Chapter 11 Little Bug

Chapter 11: Little Bug

The car slowly came to a halt, and Zhu Shinian woke up groggily.

His head, still fuzzy, rested on someone’s shoulder, which helped a bit.

That person’s scent was both familiar and unfamiliar, as if it had instantly transported him back to a day from his childhood. The smell of his grandmother’s cooking drifted from the kitchen, and his older brother, fresh out of the bath, smelled faintly of soap. He picked up Zhu Shinian from the doorstep where he was soaking up the sun and took him to eat.

Zhu Shinian murmured, "Brother."

"Brother," Zhu Shinian murmured, "someone... is bullying me."

No one answered him. Jiang Huaiyan just looked down and gave him a glance.

"I like him," Zhu Shinian said again, "but... he’s going to marry someone else."

The man said nothing, but without even realizing it, the hand around Zhu Shinian’s waist trembled barely noticeably.

"People at school bully me too..." Drunk people don’t realize they’re talking nonsense. Zhu Shinian just affectionately nuzzled against his neck, like a clingy little dog.

"...Who is it?"

"Brother, I don’t want to go to school anymore," Zhu Shinian avoided the question. "Next year, I’ll go to the docks with you to haul cargo. I’m strong now, I can carry a ton."

"You’re strong, so why would people at school still bully you? Clearly, they can’t beat you in a fight."

That was a difficult question. Zhu Shinian couldn’t answer it, so he just went quiet.

"Brother, hold me. I’ve never... dreamed of you."

In the rearview mirror, a black supercar with blinding high beams drifted sharply and stopped just centimeters from Jiang Huaiyan’s white Corolla.

To the driver, Lin Zhi, this was a clear provocation, but Jiang Huaiyan didn’t seem bothered.

The car door was pulled open from the outside, and the cold autumn night wind rushed in, instantly fading the familiar childhood scent of soap.

He frowned slightly, hurt, and then his body felt light as he was lifted from the back seat by the waist.

The person holding him had the familiar scent of cypress wood pheromones. Feeling wronged, Zhu Shinian pushed against his chest hard, trying to squirm free.

He was about to get engaged.

About to marry someone else... Why, why couldn’t he just leave me alone?

In his eyes, was he really that cheap? Cheap enough to willingly be the third wheel between him and his fiancée, just for the crumbs of affection he doled out like a favorite pet?

There was no explanation, no comfort. Gu Zhen even tightened his grip between his thighs, hurting him a bit.

The butler had already filled the bathtub with hot water, the steam fogging up the mirror.

"You smell like booze." Gu Zhen frowned, helping Zhu Shinian undress.

That accusation had no basis. Zhu Shinian had only drunk a glass of red wine; there’s no way he smelled of alcohol.

Zhu Shinian stumbled, unsteady, and Gu Zhen instantly pulled him close by the waist, then grabbed the back of his neck and kissed him.

The kiss was clearly angry, more punishing than intimate. Zhu Shinian’s knees went weak, and Gu Zhen lifted him into the bathtub.

"And you’re covered in some other guy’s pheromones too," Gu Zhen muttered under his breath.

The words felt like a needle stabbing into him, making his back stiffen instantly.

"No, no strange man..." he defended automatically, "It was you who first..."

"Haven’t I told you that my engagement to Jiang Huaiyan is just out of necessity? Every high-ranking official in the empire is just thinking about saving their own skin now. If I don’t work with the Jiang family, the empire really will fall apart. The Resistance, the Federation—any of them could be the final straw that breaks it."

"Do you even actually love me?" Gu Zhen sneered. "Why did you come to me in the first place? Already forgotten?"

Because... of his grandma’s illness.

"And now?" Gu Zhen’s voice dropped. "Now that someone else can help you, a new treatment—so I’m useless to you, right? Just something to throw away?"

"The Jiang family’s new treatment can cure your grandmother, and then you go and sign up for the Arctic Wolf Squad, the farther from me the better, right?"

This side of Gu Zhen made Zhu Shinian instinctively afraid. He shrank back against the wall, trying to get away from him.

"Being with me is really hard for you, isn’t it? In your heart, I’m not even worth a tenth of your grandma or that brother of yours, am I?"

Zhu Shinian seemed to catch on to what he meant. He lowered his head instinctively, his eyes landing on the pendant he always wore.

A thin silver chain against his pale skin, wet from the bathwater, the charm gently swaying.

Gu Zhen followed his gaze. The pendant was a waterproof pocket watch. He’d seen what was inside before—a family photo of Zhu Shinian as a kid.

In that photo, Zhu Shinian was very thin, and since District 26 was often cloudy and rainy, with barely any sun, his skin was also very pale.

Though Gu Zhen was angry at Zhu Shinian, he had no other intention. He just thought the photo might get wet in the bath and wanted to take it off.

But Zhu Shinian thought he was trying to take it away, instinctively covering the pendant with his hand and jerking back.

His shoulder blade hit the cold tile with a thud.

"Niannian!" Gu Zhen quickly pulled him forward, checking if he’d hurt the wound on his left shoulder. When he saw no blood, he let out a small sigh of relief.

S-grade alphas were really tough; wounds healed fast. Gu Zhen took off the old bandage and saw the wound was already scabbing.

"Does it hurt?"

"...It hurts."

"I wasn’t gonna take it from you. I’ve seen the photo inside before. Give it to me; I’ll put it away for you."

Zhu Shinian was still shaken from a moment ago. He froze, not saying anything for a long time. Gu Zhen, thinking he’d calmed him, carefully reached over and removed the necklace.

He gently placed the pendant on the sink counter, making a soft sound.

Gu Zhen looked down, as if holding something in. Then he suddenly bent down and pressed his forehead to Zhu Shinian’s shoulder.

The next second, Zhu Shinian’s whole body shuddered.

Gu Zhen’s pheromones spread rapidly in the confined space, filling the air until it grew thick and hot. Zhu Shinian’s breathing instantly became erratic.

High-grade pheromones tended to be extreme. Zhu Shinian’s S-grade alpha pheromones had low intensity, easy to match with omegas but useless for aggression or suppression. The other type was like Gu Zhen’s—highly aggressive, less likely to match with omegas, and extremely oppressive to other alphas.

The smell itself—Zhu Shinian actually liked Gu Zhen’s pheromones. But Gu Zhen knew that being suppressed by those pheromones for too long would never feel good for any alpha.

When they made love, Gu Zhen almost never took off his suppressant patch like this.

And when he did, it turned the intimacy into something punishing.

"Gu Zhen, I'm dizzy. Today I..."

"Your head is spinning? Did I force you to go drink with Jiang Huaiyan?" Gu Zhen said coolly.

An uncontrollable spasm shot through the depths of his spine. Zhu Shinian reached out to grab the edge of the bathtub, his fingertips trembling uncontrollably.

"Gu Zhen..." he called out in a tearful voice.

"Relax." Gu Zhen's voice was muffled, coming from behind him.

Zhu Shinian's consciousness was enveloped by that familiar yet dangerous scent, and the last shred of rationality he had was being stripped away bit by bit.

"I was wrong. I... I'm sorry..." Zhu Shinian cried, apologizing to Gu Zhen in fits and starts. "It feels so horrible... Don't, don't do this..."

"I'm not even using any force. Why are you crying like this? Does it really hurt that much?" Gu Zhen frowned irritably. "How did you get so delicate all of a sudden."

"I'm sorry... but there's this little worm... it feels really bad..."

Gu Zhen wrapped his arms around him, pulling him closer into his embrace.

Zhu Shinian was practically a fox in human form, born knowing how to seduce.

He should just lock him up, keep him at home.

Implant an omega gland on his beautiful neck, then give him a permanent mark.

So he could never go to anyone else again.

"The little worm is gone now. Does it still feel bad?"

Zhu Shinian couldn't speak anymore, only sobbing softly.

Involuntary tears streamed down continuously, the corners of his eyes red, his eyelashes wet.

His consciousness grew more and more blurred...

Just as Zhu Shinian was about to pass out from the pleasure shooting through him like an electric shock, cold teeth sank into the gland at the back of his neck.

"No... please," as if foreseeing what was coming, his alpha instinct made Zhu Shinian struggle instinctively. "Don't..."

Canines pierced the skin, and in an instant, another alpha's pheromones flooded Zhu Shinian's gland.

His heart pounded violently, like a massive program spamming error messages before crashing.

Zhu Shinian gasped heavily, his body's instincts trying to metabolize the foreign, terrifying pheromones from another alpha through frequent, deep breaths.

The gland began to react uncontrollably, releasing a large amount of sweet, thick rose pheromones from his body, quickly filling the entire bathroom.

Only the lowest-grade alphas can't control their own pheromones.

Zhu Shinian's tears fell all at once.

"Am I... ruined?" he cried, his voice faltering. "Gu Zhen, I'm ruined..."

Author's note: