Who Was Releasing Pheromones?

Shen Yi really was an exception at the company.

Back then, he had beaten fierce competition in an open recruitment drive to become a social affairs reporter at one of the country's top media outlets. Yet just six months into the job, he had realized that path wasn't for him and decisively resigned. Later, he had joined Akit Pharmaceuticals, a globally renowned pharmaceutical giant specializing in drugs for Alphas and Omegas.

Shen Yi's career had gone quite smoothly. He was smart to begin with, and his experience as a reporter had taught him to speak and act with tact. He also had a keen eye, and word soon spread that "an all-rounder had joined the publicity team."

During his first year as a new employee, Yuan Chen, the well-known direct descendant of Chairman Yuan, had already been at the company for a year.

The overt and covert struggles between Yuan Chen and his older cousin Yuan Hao for the next seat on the board had long been an open secret.

Yuan Chen was an S-class Alpha with a staggeringly impressive résumé. Though he had nominally joined as an ordinary employee, he had shot up to manager in just one year. People inevitably attributed it to his connections, but no one could deny his formidable professional ability.

Their first encounter had been at a presentation held by the publicity team.

The presentation that day had been led by a manager with three years of experience, with Shen Yi assisting him.

As it turned out, Yuan Chen had arrived a full thirty minutes ahead of schedule. The manager giving the presentation had frozen on the spot. Though it wasn't his first presentation, his overwhelming nerves had left him barely able to speak.

"Shen Yi, what do I do? Nothing's going to go wrong, is it...?"

"It's all right. You can do this." Shen Yi had soothed the manager with practiced ease without pausing his preparations for a moment. He had greeted everyone who entered without missing a soul, and placed drinks at their respective seats according to their preferences.

Yuan Chen's gaze had settled on Shen Yi's hand as he set down a paper cup. His nails were neatly trimmed and clean, and his shirt cuffs didn't have a single crease. Most importantly, the man had almost no pheromone scent. Even standing so close, Yuan Chen couldn't detect so much as the usual fragrance of laundry detergent.

And in front of Yuan Chen sat an iced Americano with milk, exactly the way he liked it.

It was no coincidence. Yuan Chen had glanced around and noticed that the drink at every seat was different. This man had taken everyone's preferences into account.

The presentation had gone smoothly at first, but the projector had suddenly broken down halfway through, forcing the meeting to stop.

In the urgent scramble, Shen Yi had swiftly distributed tablets containing the presentation slides to the attendees while efficiently connecting a large backup monitor. His ability to think on his feet had been truly outstanding.

Yuan Chen's eyes had never left him. Several times, he had glanced at the ID badge clipped to the man's immaculate suit: Publicity Team, Shen Yi.

After that, Yuan Chen had "specifically" requested more meetings with the publicity team. In all, they had met five times.

Once he had confirmed that Shen Yi's professionalism never wavered, Yuan Chen had made his final decision.

"Would you be interested in becoming my assistant? I can meet any conditions you set, and not just your annual salary. The benefits will be among the best in the industry, too."

An offer from the company's future chairman had certainly been tempting.

Yuan Chen was exceptionally capable and had a spotless private life, showing a restraint rarely seen among the children of the wealthy. Besides, he was an Alpha, which actually made him more comfortable to be around.

After a week of agonizing over it, Shen Yi had finally accepted Yuan Chen's offer.

From then on, six years had flown by with him serving as Yuan Chen's right-hand man.

With his meticulous nature and innate perceptiveness, Shen Yi was perfectly suited to his role as the president's special assistant.

Yuan Chen's greatest flaw was his lack of ordinary human warmth, but that rarely troubled Shen Yi. He wasn't especially sentimental himself.

Of course, the job was anything but easy. People often asked how he endured such demanding work, and Shen Yi would joke:

"Maybe being Yuan Chen's secretary is what I was born to do."

Shen Yi checked the attendee list once again for the weekly report meeting scheduled for later.

As a pharmaceutical company focused on secondary sexes, Akit was far more accommodating toward Omegas than other businesses.

Individually checking on the condition of Omega employees was a crucial part of that. Though they were all adults capable of self-control, accidents could happen at any time.

With Yuan Chen being an S-class Alpha in particular, more than a few Omegas had lost their composure in his presence, so they had to remain vigilant at all times.

As a Beta, Shen Yi sometimes found this pheromone-driven world utterly unreasonable, but what could he do? The facts were right there in front of him. Besides, the boss he had to support just happened to be an S-class Alpha.

With the preparations largely complete, he stood and picked up the suit jacket draped over the back of his chair, then glanced around the office.

The secretarial office was always hectic in the morning: people organized settlement documents to submit to Yuan Chen and arranged schedules, while the extension phones rang one after another.

With such an exceptionally capable boss, the secretarial team naturally had no easy time of it either.

"Department head, the new colleague is expected to start on the first of next month."

Once they had more staff, the pressure should ease a little. As Shen Yi buttoned his jacket, he instructed:

"Organize the new employee's application and recruitment information and upload them to the system. President Yuan needs to review them."

"Yes!"

Then Shen Yi entered the president's office to remind Yuan Chen of his upcoming meeting and help him put on his jacket.

Yuan Chen also stopped working without needing to be asked and cooperated with his movements. It was as though the scolding in the office earlier had never happened. They had returned to a purely professional relationship.

Clear boundaries, clean and straightforward-that was the secret to their six years of smooth collaboration.

The ninth-floor conference room was known for having the best natural light in the Akit building. Beyond its expansive floor-to-ceiling windows lay a beautiful view of the urban forest, though no one was in the mood to admire it just then.

This was where research findings were presented to President Yuan Chen, and the tension in the air was almost visible. The researchers unused to formal attire looked especially grave.

"Hello, Researcher Wang. I'm Shen Yi, President Yuan Chen's special assistant. Sorry to bother you, but may I ask how you're feeling today?" Shen Yi asked, cautiously approaching an Omega researcher.

The stern-faced researcher glanced at him, her sharp gaze sweeping over him.

"Were you the one who sent me that email?"

"Yes. Since I never received a reply, I wanted to check with you in person."

"The contents were quite offensive, so I didn't reply." Her response was cold.

Shen Yi concealed a flicker of embarrassment and maintained his professional smile.

He encountered reactions like this occasionally, and he understood. A notice asking Omegas to manage their pheromones could certainly make people uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry. But please cooperate so the meeting can proceed smoothly. I understand this is your first meeting with President Yuan. He's particularly sensitive to pheromones, and we've prepared standard suppressants. If you need-"

"Do you realize how far you're overstepping right now? Instead of keeping Alphas in check, you single out Omegas. How is that fair?"

"I'm very sorry."

Shen Yi could only apologize again. To some extent, the researcher was right, and he couldn't argue otherwise. He really had no authority to force anyone to do anything here.

The meeting began. He had thought it would proceed smoothly, but less than ten minutes in, it was forced to stop.

The sensitive Yuan Chen frowned.

"Who is releasing pheromones right now?" Yuan Chen asked in a low voice.

The conference room fell deathly silent. No one answered; only uneasy glances passed between them.

Of the twelve attendees, one was a Beta, eight were Alphas, and three were Omegas. At that moment, everyone was desperately reining in their pheromones.

Yuan Chen's expression grew darker and darker. No matter how handsome he usually looked, an angry President Yuan was enough to strike fear into anyone.

"Didn't you hear me? I asked who dared come to this meeting when they can't even control their own pheromones." Yuan Chen slammed the pen in his hand onto the table.

Under such oppressive pressure, even someone who wanted to admit it would have struggled to speak. In the silent conference room, even the sound of someone swallowing was clearly audible.

People exchanged glances. At first, the pheromones had gone unnoticed, but after Yuan Chen pointed them out, the Omega scent had become faintly detectable.

Though no one knew exactly who it was, the person releasing them had clearly grown too nervous to keep them under control.

"I-I'm sorry... It's me."

Finally, someone raised a trembling hand. It was the very researcher who had argued with Shen Yi earlier.

Her face was filled with the panic of someone who had never expected to be called out in front of everyone.

"Didn't you receive advance notice?"

"Well, I..."

The researcher's face flushed crimson, and tears instantly filled her large eyes. Amid her intense emotional turmoil, her pheromones spread even more uncontrollably.