CH 1

Chapter 1 “I Don’t Have an Alpha”

On a sultry June night, a shopping mall stood in the very center of the city, facing the iconic tower across the river. The streets were crowded with people, and a row of cars was temporarily parked on the side of the road.

Shen Yao was sitting in the car, with his arm resting on the window sill of the co-pilot, looking up at the huge LED projection screen on the tall building.

Only a black-and-white photo was placed on the screen. The cover of the piano was closed, and his bony fingers were placed on the cover. The tall Alpha raised his head slightly, revealing only a vague and handsome profile.

The entire photo was dull in color, but the apricot blossoms hovering in the air were springy white and rosy. During the time waiting for Xu Yibai, Shen Yao had seen at least ten people stop and take pictures on the projection screen.

While Shen Yao was bored waiting, the door on the other side finally opened.

Hearing the movement, Shen Yao turned around immediately and complained in a muffled voice, “Why did it take so long, I’m bored of waiting.”

Xu Yibai took off his peaked cap and mask, and the gradually exposed face matched the projection screen. His eyebrows and eyes were clean and clear, and his appearance was as warm as a spring breeze, but the line of his jaw was a bit cold, but not lofty or towering.

He explained: “There were a lot of people, so we queued for a long time.”

Xu Yibai habitually reached out to touch Shen Yao’s cheek before putting down the paper bag he had been holding. There was an ice cream cup in the exquisite package, like a snow mountain peak.

He didn’t pass the thing directly to Shen Yao, but took out the spoon as well. Xu Yibai swayed the spoonful of ice cream in a natural motion, handed it to Shen Yao’s mouth, looked down at him and said, “It’s a bit melted.”

Both the caregiver and the one being cared for felt at ease. Shen Yao opened his mouth and bit the spoon. He would squint his eyes when he ate something he liked, he smiled contentedly: “This ice cream is still the best.”

“I knew you would like it.” Xu Yibai said, “That’s why I brought you here.”

Shen Yao thought it was too troublesome and wanted to take it and eat it himself, but as soon as he stretched out his hand, someone took the ice cream cup and moved it back.

“I’ll feed you.” Xu Yibai said, “Aren’t you tired from dancing?” 

After he said this, Shen Yao didn’t bother to move, and asked Xu Yibai to feed him spoonful by spoonful. It was not tiring to do this kind of action several times, but it was easy to be impatient after a long time.

Xu Yibai wasn’t though, he had always been very patient in taking care of Shen Yao.

One could get tired of eating too much ice cream, so when he almost finished half the cup, Shen Yao turned his face away and shook his head and said, “I don’t want to eat it.”

He was like this with everything he ate, after tasting it, there would be no more interest.

Xu Yibai was his food trash can, he was used to eating his leftovers.

After he got out of the car and finished throwing away the garbage, when he was about to start the car, Shen Yao came over.

The narrow body of the car was inconvenient to move around, and Shen Yao was not short, he was considered tall among Omegas. With one knee propped on the seat, Shen Yao bent down and kissed Xu Yibai’s lips.

The kiss continued the sweetness of the ice cream. With a short touch, Shen Yao was about to step back when the hand on Xu Yibai’s shoulder was grabbed.

Then it slid down and landed on his waist.

Xu Yibai raised his chin slightly: “Is this just a half-hearted kiss to get by?”

“You want to kiss again?” Shen Yao shrugged his shoulders with a smile, “When we get home, I want to kiss you too.” 

The entrance of the room was simple and open. As soon as Shen Yao entered the door, he stretched out his arms to hug Xu Yibai. There was a difference in height, so when he lowered his head, he was like a cat, rubbing carelessly on Xu Yibai’s body.

Shen Yao smelled the scent of blue wind chimes, a pheromone that could calm him down. He couldn’t help hugging Xu Yibai even tighter, and murmured: “Xu Yibai… I seemed to have missed you a little bit.”

Xu Yibai hugged him face to face. When he got up, he kissed Shen Yao’s forehead reassuringly, and then smiled and said: “En, I miss you too.”

After a pause, he corrected: “I missed you very much.”

Shen Yao hugged Xu Yibai’s neck with his thin arms, still whimpering coquettishly: “You’ve been so busy recently, we haven’t seen each other for three days, you have to apologize to me.” 

A duplex structure, Xu Yibai, hugging him, walked upstairs and said apologetically, “I can’t help it. I’ve been preparing for a concert recently. I can’t leave the foreign country, I have to go there.”

Xu Yibai was a pianist who became famous at a young age. Excellent talent, skills, coupled with a handsome appearance, he had always had a lot of audience. Most importantly, geniuses were often too demanding of themselves.

Before the concert, he would shut himself in his room alone for several months, doing nothing but practicing the piano until he was satisfied.

But now that he had Shen Yao, Xu Yibai couldn’t not see him.

Shen Yao snorted softly from his nasal cavity, scratched Xu Yibai’s Adam’s apple with his fingers, and jokingly said: “Then you will bring me a gift next time you come back?”

Xu Yibai smiled: “When do I not bring one for you?”

In the center of the bedroom was a huge bed, Xu Yibai’s answer satisfied him, and he kissed him on his own initiative again.

Shen Yao never hid his liking, he didn’t feel ashamed to be clingy or to confess. He was as pretty as an ardent rose, and so was his affection.

Lips were tightly pressed together. Shen Yao had always liked to kiss Xu Yibai, he was very good at taking care of his feelings. When kissing, it was like stepping on a floating cloud, a lightness straight to the brain.

Shen Yao’s pheromone also leaked out uncontrollably, it was a very elegant apricot blossom fragrance, and the two kinds of floral fragrances intertwined in the air.

Thinking of the scene he saw just now, he couldn’t help teasing Xu Yibai, “Your photo was over there. I saw a lot of people taking pictures. I knew I should have taken one for you to see.”

Xu Yibai smiled helplessly : “Don’t make fun of me.”

“I didn’t make fun of you.” Shen Yao kissed the tip of his nose and said with a sullen smile, “I just want to praise you for being handsome.”

“How handsome, older brother.”

One needs to be responsible for teasing. The moment he laid down on the bed, Shen Yao’s thin chest rose and fell. His legs hooked around Xu Yibai’s waist, and because of his rapid breathing, he said intermittently: “Hurry up…”

Xu Yibai’s breathing gradually became unsteady, and the fragrance of flowers in the air became heavier and heavier, enough to make people dizzy when they entered the room.

The Omega’s body was too sensitive, only a loose short sleeve was left on Shen Yao’s body. His ivory skin was flushed red, his pupils became moist, but no tears fell.

Shen Yao’s beauty was very contradictory, harmless yet thorny, it was a beauty that can simultaneously generate the desire to conquer and protect.

His slender legs were pinched by Xu Yibai, every bump would make him twitch slightly. Shen Yao still reached out to hug Xu Yibai, he always liked to hug people at this time, as if he completely entrusted himself to them.

“Yaoyao.”

Xu Yibai’s voice was low, he also liked this hug very much, and clasped Shen Yao’s waist with his hand.

The temperature was gradually rising, and the Alpha and Omega still had an important part in this process. Xu Yibai lowered his head instinctively, his canine teeth exposed in the air, and he approached the fragile neck eagerly.

Shen Yao suddenly came back to his senses, he withdrew back, subconsciously said: “No, don’t mark it.”

Beads of sweat rolled down his forehead, Shen Yao was weak all over, but he covered Xu Yibai’s lips with his weak hand: “I’m going home tomorrow, so I can’t be marked.” 

A marked Omega will smell of an Alpha’s pheromones, Xu Yibai knew that Shen Yao never wanted his family to know about their relationship. For an Alpha, this was an instinctive behavior of restraint, he endured silently, the bloody feeling of biting his tongue welled up in his mouth.

Xu Yibai had a gentle personality, even in bed, but an Alpha’s instinct was at work, and Xu Yibai felt irritable when he could not successfully mark his own Omega.

But Shen Yao’s lips pressed up against him again, then his hand held Xu Yibai’s head and the back of his neck, as if he was comforting a big dog. His voice stumbled: “Don’t be angry… I will let you bite me next time, you can bite as much as you want.”

Xu Yibai kissed him so hard that Shen Yao didn’t even have time to breathe. It wasn’t until he heard the humming hidden between his lips that he seemed to wake up, and gently kissed Shen Yao’s lips.

In the end, in order to vent, he just bit Shen Yao’s cheek, not daring to bite too hard.

After it was over, Shen Yao was carried by him and taken to take a bath. The room with the lights turned off was pitch black, and Shen Yao slipped into Xu Yibai’s arms.

Because of his exhaustion, his voice sounded a little lazy: “Are you still angry?”

Xu Yibai hugged him back, his chin resting on Shen Yao’s head, and after a moment of silence, he said frankly: “A little angry. Yaoyao, we have been together for almost three years, and we have also kept our love underground for almost three years.”

Every time this matter was brought up, Shen Yao would find an excuse to refuse. When he proposed to take Shen Yao home, it was the same.

Shen Yao did not escape, he raised his face, stared at Xu Yibai with those beautiful eyes, and said seriously: “I will take you back this year during Chinese New Year, and then you can take me home together.”

“Really?” Xu Yibai’s eyes widened slightly, his arms tightened uncontrollably, and when he smiled, it was like a spring breeze blowing on one’s face.

“Otherwise, would it be fake?” Shen Yao lazily adjusted his posture, he closed his eyes as if very sleepy, but muttered indistinctly, “I already said it… I like you.”

Shen Yao fell asleep. Xu Yibai was still awake. Not only that, but Shen Yao’s promise made him too excited, and he didn’t feel sleepy at all. The moonlight came in from the window, he gently took Shen Yao’s hand, and carefully kissed his forehead.

Like kissing a treasure.

It was already the afternoon when Shen Yao woke up, and Xu Yibai was not at home when he awoke. He lazily walked towards the kitchen, where there were thermos and post-it notes as expected, and Xu Yibai’s clean and clear handwriting was left on them.

“Yaoyao, there is food for you inside, remember to eat. I forgot to tell you yesterday, I bought you new clothes and shoes for summer, I put them in the closet.”

In all fairness, Xu Yibai was indeed a perfect boyfriend. Good-looking, gentle, considerate, can cook, and can do all the housework. He matured early, had a strong possessiveness but did not engage in childish jealous behavior, considering everything for him, and always had only him in his eyes.

They’ve been together for almost three years, everything was in perfect harmony, and he didn’t make even a mistake.

If he hadn’t heard that phone call a few days ago, he would still be willing to maintain this relationship with Xu Yibai, but there were not so many ifs in the world, and he heard it by accident.

Shen Yao didn’t have any appetite when he woke up in the morning, so he picked at the thermos, and finally just took a sandwich.

He turned on the phone, and there was a message from Xu Yibai in it.

“I’m boarding the plane, Yaoyao.”

“After the busy period is done, I will definitely accompany you every day.”

Shen Yao bit the sandwich, ignored him, put the phone back in his pocket instead, and didn’t go to see the clothes and shoes Xu Yibai bought for him.

He left Xu Yibai’s house and went downstairs alone.

At the junction of the city and the suburbs, among the row upon row of buildings, there was a single-storey bungalow that occupied an extremely large area. The outer walls were sprayed with strange graffiti with fluorescent agents. As time went by, the color became darker and darker.

At the beginning, it was a secret base created by wealthy spoiled kids in the second year of middle school, but later, more and more people knew about the secret base, and finally it evolved into a meeting place.

The air-conditioning inside was at full blast, Shen Yao sat alone on the high stool, with a peaked cap on his head, only half of his ice-white face was exposed.

His appearance was really outstanding, even if he deliberately wore a hat to hide it, he still attracted attention. In addition, he seldom came here, and rarely attended other gatherings, so many people were unfamiliar with him and didn’t know who he was.

“Have a drink together?”

An Alpha suddenly stood in front of the bar and asked him suggestively, probably thinking that Shen Yao was some kind of Omega who got mixed in.

Shen Yao propped his cheeks, lifted his eyelids from under the brim of his hat, his indifferent expression established a clear sense of distance.

He was just about to open his mouth to speak, but the Alpha was pulled away forcefully by his arm from behind. It was unclear when Dai Xinghui came over and said in a cold voice: “Get lost, do you think you are worthy?”

The Alpha wanted to get angry, but when he saw Dai Xinghui, his voice fell silent, and he didn’t dare to reply.

Dai Xinghui was holding back his anger, and kicked out again: “Shen Yao is low-key, you don’t recognize him, but you know me, right?”

He and Shen Yao grew up together, and their family backgrounds were divided into different classes. The Shen Family wasn’t one where heaps of Alphas can climb up. Shen Yao’s parents were dead, but no matter what, his surname was Shen.

What’s more, they all knew that Shen Yao’s uncle had always regarded him as his own, and Shen Yao was the noble young master of the Shen family.

There were many people around Shen Yao, everyone supported him, so who would dare to talk to him so frivolously.

He was so angry that he wanted to kick out again, but Shen Yao stopped him and said: “Enough.” Dai Xinghui withdrew his foot, and finally cursed coldly: “Get lost!”

The Alpha was helped away by his friend, and Dai Xinghui sat beside Shen Yao, staring at him intensely, his tone and attitude were quite different from before: “Yaoyao, what are you doing today…”

Halfway through the sentence, Dai Xinghui’s expression changed drastically, he stood up abruptly, his face gloomy, but suddenly he came back to his senses, forced a smile and asked, “Your smell of other people’s pheromones is so strong, do you have an Alpha?”

He thought he was pretending well, but in fact, the arms hanging by his legs already had his green veins popping out, all seen in the eyes of the other party.

Shen Yao didn’t speak, the time of silence seemed to be lingering. When Dai Xinghui’s eye sockets seemed to turn red, he asked calmly, “What Alpha?”

He chuckled lightly, his pupils clear and clean, and he was even a little puzzled from being misunderstood. 

He said : “I don’t have an Alpha. As for pheromone, I probably got it somewhere.”