The second F

Ji Chi grabbed the rabbit and irritably threw it off the bed.

The rabbit still hadn't received his favor.

Ji Chi was still taking sleeping pills.

He slept deeply and peacefully, without even dreaming.

Three days later, the Supreme Authority released a safety assessment report covering every product, clearing the Boshen Group's name.

The raw materials used across all its brands exceeded international safety standards by three percentage points.

Not only were there no safety issues, but they also far surpassed industry standards.

The suppressant found to contain hallucinogens was confirmed to have been produced before Boshen's acquisition. The Supreme Authority's trade association reposted the defamatory posts and debunked their false claims.

Within a single day, Boshen's reputation underwent a dramatic reversal.

Its stock price soared.

Ji Shengming's expression visibly brightened.

He went all out preparing thank-you gifts for Huo Jin.

Ji Chi, however, was shocked that Huo Jin hadn't rejected the request for his signature, but had genuinely helped Boshen.

Dignity.

Once again, Ji Chi thought of that word.

If he were Huo Jin, he couldn't have done the same.

At such a critical juncture, every day sooner they cleared their name meant smaller losses.

Ji Shengming spent a full half hour praising Huo Jin over dinner, utterly elated. Only Ji Chi's mind was elsewhere.

Lin Jun paid no attention to Ji Shengming, instead observing every subtle shift in Ji Chi's expression. He had guessed right: the person Ji Chi had hit was Huo Jin.

"It has to be a handwritten letter!"

Ji Shengming looked at Ji Chi. "You write it."

"You were the one who approached him, and you happen to know him. You're the right person to write it."

Ji Shengming looked serious. "Someone in Huo Jin's position has seen every fine thing imaginable. We need to show our sincerity. A handwritten letter is essential. We have to let him feel Boshen's gratitude."

Ji Chi rubbed the chopsticks in his hand. "I can't."

Ji Shengming shot him a look and launched into another long speech. Finally, Ji Chi rubbed his ears and muttered in surrender, "Stop making so much noise. You prepare the gifts. I'll write the letter."

Only after he agreed did Ji Shengming stop nagging.

The next day, once Ji Shengming had prepared the gifts, Ji Chi took a letter straight out of his pocket and tucked it inside.

"Let me see what you wrote." Ji Shengming reached for the letter.

Ji Chi simply carried the gifts into the car. "Don't look."

"There's nothing worth seeing."

For some reason, Ji Shengming insisted that Ji Chi deliver the thank-you gifts in person.

Ji Chi was reluctant, but couldn't be bothered to argue with him.

If he said too much and Ji Shengming discovered the delicate relationship between him and Huo Jin, it would certainly be troublesome.

After all, Ji Shengming had never imagined that his Alpha son would one day be marked.

Ji Chi delivered the gifts to the security office at the entrance to the CE Laboratory.

He didn't invite Huo Jin to dinner as Ji Shengming had instructed.

He didn't even go upstairs to find him.

Nor did he send a single message.

He had blocked him long ago.

He merely told the security staff at the CE Experimental Institute that the gifts were for Huo Jin.

"Judge Huo never accepts gifts."

The security guard recognized Ji Chi, but still told him to take the gifts back. "Plenty of people bring things here every day."

"Judge Huo has never accepted any of them. If you don't take these away, they'll most likely end up being donated."

Ji Chi's expression was indifferent. It was better if he didn't accept them. "Mm."

After that emotionless acknowledgment, he left the security office.

He left the gifts behind and went home without lingering another moment.

In the days that followed, Ji Chi relied on sleeping pills to fall asleep.

After half a month of this, the sleeping pills could no longer give him a peaceful night's rest.

He went to see Gu Baizhou.

Sitting in the consultation chair, Ji Chi felt as though the honorary banners behind Gu Baizhou were swaying before his eyes, making his head swim.

"Have you been taking sleeping pills lately?"

Gu Baizhou looked serious, with another strange emotion Ji Chi couldn't decipher.

Ji Chi gave a faint snort. "I can't sleep. Isn't it perfectly normal to take sleeping pills?"

"You clearly have a way to get a good night's sleep."

"No, I don't," Ji Chi said coldly.

Gu Baizhou looked at the test results before him. "You need his pheromones."

Ji Chi braced a hand against the desk and snorted. "I don't."

Gu Baizhou folded his hands on the desk and sighed softly. "You're sending your body the wrong signals. This will only harm you."

"Your craving for the pheromones of the person who marked you will multiply."

"Eventually, it may reach a point where you can't control it."

Ji Chi looked scornful. "Impossible!" he snapped.

Gu Baizhou shook his head helplessly. "The person who marked you is an Enigma. Remember, the mark on your gland is deeply rooted."

Ji Chi snorted at Gu Baizhou's words. "I won't submit."

"So what if he's an Enigma?"

"I won't become a monster driven by pheromones."

"Who the hell does he think he is?"

Gu Baizhou raised his eyes, his gaze darkening. "According to your blood test results, your heat will begin this week."

"Are you sure you won't lose control and go looking for him?"

Ji Chi's fingers abruptly clenched.

He couldn't even manage to fall asleep.

What would happen then?

"I won't go to him. Never." Ji Chi's words were steeped in ice.

Gu Baizhou sighed softly. "The more you resist, the more your body will instinctively need him."

Ji Chi's tone abruptly turned furious. "I don't like him! Tell me, what exactly is instinct? Just because he marked me, I can't live without him?"

Ji Chi's pheromones spread through the consultation room, wild and violent.

"If I marked any Omega, he'd be unable to leave me because he needed my pheromones, too."

"I won't let myself become that pathetic!"

Ji Chi's face was filled with rage. "Everyone is hypocritical and greedy. All Alphas are the same, and Enigmas are no different!"

He raised his eyes, which were dull and bloodshot.

The injuries on Ji Chi's face had healed without leaving a trace, but his fierce expression remained frightening.

Gu Baizhou pressed his lips together. "Actually, most of your anger comes from what he is."

"You resent that he's stronger than you, and that you can't control the situation. Am I right?"

Gu Baizhou's voice softened further. "Because you believe you don't like him."

"You're too proud."

"You think he ruined you."

Ji Chi let out a harsh, derisive laugh. "You think I'll submit to him?"

"No." Gu Baizhou smiled. "But your subconscious will break through your established principles."

"During your heat, your senses and emotions will be amplified thousands, even tens of thousands of times."

"Your heat will tell you whether you like him or hate him. Pheromones are humanity's second heart."

Ji Chi vehemently rejected Gu Baizhou's words. "Of course I don't like him!"

Ji Chi lifted his gaze, frighteningly dark. "I want suppressants."

"The extra-strength kind."

Gu Baizhou adjusted his glasses. "I hope you'll put aside your prejudices and seriously think about everything I've told you."

"Of course, you say you don't like him, so there's nothing wrong with any of your thoughts, either."

"I can prescribe the medication, but I suggest you..." Gu Baizhou didn't finish the rest.

He simply looked up at Ji Chi. "Never mind. I hope you can do all this the way you want."

He said a great deal to Ji Chi, who retorted whenever his patience ran out.

Gu Baizhou said he used to be a therapist, and Ji Chi believed him.

He certainly seemed like one.

So long-winded.

Alphas who talk too much should all be dragged out and shot.

"It's been a long time since you last smelled his pheromones. Your heat will only make things harder for you."

"Stop taking sleeping pills. They aren't doing you any good."

When Ji Chi left the hospital, he was still in a daze.

He had clearly been sleeping well lately.

Yet he felt unbearably weary and exhausted.

After returning home, Ji Chi listlessly sat on the floor beside the end of the bed nearest the window.

He looked utterly dispirited and forlorn.

He opened his phone and looked through his long search history.

Can I get through my heat alone after being marked by an Enigma?

The answer: no.

Will going without the soothing effect of pheromones for a long time increase the need for them?

The answer: yes.

Will I eventually give in to instinct during my heat?

The answer: yes.

Not a single result could save him.

Ji Chi looked at the little rabbit he had thrown onto the floor days ago.

Sitting on the floor, he didn't feel its coldness. He tilted his head back against the bed and briefly closed his eyes, as though yielding, yet not quite resigning himself to his fate.

The entire room was dimly lit, but the rabbit lay so conspicuously in the corner that it almost seemed to glow.

Ji Chi still didn't pick it up.

He numbed himself with work. As his heat approached, the young master grew increasingly irritable and short-tempered.

The entertainment industry was a mixed bag, with explosive news breaking every day. He and that Omega had been photographed entering and leaving a hotel. The Omega was accused of being a kept lover, and public opinion thrust him into the eye of the storm.

Furious at those accusations, Ji Chi posted on the company's official social media account that same day.

Ji Chi-[Entertainment reporters' cameras only ever aim at an Omega's crotch. Next time, I hope you'll aim them at me and blur out the real victim.]

After posting, Ji Chi contacted the Omega.

He was crying.

Ji Chi couldn't bear it, and his voice softened. "Don't cry. It's all right."

Li Qing sobbed. He hadn't taken what Ji Chi had said last time seriously. Ji Chi didn't intend to be with him; he understood that. He was merely an excuse for Mr. Ji to escape something. "Thank you, Mr. Ji."

"We should stop seeing each other, Mr. Ji. I hope you'll be happy," Li Qing said through his tears.

Ji Chi didn't understand why the Omega had suddenly said that. "All right. I respect your wishes."

"If one day you truly want to see me, will you come find me?" Li Qing asked.

"All right." Ji Chi understood what Li Qing meant. Something they both found absurd had to be utterly ridiculous. Li Qing seemed to like him.

Ji Chi felt guilty. "I'm very sorry, Li Qing."

"You don't have to apologize. You're a good person, Mr. Ji."

Once the post went up, public opinion reversed. Ji Chi's behavior was so protective that the prevailing narrative shifted to the two of them being deeply in love.

Ji Chi felt there was no need to clarify anything further. An Omega's reputation was especially important, and Li Qing really was the type of Omega he would like. Even his pheromones had a milk candy scent.

He simply hadn't expected to run into Huo Jin at the Crane Flower Award ceremony a few days later.

Huo Jin had attended as an award presenter, and the two met backstage.

Several actors under Ji Chi's company had received nominations, and he had merely come to watch. The Crane Flower Award was an international award, with certificates and prize money issued by the Supreme Authority, and the most prestigious award in the entertainment industry. Ji Chi was still surprised that Huo Jin would attend. This fell completely outside the scope of his work.

The two encountered each other backstage.

Several young actresses and reporters' cameras stood between them.

Even so, their gazes met as though drawn together by a thread. Separated by mountains and seas, they could still see each other with a lift of their eyes. The flashing cameras recorded that moment: one gazed, while the other fled.

Flames gathered, ready to ignite at a touch.

Ji Chi turned away, instantly losing interest in watching the show. When he left the venue, he discovered that Huo Jin had followed him out.

Seeing that, Ji Chi stopped avoiding him and came to a halt around a corner.

Huo Jin studied him. "Ji Chi."

"What do you want to say?" Ji Chi's attitude was anything but pleasant.

A chill entered Huo Jin's eyes. "You bear my mark. You can't be with another Omega right now."

"What right do you have to tell me what to do? Whoever I'm with has nothing to do with you, Huo Jin."

"It's fine."

"Then get the hell out." Ji Chi gave him an icy look.

"You're prejudiced against me."

"It's not prejudice. It's disgust."

Ji Chi stared into Huo Jin's eyes, hating him for every misery he had caused him. "I have an Omega now. I'll take responsibility for him and marry him."

"You should take responsibility for yourself." Huo Jin had never liked the atmosphere between them. He was utterly defenseless against it. "Don't make promises lightly because of me. You don't love him."

He understood why things had come to this.

"If you need help, you can come to me anytime." They both knew what Huo Jin meant.

Ji Chi seethed with rage and sneered in contempt. "Come to you? So you can fuck me? In your dreams!"

Huo Jin only looked at him, sensing that faint trace of plum brandy pheromone. He wanted to say something more, to keep Ji Chi there for another two minutes, but that would only disgust him.

Huo Jin said nothing more and walked past Ji Chi, gently releasing a faint wisp of soothing pheromones.

Neither spoke. Their faint pheromones tangled in a fierce, deadly clash before their owners could, then melted into one.

Ji Chi ran away.

After that, he went neither to the office nor to Boshen. He simply stayed home and watched his mother tend her flowers.

One evening a week later.

Ji Chi entered his second heat since being marked.

Feeling the feverish heat rising through his body, Ji Chi fled in panic and locked himself in his room.

Three days.

I just have to get through it, he thought.