Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Ruan Shuyang was really looking forward to his upcoming university life. He had researched T University extensively and browsed the campus forums, so he was aware of the big names at the school.

Chi Ye was one of them—widely recognized as T University's campus heartthrob. With his striking looks, athletic build, and coming from a prominent family as a top alpha, candid side shots of him on the forums always attracted countless comments from admirers calling him "husband." He was many people's dream alpha.

However, the forums also mentioned that Chi Ye was usually quite low-key on campus. He didn’t live in the dorms and would leave right after classes, dashing hopes for many who wanted to run into him. Ruan Shuyang never thought he'd encounter him at the AO Treatment Center.

Chi Ye was indeed handsome—far more striking in person than in the forum’s side-profile photos. Young and dashing, with long legs casually crossed, he was scrolling on his phone with a chill vibe, exuding a mix of rebellious attitude and innate arrogance. He was the kind of alpha whose appearance alone could make your heart skip a beat.

Of course, he was also an alpha with an intensely powerful presence and off-the-charts pheromones.

Ruan Shuyang stood in front of the desk for a moment, feeling uncomfortable. His neck gland was throbbing, and his body felt like it was being torn apart. Instinctively, he craved alpha pheromones, yet there was also a subtle sense of rejection.

His face pale, he managed a weak smile and said, "My name is Ruan Shuyang. Hello, seniors."

Chi Ye squinted a little, studying Ruan Shuyang for a moment. "Are you sick? You look really pale."

Ruan Shuyang hesitated briefly before nodding. "Yes, I’m sick. The doctor recommended I receive a temporary mark from an alpha for pheromone therapy."

Gu Jin asked curiously, "What kind of illness?"

Ruan Shuyang seemed flustered, unsure how to explain.

Chi Ye nudged Gu Jin with his foot. "Don’t pry into our future junior’s private matters."

"Oh, okay." Gu Jin rubbed his nose and dropped the subject, finally getting back to the point. "So you’re here for a temporary mark? Well, I... I really can’t right now. Can you wait an hour?"

It wasn’t that he wanted to shirk responsibility—he was genuinely drained.

Ruan Shuyang replied, "Sure, senior."

Gu Jin pulled out a chair beside him and gestured for Ruan Shuyang to sit. "Come have a seat, junior."

Ruan Shuyang sat quietly and obediently in the chair, trying to keep a low profile, but he didn’t succeed.

Shortly after sitting down, he felt hit by the pheromones of the two alphas beside him. His body felt a strange, weak, empty sensation. Instinctively, he craved alpha pheromones, but his neck gland was throbbing, rejecting both alphas.

This conflicting sensation of craving and rejection made Ruan Shuyang extremely uncomfortable. He closed his eyes, trying to tough it out.

Chi Ye absentmindedly put down his phone and looked at the junior beside him.

The young omega had his eyes gently closed, his long, thick eyelashes fluttering like butterfly wings. His features were perfect, like a work of art, with fair, delicate skin.

He should have been exquisitely beautiful, but at that moment, Ruan Shuyang seemed unwell, his face unusually pale.

A strange, tingling feeling shot through Chi Ye’s heart—unfamiliar and delicate, like a feather tickling him, leaving him antsy.

He shook his head, suppressing this weird urge, and kicked Gu Jin, who was resting with his head on the desk. "Where’s the agreement? Get me a copy."

Gu Jin lifted his head, sleepy-eyed, pulled an agreement out of the drawer, and handed it to Chi Ye. He then watched as Chi Ye handed one of the two copies to Ruan Shuyang along with a pen.

Chi Ye said lazily, "If everything looks fine, sign it. I’ll help you."

Ruan Shuyang, who was struggling to endure his discomfort, felt Chi Ye’s words were like a lifesaver. As he read the agreement, he said, "Thank you, senior."

At that moment, he didn’t yet understand what Chi Ye’s help would entail.

Gu Jin, however, was quicker on the uptake in this regard. He stared intently at Chi Ye, his eyes full of gossip.

Not wanting to ask directly in front of Ruan Shuyang, he sent a private message.

Gu Jin: Brother Ye, you’ve been registered as a volunteer for so long but never done anything. Why are you willing to help a junior now, especially one from our school? Aren’t you worried about getting into trouble you can’t shake off?

Gu Jin: Or are you up to something else?

Chi Ye clapped back: If you weren’t so useless, would I need to step in?

Gu Jin: .

Ruan Shuyang quickly read through the standard temporary mark agreement. As far as he could tell, there were no issues, so he signed it.

After he signed, Chi Ye signed as well, then stood up and opened the door to the private room. "Come in."

Ruan Shuyang walked into the marking room, and Chi Ye closed the door behind him.

The sound of the door closing made Ruan Shuyang jump. He turned to see Chi Ye leaning against the door with his arms crossed, looking lazy, like a resting beast taking a nap.

It hit him that he was about to get a temporary mark. Ruan Shuyang swallowed hard, feeling instinctively tense.

After closing the door, Chi Ye walked over to Ruan Shuyang and noticed the latter watching him with wide, fearful eyes. His clear, bright eyes held curiosity and inquiry.

Chi Ye said casually, "Little junior, it’s just a temporary mark. No need to be so nervous or stare at me like that."

Ruan Shuyang, caught red-handed, blushed and lowered his head.

Chi Ye stood beside Ruan Shuyang, thought for a moment, and first removed his own blocker patch.

Ruan Shuyang immediately got a whiff of sea salt caramel, reminding him of the sea salt caramel shortbread he’d snuck bites of as a child. He never expected such a big, tough alpha to have such a delicious-smelling pheromone.

Soon after, he felt Chi Ye’s hand on the back of his neck. Chi Ye reminded him with a hint of laughter, "Little junior, I’m going to take it off now."

As the blocking patch was taken off, Chi Ye, standing behind Ruan Shuyang, immediately understood what illness he had. Clearly, his gland was underdeveloped—only half the size of a normal adult omega’s.

It probably needed alpha pheromones to stimulate its development?

The gland before him was small, fair, and clean. This was the first time Chi Ye had seen an omega’s gland so clearly and directly outside of a textbook.

An alpha’s instinct was to bite it, to mark it.

He leaned in slightly, breathing softly, intending to remind Ruan Shuyang about the mark. But after moving just two centimeters closer, his face turned pale, and he couldn’t get any closer.

It was still the same fair, clean gland he had seen earlier, but upon closer inspection, it inexplicably gave Chi Ye an intensely oppressive feeling. It was as if it had been marked by a top-tier predator—a predator whose pheromones would reject others. Until that mark faded, no one else could mark it.

This shouldn’t be happening.

Chi Ye found it absurd. As a Class S alpha, even a mark from another alpha of the same level would only make him feel a clash of pheromones, not render him unable to approach like this.

His brain was signaling him to mark, but his body was screaming to stay away.

This was pheromone overpowering. He couldn’t fight his body’s instincts.

Chi Ye stood behind Ruan Shuyang for a moment, his face pale, feeling complex and disappointed. In the end, he reluctantly helped reapply the blocking patch.

Ruan Shuyang had been mentally preparing himself, only to have the blocking patch reapplied. He looked at Chi Ye in surprise and confusion, tentatively asking, "...Senior?"

Chi Ye felt bitter. As a proud alpha, getting his pheromones overpowered—and not even in a direct confrontation, but merely by residual pheromones from a previous mark that he couldn’t overwrite—was a blow to anyone’s pride.

But he didn’t lose his temper. Instead, he collected himself and asked Ruan Shuyang, "Have you been temporarily marked by someone else before?"

Ruan Shuyang didn’t know what was happening, but he could sense Chi Ye was in a bad mood. He lowered his head, twisting his fingers together nervously, and said, "Yes."

Chi Ye pondered for a moment before continuing, "Do you remember what that person’s pheromone smelled like?"

Ruan Shuyang was taken aback and shook his head blankly.

It was strange—he could recall the specific details of the mark in his dreams, even the person’s broad, sturdy shoulders, but he couldn’t remember the scent of their pheromone.

He just didn’t remember.

"I don’t remember the scent of that person’s pheromone."

Chi Ye closed his eyes briefly. It must be as he had suspected.

The one who had marked Ruan Shuyang before was an enigma.

Only the pheromones left by an enigma—an alpha who had undergone secondary differentiation—could prevent him from even getting close.

Enigmas were a mystery.

Some said enigmas were immune to all omega pheromones; even the intense pheromones released during an omega’s heat would have no effect on them. Others claimed they had no fixed rut cycles and only exhibited rut-like symptoms during extreme emotional fluctuations.

There were also rumors that enigmas could mark alphas, turning them into their possessions, stimulating the development of the alpha’s reproductive system to bear children for the enigma.

And some said…

There were many legends about enigmas.

But some things could be confirmed.

All enigmas were natural-born leaders, excelling in various fields, and they were extremely rare—it was uncertain if there were even a hundred in the entire country.

Ruan Shuyang noticed Chi Ye looking at him with a complicated expression and asked softly, "Senior, is there a problem?"

Chi Ye’s expression stiffened. Though reluctant, he explained to Ruan Shuyang, "The person who marked you before was likely an enigma."

"An enigma?" Ruan Shuyang was surprised and confused. "What’s an enigma?"

He hadn’t heard of it before and had no memory of it from his ABO gender studies classes.

Chi Ye shared what he knew about enigmas with Ruan Shuyang.

"...An enigma’s pheromones have no scent; it’s a feeling. Some enigmas have pheromones like wind, some like water, some like fire. It’s said that when an enigma with wind-like pheromones releases theirs, other alphas or omegas can’t smell it but can feel wind around them. This wind would feel different depending on the enigma’s mood..."

Hearing this, Ruan Shuyang covered his mouth in surprise, his eyes wide.

He remembered.

Whenever he was near that person, he felt icy cold water. During the marking, gentle yet forceful tides surrounded him—so tender yet so dominant that he couldn’t escape.

So that person really was an enigma, an enigma with water-like pheromones?

"Did you remember something?" Chi Ye asked. "An enigma’s pheromones surpass all alphas'. If you want to be marked now, you either need to find that enigma again or wait until the pheromones left in your gland completely dissipate and the mark completely fades before another alpha can mark you."

Ruan Shuyang’s heart sank. Was it really that complicated?

He tentatively asked, "How long will it take for the pheromones left in my gland to fade?"

Chi Ye replied, "How long has it been since he marked you?"

"Five days."

…After five days, it still prevented him from getting close. Chi Ye felt defeated.

"At least another five days."

Ruan Shuyang felt like his world was collapsing.

He had dreamed about the marking for two consecutive nights. Just sitting between two alphas earlier made him feel weak and achy all over, his gland throbbing. Even with suppressants, he might not make it through five more days.

He asked with difficulty, "Is there any other way?"

Chi Ye shook his head. "No. You… don’t know the enigma who marked you?"

Ruan Shuyang shook his head. How could he possibly know?

"During the marking, I was barely conscious. I don’t remember what he looked like."

So where could they even start looking?

The young man’s thin face was filled with anxiety, his fingers unconsciously clutching the hem of his shirt. Moved by this expression, Chi Ye felt a rare sense of compassion and suggested, "When and where did you meet him? Maybe I can help you look."

Ruan Shuyang hesitated briefly but still told Chi Ye the time and place. He had an instinctive trust in this senior from the same school who was willing to help him.

Chi Ye was very surprised upon hearing this. Wasn’t that the club owned by his older brother, Chi Hang?

Had his junior, Ruan Shuyang, been to Chi Hang’s club, encountered an enigma there, and been temporarily marked by that enigma?

The story sounded absolutely explosive.

Facing Ruan Shuyang’s hopeful expression, he finally said, "Let’s exchange contact information. I’ll let you know if I find anything."

Ruan Shuyang was a little disappointed but comforted himself that it was normal. B City was huge, and his senior wasn’t all-powerful—just hearing the name of a club wouldn’t be enough to find someone.

He exchanged contact details with Chi Ye, thanked him, and left the medical center.

After leaving, he suddenly remembered something very important.

He seemed to have forgotten to tell Chi Ye that the enigma probably also had the surname Chi.

After Ruan Shuyang left, Chi Ye immediately sent a message: Bro, was there an enigma at your club five nights ago? Do you know who it is?

Chi Hang raised an eyebrow upon receiving the message.

Five nights ago, an enigma?

Of course he knew.

Aside from that guy Pei Siyue, it couldn’t be anyone else.

But he didn’t tell Chi Ye right away. Instead, he asked: Why do you want to know?

Chi Ye felt there was no need to hide anything from his older brother and said directly: That enigma marked one of my juniors. The junior has a gland disorder and needs pheromone therapy. Right now, only that enigma’s pheromones will work. I’m helping him ask who that person is.

Chi Hang was amused when he read this.

Five nights ago, Pei Siyue should have only been in contact with one omega—Ruan Shuyang.

So he marked him?

Is Pei Siyue really this reckless, going after his future brother’s fiancée like that?

Who would have thought he could be such a scumbag.

Just to be safe, Chi Hang asked one more question: What's your junior student's name?

Chi Ye: Ruan Shuyang

As soon as Chi Hang saw the message, he knew his guess was right.

This is a huge scandal!

Pei Siyue is ruthless, shameless, and has no limits.

But then again, Zhou Wei and Pei Siming, that mother and son, were the ones who started it—ruthless and unscrupulous, driving away Pei Siyue and his mother, forcing the motherless Pei Siyue to leave for a foreign country.

Pei Siyue is no pushover. With such deep grudges, he’s bound to seek revenge, and the first step in his revenge… is taking his brother’s fiancée?

No wonder he so thoughtfully had his secretary waiting there and made all those preparations. So he’s taking the sweet and caring tactic while secretly making his move?

Marking him in private, showing care and kindness, then going public once he’s won him over.

The humiliation effect and the revenge impact would be…

Just thinking about it feels thrilling. As a bystander, he wants to watch this drama unfold.

Honestly, in this situation, anyone would assume it’s revenge.

It can’t be that Pei Siyue fell in love at first sight with his brother’s fiancée and willingly offered to help, right?

Thinking this, he sent a message to Pei Siyue: Your little romantic baggage has come knocking.

Chi Hang: Ruan Shuyang has a gland disorder and needs pheromone treatment. Right now, it seems only your pheromones are effective.

Chi Hang: To put it simply, he’s dependent on your pheromones.

After finishing his meeting, Pei Siyue saw Chi Hang’s messages. He turned his phone over on the desk, but an image of Ruan Shuyang unexpectedly surfaced in his mind.

The male omega in his arms tilted his head up slightly, his clear, almond-shaped eyes gazing at him, glistening with unshed tears. His small lips parted slightly, the color like ripe cherries.

When he marked him, he whimpered softly and struggled instinctively, but his slight build was no match for his strength.

Pei Siyue’s eyes darkened.