After being moved to tears by the sworn enemy's pheromones - Chapter 45

Gu Yu’s heart hadn’t slowed down since a moment ago. He never imagined there would be a day when he would face this question.

Before this, he never considered that falling in love with someone could be a good thing.

Investing emotions, dividing assets, even giving someone else the power to decide his life and death—all of this seemed utterly absurd.

If it weren’t for loving his father, his mother (referred to as “Mum Dad” in the context) could have had a much smoother life—graduating from a prestigious school, with a face and personality that were both gentle and liked by everyone around him. His friends doted on him, and as long as he didn’t fall in love with that alpha, he wouldn’t have had to live in emotional abuse every day after marriage, dragging his body down until he passed away in the most painful way in his early thirties.

Before they fell in love, they were equals, childhood friends, and classmates. But after they fell in love, the omega’s vulnerability in front of the alpha was fully exposed. The marriage certificate bound him, and even if he wanted to resist, the mark in his body wouldn’t allow it.

As a child, Gu Yu witnessed such a scene once.

His father yanked Mum Dad by the hair and dragged him into the bedroom. The screams scared young Gu Yu so much that he ran away in panic. Even when Mum Dad reported these incidents to a third party, all they did was advise, “Your alpha’s wants… How can we stop that?”

In the following years, Mum Dad became increasingly numb and compliant, spending entire days without speaking. The only person who ever tried to persuade him to divorce was Gu Yu’s aunt.

She had grown up chasing after her brother and Gu Yu’s Mum Dad, witnessing all their moments of love, quarrels, and separation. In the end, she practically begged Gu Yu’s Mum Dad to leave this household and live his own life. But he just ruffled her hair like he did when they were kids and said that if he left, Gu Yu’s father would certainly abuse the child to force him to come back.

He had a chance to escape the cage, yet he often felt spiritually depressed, taking large amounts of antidepressants, sitting at the end of the bed with a pale face, looking at their wedding photo.

In the picture, the originally cold alpha gazed at him with a passion he had never shown in his life.

He couldn’t leave.

Not for anything else, but because he still cherished the bond from their childhood and their shared child.

Later, when Gu Yu was sorting through the belongings, he found a perfect score test paper at the bottom of a box. At the end of the last sequence problem, there was a note written in his father’s teenage handwriting: “Class monitor, you lost again. When will you agree to my terms?”

Mum Dad had angrily written back: “This question was too simple, it doesn’t count.”

The last stroke nearly tore through the paper, as if it pierced through all the sweet secrets of their youth.

The sunset that day dyed the entire classroom in a golden hue. The cold and handsome boy with the surname Gu suppressed a laugh as he rolled up the test paper, pretending to knock him on the forehead with indifference, saying, “You’re being naughty.”

What followed was bickering, squabbling, a sudden nervous kiss on the forehead, and the beginning of all his misfortunes.

*

“Senior…” Gu Yu looked at the omega in front of him, struggling to digest the fact that the other person liked him too.

A brief mix of shyness, joy, and nervousness filled his chest, but along with it came unease and awkwardness.

He wasn’t sure what there was about him to like. The sweetness bubbling in his heart couldn’t be suppressed, but it was so intense that it brought out a trace of bitterness.

He asked Shen Jin, “Do you know that for an omega, dating an alpha might not be a good thing?”

Images from the past years flashed through his mind, of his father visiting Mum Dad in the hospital, still carrying the scent of another omega.

Mum Dad’s sunken face, swollen eyes like two hard, cold patches of gray moss. He asked, “This time… who is it?”

“What’s the point in asking? I was drunk, it could be a client, a subordinate, or even the hotel staff. How should I know?” Father replied. “Besides, an alpha is naturally attracted to omega pheromones. You can’t blame me. I never thought about divorcing you to let someone else take your place.”

That tone was too calm, calm enough to make Gu Yu even more fearful of the relationship between alpha and omega—what kind of outcome could result from giving one’s body and soul to another person? It all seemed to depend on luck.

But in the warmly lit bedroom, Shen Jin misunderstood him, biting his lips, already red from the kiss, and asked, “Do you also think I’m someone who would be better off as an A, playing the dominant role… better off not dating an alpha?”

“…” Gu Yu thought of the little rabbit’s pitifully red eyes and immediately replied, “That’s not it, Senior. Don’t overthink it, you’re not an A at all.”

Shen Jin pretended to hit him, but Gu Yu caught his fist and pressed it down, first adjusting his breath for a moment.

Then, with a shy face, Gu Yu helped Shen Jin straighten his messy bangs, lowered his gaze to look at him, and only spoke after a long pause. “If you want to date, we can, but… we need to set some ground rules first.”

Shen Jin looked aggrieved but resigned to his fate, muttering, “Fine, whatever Young Master Gu says.”

Is there an omega more miserable than him? He even had reason to believe that Chopin and Beethoven composed their tragic piano pieces with him as inspiration.

He thought Gu Yu would forbid him from casually kissing, hugging, or snuggling, which made him feel extremely wronged. But the next second, Gu Yu suddenly said, “Senior knows… my parents’ marriage was a complete failure, and the ending was very tragic.”

Shen Jin was startled, immediately focusing his attention, his eyes becoming more serious.

In the warm breeze, Gu Yu moved half a step closer, pulling Shen Jin’s jacket to make sure he wasn’t cold before he spoke.

Logically, he could have simply rejected Shen Jin outright, saying that the kiss was mutual and nothing more. But he would rather rip open his festering wounds and show them to Shen Jin, than let him be hurt because of his “irresponsibility.”

He said, “Of course, I know that such an example doesn’t represent everyone, but the 1% of cases in the vast database fully covered my past life. I might not be able to overcome all my psychological issues right away to be a good, proactive, and passionate boyfriend. I’m still afraid that our relationship might turn out like my parents’.”

In other people’s eyes, his senior was a resilient person, not fragile or easily broken, and seemed capable of handling some setbacks. But in Gu Yu’s eyes, Shen Jin was someone he wanted to protect dearly, yet someone he didn’t dare to even touch.

He wasn’t sure what “love” might bring to Shen Jin after taking this step forward.

“If you really want to, we can be together right now.” He nervously yet tenderly squeezed Shen Jin’s wrist and said seriously, “But Senior, remember, when facing someone like me, who doesn’t talk much and has a cold personality, you absolutely can’t tolerate me if I make you sad.”

Shen Jin murmured something but was interrupted by Gu Yu: “First, if I say something that hurts you, you must get angry and not endure it. Second, if I make any fundamental mistakes, you absolutely can’t forgive me.”

Shen Jin’s temperament was too good, so good that Gu Yu always felt that this guy was the typical omega who could easily be hurt by an alpha.

Worried sick, Gu Yu continued, “Third, unless you’re absolutely certain that there’s no one else for you in this life, you mustn’t let me mark you permanently. Got it?”

He had pretty much said everything he needed to, except perhaps suggesting that Shen Jin give up on dating alphas altogether and spend his life happily gaming with his friends until old age. Shen Jin, however, looked at him with a complex emotion in his eyes, listening quietly.

In the quiet night, Gu Yu thought Shen Jin might blame him for saying too much, but instead, Shen Jin didn’t say a word. He simply moved forward to hug him, giving his warmth entirely to Gu Yu’s embrace.

The furry head nudged him, causing Gu Yu’s heart to tremble. Instinctively, he protected Shen Jin’s body.

“Okay, I understand.” Shen Jin’s voice was low, like a warm spring bubbling up in winter. He said, “We can start by pretending to be a couple, trying out this new dynamic for a while. If you still can’t accept it, then we can break up.”

Gu Yu stroked Shen Jin’s back, his eyes filled with emotion.

But Shen Jin was gentle enough. He buried his face and said, “However, before we start… I also need to declare something. I think your so-called cold personality isn’t real; you just like to pretend otherwise.”

Gu Yu was momentarily stunned and quickly defended himself: “…I do not.”

“Still denying?” Shen Jin raised his upper body, nervously but firmly hugging him tighter. “The roses were bought for me, right? If there were a Nobel Prize for the most tsundere alpha, you’d be on the judging panel scoring everyone.”

“…” Gu Yu’s heart raced uncomfortably from Shen Jin’s teasing, and he could only reply, “There’s no such Nobel Prize.”

He didn’t know what the future held for him, nor did he know what Shen Jin was laughing at with that little scoff.