Ji Qiu seemed completely unaware of what he had just said, still clinging to Liang Yan and refusing to let go. “Don’t go.”
Liang Yan froze in place, stiff as a board, letting himself be held without saying a single word.
The other’s condition was clearly unstable. Liang Yan couldn’t tell under what kind of mental state that sentence had come out.
But no matter the state… he probably wouldn’t be able to calm down for a while.
Ji Qiu didn’t seem to realize what kind of impact those words had had on the Omega in front of him. Seeing Liang Yan motionless, he buried his head lower and rubbed against his waist. “Hot.”
Only then did Liang Yan snap out of it, blinking as if waking from a dream. “I’ll go get you a tissue.”
Ji Qiu didn’t let go. He shook his head and held on even tighter.
Liang Yan had no choice. In the end, he gave up on trying to reach the desk that was only a few meters away but now felt a world apart. He used his sleeve to wipe Ji Qiu’s sweat. “Anywhere else feel uncomfortable?”
Ji Qiu couldn’t describe it—he just held on to Liang Yan tightly. “Like this… like this it doesn’t feel bad.”
Liang Yan sighed helplessly and let him lean against him as they sat back down on the sofa.
Was this what all Alpha heat cycles were like?
What happened to all the supposed gloominess, aggression, and hostility?
If it weren’t for the fact that the other’s body was still trembling and he was clearly gritting his teeth to endure wave after wave of agitation, Liang Yan might have thought Ji Qiu was completely fine right now.
But every time he thought about how Ji Qiu had almost always gone through his heat cycles alone, he couldn’t bear to say anything more.
After a while, the now quiet Alpha stirred slightly in his arms and called his name in a hoarse voice.
“Yan Yan.”
“What is it…”
Liang Yan had just lowered his head in response to Ji Qiu calling him, but before he could react, he suddenly felt something soft brush against his lips.
The grip around his waist loosened slightly. The Alpha who had been holding him all this time leaned forward without warning, urgently pressed a kiss to the corner of his mouth, then quickly pulled away.
A kiss so light it was almost nonexistent—like a ginkgo leaf drifting gently down in autumn.
Golden leaves fluttered like butterflies, and his lips were the dream where they softly landed with beating wings.
Liang Yan thought he should’ve instinctively pushed the other away—but he didn’t.
The Alpha, who had just been bold and reckless, now seemed to realize a little too late what he had done. Yet maybe because of the haze of the heat cycle, the person who would usually shrink back nervously in fear just kept his eyes wide open, staring at Liang Yan without blinking—his gaze bright and clear.
Not only that… he even licked his lips and smiled, eyes squinting slightly.
Seeing Liang Yan not react, he smiled with curved eyes and said, “Feels much better.”
Liang Yan suddenly realized that when faced with this kind of Alpha, he really had no way to deal with him.
In the end, he simply ruffled Ji Qiu’s hair and softly responded, “Mm.”
Lai Qiutong was still worried that during his heat cycle, Ji Qiu might lose control and do something to Liang Yan.
But when she came up to the eighth floor with a mind full of concerns, this was what she saw:
The two of them were sitting side by side on the sofa. Ji Qiu had fallen asleep, eyes closed, looking utterly exhausted. But even in sleep, his brows were furrowed as if he couldn’t find peace.
Liang Yan sat beside him, probably reading a book. His movements were careful and gentle, clearly trying not to disturb the sleeping Alpha.
Not only that—he would pause every now and then to check on the Alpha beside him, adjusting the amount of pheromones he was releasing accordingly—either letting out more or holding some back.
He looked at Ji Qiu’s face. If Ji Qiu frowned too deeply, he would soothe him a little more. If the Omega pheromones didn’t seem to be working, he would tentatively reach out and try to gently smooth the furrow between the Alpha’s brows.
Most importantly… Ji Qiu had fallen asleep using his lap as a pillow, clinging to him in a posture of complete dependence.
In the end, Lai Qiutong didn’t go in either.
It was as if she remembered something — the corners of her lips lifted with a hint of bitterness before she silently disappeared into the laboratory building, as if she had never been there at all.
It wasn’t until evening, when Liang Yan had also fallen asleep leaning against the sofa, that he finally felt the head on his lap move slightly and sit up.
“You’re awake?” Liang Yan’s voice was faint and a little hoarse with sleep. “Are you still feeling unwell anywhere?”
“My head’s still a little dizzy,” Ji Qiu rubbed his eyes, sweating all over and feeling sticky and uncomfortable. He said a little awkwardly, “Other than that, I’m fine.”
Ji Qiu’s awake now, Liang Yan thought.
Much earlier than he had expected.
The lingering scent of pheromones in the lab reminded Liang Yan of why he had come in the first place.
He was supposed to ask about the KB suppressant.
But for some reason, something inside kept telling him it wasn’t the right time to bring it up. Still, he couldn’t hold back and asked, “Do you remember what you said earlier?”
Ji Qiu stared at him blankly, opened his mouth: “…Huh?”
Of course he remembered.
More than just remembering — he recalled every single detail.
Even though the heat burning through his body had made him feel awful, the moment Liang Yan entered, his mind had been crystal clear.
He remembered the surprise and joy he felt when he saw him, remembered the comforting scent of mint in the air, and remembered how the pheromones had stirred up uncontrollable emotions, making him desperately want to tell this person:
I’ve thought it through. I like you too.
Stop looking at anyone else.
He even remembered stealing a kiss when the other was vulnerable. He had been fully prepared to get punched for it, but to his shock, Liang Yan hadn’t done anything at all.
But Ji Qiu’s confused reaction made Liang Yan hesitate — did he really not remember?
Carefully, Liang Yan started, “You…”
“I must’ve said a lot of nonsense, right! Yan Yan, I’m sorry!!” Ji Qiu, for some reason, chickened out, deciding it was safer to apologize first and break the awkwardness.
As long as I apologize fast enough, Yan Yan’s fists can’t catch me!
Liang Yan narrowed his eyes suspiciously at Ji Qiu for a long moment before finally parting his lips: “Let’s put that aside for now. Let’s talk about something else.”
Ji Qiu had no idea there was another round coming: “Huh?”
Liang Yan’s tone returned to its usual calmness: “Is this… how you always get through your rut period?”
Ji Qiu immediately caught on but still tried to play dumb: “What do you mean, ‘how’?”
His reaction made Liang Yan see right through him.
“Then I’ll go ask Lai Qiutong,” Liang Yan said coldly.
He knew he shouldn’t be pushing like this — strictly speaking, he had no right to question Ji Qiu about this.
Ji Qiu quickly reverted to his usual pitiful tone: “No, it’s not like that. I didn’t want this either. It’s just that… it accidentally came early…”
“Why did it come early?” Liang Yan stared at him. “And if it hadn’t?”
“If it hadn’t, if it hadn’t… it would’ve been a little better…” Ji Qiu tried to bluff his way through.
Liang Yan pressed on: “And what about the KB news? Was it you who leaked the information about problems with Suppressant 3.0?”
Ji Qiu froze for a second: “No…”
However, Liang Yan didn’t give him the chance. He knew things were far more complicated than he had imagined, and interrupted him, “If you don’t say it, I’ll go ask KB myself.”
“I’ll tell you, I’ll tell you!” Ji Qiu panicked. “I’m the one who did it! But the company doesn’t know yet — I submitted the data anonymously.”
“Hmm?”
Ji Qiu bit his lip, resigning himself to the fact that he’d have no secrets in front of this person: “The reason my susceptibility period came early was for testing purposes. I used a bit more inhibitor than usual during this time…”
Liang Yan understood that Ji Qiu’s “a bit more” definitely wasn’t just a small increase, but for now, he didn’t have time to argue about it.
Ji Qiu hesitated, then continued. He thought that with his Alpha physique, it wouldn’t cause too much of a problem, so he injected himself with several doses at once. But before he could even record the data, the inhibitor backfired and triggered his susceptibility period early.
By the time he finished speaking, Liang Yan’s lips were pressed into a tight, straight line.
“Why were you suddenly in such a hurry?”
Ji Qiu had actually thought of a bunch of excuses.
He could’ve blamed Lai Qiutong, pointed fingers at the lab, or even said something like he didn’t want to pretend to be an Omega anymore — any of them would have worked.
But as he looked at the Omega in front of him, when the words reached his mouth, he simply said in a small voice, “Because… as long as this problem isn’t solved, you’ll still be troubled by the inhibitors.”
So no matter what, even if his own strength was tiny, he never wanted to see Liang Yan tormented by his heat again.
After Ji Qiu said this, Liang Yan gripped his water cup and stayed silent for a while.
“It’s not like there’s no solution,” he said, without looking at Ji Qiu. “You could always mark me.”
[mfn]If you enjoy my translations, you can show your support by leaving a comment or donating to my Ko-fi. It will be much appreciated. Thank you![/mfn]
