Chapter 29: Facing Each Other

Without any ventilation, the room was saturated with the heavy scent of pheromones.

After an indeterminate amount of time, Wen Xi leaned against Cheng Si’s back to catch her breath. When she finally pulled away, she noticed streaks of bright red mixed within the mess.

Her sanity slowly returned. Wen Xi paused for a few seconds, looking at the aftermath, before finally showing a shred of mercy by grabbing his shoulder and rolling him over.

The Omega’s face was a map of sweat and tear tracks. Even though he had long since drifted into a state of semi-consciousness, his brow was still furrowed. His wet eyelashes were clumped together, and the skin around his eyes was raw from crying.

Truth be told, Cheng Si’s physical preparation hadn’t been sufficient, and she had indeed been a bit too urgent. The consequence of going in without any preparation made the phrase “difficult to move a single step” a literal reality. Only yesterday she had mused that even a finger was a struggle for him; today, she had jumped straight to a “super-sized” ordeal. It was a lot to ask of anyone.

Her gaze drifted down. The Omega’s legs were curled weakly, his knees rubbed a deep red. His lean waist was covered in finger marks—it was, frankly, a startling sight. He must have been in significant pain. Otherwise, with Cheng Si’s pain tolerance, he would have remained silent and let her do as she pleased rather than nearly trying to scramble out of her arms.

Snap. the sound of a lighter sliced through the quiet air.

Wen Xi lit a cigarette expressionlessly. Amidst the rising white smoke, she reasoned that it must be because Cheng Si wasn’t as physically resilient as his build suggested, hence the fainting, rather than her performance being poor.

After finishing the cigarette, Wen Xi fished her phone out from a gap in the bedsheets. It was already past 3:00 PM.

Pei Huanzhou still hadn’t replied to her message, and she and Cheng Si had missed lunch. Usually, with this kind of absence from group activities, Jin Ping would have come to the hotel looking for them by now.

Wen Xi quickly checked the StarChat class group. Jin Ping had indeed tagged her and Cheng Si, but since they hadn’t replied, Lin Yang had stepped in. Lin Yang claimed she saw Wen Xi and Cheng Si heading back to the hotel to catch up on sleep and that they probably wouldn’t make it up for lunch.

Wen Xi took the opportunity to post that they wouldn’t be coming to dinner either. She planned to order some food and essential supplies; until tomorrow morning, she and Cheng Si likely wouldn’t be leaving this room.

She called Luo Wanran. Wen Xi didn’t have any food delivery apps on her phone, as she rarely needed them, so she usually relied on Wanran.

The moment the call connected, the sound of Wanran’s cackling laughter burst through the speaker. Wen Xi: “…What are you laughing at?”

“What do you think I’m laughing at?” Wanran’s voice was teasing. “Four hours! You and Cheng Si disappeared for four hours. If I’m not mistaken, did you finally sleep with him?” Wen Xi glanced at Cheng Si on the bed. There was no point in denying it. “Yeah.”

“AHHHHHH—!” Wen Xi pulled the phone away just in time to save her eardrums. “Why are you so excited?”

“Being excited isn’t a crime,” Wanran muttered. “Lin Yang is even more excited than I am.”

Knowing Lin Yang was involved, Wen Xi no longer wondered how Wanran knew Cheng Si was with her.

“This is your first time,” Wanran said, sounding genuinely touched. “It’s worth celebrating.” She was truly happy for Wen Xi—it was the first time she’d seen Wen Xi allow anyone to get this close.

Back then, it had taken a massive effort for Wanran to go from being a mere classmate to being Wen Xi’s only close friend. The phrase “no strangers allowed” wasn’t just a suggestion when it came to Wen Xi. She politely rejected everyone, drawing a circle around herself that no one was allowed to enter. Anyone who tried usually gave up within a few days, unable to handle her coldness.

Wanran had almost given up too, thinking Wen Xi was like a wound-up machine—cold, oppressive, and utterly devoid of the warmth one would want in a friend. Even though Wen Xi was at the top of the food chain, she didn’t inspire envy—just isolation.

Then came a school ball where all the Omegas had to change into gowns. Wen Xi refused to use the shared changing room. Wanran, thinking she was just shy, tried to give her a “demonstration” of body confidence. Wen Xi had grabbed her, gritting her teeth and forcing out a “Don’t,” while a burning red blush spread from her cold face down to her neck.

Wanran had been stunned. At that moment, Wen Xi became “human” to her. She realized that someone like Wen Xi wasn’t just a machine; she just didn’t know how to handle intimacy.

After that, Wanran became a frequent “nuisance,” determined to break through. Wen Xi, annoyed, eventually asked what she wanted. Wanran had prepared a long speech, but Wen Xi simply murmured: “I have to go home and ask my brother.”

Who asks their brother for permission to make a friend? But looking back, Wanran realized that was Wen Xi’s way of fighting for her. She hadn’t done anything heroic to enter Wen Xi’s circle; she had just stayed. She realized that this girl, surrounded by honor and praise, was most susceptible to the most common of tactics: persistence.

“Cheng Si really has something,” Wanran mused. “It took me a whole semester! He did it in a little over a month!”

Wen Xi found the comparison amusing. “It’s a different kind of relationship. Send me the hotel room number, I need you to order some food… and send over some medicine.”

Wanran hummed. “What kind of medicine?”

“The usual stuff—” “I don’t know what’s ‘usual’ for this,” Wanran said, her voice dripping with mock innocence. “Why don’t you be specific?”

Wen Xi clicked her tongue and fell silent.

Having finally won a round, Wanran laughed until she nearly cried. “Okay, okay, I get it. Anti-inflammatories, painkillers, stuff for bruising. Oh, and Omega suppressors. I remember Cheng Si’s heat is in a few days. Omegas can trigger each other’s cycles, and your pheromone level is so high, don’t go triggering his heat early…”

“Too late,” Wen Xi said flatly. “He’s already in heat.” Wanran: “…” Wen Xi: “So tell them to hurry up.”

While s*x counts as a temporary mark, it wasn’t nearly as effective as a proper nape mark. In the short time she’d been on the phone, the Omega pheromones in the room had become dense again.

Cheng Si had woken up while Wen Xi was on the phone. Perhaps the shock of the day was too much; listening to her, he realized she had no intention of marking him permanently. He accepted it with a strange calm. This was the reality of their relationship; the tenderness from before felt like a fantasy.

But he wanted to refute Wanran’s comment about it only taking a month. It hadn’t been a month. From the first time he saw her at ten years old, following his mother into the Wen household, to being introduced to her room at fifteen, to luring her into that first kiss, and finally to this intimacy at eighteen—it had been eight years. He didn’t think anyone could be more sincere than that.

Wen Xi went into the bathroom.

Cheng Si watched her silhouette through the frosted glass. A vibration broke his focus. He thought it was his phone, but it was Wen Xi’s. The screen lit up: “Dr. Pei.”

After a second of hesitation, Cheng Si did something petty: he declined the call. As expected, Pei Huanzhou didn’t call back. Cheng Si then flipped her phone face down in a corner, hiding it under a pillow.

Wen Xi came out quickly after a rinse. Cheng Si squeezed his eyes shut. He felt a cool hand take his own phone and use his thumb to unlock it. She used his account to reply to the class group chat to keep Jin Ping from getting suspicious.

She stood by the bed, inspecting the marks on him. Most of the “mess” was his own. This made her feel slightly better, as if she wasn’t a total monster. She debated carrying him to the bathroom, but then she saw his eyelashes flutter.

Why pretend to be asleep? Is he already sick of me?

Her darker instincts flared. She gave a cold huff and grabbed his leg. With her rut slightly calmed, she had more patience—and curiosity.

Cheng Si couldn’t keep up the act for long as his skin flushed red. He opened his eyes, panting softly, and tried to negotiate through his shame. “Wen Xi, can we… face to face? I want to look at you…”

“No,” Wen Xi refused. It wasn’t that she didn’t want him to look; it was just that with their height difference, facing each other made things difficult to… fully enjoy.

Cheng Si’s voice shifted into broken, melodic notes. His face was burning. Steeling himself, he moved back, sat halfway up against the headboard, and opened himself up. “This way works… you can reach… while we…”

He couldn’t finish the sentence, but Wen Xi understood. Her eyes grew interested.

“Then hold on tight,” she said casually, leaning in and pointing at his hands gripping his own thighs. “Don’t let go.”

Cheng Si nodded, tilting his head back like a sacrifice.

“It’s not just about going deep…” Cheng Si, his mind hazy, didn’t forget to “coach” her on how to do better. “Try… elsewhere…”

His voice was deep, sexy enough to make her scalp tingle. Wen Xi was a dedicated student. When she finally looked up from the “soft cotton candy,” his face was flushed, the painful expression gone, replaced by the most passionate feedback.

He had well-defined abs. Wen Xi’s shape was less obvious.

Cheng Si, sensing her thoughts even through the haze, pointed to his lower abdomen with tear-filled eyes: “Wen Xi… it’s reached here.”

Wen Xi wanted to swear. She couldn’t handle him saying such provocative things with such a serious tone. This time didn’t last as long. She buried her head in the crook of his neck, sniffing his gland and breathing heavily through gritted teeth. The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she got. She felt like she was being played.

After a moment, she tried to sit up, but Cheng Si—drenched in sweat and barely conscious—pulled her back. He looked at her with a watery, pleading gaze. “Don’t go yet…”

Wen Xi didn’t plan on listening, but Cheng Si knew her temper well. He kept his eyes shut, his muscles tense, working hard. Then he whispered:

“I don’t want it to leak out.”