Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Meng Shijiu woke up the moment his head hit the infirmary bed.

His thick eyelashes fluttered slightly, and his light-colored pupils shimmered with a cold, cyan hue like a peacock feather.

Soft silver hair slipped from the Alpha's cheek, revealing a patch of smooth, porcelain skin.

Ye Lingxi, standing by the bed, looked up and discreetly scanned the Alpha's striking eyes before lowering his lashes again.

He handed a glass of water to the Alpha, who had sat up, and asked softly—

"Are you feeling okay?"

The Omega stood like a slender yet sharp blade, his shoulders bent forward slightly and his waist narrow and taut, like a bow silently gathering strength. The shadow he cast enveloped Meng Shijiu.

He kept his head down without even looking up, yet his voice carried a strange gentleness.

—It was as if he were a completely different person from the irritable youth who had violently kicked the door at Meng Shijiu's dormitory.

Meng Shijiu didn't answer. Instead, he raised a brow slightly and observed the Omega who was playing meek and mild before him.

He was strikingly handsome, with sharp features reminiscent of slender mountain ridges.

But aside from the beauty described in the original work, his face, once clear as moonlight, had been steeped in violence into a gloomy, dim crescent. No matter the expression, it always seemed tinged with mockery, disdain, and contempt.

Meng Shijiu: "What about his temper?"

See replied sarcastically: "Probably vented it all out."

See had activated the system recording function after Meng Shijiu passed out, uploading everything that happened next to the Alpha's mind.

A chaotic montage of images flickered through his mind like an old film reel, jumping frame by frame before finally freezing on the blood-flecked amber eyes of the tall, lean youth.

Suddenly flooded with these memories, Meng Shijiu chuckled: "So professional."

See puffed up proudly: "Of course, I'm the top performer in our department. Once the first plot point is triggered and I earn some points, I can even upgrade..."

Meng Shijiu drawled slowly: "There won't be a next time."

Meng Shijiu: "Don't do things like this without my permission, understand?"

The Alpha's inner voice was clear and gentle, yet See heard a distinct chill in it.

See immediately became obedient: "Understood, Host."

Meng Shijiu raised his hand and took the water offered by the Omega.

As his fingers touched the warm cup, his pale fingertips felt a hint of moisture.

The red marks on his neck had already faded completely.

Even though he hadn't touched Ye Lingxi's hand, Ye Lingxi's fingers curled slightly despite himself as he withdrew it.

His lips pressed into a straight line, and he spoke in a low, hoarse voice: "What are you doing here?"

"Here" referred to St. Maria.

This nominal fiancé of his was perhaps only useful in one way: because of this engagement, despite his illegitimate status, life in the Ye family had become a bit easier.

Just for that reason alone, Ye Lingxi couldn't bring himself to ignore Meng Shijiu completely like he did others.

—Ye Lingxi told himself again, that was the only reason.

Only that?

—The suppressed resentment and bitter malice he felt years ago when he first saw that wheelchair-bound figure were still vivid.

Yet now, it seemed as if those feelings had been brushed away as easily as dust off a sleeve, leaving only faint but scorching traces that Ye Lingxi dared not touch.

The Alpha seemed a little surprised, raising a brow at him and replying matter-of-factly: "I'm here for school."

Ye Lingxi: ...

"Is that so?"

The Alpha opposite clearly remembered him, yet seemed to have forgotten everything that had happened between them.

—Or perhaps he did remember but simply didn't care; the way he looked at him was still unfamiliar and indifferent.

His eyes.

—Those eyes, once the only bright color amidst the Alpha's pheromones in the dark night, used to be silent, misty, and cold—a thorough, dry coldness that felt utterly despairing.

Now, they were like rippling moonlight, dazzling yet icy.

Whether the emotions hidden beneath the calm lake were teasing or aloof, they were at least vivid and bright.

He wanted to congratulate him on regaining his sight.

—But it was as if nails had sealed his lips, pinning his breath and his words in his throat. He stood before him, unable to open his mouth, mute like a fool.

「Guest room in the Ye residence.

The Alpha lowered his gaze, "looking" at him: "You're ill."

The Alpha couldn't see the expression of the undifferentiated Omega standing before him.

He didn't know he was facing a withered tree.

But he could sense the decaying, dead, and nearly rotten aura emanating from it.

This tree grew in barren soil, its gnarled roots buried deep in darkness, perpetually convulsing in a sickly manner, withering away silently.

Though the person opposite said nothing, Meng Shijiu could hear every cell within him screaming frantically, tearing apart, crying out, "Save me."

Fourteen-year-old Meng Shijiu didn't like to speak.

He was a silent whale, a lonely passerby.

He was no one's savior.

—He was a struggling flame from hell, a fire on the verge of extinguishing in this bleak world.

When fire first appeared, some called it a seductive demon, while others hailed it as a divine savior.

Meng Shijiu "looked" at Ye Lingxi.

Of course, he wouldn't remember this life struggling in agony.

But compared to everyone else in this house, in Meng Shijiu's "eyes," Ye Lingxi was still somewhat pleasing to the "eye."

The medic performed a simple test on Meng Shijiu.

After Meng Shijiu emerged from the scanning pod, the medic looked at the electronic screen and instructed him:

"Pheromone allergy. The allergen is oleander-scented pheromones. You're all better now, nothing serious."

"You can have some anti-allergics ready, but it's best to stay away from the allergen."

Hearing this, the Omega, who had remained quiet this whole time, suddenly looked up at Meng Shijiu.

The medic's words echoed in his ears.

—Pheromone allergy.

Oleander pheromones.

...Much later, every time Ye Lingxi recalled this scene, he hated his Omega father and the Ye family more than ever.

He was even willing to undergo surgery to remove his glands because of it.

The medic suddenly turned to Ye Lingxi: "Want to get your eyes checked, kid?"

"What?" Still lost in a daze he couldn't explain, Ye Lingxi was confused.

His right eye, injured by the Alpha's cold pheromones, still had an unnatural blood-red tint, like a crimson spiderweb spreading across a golden sun.

The medic motioned for him to look in the mirror.

The infirmary had a three-meter-tall full-length mirror positioned nearby, visible with just a slight turn of the head.

Meng Shijiu's eye twitched: "—Wait a moment."

It was too late. Through the smooth mirror surface, Ye Lingxi saw the fierce, blood-red flowers spreading wildly in his gloomy pupils.

Dizziness washed over him almost instantly, spreading from his limbs to his heart.

Frenzied vines seemed to choke his neck, and nausea made his throat tighten suddenly.

Suddenly.

A strong yank on his arm from behind pulled him outward. Ye Lingxi's pupils shrank as he stumbled in front of the Alpha, barely catching his balance.

Meng Shijiu grabbed Ye Lingxi's gray-blue hair and pulled it back, the force so strong that Ye Lingxi's scalp tingled with pain.

Yet the cold temperature against his skin sent a shiver through him, a faint tremor running down his spine.

Ye Lingxi was forced to tilt his head back by the motion.

He saw the thin lips, tinged rosy from warm water, curl into a flippant yet sharp arc.

A slightly annoyed voice said in his ear.

From this angle, he could clearly see the weary lines on the Alpha's eyelids, like faint creases on thin paper.

"Don't faint."

The Alpha commanded lazily, in a tone that brooked no argument.

He couldn't be bothered to consider whether this command was something the Omega he was holding could even control.

"—Did you hear me?" The long-haired Alpha said, each word deliberate.

The glaring white light overhead forced Ye Lingxi to squint.

He, who had spent years looking down, now felt as if he had been laid bare on a cold, brightly lit display. He shut his blood-red eyes.

When he opened them, he met a pair of jade-green eyes suddenly up close, cold and indifferent as a frozen lake. The Alpha's faint, cool breath seemed to seep into his very bones.

He desperately suppressed the pheromones threatening to uncontrollably release from his glands, his Adam's apple bobbing frantically as he stood like a mountain about to erupt.

"Mm." Ye Lingxi bit his pale lip until it bled, swallowing the coppery taste.

Meng Shijiu released his grip.

The icy sensation faded like a tide going out. Ye Lingxi lowered his head again, yet the lingering numbness in his body clung to his heart like stubborn black tar, refusing to fade for a long time.

Meng Shijiu: "Does this make sense? My pheromones involuntarily attack him, he could faint at the sight of blood anytime, and I'm allergic to his pheromones?"

See: "..."

See just tried to comfort its host: "It's fine. When the mission time is over, I can exchange points for pheromone blockers."

See said coldly: "As for the male lead..."

See: "Fainting from blood won't kill him ^^"

Meng Shijiu: "..."

Meng Shijiu: "Holding a grudge, huh?"

See: ":D"

...

Omegas don't heal as fast as Alphas.

The medic handed the eye drops to the Omega.

Meng Shijiu casually asked: "Need a hand?"

Ye Lingxi: "Yes."

The spacious infirmary fell silent for a few seconds.

Meng Shijiu: "? Isn't he supposed to be the self-reliant, resilient 'little white flower' type?"

See: "......"

...

...

Moonlight grass in the courtyard was frozen into stiff ice sculptures.

Facing the displeased Alpha, Ye Lingxi lowered his gloomy gaze and offered a casual excuse:

“I’ll help you… push the wheelchair…”

“I don’t need help.” The Alpha in the wheelchair interrupted him and left the courtyard.

The pheromones took a long time to fade.

Yet the icy courtyard remained bitterly cold.

Ye Lingxi remembered the first words Meng Shijiu said to him; later, the volatile Omega repeated this phrase most often.

“I don’t need it.”

…

Two days later.

A dismal, rainy day.

Dark clouds hung low and the mist was heavy, the air thick with a dense, sticky quality.

The sky was overcast, but there was not a trace of wind. This aristocratic academy finally exuded the oppressive, damp gloom described by the author of *But the Sunlight Is So Good*.

The second-years' first combat class was held in the indoor training hall of the Zhixing Building.

The silver-haired Alpha stepped into the dim classroom.

Even the fine dust floating in the air seemed to avoid the serene, untainted silver-haired youth.

His frost-white hair cascaded down like moonlight.

The St. Maria’s training uniform made him appear exceptionally handsome, his elegant silhouette the only bright spot in the gloomy classroom.

The restless classroom suddenly fell into silence.

A few seconds later, another kind of restlessness began to stir through the sticky air.