ACBAM 4: Fever

The rain seemed to be falling harder and harder, crackling loudly as if it were pounding directly into Su Shijin’s head, leaving him dazed and disoriented.

He hadn’t had a drop of alcohol, yet he still felt a little dizzy.

Su Shijin rubbed his temples, thinking maybe it was because Gu Weiyang had revealed too much in his words, to the point that his brain had stopped functioning.

And also, the trap Gu Weiyang had set earlier was just too deep. He had sensed something at the start, but he still stepped into it with both feet. Now that the words had already been said, it was hard to take them back.

Su Shijin almost laughed from frustration. He really hadn’t expected Gu Weiyang to dig a pit for him with his words.

It was only their first meeting, and he was already completely overturning the impression the media had given him

“Mr. Gu, I really don’t understand. Even if it’s like you said—leaving the Gu family and wanting to work hard—why do you have to marry me?”

Su Shijin simply laid it all out. “What’s so good about marrying me that makes you this determined?”

So determined that you would even sign such an unequal agreement.

Only now did Su Shijin truly understand.

This blind date today—since it wasn’t the Gu family wanting to form an alliance with the Su family—then it must’ve been Gu Weiyang’s own idea.

Gu Weiyang wanted to marry him, and had even prepared this agreement that left him with no reason to refuse.

It was strange. “Mr. Gu, did you know me before?”

Gu Weiyang’s eyes flickered slightly. He shook his head. “No.”

Su Shijin’s lips parted slightly in surprise.

If they didn’t know each other, why had he sought him out?

Su Shijin felt like he was being buried under a flood of questions.

Gu Weiyang thought for a moment and said, “But there is a reason I chose you.”

Su Shijin straightened up. “What is it?”

“The condition for leaving the Gu family is marrying an omega.”

“Huh??”

What kind of condition is that?

Maybe because his confusion was so obvious in his tone, Gu Weiyang patiently explained.

“My gland is damaged, and I’m highly sensitive to most omegas’ pheromones. The doctor suggested I undergo desensitization therapy with an omega whose pheromone compatibility with mine is above sixty percent. My parents were worried I wouldn’t follow through with the treatment, so they set this condition.”

Su Shijin let out an “Ah” in realization.

So the gland damage was real. He just hadn’t expected there to be such side effects.

If that was the case, then Gu Weiyang’s eagerness to find an omega to marry suddenly made sense.

“There’s no particularly special reason I chose you. It’s just that you’re… ‘clean,’” Gu Weiyang said.

Worried that Su Shijin might misunderstand what he meant by “clean,” he quickly clarified, “Most omegas have powerful families behind them, and their intentions in marrying me aren’t simple. But you’re different.”

“Just like you said yourself, you care more about whether someone is driven than about their family background.”

Gu Weiyang chuckled lightly and added, “Among all the omegas, what caught my eye was that you’re ambitious without relying on your family.”

…

Wonderful.

Once again, Su Shijin experienced what it meant to shoot himself in the foot.

All the things he had said earlier were now being used against him, word for word.

He honestly hadn’t expected that the reason Gu Weiyang came to him would be this—just because he didn’t rely on the Su family and was different from other omegas?

This was the kind of line you’d hear from an overbearing CEO character.

A line popped into Su Shijin’s head out of nowhere, “You’re different from the other omegas. Good. You’ve successfully caught my attention.”

Su Shijin’s expression instantly went blank.

Gu Weiyang had no idea what kind of scene he was imagining in his head. He turned and picked the agreement back up.

“This agreement is just a sign of my sincerity. If you agree, we can go get a pheromone compatibility test. If everything checks out, we’ll get the marriage license, and the agreement will take effect,” Gu Weiyang said.

“I originally considered a fake marriage without registering it, but that wouldn’t fool my family.”

“The only downside for you in this agreement is that if we divorce and you remarry, you’ll carry the label of a second marriage.”

Gu Weiyang said everything he could, then handed the agreement back to him. “Su Shijin, will you reconsider?”

Su Shijin stared at the agreement now back in front of him. After a moment of silence, he reached out and took it.

Gu Weiyang had already addressed all the concerns he had.

There’s no need to deal with anyone else in the Gu family.

He could continue working as a veterinarian.

There’s no need to fulfill marital obligations. And in the end, he would walk away with half the assets.

It really did seem like there were only advantages for him, no downsides.

As for the whole “second marriage” thing, Su Shijin didn’t really care.

He didn’t have a strong need for emotional attachment, and he had never planned on forming a long-term relationship with any alpha in the first place.

Even if he agreed to this one-year contractual marriage with Gu Weiyang, whether or not he would find another alpha afterward was a question for another time.

Su Shijin paused for a moment.

He suddenly realized that he was already making all kinds of assumptions based on the premise of “If I marry Gu Weiyang.”

Originally, he had only come here to turn the guy down but he hadn’t expected to get caught by the bait Gu Weiyang had thrown out.

Su Shijin, following his judgment of what was in his best interest, took the agreement, looked up at Gu Weiyang, and said, “Mr. Gu, I need one day to think it over.”

The tension in Gu Weiyang’s shoulders eased just slightly. “Alright. Here’s my contact info.”

The two of them exchanged contact details. Su Shijin nodded and finally walked out of the private room.

The moment he stepped out of the heated restaurant, the chilly wind outside, laced with rain, gently tousled the hair on his forehead. It cleared his head a little.

Su Shijin wasn’t sure if it was the air conditioning or something else in the private room, but after sitting there a while, his head felt a little fuzzy, almost like he had a drink. Thankfully, Gu Weiyang had opened a window earlier, so it wasn’t too unbearable.

Su Shijin slowly let out a breath, thinking it might’ve been the pressure Gu Weiyang exerted on him at such close range.

Alphas naturally had a suppressive effect on omegas.

But thankfully, Gu Weiyang was an atypical alpha with damaged glands.

—

After letting the cold wind hit him for a while, Su Shijin got in the car with his umbrella.

Once inside, he didn’t drive off right away. Instead, he flipped through the agreement under the car’s interior light, page by page.

There were a lot of clauses, and from Su Shijin’s perspective, none of them seemed to put him at a disadvantage.

But he was cautious. Just because it looked fine to him didn’t mean a professional would think the same.

So after reading it through, Su Shijin gave a friend who worked as a lawyer a call.

The steady “beep-beep” of the ringing tone echoed in the car as Su Shijin tapped his fingertips casually against his knee. After about ten taps, the call connected.

Su Shijin immediately moved the phone slightly away from his ear, and even without speaker mode, a bright, energetic voice echoed through the car, “Hello??? Shijin?? How do you have time to call me at this hour?”

Su Shijin said, “Keep your voice down.”

The person on the other end immediately let out a very quiet “Oh,” then whispered, “What’s up, did you miss me?”

Su Shijin gave a small laugh. “No, I need something. Are you free to meet tomorrow? I have an agreement I need you to look over.”

The voice on the other end immediately started whining, “Oh sure, cold-hearted Su Shijin, who only remembers me when he needs something~”

“I’ll treat you to a meal,” Su Shijin said.

The person on the other end became obedient in a second, “I want to try that new dessert place that just opened!”

“Alright, then let’s meet at the dessert shop tomorrow at noon. Send me the address,” Su Shijin agreed.

A cheerful “Yay yay~” was let out from the other side. “See you tomorrow then.”

“See you tomorrow.” Su Shijin only put his phone away and started the car after hearing the call end.

—

There were far fewer cars on the way back, and the road was almost completely clear all the way home.

Because he had inevitably picked up some odors in the restaurant, the first thing Su Shijin did when he got home was take off his clothes, planning to send them to the dry cleaners tomorrow.

He hadn’t noticed anything while wearing them, but as he took them off, Su Shijin seemed to catch a faint scent of alcohol.

Puzzled, he lowered his head and brought his nose to the coat, taking a sniff. He hadn’t been mistaken—it really was the smell of alcohol.

Su Shijin clearly remembered that he hadn’t touched any alcohol today, otherwise he wouldn’t have driven home.

So where did the smell come from? Did he pick it up in the private room?

Su Shijin frowned as tried to remember, but he couldn’t recall if Gu Weiyang had drunk anything tonight.

Maybe he did drink and Su Shijin just didn’t notice.

The smell of alcohol was so faint that if he hadn’t leaned in to sniff, he wouldn’t have noticed it at all.

Because of his physical constitution, Su Shijin had an abnormally low alcohol tolerance. Just catching a whiff of it made that dizzy feeling come rushing back.

He quickly tossed the coat aside, stripped off the rest of his clothes, and went barefoot into the bathroom to take a shower.

Only after thoroughly washing off the lingering scent of alcohol did Su Shijin change into a comfortable set of pajamas and start packing the clothes into a bag.

Next time they meet, he should add a clause to the agreement that neither of them should drink when they’re together

Su Shijin thought.

—

Early the next morning, Su Shijin woke up feeling a bit feverish.

He took his temperature—37.3 degrees. A slight fever.

Maybe it was from catching a chill in the wind last night. The glands at the back of his neck were starting to feel a little uncomfortable too.

Su Shijin took a cold medicine tablet, and just to be safe, he stuck a suppressant patch on the back of his neck before heading out.

Although there was still a long time before his heat period, he was worried he might not be able to keep his pheromones under control at work. After a moment’s thought, he turned back to his room and grabbed a tube of suppressant.

Fortunately, Su Shijin didn’t have much work that morning—just a few kittens and puppies coming in for check-ups.

The cold medicine made him a bit drowsy. He leaned back in his office chair while holding a cup of water in his hands. His whole demeanor is soft and languid.

Ping.

His phone, lying on the desk, chimed once.

Su Shijin took a sip of water, reached over to unlock it, and saw a message pop up at the top—it was from the person he had arranged to meet at noon today.

[Oh my god! Shi Jin Shi Jin Shi Jin! Earth-shattering gossip~~~]

[Remember that eldest son of the Gu family I told you about before? Rumor has it he went on a blind date with an omega yesterday!!!]

[Which family’s omega is this easily tempted that they would marry someone like him!!]

[Wow~amazing~~]

[Insider news! The Eldest Young Master Gu seems to have split from the Gu family!!]

[Then what is that omega even after, going on a blind date with him??? They probably won’t even get the Gu family fortune!!]

[Doesn’t that mean the Eldest Young Master Gu is now both penniless and powerless?! That’s way too miserable!!!]

[What was the Eldest Young Master Gu thinking, why would he leave the Gu family??]

[Ah, but that’s not important, hehe~ I already got up and put on my cutest outfit to get ready for our date~~]

[Are you at work right now? Then I won’t bother you!]

[See you later, baby~]

[hug and kiss wildly.jpg]

…

Su Shijin slowly swallowed the water in his mouth, his eyes fixed on the line “Which omega is so easily tempted,” and let out a cold laugh.

He didn’t bother to reply—he was planning to give them a little shock in person.