the back seat with them.

Fortunately, the back seat was spacious enough, and he was shameless enough.

“You wait…” Xia Yan, pale-faced and weak, had to lean on Xu Cong for support but still pointed at Jiang Chuxin angrily. “You’ll see what happens when we get back. I’ll make you regret this.”

Jiang Chuxin scoffed.

“Come at me, I’m waiting.”

But despite his bold words, he knew he wasn’t exactly welcomed by Xia Yan, so he hugged his arms and pressed himself into the corner, like a submissive wife.

He thought to himself that he was just returning the favor for Xia Yan’s kindness back at the seaside cave.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t care, and he’d let Xu Cong and Xia Yan, these two lonely alpha and omega, do whatever they wanted. If one of them got marked, it wouldn’t be his business.

Thinking of this, he snorted but felt extremely irritated inside.

Xia Yan really couldn’t be bothered with this idiot.

He was so weak and didn’t know why the side effects were so strong this time. He felt like his whole body was drenched in cold sweat and could only feel a little relief leaning on Xu Cong.

He felt like a person extremely sensitive to cold, instinctively searching for the only heat source, desperately leaning into Xu Cong’s arms.

Xu Cong’s face remained expressionless, but inside, he was also extremely anxious.

They were indeed close to the address Dr. Li had given, but it would still take at least forty minutes.

He held Xia Yan half in his arms, rubbing his back and gently soothing him. “Can you hang on? Dr. Li has already called his junior. He’s waiting for us at the hospital, and we’ll enter through the back door so we won’t attract too much attention. If anyone sees us, we can just say it’s because you have a fever in the middle of the night.”

He was trying to reassure Xia Yan that his omega identity wouldn’t be discovered.

Jiang Chuxin really had no ears for this. Listening to this gentle, worried voice—only a fool like Xia Yan wouldn’t notice something was off.

He rolled his eyes to the heavens and turned his gaze to the window.

Xia Yan’s body was still trembling slightly, and he was holding onto Xu Cong’s clothes with one hand.

He could smell the faint scent of pheromones on Xu Cong’s thin coat. Xu Cong had used it as a blanket for a nap earlier, leaving his scent on it.

They had both been in such a rush that they didn’t notice earlier.

At the same time, it seemed like a faint scent of sandalwood pheromones was subtly emanating from Xu Cong’s neck.

It was extremely faint, nearly imperceptible.

But Xia Yan inhaled lightly, and the faint trace of sandalwood became magnified in his nose. Every cell in his body felt like it was dehydrated, desperately expanding, trying to capture that faint trace of sandalwood pheromone.

It was so strange.

Xia Yan thought.

Ever since he had gone through his differentiation, he had never been repelled by Xu Cong’s pheromones. And now, it was no longer just indifference…

Xia Yan took another deep breath, waited for a few minutes, and looked at Xu Cong with a strange expression.

He didn’t believe it, so he leaned in closer, almost burying his face in Xu Cong’s clothes.

“What’s wrong?” Xu Cong immediately noticed his discomfort. “Do you feel worse? Do you want to vomit?”

Xia Yan shook his head, his eyes filled with confusion as he looked at Xu Cong, his voice carrying rare uncertainty.

“I think I feel a little better, but… it’s so strange…”

Xia Yan held onto the corner of Xu Cong’s clothes with one hand and propped himself up with the other, struggling to sit up straight. He brought his nose near the back of Xu Cong’s neck.

Xu Cong’s suppressant patch had indeed loosened a bit, losing its protective effect.

Xia Yan got too close and almost desperately breathed in, the cool sandalwood scent flooding into his nose in an instant.

The scent was dark, like a soul wandering in a forest—lonely, entangled, and relentless until death, never letting go once it finds its prey, unyieldingly wrapping itself around them.

Xia Yan felt a buzzing sensation in his head.

But it was only for a moment. Quickly, the next second, a wave of comforting warmth flowed through his limbs.

The pain in his body almost immediately subsided.

Xia Yan: “…”

He sat back down, staring in shock at Xu Cong.

Damn, he thought dizzily, did Xu Cong add opium to his pheromones? Why does the pain go away just from smelling it?

The moment Xia Yan had moved closer, Xu Cong tensed up completely.

Xia Yan’s pheromones were in a chaotic phase, so even with all the precautions in place, a faint rose scent could still be detected in this small car.

It was difficult to tell whether it belonged to an omega or an alpha.

But Xu Cong knew.

So he clenched his fist tightly.

He didn’t know what Xia Yan intended to do and even suspected that he was delirious from the pain. But Xia Yan moved so quickly that before he could react, his collar was grabbed.

Now, although Xia Yan had released him, Xu Cong’s expression was even more stunned.

“What’s wrong?” Xu Cong asked, holding back, his voice low.