Chapter 62 – Parallel Extra 01: The Scent of Memories

Gurgle gurgle…

Water… All water… Can’t move my limbs… Suffocating…

Someone wants to kill me…

As consciousness faded, a young voice broke through all barriers: “Hey! Grab my hand—! Don’t let go—you wake up, you’ll be fine—”

“I will definitely save you.”

He tried his best to open his eyes, yet couldn’t clearly see the face of that person. Who, exactly, saved me?

Ring ring—ring ring—

Morning sunlight filtered through the curtains into the top-class hotel room. Guan Heng woke up, slightly frowning, then got up to turn off the ringing alarm on his phone by the bed. The blanket slid down from his bare upper body, revealing a muscular chest and eight-pack abs.

He looked out the window, savoring every detail of the dream. He’d had this dream for a long time—nearly fifteen years now.

Every time, just a little more, and he would see that person’s face. The only thing he could remember was the faint scent of white grapes—a green, unripe tartness, the newly differentiated pheromone scent.

That smell seemed to have traveled through fifteen years of time, lingering around his nose, refusing to dissipate. Guan Heng glanced downward, then threw back the covers and got out of bed to head to the bathroom for a shower, casually taking care of his physical desires along the way.

After he finished showering and changed into his high-end custom suit, his phone screen lit up. His secretary quickly sent over the schedule for the next two days: “Vice President, today you have lunch with Mr. Gao from XX Company, and there’s an internal video conference tonight. Tomorrow, you’re going to negotiate cooperation with Zhoujishi Trade Company, and then…”

Guan Heng scanned the lines at lightning speed, already well aware of the purpose of this business trip, and quickly turned off the screen, tucking it into his coat pocket.

At two in the afternoon, Guan Heng was about to leave XX Company when the car assigned to pick him up was still nowhere to be seen.

This area was filled with office buildings, and during a regular workday, this was usually the smoothest traffic time; the driver shouldn’t be late. At that moment, Guan Heng noticed a crowd gathered in front of a nearby convenience store, making quite a racket.

And Guan Heng’s secretary was anxiously standing by the roadside on the phone: “What happened… Traffic jam? Why… What did you say? An Omega went into heat on the road…”

Just as the secretary said this, a gust of wind blew over, carrying a thick Omega pheromone scent, a sickly sweet strawberry fragrance—indicating that the pheromone owner was in heat.

Guan Heng didn’t react to this scent, but his Alpha secretary’s expression changed, hurriedly taking a pill from his briefcase and swallowing it.

It was common knowledge that Alphas were easily influenced by Omegas in heat. Instinct and desire took precedence at such times, driving them to forcibly mark Omegas. With the significant advancements in medical technology, pheromones could now be suppressed to almost undetectable levels, but accidents like these remained unpredictable.

After finishing the pill, the secretary hastily offered one to him: “Vice President, how about…”

“No need.” Guan Heng waved his hand, but his gaze remained fixed on the convenience store entrance. Clearly, the Omega’s pheromone scent that drifted out earlier had originated from inside.

Just then, an ambulance arrived. The crowd parted ways, making a path for a small Omega to be lifted onto the ambulance.

An Alpha’s senses were always keen, and Guan Heng’s were especially so. From a distance, he could hear the surrounding crowd’s conversations.

“What happened just now?”

“It seems that the Omega suddenly went into heat on the road just now. Coincidentally, an Alpha passed by, took the Omega into the convenience store restroom, and stood guard outside the restroom door until the ambulance came.”

“Wow, such close contact, smelling that scent for so long, even with the suppressant drugs wouldn’t help much.”

“Don’t know. But it does seem like they held back quite well…”

With no spectacle left to watch, the crowd gradually dispersed. At this point, the chauffeur finally arrived, repeatedly apologizing: “Sorry, there was an Omega in heat on the street, so there was traffic control…”

Guan Heng knew the car had arrived but didn’t immediately get in, his attention fixed on a young Alpha walking out of the convenience store.

The Alpha appeared fine, but beads of sweat had formed on his forehead, indicating that he was still affected. He had probably been inside the convenience store to clear himself of the scent. From a distance, Guan Heng could smell the disinfectant spray.

Seeing that Guan Heng hadn’t gotten into the car, the secretary called out: “Vice President?”

Guan Heng turned his head, but his words weren’t directed at the secretary: “How far is the traffic control intersection from here?”

“Huh?” The driver was momentarily confused before realizing he was being addressed, “Oh, about five minutes away by car.”

A five-minute drive was roughly twenty minutes on foot, not exactly close.

“Hold on.” Guan Heng left the secretary and driver behind, walking toward the young Alpha squatting by the wall to catch his breath. He wasn’t a particularly kind-hearted person, but he couldn’t explain why he was doing this, perhaps because this scene reminded him of the dream he had that morning.

Ignoring the pungent disinfectant smell, he pulled out a handkerchief from his breast pocket and handed it over.

Ye Zhou felt the light in front of him blocked. Looking up, he saw a handsome man in a suit with an innate elite demeanor. He was stunned by the man’s appearance, momentarily speechless: “Huh?”

Guan Heng extended the handkerchief again: “You’re sweating.”

Perhaps it was due to the man’s good looks or the undeniable aura that made refusal impossible; Ye Zhou simply accepted it: “Thanks.”

The handkerchief left no scent. After using it to wipe his sweat, Ye Zhou realized it seemed to be some expensive brand: “This… sorry, I’ll wash it and return it to you.”

“No need.” Guan Heng didn’t have the habit of using others’ things, nor would he take back what he gave away. Turning around to leave, he said, “No need to return it.”

Under normal circumstances, Ye Zhou could handle situations well, but the Omega’s pheromones had affected him, leaving him uncomfortable and possibly entering his sensitive period. To the man’s retreating back, he stammered for a while before saying, “Well… thank you.”

Guan Heng didn’t turn back, nor did he respond. This was a trivial matter to him, something he might forget by evening. But just before getting into the car, a very faint scent of white grapes wafted through the air. Unlike the green, unripe scent from over a decade ago, it was a refreshing aroma of fresh fruit, akin to grapes nearing ripening or grapes achieving perfect sugar content—the ideal time for winemaking.

Despite the scent changing with age, Guan Heng recognized it instantly. He turned around, but the young Alpha was no longer there.

“Vice President?” The Alpha secretary didn’t understand why Guan Heng suddenly turned back just as he was about to get in the car.

But Guan Heng ignored the secretary, lost in thought about his brief interaction with the young Alpha.

Was it him? It had to be.

In a civilized world, Alphas didn’t release pheromones casually, as it was considered a provocation by Alphas and intimidation by Omegas. Only when feeling unwell or during sensitive periods would they accidentally leak a bit of their pheromones.

Over the years, Guan Heng had struggled to find the person, partly due to not knowing their gender, name, or remembering their appearance, with only the pheromone scent remaining in his memory. But trying to find someone based solely on pheromones was like searching for a needle in a haystack, also prohibited as pheromone scent was equivalent to personal privacy, not to be disclosed without consent.

He had once thought the person might be an Omega, but never expected them to be an Alpha.