Chapter 19

Chapter 19

The mention of the gland immediately clued An Nuo into Lu Yunyan’s intentions.

Though Lu Yunyan hadn't been serious all day, An Nuo was still taken aback by his escalating boldness.

Lu Yunyan’s gland was discreetly located on the inner thigh.

For him, this spot was private and secure—few would ever guess its location, and even fewer could launch a surprise attack there.

But for an omega asked to interact with it, the location was rather awkward.

Only the first time, caught off guard, had An Nuo been coaxed by Lu Yunyan into kissing it.

After that, no matter how Lu Yunyan tried to persuade him, he never succeeded again.

An Nuo would never agree.

And now, it was even more out of the question.

He had no desire to take off Lu Yunyan’s pants; he’d learned his lesson enough times. Once he took off Lu Yunyan’s pants, it would inevitably be Lu Yunyan’s turn to take off his.

The soreness from last night still lingered in his muscles. This early in the morning, An Nuo felt he wasn't willing to sacrifice this much for Bai Wu.

"...Forget it, then. Just don’t tell me."

An Nuo chose to refuse and immediately tried to get up, eager to escape Lu Yunyan’s embrace.

He couldn't be too careful.

This alpha was too cunning, with ample strength and tricks. An Nuo admitted he was no match, and keeping his distance seemed the safest bet.

Unfortunately, before his hips could even lift, Lu Yunyan pulled him back.

Lu Yunyan asked, "How about interning at my company?"

An Nuo paused. "...Huh?"

Internship?

What an abrupt topic change.

"You're about to graduate, aren't you? Do you already have plans?"

"..."

Well, not really.

An Nuo had never been particularly fond of his major, and the job market was narrow. The most suitable options were either becoming a school teacher or a related lecturer.

His father had wanted him to be a lecturer, thinking it was a fitting job for an omega—stable and respectable, making him seem more well-behaved and easier to win an alpha’s favor.

"...No plans."

"Have you thought about what you want to do?"

"No."

He felt a little embarrassed, but not overly so.

After all, Shi Yu’s words had inspired him, making An Nuo reconsider—perhaps starting from scratch would be fine. He was still young, after all.

"Since you have no plans, wouldn’t interning with me be perfect?"

Lu Yunyan said, "If you come intern, I can make an exception and share that information with you."

"..."

It sounded serious, but An Nuo suspected Lu Yunyan had ulterior motives, so he asked another question.

"What position would you give me?"

Lu Yunyan said, "How about being my assistant? That way, you’d have access to all my schedules and could keep an eye on me every day."

"..."

Good thing he asked—otherwise, he might have been fooled.

The more he thought about it, the more suspicious the position sounded.

Was it a proper assistant role?

Or was it the kind where he’d have to follow Lu Yunyan around all day, only to be teased by him on the desk anytime, anywhere?

Though he didn’t voice these doubts outright, An Nuo remained cautious and tactfully replied, "It’s not entirely out of the question... I’ll consider it."

Lu Yunyan chuckled and nuzzled him again. "Alright, think it over carefully."

An Nuo instinctively tried to dodge, losing his balance naturally and caught off guard. Before he knew it, Lu Yunyan had pinned him down on the desk.

An Nuo was stunned.

"...What are you doing?!"

Lu Yunyan said matter-of-factly, "Kissing you."

An Nuo couldn’t believe it. After all his carefulness, what had it been for?

How did he suddenly end up pinned by Lu Yunyan?

"...No!"

"Why not?" Lu Yunyan asked. "The meeting’s over. There won’t be any more interruptions."

"This is the study!"

Lu Yunyan’s smile widened. "Yeah, I know. It’s one of the new places I planned to try."

"..."

What plan?

What try?

Unfortunately, An Nuo didn’t get a chance to ask more. Lu Yunyan pressed down on him like a mountain, pinning his hands above his head, leaving him completely unable to resist.

Lu Yunyan kissed his forehead, the tip of his nose, the corner of his lips, but finally nuzzled open his collar, gently rubbing and sniffing his gland.

"Peach scent again today. So fragrant."

An Nuo's deathly still gland, repeatedly stimulated by the alpha's intense presence, began to react to the external environment, growing slightly warm.

……

By the time they left the study, it was already afternoon.

An Nuo was so hungry his stomach growled—he had never been this famished before.

He had eaten two large cream puffs for breakfast and initially worried about the high calorie count, which wasn’t great for his weight management.

But after being worn out from Lu Yunyan's antics, An Nuo felt his body was in a calorie deficit of a thousand.

Lunch was wolfed down in no time. As for his weight control plan? He’d worry about that after filling his stomach.

It was only after the meal that An Nuo remembered to check his phone.

There were several unread messages from Bai Wu.

Bai Wu: "Three hours have passed. Did you ask? What’s the result?"

Bai Wu: "Today is the last day to put down a deposit for the new item! Should I pay or not?!"

Bai Wu: "Five hours have passed. Now I’m starting to worry about your safety."

An Nuo: "Don’t worry, I’m still alive."

An Nuo: "I asked. Go ahead and pay the deposit."

Bai Wu: "??? So the takeover rumor was false??"

An Nuo: "It’s not fake, but I can’t divulge more. Just buy it—it won’t cause any issues later."

This was truly information he had "sacrificed" himself to obtain. He hoped Bai Wu would appreciate it.

……

Before this, An Nuo had never had such intimate contact with any alpha.

Although Lu Yunyan had repeatedly assured him, and he hadn’t dwelled too much on the complicated emotions he felt, there was still a lingering worry in his heart—the past two days had been pretty outrageous. Would he have to live like this until Lu Yunyan’s rut was over?

Moreover, in just these two short days, Lu Yunyan had grown more audacious each day, stopping just short of taking things all the way.

When the rut truly arrived, wouldn’t that mean…

Even though he had known this from the start and was somewhat mentally prepared, after experiencing real physical contact with Lu Yunyan, An Nuo couldn’t help but feel nervous.

He could only pray that Lu Yunyan wouldn’t end up killing him when the time came.

Fortunately, the outcome was okay. An Nuo’s worries didn’t all come true—only about half of them did.

When Lu Yunyan’s rut finally arrived, he didn’t force An Nuo into anything too extreme, still stopping short of the final step, which allowed An Nuo to breathe a huge sigh of relief.

But until Lu Yunyan left, An Nuo indeed lived through days of constant teasing and tormenting.

The over eight pounds he had gained while living alone had been shed by three pounds through all this turmoil. An Nuo didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

In any case, Lu Yunyan left home on the morning after his rut ended.

At that time, An Nuo was still curled up under the covers, fast asleep and completely unaware.

In his hazy memory, Lu Yunyan seemed to have called his name, kissed his forehead, and gently shaken his shoulder, as if trying to wake him.

But An Nuo was far too sleepy to open his eyes. He mumbled a complaint—"Stop bothering me"—and buried his entire head under the blankets.

He thought he heard Lu Yunyan’s light, resigned chuckle, but he couldn’t be sure. Soon enough, everything fell silent again, and all sounds ceased.

An Nuo continued to sleep soundly for several more hours until he woke up naturally.

There were a few unread messages from Lu Yunyan on his phone, sent several hours earlier.

Lu Yunyan: "My rut is over. You’ve worked hard these past days. Rest well."

Lu Yunyan: "I wanted to get you something but wasn’t sure what, so before heading out, I cleared out your shopping cart."

Lu Yunyan: "Transferred some extra pocket money for you, baby. Buy whatever you like. If it’s not enough, just let me know."

An Nuo, afraid he had misread, didn’t even reply to the messages and immediately checked his shopping cart.

After confirming that it had indeed been completely cleared, he was so thrilled he rolled back and forth on the bed several times.

Then came regret—if he had known Lu Yunyan would pull such a move, he would have filled his shopping cart to the brim.

An Nuo: "Will there be this kind of deal again?"

If there was, he promised to stuff his shopping cart full before Lu Yunyan’s next rut.

But Lu Yunyan was probably busy, as he didn’t reply to An Nuo’s message.

At first, An Nuo didn’t mind. He got up as usual, cuddled his cat, ate, and continued working on his graduation project.

There was no need to go to school during this period; he could focus solely on preparing his graduation project.

The past few days had been constantly interrupted by Lu Yunyan, so his progress had been slow. Today, finally making headway again, An Nuo felt it was truly better without Lu Yunyan around.

No one was clinging to him like a big dog anymore—a big, lecherous dog at that, always sniffing him, nuzzling him, and impulsively kissing him.

An Nuo savored the long-missed tranquility. After weighing himself and discovering he had lost more weight, he rewarded himself with a small cream cake after lunch.

But as night settled over the city, the silence and emptiness that had been masked by daylight began to gradually emerge.

Without Lu Yunyan, the house returned to its cemetery-like quiet.

After showering and lying in bed, aside from the sound of his own heartbeat and shallow breathing, An Nuo couldn’t hear anything else.

So quiet.

Almost too quiet.

It was only then that An Nuo belatedly realized: did all those messages Lu Yunyan sent in the morning mean that after his rut ended, he wouldn’t be coming back?

During the week Lu Yunyan had stayed at home, aside from two trips to the hospital, he hadn’t gone out.

An Nuo had grown used to seeing him around the house, so he hadn’t thought much of it, always assuming he would return.

But it was so late now, and Lu Yunyan still hadn’t come back—without a single word of explanation. Even the messages sent that morning had gone unanswered. An Nuo finally understood: his role as a "comfort provider" was temporarily over.

Because he was no longer needed.

So of course, Lu Yunyan wouldn’t be coming back.

Although this was the relationship they had agreed upon from the very beginning—clearly stated in black and white in the contract, no emotions involved, they were just using each other—truly feeling the weight of that reality made An Nuo realize it was colder than he had imagined.

It felt like being cut off coldly by Lu Yunyan.

The space beside him felt empty. So did his heart.

His eyes grew warm and sore with unshed tears, and for some inexplicable reason, he felt like crying.