In dorm Room 307:
The two tall boys were kneeling straight and upright in front of the bed, heads bowed.
Yin Che was sitting on the bed, his eyes sweeping from left to right, "Do you know what you did wrong?"
Jiang Yao said with repentance, "I know what I did wrong."
"What did you do wrong?"
"I shouldn't have forgotten to lock the door last night in the midst of my excitement."
"......" Yin Che narrowed his eyes, "I'll give you another chance, what did you do wrong?"
"......I'll answer obediently. Because it was cold last night, I sneakily crept up onto the bed and I shouldn't have."
Han Meng said, "Wait a minute, why am I kneeling too? What did I do wrong?"
Yin Che replied, "You knelt down on your own."
As if just waking from a dream, Han Meng commented, "A moment ago when I saw your horrifying expression, my knees went weak and I just knelt along with Jiang Yao......"
Yin Che had only been dazed for a few seconds and Jiang Yao had also only been happy for a few seconds, but then he'd watched as the eyes of the little boyfriend hugging his arm had gradually grown sharper and more wake, his expression slowly becoming dark and terrifying.
After that, he'd been kicked out of the bed without the least bit of concern.
He'd tumbled to the floor, then had immediately knelt down and acknowledged his wrongdoings, the set of actions incredibly natural and unforced, as if he did them without thinking.
Han Meng stood up and said in a faint daze, "Why were you two sleeping together......"
Jiang Yao blurted out some random excuse without thinking, "Last night we were working on homework together. We worked late into the night, so CheChe just asked me to spend the night......"
Yin Che cut in, "I didn't ask you to stay."
Jiang Yao corrected, "......I'm confused from sleeping, I remembered it incorrectly. I was too lazy to go back to my room and shamelessly begged CheChe to let me spend the night here."
Han Meng replied, "So then you made your bed on the floor at first, but felt cold in the middle of the night, so you snuck into Che Ge's bed and then I came across you like that by chance?"
Jiang Yao nodded, "That's right, it was just like that."
"......" Han Meng put a hand to his forehead and took a deep breath. "Do you think I'm a fucking idiot? Your room is right next door. Taking the few steps over to it would be much faster than making up a bed.
If you really wanted to be lazy, would you choose to make a bed on the floor? Were you two really doing your homework late into the night or were you doing something else?"
Jiang Yao slapped the floor and pushed himself up, "How are you such a dirty-minded man? Chattering so much, can you not speak about more pure things? CheChe isn't an adult yet. CheChe, don't listen to him."
Yin Che raised his gaze, "Did I allow you to get up?"
Jiang Yao hurriedly knelt down obediently again.
Han Meng was dumbfounded. "I'll ask one last time, what's the relationship between the two of you?"
"Close xiongdi."
"Boyfriends."
Han Meng said, "......I obviously chose to believe Che Ge."
Jiang Yao was incredulous. "Didn't we just agree to keep it a secret? But you're just saying it out loud like that? What will we do if he spreads it around?"
Yin Che replied, "If he dared to try, are you worried that we wouldn't be able to get rid of him?"
"Well, that's actually true......"
Han Meng said, "Excuse me, can you not see me still standing here?"
Jiang Yao had to kneel for half an hour before being allowed to stand up.
The tall, weak, and innocent Han Meng was forced to swear on the heavens that he would absolutely never spill a word, otherwise he would never be able to find a partner in his lifetime.
"So fierce, you two match each other perfectly......" He wanted to scold this pair of dogs, but he didn't dare to cursed them out, so he could only say resentfully, "Who could imagine that you two would be together! Even if I said it, no one would believe something so worldview-changing!"
When he finally stormed out swearing, it was Jiang Yao's turned to be lectured.
"What did you promise me yesterday?" Yin Che wore a very stinky expression, "That if I agreed, you wouldn't mess around?"
Jiang Yao had no excuse to offer.
It was him who'd insisted on dragging a certain someone to his own room to spend the night. It was him who'd vowed that he would absolutely never get in the bed. It was also him who hadn't been able to resist the temptation that was within his reach and had broken his promise.
He hadn't actually done anything. He hadn't even touched the little boyfriend that was within his grasp. The single bed was too narrow, so in order to leave enough space for Yin Che to sleep comfortably, he'd huddled up at the edge of the bed, only falling asleep very early in the morning.
But a wrongdoing was a wrongdoing, there was nothing to dispute.
"I'm sorry, I was possessed for a bit......" Jiang Yao ruffled his hair into a chaotic mess, "I just wanted to be a little closer to you."
Yin Che looked him over for a moment. "I won't go to your room to spend the night."
That's no surprise. Jiang Yao could only swallow that bitter pill. "Uh huh."
"Your room is too messy," Yin Che was speaking quickly, as if he didn't want to be heard clearly, "If my illness is cured, you can come to my room instead."
Jiang Yao instantly raised his eyes.
Yin Che's face was expressionless and he was looking who knows where, plus that little face of his was just as cold and indifferent as usual.
——But at the tips of his ears, there was the faintest flush of red.
Jiang Yao couldn't stop himself from gulping.
My lack of willpower really can't be held against me, who could hold themselves back against this......
For the sake of his lifelong happiness and personal safety, Han Meng not only didn't say a word, but also actively helped them to cover things up, using practical actions to make it clear that "even if other people find out about your relationship, it definitely isn't because of something I said."
-
In the blink of an eye, Friday arrived.
The number of popular discussion posts about Jiang Yao in the school's forum had plummeted. Reportedly it was because the forum moderator had thought it was too much spam and had limited the number of posts. A specialized building (post thread) was constructed for everyone to use to discuss him.
The most asked question in the building was whether or not Jiang Yao had a partner.
One person with insider info said: "Seems like he was chasing after Bai YuWei last semester."
Someone who knew the situation better replied: "He already stopped pursuing her a while ago. Bai YuWei seems to be going out with Yin Ze again."
Someone asked: "Isn't Yin Che Jiang Yao's deskmate? The relationship between them seems to be pretty good, could it be......"
That was immediately rebutted by everyone: "No way, that's impossible, how could the school tyrant go out with an alpha? How could the school grass go out with a beta? That's too horrifying."
A certain anonymous account worked very hard to spam a dozen times: "The two of them are close xiongdi! The two of them are close xiongdi! Don't you all just make wild guesses! The two of them really are close xiongdi!"
......
Jiang Yao was walking along towards the school gate, the recipient of gazes from all directions the whole way.
Yin Che was walking a few steps ahead, not batting an eye, keeping his distance from him.
However, Jiang Yao quickly caught up to him, "Why are you walking so fast?"
"I don't want to parade myself around with you."
Jiang Yao hauled him back by the strap of his schoolbag, "Brat, aren't half of these people actually looking at you? Your reputation is much bigger than mine."
At that moment, Bai YuWei happened to come out of the administrative building, running into them by chance, "Hey, long time no see."
The other day when she fell into the little pond and was fished out by Jiang Yao, she'd clearly seen Jiang Yao's appearance. Two months had passed since then, so she was no longer shocked by the surprise look anymore. "Why are you heading through the gate? Isn't it club session time?"
"We're going off-campus to do an activity," Jiang Yao replied.
First High's supervision of the club class was very lax. In any case, it was a class time outside of the regular classes on a Friday and school was dismissed once it ended.
As long as you asked for permission from Zhang Jiaozhu in advance, you could just leave through the school gate ahead of time. Clubs like Yang YiLe's drawing club often organized trips out to sketch outdoors.
For today's club session, Yin Che had said that he would take him to pay a call to the president who'd taken leave from school due to hospitalization.
Jiang Yao had attended the club classes for a semester and still hadn't met the president yet, so he was very curious.
Bai YuWei caught on right away. "Then take care. I just heard Laoshi saying that recently, the gate guard saw several people from outside lurking around our school, very sneakily. Who knows what they're up to. The school leadership is considering whether or not to raise the perimeter wall."
Jiang Yao and Yin Che exchanged a glance. "Hmm, got it. Thanks."
When they left, they took a right turn and the bus stop was right there, with a regular bus route that went non-stop to the city hospital.
When they got on the bus, there were a lot of empty seats, so the two of them were able to find two side-by-side seats.
They had left school early and most ordinary office workers weren't off work yet, so there were only a few elderly people and students from nearby schools on the bus.
The two girls sitting in front of them had had their heads together since they got on the bus, whispering about something in low tones, with a few chuckles mixed in.
Yin Che watched their ponytails sway back and forth. He felt a little annoyed deep down, so he frowned and looked out the window.
Jiang Yao thought he was worrying about what Bai YuWei had said just now. "Don't worry, those guys won't dare to enter the campus for the time being. Even if they do come in, since I could crush them before, I can do so now too."
"I'm not worried about that." Yin Che turned back around, "When we get to the hospital in a bit, just follow me. Don't ask any questions about what you shouldn't ask."
Jiang Yao replied, "You don't have to worry about that kind of thing. I promise to be obedient and leave a good impression on your beloved president."
When they finally arrived at the hospital, Yin Che easily led him directly to the inpatient department, as if he were a frequent visitor here.
Jiang Yao had mentally prepared himself, thinking that since it was an issue that was so serious that he needed to take leave from school and that he'd been in the hospital for such a long time, the president would probably not be in very good condition and might even be bedridden.
However, when he entered the single hospital room, he actually saw a young man sitting up in a wicker chair, reading a book.
Apart from the hospital gown he was wearing, he was no different from an ordinary person. The warm end-of-winter sun shone on him through the window, the scene very peaceful and calm.
When he heard the door open, the young man raised his head and a smile spread across his face, "I just saw your text message and here you are...... Ah, is this the new club member you've been talking about?"
"Hello, president." Jiang Yao bowed.
"Hello, your name is Jiang Yao, right? I heard that from Xiao Che. My name is Xu Shou. No need to be formal, come in and sit down."
Xu Shou's hospital room had no hanging infusion bags, no intubation tubes, and no bottles of medicine to be seen. It was incredibly neat and tidy.
Jiang Yao was a little confused, but he remembered the rule he'd agreed to obey properly before arriving and didn't ask anything, just sitting down immediately.
Yin Che had brought some of the little things that he usually made in the club classes, taking them out of his bag one by one and showing them to Xu Shou, as if they were troops being inspected by a general.
Xu Shou seemed to be pretty good at handicrafts, pointing out some minor problems. Neither of them seemed to be amateurs just messing around in their free time, they carried out reviews and would never stop perfecting skills, as if they absolutely enjoyed it.
"The proportions of this one you made are off......" Xu Shou seriously pointed out the areas where each object could be improved and also praised areas of improvement. "This wooden house is well done, more refined than the one from last year."
Jiang Yao suddenly recalled something and interrupted, "Was that the one you gave your di? President, you taught him how to make that?"
Xu Shou replied, "I didn't teach him. Xiao Che made it on his own after watching some online tutorials, then he just brought it to me to look at, that's all. It was the first time he made something out of wood like that, but he was able to make it so well, he's really amazing."
Jiang Yao said with a little whine, "When are you going to make something for me too?"
Yin Che's gaze shifted to his wrist. "The one right there on your wrist."
Suddenly in a cheerful mood, Jiang Yao said with a smile, "There's one on your ankle too."
Xu Shou looked between them and let out a meaningful "Oh~" sound.
Yin Che ducked his head and put the variety of little objects back into the bag one by one again. He didn't offer an explanation, so he could basically be considered to be tacitly agreeing with his assumption.
Xu Shou laughed, "Well, Xiao Che's finished his display. Xiao Jiang, what about your club handicraft products?"
"......" Jiang Yao hadn't expected this line of conversation. "I can't make things very well, I didn't bring any......"
Yin Che cut in, "He hasn't made anything."
Xu Shou immediately scowled, "Did you come to our club to take advantage of the bad circumstances?"
Jiang Yao panicked a little and used his eyes to send a distress signal to his boyfriend.
"He did come to take advantage of bad circumstances," his boyfriend sold him out without any hesitation.
"......"
Xu Shou said, "Our club has no need for people who just take advantage to be lazy. If you can't come up with something presentable by the next time we meet, I'll kick you out of our club."
Although he was an omega, so thin, petite, and delicate in appearance, he had quite the imposing manner when he wanted to scare someone.
Jiang Yao quickly agreed, "Uh huh, next time for sure!"
After they chatted for about half an hour, the door of the hospital room opened again.
A tall young man came in, wearing a First High uniform, holding a spotlessly white, flawless lily in his hand.
Xu Shou smiled, but his smile wasn't the same as when he'd greeted them just now, it was a somewhat shy smile. His tone also became soft, "You came."
The young man let out a 'mhm' and walked over, greeting Yin Che along the way.
When he saw him look at himself, Jiang Yao took the initiative to say, "Hello, I'm in the club with Yin Che and I'm also his tongxue. My name is Jiang Yao."
"Du Xiang." The guy was a man of few words.
Yin Che stood up, "We'll head out first, you two take your time talking."
Xu Shou said, "Leaving so quickly, you don't want to sit here a while longer?"
"No, we'll come back next time."
"Alright......" Xu Shou looked a little regretful, but he still saw them out of the hospital room with a smile.
After they got out of the elevator and were walking down the hospital corridor, Jiang Yao finally heaved a sigh of relief, "The guy who came in just now, is he our president's boyfriend?"
"That's right. The two of them are childhood sweethearts, they're both third years."
"Oh......what a good match." Jiang Yao kept walking while carrying the bag of handicrafts and then asked casually, "What kind of illness does he have? He doesn't look that bad."
Yin Che lowered his gaze in concentration, though he wasn't looking at the floor. "Congenital gland atrophy and pheromone deficiency."
"Pheromone deficiency? Isn't that just like you?"
"Mhm, we have the same attending doctor. I actually met him through that doctor."
"So then......it must have a greater effect on him, since he's an omega after all......" Jiang Yao suddenly remembered something. "He's a grade higher than us? So won't he come of age this year?"
An omega's coming of age was accompanied by the arrival of their heat, when the pheromone in their body would reach its peak and erupt.
"If he doesn't have pheromones......then will he not have a heat?"
"Basically he won't."
"Then......" What is the difference between him and a beta?
He's not even equivalent to a beta.
That's too cruel. Jiang Yao didn't say what he was thinking and walked on.
When they walked through the door of the hospital and went out, the brilliant light of the setting sun instantly pierced his eyes.
Jiang Yao suddenly realized that something seemed off.
"......If it's a congenital illness, why was he only hospitalized now? And the lack of pheromone doesn't seem to affect his everyday activities, so why did he have to take a leave of absence for the treatment?"
Yin Che stopped walking. He turned around to face him, his face blank of any expression whatsoever.
Jiang Yao suddenly felt apprehension and fear deep down in his heart.
"Before his heat arrives, it really isn't that bad," Yin Che said, "but all omega will go through a heat period, which is determined by their physiological make-up.
"The heat period is like a suddenly hungry beast, needing to swallow down enough alpha pheromone to be satisfied. I told you before that if you don't have pheromones, you're incapable of absorbing alpha pheromones.
"So, when an omega's heat arrives but there isn't any alpha pheromone to provide to that beast, do you know what will happen?"
Jiang Yao shook his head.
"It will get that food from somewhere else, such as their flesh and blood.
"An omega with pheromone deficiency, after the heat period, will fall into rapid organ failure, until......"
Yin Che did not continue, but Jiang Yao understood completely.
He found that his voice trembling a little as he said, "Then the president......when is he......?"
"Three months from now.
"When the heat arrives, if he still has no pheromones, then he......will definitely die."
—
The author has something to say:
*Pets everyone* Omegas have glands and a womb, they have a heat and have rich pheromones.
If an omega doesn't have pheromones themselves, they cannot absorb alpha pheromones and won't be able to make it through the heat period and their life will be threatened.
(basically this is the same foundational setting as ShaoWang, except that the one with pheromone deficiency was changed to the shou, though the consequences are the same).
Betas only have pheromones, though those are very weak, and have no heat, so pheromone deficiency has very little effect on the body of a beta. The president is the former case, and at the present time, CheChe currently can be classified as the latter, according to the understanding of his family and Xiao Jiang.
—
Are you crying yet?
Oh no...... No..... ༼;'༎ຶ ༎ຶ༽ I can't- 😭😭😭