He felt his body temperature slowly rise.

If his heart had really been submerged in soda water, it would probably be close to drowning by now. 

“Because I’m embarrassed,” Duan Jiayan admitted drily.

Before Lu Xingci could tease him, he quickly added, the tips of his ears red, “Can you not stand so close to someone when talking? Plus being so weird as to ask someone why their face is red after seeing that it is read— Fellow student, aren’t you pretty smart, what happened this time?”

Lu Xingci never thought that he’ll react like this when cornered.

He was embarrassed beyond belief yet was still able to blabber about in response to him. 

“My apologies,” Lu Xingci held in a smile. “I should not have done that.”

Duan Jiayan truly felt what it was like to use a fist to punch cotton.

For some reason, the heat that had left his face seemed to have returned.

Duan Jiayan reluctantly controlled his expression and nodded, “I hope you’ll remember your mistakes well. Recite it every day and become a more attentive person.”

“Then you’ll have to monitor me every day,” Lu Xingci was very cooperative. “I’ll do my best.”

Duan Jiayan, “……”

Duan Jiayan felt that someone like Lu Xingci was pretty good at twisting things to suit him.

As it was getting closer to the new year, there was a festive aura on the school campus. 

New year’s eve was on a Thursday and there were quite a few people planning to go out to welcome the new year. During the last lesson in the afternoon, Song Yi was bored while listening to class and spoke softly to Duan Jiayan while using his phone, “There is a musical fountain in Nanshan Square, they’ll be setting off fireworks at midnight too. It seems that it’ll be a pretty big spectacle, want to go check it out?”

Duan Jiayan leaned over to look at his phone.

Though it made no big difference where they went to celebrate the new year, there was a lot of entertainment places in Nanshan. Since they would be able to kill time and have fun while waiting for the new year, Duan Jiayan felt like it was a pretty good idea.

Besides, to welcome in the new year, a place with a lot of people will definitely have a better atmosphere. 

Song Yi said, “There should be quite a few students from our school going to Nanshan right? It’s close by after all.”

Duan Jiayan also lowered his voice, “Then if we do go out that day, the gates will be closed by the time we come back. Are you planning to go home and stay over at my house?”

Song Yi was about to reply when Duan Jiayan suddenly felt his body going slightly weak.

A tingling sensation crawled up his back, up to his fingertips. 

Song Yi could smell the faint scent of flowers and turned to look at Duan Jiayan in concern. He hurriedly asked, “You’re going to the toilet?”

Duan Jiayan nodded and took out his inhibitor from his drawer. It just so happened that the back door was open and Duan Jiayan slipped out of the classroom and hastily made his way to the toilet.

Just as he was leaving through the backdoor, Lu Xingci who was originally listening to the lesson turned his head around, the pen on his paper paused.

His gaze sharpened. 

Just now, he seemed to have caught the scent of Duan Jiayan’s pheromones.

After entering the toilet, Duan Jiayan opened the doors to a cubicle, went in and hurriedly locked it.

While he was injecting the inhibitor, Duan Jiayan felt some pain along his back. The needle injected into his arm made him so uncomfortable that he lightly bit on his tongue.

After a while, the tingling sensation in his body finally left and Duan Jiayan let out a long sigh of relief. 

He reached out towards the toilet cubicle’s door and suddenly caught sight of the red patches that had appeared on his wrists.

He hesitated for a moment before drawing his arm back.

If it was before, he would have been able to return to the classroom and ask for Lu Xingci’s help.

But with their ambiguous relationship now, it seems like it will be inappropriate if he were to ask for a temporary mark, a hug or even to borrow the other’s clothes. 

If he were to make such requests, while being fully aware of the other’s feelings towards him, it’ll be like he is taking advantage of Lu Xingci’s feelings.

Duan Jiayan was not able to do such things.

Why not… he’ll go stay in the hospital for a few days?

Actually being quarantined was not that big a deal, most omegas that developed a stress disorder would usually be quarantined anyway. Who knows, perhaps the hospital will be able to find a room with a computer for him, then he’ll be able to just spend a few days playing games…… 

It doesn’t sound so bad after all?

Duan Jiayan looked at the time.

There was still a few minutes till school ended, he seemed to be able to hear some chattering from the students walking along the corridor. There will be a lot of traffic when school’s over, if he were to go out now and walk along the corridor, it will definitely hurt.

The toilet could be considered the one place in school with the lowest amount of alpha pheromones. The speed of the red rash appearing on his skin was fairly slow and his body was not particularly aching. 

Duan Jiayan decided to wait a little while. He’d wait till the crowd was more or less gone before leaving the toilet.

Just as he made the decision, he heard someone outside calling his name.

“Duan Jiayan?” Zhou Xingchen asked as he made his way over. “I saw you running in the direction of the toilet, are you here?”

Duan Jiayan did not think too much before acknowledging the question. 

“What are you doing staying in here for so long? Having fun squatting?”

Duan Jiayan assumed he was alone and directly answered, “No.”

Zhou Xingchen, “Then are you doing? Let’s leave school together.”

Duan Jiayan, “I’ll wait for a while to leave, you can go first.” 

Zhou Xingchen was silent for a moment and looked at Lu Xingci who was standing beside him.

Even though he was not sure why Lu Xingci pulled him along to the toilet, and stayed quiet since they’d entered, Zhou Xingchen still asked, “Lu-ge, so are we leaving first?”

Zhou Xingchen did not lower his voice.

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Outside the door. 

Lu Xingci had already figured out the state Duan Jiayan was in. He looked at the tightly shut door, the corner of his lips twitched. He said to Zhou Xingchen, “You can leave first.”

Zhou Xingchen, “Huh?”

Lu Xingci, “I want to smoke a cigarette, I’ll leave in a bit.”

His sentence was directed at both Zhou Xingchen and Duan Jiayan. 

After Zhou Xingchen left, Lu Xingci purposely chose to enter the cubicle beside Duan Jiayan. After he entered, he did not shut the door and as he said, lit a cigarette up.

Duan Jiayan could smell the scent of tobacco smoke.

Aside from the tobacco smoke, there was the ever-present scent of an alpha’s pheromones. The crisp scent of lemons and wood tugged on Duan Jiayan’s nerves. Just one wall away was someone that could alleviate his pain.

The stress disorder that he could originally power through suddenly seemed to have gotten worse. Duan Jiayan saw the red rashes slowly blooming on his arm and could not resist clenching and unclenching his fist. 

It hurts so much……

“Does it still hurt?” Lu Xingci suddenly asked.

His voice sounded clear, as if he was just casually voicing his concern.

“It’s alright,” Duan Jiayan tried his best to make his voice sound normal. “Do you still have a lot to smoke?” 

‘I just started.”

Duan Jiayan tried to hold it in but failed, “Why did you have to smoke here?”

If it was not for Lu Xingci’s pheromones triggering him, he might not be in so much discomfort.

It was just like putting a glass of water in front of a parched man, there was clearly something to drink but the glass of water could not be touched. Duan Jiayan was about to be tortured to death. 

“I’ll be questioned by my mom if she smells tobacco smoke on me.”

‘Auntie doesn’t let you smoke?”

“It’s not that, but she does not like it.”

Duan Jiayan hissed in pain and could only rely on their conversation to divert his attention, “Smoking isn’t anything good.” 

Lu Xingci saw Duan Jiayan circling around him for half a day and yet was still not willing to open his mouth and ask for help, he was about ready to laugh out loud in anger.

There was clearly already a pattern established in their relationship, yet Duan Jiayan chose to withdraw the moment he encountered a problem. He did not mind coaxing Duan Jiayan and allowing the other to slowly understand what should be done, but Duan Jiayan was choosing to put his health on the line this time with his actions.

He just so happened to discover Duan Jiayan’s situation this time, but what about the next time it happens?

Would Duan Jiayan also stay in the toilet pitifully, waiting for everyone else to leave before heading to the hospital while in pain? He was not afraid of getting into an accident on the way there? 

This was the first time he realised just how ruthless Duan Jiayan could be towards himself.

Lu Xingci suppressed his anger and said to Duan Jiayan, “I’m not addicted, it’s easy to stop smoking. If you don’t like it, just say so and I’ll stop.”

He hinted with a sentence, “I’ll consider any request you have.”

Duan Jiayan was silent for a moment. 

Lu Xingci could hear him. Probably because he wanted to make himself sound more casual, Duan Jiayan’s words seemed to sound a little sillier, “It’s good that you’re not addicted, smoking is actually pretty normal after all.”

After hearing this, Lu Xingci expressionlessly licked his molars.

“Fine,” he extinguished the cigarette, his tone cold. “I’ll be going then.”

Hearing that he was about to leave, Duan Jiayan sighed in relief. 

Soon after, perhaps it was due to instinct or perhaps it was his actual thoughts but he started to feel some regret in his heart.

Duan Jiayan moved his lips but still did not voice out any request for help.

He listened as Lu Xingci opened the cubicle’s door and walked away, the sound of footsteps getting further. After being sure that the other had left the toilet, Duan Jiayan could tolerate it no longer. He unlocked the door and walked out of the cubicle.

After he made a few steps towards the door, Duan Jiayan’s footsteps paused. 

He caught sight of the person standing by the door.

Lu Xingci saw him come out of the cubicle. With his eyes focused on him, he reached out behind him to lock the toilet door.

After the door was closed, the light around them seemed to dim a little.

The boy’s dark eyes calmly looked in his direction, his face expressionless. Lu Xingci’s gaze travelled to the red rashes on Duan Jiayan’s arm, and the rashes that seemed to occupy half of Duan Jiayan’s neck before asking mildly, “If you are in pain, why did you not look for me?” 

Duan Jiayan did not reply.

He was a little unused to seeing Lu Xingci like this. The other had never shown such a strong side to him before, his alpha gaze unwavering, studying Duan Jiayan’s exposed skin inch by inch.

He could clearly tell that Lu Xingci was currently in a very bad mood.

After waiting for a long time, Lu Xingci saw that Duan Jiayan still had not moved and could not help stepping towards him instead. 

He was indeed a little impulsive just now. As he was triggered by Duan Jiayan’s actions, he ended up making a fuss with Duan Jiayan even though he knew that the other was not feeling comfortable.

He lowered his gaze and looked at the pair of bright eyes in front of him before gently trying to negotiate with Duan Jiayan, “I’ll give you a temporary mark and accompany you to the hospital, is that okay?”

Duan Jiayan opened and closed his mouth.

He would rather Lu Xingci be a little more impatient with him, instead of him speaking so nicely to him. The more Lu Xingci was like this, the guiltier he felt. 

“There’s no need to,” Duan Jiayan glanced away hastily, avoiding the other’ gaze. “I can go there by myself—”

He stopped himself before he could finish speaking.

The person who was originally some distance away from him suddenly leaned down, closing their distance, with their noses almost touching.

The air around them seemed to have taken on the scent of clean and crisp vegetation. 

Before Duan Jiayan could react, the pheromones belonging to an alpha surrounded him. Duan Jiayan could not help feeling dazed when his body which was tortured by the stress disorder for a long while seemed to have finally gotten some relief.

It was only when Lu Xingci’s arm came to hold his shoulders and he leaned down, his lips almost touching his neck, did Duan Jiayan wake up.

“Don’t do this,” he inched backwards. As he was in pain, coupled with the other’s entrancing scent, his voice trembled a little. “If you give me a mark again, it’ll be the third time.”

To give the same omega a temporary mark three times will more or less affect an alpha’s sense of judgement. It even has the implication of binding the two of them together. 

After the third mark, the alpha would probably lose interest in other omegas. He did not want to affect Lu Xingci to such an extent when he was still a mess himself, it was too unfair.

“The third time,” Lu Xingci’s voice was very light, yet it seemed to give one a strong sense of oppression. “What about it?”

Seeing him pause his actions, Duan Jiayan quickly replied, “You’ll be affected after the third time, it won’t be good for you.”

“You think the matter of me liking you, is something that can be affected by instincts?” 

“……” Duan Jiayan did not say a word.

“Duan Jiayan,” Lu Xingci softly called out to him before smiling. “Aren’t you looking down on me right now?”

When his wrist got captured, Duan Jiayan’s heart sank.

He wanted to struggle but with how strong Lu Xingci was, he realised he could not easily shake him off like how he would against others. 

For the first time, Lu Xingci was using his pheromones to suppress him.

Probably because there was still some restraint shown by the other person, Duan Jiayan did not find it all that uncomfortable being suppressed by the alpha pheromones. At most, his legs felt weak and he instinctively seemed to want to follow the other’s wishes.

He realised that Lu Xingci must have been angered by his actions and so he hesitated for a split second.

It was also in this split second that he was pushed against the door of a cubicle. Lu Xingci had his hand wrapped around the back of his head, protecting it. 

Even with Lu Xingci’s hand cushioning the blow, Duan Jiayan still felt that it was a rather hard shove.

However, it seemed as if Lu Xingci did not feel any pain and reached out to flip him over before pressing himself against his back—

They were intimately entangled together.

Duan Jiayan thought of shoving his arm back but was afraid of using too much force and hurting the other so he held it in. He could only shout in warning, “Lu Xingci!” 

The latter could clearly see his actions, his last vestiges of hesitation disappearing when he noticed the other had stopped resisting.

He licked his teeth and unscrupulously bit into the neck of the person in his arms.

Duan Jiayan suddenly lost his strength as pheromones were injected into his fragile nape. His fingernails could not help but scratch the door beneath him, making a husky and flirtatious sound.

Duan Jiayan’s throat bobbed but no sound came out. 

Lu Xingci seemed to have suppressed quite a bit of anger, his actions were rougher compared to previous times. It even seemed to reveal the beastly nature unique to alphas.

The teeth biting his glands were piercing it deeply.

His body felt weak and he was completely unable to stand properly. Just as he was about to fall, the arm around his waist tightened and pulled him up.

His slender fingers raised Duan Jiayan’s chin, making him completely expose his glands to him. 

His nape was once again bitten.

They had never done such a long marking before. Duan Jiayan could feel himself heating up from the pheromones being continuously injected into him.

Just as he was about to lose the ability to comprehend what was happening, and could only rely on the person behind him, Lu Xingci slowly stopped his actions.

A complete and clear mark was made on Duan Jiayan. 

Lu Xingci stared at the mark that belonged to him before reaching out to turn the exhausted Duan Jiayan around.

The both of them looked at each other.

The pair of amber eyes in front of him was filled with tears and because of his rough actions just now, the boy’s shirt was a little rumpled.

There was a small mole on Duan Jiayan’s throat, the line between his neck and shoulder was smooth and his skin was fair and supple. 

The scent of flowers and vegetation stuck together, melding into one. It smelled like it could take one’s breath away.

Lu Xingci’s eyelids lowered as he looked at Duan Jiayan who was still out of it.

The dark possessiveness in his heart could no longer be controlled.

He lowered his head, the tip of his nose brushing against Duan Jiayan’s. 

Just a little bit more and he’ll touch Duan Jiayan’s lips.

Duan Jiayan was caged within the alpha pheromones, his whole world seemed to be filled with the crisp and light pheromones.

Realising what Lu Xingci wanted to do, without thinking, Duan Jiayan pushed the other away as they were leaning in.

Using so much strength right after he was marked, Duan Jiayan could feel his forehead throbbing and felt a little dizzy. 

Realising what Lu Xingci had done, Duan Jiayan raised his hand in disbelief and swiped his thumb against his lips.

Duan Jiayan’s eyes darkened and he pursed his lips.

He raised an arm, as if he was about to punch the other’s face.

Lu Xingci raised an eyebrow slightly and did not dodge. 

Just as his fist was about to his Lu Xingci’s face, the incensed boy in front of him stopped without warning.

Duan Jiayan looked at Lu Xingci coldly for a few seconds before dropping his arm and leaving without looking back.

Lu Xingci listened as the sound of his footsteps slowly disappeared.

After a long while, he became aware of exactly what he had done. The boy who was standing still tightened his lips and quietly cursed out loud. 

Duan Jiayan did not sleep for the entire afternoon.

Once he closed his eyes, his mind would start to continuously replay scenes of what just happened.

The mark left on his body was very deep, hence he was able to still smell a little bit of a herbaceous scent every now and then.

He once again thought back to the scene of him locking eyes with Lu Xingci. 

The boy had a heroic-looking face with fair skin. His eyelashes were so long that when he looked down, it seemed to cover half his eyes.

A straightforward and pure desire could be seen in the depths of those eyes.

Duan Jiayan had so cleanly turned away and left, not only because he could not bring himself to punch the other, but also because Lu Xingci’s expression had thrown his mind into chaos.

That overly-presumptuous gaze that seemed to want to swallow him whole made a chill run up Duan Jiayan’s spine, as well as subconsciously wanting to escape. 

With just one look, he could no longer bear to act against him. What’s more, under the layer of fear was also perhaps a little shyness.

That’s not right.

He was the one to bite laozi, why was laozi the one being shy?

Duan Jiayan started aggressively punching his pillow at that thought, causing the entire bed in the dorm to be slightly shaken by him. Even Song Yi who was making his way down the ladder could feel it. He raised his head in surprise, “Xiao-Duan! An earthquake!” 

“……”

He remained in this state till it was time for his afternoon classes.

Duan Jiayan reluctantly made his way into the classroom and reluctantly sat down at his seat. He might be wrong but he seemed to perpetually feel the gaze of the person behind him.

It made him feel extremely uneasy. 

Duan Jiayan pretended to lazily play on his phone, but he’d occasionally steal glances towards his back.

To be honest, Lu Xingci’s actions were not that overboard.

Ultimately, Lu Xingci was also worried about his condition. Furthermore, his reason for rejecting the mark did seem to question the other’s feelings for him.

As he thought of that, Duan Jiayan wanted to turn around a few times but ultimately could not muster up the courage to. He could only muddle through like this for the whole afternoon. 

In the evening when school was over, students started leaving school in groups of twos and threes to get dinner. Lu Xingci’s gaze fell onto the nape of the person in front of him, there was a shallow mark on it.

The entire afternoon, Duan Jiayan did not say a single word to him. He did not even turn his head in his direction, it seemed as if he really did not want to interact with him.

He figured he had really stepped on Duan Jiayan’s bottom line this time. What frustrated him even more, was that it seemed like there was nothing he could do about this.

It sounded like a joke. 

This was clearly a mess he created but it turned out he had no idea how he would clean up this mess he made. Lu Xingci even thought that his actions were too disappointing this time.

“I’m not going out,” he was not in a good mood as he spoke to Chen Yue. “You can go eat with Zhou Xingchen.”

“Okay,” Chen Yue answered. “Want us to bring something back for you?”

Duan Jiayan was just about to leave with Song Yi when he heard the conversation behind him. 

Hearing what they had said, his legs that were about to leave stopped and he suddenly said to Song Yi, “I’m not heading out of school anymore, you can go eat with Shen Chilie.”

Song Yi wondered, “Weren’t you thinking of having sour and spicy noodles?”

Wasn’t he very excited about it earlier? He had even selected the level of spice he wanted.

Duan Jiayan spoke with a straight face, “My appetite suddenly left me, I’ll just grab a bread later.” 

Song Yi did not think too much about it before nodding and leaving the classroom.

One after another, those around them left.

There was only two of them left in the classroom.

Duan Jiayan hemmed and hawed but was still unable to turn around. By the end, he was even frustrated with himself and was about to just suck it up and turn around when— 

Someone gently pulled back the chair beside him and sat down.

A milk candy was placed on Duan Jiayan’s table.

“Still angry?”

In the spacious classroom, the boy’s voice was very light. It was quiet and carried hints of appeasement. 

Duan Jiayan’s heart seemed to have been squeezed by someone. His last shreds of resistance had also quickly disappeared when he saw the milk candy.

“Are you coaxing a little child?” Duan Jiayan picked up the candy, his expression unreadable.

Lu Xingci watched as he turned around and placed the candy back in his hand. He assumed that this was Duan Jiayan rejecting him.

He sighed in his heart, a rare twinge of regret rising within him. 

To coax someone after impulsively acting against them, seemed to be a very difficult task.

A second later, he heard Duan Jiayan softly mutter, “I want a strawberry flavoured one.”

The author has something to say: If you are the one coaxing, then he’ll be easy to coax.