What Are You Differentiating Into?

"Don't be angry, brother. Breathe—"

The man leaned back in the ice pool, gently reminding Ye Qingpu, who was covering his mouth and coughing lightly.

"Fuck off. Shut up!"

Ye Qingpu irritably raised his middle finger. At the moment, it seemed to be the most humiliating gesture he could think of.

The man smiled and turned to look at the slideshow on the screen.

"Who told you to play these?!"

Ye Qingpu snapped angrily, his gaze turning icy as he watched edited videos of himself playing on the screen.

He wanted the man to be disgusted by him both mentally and physically, so he would stay far away! Were they playing those suggestive photos to pander to fans?

The assistant hurriedly lowered his head in apology and respectfully handed over a document.

Ye Qingpu took a deep breath, accepted the document and glanced through it before handing it back to the assistant.

Understanding at once, the assistant held the document up in front of the man so that he could read it despite his bound hands and feet.

"Finished reading a page yet?"

At some point, a bodyguard had brought over a chair. Ye Qingpu sat back in it with his arms folded and one leg crossed over the other. Seeing the man's brows gradually knit together, he urged him impatiently.

"Sorry, brother. Blood got in my eyes. I can't see very clearly."

The man looked up, wearing an innocent expression.

Ye Qingpu was speechless. Ye Qingpu gritted his teeth. Ye Qingpu clenched his fists.

"Then why were you staring at it so seriously for so long?"

"I saw brother's name, so I got absorbed in it." The man raised his eyes again.

Ye Qingpu: ...Heh... damn it.

"Read it."

At the command, the assistant held the document and began reading it respectfully.

It was not until the two pages had been read that the man spoke again.

"This is unlawful imprisonment and an unconscionable contract. You even want to drive me away and send me abroad without discussing it with me. I won't agree, brother."

"Who the hell needs your agreement? This is an ultimatum! You'll sign it whether you agree or not."

Ye Qingpu frowned. This man had to get as far away as possible. On one hand, he was afraid of being harassed again; on the other, he was afraid the media would find out he had been harassed.

"This is abuse of an omega. According to the law, any act of abusing an omega, a vulnerable group, will be severely punished."

The man's eyes were bloodshot, yet his lips curled into an amused smile.

"What omega is six foot five?" Ye Qingpu snorted.

"I already took a blood sample for testing. There isn't any omega pheromone in your blood at all. I even pitied you, thinking you were some kind of bodybuilder Barbie. Turns out you're an alpha?"

The man smiled but said nothing more, merely glancing silently at the time on the screen.

Just as Ye Qingpu was about to speak again, a bodyguard who hurried in interrupted him. The bodyguard whispered something into his ear. Ye Qingpu's face darkened, and he gritted out two words.

"...Let him go."

"Thank you, brother."

The man was untied. He stood from the ice pool and flexed his wrists. The melting ice had turned into icy water, which streamed all over the floor as he rose.

Ye Qingpu sat back in his chair, his expression black as thunder—the secretary to Harbor City's mayor had personally come to collect the man.

According to the information they had found, that young man was merely a construction worker doing hard labor... Could he have saved the mayor's life?

That would explain it.

"Goodbye, brother."

The man got dressed, smoothed his collar, and headed for the iron door as though nothing had happened. Before leaving, he did not forget to turn back with a smile.

"My name is Pei Jiaqian. The photos looked great. I had a lot of fun. I hope there'll be another chance next time."

Ye Qingpu: ...Heh.

"Fuck."

After cursing, Ye Qingpu nearly crushed his teeth from gritting them.

"Get the car ready. We're going to the hospital."

The assistant nodded.

"Which hospital would you like me to make an appointment with?"

"Beta Patent Hospital."

Ye Qingpu's tone was calm.

Ever since that perverted man had bitten him, he would occasionally feel a wave of heat rise through his body. Although betas had no glands, Ye Qingpu worried the man might have been carrying some virus, so he went to the hospital for a checkup just to be safe.

As he watched the doctor's brows draw tighter and tighter while studying the report, Ye Qingpu's expression also grew grave.

Could that man really have infected him with something? Syphilis? HIV?

At the thought of having used his mouth on that thermos, Ye Qingpu's jaw tightened. It did not seem impossible.

"Hiss, this... Mr. Ye, your situation is rather unusual. This is the first time I've seen a case like yours."

The doctor put down the report, his expression grave.

"...Get to the point. How many months do I have left?"

Ye Qingpu's face darkened. The fingers of his folded arms tapped rhythmically against his arm.

The doctor shook his head.

"You misunderstand. We detected that the cells in your body have become much more active. The pathological cells left in your body since adulthood are being healed by a special pheromone."

"Speak human."

"This is... a sign of differentiation."

Differentiate your— Ye Qingpu gave a light laugh, finding the doctor rather humorous. Amused yet impatient, he said, "I'm thirty this year. My secondary differentiation was twelve years ago."

"The concentration of cells in your body is around eighty percent higher than normal, and their activity has reached nearly ninety percent... May I ask whether you've recently been feeling inexplicably restless?"

At the doctor's question, Ye Qingpu glanced at the assistant beside him.

The assistant silently avoided his gaze and spoke in a slightly trembling voice.

"Our boss... well... the neighbor who loves small animals has never dared to get a dog."

Afraid Ye Qingpu might kick it a couple of times while passing by because of his bad temper.

The assistant silently slandered him in his heart.

Ye Qingpu rolled his eyes. His temper was not great, but that did not mean he was just uncivilized. He had human-shaped punching bags; why would he kick someone else's dog?

"So, you've always been someone who gets restless easily..." The doctor nodded in understanding.

"I recommend coming back for another examination after some time. We still don't know what triggered the changes in your body."

"I was bitten by someone pretending to be an omega, and we slept together... I was the one underneath."

Ye Qingpu's eyelids turned red. He shut his eyes and clenched his back teeth. If he found out that man really carried some filthy virus, he would definitely cut off his dick, chop it up, and throw it into the sea to feed the fish!

That was also why he was so determined to send the man far away. Not only had he, a beta, been slept with by a stranger, he had also been the one pinned beneath him.

It was infuriating! Humiliating! Damn it!

"Are you saying you were marked?"

The doctor was confused. The doctor asked. The doctor met a murderous glare.

"Bullshit. I'm a beta. I don't have a gland, so how could I be marked? Besides, I'm not sure whether he's an omega. Based on his physical characteristics, he looked more like an alpha, but he insisted he was an omega. I can't smell pheromones, so I can't be sure."

Ye Qingpu's voice was slightly muffled.

His facial features were on the softer side, but his sharp brows and lightly raised brow tails made his sickly face look far more flamboyant, lending him an aloof air.

Years of poor health had left his thin lips pale, but his face was simply too bewitching. That was how he came to be known as a fragile beauty.

Yet Harbor City's lofty fragile beauty had been left distraught by a strange man...

Ye Qingpu sighed. He had surrendered.

"Come back for another checkup next time."

After giving the instruction, he grabbed the suit jacket draped over the back of the chair and took the car keys from the assistant.

The silver convertible supercar parked outside the hospital was newly bought.

Draping his jacket over his shoulder, Ye Qingpu rolled up his sleeves, lifted his long, straight legs in suit pants over the car door, climbed across from the passenger side, and settled into the driver's seat.

He put on his sunglasses and turned on the music, only for a melancholy song to start playing at the perfect moment. Ye Qingpu punched the car stereo that seemed to be defying him, then sighed again as he gripped the steering wheel.

Life was not easy. Even the richest man had to sigh.

Road-rage mode activated. Time to randomly run over some dead bastard who loved sexual harassment.