Chapter 4 – Ah, The Sudden Clarity
From an outsider’s point of view, it looked like this:
An Alpha finally chose a stall, took one step forward, and got rear-ended by a runaway train from behind.
The impact was strong, but Rong Jing was tall and steady on his feet. He regained his balance quickly, though his cap got knocked to the floor.
That seductive scent still fogged his head. His eyes were bloodshot. He knew he was not in a normal state, and something inside him was clawing to break free.
He could not control the body’s rush, but he could control his actions. In that hot, blurry instant, he bit his tongue hard. The metallic taste of blood bought him a sliver of clarity.
It was quiet here, a stark contrast to the lively mall outside. Two genders collided by accident and set off a silent spark. Every nerve quivered like a shiver from the soul.
As the other person stumbled, Rong Jing noticed through the dizziness, steadied them with a quick grip, then let go at once. Even in that instant of contact he could feel the tremor, the fear, the rejection from the other side.
The other person did not feel his good intentions, especially after realizing they had bumped into an Alpha. Revulsion swept through their body. From the corner of their eye, they saw the fan cap on the floor and, the moment they could stand, bolted into the Omega-only stall as if a hungry wolf was at their heels.
With sheer willpower, Rong Jing stood rooted like a nail. When the pain finally drowned out everything else, he let his jaw unclench from his tongue.
So that was an Omega’s pheromone, then. Hearing a hundred times was nothing like experiencing it once.
It hit so hard it could drive a person insane. No wonder that gender needed protection.
And if they were not protected? You could probably spark social unrest.
Even though the “train” was wrapped up head to toe, face hidden by cap and mask, nine times out of ten that was an Omega. Rong Jing had only read that many Omegas had dangerously alluring pheromones. How alluring? Words were thin. He had also felt some impressions in the original owner’s memories.
But nothing like this. Either his luck was through the roof, or this one was unusually powerful.
Besides, memory was just memory. This was his first real taste. He honestly… could not handle it.
People in this world were too modest. They called this “very alluring”? This was life-threatening.
Rong Jing went into Men A to take care of business. When he came out, he still felt lightheaded. He shook his head and pressed his fingertips to his temples.
The worst of it was already passing as the mall’s air purifiers were doing their job, thinning that scent. The aftershock in his body though, lingered.
He had always thought of himself as strong-willed, the kind of person who could enjoy comfort but also eat bitterness. After reading about the six genders he had been confident he could tough it out. Turns out he was too naive.
If you crash into a brand-new world, never judge what you do not understand.
He glanced toward the Men O stall not far away and sniffed. A trace still lingered in the air. Even in a VIP restroom, you could not assume no one else would come by. He decided to buy a bottle of scent-blocking spray right away, to cover whatever remained in the air. If the person inside was at risk, that would be on him.
He had taken a few steps when a thought struck him. He turned back toward Men O.
Earlier, after stepping out of the van, Gu Xi had already felt unwell. He stood on stage a while for the jewelry launch and his head only got heavier. He figured it was exhaustion, so he rested in the lounge. He used the extra-strength blocker spray and told his team to wait in the van. To be safe, he slipped a suppressant into his sleeve and left alone.
He was always independent, taking the dedicated passage to the VIP restroom. He had not expected it to get worse with every step, like walking on cotton, legs sinking.
He suspected his heat had arrived. The hesitation came from his past. As a child and teen he had gone hungry too often and developed an eating disorder, what people called anorexia nervosa. It had been mild at first, but without treatment it dragged on and nearly killed him.
After he dragged back a life, his heat cycles were wildly unstable. Sometimes they vanished for years. Sometimes they hit three times in a month.
Before today, it had been a year and a half since his last heat. The sensation felt almost unfamiliar.
Adult Omegas who are still unmarked have a seven-day heat every six months. Those who can afford it hole up at home. Most have school or work and cannot simply stop, like Gu Xi. If he called a halt, the penalties alone could crush him. Usually he gritted his teeth, injected suppressant, and rode it out.
Even if most suppressants were bad for the body, he still did it.
By the time he reached the restroom corridor, his vision was a blur. If not for the strong blocker spray, his scent at the start would have triggered a frenzy. He dimly sensed something ahead. A post, maybe.
Turned out the post was alive. Not only alive, but an Alpha with an unusually controlled presence. In that instant, Gu Xi felt despair.
Why did it have to be an Alpha.
He knew his pheromone was different. Even with the blocker, even with only a leak, it had teeth.
Facing an Alpha, he clenched his jaw and pulled the small knife from his sleeve. If this Alpha thought that was enough to bully him, he could not be more wrong.
But the Alpha only steadied him when he almost fell, then let go.
They had been close enough. He must have smelled it.
No time to think. Gu Xi withdrew the blade and rushed inside. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the fan cap on the marble floor and, spooked all over again, slammed the stall door behind him.
Rong Jing had no idea that, by a hair, he had avoided an enthusiastic knifing.
Inside, Gu Xi pulled out the suppressant he had hidden in his sleeve, bit off the disposable cap, and slid the liquid into his vein with a trembling hand. He drew a few shaky breaths, then grabbed the scent-blocking spray and misted the gland at the back of his neck.
When all that was done he sagged onto the toilet lid and waited for the suppressant to take hold, the process laced with a slow ache.
He frowned and kept his eyes shut.
In that miserable hush, he sensed footsteps nearing. His eyes flew open, sharp gaze fixed through the partition toward the door.
Sh**, he had forgotten to lock it.
He had been in too much of a rush.
Panic pricked him. Had that Alpha recognized him? No, maybe it was only the pheromone. He had met his share of Alphas who seemed refined and proper in public, then turned vicious the moment they smelled him. After being burned a few times, he did not dare hope for better.
In this state, a head-on fight was a fantasy. The footsteps drew closer, each step tapping a rhythm on his nerves.
It's getting closer. Closer.
Gu Xi stared at the stall door, wondering how many hits from an Alpha it could take. He pulled the knife again and fished a mini stun stick from his shoe, gripping them as if they were his last lifeline. He even softened his breathing, scared it would carry.
Just as he braced for a fight, the footsteps stopped at the door. A warm, courteous voice spoke. “Sir, saying sorry when you bump into someone is not too much to ask, is it?”
The man did not sound worked up. He sounded impossibly calm. Gu Xi stayed silent anyway and did not relax.
Rong Jing worried the person might have fainted. “Sir?” he called again.
Smack.
Gu Xi slapped the partition with a showy thud.
Consider this a warning: not easy to mess with.
Rong Jing thought, he has that much strength, so he did not pass out. He had come here to ask if the person needed help. Since there was no reply, that was a silent refusal. Adults understood the art of not intruding.
He pressed a palm to his still-throbbing head and gently shut the outer door, sealing all scent inside so the person would be as safe as possible.
He did not get an apology, but he did not hold it against them. No need to grip someone’s minor slip and never let go.
He paused, then closed the other five stall doors too. That way it would not look obvious. Even if someone sniffed something, they would not find the source right away.
He had just shut the last door when a fashionable couple pushed into the corridor, laughing and chatting.
Rong Jing’s eyelid twitched. There was still a hint of diluted scent in the air. He stepped forward and blocked their path. “This restroom is temporarily unavailable.”
They looked wealthy and were about to ask why when a faint trace teased their noses. The female Omega thought it was pleasant, like a perfume or blocker spray. The male Alpha was different. He sensed Omega scent, top-tier.
He sniffed, face slackening into a dazed, ugly hunger, a low animal sound rumbling from his throat. He was already hunting for the source.
Rong Jing’s eyelid jumped. Thinking of the way that Omega had barreled in, clearly in a bad state, he knew this was not the time to stand aside.
It did not matter who the person inside was. He did not even know what they looked like. He just thought, if you are human, you do not discard basic decency.
The female Omega had never seen her date like this. “Honey, what is wrong with you? You are scaring me!”
The male Alpha did not hear her. That sweet fragrance was close. During a “hunt,” an Alpha’s sense of smell gets razor sharp. His rising aggression made Rong Jing’s skin prickle like pins.
Not good. A flash of resolve lit in Rong Jing’s otherwise gentle gaze.
He still had a thousand questions about this world, but they did not stop his hands from making the right move. He drifted closer, looking concerned. When the woman glanced away, he delivered a clean hand chop.
The man folded and Rong Jing caught him smoothly. Surprise lifted his brows. “Sir, you fainted!”
He looked so guilelessly helpful no one would suspect he was the one who did it.
He flipped the man’s eyelid like a pro, listened to his heartbeat, checked his coloring, and soothed the panicking woman. “Do not worry. It is just low blood sugar, a temporary fainting spell. He will be fine in a moment. Low blood sugar can cause confusion, sluggishness, and blurry vision, so when he wakes up he may ramble. Please calm him down.”
He laid it on a little thick to pull blame away from himself. The woman was too rattled to question it. Something felt off, but his calm tone settled her. Only now did she notice the helpful stranger was absurdly handsome. She blushed, suddenly shy around an unfamiliar Alpha. “Th-thank you.”
“No problem,” Rong Jing said with a smile. He hefted the man and walked her toward the aid station outside.
After escorting them out, he shut the corridor door tight. A minute later he ran into mall security just finishing another scuffle and handed the man off. With a waterfall of thanks from the woman, he bowed out.
He did not leave immediately. He went to the drugstore on the first floor and bought a scent-blocking spray. He knew that store, had tagged along with his sisters in the past. When the clerk asked what scent, a sudden thought hit him, something he had almost caught during the collision. “Bluebells,” he blurted.
He returned and opened the corridor door. It was quiet. The six stall doors were still shut.
He did not know if the Omega had left. Just in case, he covered his nose and spritzed blocker into the air.
Once he was sure the scent was masked, he closed the corridor door again. He hesitated, then pulled a “Cleaning in Progress” sign from a corner and set it at the entrance before leaving.
He hurried toward the main event. He still wanted to see the launch and get a look at Gu Xi in the flesh.
Rong Jing did not cling to memories, but since fate had thrown this chance at him, he held a sliver of hope. Maybe seeing him would jog something. Maybe he would find a way back to his old world.
Ten minutes earlier, Gu Xi had heard the Men O door close and fallen into total despair. He thought the Alpha had come in and locked it. Then the dizziness rolled him under again.
When his mind finally cleared, there was no sound. No banging, no attack, no sleazy whisper.
He pulled out his phone with shaky hands and sent his location to his assistant, Mo Dian.
A 4D ad played on the little screen near his feet, its loud colors washing over his sweat-damp face, lending him a strange, almost wicked beauty.
Only when the suppressant fully took effect and he trusted himself to fight if cornered did he take a deep breath and open the stall door.
The entire Men O area was empty. Surprise flickered in his eyes.
He even checked each small stall to make sure no one was hiding inside.
He stepped out, frowning, and noticed the main doors of the other restrooms were shut as well. The air held a faint blocker scent. Not particularly nice, but recognizable as a low-end bluebells.
He could not name what he felt. A partial easing. A bit of confusion.
In this relatively closed space, there was only him.
There was no word for the way his heart felt, like it leaked wind from every seam. Only today the wind carried a gentle warmth and wrapped him up.
His frown deepened. How… was this possible?
Wariness smoothed into doubt, then into a quiet disbelief. He never believed in unearned kindness. Kindness always came with a price tag.
For fame. For profit. For desire.
In many Alphas’ eyes, he was a trophy at the top of fame and profit both.
At that moment the corridor door clicked open. Someone grumbled, “Who put a cleaning sign out here? How is anyone supposed to use the restroom?”
Assistant Mo Dian peeked in carefully.
Seeing Gu Xi, he exhaled. A few steps in, he realized Gu Xi was not looking at him. Gu Xi stood statue-still, brow furrowed, as if pondering a riddle for the ages.
Mo Dian rushed over. “You scared me, sending your location out of nowhere. I was about to go buy you a snack, but I ran right back. Are you okay?”
He looked Gu Xi up and down, afraid he had missed something and their precious star had been hurt. He knew how much pressure Gu Xi faced daily.
But this time… he looked better than he had in the car.
Gu Xi finally registered his assistant. Eyes still a little lost, he said, “If an Alpha smelled my pheromone and did not react…”
“What? Your pheromone? Your heat started?” God, it had been 557 days. “If you kept missing it I was going to march you to endocrinology!”
Most Omegas have regular cycles. If the timing is erratic, like a woman’s period, ignoring it is asking for trouble.
Mo Dian remembered something and tensed. “On the way here, were you okay? Did you run into anyone? Did anyone hurt you? You should have let me come with you when you felt off!”
Betas cannot sense it, but he had seen how crazy Alphas got under Gu Xi’s pheromone. If pheromones had ranks, there would be two: Gu Xi and everyone else.
“I am fine. It was safe.” Gu Xi patted his assistant’s head and glanced at the cleaning sign outside. “You still have not answered me.”
“That situation does not exist. An Alpha cannot just decide not to react. It is instinct. And you know yours… even Omegas feel it.” Mo Dian spread his hands like a professor. “If there is such an Alpha, he is either a Beta or Omega in disguise, or… you know, not functioning.”
Of course, he was not being mean. It was just an honest logic. Their Gu Xi was a walking hormone, a beautiful hazard. Any Alpha who did not feel it was the abnormal one.
Gu Xi’s lost gaze lingered a second longer.
He suddenly felt he might be too full of himself, and at the same time… something clicked.
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