Memories of that night

"Tassilo wants you to endorse its new watch and attend the launch."

"I'm telling you, you absolutely have to seize this opportunity. A luxury brand like Tassilo has never had an ambassador in Asia. If we close this deal, you'll be Tassilo's first Asian ambassador."

"Wu Jiangyuan, you really lucked out."

He Qu felt the pride of a parent whose child had finally grown up.

"Hold on." Wu Jiangyuan pinched the bridge of his nose, his voice still hoarse. "Do you know who's behind Tassilo?"

He Qu said, "Who? I've honestly never paid attention to that."

Wu Jiangyuan said, "Pei Jinghe."

"Pei Jinghe? That sounds familiar."

He Qu fell silent for a few seconds, then suddenly caught on. "Huh?! Isn't Pei Jinghe your fiancé? That childhood friend you hate most?"

Wu Jiangyuan said, "Yes."

He briefly explained to He Qu what had happened when he went to [Tangsheng] that day.

After hearing him out, He Qu clicked his tongue several times. "So the person showering you with gifts that day was your fiancé."

Wu Jiangyuan found the word "fiancé" particularly grating. "Stop calling him my fiancé every other sentence. It's fake."

At most, he and Pei Jinghe were a fake couple under contract.

He Qu burst out laughing on the other end of the phone. "Fine, fine, he's not your fiancé. Anyway, fiancé isn't the right word now. We should be calling him your financial backer."

The corner of Wu Jiangyuan's eye twitched. "You accepted it for me?"

He Qu said, "What else? We can't let such a big fish get away. Setting aside your grudge with Pei Jinghe, this is a great opportunity for you to appear before the public in a positive light."

"No brand dares to sign you right now. Tassilo is different. Its influence speaks for itself. You should count yourself lucky to land a luxury endorsement with Tassilo."

Wu Jiangyuan said nothing.

An intense battle was raging in his mind.

"Wu Jiangyuan, don't tell me you're backing out now."

He Qu sounded exasperated with him. "You were the one who said you wanted to change. Now that the opportunity's here, if you're going to back out, I suggest you leave the entertainment industry sooner rather than later."

"Who said I was backing out?" Wu Jiangyuan scoffed. "I was just thinking about how much they could offer us."

He Qu said, "Good, I'm glad you understand that much. I'll discuss the details with them and try to maximize both the money and exposure we get."

"Also, I still haven't accepted that outdoor variety show you mentioned last time. I'm considering this from the perspective of your manager and boss. You really can't afford to damage your reputation with the general public any further."

Wu Jiangyuan said, "It's fine. I know you're looking out for me."

He Qu said, "Your manager has been worrying himself sick over you."

"I'll hang up now. I'll let you know once I've confirmed the contract and shooting schedule."

Wu Jiangyuan said, "Thanks, Little Bun."

Only after hanging up did Wu Jiangyuan see the messages Pei Jinghe had sent.

He had been so caught up chatting on Weibo yesterday that he hadn't noticed the guy had replied.

There were two messages in total.

The first was sent at 23:45.

The jerk with the sour face who's asking for a beating: [You don't like that watch?]

The second was sent at 8:23.

The jerk with the sour face who's asking for a beating: [The suit shop sent over the fitting garments. Are you free today?]

Fitting garments?

Wu Jiangyuan remembered. They were for the suits he and Pei Jinghe had gone to have custom-made last time.

Since he wanted to ask Pei Jinghe about the endorsement anyway, he sent back a time.

3Q: [Six this evening. Don't come pick me up this time. I'll get there myself.]

After he sent the message, Pei Jinghe replied quite quickly, with just one word: [Okay.]

Wu Jiangyuan didn't reply again.

He slept until hunger woke him in the afternoon, then slowly dragged himself out of bed and into the bathroom.

His neck felt sore and swollen. Bracing himself against the sink, Wu Jiangyuan looked at his reflection with puzzlement in his eyes.

His body had been acting strangely lately. He felt exhausted even though he hadn't done anything.

At first, he had thought his rut was approaching, but now that didn't seem to be the case.

Wu Jiangyuan touched the back of his neck. Other than the protruding gland, he couldn't feel anything.

Something's wrong. Very wrong.

Almost every time he woke up, the back of his neck felt awful.

With that in mind, he went out to get his phone, lowered his head, and took a photo of the back of his neck.

When he saw the gland in the photo, he couldn't help frowning.

There was a faint ring of red marks around the gland, so faint they were hard to notice without looking closely. Wu Jiangyuan deliberately zoomed in and found that the red marks looked like... teeth marks.

The discomfort he had been feeling lately might all have been thanks to those teeth marks.

Teeth marks?

Wu Jiangyuan's heart sank. Why were there teeth marks on his neck?

A few blurry images suddenly flashed through his mind, from the night of the old man's birthday banquet half a month ago.

All this time, he had forced himself not to touch any memories of that night. Now, the teeth marks in the photo were like a lit fuse, instantly setting off every memory of that night.

The Enigma's scorching body heat enveloped him. It had nothing to do with love or affection; their near-frantic entanglement was driven by nothing but primal desire.

At one point, just as Wu Jiangyuan tried to escape, the Enigma bit down on his gland, completing a Temporary Marking.

Alphas were different from Omegas. Being temporarily marked wouldn't make them dependent, but it would cause a few minor, short-lived physical problems, which would return to normal once the Temporary Marking disappeared.

The Temporary Marking on the back of Wu Jiangyuan's neck was already very faint. In a few more days, it might disappear completely.

But of all times, he had to discover it now.

"Fuck..."

Wu Jiangyuan gritted his teeth in anger. Not only had Pei Jinghe slept with him that night, he had even dared to give him a Temporary Marking!

The anger inside him burned hotter and hotter. Was that bastard playing him for an Omega?

He immediately sent Pei Jinghe a message: [Pei Jinghe, you're dead.]

Then he tossed his phone aside, stripped naked, and stepped under the shower.

Cold water drenched him from head to toe. Wu Jiangyuan closed his eyes and scrubbed the front and back of his neck until he had nearly rubbed his skin raw before stopping.

After standing under the cold water for a while, he opened his eyes with his brows tightly furrowed, indifferent even as water ran into them. His thoughts inexplicably drifted back to his teenage years.

This actually wasn't the first time Pei Jinghe had bitten his gland. Back then... he hadn't been an Alpha for long, while Pei Jinghe hadn't differentiated yet.

Or, more accurately, he had been in the midst of differentiating.

Wu Jiangyuan was six months older than Pei Jinghe.

Before Pei Jinghe differentiated into an Alpha, Wu Jiangyuan had been both taller and more heavily built than him.

Back then, Pei Jinghe had been small and thin, with fair skin and features as delicate as a doll's.

Everyone had thought he would differentiate into an Omega, but unexpectedly, he had turned into an Alpha instead, and a few years later, he had undergone a Secondary Differentiation into an Enigma.

Especially just after he had differentiated into an Alpha, Pei Jinghe's physical capabilities had skyrocketed as though he had taken some miraculous drug.

The guy who had once only reached his chin had actually grown as tall as him.

This left Wu Jiangyuan with an enormous sense of disparity and reasonable grounds to suspect that Pei Jinghe had undergone a genetic mutation.

Because on the very day that guy differentiated into an Alpha, he had, as luck would have it, bitten him.

Just as an Alpha would bite an Omega, and he had even drawn blood.