Ji Chi accompanied Lu Chao as they walked out of the clubhouse. Noticing that Ning Zhu hadn’t followed, Lu Chao glanced back toward the conference room. Ji Chi spoke up then, offering an excuse on Ning Zhu’s behalf to defuse the situation.

It was already past four o’clock, and neither party had any other work scheduled. With the business negotiations concluded, the atmosphere had relaxed somewhat.

The two stopped discussing business matters and naturally began chatting about the local customs and culture of Beicheng, so their pace gradually slowed. It took them nearly five minutes to walk a hundred meters.

When they reached the entrance of the clubhouse, they simply stopped. Ji Chi said, “The traditional festival celebrations in Beicheng are quite distinctive. If you have the chance to visit Beicheng this summer, Mr. Lu, you might get to see the Anjiang Fireworks Festival. During major holidays, sky lanterns are also released in the southern suburbs.”

After chatting for a few minutes, Ji Chi brought the conversation to a natural close and personally escorted Lu Chao to his car.

There were a few steps leading down from the clubhouse entrance. As he descended, his gaze naturally dropped, and out of the corner of his eye, Lu Chao saw a figure approaching from a short distance away. He looked up and froze the moment he recognized the person, a look of surprised delight immediately spreading across his face: “Bro…”

Before he could finish the word “brother,” Dou Changxiao’s gaze swept indifferently over him, and he strode past Lu Chao up the steps. 

Lu Chao: “………. ”

Ji Chi noticed Lu Chao’s unusual reaction and asked curiously, “Did you know that person just now, Mr. Lu?” 

Lu Chao: “…”

He’d said that man was his younger brother, yet the guy hadn’t even called him “brother” before running off?

Lu Chao: “…I don’t know him at all. Haha, what kind of person runs that fast?”

Ji Chi didn’t suspect a thing.

Having met Dou Changxiao before, he guessed Ning Zhu had sent him over. He merely glanced back discreetly before exchanging a few casual words with Lu Chao.

It took about ten minutes to walk from the Third Hospital to the clubhouse. Ning Zhu estimated that Dou Changxiao would take even longer to leave the hospital after saying goodbye to his teacher—at least twenty minutes.

He let himself curl up in the corner for a while, all the while keeping an ear out for any other waitstaff who might enter the room.

In the sweltering heat, Ning Zhu began to miss the sensation of the suppression injection piercing his skin. It was painful, but it quickly cleared his mind. Unlike now, when his consciousness was plummeting into a jumble of memories.

He recalled the first time he’d faced heat in his senior year of high school—it had been far more chaotic than this.

That had truly been an “accident.” The only suppressant in his backpack had been swapped out, and he’d injected it into his skin without a clue.

The solution seemed to contain some kind of heat-inducing agent that ignited a dormant volcano long suppressed. The onset of that heat was completely unexpected and far more intense than his attending physician had predicted.

Excessive pheromones in his bloodstream caused his nerves to malfunction, his muscles to spasm, his limbs to twitch, and his senses to spiral out of control. He watched his own tears fall endlessly to the floor, yet he was utterly powerless to stop them.

The experience of facing death was profoundly intense, yet Ning Zhu’s reaction was not one of fear. He curled up on the floor, his chest filled with immense rage.

He had experienced many moments of helplessness; those moments were densely scattered throughout his childhood. Whenever his parents cast a restrained glance over the back of his neck, Ning Zhu could feel that sense of powerlessness hanging in the air.

Until one day, when he left a note on the dining table, picked up his suitcase, and took one last look around that small house, he began to feel that he wasn’t entirely worthless.

He wanted to make his departure and his death look as graceful as possible, rather than leaving them entirely up to his glands.

Whenever Ning Zhu imagined the way he would leave, a sense of satisfaction welled up from deep within him, as if he had defeated that thing at the back of his neck that had brought him nothing but misfortune since the day he was born.

He would not die because of his glands, nor because of the mating season. And this greatest wish of his had, in fact, nearly been destroyed by someone else.

In a daze, Ning Zhu heard two very soft knocks on the door.

It had been less than ten minutes since he’d called Dou Changxiao, and assuming the other party wouldn’t arrive so quickly, Ning Zhu naturally assumed the knock came from a staff member and struggled to his feet.

The person outside didn’t wait for a response but walked right in, stepping forward to support Ning Zhu’s waist just in time. Ning Zhu straightened up slightly with the help of that support, maintaining his composure: “It hasn’t been that long—you got here so fast.”

Dou Changxiao studied his face and remarked casually, “You’ve got to be professional.”

Ning Zhu didn’t say much. He turned around, exposing the back of his neck to Dou Changxiao’s view, and got straight to the point: “Mark me. Now.”

Dou Changxiao: “…Here?”

Ning Zhu had already begun to unfasten his necklace and gave a soft “Mm.”

Dou Changxiao noticed Ning Zhu’s fingers were trembling.

He wasn’t as composed as he appeared; otherwise, he wouldn’t have asked him to mark him in a place like this. When marked, Ning Zhu’s pheromones would fill the entire compartment, and others would be able to smell them.

Dou Changxiao grabbed Ning Zhu’s wrist, his voice softening slightly: “The car’s waiting outside. It won’t be long.”

Ning Zhu’s movements came to a halt.

Seeing that Ning Zhu could barely stand, Dou Changxiao wrapped an arm around his shoulders, intending to carry him out.

“No need. I can walk.”

“……” Dou Changxiao didn’t insist. He took Ning Zhu’s arm and led him outside, applying some pressure to his wrist to help support a significant portion of his weight.

When they reached the car, Dou Changxiao opened the back door. Before Ning Zhu could get in, he hooked his arm around Ning Zhu’s waist and lifted him inside. Ning Zhu blinked, and before he knew it, he was already inside the car.

Just as he was dazed, the man outside had already crouched down to get in, closed the door, then turned his face toward him, watching him quietly, waiting for him to speak.

Ning Zhu: “……”

Having been interrupted like that, the commanding “Mark me, now” he’d been about to utter suddenly didn’t come so easily anymore.

Ning Zhu glanced at the rearview mirror and saw his own face reflected there. Due to being in heat, his face was flushed bright red. It was an unnatural redness, his lips especially vivid, making his whole appearance seem strange.

As he stared, he suddenly felt the person beside him move a little closer.

Ning Zhu turned his face and locked eyes with Dou Changxiao.

For some reason, Ning Zhu sensed a sense of urgency in that gaze. “…Mark me.”

Before the words had even finished forming, Dou Changxiao leaned in, one hand pressing down on the seat behind Ning Zhu’s waist, the other gripping the back of the chair, almost encircling him with his body.

Dou Changxiao’s breath brushed against Ning Zhu’s cheek. But Ning Zhu hadn’t removed his neck collar yet; there was no reason for Dou Changxiao to move so close so quickly. Staring into the other man’s pitch-black pupils, certain images flash through his mind, and he instinctively puts up a defensive barrier: “No need to kiss.”

Dou Changxiao paused. “…No one’s going to kiss you.” 

“Hmm, just bite me then.”

Ning Zhu rolled over within the territory Dou Changxiao had claimed, removing the collar to expose the back of his neck. His normally porcelain-white skin had taken on a faint blush from the heat.

The person behind him seemed lost in thought; it took several seconds before he pressed down on top of him.

Due to the difference in their builds, Ning Zhu always felt as though he were pinned beneath a massive lion, his back completely enveloped by the other’s warmth. Yet he felt no unease whatsoever.

Something warm gently brushed against the back of his neck. Ning Zhu thought to himself: …I guess that counts as a kiss.

Since it wasn’t a kiss on the lips, he let Dou Changxiao have his way.

Dou Changxiao lowered the hand that had been gripping the back of the chair, wrapping it around Ning Zhu’s waist. He pulled him close, closing every gap between their bodies.

He parted his lips, his canine teeth pressing against Ning Zhu’s delicate skin. Ning Zhu’s fine, soft strands of hair brushed against his nose, and a small, curled strand even brushed against his eyelashes. It was indeed ticklish.

He licked that patch of skin with the tip of his tongue.

Ning Zhu was delirious but couldn’t help but say, “Hmm… You even disinfected me before giving me the shot. How thoughtful.”

The next moment, his canine pierced the skin and sank deep into the gland.

A cat-like meow escaped Ning Zhu’s throat, and at last, the nonsense ceased.

Dou Changxiao caught a whiff of Ning Zhu’s pheromones—no longer that faint, unsatisfying concentration. The skin behind his ears grew hot, screaming to mark the person before him.

He held him tighter, feeling Ning Zhu tremble slightly in his arms, and began to slowly release his pheromones.

The books said that when an Omega is marked, the body produces an equal or even greater amount of pleasure to alleviate the pain of the marking.

The person in his arms trembled even more violently.

Dou Changxiao stared intently at Ning Zhu’s crimson ears, as if, by gazing at them, his gaze could slip around to the other side and catch a glimpse of the expression on Ning Zhu’s face at that moment.

I really want to see.

Ning Zhu shifted slightly, struggling to raise his hand, then opened his mouth and bit down on it.

Dou Changxiao wouldn’t let him. He pushed Ning Zhu’s hand away, hearing a sound from the other that was somewhat like crying. It was faint and broken, not very loud. He listened for a moment, then Ning Zhu struggled slightly, trying to pull away from his embrace.

Dou Changxiao had no choice but to cover Ning Zhu’s lips with his hand to stifle his struggles, but his palm was soon moistened. Dou Changxiao blinked, finished infusing the remaining pheromones, completed the marking, and pulled away.

Ning Zhu immediately curled up, pressing both hands against his cheeks and tucking his knees in, huddling there like a turtle.

Dou Changxiao looked at him, then glanced down at his damp palm, and then turned his gaze back to Ning Zhu.

Ning Zhu remained curled up, motionless. He seemed to find it mortifying that he’d drooled while being marked. This guy has a strong sense of pride at times, Dou Changxiao thought.

And he’s easily embarrassed, too. Even though he’s always so blunt when he’s being flirtatious. But in that video, his face turned red just from being hugged by his drunk self.

No need to kiss. Dou Changxiao stared at the turtle in front of him, which had its back turned to him, and admonished himself. No need to kiss, no need to kiss.

He stared at the glistening water on his palm for a long while, bent his knee slightly, held back for a moment, then finally pulled out a tissue to wipe his hands.