When he opened his eyes again, his parents, Gu Lingzhou, and a senior he hadn’t seen in a long time were all gathered around him, talking.
“Didn’t you say this gland was useless?” His mother had barely finished speaking when she looked down and saw her son’s misty eyes, her own lighting up with surprise. “He’s awake.” Following her gaze, several pairs of eyes fixed on him. Shi Yuxing propped himself up, rubbing one hand against his temple.
“Is there anywhere that doesn’t feel right?” Gu Lingzhou helped him up and tucked a pillow behind his lower back.
His fingers rubbed against his throbbing temple, and he slowly shook his head. “Mom, Dad, why are you here?”
“I called them,” Gu Lingzhou said, his eyes filled with concern. “Your gland may have undergone secondary development due to the influence of alpha pheromones…”
His hand froze mid-motion, his tea-colored eyes lifting. “What did you say?”
“It means there’s a possibility that you’ve turned into an omega because of the S-class alpha pheromones injected into your gland.” The family doctor held a suppressant syringe, a tiny stream of liquid spurting from the needle tip. He then grabbed Shi Yuxing’s arm and swiftly inserted it.
After the mosquito-bite sting, the discomfort in his body suddenly lessened—like drinking an ice-cold soda after soaking in a hot spring.
His father spoke up: “So are there precedents for betas turning into omegas?” He frowned, leaning in to ask the family doctor, who looked about his age—also Shi Yuxing’s first medical mentor and the person most familiar with his physical condition.
“That… you can ask your son. I think he knows better than I do.” A cotton swab was pressed over the needle hole, and Gu Lingzhou took over to hold it in place.
Shi Yuxing’s Adam’s apple moved. “I never thought it would happen to me.” He should have realized something was wrong this morning when he smelled that intense fir scent—betas wouldn’t feel sick from pheromones. Then he’d been knocked unconscious by the pungent odor.
Gu Lingzhou’s warm body pressed against him, letting him lean into his embrace. “When will the lab results be out? Are you sure he’s turning into an omega? I don’t smell any pheromones.” With that, the General sniffed at Shi Yuxing again—only the scent of body wash remained.
“I just drew the blood, little brother.” The family doctor shot him a glance, completely unfazed by the General’s rank. After a moment, he said: “Three days. You can read the results yourself when they’re sent to your phone, right?” He tilted his chin toward Shi Yuxing, who nodded and found a comfortable position in Gu Lingzhou’s arms, lifting his head slightly.
The family doctor closed his medical kit and instructed: “Give him plenty of blood-nourishing foods. Having seven or eight vials drawn while sleeping leaves him a bit dizzy—that’s normal. I’m heading to the research center now. In three days, we’ll know whether his secondary gender has changed.” With that, he lifted his case and ran into Gu Lingzhou’s abyss-like gaze. “As his alpha, since you’ve given him a temporary mark, you can release calming pheromones appropriately.” The doctor’s feet stayed rooted for only a few seconds before he turned and left.
“Brother…” Shi Yuxing softly called after him. The family doctor turned. The person on the bed smiled at him. “Thank you.”
The doctor’s gaze was heavy. “Before the report comes out—no sexual activity.”
After seeing the doctor out, Shi Yuxing’s father glared at his son’s bedmate, whose face was flushed red—his gaze like that of a bloodthirsty demon, as if he wanted to eat his son-in-law alive. Gu Lingzhou probably knew he’d done wrong and timidly called out “Dad.”
Shi Yuxing exchanged a glance with his mother, who was smiling while pointing at her neck, and his cheeks grew even redder. The unbearable awkwardness made him wish he could pass out again.
The faint, ethereal fir scent brushed against his back. Shi Yuxing awkwardly shrank under the covers, scratching at Gu Lingzhou’s clothes a couple of times.
“General Gu, it’s been half a month. How about catching up with your father-in-law?” He didn’t even refer to himself as “Dad”—clearly, he was still fuming.
The large hand on his shoulder tightened slightly. Shi Yuxing looked down, then turned back and said: “You’re hurting me.” The hand dropped. His father’s eyes grew even wider, his tone brooking no refusal: “The study.”
Wait a minute! Where were those two hiding? They wouldn’t be in the study, would they?
The mattress rebounded. Shi Yuxing grabbed the hem of Gu Lingzhou’s clothes, his eyes clearly asking whether the other two were hidden well enough. Gu Lingzhou gently removed his hand, nodding for him to rest assured. Only then did Shi Yuxing’s tense nerves relax.
…
Gu Lingzhou sat face to face with Shi Yuxing’s father. Two waves of alpha pheromones instantly spread through the study—with A-grade being crushed by S-grade.
“You feel different from last time.” His father stood up, the glass of the bookcase reflecting his sharp brows and eyes.
In the silence so deep you could hear a pin drop, facing his father-in-law, Gu Lingzhou had nothing to say.
The book closed. The man renowned in the business world looked over. “Compared to your eloquence last time, you’ve regressed.” He placed the book back on the shelf. “I don’t want to be harsh with you. You are the Empire’s General, the Supreme Commander—I have no right to criticize you. However.” His father’s eyes narrowed, sizing up this person who felt off to him.
“However, as Shi Yuxing’s father—your father-in-law—I was angry that you didn’t check on Yuxing’s condition for years. I even regretted agreeing to your grandmother’s arranged match.” Shi Yuxing’s expression remained still, but turmoil churned inside him. He opened his mouth to explain, but his father’s footsteps silenced him. “You promised me last time that you’d protect my son. And now, because of your selfish desires, his secondary gender has changed.”
He stopped about four or five meters away from Gu Lingzhou. “However, I can’t blame you entirely—even we didn’t know Yuxing’s gland could mutate… Is there anything you want to say?”
Gu Lingzhou stood up, his posture straight and tall, his superior facial features shrouded in gravity. His dark eyes were serious and cautious, the fir scent shaking the cold snow off the branches as A-grade pheromones were suppressed.
“Dad, I’ve confirmed some things during this time.” The Empire’s General spoke with force. “I think you know that three years ago, Grandmother approached you to arrange our marriage—but she wasn’t genuinely looking for someone of equal status for me.”
His father paused. He’d thought about it before—why would the Gu family’s only grandson, an Imperial General and S-class alpha, specifically choose their beta son? Though the Shi family wasn’t poor, in terms of wealth and power, they were far below the Gu family’s stature.
Gu Lingzhou admitted frankly: “My parents’ deaths are connected to her. I sensed early on that she was doing things behind my back. So during those three years, even when I wasn’t around, I secretly had people protecting Yuxing. I couldn’t figure out Kolia’s movements, nor the reason behind them—but during this time, I’ve found the answer.”
“She’s conducting biological experiments. My parents and Yuxing could very well have been her test subjects.” Gu Lingzhou had suspected this ever since he saw that journal last night. The reason he hadn’t said anything was because Shi Yuxing’s condition wasn’t right.
The person before him was Shi Yuxing’s father—his love for his son needed no examination. That was why he dared to lay everything out.
Even having weathered many storms, his father had never heard of such a thing. He sat down and waved for Gu Lingzhou to do the same, his expression serious: “Tell me in detail. What’s going on?”
“Yesterday, Yuxing discovered a laboratory hidden beneath the security room in the Old Mansion. Inside were human body parts.”
His father’s expression turned grave as he nodded for him to continue.
“Kolia has an illegitimate, sick child. So I suspect,” Gu Lingzhou took a deep breath, “she’s conducting human experiments to trade for this illegitimate child’s health.”
“!” A look of shock hung on his father’s face. After a long moment, his chest heaved: “I see. Then your parents…”
Gu Lingzhou frowned. “They weren’t in there. I watched them being cremated that year.”
His father looked up and reached out to pat his shoulder. “My condolences. I can somewhat understand what happened three years ago now… But one more thing—where’s your ring? Xingxing doesn’t wear his, and I don’t push it, since surgery makes it inconvenient. But you? Did you marry him because you love him, or because you were obeying your grandmother’s orders?”
The atmosphere turned stiff. His thin lips trembled slightly before pressing together. Then Gu Lingzhou looked up, his dark, bright eyes saying: “I love him.”
The upright young man had a straight nose, gentleness spilling from his brows and eyes. A question Shi Yuxing had asked him long ago now had a clear answer. He loved him—that was why he couldn’t control his madness when Shi Yuxing got close to other versions of himself, wanting to possess him completely.
Even before the marriage, he’d subconsciously regarded Shi Yuxing as his own. The forceful marriage was simply to prevent him from becoming anyone else’s wife.
Anyone who tried to steal him away, he wanted to eliminate without a trace. If he weren’t a well-educated person, there would probably be a murderous tumor in society.
Gu Lingzhou pulled out the ring on his necklace, coexisting with the medals on his uniform—both equally dazzling.
“I love him.”
…
“Why did you make Dad stay to cook? You’re terrible.” Shi Yuxing saw through Gu Lingzhou’s little scheme, poking his corded arm twice. “Where did those two run off to? They’re going to beat you up again when they get back.”
The General showed no shame. “Dad said he wanted to make you something to eat. Those two are in the starship. Once Mom and Dad leave, I’ll call them back.” His lips brushed against Shi Yuxing’s hair, pecking it quickly.
The room was now just the two of them. The calming pheromones in the air made Shi Yuxing comfortably burrow into Gu Lingzhou’s embrace.
“What did Dad say to you? You’re pretty impressive—you managed to cool his anger and even got him to smile and call you ‘Lingzhou.’” Shi Yuxing looked up, his beautiful features nuzzling against Gu Lingzhou’s chest twice. “What are you smiling about? Talk to me—what did you two say?”
“Nothing much.” Gu Lingzhou tightened his arms around his waist, landing a kiss on his cheek, deflecting: “You can call me Lingzhou too.”
Shi Yuxing instantly shrank back. “I’m not calling you that.”
His dark eyes carried unreadable emotions. Gu Lingzhou tickled his stomach. Shi Yuxing grabbed his wandering hand. “What are you doing? Tickling me—mm, let go.” Even his annoyance sounded like coaxing. Gu Lingzhou rested his chin on his head. “Call me husband and I’ll stop.”
“No. Why don’t you call me husband instead?” Shi Yuxing turned the tables. Gu Lingzhou tickled him until tears streamed down his face, but he gritted his teeth and held out. “I won’t, I won’t—go ahead and be mad, you bastard.”
Weight settled on him, his head tilting to one side as he was pressed down onto the bed. He thought Gu Lingzhou was about to get up to something blush-inducing again, but the slightly husky voice blew hot air against his skin: “I can call you baby.”
Shi Yuxing’s resisting movements froze. “What?”
“Those two—one calls you Yuxing, the other calls you wifey. Mom and Dad call you Yuxing or Xingxing. See? Only I call you baby. Isn’t that good?” Gu Lingzhou leaned down, his eyes stubbornly fixed on him, his warm breath brushing against his lips—as if he’d bite if Shi Yuxing didn’t relent.
Shi Yuxing curled his lips into a faint smile, then thought of something. “How come you gave up ‘wifey’? Before, you were—mm…”
Softness covered his lips. Gu Lingzhou licked at the gaps, the fir scent burrowing into his nose. After a wet kiss, Shi Yuxing’s eyes rimmed with red, the left side of his chest pounding fast.
“I didn’t give it up. I’ll get it back eventually, baby.” With that, the soft fir scent pressed in again until his tongue went numb. The leaden sky covered the dome, revealing one or two scattered stars.
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