You are a hero

The director tactfully led the three young men out and even thoughtfully closed the door.

As the door closed, Gu Ziran shivered in fear. He looked up into President Li's greedy, crazed eyes, afraid to imagine what would happen next.

"Baby, you're so pretty!"

President Li leaned close, inhaled deeply, and said with an intoxicated air, "An orange-scented omega must taste delicious."

As he spoke, he slipped a hand beneath the hem of Gu Ziran's clothes and stroked his smooth back.

As though shocked by electricity, Gu Ziran shoved him away, scrambled up, and ran for the door.

"Fuck!" President Li grabbed him by the hair, dragged him back, and slammed him onto the sofa, cursing, "Still trying to run? Good, very good! Hahaha, I like the ones who struggle. The more you struggle, the more I like it!"

Pinned beneath him on the sofa, Gu Ziran kept crying out, "No! Help! Help! Let me go!"

Even though he knew that no matter how much he shouted, it would be useless, he still could not help crying out, as though he wanted to release the endless terror inside him along with his screams.

Rip!

His top was brutally torn apart, and Gu Ziran suddenly felt a sharp pain in his shoulder. He opened his tear-blurred eyes and saw that the pervert had somehow gotten hold of a knife and was now piercing the skin of his shoulder with its tip.

"Don't move, baby." His smile was terrifying, like a demon that fed on souls. "Do you believe I could play with you while carving a pretty little flower into your body? Hahahahaha, I've played like that before, but that omega was too disobedient and kept struggling. In the end, I accidentally cut his artery. All that left me with was a corpse to admire."

Blood ran down the pale skin of his shoulder. Gu Ziran did not dare move and could only bite his lip and weep silently.

Though Gu Ziran was frightened, he was even more concerned about the other people at the Welfare Institute.

Would the bad director sell everyone? Just like this?

The mere thought made Gu Ziran's heart ache. He could not bear to let the companions he lived with suffer. He had to find the police and ask for help.

Seeing that he had stopped moving, President Li assumed he had frightened him into submission. Satisfied, he put the knife away, tugging at Gu Ziran's skirt with one hand while deliberately smearing the blood all over his body with the other.

Crash!

The door was kicked open with tremendous force!

The dazzling light from the hallway shone behind the man. At first, Gu Ziran thought he was hallucinating. Otherwise, how could he possibly see a man silhouetted against the light, like a hero from Mother Gu's stories, descending from the sky, hauling the pervert off him, and punching him hard?

Gu Ziran felt his consciousness begin to blur, and everything before his eyes grew indistinct. Before he lost consciousness completely, all he remembered was a piece of clothing being draped over him, still warm with someone's body heat and carrying the cool fragrance of cedarwood, and being gathered into a broad, warm embrace.

That embrace had somehow given him a little sense of security, so much so that despite the terrifying ordeal he had just endured, he did not have a single nightmare during the entire day he spent unconscious.

Gu Ziran had been saved. After waking up, he finally saw the police officers, but he never saw the hero who had charged into the private room against the light again.

But the hero's coat was still draped over him, carrying that familiar scent.

The bad director was taken away by the police officers, and Gu Ziran returned to the Welfare Institute. This time, however, the new director who took over the Welfare Institute was a good person.

A few more years passed, and the director began teaching him to support himself, finding him a job washing dishes at a restaurant.

For Gu Ziran, whose mental development was impaired, having work to do, a dormitory to live in, and some money each month to buy tasty food was already enough.

He washed dishes carefully and worked hard. The owner never called him stupid, only told him that he washed the dishes very clean. Being praised made Gu Ziran especially happy.

Over time, besides washing dishes, he would occasionally help out in the kitchen. When he did well, the chef would reward him with a tomato or a small slice of watermelon. On holidays, the owner would even give him a generous red envelope.

During the year or so he worked at the restaurant, he never felt that life was hard. Instead, it was the happiest time he had known since Mother Gu's death.

Until one day, a man came looking for him and asked, "Do you still remember me?"

Gu Ziran nodded eagerly. "I remember. You're... a hero."

This man was the person who had saved him at the nightclub. Gu Ziran would never forget him.

Perhaps not expecting Gu Ziran to answer that way, the man curved his lips into a smile and slowly approached. Staring at his face, he said, "I thought I'd seen you somewhere before. It turns out you just look too much like him."

Gu Ziran did not understand what he meant. He was busy counting on his fingers in his head, working out how much money he had left and whether he could treat his hero to a meal to thank him. Oh, right, the hero's coat was still in his dormitory. He had washed it and folded it neatly, and had been hoping for a chance to return it.

But his hero did not let him buy him a meal. He did not even give him a chance to go back to the dormitory for the coat before taking him away.

"I... still have dishes I haven't finished washing," Gu Ziran said.

The man said, "You don't need to wash dishes anymore. You should be glad you look a little like him. Otherwise, I wouldn't take in an idiot."

Idiot...

Gu Ziran lowered his head, his nose stinging with the urge to cry.

The man brought him to a large, beautiful house. He was the only one who lived there, and a housekeeper usually came to prepare his three meals a day.

The man rarely came over, and when he did, he only stared at his face. After looking for a long time, the man would be unable to resist holding him, kissing him, and marking him.

He liked the man's scent, and after being marked, he found it even harder to be apart from him.

That was how omegas were. Once marked by an Alpha, they could only live off that Alpha's pheromones for the rest of their lives, like addicts.

Fortunately, the man never held back from soothing him with XX pheromones, but there were times when the man was frightening, too.

Like the time he came home furious and began hitting Gu Ziran as soon as he walked through the door, gripping his throat and demanding to know why he had gotten engaged to Sun Liang. Why!!

Gu Ziran could only shake his head in fear. "No, I didn't."

The man would not listen. That time, he beat him until he was covered in injuries.

After that, Gu Ziran began to fear him and did not dare see him. Yet his marked body craved the man's pheromones and caresses, and he did not know what to do.

Two years later, the man seemed increasingly dissatisfied with his face and asked whether he was willing to have plastic surgery.

Gu Ziran did not understand what plastic surgery meant and only asked, "If I have plastic surgery, sir, will you be happy?"

Sir had saved his life, and he wanted to repay him. Besides, if Sir was happy, perhaps he would stop hitting him.

Sir nodded. "I will."

Gu Ziran nodded too. "Then I'll do it."

After three operations, Sir was satisfied. He finally stopped hitting him, and even the way he looked at him became much gentler.

Although he was still rough when it came to that sort of thing, just as he had been last night, Gu Ziran could endure it.

Gu Ziran shifted closer to Sun Zhe again. Drawing nearer and breathing in his Cedarwood Scent, he closed his eyes contentedly.