After being moved to tears by the sworn enemy's pheromones - Chapter 15

Shen Jin and Gu Yu agreed that the first visit would be on Saturday afternoon, conveniently when there was no training.

Gu Yu woke up to exercise, made some ice cream puffs, and started baking two cans of butter cookies before Shen Jin came knocking on the door.

He opened the door and glanced Shen Jin up and down, looking displeased. “What’s with this attitude? Weren’t you supposed to show up in a maid outfit?”

Thinking about the disdainful attitude of a domineering CEO, Shen Jin maintained his composure. He squeezed in and replied, “Well, boss, you have to provide the uniform.”

The lingering scent of the oven filled the air. As Shen Jin passed by the dining room, he grabbed a puff and praised, “These are delicious.”

Gu Yu was about to scold him for touching the food without permission but refrained, considering that Shen Jin might lower his head apologetically, cry, and severely affect their work progress. Instead, he remained silent and went to thaw the meat they would eat that night.

Throughout the day, Shen Jin could clearly feel that Gu Yu was stricter than the average capitalist.

Gu Yu criticized him for being 26 seconds late, complained about the slippery floor affecting his walk, and then said the glass wasn’t clean enough. After Shen Jin wiped the glass two or three more times, Gu Yu found fault again, saying it was too clean and that people might not notice the glass and bump into it.

“If it’s supposed to be clean, why complain now?” Shen Jin retorted. “If someone bumps into it despite being clean, they should check their brain before and after the collision.”

Gu Yu lifted his head from the calculus problem and said, “Talking back will cost you.”

He added, “I’m deliberately being harsh on you.”

“…Understood,” Shen Jin muttered, feeling defeated.

Gu Yu was clear about his intentions in saying so, but Shen Jin didn’t find it particularly harsh. Instead, he thought Gu Yu was extremely childish. He then asked for a piece of paper and cut it into the shape of a strawberry to paste on the glass as a marker. “Alright, this way, no one will bump into it.”

Gu Yu scrutinized the pattern sensitively and asked, “Is this a strawberry?”

“How could it be?” Shen Jin denied. “Clearly, it’s a thick carrot.”

After successfully deceiving Gu Yu with the abstract pattern, Shen Jin hesitated around before finally saying, “Mr. Gu, can you check it out?”

As the sun set, Gu Yu was deeply engrossed in solving a calculus problem. The sunset cast a rosy glow on his straight nose, making his profile even more captivating. Shen Jin looked at him, unconsciously wanting to stay by his side a bit longer, probably to mooch off the dinner he would cook later.

But Gu Yu was stuck on a math problem, and when he glanced around, he said, “Hmm, it’s fine.”

Shen Jin watched Gu Yu continue to write and calculate on the paper. He tightened his grip, feeling a bit disappointed as he thought about leaving. Unexpectedly, at that moment, Gu Yu looked up and said, “Leaving? Didn’t you promise me special service?”

In an instant, the background music in Shen Jin’s mind changed from “Melancholic Youth Music” to “Lively Tune of Tonight I Play the Trumpet for My Brother.” He frowned and asked, “I always sell skills, not my body. When did I agree to something like that?”

But Gu Yu dropped the pen without saying a word, only his breath heavy.

Soon, he got up and approached Shen Jin, his voice suppressed with urgency. “You promised me at the bubble tea shop—so stay with me until dawn.”

As Shen Jin’s mind raced to figure out how to get out of this, Gu Yu, unusually, tried to keep him, even awkwardly pulling him into his arms and saying, “Senior, I suddenly…I’m in my susceptible period.”

Shit, here we go again.

Shen Jin’s heart rate accelerated physiologically, and he couldn’t help but recall the embarrassing scene when he was cleaning himself during military training. The innate attraction between alphas and omegas seemed destined to hinder his rivalry with Gu Yu. He even suspected that if things continued like this, he would eventually have to remove his glands just to have a proper fight with Gu Yu.

The warm glow outside the window was intense. When Shen Jin came to his senses, he found himself already ensnared in Gu Yu’s arms, the latter unable to control himself as he rubbed his furry head against Shen Jin, saying, “I paid for it.”

Shen Jin’s breath almost stopped, but he refused to expose his embarrassment and immediately replied, “No need to remind me, I know.”

He then generously raised his hand, rubbing Gu Yu’s head more like an alpha, and said, “I’m not leaving.”

What else could he do? Being soft-hearted, giving a hug wouldn’t hurt.

Gu Yu made a low hum, his arm tightening visibly. It seemed he really enjoyed having his head petted by an omega.

Shen Jin felt the grip was a bit tight, but rather than breaking free, he wanted to mock Gu Yu. “If I remember correctly, didn’t you write a book called ‘I’ve Always Been Good at Controlling Myself During Susceptible Periods’?”

From being a holy monk to being completely unrestrained, Gu Yu could even hug his mortal enemy, yet he called that good self-control?

But as soon as he said that, Shen Jin knew he shouldn’t provoke an alpha in his susceptible period. Gu Yu’s Adam’s apple trembled, and he tightened his arms even more, his breath heavy as he replied, “If I really couldn’t control myself, you’d be screaming under the pillow by now.”

Even though his shoulders ached, Shen Jin’s mouth wouldn’t give in. “Heh, I’m not the type to scream, Senior. I never make a sound even when I’m doing it myself, unless I’ve been drinking.”

He changed his mind, wanting to see how far he could push the usually calm Gu Yu. He couldn’t really let him go berserk—he could tell Gu Yu was struggling hard to restrain himself. “Senior is so meticulous, are you planning to tell me which finger you used?”

Shen Jin deliberately replied, “I’ll let you know about more than one finger.” But seeing Gu Yu suppress his trembling breath, Shen Jin’s conscience finally kicked in. He backed off a bit and asked, “Did you take the suppressant?”

Gu Yu’s eyes, red from emotions, resembled those of a starving beast. His tone was both aggrieved and stubborn, “Took it at noon.”

He seemed emotionally agitated, after all, an omega was in front of him, one he could pin down but couldn’t devour. Shen Jin belatedly realized that Gu Yu had endured the entire afternoon in his susceptible period.

No wonder he kept nitpicking. It had been two or three hours and he still hadn’t finished that calculus problem.

Different alphas had different behaviors during their susceptible periods. Shen Jin guessed that Gu Yu was probably the type who was extremely restless physically but low-spirited psychologically.

This guy had always been calm and composed. He probably even despised his own uncontrollable appearance driven by alpha instincts.

So Shen Jin quickly patted him on the back. “It’s okay, Senior. You didn’t take my money for nothing.”

Omega pheromones had a soothing effect on alphas during susceptible periods. Although Shen Jin’s pheromones weren’t strong, they were the type many alphas liked. As the scent subtly wafted around, it became sweet and dense in no time. Gu Yu finally seemed to find some comfort, and the atmospheric pressure wasn’t as low anymore. “But… I still can’t solve that calculus problem.”

He was still worried about calculus at a time like this? Shen Jin couldn’t help but laugh inwardly and said, “It’s simple. I’ll just teach Newton and Leibniz a lesson for you.”

Facing his unreasonable solution, Gu Yu surprisingly nodded in agreement. “Okay, I’ll do it tomorrow.”

After administering another shot of suppressant from the medicine box, Gu Yu pulled Shen Jin to the couch and began to silently smell the scent on his body from behind.

The tidy living room quickly filled with silent but intense tension. Shen Jin felt like an emotionless scent dispenser and could only clench his fists, afraid that any movement might provoke Gu Yu. He wouldn’t even be able to cry holding a pillow later.

*

The end of summer didn’t come quickly, and Shen Jin didn’t know how long it had been until the person behind him moved slightly, which startled him, and he immediately said, “I don’t take medication, so that’s a separate price.”

“…” However, Gu Yu didn’t change his posture, nor did he have any intention of carrying him to bed. “Where did you go?”

Shen Jin snapped out of it and found that Gu Yu’s mood had improved a lot, so he wanted to kick himself for his stupidity. “Who knows if you alphas, when you get aggressive, want to * even with your archenemies?”

Gu Yu loosened his grip on Shen Jin’s hand and remained calm, as if the alpha who had just looked so aggrieved wasn’t him. “Remember this, when it’s inconvenient to speak, the emergency number for texting is 12110. If that day comes, you can send me in.”

Shen Jin felt like crying and laughing at the same time at Gu Yu’s seriousness. “Oh… I’ll remember, I promise to let you go to jail before you enter my body.”

“Okay.” Gu Yu nodded, then reached out from behind and opened the food delivery app. “Let’s order takeout for dinner. I’m afraid I won’t cook well myself. If there’s anything you want to eat, just say it. I feel like I’ve offended you by doing this, is a dinner enough compensation?”

He seemed reluctant to distance himself from the sweet-smelling omega in front of him. Shen Jin was amused by his overly serious demeanor but didn’t dare to laugh. “Enough. I love to eat anything, I’m not picky.”

Gu Yu doubted, “Anything? I think Senior likes sweet and savory flavors, right?”

In C City and the surrounding provinces, people generally preferred spicy food. Shen Jin didn’t dislike spicy food, but eating too much chili at once made him feel uncomfortable in the chest. So, relatively speaking, sweet and savory dishes suited him better, but he never mentioned it to anyone to avoid bothering friends to accommodate him. Thus, he was puzzled. “You can tell from that?”

“I’m not blind.” Gu Yu scrolled through the food delivery app. “This Cantonese restaurant is good. You can order, I really eat anything.”

As Gu Yu’s breath suddenly approached, Shen Jin’s heart skipped a beat, and he quickly replied, “Oh,” then lowered his head to poke around on Gu Yu’s phone. Finally, he chose stir-fried leeks with pig blood, blanched bok choy, and scrambled eggs. He said, “Is three dishes enough for two people?”

Most Cantonese restaurants in C City weren’t cheap. Shen Jin instinctively worried that Gu Yu wouldn’t be satisfied with his choice of dishes because they might be too expensive. Indeed, Gu Yu frowned and said, “Fun fact, Guangdong has the largest population in the country. With such a small order, aren’t you afraid of getting beaten up?”

Sure enough, he was rejected again.

Shen Jin immediately laughed and wanted to say, “Then let’s not eat this,” but Gu Yu asked, “They’re all vegetarian dishes, no soup either. What’s the difference between this and eating hotpot with only bean sprouts and lettuce with clear soup?”

Shen Jin was taken aback, suddenly understanding Gu Yu’s real meaning. But he didn’t forget to ridicule Gu Yu’s theoretical knowledge. “Pig blood and scrambled eggs aren’t vegetarian dishes, are they? Mothers of chickens and pigs within a five hundred mile radius would be sad to hear that.”

But Gu Yu was unreasonable. He tapped the screen to remove a dish, added roasted goose and American ginseng stewed duck, then thought for a moment and added crystal shrimp dumplings, which Shen Jin had lingered on the screen the longest earlier. Gu Yu said, “Three dishes and a soup, plus a snack. It’s just enough for two adult men. I have a long susceptible period, Senior, don’t think about torturing me.”

“…Who wants to torture you?” Shen Jin got a headache as soon as he heard about the long susceptible period. “And it’s not like you’re spending my money…! You’re already 189cm tall, what else do you want to grow?”

But as he became aware of something pressing against his back out of nowhere, Shen Jin’s spine stiffened. He suddenly felt that Gu Yu had grown too much in the past few years. It was also in that moment that Gu Yu quickly pushed him away and stood up to leave the living room, almost stumbling over his own feet.

Blaming the fabric for being too thin, Gu Yu quickly handed him the phone. “I… need to take a shower. When the food arrives, please take it. The phone unlock pattern is drawing the number 5.”

Shen Jin held Gu Yu’s phone, unable to lift his head, but his voice sounded quite calm. “Okay, don’t make the shower water too cold. Drastic temperature changes aren’t good for the body.”

Out of alpha dignity, Gu Yu retorted, “It’s not that drastic of a change,” but half a second later, he got mad and rushed to the bathroom, muttering, “I won’t tell Senior anymore.”

Shen Jin was puzzled, feeling the alpha’s emotions fluctuating greatly during his susceptible period. “It’s not like you can really feel the difference in size… Why are you feeling wronged now?”

But as he looked down at the phone in his hand, he couldn’t help but smirk, his fingertip pausing on the picture of the plump and cute shrimp dumplings.

Since childhood, he had been known for being unpretentious about food. Occasionally, when he had the chance to go out to eat with his family, he would just wait for his younger siblings to order. So, in his 20 years of life, this seemed to be the first time someone had seriously asked about his taste in food during a meal.

In the past, Du Jiao would always pull him away from the restaurant entrance, saying, “What’s so good about these? They’re all junk food, and they’re so expensive. You were also at fault yesterday when Mom hit you. I’ll buy you an ice cream cone later, let’s go quickly.”

Shen Yuecheng was also a loving father. “There are only four shrimp dumplings in one order. It’s rare to go out once in a while. Would you let your younger siblings have some?”

There were originally four children in the family. Shen Yuecheng looked at Shen Jin, who was holding back tears and didn’t say a word with his chopsticks in his mouth, and probably felt he should say something more, so he added, “Yuan Yuan really likes shrimp dumplings and wants to eat two. Brother, give him a chance. Grandma will make you something even tastier at home, okay?”

Shen Jin glanced at his father and obediently nodded.

His parents hadn’t even tasted one themselves, so he didn’t really have the right to ask for more.

Looking at the takeaway picture in front of him now, he was angry at his own weakness: it was just a portion of crystal shrimp dumplings, did he have to be so happy as if he had never eaten them before?

The lights from the windows illuminated the whole street. Shen Jin thought he had completed today’s task and didn’t feel there was any follow-up work to be done. So he just kept swiping on his phone, thinking: I’ll eat a couple more later, let’s annoy Gu Yu first.