Not receiving a response, An Xun could only console himself that this was probably just the nature of an alpha.

After all, he was the only omega in the estate.

At the end of the day, even the strongest alpha would become a terrifying creature dominated by desire during their susceptible period.

Following a prolonged silence, the alpha’s hand pressed against his lower back. An Xun’s mind fogged up, and he couldn’t help but rub his chin against Bo Xiangzhou’s nose tip.

Listening to his disordered breathing, Bo Xiangzhou couldn’t help but kiss the gland, repeatedly fighting the urge to bite down.

Their breaths intertwined, and the desire grew more frantic under the catalyst of their highly fused pheromones.

In a critical moment, just as Bo Xiangzhou was about to touch the corner of his mouth, he suddenly regained his senses and took back control of his body, startling An Xun awake, his mind blanking for a moment.

Bo Xiangzhou’s hand moved slightly, and An Xun turned his head, the alpha’s lips brushing past his cheek. He hurriedly wiped his face with a pillow and scrambled off the bed, slipping on his slippers and running out.

Stumbling and nearly falling, he didn’t bother putting on his runaway slippers, running out barefoot on one foot, and not forgetting to lock Bo Xiangzhou inside.

Feeling like he’d narrowly escaped disaster, he felt fortunate that he usually had no such thoughts about alphas, or else he definitely wouldn’t have escaped tonight.

He sent a message to Bo Xiangzhou while soaking in the water.

[Drowned Fish]: Left some pheromones on your pillow, make do with that for a few days.

After drying off with a bath towel and leaving wet footprints on the floor, he sat cross-legged on the bed, fretting.

What to do, his slippers were gone. How would he go down for meals now?

He shouldn’t have played the good guy!

His earlobes turned red, and completely sleepless, he tried listening to sleep aids to no avail, finally reaching out to Tao Nian.

[Drowned Fish]: Nian Nian.

He typed and deleted the next line several times, his thick-skinned face unable to utter the words.

As dawn approached, after browsing racy foreign forums for hours, he finally managed to suppress his embarrassment.

[Drowned Fish]: Nian Nian, don’t be like me. When you meet an alpha in heat, just run as far and fast as you can. I went to check on Bo Xiangzhou at dawn, and almost got affected.

[Drowned Fish]: If it weren’t for my strong will, I wouldn’t have been able to leave that bedroom.

[Drowned Fish]: I take back what I said about him being serious, I’ve realized he’s overbearing behind closed doors, just like any alpha I’ve met, all over an omega when they see one. He even drove everyone else away from the estate for his own desires (note, all the estate’s butlers and servants are betas).

[Drowned Fish]: As soon as I entered the bedroom, he pulled me onto him.

An Xun’s face turned red.

[Drowned Fish]: Uh, just changing the topic, but I think he’s pretty big.

[Drowned Fish]: But that’s not the point. The point is, he was holding my hand and wouldn’t let me move, even wanted to bite my gland. I said he could bite it, but I didn’t actually mean it, just said it offhand, but he took it seriously.

[Drowned Fish]: That’s bad enough, but worse, when he tried to kiss me and I dodged, I don’t know why but he pinched my butt.

In the morning, as Tao Nian was getting ready for work, he saw the message, put down his clothes, took a leave from his boss, then sat by the bed blowing smoke from a cigarette.

[Nian Nian]: Are you bragging?

The butler brought slippers, and An Xun, feeling less enthusiastic, hurriedly ate and rushed off to work.

On the bus, he replied to the messages.

[Drowned Fish]: No, I’m exposing his misdeeds.

[Nian Nian]: Didn’t feel it.

[Nian Nian]: You go back and read what you wrote, how is it any different from those showing off their love on social platforms?

An Xun tried to argue.

[Drowned Fish]: Of course, it’s different, they are in love, Bo Xiangzhou and I are at most friends, he’s a forced hand, won’t even give me a proper note.

Tao Nian saw through everything.

[Nian Nian]: What do you want him to note? Darling, will that do?

[Nian Nian]: I’ve seen through your lies, admit it, how long have you been hiding your love affair from me?

An Xun, paying his bus fare, stepped off without looking and kicked a tiled flower bed curb, swearing under his breath, ignoring the minor pain.

[Drowned Fish]: There’s nothing between him and me, no feelings.

[Drowned Fish]: If I had feelings for him, I’d have pounced on him during his susceptible period.

Tao Nian stroked his chin, unsure if An Xun was being oblivious or just evasive.

[Nian Nian]: How is this different from pouncing? You’re just short of stripping down to bare essentials.

[Nian Nian]: How can you have no feelings for him? If you had no feelings, why would you lose sleep over whether he’s dead or not at midnight? If he were dead, you could get a divorce. You even know his size and still say you’re just friends. There’s no pure friendship between an alpha and an omega. Besides, which friend would pinch your butt?

[Nian Nian]: If it were any other alpha, with your personality, you’d have hit him with a brick. But with Bo Xiangzhou, you just blush and let him kiss you.

[Nian Nian]: Before discussing divorce, you say there’s a bit of liking, after, you say no feelings while hugging and patting heads. Tell me, how am I supposed to believe your lies?

Arriving at work, An Xun clocked in without grabbing his usual coffee, but his mind was clearer than any other morning.

He thought about it and indeed, any other alpha should be as far away as possible, except Bo Xiangzhou was an exception.

[Drowned Fish]: Is this what liking someone feels like?

[Nian Nian]: You’re still playing dumb! Do you want me to pull up our chat history, count how many times you’ve blushed, and lay all the evidence before you before you’ll admit it?

Liking someone isn’t bad, they would end up divorcing anyway.

Tao Nian didn’t say this, not wanting to hurt the heart of a lovestruck omega.

For the morning, An Xun wasn’t focused on work, even getting a reminder from his supervisor, but he didn’t care; his mind was on liking or not liking.

[Drowned Fish]: So this is what liking someone feels like?

[Nian Nian]: You keep this up, I’m really going to lay the evidence in front of you.

An Xun was dazed.

[Drowned Fish]: By your definition, I think I really do like Bo Xiangzhou.

Maybe because they got along so well, he was accustomed to his tolerance and oblivious to everything else; he had started to treat intimate gestures like head-pats and bickering as normal.

[Drowned Fish]: I still can’t believe it, I’ll find an opportunity to test it out again.

Matters of the heart shouldn’t be taken lightly; he needed to be extremely cautious, as some pitfalls once fallen into, are lifelong.

Tao Nian felt he had done something wrong.

[Drowned Fish]: Wait till his susceptible period is over, then I’ll tell you more about my feelings.