CH 19

Back in the dormitory building, Lin Yuxing felt as if he was covered in Gu Zhongyi’s pheromones. With every step he took, he felt like he was walking on clouds. The soft clouds were Gu Zhongyi’s pheromones, surrounding him, making his steps light and his heart flutter.

He leaned against the wall and muttered to himself, “His pheromones… they’re so sweet, why are they so sweet?”

His mind was filled with Gu Zhongyi’s smile.

Lin Yuxing pounded the wall in frustration.

An Omega passed by him, thinking he was mentally unstable, quickly walked away.

Lin Yuxing hurriedly made his way to his own dorm room, thinking about the reason behind all of this as he walked. According to logic, only the really bad Alphas had trouble controlling their pheromones. Could it be that Gu Zhongyi was that bad at controlling his pheromones? Or was it him that was just too sensitive to pheromones?

He arrived at his dorm room and thought for a long time but still couldn’t figure it out.

“Ding-“

Lost in thought, Lin Yuxing was startled by the sound of his phone notification.

Gu Zhongyi: [I’m home. Now that we’re friends, I believe we should wish each other goodnight.]

Lin Yuxing asked himself, “Do friends need to wish each other goodnight?” He hadn’t had many friends since childhood, and the only one he had was his roommate.

He couldn’t tell if Gu Zhongyi was joking or being serious, so he replied honestly: [Goodnight.]

Gu Zhongyi replied immediately: [Goodnight, friend.]

Lin Yuxing’s face inexplicably turned red again. Why did Gu Zhongyi’s messages feel so different all of a sudden?

Or was it something wrong with himself?

Lin Yuxing couldn’t tell anymore and quickly went to take a shower.

Before going to bed, he grabbed Su Li, who was immersed in gaming, and asked, “Sniff me, do I have any smell on me?”

Su Li replied, “The scent of shower gel?”

Lin Yuxing became anxious, “Smell again.”

Su Li didn’t take his eyes off the computer screen, “Your pheromones are super faint. I usually can’t smell them.”

“It’s not mine! It’s… um, does it smell like Alpha pheromones?”

“Alpha? Gu Zhongyi?”

“Yeah…”

Su Li couldn’t figure it out at first, but then he jumped up and asked seriously, “Damn, did you kiss him?”

Lin Yuxing immediately covered his mouth, “What nonsense are you talking about!”

“Did you… get intimate with him?!”

Su Li needed a tranquilizer.

“I didn’t!” Lin Yuxing almost pushed Su Li away, blushing, “We just spend a lot of time together, and I feel like I have his pheromone scent on me.”

Su Li rolled his eyes, finding him overly dramatic, “I can see that you’ve wasted your classes. If you haven’t had any intimate contact with Gu Zhongyi, his pheromones wouldn’t stick to you.”

“But…”

“Besides, Gu Zhongyi is famous for being a high-quality Alpha. He must have good control over his pheromones. It’s already quite something if your scent is lingering on him.” Su Li thought for a moment, “But your pheromones have always been weak. Even if you accidentally got some on you when your emotions were out of control, it would disappear as soon as the wind blows. It’s not a big deal.”

Su Li’s words made Lin Yuxing restless and unable to sleep.

Every time he closed his eyes, Gu Zhongyi’s smile would appear in his mind, along with the faint scent of bitter orange on… It seemed like this pheromone was growing on him.

Annoyed, Lin Yuxing sat up from the bed.

He took out his phone and decided to seek answers online. After much contemplation, he typed a question into the search bar.

“Why do I sometimes feel a sweet taste and sometimes a bitter taste in an Alpha’s pheromones? And why does it stick on me even after showering?”

After searching, he found that someone had asked the same question he was troubled with.

But the answers were not satisfactory. All of them said, “Congratulations! That’s love.”

Lin Yuxing: “?”

Congratulations to you!

Absurd!

In the following days, Lin Yuxing became increasingly sensitive to Gu Zhongyi’s pheromones. Whenever Gu Zhongyi got close to him or engaged in ordinary couple-like interactions, he couldn’t control his racing heartbeat and his gaze would occasionally land on Gu Zhongyi’s lips.

It was terrible. He actually wanted to kiss Gu Zhongyi.

Lin Yuxing’s reactions were so abnormal that he would sometimes flee in panic.

“This is bad,” Lin Yuxing said helplessly, “His lips look so tasty…”

Gu Zhongyi’s pheromones affected Lin Yuxing like a drug. In severe cases, if he didn’t see Gu Zhongyi for a day, he would involuntarily burst into tears.

This scared Su Li to death.

“You’re not really falling in love with him, are you?”

“I don’t know, I dream about him every night.”

“What kind of dreams?”

Lin Yuxing lowered his head in embarrassment, unable to say.

Su Li’s hand, about to take a tissue, froze. “Could it be… that kind of dream?”

“Yeah.”

Su Li facepalmed and comforted him, “You’re an adult now, it’s normal to have such dreams. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. Go out more and enjoy nature, relax your mind.”

Lin Yuxing wiped his face forcefully, regretting, “In the dream, I held his hand, and we… interlocked our fingers.”

“…”

Lin Yuxing had a distressed look on his face, physically and mentally exhausted. If it got any worse, he was afraid he would have to apologize to Gu Zhongyi.

“Just holding hands in a dream, do you need to feel so guilty about that?” Su Li had nothing to say about Lin Yuxing’s excessive purity.

But Lin Yuxing’s worry was not invalid, “I get paid.”

Su Li finally realized, “Right, if you really like him, it might be breaking the contract. But why do you like him? Weren’t you so sure that it was only professional?”

“Pheromones… My heartbeat accelerates as soon as I smell them. Gu Zhongyi, in my eyes, is surrounded by a halo.” Lin Yuxing said puzzled, “What’s wrong with me…”

Just yesterday….

Lin Xiufeng had cried and asked him for money, saying that his uncle had caused trouble, and now people were demanding repayment. They couldn’t make ends meet. If it weren’t for the salary Gu Zhongyi gave him, Lin Yuxing wouldn’t know what to do.

He was only in his first year and still had three years until graduation.

He couldn’t escape from C University. If he didn’t want to be harassed by his unreliable uncle for the rest of his life, he had to figure out a way to complete his university studies first.

Unable to solve the pheromone problem, Lin Yuxing used the excuse of final exam revision and running errands to minimize his meetings with Gu Zhongyi.

Fortunately, both excuses were not made up. He was really studying for exams, and he was really running errands again.

Lin Yuxing had recently met a Beta classmate, Liao Yan, during his class. He would ask Lin Yuxing to run errands for him seven or eight times a day, and he would gladly pay each time.

Occasionally, when Lin Yuxing was quick, he would even give a tip. Liao Yan was a very reliable customer.

Gu Zhongyi knew about that, so he didn’t suspect anything.

And to prevent Gu Zhongyi from terminating the contract after learning the truth, Lin Yuxing kept his lips sealed.

Moreover, they had just become friends. Gu Zhongyi’s sincere words echoed in Lin Yuxing’s ears, and he didn’t want his emotional “betrayal” to be the end of their friendship.

It was not just about money; he didn’t want to lose that friendship.

Lin Yuxing’s dilemma deepened day by day.

Until one day, he learned about his recent symptoms from a book, called “pheromone illusion syndrome.”

The book explained clearly that when a person could perceive subtle changes in another person’s pheromones, it indicated that their compatibility had reached 60% or higher.

That was a standard value that clearly informed Lin Yuxing that if he continued to have contact with Gu Zhongyi, he would likely develop romantic feelings and other complex emotions due to the pheromones.

Thus, his various fondness and sensitivity towards Gu Zhongyi seemed to have an explanation.

Lin Yuxing promptly sought advice from his teacher, Qiu Song, who specialized in that field.

Qiu Song was an Omega in his thirties, with a gentle attitude and refined demeanor. He was a specially appointed pheromone doctor for Omega students at the school, dealing with their special situations alongside his teaching responsibilities.

After learning about Lin Yuxing’s situation, Qiu Song provided him with a box of inhibitor pills.

“One pill a day, you can take it whenever.”

Qiu Song looked at Lin Yuxing’s eagerness and patiently explained, “Generally, people with high compatibility naturally come together. However, in your case, these pills exist for this reason. You can trust their effectiveness, and they have no side effects, but be careful not to take them with certain medications.”

Once Lin Yuxing started taking the pills, Gu Zhongyi’s pheromones no longer affected him.

The inhibitor produced by the Gu Corporation had a success rate of 90%, if not 100%.

“After taking the medication, you won’t perceive other people’s pheromones. The inducing scent in the pheromones of your Alpha, who has a high compatibility with you, will be blocked. Similarly, your scent will be blocked, and he won’t be able to perceive it.”

Therefore, only one person between the two needed to take the pills.

“So, after that, will we only sense each other’s normal pheromones?”

“As long as it’s not intentionally released, everything will be normal. However, Omegas have their heat period, so you should remember to take the suppressants on time. Otherwise, even normal pheromones will have an effect on you.”

Qiu Song added, “Oh, by the way, if you are soulmates with a compatibility of 85% to 100%, the pills won’t be fully effective; they will only have a limited effect.”

But everyone knew that a compatibility above 85% was mostly an urban legend.

It was hard to find such couples in the entire Country C.

Lin Yuxing glanced at the price list printed by Qiu Song and asked, “Teacher Qiu, if I want to continue being unaffected afterward… Is it necessary to keep taking the inhibitor?”

“You can stop, but the condition is that you no longer have contact with this Alpha.”

Lin Yuxing understood; he would have to spend the money and keep taking the inhibitor cause he had no choice but to keep meeting Gu Zhongyi.

Qiu Song, unaware of the gossip among students, saw Lin Yuxing’s distressed expression and asked, “Is the other person a poorly behaved Alpha? If he’s using pheromones to threaten you, you can tell me, and the school will try to help you deal with it.”

C University was known for being strict in that regard; the school would even decide to expel a student who posed a threat to others based on the severity of the situation.

Afraid of causing a misunderstanding, Lin Yuxing quickly said, “No, he’s a really good person!”

“Is he already in a relationship then?”

“No.”

“In that case…” Qiu Song calmly smiled, “Although it’s not applicable now, having a high compatibility in pheromones is a rare thing.”

Lin Yuxing understood that Qiu Song was kindly reminding him and shook his head, “He won’t like me, and I can’t like him either.”

Hearing that, Qiu Song asked Lin Yuxing to present his student ID and helped him register an application, saying, “The school provides assistance in this aspect to financially disadvantaged students. You can get the inhibitor at half the price in the future.”