CH 55

As soon as he smelt the fragrance coming from his body and saw the look in Zhou Rin’s eyes, Ji Ning’s heart skipped and he had a sudden premonition that something bad was going to happen.

Although he’d disguised his appearance, it was widely advertised that tourists of the Interstellar Paradise could modify their bodies. There was no way Zhou Rin would believe him if he used his appearance as an excuse. Even worse, his unique, complex pheromones would give him away since they were impossible to alter. 

Why did every time and spatial distortion happen so coincidently? It was like they were deliberately making things difficult for him, exposing his identity every time to further involve him with the protagonists.

Ji Ning felt his head ache. Fortunately his outburst of pheromones wasn’t as strong this time and he was far from entering heat. The Interstellar Paradise was fully equipped for thousands of species and would definitely have emergency inhibitors for tourists. As long as he was given an injection quickly, there would be no problem.

He ignored Zhou Rin’s question and tried to pull his wrist free, but Zhou Rin’s grip was so tight that no matter how much he struggled, he couldn’t break away. In response to his effort, the Alpha’s hands only held on tighter.

“You’re Ji Ning.” 

Zhou Rin pulled him forward, and Ji Ning fell back on top of him. The enticing aroma wafting from his neck became even stronger, making Zhou Rin’s heart pound. His arms tightened around Ji Ning involuntarily, pulling the boy closer.

“Why did you run away last time?”

His eyes were slightly reddened and because of the rapid changes in his mood, his Alpha pheromones were slowly filling the room. A deep scent of wood quietly enveloped the Omega’s aura.

“Don’t run away again. Come back with me, okay? It’s fine if you don’t want to return to the Zhou house, but please at least tell me where you’re living…”

Fu Ji shamelessly watched from the side. Even though his appearance was obscured by slime, the stunned look on his face was obvious. The other bodyguards who had only come to catch the assassin showed similar reactions.

As a mercenary recruited to be a bodyguard, Fu Ji had only known Zhou Rin for a short period of time, but he’d basically figured out what kind of person his employer was. Zhou Rin was cold and sharp, with a ruthless mind. When he learned that a competitor had hired a killer to assassinate him, he’d volunteered himself as bait, willing to enter the restaurant alone so they could find the assassin as quickly as possible to avoid wasting too much time.

In addition, Zhou Rin hated the touch of others. Even Omegas, who should be irresistible to Alphas, were avoided by him like they were some kind of virus. Although Fu Ji only had a superficial understanding of those unfamiliar genders, he could only conclude that Zhou Rin was extremely coldhearted.

So seeing the coldhearted Zhou Rin hugging someone so uncharacteristically, Fu Ji was naturally surprised. Then a cold sweat broke out on his forehead because of the man in Zhou Rin’s arms. 

“Let him go.”

Watching Zhou Rin holding onto Ji Ning, Ark’s face turned cold and he grabbed Zhou Rin’s wrist.

As an android specially created for war, he was extremely powerful. If Zhou Rin hadn’t been Fu Ji’s employer, he would have easily crushed his hand. As it was, when Zhou Rin was forced to let go of Ji Ning, his wrist was already darkened with bruises.

Seeing this scene, Fu Ji almost wanted to say that he had no idea who Ark was, lest his salary be deducted, but he was even more afraid Ark would beat up Zhou Rin. He knew that in matters regarding Ji Ning, Ark was always extremely determined. It was troublesome, but the rest of the time the angel was very well behaved. 

“I’m really sorry Boss Zhou, my friend is a little heavy handed, but he didn’t mean any harm. He’s just worried about his friend, so please don’t blame him.”

Fu Ji squeezed out a smile and stepped forward, “I apologise to you on his behalf, but I think there’s been some kind of misunderstanding. I don’t think this friend of mine is an acquaintance of yours…”

Despite saying this, he already had doubts about Ji Ning and Zhou Rin’s relationship in his heart. Could his boss also be a previous lover of the little fish?

Damn, he’d heard about peddling two boats, but according to this saying, Ji Ning shouldn’t be a mermaid, but an octopus! 

Fu Ji laughed, trying to deal with the matter harmoniously, but Zhou Rin rubbed his wrist and said coldly, “I wouldn’t recognise the wrong person.”

After saying this he shook his head before speaking in a softer tone, “My apologies, I was agitated just now. I didn’t mean anything malicious, I’ve just found someone I’ve been missing for many years…”

He gave Ji Ning a deep look and curled the corner of his lip as he said bitterly, “…my family.”

What? They’re family? 

Not only was Fu Ji surprised, even Ark was stunned for a moment. His icy expression faded and when he spoke again, he sounded a little lost, “You’re his…”

“There’s no need to mention the past.”

Ji Ning didn’t want to hear the word ‘sister-in-law’ from Zhou Rin’s mouth. Every time he was called that, his scalp would go numb. He really couldn’t get used to the name.

“That man is gone. I have nothing to do with your family anymore.” 

Given that he had entered a time distortion and had no chance of disguising his pheromones, Ji Ning had no choice but to say, “Don’t ask me where I went, we don’t need to have any contact in the future. Let’s just pretend these two encounters never happened.”

“I can’t do that.” Zhou Rin shook his head slowly, “I can’t pretend that nothing happened.” He looked straight at Ji Ning, “It’s not just me. If the rest of the family knew that you’re still alive, they will definitely want you to come back.”

So this was a family conflict? Fu Ji looked between the two people’s faces. Neither of their expressions were good, but he still felt relieved. The boss’s words made it sound like he’d found his long lost lover.

Sensing an opportunity to receive a bonus, Fu Ji decided to act as peacemaker, otherwise he would never have dared intervene. 

These kinds of family matters were always very troublesome, but for the sake of more money, he endured it. With the Boss’s wealth and generous spending, successfully reconciling those two might result in a reward large enough to let him wash his hands of mercenary work.

“It’s not convenient to talk here and we can’t guarantee absolute privacy.” Fu Ji glanced at the guests around them and said, “Boss, why don’t we talk in another place?”

“Okay.” Zhou Rin nodded slightly at his words. A faint smile appeared on his stern face as he said to Ji Ning, “Come with me?”

Ji Ning wanted to refuse and get as far away from him as he could, but unexpectedly, Ark pulled at the hem of his clothes and asked softly, “Aren’t you going to talk to your family?” 

Child, you really don’t understand what relationship Zhou Rin means by ‘family’…

Facing the expectant gaze of the angel, Ji Ning sighed, not wanting to explain his relationship with Zhou Rin. He would have to wait for an opportunity to act. Anyway, there was no way Zhou Rin would reveal in front of others that he loved his brother’s fiance, right?

As for his engagement with Zhou Rin’s older brother, Ji Ning wasn’t too worried about it being exposed. After all, Zhou Rin’s older brother had passed away, so it was just a broken engagement. Didn’t he still have Ozer chasing him across space to marry him?

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“To put it simply, it’s a business rivalry.” Zhou Rin seemed indifferent to it, “Don’t worry, I’ll catch them. They won’t have a chance to try again.” He laughed slightly, “I’m happy you’re worried about me.”

Ji Ning didn’t dislike Zhou Rin. They had lived under the same roof for a year, so it was normal for him to be concerned, but on the surface he still wore a cold expression, ignoring the second half of Zhou Rin’s words as if he was deaf.

Seeing his distant reaction, the young Alpha just smiled. He was used to being treated like this by Ji Ning, so he wasn’t hurt. Rather, he felt happy seeing Ji Ning frowning at him, as it had been so long since anyone had given him such an attitude. 

The only problem was that Ji Ning’s appearance wasn’t right. Zhou Rin considered his words for a while, then asked, “If it’s not inconvenient, could you show me your real appearance? I want to see your face again.”

After thinking about it for a bit, Ji Ning agreed. Zhou Rin gave him a tablet that released him from the Interstellar Paradise’s holographic projection and revealed his real face again, “Have you seen it clearly? Now that you’ve seen me, don’t come near me in the future.”

“…”

Zhou Rin stared at the Omega in front of him for a long time without blinking. 

The last time, he’d only caught a glimpse before Ji Ning ran away, but now he could freely look at this face that haunted his dreams. Years had passed, but they had not left any traces on Ji Ning’s body. He looked exactly as he had back then, as if time had frozen for him.

“You were clearly already…” His heart was filled with painful joy. He couldn’t help but ask, “How could you come back from the dead?”

Come back from the dead?

Fu Ji was taken aback, wondering if he had heard wrong, while Ark’s breathing stuttered. He suddenly raised his hand to grab the clothes in front of his chest, feeling a burst of pain in his heart as cruel images flashed through his head. 

Come back from the dead…

His dream of the mermaid dripping with blood was still vivid in his mind.

He’d wanted Ji Ning to talk to his family so he could learn more about Ji Ning’s past. But now that he knew Ji Ning might have the ability to come back from the dead, what happened in his dream…did Ji Ning really die?

The angel was pale, clutching his forehead and dripping with cold sweat. 

“Ark?” Ji Ning noticed the angel’s odd behaviour, grabbing his shoulder in support as he asked concernedly, “Are you feeling alright?”

“I’m fine…” The snowy haired angel lowered his head, then said in a low voice, “It’s just, maybe…I’m a little tired.”

“You don’t look like you’re tired.” Ji Ning turned back to Zhou Rin and avoided his question, asking, “Can you help find my friend a doctor?”

“Okay.” 

Zhou Rin took out his phone to call for someone, but Fu Ji quickly stopped him, “No, no, I know what’s going on with him. It’s an old problem. Just let him rest and he’ll be fine in a bit.”

Ark was a powerful android so there was no need to show him to a doctor. On the contrary, bringing someone else in risked exposing their identities.

And he hadn’t lied. This was indeed an old problem for Ark. When they first met, Ark, who’d lost all his memories, was always trying to recall his past. But whenever he thought too hard, or his mood fluctuated too much, this would happen until he forced himself to calm back down.

Ji Ning still felt worried and carefully supported Ark to find somewhere to rest. Zhou Rin watched their backs without stopping them. Fu Ji walked up to the Alpha and said, “Boss Zhou, I’m very sorry. We’ve caused you a lot of trouble.” 

He was referring to how Ark injured Zhou Rin and the fact that all three of them had followed him here.

“I don’t care.”

Zhou Rin smiled and gently rotated his wrist. Although he had applied wound medicine, the pain still seemed to linger, but compared to the joy in his heart, this pain was really nothing.

“Instead I’d like to thank you. You must have taken good care of Ji Ning during this time. Now that I have him back, I won’t let your hard work be in vain.” 

“You’re too kind.”

Fu Ji grinned, his heart already blooming with joy. These were the words he was waiting for.

Although Zhou Rin said he would take Ji Ning back with him, Fu Ji didn’t take it seriously. In his opinion, Ji Ning would definitely wish to stay with them and wouldn’t abandon them for Zhou Rin. He was already old enough that he had the right to choose freely and it wasn’t necessary for him to live with his family.

Thoughts turned in his mind. In fact, he still had a lot of questions, such as what Zhou Rin meant by ‘come back from the dead.’ Ji Ning’s origins had always been mysterious, but now he had the chance to meet his family and speak with them. Given this opportunity, he obviously had to investigate on behalf of Ark. 

“Boss, could I ask just now,” He decided to start with some basic information and innocently approached Zhou Rin, “You said that you and Ji Ning are family. How exactly are you related?”

“He and I…”

Zhou Rin looked at the stairs leading to the upstairs bedroom with dark eyes, “Why don’t you guess?”

“Are you brothers? You guys look around the same age.” Fu Ji suggested. 

“Close, but not quite.” The Alpha nodded his head, “He’s my brother’s fiance.”

“Fuc-”

Fu Ji almost choked.

He glanced towards the stairs, suddenly grateful that Ark wasn’t here. Otherwise, he wasn’t sure if this villa, which was supposedly safer than a bunker, would remain standing. 

“Then where is your brother now…”

Asked the red haired man, trembling slightly. It turned out that Ji Ning and the Zhou family were not related by blood, and instead he was the little lover of the Zhou family’s eldest son.

This was an unexpected twist. If he’d known this earlier, he’d have been the first one to drag Ji Ning far away from the Alpha. If Ark killed the boss’s brother, the three of them would be hunted down across the universe.

Zhou Rin said, “My brother passed away.” 

“I’m sorry, I’ve offended you.”

Fu Ji apologised, but his panicking heart finally settled slightly. He silently assured himself that since it was only an engagement, and the person in question had passed away, then they could no longer be considered to have a familial relationship. They would be able to leave without worry after he was paid tomorrow.

“We have a close relationship, but…as you’ve seen just now, he treats me with a very cold attitude.”

Zhou Rin raised the corners of his lips in a mocking smile, “He actually had a good relationship with the rest of my family. I’m only treated differently because he doesn’t like me. Don’t you find me pathetic?” 

“I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare.” Fu Ji said quickly.

“As his friend, you must have a good relationship with him.” Zhou Rin said, “So I have a request for you. I hope you can help me persuade him to come back with me, even if he doesn’t wish to stay for long.”

“This…” Fu Ji felt a little awkward.

“It’s getting late, let’s talk about this tomorrow.” Seeing his hesitation, Zhou Rin didn’t force him, “Thank you for your hard work today.” 

“You’re welcome Boss.”

Zhou Rin went upstairs and returned to his bedroom, heading into the bathroom to take a shower.

Soaked in the warm water, he looked down at his hands, and suddenly brought his fingers to the tip of his nose to smell them.

The fragrance of the Omega had been washed away by the water and was barely detectable, but for Zhou Rin, the scent had long been deeply imprinted inside his heart. Breathing it in again brought back a wave of memories. 

The first time he had smelled this pheromone, he couldn’t help but fall in love with it.

In the beginning, he’d been very resistant to his own feelings because Ji Ning was his brother’s fiance and truly hated him. He was still young and frivolous back then and in order to protect his ridiculous self-esteem, he retaliated by doing his best to show his disgust for Ji Ning. No one was able to see through his acting, so everyone thought he really hated Ji Ning.

His brother was very embarrassed by his actions and tried to speak with him several times, but he was used to being wild and rebellious. The more his brother tried to persuade him, the angrier he became. He thought to himself, it was clearly Ji Ning who was hostile to him first, why wasn’t he the one made to apologise?

His first meeting with Ji Ning was not at home but in a narrow alley. At the time he was only a teenager and was a typical second generation young master. He didn’t work, often skipped school, and often went to bars to drink with his friends in the evenings. 

That night, it wasn’t long before a few Omegas came over to chat with them. His friends were all playboys and wouldn’t refuse any advances, wrapping their arms around the Omegas. Zhou Rin couldn’t stand the smell of Omegas, but he didn’t want to ruin his friend’s evening, so he went outside to get some air.

It was a secret that only his family knew. There was something wrong with his ability to sense pheromones. No matter how sweet an Omega was, to him their pheromones smelled like garbage that had rotted for days in the summer heat.

Once he bumped into an Omega in heat and almost vomited on the spot. For a long time after, he was very resistant to other people’s touches, especially Omegas, and would have to wash his hands until they bled if someone even brushed against him.

An Omega had almost touched him just now and he was in a bad mood, so he stood at the door to the bar and smoked a menthol cigarette. 

Menthols weren’t like real cigarettes, but were burnable mints without any tobacco inside them. The mint flavour in the product was used to dull the scent of pheromones.

After smoking a few of them, he felt it was too boring to stay outside and was about to return to the bar when he picked up another scent in the lingering cloud of mint.

It was a light and sweet fragrance that reminded him of flowers, with an intoxicating undercurrent.

He assumed it was a dessert, but very quickly realised that something was wrong. He could feel his own pheromones surging because of the scent and it took him a moment to realise that what he was smelling was an Omega’s pheromones. 

The scent of an Omega…?

To this day, he’d never forgotten the astonishment he felt in his heart at the time.

He was completely shocked, as if he’d found a precious gem inside of a massive garbage dump. Such an opportunity was too rare. He’d thought it would be impossible for him to feel the sweetness of an Omega in his life, but somehow he’d stumbled across something like this.

He was completely hooked by the sweet pheromones and his heart skipped a beat in his chest. He could barely think straight as he followed the scent into an alley, meeting the eyes of the Omega it came from. 

He was a young Omega, possibly only a few years older than him. His dark eyes were beautiful against his fair skin, which was flushed all the way down his chest. He sat on a fallen suitcase, panting as he leant against the wall and curled his body up slightly. A phone and an empty medicine bottle lay at his feet.

The rich, sweet smell filled the narrow alleyway. Zhou Rin stood at the entrance to the alley, looking at the Omega. His heartbeat quickened and as if he was possessed, he walked over to him.

He wasn’t sure why he moved closer as he didn’t have any Omegan inhibitors on him. He wasn’t sure if the Omega had his own inhibitors but as he had already entered his heat cycle, the normal pills wouldn’t work. He would either need stronger medication, or two Alpha marks.

So…he should just give him a temporary mark? 

At that moment he was like any ordinary Alpha and simply desired the Omega in front of him. If he wanted to find an inhibitor, it was far from impossible, but he subconsciously forgot this option as he squatted in front of the Omega, stretched out his hand and put it on the Omega’s shoulder.

From his vague memories of health class, he knew an Omega’s glands should be on their neck, but since he hated everything to do with Omegas, he lacked almost all of the basic knowledge surrounding them. He pressed his fingers to the side of the young Omega’s neck, looking for a possible location.

The Omega curled up, resisting his touch as his breathing became heavier and sweat dripped from his forehead. Completely attracted by the sweet scent, Zhou Rin pulled away the hand the Omega raised to cover his neck and continued looking for his glands.

Finally, when he touched a specific place on his neck, the Omega whimpered a little, a slight quiver trembling at the end of the sound. The noise seemed to strike his heart and Zhou Rin blushed. 

“It’ll be okay.”

He spoke with a voice so gentle that he felt uncomfortable, as he held down the Omega’s struggling figure. He hadn’t been this patient in a long time. He coaxed the Omega with a low voice, then lowered his head and slowly approached the side of the Omega’s neck.

“Don’t!”

Maybe it was the hot breath of air that fanned across his skin that caused the Omega to finally react to him. Unexpectedly, he was shoved to the side by the Omega, his arm scratching against the alley wall. Within moments, a long bloody gash appeared across his skin. 

“What’s wrong with you?”

He had only tried to help him, but not only did the other party not appreciate it, he also lashed out at him like this. He’d always had the short temper of a young master. In an instant, the sweet tenderness in his heart disappeared, replaced by embarrassment and irritation by the Omega’s rejection. No one had dared treat him like this since he was a child.

He was so angry that he kicked a pile of trash, making a loud sound that echoed through the alley. The debris scattered everywhere and the Omega flinched back in fear.

“I’m a dog if I help you again.” 

Normally, he would have beaten his opponent half to death, but he had no desire to beat an Omega, so he finally turned around and left.

He left in an irritable mood and took out another menthol to smoke as he stood in the street. He wasn’t sure why, but he stayed close to the alley, standing opposite it to keep watch.

The alley only had one exit and was a short dead end. Seeing that the Omega hadn’t come out, he felt annoyed, but remembering his cruel actions before, he couldn’t bring himself to leave and continued to stand there.

The sweet smell was still affecting him and it was soon obvious that he wasn’t the only one who could smell it. Before long, two men walked out of the bar. Scenting the air, they hurried towards the alley, obviously excited. 

Zhou Rin recognised the two men. They were both Alphas and had bad reputations. Seeing their reactions, he extinguished the menthol in his hand and walked over to stop whatever they were doing.

“Ah, it’s the third young master, what a coincidence…”

The two smiled as he arrived, but seeing his bad expression, their smiles turned stiff and they looked slightly bewildered.

“What are you trying to do?” He pointed towards the alley and asked angrily, “You don’t want to live anymore?” 

After hearing this, the two apologised repeatedly saying that they didn’t know the Omega belonged to him. He knew they had misunderstood the situation, but he didn’t bother to explain anything. He kicked both of them and told them to run and find an Omega inhibitor.

“Doesn’t he belong to the third young master? There’s no need for an inhibitor.”

Unexpectedly, the two of them continued to smile flatteringly, “We know you’re here to play, so in order to make amends, we’ll watch your back when you’re in there.”

Hearing them, Zhou Rin didn’t reply, but the Omega inside the alley slowly came out, leaning against the alley wall. He seemed to have heard their conversation as the flush on his face had paled slightly and he was looking at them in horror. He didn’t even bother to pick up his suitcase, just turned in the opposite direction and fled. 

“Fuck!”

He couldn’t stop himself from swearing and really wished he could kill those two scumbags, but he couldn’t bear the thought of the Omega misunderstanding him, so he stepped forward and grabbed him by the wrist. He wanted to clarify the situation, but what he blurted out was a very sinister question, “What do you mean by looking at me like that?”

“Let go, let me go…”

The Omega was so weak he could barely stand, struggling like a kitten. His movements were weak enough to be ignored as Zhou Rin held the Omega firmly. He was about to tell the two scumbags to find an Omega inhibitor, when a luxury car drove up the empty street and stopped in front of them, a handsome man hurriedly leaving the back seat. 

“…Elder brother?”

He said in surprise, wondering if the man had come to take him home. But the young man didn’t give him a second glance, instead he stretched out his arms and caught the Omega who was about to collapse, hugging him tightly.

“Xiao Ning?” The man called the Omega’s name in a low voice and stroked his trembling back, “I’m here, it’s all right, don’t be afraid.”

“Zhou Cun…” 

The Omega responded to the man tremblingly. Zhou Cun took an inhibitor from his coat pocket and injected it quickly into the Omega’s arm. He kept reassuring him until he calmed down and then asked him gently, “Do you feel better?”

“En…” The Omega replied in a low voice, clearly embarrassed. He tried to disentangle himself from Zhou Cun, but as soon as his eyes swept across the person standing beside him, he trembled again and retreated into the Alpha’s arms.

Only then did the man notice the existence of other people. When he saw his younger brother, he immediately frowned and his voice sank as he asked, “Zhou Rin, it’s so late, what are you doing here?”

As he said this, he glanced at the two other people with cold eyes. Like mice who had encountered a cat, they bowed in greeting before running away. 

“…” Seeing the intimacy between the Omega and his brother, Zhou Rin became a little flustered. He even forgot to answer his brother’s question and asked instead, “Brother, why are you holding him…What’s your relationship with him?”

“He…”

Speaking about the Omega in his arms, the man’s expression softened a little and his lips hooked up into a light smile.

“This is Ji Ning, my lover, and your future sister in law.” 

That absolute trainwreck was physically painful to read. Zhou Rin, I’ve never seen anyone screw up that badly in such a short period of time. Ningning obviously likes cute gongs (Ark, Qin Ruwang etc.) can’t you act a little sweeter? If he’d been a cutie little brother, Ji Ning would have given in immediately. Ah, I really do feel bad for Zhou Rin, his heart’s in the right place even if he is a bit chuunibyou.

It’s so nice to be able to write this instead of essays (ಥ﹏ಥ) wish me luck, I only have three more to go!!

And with this chapter, we are halfway through the novel!! Honestly, in my opinion it only gets better from here~