Duan Xu took a deep breath, feeling a little panicked. "Then... what do we do?"
He had not completely differentiated yet, and his pheromone scent was very faint. On top of that, jasmine was naturally fresh and subtle, often used in perfumes, so it was easy for people to mistake it for perfume.
He had even asked Shen Yanlang about it. Shen Yanlang had said it could only be smelled from very close up, so he had not worn a suppressant patch.
Shen Yanlang had his own selfish reasons. He wanted to smell Duan Xu's scent more often, so he had said nothing. Besides, with him by Duan Xu's side, what alpha would dare approach?
But now, Duan Xu was nearly done differentiating, and his pheromone scent had grown stronger.
"Don't panic." Shen Yanlang gently held him. "They should sell suppressant patches here. Wait for me. I'll be right back."
"Mm." Duan Xu nodded and watched Shen Yanlang run toward the supermarket.
At the table, Zhou Zhou and Xiao Xu were baffled. "What's going on?"
"I smelled pheromones just now," Ye Xinyu said. Apparently, Xue Jingshu and Du Shen were not the only ones who had noticed.
Han Xi also gave a quiet hum. Looking toward Duan Xu in the corner, he said flatly, "It was him."
"Huh?" Zhou Zhou and Xiao Xu both froze. "Isn't Xuxu a beta?"
Han Xi said, "I don't know."
Xue Jingshu glanced in that direction as well and mused, "It should be a secondary differentiation."
"But he's already an adult. Can he still differentiate this late?" Ye Xinyu's tiny eyes were filled with enormous confusion.
Zhou Zhou and Xiao Xu exchanged shocked looks. Then Zhou Zhou said, "So Xu-ge and I are the only betas here!"
"Being a beta is good." Han Xi said this while looking at them, as though he wished he could be a beta too.
Seeing this, Xue Jingshu pinched Han Xi's chin and made him look at him. "Wishing won't help. You can only be my omega."
"Ew, aren't you being disgustingly mushy?" Ye Xinyu and Du Shen rubbed their arms in perfect sync.
Zhou Zhou and Xiao Xu wore identical expressions of people watching a show.
Before long, Shen Yanlang returned with a box of suppressant patches. He personally put one on Duan Xu, and only after the scent had dispersed did he return to sit down with him.
"Xuxu, that wasn't very nice of you." Zhou Zhou pretended to be angry. "You went through secondary differentiation and didn't tell us!"
Xiao Xu said nothing, while the others all looked at Duan Xu.
Duan Xu instinctively leaned closer to Shen Yanlang and apologized, "I wanted to wait until I was fully differentiated before telling you. Besides, you're all betas, so it wouldn't affect you."
Seeing his little movement, Shen Yanlang's lips curled in a rather pleased smile.
"Oh? What about Shen Yanlang?" Xue Jingshu pushed up his glasses. Light glinted off the lenses, making his expression impossible to read.
At that question, everyone looked at Shen Yanlang and Duan Xu with gossipy, suggestive eyes.
Duan Xu lowered his head embarrassedly. Thinking about it now, the person he should have kept his distance from most was Shen Yanlang. He was an alpha.
"Yan-ge, not bad!" Du Shen said meaningfully.
Shen Yanlang swept his gaze over them. With a dark expression, he looked particularly intimidating. "Are you eating or not? If not, get out!"
"We're eating, we're eating!" Du Shen immediately called out and stopped asking questions.
The others did the same, but Xue Jingshu leisurely added, "Lashing out from embarrassment."
Shen Yanlang: "..."
Duan Xu felt rather guilty. He secretly tugged at Shen Yanlang's hem. "Yan-ge, thank you."
"You don't need to thank me." Shen Yanlang lowered his eyes to stare at Duan Xu's hand. In the end, he could not resist giving it a squeeze.
[So soft, so smooth.]
Duan Xu: "..."
He pulled his hand back expressionlessly. "Yan-ge, hurry up and eat. It'll get cold soon."
"Mm." Shen Yanlang chuckled softly.
[I'll touch it to my heart's content later.]
Sure enough, no matter how proper Shen Yanlang looked on the surface, he was still an old pervert inside!
After dinner, they bought a few things at the supermarket, put them in the car, then all went to the restroom.
But everyone had returned except Zhou Zhou and Duan Xu.
In the restroom, Duan Xu had gone to the men's beta restroom with Zhou Zhou as usual. But when they came out after finishing, they ran into an alpha by the sinks.
That alpha had been drinking and reeked of alcohol. With the smell of the restroom added in, the combined stench was even more suffocating.
As they passed each other, the alpha suddenly turned around. "Omega?"
Duan Xu's clothes still carried a trace of the pheromones that had leaked out earlier. It was very faint, but the alpha had been close when they passed, and he had caught the scent.
Duan Xu jolted in alarm, then pretended not to know anything and headed outside with Zhou Zhou. But before they could leave, the alpha blocked their path. He sniffed hard. "You really are an omega!"
"An omega using the beta restroom? Couldn't hold back your loneliness? Hahaha... then you should've gone to the alpha side!"
"Mind your fucking business!" Zhou Zhou stepped in front of Duan Xu. "Watch your mouth!"
Seeing that the other person was a beta, the alpha did not take him seriously. "What? I'm not allowed to say it? Omegas are born to be fucked. It's all the same no matter who does it!"
Hearing such disgusting words, Duan Xu flew into a rage. "Scum of society! The one who gave birth to someone of your gender was definitely an omega. So does that mean the omega who gave birth to you deserved to be—"
"Fuck! Shut the hell up!"
The alpha actually had the nerve to curse them. He was the one who had disrespected others first, and now he had dragged his own mother into it. Who could he blame but himself?
Zhou Zhou scoffed. "You're the one insulting your own mother. You're the one who should shut up!"
"Fuck you!" The alpha's temper flared. Drunk and impulsive, he moved to attack.
He raised one hand and violently shoved Zhou Zhou aside, while his other hand swung toward Duan Xu.
Caught off guard, Zhou Zhou staggered and nearly fell, but Xiao Xu, who had rushed over, caught him.
At the same time, Duan Xu's eyes widened. Just as he was about to dodge, Shen Yanlang grabbed the alpha's hand. "Try hitting him!"
Shen Yanlang's voice was ice-cold, as though filled with frost. Overwhelming pheromones crashed down on the alpha, forcing him directly to his knees.
"Ah—"
The alpha cried out in agony. His wrist hurt terribly from being gripped, and the pheromone suppression made his entire body ache as cold sweat broke out over him.
After steadying Zhou Zhou, Xiao Xu angrily wanted to go over and kick the alpha, but Zhou Zhou grabbed him. "I'm fine. With them here, he won't get away with anything."
Hearing that, Xiao Xu gritted his teeth and held himself back instead of going over to beat up the alpha.
Xue Jingshu and the others had arrived as well. Three alphas surrounded the troublemaking alpha, while Ye Xinyu and Han Xi stood beside Duan Xu.
"Are you all right?" Ye Xinyu looked at Duan Xu with concern in her eyes.
Duan Xu shook his head. "I'm fine."
He could barely have dodged that blow, but Shen Yanlang had come. Just like in so many TV dramas, the hero had appeared at the most critical moment.
It was completely dark outside. Half of Shen Yanlang stood beneath the lights, while the other half was swallowed by the night beyond the door. Under the light, his handsome features looked several degrees colder and harder than usual.
Before you continue