Chapter 4 – Fight

Duan JiaYan’s felt his head turn fuzzy the moment Lu XingCi came back.

Originally, when the other person left, the floating feeling in his head got significantly better. But the moment Lu XingCi came back, Duan JiaYan felt like there was a switch in his body, and when the switch was turned on, he inadvertently felt himself wanting to get closer to Lu XingCi.

He thought back to when Song Yi bleakly told him then that just looking at Lu XingCi will make one feel like getting closer to the individual. At that time, he still laughed at Song Yi, making fun of his lack of self-control.

He’s wrong, oh so wrong.

Duan JiaYan really didn’t like the feeling of losing control so he took the scent blockers from Lu XingCi’s hand, and after hesitating for a bit, gave a quick and soft “Thank you”.

The item in his hand looked a lot like a spray bottle, he’s seen Song Yi using it before. Duan JiaYan aimed the nozzle towards himself and pressed it a few times. As he could not smell his own pheromones, he could only ask Lu XingCi for help.

“Is there still a smell?”

The scent of an Omega was covered by the scent blockers, Song Yi’s scent blocker even came in the flavour of milk. Lu XingCi looked at him and said, “It should be gone.”

As the other person was standing too far away, Duan JiaYan was not entirely relieved.

The scent blocker seemed to have compounds to help calm a person down. After using almost half the bottle, he found that he was no longer dizzy, and felt a lot more refreshed.

“You’re standing so far away, what are you even trying to smell?” Duan JiaYan pulled down his collar and pointed towards his glands. “Why not come over here and take a closer sniff?”

Lu XingCi continued to silently stare at him.

Duan JiaYan had just presented as an Omega, so he was not aware of what he was doing but Lu XingCi knew that when an Omega asks an Alpha to smell his glands, it can be taken as a very obvious invitation.

“There’s no smell,” Lu XingCi reiterated.

Seeing that he was so sure of his answer, Duan JiaYan decided to let it rest. He straightened out his uniform and left the washroom.

There was no one outside the washroom. Duan JiaYan took out his phone to check the time and phone that lessons were almost over.

Duan Jia Yan really wanted to find out what was going on with his body right now so he shoved the scent blocker into Lu XingCi’s hand.

“I’m going to make a trip to the hospital. Help me return this to Song Yi,” Duan JiaYan instructed. “I can tell with a glance that it’s his. That small kid always uses milk-scented scent blockers.”

Lu XingCi looked at him. The moment he said the word ‘milk’, Duan JiaYan ended up laughing first himself.

Despite mocking others, this fellow wasn’t exactly mature himself.

“Duan JiaYan,” Lu XingCi thought to himself for a bit and decided to still remind him. “Don’t let others smell your scent.”

Duan JiaYan didn’t take his words to heart.

Yi Zhong’s security guard recognised Duan JiaYan so even though school was not over, they still allowed him to leave the school. Duan JiaYan boarded a bus and promptly made his was over to the Central Hospital.

He did not want to spend too much time waiting so he registered his case as an emergency. Fortunately, as at this hour on a weekday, there was not many people in the hospital and it quickly reached his turn.

The doctor who called him in was a female doctor and Duan JiaYan succinctly explained what happened to him. After asking him about his age as well as a few other questions related to his body, she asked, “How did you find out that you might be an Omega?”

“A classmate of mine, he smelled me.”

The female doctor’s hand that was on her mouse paused, “An alpha?”

Duan JiaYan gave an affirmative noise in reply.

“Then that classmate of yours must be a really good person.” The doctor wrote a bill for him, “Go and make payment first, then we’ll do an evaluation for you.”

Thinking back to what Lu XingCi said earlier, Duan JiaYan felt that something was a little odd. After leaving the doctor’s office, he took out his phone and found Shen ChiLie’s contact.

Shen ChiLie and Song Yi were his friends from elementary school, they had a lot of fun playing together. After they got to high school, Shen ChiLie went to Class Four. Shen ChiLie’s an Alpha and back then Song Yi even made a joke about how the three of them could form an ABO band.

Duan JiaYan sent a text message over, [If an Omega asks you to smell him, how will you feel?]

Shen ChiLie was probably playing with his phone and so his response came very quickly.

[I’d feel like I’m incredibly blessed to be there.]

Duan JiaYan felt that something was still vaguely wrong and sent a series of question marks in response. Seeing Shen ChiLie’s next reply, Duan JiaYan felt like his brain could explode.

[An Omega letting an Alpha smell him, what other meaning could there be?]

[Isn’t it plain and simple seduction?]

“……”

Duan JiaYan stood motionless in front of the self-service payment machine for quite a while, he could feel his ears burning up.

He quietly swore under his breath.

*

That night, Duan JiaYan got his medical report back.

According to the results, the Omega hormones in his body had already exceeded the average amount and it seems like it still has the potential to increase. He was indisputably an Omega that just presented.

It was also the first time the doctor met someone who presented as an Omega at this age and she could see that a myriad of emotions were going through the boy’s handsome face. After the shock has worn down, she carefully instructed Duan JiaYan to take note of certain things and also prescribed some inhibitors and scent blockers for him.

The doctor also reminded Duan JiaYan to find time to change his personal data on the government’s registry, from Beta to Omega.

Duan JiaYan happened to bump into Fu Yuan as he was opening the door to his house.

It seemed like Fu Yuan was rushing out to settle something. She stood by the living room making a few calls, her usually calm demeanour carrying hints of anxiousness, “… Okay, I’ll make my way over soon.”

“Mom,” Duan JiaYan called out to her. “It’s already this late and you’re still heading out?”

“Xiao Yun is in the hospital again,” Fu Yuan replied. “Uncle He is already in the hospital with him. That child’s body has never been the best but the doctor has said that if he makes it pass the age of ten, his condition will get better. If you have time, do pay him a visit, he really likes you…”

Duan JiaYan made a noise in acknowledgement.

Fu Yuan rambled on, only realising after a while that Duan JiaYan should be attending self-revision right now. “Why are you back so early?”

“I went to do a health evaluation.”

He handed the medical report to Fu Yuan. After taking a look at the results, Fu Yuan looked at Duan JiaYan disbelievingly.

“Ah Ye, you…” She paused for a moment. “Is your body okay? Are you adjusting fine? How are you feeling about this situation?”

Ah Ye is Duan JiaYan’s nickname. The nickname was coined by Fu Yuan when Duan JiaYan was still young, it was both affectionate and catchy. The long series of questions, coupled with the concerned look on the woman’s face made the corners of Duan JiaYan’s mouth quirk up.

“I’m fine,” he reassured her. “There’s not much difference between an Omega and Beta.”

Fu Yuan’s brows were still creased. She had originally just thought that with how good looking this child is, as well as his sharp temperament, being a Beta will not make him lose out in any way. Who would have thought that he was actually a late bloomer, and was actually an Omega all along.

“As long as you don’t mind that’s fine,” she said. “We need to find time to change your personal information. I should have time next week—”

Her phone rang once again. The voice on the other end seemed to be rushing her and Fu Yuan did not know what to do. Duan JiaYan could see that she was being put on the spot and said, “There’s no need, I can find time to go change it by myself or I can get Song Yi to accompany me. You hurry on to the hospital.”

Fu Yuan nodded and started putting her shoes on. Duan JiaYan asked with a degree of forced casualness.

“Now that Uncle He and He YunShen is in Ning City1, will you still be moving over to stay with them?”

Fu Yuan casually replied, “Uncle He bought a new apartment in Xin Huai, it’s rather close to Yi Zhong. We can move there together in a month?”

Duan JiaYan froze.

“Ah Ye, do sleep earlier,” Fu Yuan said as she opened the door. “I might not be coming home tonight. Be sure to set an alarm for yourself okay. Don’t be late to school tomorrow.”

After she left, Duan JiaYan silently stared at the door and mumbled to himself, “…But I don’t want to live with them, I only want to live with you.”

His voice was very soft and in the vast empty house, it sounded a little lonely.

Maybe it was because he just presented but that night Duan JiaYan could not get a good night’s sleep. He forgot to set his alarm and ended up missing two lessons in the morning.

Once Duan JiaYan got to school, a huge portion of the class was already over. He had just made his way to his seat when Song Yi came over with stuff to say.

“Bro, something big has happened,” Song Yi put down the phone that was always in his hand and looked at Duan JiaYan. “I don’t know what’s Du XuChen smoking but he’s insisting that he saw Lu XingCi fooling around with an Omega yesterday. Du XuChen said that the Omega’s probably not legal and that Lu XingCi forced himself onto the Omega. If he really did force himself onto the Omega then that’s illegal…”

In today’s society, the proportion of the ABO three sexes is roughly 3:6:1. Omegas are naturally rare so to protect them there have been strict laws implemented to prevent any from being harmed.

Duan JiaYan felt his grogginess from the morning disperse. Raising his head, he noticed that Lu XingCi’s seat was empty.

Song Yi heard Duan JiaYan say, “Lu XingCi didn’t tell you anything?”

“Tell me what?”

Duan JiaYan saw how lost Song Yi looked and was sure that Song Yi did not know that his scent blockers were used by Duan JiaYan himself yesterday. He thought back and realised that he was so focused on heading to the hospital that he did not discuss with Lu XingCi about where it was okay to tell others about him being an Omega.

And so Lu XingCi did not tell anyone.

Does this count as him… being protected?

“Where’s he?”

“I’ve no idea, I think he went out.”

Duan JiaYan made a noise in affirmation. Standing up, he made his way to the Sports class.

Class Ten was situated in the corridor on the far left, while the physical ed class was on the far right. Duan JiaYan headed straight for the back door of the Sports class.

This was where Du XuChen’s seat was located. He barely reached the class and he could already hear Du XuChen joking around with his classmates. He was very loud.

“Lu XingCi made a stupid mistake this time. He still dared to fool around in school, so what if he has his family to protect him, this matter will not be able to be smoothed over so easily.” A male student turned to talk to a girl beside him, “You Omegas have a forum right? A forum used by the top few schools in Ning City, why not post this on the forum?”

The girl hesitated.

Last night Du XuChen even went so far as to send a series of messages related to this event. This morning she saw Du XuChen delete his friends from his contacts, as if afraid of being caught.

Since she also didn’t want to get in trouble, she replied ambiguously, “Let’s wait a minute, isn’t this matter still being investigated?”

“What are we still waiting for? The whole cohort knows he locked someone in the toilet with him. The teacher has even said that there were remnants of Omega pheromones in the toilet,” Du XuChen said with a smack of his lips. “But we can’t really put the blame solely on Lu XingCi. That Omega is really too lewd, not even using his inhibitors or scent blockers, isn’t he just waiting for someone to screw him?”

The girl frowned, not pleased by what she heard, “Sometimes it’s difficult for an Omega to control their pheromones. Is that what you all think?”

Du XuChen saw that she was upset and rushed to coax her, “No I don’t mean it like that. There are many different types of Omegas. You and that guy are not the same. His kind…”

He gleefully said with a wave of a hand, “He’s just asking to be screwed.”

The moment he said that, the back door of the classroom was kicked open.

Du XuChen’s seat was right next to the back door and so he was hit hard when the door swung open. He staggered off his chair, almost falling onto the floor. He turned around, wanting to ask which idiot decided to open the door with so much strength when he saw Duan JiaYan standing by the door.

Duan JiaYan grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pulled hard. Du XuChen ended up being pulled by him out of the classroom. Putting aside the fact that Lu XingCi is able to move him around, it was more than embarrassing to have a Beta like Duan JiaYan pull him along so easily, especially when it was in front of so many people.

Duan JiaYan saw how hard he was struggling and let go. The moment he was let go, Du XuChen immediately shouted, “Fuck! Duan JiaYan are you crazy?”

Duan JiaYan took a chair from the back of the class and swung it towards Du XuChen’s head. Du XuChen was stunned, he could feel a warm liquid flowing down his face. The pain came a moment later and it was only then that he realised he was bleeding.

Everyone was in a daze.

At that moment, Lu XingCi happened to be leaving the teacher’s office and witnessed what was happening. Duan JiaYan tossed the chair aside and glared at Du XuChen who had just gotten a beating. The boy looked absolutely furious, his smile not reaching his eyes.

“I’m that Omega that you said is just waiting around to be screwed by others,” Duan JiaYan locked eyes with Du XuChen’s look of utter disbelief. He asked in a cold voice, “Tell me, do I look like I’m waiting to be screwed?”