Chapter 10: False Heat, Early Stage of Pheromone Dependency

It was Saturday, and Ruan Yan knew exactly why Xiao Jin had brought him here. Since he had agreed to the contract, he would fulfill his obligations.

Although he sensed something was off with his body, he had only made an appointment for the weekend afternoon at the hospital.

Ruan Yan was replying to a message from Yu Wan when his phone rang again. Exiting the message screen, he saw that Dr. Wen had replied to him.

He briefly described the sudden symptoms he experienced yesterday, and Dr. Wen suggested that he go to the hospital for a checkup as soon as possible.

He confirmed the checkup time for tomorrow with Dr. Wen.

At half-past twelve, Xiao Jin returned from outside. He took off his black gloves and handed them to Ji Duan, saying, “Aunt Xu, I’m starving. Is dinner ready?”

Ji Duan entered the door and immediately started complaining.

“It’s ready, it’s ready. I’ve been waiting for you two to come back.” Aunt Xu ran over from the side door, wiping her hands on her apron. She had always been taking care of Xiao Jin and spoke more casually with him. She raised her chin toward the living room and gestured, “Xiao Jin that kid is still waiting for you in the living room to eat together.”

Xiao Jin looked over at the living room in surprise. “Waiting for me?”

He raised his head, and sure enough, Ruan Yan was still sitting on the sofa, holding his phone and typing a message to someone.

Tsk, this didn’t look like someone waiting for him.

Yesterday, after they got back, Ruan Yan had caused a bit of a fuss in the morning, and Aunt Xu mentioned he hadn’t eaten. It seemed he hadn’t had a single bite yet.

Xiao Jin strode toward the living room, and Ji Duan followed Aunt Xu into the kitchen.

For some reason, Ruan Yan had become more sensitive to Xiao Jin’s pheromones. Even before he got close, he could already sense the cold, icy scent of his pheromones surrounding him.

Clearly, Xiao Jin seemed like an utterly shameless jerk, but his pheromones contradicted that image, exuding a coldness that made one unconsciously submit.

Ruan Yan furrowed his brows slightly. He didn’t particularly like this feeling.

Submit?

In your dreams!

Xiao Jin sat beside Ruan Yan, reaching out to place his hand on Ruan Yan’s waist, pulling him closer. “Aunt Xu said you were waiting for me to eat?”

Ruan Yan, though not skinny, had a waist so thin it didn’t make sense. After experiencing it twice, Xiao Jin found himself a little obsessed with it.

“No.” Ruan Yan turned off his phone screen and, feeling uncomfortable, moved a little to the side, trying to escape the itching sensation from Xiao Jin’s hand.

“Tch.” Xiao Jin sneered, his hand gently stroking Ruan Yan’s side. “Ruan Yan, do you know what a good lover should be like?”

Ruan Yan clenched his phone tightly in his hand. He couldn’t understand what Xiao Jin meant by that. From the very beginning, he had known that he would never be able to outplay this man.

He had studied some psychology, but it was useless with Xiao Jin.

He had never dealt with people like him before. When a person encounters something unknown, fear is a natural instinct.

Ruan Yan tilted his head slightly, his voice hoarse. “I don’t know.”

His temperament was indifferent, and the only thing he truly cared about was his father. For certain things, he couldn’t bring himself to abandon his dignity.

Xiao Jin narrowed his eyes dangerously. After two rounds of intense encounters, this little one would only make a few whimpering noises at most, even when bullied severely.

Back in the day, in those places he frequented, he had heard plenty of cries and screams when emotions ran high.

But this little one seemed to have his own resolve. Even when his eyes turned red from being mistreated, he still didn’t shed a single tear.

Xiao Jin lazily leaned against the sofa, his deep, profound gaze captivating. His long, rough fingers stroked his waist, and the faint scent of whiskey pheromones in the air made it intoxicating.

The little one’s eyes were reddened at the corners.

The soft hums when it became unbearable.

He never indulged in carnal desires, but the first taste of forbidden fruit was unexpectedly good.

However, he attributed all of this to Ruan Yan’s pheromone scent, which was just the kind he liked.

Ruan Yan couldn’t bear Xiao Jin’s hand on his waist anymore, especially when he felt the dangerous shift in the pheromones. He suddenly stood up, just as Aunt Xu’s voice came from the kitchen. “Xiao Jin, Ruan Yan, it’s time to eat.”

” Ruan Yan?”

Aunt Xu’s familiar tone made Xiao Jin chuckle.

Hearing Aunt Xu’s voice, Ruan Yan felt as if he had been granted a pardon and quickly distanced himself from Xiao Jin’s gaze.

**

At the Sixth People’s Hospital.

“Appointment number?” The doctor sitting at the desk looked up, the pen tapping lightly on the table.

Ruan Yan handed over the appointment slip.

Dr. Wen took out a check-up sheet from the drawer, grabbed a pen, and wrote a few lines before handing it over to Ruan Yan. “Go ahead and do a pheromone extraction first.”

Ruan Yan nodded, took the check-up slip, and stood to leave. Just as he reached the door, Dr. Wen’s voice called out, “High-level pheromones, with a strong aggressive undertone, very similar to… Enigma.”

Ruan Yan felt his brain and ears tingle with a strange numbness the moment Dr. Wen’s words hit him.

Normally calm and composed in the face of anything, this time, his steps were a little frantic as he left the office.

The test results hadn’t come back yet.

He tightened his grip on the test slip.

There was no way he believed that…

The test results would take two hours, so Ruan Yan didn’t return to Dr. Wen’s office but instead sat on a bench in the hospital garden, lost in thought for those two long hours.

He looked up, the cool autumn breeze carrying a chill that swept through his hair.

Enigma.

A rare gender, surpassing all Alphas as the fourth gender.

This was something he remembered from a senior’s research project. He recalled the explanation from the paper.

The ABO pheromone system might not be limited to just three genders. There could be a gender even higher than Alpha, one that was so rare and elusive that it was called Enigma.

This type of gender had only started appearing a few years ago. Without going through a pheromone center for testing, even someone who was Enigma would never realize it.

Ruan Yan was pulled back into his thoughts by Dr. Wen’s call, informing him that the test results were ready and asking him to come back to the office.

He quickly regained his composure, though the path back to Dr. Wen’s office seemed distant and unclear in his mind.

Dr. Wen glanced at Ruan Yan, who walked back in looking dazed and unsettled. For a brief moment, Dr. Wen’s expression softened, a flicker of pity crossing his face before he quickly composed himself, adopting his usual cold, professional demeanor.

“Sit.”

Ruan Yan had barely settled into the chair when Dr. Wen dropped a bombshell on him, his words crashing into Ruan Yan’s mind like an explosion.

“You’ve been marked.”

Ruan Yan froze, the words echoing in his ears.

Dr. Wen slid the test results across the desk toward him. “Based on your symptoms and pheromone readings, you were induced into a false estrus by the pheromones of the other party yesterday. It reversed your state, triggering the false estrus.”

Dr. Wen adjusted his glasses. “One encounter, and your false estrus phase is over. That means you’re now in the early stages of dependence on Enigma’s pheromones. Ruan Yan, Enigma is the highest authority among genders. If he bites you, you’ll become his exclusive Omega, subconsciously dependent on him.”