Ch36 - Secrecy

Song Yi gave a ‘yi’, feeling that the perfume scent sounded a little familiar.

He was just thinking about this when he heard Chen Yue laugh beside him, “So pure? I never thought you’d like something like this.” 

Lu Xingci laughed along, “I can’t?”

Chen Yue, “How can that be ge, you can like whatever you want. However, omegas with this kind of scent seem to be pretty rare, at least I’ve not met one yet.”

Zhou Xingchen chimed in blindly, “Lu-ge, why not let us organise a traditional goukon in Yi Zhong? We’ll help you find an omega that smells like that from the group and if you can’t find them, we can get in touch with Fu Zhong, Jiu Zhong, Shiqi Zhong…”

Lu Xingci side-eyed him, the look of amusement on his face not going away, “You’re pretty bored huh?” 

Hearing him say that, Zhou Xingchen aggressively shook his head and shut up.

As they were chatting, Song Yi suddenly remembered something. He turned around, “Xiao-Duan, the scent of your pheromones, is it… freesias?”

He paused before finally spitting out the last word.

Duan Jiayan gave an ‘en’ in reply.

He thought about it. He shouldn’t have told Lu Xingci about his pheromones before. Though it is possible that the other person could have smelled it out…

Forget it.

It’s just a coincidence probably.

Duan Jiayan gave one last look at the label before lazily turning away. 

Song Yi, feeling a little conflicted, looked at Duan Jiayan before also looking at Lu Xingci.

Even though these two had a ton of rumours between the both of them, Song Yi was very clear that from the start to end, Duan Jiayan had no extra motives.

He had initially thought Lu Xingci was also like this. At the most, he treated Duan Jiayan as a fairly close friend.

But stuff like pheromone scents, it is a very private matter… 

Lu Xingci blatantly said he liked that sort of pheromones, could it be…

At this point in time, the guide ushered the crowd onto the next exhibit. Seeing Duan Jiayan lazily making his way along, Song Yi temporarily put his thoughts away.

After returning to Ning City, the school asked its students to write a 1,000 word summary of the activities that went on in the ABO museum.

Duan Jiayan wrote slowly, he never liked doing stuff like these anyway. Even till the deadline of the summary, he was still slowly writing it. 

In the big classroom, half of the students were nowhere to be found.

Duan Jiayan wrote word after word. Recently, due to the temperature dropping, the school had started to allow its students to wear their own clothes to school to stay warm.

The classroom had yet to turn on the heater and was still a little cold.

Duan Jiayan was about to fall asleep while writing. He took out his phone and was prepared to play a song to keep his spirits up when suddenly, he smelled a cloyingly sweet scent. 

The scent of honey rubbed around the tip of his nose. It was closely followed by the scent of gardenia, cinnamon and fruit candies……

Duan Jiayan’s thumb on his smartphone screen paused.

This was the scent of an omega’s pheromone. What’s more, it is not just one omega releasing their pheromones.

Song Yi was originally sleeping but has since raised his head. He looked towards Duan Jiayan in pain, his eyes slightly watery, “Why do I feel…” 

Duan Jiayan, “Me too.”

Song Yi cried out, “It can’t be, who’s this careless?”

Duan Jiayan, “Don’t know, it seems to be coming from our floor.”

As he spoke, Duan Jiayan dug around his drawers for an inhibitor. At this moment, an announcement rang out, “Emergency! All staff and students please take note!” 

The person speaking was a female teacher, her speech fast and crisp, “There is an omega student in heat now. Due to them injecting their inhibitor too late, it has affected a portion of the year two omegas who have also gone into heat. Alpha and beta students, please make your way to the field now, especially alpha students. Please use the fastest speed you can and head to the field under the guidance of your teachers…”

Omegas in heat can affect other omegas.

One omega that gets into an accident can stimulate other omegas with their pheromones to also enter their heats. That’s why gender experts always advise that, in the event of one still being unmated, if an omega gets into an accident, they should quickly use an inhibitor not just for themselves but also for the safety of other omegas.

Zhao Minjun hurried into her classroom and used force to slap the classroom door, “Have you all heard the announcement? Hurry up and go!” 

The alpha and beta students in class ten quickly left the classroom. Zhao Minjun did a quick scan of the class and saw that Duan Jiayan’s situation was relatively better than the rest. She instructed him, “Duan Jiayan, help to close the windows later, pull the curtains closed too.”

After talking, she hurriedly left with the rest.

The remaining omegas in the classroom gave themselves a shot of the inhibitor. After he was done with his inhibitor, Duan Jiayan rested for a while before getting up to close the classroom’s windows.

As he was pulling the last window’s curtains, he suddenly felt a jolt of pain on the back of his hands. 

Duan Jiayan looked down and saw red spots appearing on the back of his hands.

Chen Yue bounced the basketball in his hand twice before noticing Lu Xingci looked a little distracted. He gave him a pat on the shoulder, “Did you smell something?”

The boy beside them heard the question and looked over, “What’s wrong with Lu-ge?”

When the announcement came, they happened to be playing a basketball game on the court. After hearing the announcement order the alphas and betas to stay away from the classroom block, it was decided they might as well just stay on the court. 

Even though the highschool’s field and classroom blocks were far away from one another, the number of affected omegas was not small. Everyone could still faintly pick up the sweet scent of omega pheromones in the wind.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

“Yo Lu-ge, you have been in a daze and staring at the classroom blocks for a straight minute,” Chen Yue laughed. “It seems there really is something on your mind.”

Oe Wlcuml ilrafcfv cbc-mbwwlaafvis jr Jtfc Tef glvlmeifv tlw.

Qlat rbwfatlcu ilxf atlr tjqqfclcu, batfg bwfujr mjc ufa ys klat pera j rtba bo atflg lctlylabg yea Gejc Aljsjc tjr tlr ragfrr vlrbgvfg… 

Lf kjr cba regf lo rbwfatlcu yjv kbeiv tjqqfc.

“I know I know! Lu-ge is worrying himself silly.”

Ccbatfg qfgrbc mjwf bnfg, “Qtja vb sbe wfjc?”

“Duan Jiayan ah, isn’t he still in the classroom block?” 

“It can’t be,” Someone laughed after hearing that. “Other classes can misunderstand, but do you really believe Lu-ge likes the campus bully? I even heard from the campus bully himself that Lu-ge and him just have a front-back table buddy relationship.”

Lu Xingci, who has not been talking all this while, turned around and asked the boy, “When did you ask him that?”

“I can’t remember exactly when I asked him that,” The boy rubbed his nose as he thought about it. “Probably not long after the incident at the flag-raising podium and everyone was going around spreading rumours.”

The end of last month. 

Up till now, Duan Jiayan still thought that the both of them just have a simple front-back table buddy relationship. Even though he could roughly figure out Duan Jiayan’s thoughts, to directly hear it from someone is still different from guessing it for yourself.

Lu Xingci chuckled but the light in his eyes still dimmed a little.

The school’s PA system once again made another announcement, “In order to ascertain the condition of our omega students, once you are done giving yourself a shot of the inhibitor and have confirmed yourself to be out of your dangerous period, please head towards the doctor’s office for a check-up.”

Duan Jiayan listened to the announcement distractedly, his attention was placed fully on the pangs of pain in his body. He more or less only understood that the announcement was asking for them to go for a check-up. 

There were too many alphas in the school. Even if they all went to the field, their pheromones would still be able to make their way into the classrooms through the windows.

The red rashes on Duan Jiayan’s hand have already spread to his forearm. This was the first time Song Yi has seen his stress disorder act up and got a shock. He asked quietly, “Should I look for the class monitor?”

Duan Jiayan shook his head, “He’s on the field, there’s nothing to be done about that.”

The omegas in class ten left one after the other. Duan Jiayan noticed Song Yi anxiously standing on the spot and consoled him, “You head on down to the doctor’s office first. Once you are gone, I’ll go sit down on his table for a little while.” 

Even though he was anxious, Song Yi was aware that him staying back would not help anything. Who knows, his pheromones might even affect Duan Jiayan if he chooses to stay.

Song Yi ordered, “If you are in trouble, be sure to call me okay?”

Duan Jiayan nodded.

As Song Yi was leaving the classroom, a female student caught sight of him and couldn’t resist asking, “Song Yi, Duan Jiayan isn’t heading to the doctor’s office?” 

“He…” Song Yi hesitated. “He’ll be there in a bit.”

The student was a little worried, “Is he alright? Is it because his inhibitor isn’t working? I still have some extra inhibitors, will he need them?”

“It’s fine it’s fine, he already took a shot,” Song Yi smiled at the student. “He’ll be fine after resting for a bit, we can make a move first.”

Before leaving, Song Yi gave Duan Jiayan one last look. The latter made sure to lock the classroom from the inside after he saw both of them leaving. 

On the way to the doctor’s office, Song Yi was still worried and after hesitating for a moment, decided to send Lu Xingci a message.

[Class monitor, Xiao-Duan’s stress disorder is acting up again. If it is convenient, will you be able to take a look at him?]

Song Yi originally thought he’d have to wait for some time to get a reply, who knew it’d come so quickly.

[Where is he?] 

Song Yi quickly replied, [In the classroom.]

Lu Xingci locked his phone and gave Chen Yue a pat on the shoulders, “I’ve something on so I’ll be making a move first. If Teacher Zhao asks, help me say I’ll explain it to her later.”

Chen Yue originally wanted to ask what happened but seeing Lu Xingci like this, Chen Yue swallowed back his words and simply agreed.

After Lu Xingci left, Chen Yue thought back to how he looked before leaving. 

He’s known Lu Xingci for so long, but he’d never seen him look this anxious before.

Even though Lu Xingci’s expressions did not change much, if you compare it to how he usually is, there is indeed a difference.

The door to class ten is locked from the inside. Lu Xingci gave a few knocks but there was no response.

Lu Xingci thought that Duan Jiayan might be too weak to open the door, so he made his way to the windows. 

He reached out and held onto the window grills, with a jump he hopped into the classroom.

After landing, he immediately noticed Duan Jiayan lying on his desk.

Probably because he was trying to absorb his pheromones, Duan Jiayan had taken Lu Xingci’s jacket off his chair and had buried himself in it after laying it out on the table.

One doesn’t have to think too much to figure out how much pain Duan Jiayan was currently in. 

Though his heart ached for Duan Jiayan as he watched him suffer, Lu Xingci could not deny feeling a faint sense of satisfaction blossoming in his heart as he watched the boy bury himself in his clothes.

An alpha’s terrible sense of possessiveness chose to rear its head in this situation.

Lu Xingci quickly walked up and wrapped his arms around Duan Jiayan across his chest. He tugged him back lightly after encircling him and brought Duan Jiayan into his embrace.

After he was hugged, Duan Jiayan’s nose smelled a familiar pheromone scent. He realised who was behind him as the pain in his body slowly receded. 

Duan Jiayan quietly asked, “Why are you back here?”

“Song Yi messaged me, telling me that your situation was not looking too good,” Lu Xingci said as he gave him a once over. There were red patches all over his body resembling an allergic reaction, looking like a tattoo that took up a majority of Duan Jiayan’s body.

Lu Xingci could faintly see that even his cheeks were affected.

It was indeed very serious. 

Seeing the other study him, Duan Jiayan looked him in the eye.

“I want a temporary mark,” Duan Jiayan hesitated before speaking. “Is that okay?”

He couldn’t possibly kiss Lu Xingci and a long hug was not practical so a temporary mark was the best option at the moment. However, he was not sure if the other will agree to his request.

Duan Jiayan still remembered the last time he found Lu Xingci for a temporary mark, he had to pester the other person for a good half a day. Duan Jiayan was already prepared to have to unceasingly pester and coax Lu Xingci this time round. 

“Yes,” The boy in front of him narrowed his eyes, expression complex. “If you want it, of course it’s okay.”

Duan Jiayan was shocked at how agreeable he suddenly was. Afraid that he wouldn’t know the effects of a temporary mark, Duan Jiayan decided to remind Lu Xingci about it to ease his conscience, “You do know that a temporary mark will build on the previous one right? Even if it fades, if it happens often enough, not only will the omega possibly get addicted, the alpha will also be affected.”

Lu Xingci listened to him talk and looked at him surprised, “Really? Then forget it.”

Duan Jiayan, “???” 

“After all, we only have a simple front-back table buddy relationship, it is probably not that great an idea to dye it with such,” he paused for a beat. “Improper colours.”

Duan Jiayan, “……”

After seeing Duan Jiayan’s expressionless face, Lu Xingci caved a little, “I already know about all this from our physiology classes. Three times is a typical alpha’s limit, if one gives the same omega a temporary mark more than three times, it will probably affect the alpha’s sense of judgement.”

Realising that the other person was just teasing him, Duan Jiayan blinked and snorted, “So going by your abilities, it seems like you’ll have to make a few hundred marks in order to be affected.” 

“……”

Duan Jiayan pointed towards the back of his neck, “I’ll have to trouble you to bite over here.”

After he was done talking, he laid back down on the table, obviously waiting for him to bite down.

Lu Xingci watched as the other laid down obediently and cocked his mouth, angered to the point of wanting to laugh. 

Duan Jiayan’s defenceless attitude as well as his carefree tone told him one fact.

Duan Jiayan does not treat him as an alpha. Or perhaps he should say, in Duan Jiayan’s head, there does not exist the notion of an alpha-omega pair.

It’s clearly him biting Duan Jiayan but he somehow felt like he was the one being marked instead.

The thought frustrated him a little. Lu Xingci slowly lowered his head and bit on the other’s fair and slender neck in one bite. 

His movements were just a little rougher.

Contrary to his stoic exterior, when Duan Jiayan felt himself being surrounded by an alpha, he felt just like prey under the claws of a lion.

Duan Jiayan resisted the untimely impulses to struggle, run, or fight back. The moment Lu Xingci bit down on him, Duan Jiayan could not help tensing up his whole body.

His hands gripped the jacket on the table tightly. Perhaps due to his tight grip, his fingernails appeared white. 

Lu Xingci did not miss his various small actions.

During times like these, an alpha’s five senses were extremely sensitive. He rubbed Duan Jiayan’s head consolingly and could feel the other slowly relaxing his body. Lu Xingci was just about to inject his pheromones into Duan Jiayan’s glands when a knock came from the classroom’s door.

Lu Xingci froze. He originally thought the others would be staying on the field for a long while, he never thought they’d be back so fast.

Duan Jiayan got flustered after hearing the knock on the door, “Wait! Lu Xingci, get up first.” 

Lu Xingci was speechless.

Telling him to get up at a time like this……

Should he feel that Duan Jiayan has a lot of faith in his self-control, or should he pinch the fellow’s ears instead?

Plus the effects of the stress disorder on Duan Jiayan’s body were too severe, if he did not finish giving him the temporary mark, something might happen even if they brought him to the hospital to be quarantined. 

With the knocks on the door not stopping and seeing Lu Xingci not responding, Duan Jiayan really started to panic.

Duan Jiayan struggled to push himself up, he reached out to tug the person behind him but after a few tugs, both his wrists were caught and held together behind his back. With both his hands caught, there was no way for Duan Jiayan to continue struggling.

Lu Xingci used one hand to hold him down, his other hand reaching out to pinch his sensitive ears.

Duan Jiayan only then realised that because Lu Xingci was biting his neck, he had no way of replying to him and instead, thought to use this method to get him to behave. 

“There is someone knocking on the door, can’t you hear him? Stop biting me first— ah!”

Duan Jiayan was caught off guard by the alpha pheromones injected into him. His amber eyes widened and his lips could not help letting out a whimper.

In a second, his whole body lost its strength.

The alpha pheromones brought with them notes of aggression and appeasement. The two very different emotions tangled together, leaving Duan Jiayan feeling a little disoriented. If he was not already sitting down, he was not sure if he would be able to stand straight or not. 

His instincts made him unable to not surrender to the other.

As the knocking on the door did not work, a male voice came from behind the door, “Is there someone in the classroom?”

“There should be? The door is locked from the inside.”

…… 

Duan Jiayan let out a whimper, “There is.”

His voice was faint and soft, like the soft buzzing of a mosquito.

Duan Jiayan could clearly hear the person behind him chuckle.

Someone yelled from the outside, “The person inside, if you aren’t going to speak we’ll just jump over the wall!” 

The pheromones were still being injected into his glands, the mark was not yet done. Lu Xingci could not speak and he had no strength to talk. Duan Jiayan could hear the sounds of someone getting ready to jump over the wall.

Duan Jiayan was about to give up, thinking that at the most he’ll just let them see what was going on, when Lu Xingci forcefully gave his glands one last lick and stood up, releasing his hold on him.

Duan Jiayan gave a sigh of relief. He relaxed for a little while before turning his head around to meet the gaze of Lu Xingci behind him.

As he just got marked, Duan Jiayan’s expression was still soft and misted, his eyes still stained with tears. 

Duan Jiayan grabbed Lu Xingci’s arms and pulled them forcefully.

The distance between the both of them decreased and they almost knocked into each other.

In that second, Lu Xingci thought Duan Jiayan wanted to kiss him.

Even though it happened suddenly and seemingly without reason, Lu Xingci still leaned forward slightly, fully prepared to cooperate a little. 

However, Duan Jiayan suddenly dragged him down forcefully.

Lu Xingci was not expecting this move. Caught unaware yet still willing to go along with Duan Jiayan’s nonsense, he was pulled down by Duan Jiayan.

Both of Duan Jiayan’s hands pressed onto his shoulders and pressed him down beneath the table without hesitation.

Lu Xingci was made to squat with that one push. 

Lu Xingci, “?”

Seeing Lu Xingci still looking like he had not caught up to what happened, Duan Jiayan maintained his position with both his hands on his shoulders while greeting the boy that just jumped over the wall, “Hi.”

Lu Xingci, “……”

The student looked at him, a little confused, “Duan-ge, you’re here? Just now no one replied to my question and we thought the classroom was empty.” 

Duan Jiayan looked calm, “Huh? You guys said something just now? I was wearing my earphones and didn’t hear anything.”

The boy gave an ‘oh’ in response and did not think too much about it. He reached out towards the classroom’s door, it seems he was going to open it and let the others come in.

“You stay here and don’t move, don’t make a sound,” Duan Jiayan leaned down and ordered Lu Xingci quietly. “In a bit, there will be more people coming in. Try to blend in with them naturally, pretend as if you came in with them.”

“……” Lu Xingci, who was kneeling down expressionlessly, raised his head. “Me, stay here?” 

Duan Jiayan nodded.

Lu Xingci stared at him for half a beat before asking, “Let me boldly ask this, what crime did I commit?”

Duan Jiayan looked at him kneeling and could not help feeling a little guilty, “Look, if they had jumped over the wall and found just you and me in a locked classroom, how inappropriate would that have been?”

Lu Xingci understood his actions, “You are afraid that the rumours would change from me pining over you to us doing inappropriate stuff in the classroom?” 

Lu Xingci paused, “It does indeed not sound pleasant.”

“……”

“Never mind,” Lu Xingci looked at his expressions and said considerately, “I know, what we do between us is something that can’t be seen by others.”

“……” Duan Jiayan initially thought there was nothing wrong with what Lu Xingci said but the more he thought about it, the weirder it felt. 

“I’ll just keep kneeling here,” After he finished talking, he turned around to survey his surroundings.

The classroom was getting livelier, with students entering in groups of twos and threes.

From his angle, he could clearly see Duan Jiayan’s legs.

It was winter but this fellow was still exposing his legs. Between his sports shoes and the cuffs of his pants, his cold white skin was exposed. 

Lu Xingci stared at it for a while before reaching out to tap Duan Jiayan on the knee.

After he was marked by Lu Xingci, Duan Jiayan had already become sensitive to his actions. With that one tap, his calf instinctively jumped out.

Duan Jiayan leaned down and spoke softly, as if he was a thief, “What are you doing?”

Lu Xingci also spoke softly in reply, “My hands shook.” 

Duan Jiayan frowned and was about to get him to stop moving when Lu Xingci looked him in the eye, his gaze rife with delight, “All this moving around in secret, it’s a little thrilling isn’t it?”

“……”

The author has something to say: This could probably count as a clandestine love affair.