Chapter 206

Chapter 206

Lin Li paused mid-sentence, but before he could continue, Shen Geng abruptly cut in: "I'll take it from here."

A freshly presented Alpha's pheromones were naturally intense—especially when they had given a temporary bite during the very process of presenting.

Though the recipient was an unpresented Beta, the body still remembered the sensation all too well.

Shen Geng's possessiveness was off the charts, making even Lin Li's act of just explaining things to Bai Xingshu something that was driving him crazy.

No matter how awkward it was, Shen Geng preferred to do this himself.

Lin Li’s words died in his throat.

Turning his gaze toward Shen Geng, Lin Li could sense the clear Alpha posturing directed at him.

After a few seconds of silence, Lin Li finally lowered his eyes. "Right."

Bai Xingshu picked up on something weird in Lin Li's tone.

Was this really how Lin Li usually spoke to people?

The Lin brothers often carried an air of natural haughtiness when dealing with others.

Before summer break, Bai Xingshu had briefly experienced this himself.

But Lin Li had never acted that way toward Shen Geng—not once.

The thought crossed Bai Xingshu's mind, but before he could dwell further, he noticed Lin Li turning toward him.

"I'll head out first," Lin Li said.

The words were simple, weighty yet hollow.

Bai Xingshu, however, didn't read into it at all. Instead, he grinned brightly at Lin Li and replied cheerfully, "Alright! See you later, Brother Lin!"

As Bai Xingshu's interim head instructor, Lin Li was naturally involved in the third-year boot camp.

They really would see each other soon.

Lin Li, who had originally spoken with a farewell tone: "..."

It was hard to indulge in any melancholy faced with someone totally not picking up what he was putting down.

Lin Li drew a steadying breath, composed himself, nodded, and finally left calmly.

The empty training ground was now left with only Bai Xingshu and Shen Geng.

Bai Xingshu tilted his head slightly, his eyes twinkling with mischief as he looked at Shen Geng. "Well then, is there anything else... you'd like to add?"

Faced with the question, Shen Geng found himself tongue-tied.

He had initially thought his hesitation was because Lin Li was there, but even now, under Bai Xingshu's teasing gaze, speaking up remained difficult.

—Explaining exactly what effects his actions had on Bai Xingshu's body was mortifying for Shen Geng.

Still, these were things he couldn't avoid telling someone completely in the dark.

After all, it was a duty he, as the one who had acted, couldn't shirk.

"...After I bit your gland last night, there might be some pheromone traces left in it."

"Though they’ll naturally fade in about two days, during this period, you might feel some stinging and burning in your gland." This was actually general knowledge.

An Alpha biting a Beta’s neck wasn’t uncommon.

In fact, it happened fairly often.

In this interstellar era, with the existence of various inhibitors and sedatives, Alphas and Omegas weren’t as bound by their biology as they used to be, so Alpha-Beta relationships were perfectly normal.

Not every Alpha just happened to like an Omega.

However, in such AB relationships, Alphas still kept the instinct to mark their mates, yet Betas couldn’t be marked. This inevitably triggered even stronger reactions from Alphas—various urges to leave an imprint.

Nipping the scent gland? Totally normal.

Bai Xingshu murmured “Oh,” then touched the back of his neck again.

Indeed, since morning, he had felt a weird heat and pins-and-needles sensation at the spot where his gland was located.

It was really odd.

So that was the reason.

"Anything else?" Bai Xingshu didn’t pay much attention to the slight discrepancy between the "burning and stinging" Shen Geng mentioned and the tingling he actually felt. Instead, he continued watching Shen Geng’s embarrassed face with amusement and pressed further.

By now, Shen Geng had also sensed Bai Xingshu’s teasing nature.

He wasn’t sure whether to call Bai Xingshu laid-back or what, but… seeing how much Bai Xingshu was enjoying his embarrassment, Shen Geng found it even harder to suppress his own awkwardness.

Avoiding eye contact entirely, Shen Geng hesitantly went on, "Also, during the process of metabolizing the pheromones, Betas are more likely to be affected by them…"

"So you get the urge to bite too?" Bai Xingshu suddenly interjected, cutting off Shen Geng’s explanation.

The teasing in his tone was absolutely ruthless, completely disregarding Shen Geng’s already awkward state.

The remark was a blatant reference to Shen Geng biting him the night before, and Shen Geng almost bolted upright, immediately refuting Bai Xingshu’s out-of-nowhere accusation: "It just makes you more easily annoyed and snappish!"

He wasn’t the type to mindlessly bite people under pheromone influence.

Though his consciousness had been half-asleep at the time, the reason he had acted so impulsively was precisely because he had recognized that the person in his arms was Bai Xingshu!

He was in his differentiation period, not in heat!

Without giving Bai Xingshu another chance to derail the conversation, Shen Geng hurriedly added the last piece of advice, "If the rejection symptoms are severe, you can also use a low dose of sedatives to get through it."

Hearing the "just more easily annoyed and snappish" part, Bai Xingshu faked a dramatic sigh of disappointment before fixing Shen Geng with a teasing, devilish look. "Then what if I feel like biting someone right now? What’s up with that?"

Shen Geng froze for a moment, about to analyze the situation, when he noticed Bai Xingshu’s eager, playful expression.

Shen Geng: "..."

Seriously?

He wasn’t stupid, and he knew Bai Xingshu well—how could he not understand what Bai Xingshu meant by that?

—Bai Xingshu wanted to bite him.

But… did Bai Xingshu even know what he was implying?

Shen Geng couldn’t help but mull over this question.

No wonder Shen Geng had these doubts.

After all, in his eyes, Bai Xingshu was someone who didn’t even grasp basic ABO biology.

But how could Shen Geng ever say no to Bai Xingshu?

Whether Bai Xingshu meant it that way or not, he’d never been able to reject any of Bai Xingshu’s signs of affection anyway.

Shen Geng spread his hands open, putting himself completely in Bai Xingshu’s hands.

Seeing Shen Geng look so easy to push around, Bai Xingshu naturally went for it.

He completely ignored the implied invitation from Shen Geng’s outstretched arms—it was the exposed wrist that really drew him in.

Bai Xingshu closed the distance completely.

In a posture almost like an embrace, he looped an arm around Shen Geng’s shoulders.

He tilted his head a little.

The skin on Shen Geng’s neck, only vaguely visible that morning, was now laid bare for Bai Xingshu to see.

Bai Xingshu could feel Shen Geng go rigid at the touch.

But…

If he only stiffened, that meant he wasn’t refusing, right?

Bai Xingshu let his lips brush against the spot, but unlike what he had joked about earlier, he didn’t actually bite down.

His tongue flicked lightly over the skin. Shen Geng’s breath caught, and his previously half-open arms abruptly tightened, yanking Bai Xingshu flush against him.

The raw urge to take control surged through Shen Geng, forcing him to take several deep breaths before he could finally get a grip.

“What do you mean by this?” Shen Geng’s voice was hoarse.

His first thought was that Bai Xingshu was getting him back.

After all, he had bitten Bai Xingshu last night, and payback was exactly the kind of thing Bai Xingshu would do.

But Shen Geng knew even better that Bai Xingshu always had a perfect sense of boundaries.

He wouldn’t do something this far outside normal behavior just for revenge.

Especially after Shen Geng had already laid his feelings bare that morning.

It seemed everything pointed to one answer.

An answer Shen Geng could hardly believe—and barely let himself hope for.

Bai Xingshu, feeling the strength of Shen Geng’s embrace, let out a quiet laugh.

He felt Shen Geng react.

But he also noticed others heading their way.

Though they had left early that morning, too much had happened since then. The sky was now fully bright, and other students and teachers were already getting ready for training.

Bai Xingshu gave a light push and effortlessly slipped out of the hug.

With an utterly sly look at Shen Geng, Bai Xingshu didn’t answer his question directly. Instead, he said, “It means I’m not ready to change roommates yet.”

Originally, after Shen Geng presented as an Alpha, he should have moved out of this Beta-designated dorm in theory.

But such dorm changes usually only happen after an application is submitted.

Bai Xingshu made it clear that Shen Geng could stay.

The underlying meaning behind Bai Xingshu’s words was self-evident.

Seeing Shen Geng’s dumbfounded expression, Bai Xingshu couldn’t suppress the smile on his face. Before others arrived, he waved at Shen Geng and sailed off.

A few minutes later, Bai Xingshu arrived at the combat unit's muster point.

In theory, Bai Xingshu should have been very early—arriving a solid ten minutes ahead of the scheduled assembly time.

Yet, his classmates had arrived even earlier than him.

Almost everyone was already there.

The moment Bai Xingshu stepped in, he was immediately met with a barrage of nosy stares.

“Hey, Deputy,” the Squad Leader called out, “did you really get flowers from Lin-ge yesterday because you’re already a Captain now? Is it true?!” Their voices buzzed with nosy excitement.

Everyone knew that Lin Lie had pulled an all-nighter elsewhere last night.

Originally, the students of S-Class were still on the fence about whether they should pry into the matter.

Brother Lin being Lin Lie’s elder brother and Bai Xingshu’s… well, it was kinda touchy to discuss in front of Lin Lie.

Fortunately, Lin Lie had come early this morning and got the scoop out first.

Oh, so it was fake after all.

That meant they could chow down on that gossip without worry.

This time, however, the gossip train had switched tracks to focus mainly on Bai Xingshu’s promotion to Captain.

Bai Xingshu’s gaze swept over Lin Lie, who seemed unusually quiet, but he kept all grins as he shot back at his classmates.

With a slight lift of his chin, Bai Xingshu struck a haughty pose. “Since you’ve all heard, you better address me as ‘sir,’ got it?”