The Marked Alpha Is Extremely Hard to Coax - Chapter 23

After Jiang Yunbian finished wandering outside the campus and was heading back to his dormitory, someone covered his mouth on the seventh floor and dragged him towards the stairwell.

 

“Stop right there, robbery! Hand over the snacks you bought while skipping class!” Xu Zhan said fiercely.

 

But before he could gloat for long, Jiang Yunbian grabbed his wrist, rendering him immobile. “You’ve got some nerve, even daring to stop me.”

 

Xu Zhan was dragged back to Dorm 705, howling, “Enough already, bro! I’m just an ordinary Alpha who can’t withstand the abuse from a higher-level Alpha like you.”

 

Jiang Yunbian seemed to have thought of something and released his grip, seeing Zheng Xinglin coming back from the balcony with a look of shock.

 

“Hello, I’m visiting again,” he greeted insincerely.

 

Zheng Xinglin adjusted his glasses. “Please.”

 

Xu Zhan twisted his wrist and said, “Yunbian, I’ve noticed you’ve become more violent lately. This isn’t good.”

 

Jiang Yunbian was silent for a while, then suddenly looked at his fingertips. “Really?”

 

Xu Zhan saw an opportunity and continued, “Yes, you need to know that if you don’t control yourself now, it will only get worse. Today you’re hurting an old friend, but tomorrow you might be tormenting a lifelong partner…”

 

Zheng Xinglin thought Xu Zhan was exaggerating more and more. According to normal logic, the school bully would have picked up a chair to knock some sense into him, but unexpectedly, Jiang Yunbian just sat in a chair, seeming to be in a daze.

 

“We should love peace and stay away from violence. Do you understand?” Xu Zhan said, patting Jiang Yunbian’s head affectionately.

 

Jiang Yunbian paused for a moment, then suddenly placed his hand on Xu Zhan’s wrist. “Xu Zhan.”

 

“Huh?” Xu Zhan noticed something was off. Jiang Yunbian seemed unusually docile lately.

 

“If one day I can’t control myself, please sacrifice yourself and then send me to prison.”

 

“Actually, I could just send you to prison directly.”

 

Jiang Yunbian was about to scold him some more when he suddenly heard a knock on the door.

 

Instinctively, he went to the balcony and closed the door, facing Zheng Xinglin who was in the middle of washing up.

 

When Xu Zhan opened the door in confusion, he finally realized why Jiang Yunbian’s behavior seemed so out of place—he was genuinely unhappy with Zhou Die.

 

“Brother Zhou, is something up?” Xu Zhan asked with a smile.

 

Zhou Die stood at the door, and without the light in his eyes, he looked quite intimidating.

 

“Is Jiang Yunbian here?”

 

Xu Zhan thought, as expected, but his answer was, “No, he hasn’t come back yet, has he?”

 

He thought his tone and demeanor were neutral, neither overly formal nor overly casual, but Zhou Die’s single glance made him feel inexplicably guilty.

 

He almost apologized and pulled Jiang Yunbian from the balcony to face Zhou Die.

 

Fortunately, Zhou Die didn’t ask further and returned to his dorm.

 

When Jiang Yunbian heard the quiet outside, he let out a sigh of relief and noticed Zheng Xinglin looking at him with curiosity.

 

“Brother Jiang, I might be overthinking, but I feel like you and Zhou Die…”

 

“Yes, you’re overthinking,” Jiang Yunbian waved his hand. “Your mind is so full it could form concentric circles.”

 

Zheng Xinglin smiled and put away his toiletries. “I always thought you were quite cold.”

 

Jiang Yunbian was puzzled. “Do I look very warm now?”

 

Zheng Xinglin smiled again. “No, it’s nothing.”

 

Xu Zhan knocked on the balcony door. “He’s gone. Have you hidden enough?”

 

Jiang Yunbian felt Xu Zhan must have a screw loose to think he was “hiding.”

 

He chatted idly with Xu Zhan until the lights went out and then stayed for another ten minutes before heading back to his dorm.

 

Zhou Die was sitting at his desk with the table lamp on, and Jiang Yunbian came back without acknowledging him.

 

The faint cedar scent in the air made Jiang Yunbian uneasy, so he changed clothes and went to wash up.

 

After lying on his bed and taking deep breaths, Jiang Yunbian closed his eyes. He thought he would quickly adapt to the mutual indifference from the beginning of the school year.

 

The next morning, when he woke up, Jiang Yunbian sat on his bed in silence for a long time.

 

He dreamt that he had imprisoned Zhou Die, who had many wounds but with eyes that remained indifferent and cold.

 

It seemed as if he was provoked, grabbing Zhou Die’s hair and saying, “Do you believe I’ll bite you?”

 

Damn, committing crimes in dreams.

 

He glanced back; Zhou Die was still asleep, so he quickly tidied up, washed up, and rushed to class.

 

As the door quietly closed, Zhou Die slowly sat up and rubbed his forehead.

 

*

 

Jiang Yunbian didn’t look back all morning and had no interest in taking notes during the first two classes.

 

Xu Zhan leaned back in his chair and asked, “Dog, you seem agitated?”

 

Jiang Yunbian hesitated for a moment, his irritation growing stronger. He pulled a bag of candy from his desk drawer and shoved it into Xu Zhan’s hand. “If you look back during this class, I’ll make you spit out candy.”

 

Xu Zhan: “…”

 

Jiang Yunbian, considering his recent condition and the annoying dream from last night, diagnosed himself with a problem.

 

He might be in some danger.

 

Zhou Die’s gaze shifted from the blackboard to Jiang Yunbian’s half-leaning, half-propped-up figure, with a deep look in his eyes.

 

Last night, Xu Zhaoruo had called him, but it was Jiang Yunbian speaking.

 

After Xu Zhaoruo’s question, there was a long pause with just the sound of wind, and then he heard Jiang Yunbian’s distant voice.

 

“I don’t have time to dislike anyone.”

 

It sounded arrogant and reckless but was actually evasive. Jiang Yunbian was indeed quite interesting.

 

The normally lazy person suddenly straightened up, and Zhou Die saw him tear out a sheet of draft paper from his desk drawer. Seemingly dissatisfied with the beginning of what he wrote, he tore out another sheet. The discarded paper was held down by his left hand, revealing a corner.

 

A dorm transfer application.

 

Zhou Die’s pen, which had been resting on the desk, was lifted again as he looked back at the blackboard without glancing at Jiang Yunbian.

 

Jiang Yunbian only managed to complete the transfer application during the last class. When he reached the teacher’s office, he was puzzled. He had had a fierce argument with Zhou Die before, and later they ended up in the same dormitory. Didn’t the homeroom teacher ever inquire about the harmony of their dorm life?

 

…But he definitely needed to change dormitories now, and he had to find time for a psychological assessment.

 

At this time, most students had gone to the cafeteria. Jiang Yunbian originally planned to leave the application on the homeroom teacher’s desk and leave, but he unexpectedly ran into Zhou Die at the stairway.

 

Jiang Yunbian’s hand rested on the handrail, and as he looked up, the light falling from Zhou Die’s hair illuminated his pupils, allowing him to see the color of his eyes clearly.

 

A light brown, with distinct eyelashes.

 

Jiang Yunbian’s immediate reaction was to turn and leave, but he heard Zhou Die’s voice tinged with mockery behind him: “Jiang Yunbian, what are you hiding from?”

 

“Huh? Hiding? Are you joking?” Jiang Yunbian turned around and took a couple of steps back, realizing he was indeed trying to avoid Zhou Die. “I’ve never avoided anyone in seventeen years. You should get your eyes checked.”

 

“Jiang Yunbian, let’s talk,” Zhou Die said calmly as if giving an order. Despite the nearly two floors of distance between them, Jiang Yunbian still stopped in his tracks.

 

It was as if he was compelled by an Enigma-like presence, sensing Zhou Die’s emotions.

 

Just talking.

 

When Zhou Die reached the stair platform, Jiang Yunbian glanced at him, seemingly prepared but hesitated for a moment before turning into the restroom on the same floor.

 

Jiang Yunbian wasn’t sure about his current state, but the restroom stall seemed to be the best place to avoid risks.

 

Zhou Die heard the sound of the door locking. His emotions, which had been settled, suddenly flared up. He looked at the locked stall and had the impulse to drag the person inside out and confront him face to face about what was bothering him.

 

“Zhou Die,” Jiang Yunbian called out, then hid his application in his pocket. “Don’t come in. We can talk like this.”

 

“…Speak.”

 

“Ahem, it’s about that night at your place.”

 

“Don’t worry. The Zhou family won’t force you to do anything. It’s my fault, and you have the right to ask for any form of compensation.”

 

Jiang Yunbian was stunned for a moment before realizing Zhou Die was referring to the Zhou family’s offer for a “recommendation.”

 

“It’s not about that. It’s about that night, I wasn’t… wasn’t like that,” he fumbled, scratching his head. “What I want to say is about the next day.”

 

Ugh, why is it so hard to say this?

 

Zhou Die seemed to recall and raised an eyebrow thoughtfully.

 

Jiang Yunbian’s emotions didn’t seem to be going towards disgust but rather confusion.

 

Was he struggling with something different from Zhou Die?

 

“Take your time. I’m listening.”

 

Jiang Yunbian wiped his face: “You know, I’m an Alpha, and it seems my rank is quite high. We had an involuntary marking relationship before, and our pheromones have been affecting each other.”

 

When Jiang Yunbian spoke without a bite in his voice, it was actually quite pleasant, clear and fresh like his mint-scented pheromones, with a unique youthful purity.

 

“What are you trying to express?”

 

“Zhou Die, I’ve had tests done before, and there were several indicators that didn’t meet the standard.” Jiang Yunbian pressed his forehead. “I might be one of those more aggressive Alphas, and after being affected by pheromones, I might do extreme things.”

 

Zhou Die caught the key words and couldn’t help but smile: “Extreme things?”

 

Jiang Yunbian paused, and a memory flashed in his mind of a rainy night when he was fifteen.

 

That day was the most out of control he could remember, with an Alpha he had provoked lying on the ground, bleeding, saying, “Jiang Yunbian, if you were me, you might not be able to control yourself better than I do.”

 

Jiang Yunbian felt an itch at the back of his neck and realized he hadn’t taken his suppressants today.

 

As soon as this thought became clear, the anxious and restless feeling gradually evaporated from his chest, and he struggled to control his increasingly chaotic pheromones. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

 

Zhou Die paused outside the door, realizing that Jiang Yunbian hadn’t had a proper education on physiology. But it wasn’t entirely Jiang Yunbian’s fault; perhaps he hadn’t anticipated meeting an Enigma.

 

That’s why he mistook his need for his own pheromones as Alpha possessiveness and developed a series of wrong ideas.

 

Jiang Yunbian had initially misunderstood the problem.

 

The mint scent was still present on his skin. Zhou Die remained composed and didn’t feel “threatened,” but the person behind the door spoke with an increasingly weak voice, “I don’t want to become an Alpha who harms others.”

 

Although it was a warning, his voice was so soft and gentle, making one want to comfort him.

 

How could someone so introspective become radical and obsessive?

 

Zhou Die retrieved suppressants from the closet and knocked on the door. “Jiang Yunbian, open the door.”

 

“…Are you crazy? Just leave.”

 

“I’m a bit stubborn and want to see your ulterior motives,” Zhou Die’s voice carried a hint of light-hearted provocation. “If you’re capable, open the door and mark me.”