A new romantic battleground

"Where are we going for our next check-in attraction?"

Yan Feizhuo took out the map and pointed at the Roller Coaster right beside the pendulum ride. "This one."

"Wow," Sheng Nian said. "That intense, huh?"

"Scared? If you are, we can skip it and try something gentler."

Feeling underestimated, Sheng Nian huffed. "I'm not scared!"

"Of course. Our young master is amazing." Yan Feizhuo soothed the little kitten.

Hearing him call him young master in that child-soothing tone, Sheng Nian grew a little embarrassed and annoyed. He really did look like a bristling kitten as he glared at Yan Feizhuo. "Come on, come on. Let's go check in."

[Ahhhhh, is young master a pet name? Is it? Is it?]

[President Yan spoils him so much, ahhhhh! Our Sheng-Yan ship is the sweetest!]

[Is there a Q&A segment? I really want to ask President Yan why he calls him young master.]

Knowing nothing of the excited shippers' comments in the live chat, Yan Feizhuo and Sheng Nian hurried toward their second check-in point.

They spotted Tang Jiang alone at the entrance to the Roller Coaster.

Sheng Nian had quite a good impression of Tang Jiang and greeted her. "Hi, Tang Jiang."

Tang Jiang was very interested in this little Omega who was nothing like the rumors. She stepped forward, leaned down close to him, and pinched his little face. "Hello, little Sheng Nian. Here for a mission too?"

As she moved closer, the pleasant, faint perfume on the female Alpha wafted toward him: a light citrus fragrance with a cool hint of mint. It was a very distinctive scent, and Sheng Nian couldn't help twitching his nose, trying to distinguish its aromatic notes.

A hand suddenly locked around his wrist. Yan Feizhuo held him back. "Sheng Nian, what are you doing?"

Only then did Sheng Nian realize that Tang Jiang's distinctive scent might not come solely from her perfume, but also from her pheromones. As an Omega, sniffing an Alpha's scent so intently was undoubtedly very rude.

His face instantly flushed red.

"No, I wasn't..."

Yan Feizhuo said nothing. He took a handkerchief from inside his clothes and wiped the cheek Tang Jiang had just touched.

Sheng Nian looked bewildered. "What are you doing? My face isn't dirty."

Yan Feizhuo wiped Sheng Nian's face meticulously, until his little face was slightly red, then leaned closer and sniffed. Detecting a lingering trace of the Alpha scent that repelled him, he frowned in displeasure.

In the end, he simply released a little of his own pheromones to cover the scent.

With his neck ring on, Sheng Nian wasn't very sensitive to Alpha pheromones and didn't notice what Yan Feizhuo had done. That was also why he hadn't realized earlier that the fragrance on Tang Jiang might be her pheromones.

But Tang Jiang, a fellow Alpha, saw everything clearly and found it rather funny. She had only touched him once, and he was already marking his territory. Was that really necessary?

At that thought, her interest deepened, and she studied this temporary couple curiously.

"Do I smell nice?" she teased Sheng Nian.

The tips of Sheng Nian's ears were bloodred as he stammered, "Yes. No, you don't. No, that's not what I meant. S-sorry, I didn't mean to... I just thought it was perfume."

The more he explained, the more it sounded like a cover-up. Sheng Nian felt utterly hopeless. Finally, he simply pulled his convenient helper over as a shield and hid behind Yan Feizhuo.

Watching the little figure inside the transparent bubble conjure up a snail shell and crawl inside as though escaping reality, Yan Feizhuo felt both amused and a little angry.

His tall frame shielded Sheng Nian. His expression darkened as he warned Tang Jiang, "Enough."

Seeing Yan Feizhuo's frosty expression, as though he really was getting angry, Tang Jiang grew a little intimidated too. She shrugged. "I was just joking."

Without waiting for their response, she smoothed her wavy hair and turned to enter the Roller Coaster check-in point, her steps swaying.

[It's a new romantic battleground!!!]

[Ahhhhh, Tang Jiang is such a flirt! Stop flirting with Sheng Nian. He already has President Yan. Flirt with me! I'm available!]

[Oh no, am I the only one dying to know what Sheng Nian smelled? Tang Jiang, hand over the perfume link!]

[Who gets it? President Yan got so jealous he wiped our darling Nian's face with a handkerchief until! It! Turned! Red!]

[Jiang Shu just left, and now here's Tang Jiang. Okay, I feel bad for President Yan...]

Only once she was far away did Sheng Nian poke his little head out from behind Yan Feizhuo. Breathing a sigh of relief, he asked, "Are we going in too?"

Yan Feizhuo ruffled his hair in exasperation. "What else? Keep hiding from her?"

Sheng Nian thought that wasn't entirely out of the question. He really couldn't handle an older woman with such fiery enthusiasm.

"Hopeless. Come on."

They didn't see Tang Jiang in front of the Roller Coaster's check-in rules screen. Sheng Nian assumed she'd already boarded and paid it no mind, reading the attraction's rules with Yan Feizhuo.

Roller Coaster check-in rules: [Twist and roll! Hold each other's hands tightly under all circumstances. Please take a photo together on the Roller Coaster.]

Sheng Nian pursed his lips. "The production team really loves writing vague rules for us to puzzle out. Does this mean we're supposed to hold hands and take a photo together on the Roller Coaster?"

"Most likely," Yan Feizhuo said. "Come on. Let's find seats."

The Roller Coaster was a famous attraction at Evernight Sky and drew plenty of riders. Sheng Nian and Yan Feizhuo found two adjoining seats and prepared to sit down.

Unexpectedly, the moment Sheng Nian sat down and fastened his safety restraint and seat belt, Tang Jiang darted out of nowhere and claimed the seat beside him.

As soon as she sat down, she fastened her safety restraint and seat belt. "Hehe, surprised, little Sheng Nian?"

Sheng Nian: "..."

Yan Feizhuo, whose seat had been stolen: "..."

[Hahahahaha, does anyone understand how healing it was to see Tang Jiang charge over and snatch that seat?!]

[Now President Yan's face really has gone completely dark~]

[Why are you all enjoying his misery? Hahahahaha!]

[Can't help it. President Yan is usually so lofty and untouchable. It's rare to see him thwarted. If we don't laugh now, when will we?]

[I work at the group's headquarters. Honestly, I've seen President Yan plenty of times, but this is the first time I've seen that expression on him.]

[An insider has come forward to testify, hahahaha! Wait, people inside your group watch dating shows and ship couples too?]

[Of course we do! We're dying to know who's charming enough to lure President Yan away. We all used to think he was a workaholic who had eyes for nothing but work.]

The livestream viewers were chatting enthusiastically, but the atmosphere in person wasn't nearly as good.

Once locked, the safety restraints could only be released by a staff member or after the Roller Coaster finished its run. Yan Feizhuo was therefore destined not to sit with Sheng Nian this time, and they wouldn't be able to complete their check-in mission either.

His expression darkened as he stared coldly at Tang Jiang.

"Don't be like that, President Yan. I'm doing this to complete my mission too. Don't worry, I'll help you take care of little Sheng Nian during the ride."

Beside her, Sheng Nian shrank back a little, thinking, Tang Jiang really has guts. Yan Feizhuo looks that furious, and she still dares to provoke him. Truly a female among females, huh?

In the end, Yan Feizhuo sat down beside Tang Jiang.

The Roller Coaster soon started moving. Sheng Nian had no attention to spare for anyone else and focused on enjoying the thrill of rising and plunging high in the air.

As soon as the Roller Coaster stopped, Tang Jiang unfastened her seat belt and vanished at a run. It seemed she was also afraid Yan Feizhuo would really come after her.

Sheng Nian hadn't stopped yelling throughout the ride, and his voice was still a little hoarse. "What do we do now? Get back in line and ride again to finish the check-in mission?"

Yan Feizhuo frowned, then turned and took an insulated cup from his assistant. "Have some water and recover first."

Sheng Nian took it and had a sip. "Thank you."

After a pause, thinking that a mere "thank you" was too little in front of the cameras, he added, "You're so thoughtful, Brother Zhuo."

Only after he finished drinking did Yan Feizhuo say, "Let's ask at the mission check-in desk first."

The staff member said, "Sorry, since Tang Jiang completed her solo sabotage mission and successfully obtained the Matchmaker Badge, your team can no longer earn a Heart-Pounding Badge at the Roller Coaster."

"How is that fair?" Sheng Nian said. "You never told us that before."

The staff member sounded like an emotionless announcement machine. "Why else would the unpaired guest's mission be called a sabotage mission? Sabotage means you can't do your two-person mission anymore~"

"..."

Yan Feizhuo had already anticipated this outcome. Without wasting more words on the staff member, he took Sheng Nian and headed for the next mission check-in point.