Chapter 9: Fanatic Fan

Chapter 9: Obsessed Fan

"What the hell is all this?"

Yuan Shiyuan tried to sit up but couldn't. Pinned beneath Bo Jin, he turned his head to ask, "How did you get in?"

Ying Mingche, acting as if he owned the place, switched on the light and settled into a nearby chair, observing the two on the bed. "You weren't replying to my messages, and no one answered when I knocked, so I just got the key from them."

Both Yuan Shiyuan and Bo Jin frowned simultaneously, their Alpha instincts bristling at the territorial violation.

Ying Mingche stated matter-of-factly, "We're all on the same team—no need to be so formal. I'll even give you a copy of my room key if you want. It's not like I'd do anything shady in my room anyway."

"We need to rest. What if we were in the middle of something inconvenient?" Yuan Shiyuan retorted.

Ying Mingche’s presence intensely irritated Bo Jin. His pheromones surged and spread, and a murderous impulse rose in his chest.

He glanced at Yuan Shiyuan, grabbed his jacket, and made as if to leave.

"You stay in the dorm," Yuan Shiyuan said, grabbing Bo Jin’s sleeve and shooting Ying Mingche a look. "We'll go out instead."

In the hallway, the two Alphas walked side by side.

Ying Mingche felt inexplicably pleased, though he couldn't quite explain why. But the scent of another Alpha’s pheromones clinging to Yuan Shiyuan annoyed him greatly. He wondered how close they’d been for the scent to be so strong.

S-class Alpha pheromones were difficult to remove. Besides specialized cleaning agents, the only other way was to cover them with pheromones of the same S-class level.

Thinking he was being subtle, Ying Mingche released his own pheromones toward Yuan Shiyuan, attempting to mask the other Alpha’s scent.

A faint tea fragrance spread, mixed with a refreshing hint of lemon.

Ying Mingche was taller than Yuan Shiyuan. From his perspective, he could clearly see the sunlight dancing through Yuan Shiyuan’s pink hair, like flowing pink musical notes.

The pink notes came to a halt.

Yuan Shiyuan stopped in his tracks. "Why did you come looking for me all of a sudden? Is it about work?"

"Not really. Brother Zhuang said we could rest today, so I thought I’d come hang out with you," Ying Mingche said. "It'd be great if we never had to work again."

"..."

Yuan Shiyuan let out a very soft sigh. "I think since we’re a team, even if our current situation isn’t ideal, we shouldn't say discouraging things. At the very least, I want to do this well, and I don't want my work to never pick up."

"I was just joking..." Ying Mingche explained. "That's not what I meant."

"Even though we live in a shared dorm and are a team, it’s still rude to enter without asking Bo Jin and me for permission," Yuan Shiyuan said, looking up. "Also, stop releasing pheromones on me."

"I don’t like it."

Ying Mingche licked his canine teeth, frustration and dissatisfaction churning in his chest. He’d only entered the room—it wasn't like he’d interrupted anything serious. Was Yuan Shiyuan really getting angry at him because of Bo Jin?

Bo Jin could release pheromones on Yuan Shiyuan, but he couldn’t? Why?

Naturally, Ying Mingche was displeased, but he could tell Yuan Shiyuan was upset. He didn’t dare voice his grievances.

He said, sounding pitiful, "I was just worried about you... You weren't replying to my messages. I won't do it again."

"Are you trying to apologize to me?" Yuan Shiyuan said. "If you want to apologize, you should say 'I'm sorry.'"

Ying Mingche froze. S-class Alphas usually had high self-esteem—apologizing was practically unheard of.

Not to mention, he didn’t think he’d done anything wrong in the first place.

But seeing Yuan Shiyuan’s calm, almost cold expression, Ying Mingche felt inexplicably nervous.

Yuan Shiyuan waited a moment, then lost his patience and turned to leave.

Ying Mingche immediately chased after him, grabbing Yuan Shiyuan’s wrist. Under Yuan Shiyuan’s expressionless gaze, his lips trembled slightly, as if he’d never uttered these words before and was struggling internally.

After five or six seconds, he finally lowered his head and whispered very softly, "I'm sorry."

Only then did Yuan Shiyuan smile at him. "That’s more like it."

Yuan Shiyuan had kept a straight face the entire time. When he smiled, he resembled a sleek little fox, but when he wasn’t smiling, he made people uneasy, as if they’d done something wrong.

Finally seeing Yuan Shiyuan smile at him, Ying Mingche felt even more wronged. "The reason I was so eager to find you is that I was really scared."

"Scared?"

"My fan plaza got attacked," Ying Mingche said, gripping Yuan Shiyuan’s shoulders, his expression drooping. "The company received a package addressed to me. Inside were a dead rat, a kitchen knife, and a threatening letter."

"Your fans are telling me to stay away from you."

Yuan Shiyuan: "Huh?"

Ying Mingche took out the letter, and Yuan Shiyuan could see the contents clearly.

Ying Mingche’s poster was crumpled and covered in wrinkles, dense red words scrawled all over it—vicious curses like "bitch" and "die" written across the face.