Pregnant with Lu Zhou's Child

No artist in the industry had ever personally waded into a public feud, much less a group whose members publicly tore into each other on Weibo mere days after disbanding.

Everyone was stunned by Nan Zhou's sudden, ferocious move and eagerly devoured the gossip.

"Has Nan Zhou lost his mind?!"

"Now that you can't ride our boy's coattails, you're going crazy, huh? Shameless bastard, get out of the entertainment industry!"

"...First someone exposed his visit to an Omega clinic, then he went on Weibo to curse out his former ship partner. Wild guess: Nan Zhou might be carrying Lu Zhou's..."

"Fuck off! Drop dead, you rumor-monger! Reported!"

"Hasn't this scheming, fake-innocent bitch leeched off our boy enough in their two years as a group?! Have some shame, you ugly thing! Can't you learn from our boy and let each other save some face?!"

"Lu Zhou's fans are hilarious. What your boy did hardly counts as letting anyone save face."

Meanwhile, Hao Jia had barely dropped Nan Zhou off at his apartment when a call came from one of his subordinates.

After hearing what had happened, he felt utterly unwell.

He hurriedly hung up and opened Weibo. One glance drained the color from his face.

When he looked up at the person responsible, he was even more at a loss for words.

After silently posting two eye-popping bombshells on Weibo, Nan Zhou acted as if nothing had happened. Once inside the apartment, he even had the leisure to look the place over.

It was just a studio of less than seventy square meters that he had lived in for almost two years. What was there to look at?!

Hao Jia took two deep breaths and told himself to stay calm.

After all, his good friend had just endured heartbreak, betrayal, being slept with and marked by some random man, and a whole string of other awful things. It was understandable that he was emotionally unstable...

Hao Jia said, "Your Lordship Zhouzhou, my little tyrant, are you planning anything else that'll give me a heart attack? Could you tell me all at once so I can mentally prepare?"

Nan Zhou said nothing.

"Zhou..."

"Do I have to stay here tonight?"

"Huh?"

"I want to move to another apartment."

Hao Jia frowned. "Where do you want to move?"

Nan Zhou looked at him, his expression as casual as if he were discussing the weather. "One of my other apartments downtown. A villa would work too."

Hao Jia: "..."

This was bad. Something seemed to be wrong with his good friend, and seriously wrong at that.

Hao Jia walked up to Nan Zhou, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then opened them and planted both hands firmly on his friend's shoulders.

"Snap out of it."

"There are no apartments, let alone villas. This is the only place you have."

"The rent is sixty-five hundred a month."

The corners of Nan Zhou's mouth twitched almost imperceptibly twice, as though his own poverty had shocked him.

"Aren't I a popular idol?"

"...Is this your first day under contract? No, if it were your first day, you'd remember just how little you cared about money when you signed with the company. You asked for a pitifully small cut just so you could work with that scumbag Lu Zhou!"

"..."

For a moment, only one thought remained in Nan Zhou's mind.

Was this guy an idiot?!

He raised a hand to his forehead, thought for a moment, then asked calmly, "How many years are left on the contract?"

"It's a three-year contract. It expires next month."

"How much do I have in savings?"

Hao Jia had given up all hope. Rolling his eyes, he sat on the couch. "What savings? You spent everything you earned these past few years on Lu Zhou. There's not a cent left!"

Nan Zhou: "..."

Sitting down at the other end of the couch, he said, "That variety show you mentioned in the car. The penalty for breaking the contract..."

"Three million."

The apartment fell silent for half a minute.

Nan Zhou said, "You're paying it for me?"

This agent was awfully nice.

The living room fell silent again.

Two minutes later, Hao Jia spoke weakly. "I don't have any money. Well, I was only thinking of you... I was worried that if you went on that variety show with Lu Zhou..."

Nan Zhou interrupted him. "Your heart was in the right place, but leave it there."

"..."

"A beggar complaining the food's gone sour. It's fine if you starve to death, but I still want to live."

Hao Jia said, "...Seriously, do you have to talk like that?!"

"Is there a problem?"

Hao Jia was just about to speak when Nan Zhou continued, "I've always talked like this. If you question me, that only proves you don't understand me well enough. Since we're friends, you need to understand and accept me."

Hao Jia: "..."

Why did that sound so reasonable?!

Wait!

Was he using PUA on me?!

Before leaving, Hao Jia reminded Nan Zhou over and over not to go wandering off again, and, if possible, to please refrain from going crazy on Weibo.

Although their group was fairly obscure, ever since Lu Zhou and Wen Yu had officially announced their relationship, Nan Zhou had appeared in one negative trending topic after another. Even people who hadn't known him before now knew his bad reputation.

There was another reason Hao Jia didn't dare mention.

He felt that, with the way Nan Zhou talked now, he could easily get beaten up if he went out.

Hao Jia said, "Oh, right. You have a magazine shoot in three days. I'll come pick you up then. Don't forget."

Please, God, let Nan Zhou be a little more normal in three days.

Three days later, Hao Jia called Nan Zhou from downstairs at the apartment building, only to hear that his phone was switched off.

Alarm shot through him, and he hurried upstairs.

Before opening the door with his spare key, Hao Jia had already imagined several scenes of himself apologizing, bowing, and paying compensation for arriving late to the shoot and breaching the contract.

...Nan Zhou had been quiet as a mouse for the past three days, neither causing trouble nor leaving the apartment. Hao Jia had even breathed a sigh of relief.

But now-

Taking a deep breath, Hao Jia opened the door and looked inside. The sight hit him like a blow.

What-what was this?!

Despite it being broad daylight, the curtains were drawn so tightly that the room was as dark as night. The only light came from the faint glow of a laptop screen on the couch.

The coffee table was piled with takeout trash. Rumpled bedding and scattered clothes littered the floor, and there was even a guitar he had never seen before propped beside the couch.

On the couch, behind that sole source of light, Nan Zhou sat with disheveled hair, curled up inside the black trench coat he had worn home three days ago, tapping away at the keyboard like a zombie.

Hao Jia: "..."

His gaze swept over the only tidy spot left in the room-the large bed in the corner, whose sheets didn't have a single crease. He coughed. "Why aren't you sleeping in the bed?"

Really, there was no point asking. One look made it obvious that Nan Zhou probably hadn't slept much at all!

Nan Zhou didn't answer, still doggedly hammering away at the keyboard.

Only when Hao Jia walked over did he finish.

He snapped the laptop shut and met Hao Jia's eyes as the latter stopped in his tracks.

For a moment, silence hung in the air.

After a moment, Nan Zhou said, "I can't sleep."

Hao Jia immediately felt guilty.

Of course. After all that crap, how could he possibly sleep well?

It was his fault for not being attentive enough as his agent.

He was about to offer some comfort when Nan Zhou added, "You wouldn't be able to sleep either if you were this poor."

Hao Jia: "..." Thanks, I sleep just fine.

"Even if you aren't sleeping, at least change your clothes..." he said.

He had been wearing that black trench coat for three days...

Come to think of it, when had Nan Zhou bought it? How come he had never seen it before?

At that thought, Hao Jia instinctively bent down and reached for Nan Zhou's coat.

"Don't touch it. You'll get your scent on it." Nan Zhou shifted aside. "I feel awful. This coat is the only thing that makes me feel a little better."

Hao Jia's hand stopped.

Noticing the bare skin beneath the trench coat, he realized Nan Zhou might be... completely naked underneath.

After being marked, an Omega would develop a powerful dependence on the Alpha who had marked them for a period of time.

During that period, being apart from their Alpha would make the Omega extremely uncomfortable.

The higher the grade of the Alpha's pheromones, the stronger that discomfort would be, even with a temporary mark.