Chapter 5: Mark

Chapter 5: Mark

After the captain left, Cai Gu cleaned the security booth again, wiped it clean, not a speck of dust left. At the back of the booth was a small compartment with a single bed—small, but enough for Cai Gu to sleep alone.

Sweat soaked Cai Gu's collar, making the ring around his collar see-through. He was panting heavily, waiting for dusk to fall before leaving the academy.

A nighttime breeze blew in. Cai Gu pulled out his phone and checked it. There was a direct bus from the Noble Academy to his neighborhood, which would save him some taxi fare.

"Ding."

As his phone chimed, the bus arrived at just the right moment. Cai Gu clicked on his phone while pushing his way onto the bus.

The bus was packed with people. Before Cai Gu could steady himself, the crowd pushed him to the center. His build and frame were larger than average, leaving him even less space—he had to almost stand on tiptoe just to claim a tiny spot for himself on the bus.

The bus lurched forward, and someone stumbled against him. His muscular frame was like a fine vase—meant only for display, useless in practice.

His phone was ringing insistently in his ear. Cai Gu managed to steady himself and answered in a breathy voice: "Hello?"

His voice was gentle, sounding unusually clear over the phone.

Huo Qizhou tightened his grip on the pen, his throat going dry. "How was your first day at work?"

The bus was too noisy. Cai Gu couldn't make out Huo Qizhou's words on the other end. The bus slammed on its brakes, and his phone slipped from his hand, clattering to the floor.

Huo Qizhou heard the call disconnect. He slammed the desk hard, making a loud noise, but quickly calmed down.

It's only the first day, and Cai Gu is already reaching his limit. He even lost his temper with me.

After all these years, this is the first time Cai Gu has hung up on him.

Huo Qizhou leaned back in his chair, his eyes bloodshot with barely suppressed excitement. What does this mean? It means he's finally made a difference in Cai Gu's eyes.

Cai Gu stared at his phone, which had slid under a seat, and anxiously tried to squeeze over. In the jam-packed bus, shoving and rising temperatures caused the scent-blocking patches on passengers' nape to come loose; various pheromone scents coiled around Cai Gu's wrists and ankles.

He moved his body, apologizing repeatedly: "Sorry, sorry... I just need to pick up my phone. Please let me through..."

Cai Gu kept his arms bent, shielding his full chest. His shirt was already wrinkled. Despite his many requests, the passengers around him acted as though they couldn't hear, leaving him only a cramped, narrow space.

His chest pressed against the back of the person in front of him, and he nearly collapsed against them—his soft chest felt like cotton candy when he lost his balance.

Tiptoeing and grabbing the handrail, Cai Gu inched toward the seat. His buttocks brushed against a cold belt buckle. After what felt like an eternity, he finally reached the seat.

He appealed to the Alpha sitting there: "Excuse me, my phone fell under your seat. Could you help me pick it up?"

Cai Gu asked several times but got no response. His voice grew quieter; he didn't dare ask again. Instead, he knelt on the floor and lowered his upper body under the seat.

The entire bus fell eerily silent. Every passenger looked down at Cai Gu with a condescending look, only able to see his body from the shoulders down: broad shoulders, narrow waist, his shirt riding up to reveal a glimpse of his honey-colored waist.

Without a word, they closed in on him, pressing tightly against Cai Gu.

Cai Gu groped under the seat for a long time before finally grabbing his phone. He sighed in relief, but when he tried to get up, he found his waist blocked by the passengers' legs. He couldn't escape.

He tried to back up, but there were only more legs behind him. He said, his voice muffled, "Can you let me up?"

But the passengers pretended not to hear. As the bus neared his neighborhood, the road grew rougher, and their legs jostled against him. Though his plump buttocks cushioned the impact and he felt no pain, he bit his lower lip in shame, the corners of his eyes turning red.

Passengers came and went in waves. The only constant was Cai Gu, kneeling on the floor with his head wedged under the seat.

"Terminal: Jinnan South Road. All passengers please..."

Cai Gu finally got a chance to breathe. He stumbled off the bus, grabbing the door for support. His side braid had come loose, his shirt was crumpled, and several crimson finger marks had been left on his firm waist.

He wiped the sweat from his chin and trudged home, exhausted.

Now he just wanted to pack his things, take a good shower, and lie down to rest.

The sky was dim, and the motion-sensor lights in the old residential building flickered on and off. Cai Gu's shadow stretched long behind him. He brushed away a flying insect in front of his face and was about to pull out his keys when someone suddenly came up from behind and pinned him against the door.

Hot breath brushed against the skin behind his ear. Cai Gu guessed who it was—only those young thugs would hang around the residential building waiting for him.

He sighed helplessly. "Let me go."

The hooligan sniffed at the thin skin behind his ear like a dog, while the other hand slid under his shirt.

The Alpha's body temperature was blazing—almost searing his waist. Cai Gu noticed something unusual and asked kindly, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Before he finished speaking, the hooligan behind him suddenly bit down on the flesh on the back of his neck. Betas do have glands, but theirs are so atrophied that they are usually ignored.

Still, the back of the neck is an erogenous zone for Betas.

The hooligan's canine teeth pierced the skin, and the taste of blood spread in the hooligan's mouth.

Cai Gu's pupils shrank in panic. He forgot about the hooligan's condition and struggled desperately to break free, but Alphas are always stronger than Betas. Despite their vast size difference, Cai Gu remained pinned to the door.

The hooligan muttered, "Gland? Where's your gland?"

While the hooligan was focused on his neck, Cai Gu stomped down hard on his foot, then shoved him away with force.

The hooligan staggered back, the pain in his foot snapping him back to reality. Under the orange glow of the light, Cai Gu's present appearance was fully exposed to him.

His plump lips were slightly parted, his face full of disbelief. A faint blush crept across his wheat-colored face. But what held the hooligan's attention most was the finger marks on his waist.

They must have been made with a lot of force.

Cai Gu covered the back of his neck with his hand and swallowed hard, his voice trembling: "You seem off—are you in rut?"

The hooligan squinted. "Those finger marks on your waist—what's your new job, selling yourself, you slut—"

"Slap."

A crisp slap echoed in the corridor. The hooligan's head snapped to the side. He tongued his cheek, eyes bloodshot.

Just as he was about to grab Cai Gu again, Cai Gu unlocked the door, slipped inside, and locked it behind him.

The hooligan was left alone in the corridor, surrounded by the heavy pheromones filling the air.

He was indeed in rut. Kids like him, broke and abandoned by their folks, couldn't even afford suppressants. He'd only realized what he was doing after he'd already followed Cai Gu.

He scratched his head and sat down on the stairs, his emotions conflicted. He hated himself for feeling aroused by a thirty-something Beta, and he hated Cai Gu for heartlessly shutting him out.

Why didn't he let me in? Was there someone else inside?

His mind fuzzy, he still wanted to barge in, but the neighbors next door had had enough. The heavy pheromone smell seeped through the cracks in the doors, disturbing their rest.

"At this hour, what's all this racket?"

"That smell—what is he trying to do!"

The thug pulled his hand back, took one last reluctant glance at Cai Gu's door, and gritted his teeth. If he kept pestering like this, he wouldn't be able to get in anyway.

That's right.

"The drug!"

As he went downstairs, the thug muttered under his breath. He still remembered the drug his lackey had mentioned. Once he got his hands on it, he would expose Cai Gu as an Omega.

Then, forcefully mark him!

The more the thug thought about it, the more excited he became, completely unaware that a pair of eyes were watching him from the shadows.

*

Cai Gu quickly locked the door. He waited for a moment, then looked through the peephole. When he didn't see the thug, he breathed a long sigh of relief.

Cai Gu covered the throbbing back of his neck with his hand, feeling scared. He went to the mirror to check the back of his neck. The bleeding had stopped and no more blood was oozing out. He tentatively poked it with his finger and couldn't help but suck in a sharp breath.

"That hurts so much."

He weakly leaned against the sink. As a Beta, this was the first time he had been bitten by someone, and it was a teenager more than ten years younger than him.

Cai Gu felt extremely uncomfortable. Even after taking a shower, the sticky sensation lingered on his body and refused to fade away.

After sitting on the edge of the bed in a daze for a while, Cai Gu suddenly realized that he had to leave now. If the thug cornered him downstairs tomorrow morning...

He shuddered suddenly, quickly got up to pack his bags. After everything was ready, Cai Gu looked through the peephole again, confirmed no one was there, and carried his suitcase downstairs.

Cai Gu looked back every few steps, afraid that someone might be chasing him. It was near midnight, and the surroundings were silent except for the occasional chirp of cicadas.

Only when Cai Gu sat in the taxi did he feel at ease, though his heart was still pounding violently in his chest.

Author's note:

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