Chapter 12

Chapter 12

An Nuo truly had no time to mess around with Lu Yunyan.

Of course, Lu Yunyan would be fine—they were his biological parents, after all. They certainly wouldn't remove his scent gland.

But given the nature of their contractual relationship, An Nuo didn’t believe Lu Yunyan would truly stand up to his parents to protect him.

Not that An Nuo blamed Lu Yunyan for it, either.

He simply didn’t want to put Lu Yunyan in an awkward position or risk putting himself in danger.

That was why he was taking things so seriously, doing everything he could on his end to avoid such situations altogether.

Ignoring Lu Yunyan’s flirty banter, An Nuo asked his own questions: "Will your parents ask how we met? Who made the first move? What we usually do together?"

Paranoid due to his hidden motives, An Nuo couldn’t help but worry about every little detail.

Lu Yunyan really wanted to ruffle his hair. "Don’t worry, they won’t."

This didn’t comfort An Nuo at all. "But if they do ask, I won’t have an answer! I’m telling you, I really won’t know what to say!"

Realizing general comforts weren’t working, Lu Yunyan offered a more concrete plan this time.

"Relax, no matter what they ask, I’ll handle all the responses. If their questions become too intrusive, I’ll use showing you around as an excuse to get you away from them."

"Even if we’re in the middle of a meal? You’d take me away then?"

"Then I’ll ask if you’re full. Just say yes, and I can suggest we go for a walk and see the place."

"But will your parents agree? Would they really just let us leave like that?"

"If they agree, great—we’ll be away from the center of the storm. If they don’t, they’ll have to hold back to keep us there. They won’t keep asking invasive questions."

With a concrete and sensible plan, An Nuo felt much better.

His expression softened slightly. "If they try to intimidate or threaten me, I’ll run away… I really will run away!"

Getting his scent gland removed was no joking matter.

Lu Yunyan laughed softly. "Alright, alright, don’t worry. It’s your first time visiting—they really won’t give you a hard time."

Lu Yunyan wasn’t lying to An Nuo, nor was he saying this just to comfort him.

It was the truth.

Because Lu Yunyan’s parents already knew the full story—the background, the circumstances, and the existence of their contract.

—Sorry, correction: he wasn’t lying now because he’d already lied before.

What felt like the first meeting to An Nuo was actually the second time for Lu Yunyan.

Lu Yunyan had first seen An Nuo two years earlier.

At the launch event for Lu Corporation’s new gaming pod, Lu Yunyan attended as the interim CEO. He didn’t give a speech but sat in the center of the front row.

An Nuo, meanwhile, was a guest of a special VIP, seated on the side in the third row—not particularly close to Lu Yunyan.

Lu Yunyan had never liked crowded events.

It wasn’t that he was aloof by nature; rather, a congenital condition made it difficult for him to process too many pheromones in a short time.

Discomfort was the mildest reaction.

In severe cases, he could become dizzy and even lose his temper.

That day, Lu Yunyan wore a mask, doing little to block the pheromones around him.

But suddenly, a faint, fruity fragrance cut through the layers and drifted into his nostrils.

Clearly an omega’s pheromone.

Yet, strangely, it didn’t make him feel unwell.

Wondering if he was imagining it, Lu Yunyan traced the scent to its source—and there, An Nuo entered his line of sight.

A delicate, flawless beauty, his gaze fixed intently on the stage. His eyes were like polished jade—bright, full, and round, very cute.

Even with people between them, and other omegas present, Lu Yunyan was certain the pheromone came from this little beauty.

Who was he?

Why was his pheromone so unique?

Unfortunately, he only caught that brief whiff—after that, it was gone.

Lu Yunyan wanted to confirm whether it was real, but the moment he removed his mask, he was assaulted by multiple other smells and had to put it back on immediately.

At normal social distances, these smells were too faint to bother others or mix into anything offensive.

But Lu Yunyan was overly sensitive in this regard—as if fate had cursed him with both a genetic defect and an exceptionally sharp sense of smell, determined to make his life difficult.

Afterward, Lu Yunyan investigated An Nuo and soon learned his identity.

But he went no further than that.

An Nuo’s family background was ordinary yet complicated, with a father of questionable reputation. Pursuing a mere illusion wasn’t worth getting entangled with such a family.

A faint attraction meant little.

Keeping it as a memory left room for imagination and beauty. Getting closer only to find it was an illusion would have been a true letdown.

But Lu Yunyan remembered An Nuo.

The only special one in over twenty years of life—the only person whose pheromone Lu Yunyan found pleasant.

Two years later, they crossed paths again at a banquet.

By then, Lu Yunyan’s condition had worsened. To endure the pain of his rut cycles, he had over-relied on drugs, repeatedly overdosing. Not only was the medicine becoming less effective, but side effects were also kicking in.

That night, every smell made him sick.

Nauseated, disgusted.

Sweet, cloying perfumes and pheromones mingled and drifted through every corner of the air.

For Lu Yunyan, it was nothing short of a disaster.

He felt as if he had been dunked into a witch's cauldron of potions—tossed in as a human but pulled out as a toad with its limbs pinned.

Until he spotted An Nuo again from afar, huddled in a deserted corner as if determined to be a quiet little mushroom.

Lu Yunyan wasn't surprised he'd run into An Nuo here.

The young man seemed to have filled out some, looking more like an adult and even more adorable.

In fact, even setting aside his unique pheromones, Lu Yunyan wouldn't have forgotten An Nuo based on his appearance alone.

Recalling the fruity scent from two years ago was the only fresh thought occurring to Lu Yunyan at that moment.

So, he instinctively headed toward An Nuo.

The so-called love at first sight didn’t exist.

Lu Yunyan had long known about An Nuo; that night, he made the first move.

As they brushed past each other, Lu Yunyan finally caught that sweet, refreshing fruity scent again, like a clear spring flowing into his parched body, saving him from the witch's potion and restoring him from toad to human.

It was then that Lu Yunyan realized An Nuo's pheromones not only smelled pleasant to him but also helped ease the symptoms caused by his condition.

Unbelievable.

The person he had waited twenty-six years for, the omega who could save him, had actually appeared two years ago.

This was undoubtedly fate's doing.

Lu Yunyan acted decisively—having missed the first chance, he naturally had to grab this second chance tight.

He strode up to An Nuo, blocking his path: "Can I have a word with you?"

An Nuo didn’t know him and seemed a bit startled, his eyes like glass beads blinking: "...Huh?"

How adorable.

That was Lu Yunyan's first thought.

I must find a way to marry him and make him my partner.

That was Lu Yunyan's most genuine thought at the time.

To make his plan a reality, Lu Yunyan came up with the perfect arrangement for them.

He didn’t hide it from his parents but acted now, explained later, only telling them after they were married.

It wasn’t a completely honest explanation either—he anticipated that his sudden marriage would upset the company’s shareholders and would need his parents to calm things down.

Although his alpha father was furious and scolded him on the spot: "I regret having just you. If I’d known, I would’ve had more kids. You'll be the death of me yet!"

Lu Yunyan had already achieved the result he wanted most. A few scoldings were nothing—he deserved them.

He comforted his alpha father: "It’s too late to have more now, no use regretting. Better count on me. We’ll have chances to have more in the future."

This made his alpha father even angrier, wanting to beat him up in a rage.

But anger was just anger—once it passed, things returned to normal.

After confirming that An Nuo's pheromones were truly effective and that Lu Yunyan was truly head over heels, his parents ultimately chose to compromise.

How could they possibly remove An Nuo's gland and kill him to silence him?

They only hoped that Lu Yunyan would put on a good show and win An Nuo over with genuine sincerity.

They wished for An Nuo to also fall in love with Lu Yunyan and stay with him forever.

Because Lu Yunyan's condition was incurable, the three-year timeframe was just a ploy to deceive An Nuo.

The genetic disease would haunt Lu Yunyan for life, until his gland function naturally declined with age, until his death.

...

The flight took two minutes, while the landing and registration process took nearly half an hour. By the time they stepped out of the aircraft, An Nuo’s nervousness had faded, replaced by a perfectly natural and appropriate smile.

Though nervousness still lingered, An Nuo only allowed himself to show it before or after the event.

While the event was ongoing, he had to perform well and not shrink back, lowering his own worth.

Lu Yunyan witnessed An Nuo’s change in demeanor, and his fondness for An Nuo increased even more.

The little beauty was more resilient than he had imagined.

Lu Yunyan teased, "We’re about to meet my parents, and now you’re not nervous anymore?"

An Nuo replied calmly, completely different from his worried self on the aircraft: "I am nervous, of course I am, but I can’t let it show."

Compared to the Lu family’s residence here, the graveyard-quiet oversized flat was nothing.

There was no way to estimate the property's size with the naked eye. An Nuo felt it was like a manor, with a vast array of blooming flowers in sight, making it seem like stepping into a floral museum.

Lu Yunyan led An Nuo onto a nearby shuttle cart and suddenly said with mischief, "When you meet my parents later, you’ll have to act like we’re deeply in love."

An Nuo: ?

On the aircraft, you were comforting me and assured me your parents wouldn’t make things difficult, that I could handle it. Now that we’ve landed, you finally remember to give me pointers?

"...Me? I'm the only one who has to act?"

Do you even hear the nonsense you’re saying?

"Mm," Lu Yunyan said. "Remember to call me 'husband,' and come act cute with me now and then, so they believe you truly love me."

"..."

He had never called Lu Yunyan that before, and it would be even more impossible to say it in front of strangers.

If An Nuo were to actually call him that, it would only make the pretense more obvious and blow our cover faster.

"By the way, you’ve never called me 'husband' before, right? How about practicing it now?"

"..."

All An Nuo wanted was to punch him.