Edited by: Decembery

Even in such a situation, Qiao Nan was still pointedly staring at him. 

The pheromones belonging to an Alpha were both thick and sharp, as if it couldn’t wait to drag him down to perish together.

If it weren’t because of his lack of strength, Duan Jiayan would have long burst out into laughter at Qiao Nan’s pathetic appearance.

When he was slamming Qiao Nan previously, he already had trouble standing straight. His whole body was in incredible pain, especially the pair of hands that Qiao Nan touched directly, the skin was littered in large red patches as if he was having an allergic reaction.

This was the first time he saw his stress disorder getting so bad. 

Qiao Nan suddenly reached out as if to grab Duan Jiayan, when a hand from beside him grabbed his wrist and stopped him.

Qiao Nan’s wrist was gripped tightly and his whole body was even dragged backwards. Before he could steady himself, the person dragging him even kicked him in the stomach. The other person used a lot of force, Qiao Nan used one hand to brace himself against the wall while the other was holding his stomach, the sounds of retching could be heard coming from his throat.

He took a moment to collect himself before looking up to see Lu Xingci’s coldly looking at him. At the same time, the Alpha’s pheromones began pressing down on him.

Suppressed by such a fierce and terrifying pheromone, Qiao Nan could not hold back a shout as he was made to kneel down.

Once he noticed Lu Xingci, Duan Jiayan’s tight nerves began to loosen. His legs went soft and he was about to fall when someone grabbed onto his wrist and pulled him into their embrace.

He raised his head and saw Lu Xingci’s sharp jawline. The other party carried with him a warm herbaceous scent, the kind that carried an unspeakable attraction and would warm someone up on a cold rainy day.

Qiao Nan, who was originally slumped by the wall, was triggered by the scene in front of him and staggered up. However, Lu Xingci’s kick had been too aggressive and Qian Nan was unable to steady himself on his feet.

The chauffeur who ran over from the car got a shock from what he saw and rushed over to hold Qiao Nan down. 

Lu Xingci continued to hug him, with one hand slowly rubbing along his back in comfort.

Duan Jiayan could feel the other’s chin brush across the top of his head. Lu Xingci’s voice was very gentle as he said, “Don’t be scared, he can’t stand anymore…”

Duan Jiayan immediately retorted, “Who’s scared?”

After the words left his mouth, he was shocked by how unnatural his voice sounded. 

Duan Jiayan belatedly realised that his arms were trembling faintly.

It wasn’t only his arms, his entire body was trembling, though he was not sure if it was in fear or anger.

The boy in front of him fell silent before sighing and saying resignedly, “I’m scared.”

Duan Jiayan froze. 

He never thought he’d hear Lu Xingci say something like this. For a second, Duan Jiayan did not know what to say in response. He replied, “I’m not scared, I’m just angry. This trembling is just a bodily reflex…”

“En, you’re not scared,” Lu Xingci repeated. “I’m scared.”

As he spoke, he raised a hand and rubbed his chilled fingertips across the bloodstains on the side of Duan Jiayan’s lips, “I was scared that he’ll stand up, scared that he’ll come looking for me to cause trouble. Of course you won’t be scared, you did so well fighting him.”

“Are you coaxing a child?” Duan Jiayan was originally very uncomfortable, but after being enveloped in Lu Xingci’s pheromones, the burning sensation in his body gradually subsided. Plus with this weird way of consoling someone, he was even about to burst out laughing. 

“No, I’m not coaxing you,” Lu Xingci gave him a smile, the cold hostility in his eyes slowly dissipating. He lowered his head and muttered, “I really was quite scared.”

From the entrance of the alleyway came Zhou Xingchen’s cries, “Lu-ge! Have you found Duan Jiayan?!”

He originally planned to go to the internet cafe near Yi Zhong, only to receive Lu Xingci’s call and decided it was better to look for the person himself.

Noticing the car lights, he then decided to head this way. Zhou Xingchen saw Qiao Nan being held down by the chauffeur before noticing Duan Jiayan being hugged by Lu Xingci and quickly put together what roughly happened. 

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“Don’t bother, call the cops first.”

Once he heard the mention of the police, fear flashed across Qiao Nan’s eyes. 

This incident was different from the one before. When he laid hands on Duan Jiayan previously, the boy was still a Beta, but now Duan Jiayan was an Omega.

To sexually harass an Omega, and to use violence on top of that…

It’s a very serious crime.

He started to struggle and even the chauffeur was having trouble holding him down. 

“Want to run? Feeling guilty now?” Zhou Xingchen saw Qiao Nan’s ugly expression and remembered him misunderstanding Duan Jiayan for a whole year because of this guy. And so he too bent down to press Qiao Nan against the wall, frustration evident in his voice, “Let laozi see where you can run to.”

Red and blue light pierced through the rainy night.

With the police here, Qiao Nan’s hands were cuffed behind his back, the sound of the cuffs clicking into place was particularly clear.

As if he was triggered by a sound, Qiao Nan who originally had his back facing them suddenly whipped his head around. 

He swept his gaze across everyone’s face, pausing for a second at Duan Jiayan before finally ending with Lu Xingci.

In order to soothe Duan Jiayan’s stress disorder, Lu Xingci had kept on hugging him. Only when the police car pulled up did he let go.

The corner of Qiao Nan’s face cocked up, and he suddenly burst out laughing.

His smile got bigger and bigger, his laugh filling up the quiet alleyway. As he laughed, he said, “The class president really is something, he has even more tricks up his sleeves than me.” 

He still had more to say, but noting how madly he was acting, the police officer on duty only frowned and shoved him into the police car. Qiao Nan pressed up against the car’s windowsill, his stare never leaving Lu Xingci.

“What is so different about you and me? Don’t you also want—” Before he could finish talking, the window was rolled up.

Zhou Xingchen found it strange, “Lu-ge, what is he talking about?”

Lu Xingci calmly replied, “You believe what he’s saying?” 

Zhou Xingchen thought it through and scolded, “That lunatic.”

Originally Duan Jiayan was planning to head down to the police station to record his statement, but Lu Xingci insisted that he go to the hospital first. Zhou Xingchen was also beside him advising him to do the same.

“Look at the red and white patches on your skin,” Zhou Xingchen’s gaze fell on the spots of his skin that had the allergic reaction and assumed these were inflicted by Qiao Nan, “F*ck, Qiao Nan really is an animal.”

“These aren’t from Qiao Nan,” Duan Jiayan did feel a little out of sorts and said after some thought, “Fine, I’ll go to the hospital first.” 

At the hospital.

After consulting a doctor at the hospital, they learnt that Qiao Nan’s actions weren’t that severe. In actuality, it was the stress disorder that was more serious. Even though there were Lu Xingci’s pheromones that helped stabilise his condition, his agitated emotions coupled with the strenuous activities and the rain meant that Duan Jiayan’s body was already reaching its limits.

After he was done with the check-up, Duan Jiayan was forced to lay on a hospital bed with an IV drip.

Only after he could completely relax did he feel the fatigue settling in. He looked at his phone and saw a number of missed calls. Some were from Lu Xingci, while some were from Song Yi and Fu Yuan. Duan Jiayan swiftly sent a text to Song Yi letting him know he was fine, before immediately giving Fu Yuan a call. 

As soon as he pressed ‘call’, the call was immediately answered by Fu Yuan. She hurriedly asked, “Why weren’t you picking up your phone?”

Duan Jiayan replied, “My phone died, I just managed to charge it.”

“I got home half an hour ago and didn’t see you. Where are you?”

“I’m…” Duan Jiayan eyed the IV drip in front of him and paused, “I’m in the hospital now getting a drip. I…” 

He hesitated for a second before continuing, “My classmate from Yi Zhong, you remember that time right? The one surnamed Qiao, I met him again.”

Realising that he was referring to Qiao Nan, Fu Yuan’s voice got even more panicked, “How did you meet him? Which hospital are you at, I’ll go find you.”

“Zhongxin Hospital,” Duan Jiayan ended up having to console her. “I’m fine, I just got some scratches. The drip’s almost done anyway. It’s quite a hassle to come up here, just wait for me by the hospital entrance.”

“How much longer do you have to stay?” 

Duan Jiayan glanced at his IV drip, “About 10 more minutes?”

Fu Yuan calmed down a little and took a deep breath.

“Alright, I’ll be waiting for you by the hospital entrance. Once you head out you’ll be able to spot me.”

Duan Jiayan gave a sound of acknowledgement and after talking to her a little more, hung up the call. 

Lu Xingci was originally accompanying him as he got his drip but mid-way during his call, he too got a phone call. Duan Jiayan vaguely noticed Lu Xingci making a sound before standing up to leave and answer the call.

After putting down his phone, Zhou Xingchen who was worried that he’ll be bored pulled his chair over to talk to Duan Jiayan. After Lu Xingci left the room, Zhou Xingchen casually noted, “Lu-ge will probably be nagged to death by his mother this time.”

Duan Jiayan raised a brow, “What?”

“You don’t know? Today is his grandmother’s eightieth birthday, her eightieth grand birthday.” Zhou Xingchen said, “A lot of guests have been invited and they are all important people. Chen Yue was originally supposed to help look for you but he was already at the party and could not find a good time to leave.” 

Duan Jiayan froze, “He won’t be in too much trouble right?”

Zhou Xingchen pondered about it, “If it were us, we’ll definitely be scolded but he should be fine. He’s always had his own opinions on what should be done since young, the grown-ups in the household tend to listen to him. Plus it was not like he decided to miss the party for any random reason, Aunty Jiang and the rest should be able to understand.”

Duan Jiayan gave an ‘Oh’ in response and after a while, continued asking, “How did you guys find me?”

Zhou Xingchen was also pretty confused about this, “I followed the lights of the car. More accurately, you should say that Lu-ge was the one that found you, perhaps with his… superpowers?” 

Duan Jiayan, “……”

Zhou Xingchen saw Duan Jiayan looking just as lost as him. Suddenly recalling something, he aggressively slapped his own thigh, “Holy shit! Did you know, when Lu-ge called me asking if I knew where you were, how terrifying his tone was? I said I had no idea and did you know how he answered? He said, ‘Oh.” and hung up on me just like that!”

Zhou Xingchen was obviously frightened quite a fair bit by that “Oh”, the fear still lingering in his heart, “I thought he was going to crawl out of the phone and kill me.”

Duan Jiayan humoured him, “That horrifying? Like The Ring?” 

Zhou Xingchen was enlightened by what he said, “Exactly, just like The Ring!”

Outside the ward, Lu Xingci was on the phone with Jiang Yao.

“I’m in the hospital, I’m fine.”

“It’s a classmate of mine, he got into a mishap.” 

“En… it’s not a big problem, but I will need some help from you.”

Hearing Jiang Yao’s agreement, a corner of Lu Xingci’s mouth cocked up in a smile.

“Alright… You just tell grandma that I’ll be held back because of a small issue.”

“I’ll make it up to her tomorrow, help me wish her a happy birthday too.” 

Hanging up the phone, Lu Xingci made his way back into the ward.

As he walked in, he saw Zhou Xingchen animatedly talking to Duan Jiayan.

He wasn’t sure what the pair were talking about but Duan Jiayan seemed rather interested. Once Zhou Xingchen was done talking, Duan Jiayan piped in and said, “Do you know how awesome I was tonight?”

Zhou Xingchen, “?” 

Duan Jiayan said, “When Qiao Nan dragged me into the alleyway, laozi tossed him over the shoulder. Then I unleashed my skills and set him ablaze. Swoosh swoosh swoosh, I reduced Qiao Nan’s health by half.

Zhou Xingchen, “Amazing! Yi Zhong’s number one bully is indeed amazing!”

Duan Jiayan was praised to the heavens and casually added a line, “Lu Xingci back then was also very amazing. That one kick was simply too spectacular. He couldn’t even crawl up even if he wanted to, our Lu-ge is just that remarkable”

Zhou Xingchen was in agreement, “Of course, Lu-ge is definitely remarkable.” 

Hearing this, Lu Xingci pushed open the door and walked in. He noticed Duan Jiayan’s listless expression gone, his eyes now opened wide. Lu Xingci smiled, “What story are you making up about me now?”

“How can this be called making up?” Duan Jiayan saw Zhou Xingchen noticing that Lu Xingci was in the room and kept his microphone, he didn’t know what he was even doing. He carried on from Zhou Xingchen’s question, “We were just recounting the highlights of this evening. Yi Zhong’s two most handsome men, you and me.”

Zhou Xingchen was amused by the statement, “Sticking gold onto your face again? Who is the one lying on the hospital’s bed now?”

Lu Xingci also laughed at that. Duan Jiayan continued saying, “So what if I’m lying here. Did you know that your Lu-ge almost had to lie down here with me? Even though he was the one that got the kill, most of the damage was still dealt by me.” 

Duan Jiayan pointed to himself very confidently, “Me, I’m the battle’s MVP.”

After he was done talking, he felt that he might have blown his own horn a little too much. He turned around and looked at Lu Xingci, worried that he’d bring him down from his high horse in front of Zhou Xingchen. Lu Xingci only nodded and said, “You, you are the battle’s MVP.”

Duan Jiayan was appeased.

As the time it took for Duan Jiayan to finish his drip was longer than expected, Fu Yuan got worried and called him again to get his room number with the intention of coming up to visit him. 

Zhou Xingchen noticed Duan Jiayan busy on the phone with Fu Yuan and quietly asked Lu Xingci, “I asked around, Qiao Nan’s still a minor so his action’s tonight won’t nab him a full 10 year’s sentence, probably just five to six years at the most. Should we find someone to make him stay in there a little longer? Or perhaps give him a monitoring bracelet, but it seems only adult Alpha criminals can get that…”

“I’ve looked into it.” Lu Xingci said. “He’ll be prosecuted by the law as an adult Alpha.”

Zhou Xingchen froze, he never thought Lu Xingci would be so efficient. He then recalled the phone call from just now, “Was it thanks to Aunty Jiang’s help? You’re sure he’ll be jailed for 10 years?”

As they were talking, Lu Xingci couldn’t stop himself from glancing to the side. 

Duan Jiayan, with his amber-coloured eyes and fair skin, was on the phone.

He wasn’t sure what the conversation was about but when Duan Jiayan smiled, he could see little dimples forming at the sides of his mouth.

Lu Xingci nodded and softly added, “Even if he’s released, he won’t get to see Duan Jiayan again in his lifetime.”

The author has something to say: He’s yours, you can look all you want.