ACBAM 13: Report

Clown!!!

They said he was a clown!!!!

It was bad enough that he failed to hit on him, but that damned AO couple had to mock him as a clown too!!!

The alpha was suffocating, the alpha was breaking down, the alpha felt his fragile pride had taken a massive hit, the alpha was about to explode!!

“You fucking—”

Just as the alpha was about to blow up, a companion who had been watching from behind suddenly rushed over and grabbed him around the waist.

“Fan-ge, Fan-ge, there’s no need for this.” The guy held the alpha back while signaling to the others behind him, shouting, “It’s just a failed attempt at hitting on someone, Fan-ge, It’s nothing, relax!”

“Ah, right, right, right.” The other friends watching the drama from behind finally caught on and quickly stepped in to hold back the alpha called Fan-ge.

“Come on, come on, let’s take Fan-ge for a massage to cool off.”

“Yeah, Fan-ge, it’s not even a big deal, right? Hey, there are tons of omegas out there—I’ll introduce you to someone even younger.”

Everyone around could tell these so-called friends of Fan-ge were just friends on the surface. They acted like they were holding him back to stop trouble, but in reality, they were all grinning from ear to ear, clearly enjoying the spectacle of Fan-ge making a fool of himself.

“Damn it, are you all insane? Let go of me!” Fan-ge’s forehead was practically turning purple from rage.

Even though Fan-ge was an alpha and most of his companions were betas, no matter how strong an alpha was, there was no way he could overpower four or five betas clinging to his arms and waist, forcefully dragging him away.

Only one alpha was left behind. He was a tall figure wearing gold-rimmed glasses, trailing lazily at the rear. As he passed by Su Shijin and the others, he nodded slightly and calmly apologized on Fan-ge’s behalf, “Sorry to have disturbed your meal. I hope you won’t lower yourselves to the level of that idiot.”

With that, this alpha—elegant in demeanor, yet carrying a hint of nonchalance—walked off in the direction his rowdy friends had gone.

The previously stifled atmosphere came back to life the moment that group left. People started sneaking glances at the remaining ‘couple,’ whispering about what had just happened, grinning like they were watching a show.

Su Shijin remained frozen in place until the man behind him finally stepped away, allowing his stiff body to slowly relax.

“Sorry, I just wanted to piss him off a little. I didn’t mean to cross a line,” Gu Weiyang said as he quickly put some space between them, lowering his gaze to study Su Shijin’s expression. “You’re not mad, are you?”

“No,” Su Shijin replied with a gentle smile.

He knew Gu Weiyang hadn’t done it on purpose, so of course he wasn’t upset.

He just wasn’t used to being that physically close to an alpha. Even after they had separated, he could still smell the faint scent of the alpha’s cologne on himself. It was intensely aggressive, just like the alpha himself.

As for that alpha, he was already gone, and there was no point wasting any more energy on him.

But just thinking about how Gu Weiyang had pressed up against his back earlier, the lingering warmth through his early-spring clothes made the tips of his ears heat up slightly.

Fortunately, at that moment, the wireless meal pager on the table buzzed. Gu Weiyang reached out to pick it up and gestured to Su Shijin, “Sit for a bit, I’ll go get the food.”

Su Shijin sat back down in his previous seat, nodding calmly.

It wasn’t until Gu Weiyang’s figure had completely disappeared from view that Su Shijin quietly let out a breath.

Unable to help himself, Su Shijin reached up and pinched his left earlobe, feeling how uncomfortably warm it had become.

Just now, when the alpha leaned against his back, that teasingly intimate “baby” had brushed against his ear along with a warm breath, sending shivers down Su Shijin’s scalp.

After a long moment, once he had calmed down, Su Shijin finally broke free from that enveloping, restless heat. He let go of his earlobe and slowly exhaled.

When Gu Weiyang came back carrying desserts and drinks, what he saw was Su Shijin turned slightly to the side, gazing at the scenery in the square, his ear tip faintly red from being pinched.

Gu Weiyang paused for a moment, hid the amusement in his eyes, then walked over to the table and set each dessert in front of him. “Your vanilla flavoured ice cream plus fresh orange juice and strawberry cake.”

“Thanks.” Su Shijin reached out and touched the ice cream cup first. The cold sensation instantly cooled him down quite a bit.

Good thing he ordered ice cream. He thought.

After finishing a cup of ice cream, Su Shijin felt completely calm again, and the heat in his ears had faded.

What made him feel even more at ease was that Gu Weiyang didn’t ask about that alpha just now.

It was as if the whole thing had simply passed.

Nor did he try to start any other conversation while Su Shijin was still feeling a bit unsettled. By the time his emotions had fully settled, the ice cream, strawberry cake, and half a cup of juice were already gone.

Gu Weiyang simply sat quietly across from him, his gaze resting on the children playing around the square. Every now and then, he took a sip of his coffee, looking calm and content.

Once Su Shijin had settled down, he followed Gu Weiyang’s line of sight and took the initiative to start a conversation. “You like kids?”

Gu Weiyang tilted his head slightly, as if surprised he would come to that conclusion.

“No,” Gu Weiyang said.

After a pause, he asked, “Do you?”

Su Shijin looked at the kids rolling on the ground, screaming and running wild, then subtly furrowed his brows.

“No,” Su Shijin withdrew his gaze, took a sip of juice through the straw, and said, “I don’t like them either.”

Gu Weiyang curled his lips into a smile, as if genuinely pleased to have found something in common with Su Shijin.

—

After eating and drinking his fill again, Su Shijin looked at his empty drink and finished desserts, then thought back to what he had for lunch and realized his appetite seemed a bit large.

But after observing Gu Weiyang’s expression, the alpha didn’t seem to think he had eaten all that much.

On the way to the parking lot, when they passed a street vendor, Gu Weiyang even paused and asked Su Shijin, “Want some candied hawthorn? Or candied cherry tomatoes?”

Su Shijin couldn’t resist and reached out his guilty little hand for a skewer of cherry tomatoes.

Gu Weiyang bought two skewers, gave one to him, and kept one for himself.

The two well-dressed men stood by the roadside, eating the candied cherry tomatoes before finally getting into the car.

On the way back, Su Shijin felt like even the air he exhaled was sweet.

Gu Weiyang was in a good mood too—he even picked out a song himself. As music flowed from the car’s sound system, the vehicle slowly crawled through traffic and finally reached the hospital after about half an hour.

The pheromone compatibility test reports were queued up for printing at a self-service kiosk. There were five of these machines set up in the lobby on the first floor.

Since the report release time was fixed, quite a few people were already lined up behind the machines, hoping to get their results as soon as possible.

These days, whether dating or preparing for marriage, alpha and omega couples would always come to check their pheromone compatibility first.

Studies have shown that only AO pairs with a compatibility rate above fifty percent tend to get along harmoniously. Even after marriage, it’s possible for an AO to encounter someone with a higher match rate than their current partner.

In such cases, the probability of an alpha cheating exceeds ninety percent.

Some alphas can’t control their instinctual urge triggered by pheromones, while others simply have low moral standards and believe that cheating with someone who has a higher compatibility rate is the fault of the pheromones, not theirs—blaming everything on instinct.

Because the alpha is the one who performs the marking, he can mark his own omega—or mark another omega as well.

But for an omega, once they’ve been marked for life, being marked again by another alpha would feel like being torn apart. It’s an unbearable pain.

The only way to avoid it is to remove the original mark, which involves a surgery that goes against instinct and is extremely painful.

Especially for omegas who have been marked, the influence of an alpha’s pheromones makes them extremely dependent on the alpha. Eighty percent of omegas, even after their alpha cheats, are still unable to emotionally detach. They’re even afraid of removing the mark—

Until the mark fades, and they break free from the pheromonal grip on their emotions, and reclaim themselves.

Although the country has now established the AO Marriage Law, which details the various scenarios in which alphas and omegas might cheat and outlines corresponding penalties for each.

There are still cases where omegas, after marriage, are forcibly marked a second time by a higher-match alpha and end up barely surviving. Likewise, there are plenty of alphas who get entangled with omegas that deliberately use pheromones to lure them into heat.

Determining fault in such cases is anything but simple.

But in most situations, the ones who suffer the most are the omegas.

This made Su Shijin feel that lifelong marking was a terrifying thing.

Because it meant an omega had to summon immense courage to place their trust in their alpha partner.

Su Shijin didn’t have that kind of courage. He would never trust any alpha.

Which was why he was even more grateful for the marriage agreement he had with Gu Weiyang—there truly couldn’t be a contract more suited to his current situation.

—

After about ten minutes, the line finally reached Su Shijin and Gu Weiyang.

The QR code was in Gu Weiyang’s pocket. He casually took it out and handed it to Su Shijin.

Su Shijin stood in front of him. Seeing this, he instinctively took the code and held it up to the scanner. The screen displayed the message: “Report ready. Print now?”

Su Shijin’s fingertip hovered over the screen for a moment, then tapped “Yes.”

The report began printing with a steady whir, inch by inch, tugging at his nerves—until it finally dropped from the output slot with a soft swipe.

Su Shijin reached out and took the report, his gaze moving down, skipping over all the other information and going straight to the compatibility test result.

Gu Weiyang stood beside him, lowering his head and catching sight of the final line as well.

[Certified: Omega No. 1 Su Shijin and Alpha No. 2 Gu Weiyang have a compatibility rate of 99.9%.]

…

Su Shijin’s lips parted slightly, his eyes slowly widening.

At that moment, he felt as if his heartbeat had suddenly stopped.