Su Hui paused when he heard this, then said, “I made them all myself.”

Ning Yixiao could taste it—Su Hui was by no means gifted at cooking or baking—but the subsequent attempts had gradually improved.

Su Hui always said strange things. He was unlike anyone Ning Yixiao had ever known; he wasn’t like those who approached him because he was a top-tier Alpha, nor like those drawn to his appearance. His topics jumped around, filled with whimsical thoughts, and he always managed to say something startling at the most unexpected moments.

Like now—he said he wanted to change his future perspective, so that whenever he thought of cherries, he wouldn’t feel revulsion. He said he wanted to be bullied alongside him, to eat the rotten cherries by his side.

How could such a strange person exist in this world?

After he finished speaking, Ning Yixiao fell into a long silence. In the quiet of the late night, he suddenly leaned in toward Su Hui, head bowed low, his nose almost brushing against the fair, slender skin of Su Hui’s neck.

“You…”

“They say that even Betas have pheromones, just very faint ones,” Ning Yixiao whispered, trying to catch a scent.

He could only smell a faint scent of cherries. Perhaps it was because Su Hui had eaten the top-quality dark cherries, and his lips were still stained with the red juice.

Ning Yixiao almost kissed him.

“Can you smell anything?” Su Hui’s body was tense. “What does it smell like?”

Ning Yixiao shook his head, pulled back, and widened the distance between them. “There is no scent.”

The relationship between them fluctuated between distant and close, like a game where the final result remained a mystery, the winner undecided.

Unable to sleep in the middle of the night, Su Hui would lie in bed, staring at Ning Yixiao’s side of the room. Ning Yixiao always slept with his back to him, facing the wall. All Su Hui could see were those broad shoulders and the slight protrusion of his spine.

Occasionally, a very risky thought would cross Su Hui’s mind: He wanted to hug that back, bury his head between his shoulder blades, and inhale deeply.

Would he smell the scent of Siberian fir then?

He knew he wouldn’t. Only Alphas and Omegas could do that; every one of Ning Yixiao’s suitors could. Only he could not.

There were quite a few people pursuing Su Hui, too. Even though he was a Beta, he was more of a magnet for others than anyone capable of releasing pheromones. This fact genuinely perplexed Ning Yixiao.

But, in truth, there was nothing to be confused about. Su Hui himself was like a beautiful vortex. If you looked at him for too long, you would fall in. Moreover, he was as free as the wind, belonging to no one, and thus could be possessed by anyone.

They were both trapped in a strange loop, unknown to each other, day after day, becoming the reason the other could not sleep at night.

This lasted until Su Hui once again slipped into a depressive episode without warning and had to hide away at home, hospitalized for treatment. Everything was so routine it couldn’t be more routine; he should have been used to it.

But lying in the hospital ward, Su Hui often hallucinated. He would imagine a bed next to his, with the familiar silhouette he knew so well resting upon it.

They ran tests on him during his stay, but many were left incomplete due to his poor condition—such as the secondary gender presentation check. Regardless, the results were always the same. Whether he was tested or not didn’t matter; no one cared, and his family had long ago given up. The doctors were also at a loss, only instructing him to tell them immediately if he felt “off.”

Su Hui didn’t feel anything was “off”—he couldn’t feel anything at all, especially not the ethereal, intangible thing called pheromones.

This situation lasted until his depressive phase ended. He had been out of touch with Ning Yixiao for nearly a month. When Su Hui was finally able to face his phone and social apps, he opened their chat window only to find that the messages from Ning Yixiao weren’t as many as he had imagined, leaving him feeling somewhat disappointed. Perhaps the counselor had explained things to him, or perhaps Ning Yixiao simply didn’t care.

Such thoughts lingered in Su Hui’s mind, causing him to feel down even while he was in a manic phase. Still, he returned to school as soon as he could. The weather was bad—gloomy and heavy, as if rain were imminent.

He picked up his pace, running as fast as he could. He didn’t stop on the stairs, racing back to their dorm and swiping open the door.

The room was quiet. Ning Yixiao was not there. The curtains were drawn, and the room was dark. Su Hui turned on the light.

In the next second, he froze.

Ning Yixiao’s bed, which was always so tidy it lacked a single crease, was piled high with Su Hui’s clothes—one piece after another, surrounding the space like a nest. His own wardrobe had been emptied.

What was happening?

A flash of suspicion crossed Su Hui’s mind. He walked over and discovered that in the very center of the pile of clothes was the one he had worn on the day of freshman registration. Resting on top of the clothes was the tissue paper on which he had written his contact information.

His heart began to beat wildly. Just as he was at a loss for what to do, the sound of the door lock clicking reached him. Su Hui had nowhere to hide; he stepped away from the bed and, in his confusion, walked toward the door.

The door was pulled open, and he stood face-to-face with Ning Yixiao, who was trying to enter.

Ning Yixiao was wearing a black hoodie, his hood up and a black mask on. His brows were furrowed, and he looked incredibly uncomfortable.

The moment their eyes met, Ning Yixiao was clearly panicked.

This was the first time Su Hui had seen that expression on him—like a puppy that knew it had done something wrong and was terrified of being kicked out of the house.

“Y-you, why are you back?”

Su Hui sensed something underneath the mask, so he reached out and took it off.

Ning Yixiao was wearing a muzzle.

Su Hui was stunned, seeing the shopping bag Ning Yixiao held, which appeared to be filled with suppressants.

“Are you… entering your rut?”

“I…”

Ning Yixiao looked at his own bed and couldn’t speak; his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down.

Su Hui took him by the wrist, pulled him inside, and shut the door behind them.

“Are you okay?” he asked, worried. Although he wasn’t an Alpha, he had Alpha family members and knew a thing or two. When a rut approached, an Alpha usually became extremely sensitive, emotional, and in dire need of an Omega’s soothing presence.

Even… nesting.

Though Su Hui didn’t understand why Ning Yixiao would use his clothes to build a nest, he was still concerned.

Ning Yixiao said nothing, head bowed low, as if wanting to explain but unable to find the words. He was in such pain; a thin layer of sweat clung to his forehead.

From the moment he had picked up the first piece of Su Hui’s clothing, trying to soothe himself by inhaling his scent, he knew things were going wrong. But he hadn’t stopped. It was like drinking poison to quench thirst; he sank deeper and deeper.

He could smell nothing. Why could he smell nothing?

Without realizing it, he had built a nest using all of Su Hui’s clothes. He never expected him to return suddenly and catch him in the act. There was nothing more humiliating than this.

“Su Hui, I…”

“You must be in so much pain right now, right?” Su Hui raised a hand to touch Ning Yixiao’s forehead and took off his hood. “You’re sweating so much.”

He couldn’t bear to see Ning Yixiao wearing the muzzle; he really looked like a pathetic little puppy.

“There’s no one else in the dorm anyway, should we take this off?” Su Hui asked tentatively, his voice very soft.

Ning Yixiao neither agreed nor disagreed; it was a silent consent. So, Su Hui made the decision himself and reached out to remove it.

“This must be very uncomfortable to wear.”

He must have been afraid that if he went out in public, he wouldn’t be able to control himself. How could he be in such agony?

“Ning Yixiao, I don’t have pheromones, but…” Su Hui’s heart ached. He gathered his courage and asked, “If you feel that my scent is soothing to you, I can help you.”

Ning Yixiao looked up at him, his gaze profound yet fragile.

“Without pheromones, there is no way to soothe it.”

The words were cruel, for Su Hui knew this as well as anyone.

“But you used my clothes, didn’t you?”

He didn’t shrink away. He stepped forward and opened his arms, embracing Ning Yixiao.

It was an embrace Ning Yixiao never saw coming.

At first, he felt a sense of disbelief, but gradually, he raised his own arms, holding Su Hui back as if drawn by a pull that defied instinct.

His restless, anxious heartbeat slowed bit by bit, but what followed was a different kind of torture.

Does Su Hui soothe other Alphas like this? When he sees them in their rut, does he also find it hard to resist offering help? Just like how he can chat with strangers anywhere at any time?

Ning Yixiao loathed his own fragility; he loathed his irrational brain, now hijacked by raw emotion. He buried his face in the crook of Su Hui’s neck, but he still felt nothing—only the faint scent of laundry detergent on his skin.

Yet, Su Hui patted his back gently and whispered, “It’s okay. A hug will make it better.”

It won’t get better.

Ning Yixiao gritted his teeth, his brows tightly knitted. He only felt more and more pain, harder and harder to endure.

He wanted this person to belong only to him, trapped in a place where only he existed, having his scent left on him over and over again. Even if those pheromones vanished in an instant, it didn’t matter—he could just do it again. A thousand times over.

I want to mark him.

The moment this thought appeared, Ning Yixiao’s last line of defense completely collapsed.

Su Hui felt something because the grip of the embrace was so tight that he could barely breathe. “Ning Yixiao, what’s wrong? Are you still in so much pain? Is there anything else I can do? Please, just tell me, okay?”

But he didn’t expect Ning Yixiao’s hand to move to the back of his neck.

“I want to bite here.”

His tone was deep, cold, yet permeated with an undeniable, overwhelming sense of control.

Su Hui froze, looking up to see Ning Yixiao’s eyes rimmed with red. He suddenly felt a sense of surrender. After all, it’s impossible for me to be truly marked; it’s just a simple bite.

“Then… go ahead and bite.” Su Hui turned around, lifting his hair to expose his snowy-white nape, surrendering it completely defenseless to him.

The next second, pain struck as sharp teeth pierced his skin.

It hurts.

The hand Su Hui had been using to hold the muzzle loosened involuntarily. It clattered to the floor as Ning Yixiao wrapped his arms around Su Hui’s waist from behind. A strange sensation began to surge through Su Hui along with the flow of blood; he felt as though he could actually sense pheromones flowing through the wound, seeping into his body and transmitting to every nerve ending.

Is this normal?

He shouldn’t even have an Omega gland.

He began to gasp for air, his chest heaving rapidly. His legs turned soft and weak, as if something had suddenly drained him of his strength, and he tipped backward, losing his balance.

Ning Yixiao, caught off guard, caught him in his arms.

“Su Hui, what’s wrong?”

Why does it hurt like this? This isn’t right.

“It hurts… it hurts all over…” Su Hui clutched his bleeding neck, falling into hyperventilation. His head felt like it was splitting, and his entire body felt as if it were being electrocuted.

Ning Yixiao immediately carried him to the bed, pushing aside the pile of clothes. “What is happening to you?”

Su Hui was pale, his hand gripping Ning Yixiao’s wrist tightly, breathing in ragged gasps.

“I…”

He managed only one word before stopping.

Everything seemed to freeze. Ning Yixiao stood stunned in place, paralyzed. He could finally smell it—a scent of pheromones, flowing out from Su Hui’s body, growing thicker and more viscous by the second.

It was the scent of cherry wine mixed with the smell of rain—so rich and intense it felt nearly solid.

“You’ve… presented.”

An Omega.

Was it his own pheromones that had triggered this?

Su Hui suddenly gripped him. “Ning Yixiao, I can smell it.”

Siberian fir, mixed with the scent of sea salt, wrapping around him without a single gap.

Devoid of strength, he collapsed into Ning Yixiao’s arms, his voice faint. “The scent of Iceland.”

Ning Yixiao’s palms were slick with sweat. Already in the throes of his rut, he couldn’t control the disruption caused by the Omega pheromones, and in turn, his own pheromones were wreaking havoc on Su Hui.

The intensity of Su Hui’s pheromone release was completely beyond Ning Yixiao’s control. The entire room was filled with the overwhelming sweetness emanating from him—it was impossible to resist. Su Hui clung to him, holding him desperately, his flushed cheek pressed against Ning Yixiao’s.

His body temperature was abnormally high.

Su Hui, who had long delayed his presentation, had suddenly blossomed due to his “mark.” And now, under the influence of high-purity Alpha pheromones, he had been thrown into his first heat.

“Am I… very hot?”

Su Hui looked up at him, his eyes clouded and hazy.

__

Author’s Note:

This ABO setting (including many personal headcanons) deviates from the original story. You can view it as a parallel universe. It features a college campus setting (mutual crush) and a later reunion. I wrote this because so many readers asked for it.