After Being Forced to Take the Role of the Scumbag Protagonist - Chapter 11

The ring didn’t fit Xu Congrong. It was an error that could be seen as large or small, depending on the perspective.

If Xu Congrong had been clever or possessed a modicum of emotional intelligence, he would have come up with a quick excuse to cover for Wu Yunzhi and spare them the public ridicule. But he was accustomed to being pampered and spoiled; there was no way he would let Wu Yunzhi off so easily. Like a pile of dry wood meeting a torch, he exploded instantly.

“Wu Yunzhi!”

His brows arched in fury as he glared at Wu Yunzhi. “What the hell is wrong with the ring you bought?”

Knowing he was in the wrong, Wu Yunzhi merely rubbed his nose and remained silent.

The scene became excruciatingly awkward.

Standing below the stage, Xu Ying watched the ring, the symbol of a vow, roll across the floor. His eyes flickered before he lowered his head, hiding his expression from the crowd.

Ultimately, it was the second sister, Xu Congxing, who stepped forward. She smoothed things over with a few polite platitudes to alleviate the tension. The guests, taking the hint, began to joke and chatter, pretending the mishap hadn’t happened.

Seeing the opportunity to escape, Wu Yunzhi picked up the ring from the floor and used the commotion as an excuse to leave.

Though he was the protagonist of this banquet, he had been distracted from the start. Anyone could see his heart wasn’t in it. He didn’t look like a willing groom; he looked like an actor being forced at knifepoint to perform a scene he hated.

His mind was still on the ailing Xu Ying. It didn’t take long for him to find the Omega in the restroom, slumped over the sink and retching.

“Did you eat something bad?”

Wu Yunzhi walked over, leaning down to check Xu Ying’s ghostly, pale face. “Should I take you to the hospital?”

“…No.”

Even now, Xu Ying was painfully aware that Wu Yunzhi was now Xu Congrong’s fiancé. He took a few steps back, trying to put distance between them.

But he seemed to have forgotten he was in a restroom. The floor was slick with water. As he retreated, his foot hit a wet patch; he lost his balance and began to fall backward.

Wu Yunzhi’s heart lurched. Instinctively, he reached out and hauled Xu Ying into his arms.

By the time Xu Ying stabilized, his head was spinning and his vision was swimming in darkness. For a long time, he simply leaned against Wu Yunzhi’s chest, trying to ground himself.

The Alpha’s body was tall and sturdy, almost completely enveloping him. With his head pressed against Wu Yunzhi’s chest, Xu Ying could hear the steady thud of a heartbeat and smell the elegant, familiar scent of Iris pheromones.

For some reason, the scent of those gentle, familiar pheromones made a surge of bitterness well up in his throat. He sniffled.

…This man had originally belonged to him.

They had held hands and embraced; they had kissed with the intensity of true lovers. Xu Ying’s reproductive cavity had even been opened by Wu Yunzhi, filled with everything that belonged to the Alpha.

They had once been the most intimate of lovers, but at some point, Wu Yunzhi had quietly abandoned him. He had left Xu Ying alone in a dream, clutching at memories that were as fleeting as the moon’s reflection in water.

An inexplicable sense of grievance flooded him. He didn’t know why he had become so sensitive lately or why his tears were so close to the surface.

Hot, salty tears quickly soaked through Wu Yunzhi’s shirt. Through the thin fabric, the staggering heat of the moisture almost felt like it was scalding the Alpha’s skin.

Wu Yunzhi’s heart skipped a beat. He looked down, his palms resting on Xu Ying’s shoulders, caught in a violent internal struggle between pushing him away and pulling him closer.

“Wu Yunzhi…”

Xu Ying began to murmur his name, his voice growing more heartbroken and pathetic with every breath. Finally, he couldn’t hold it back any longer and broke into a heavy sob.

He was just so miserable.

In a single day, his favorite boyfriend had discarded him, severed their emotional connection, and moved to marry his brother. He was powerless; he didn’t even have the leverage to win him back.

“What do I have to do… what do I have to do for you to want me again?” Xu Ying clutched Wu Yunzhi’s shirt, his words tumbling out in a mess of grief. His dark eyes were shimmering with tears, making him look like a pitiful, abandoned pup.

“I’ll give you all my money. I’ll work, I’ll earn more, I’ll do anything. I’ll help you pay off your debts… just please, don’t get married…” He sobbed. “I’ll give you everything I earn to pay back the debt, just don’t marry him…”

The sheer “love-brain” desperation of the plea made Wu Yunzhi feel a mix of amusement and profound helplessness.

“Xu Ying, of course I don’t have to marry him, but…”

But the problem is, in your subconscious dream, I’m a scumbag. I have to follow the persona you’ve designed for me, otherwise you’ll—

Before Wu Yunzhi could finish his thought, Xu Ying, who had been sobbing in his arms, suddenly wiped his eyes. He stood on his tiptoes and pressed his lips against Wu Yunzhi’s.

Wu Yunzhi: “…”

His eyes widened in shock.

This was the restroom sink area; anyone could walk in at any second. Had Xu Ying lost his mind?!

Given the patriarch’s temper—no, regardless of Old Mr. Xu’s temper, the sight of a man kissing his fiancé’s younger brother in a restroom on the day of the engagement was enough to make anyone’s head explode!

Wu Yunzhi shoved Xu Ying back, trying to bring him to his senses. But Xu Ying’s face was flushed deep red, his pupils were beginning to dilate, and his pheromones were expanding at an alarming rate.

Dammit. He’s gone into heat!

The fact that a single kiss could trigger a heat cycle left Wu Yunzhi stunned.

While an Omega’s heat can usually be resolved with a single dose of suppressants, where was Wu Yunzhi supposed to find a suppressant right now?

Before he could come up with a plan, Xu Ying sank to his knees and reached for the zipper of Wu Yunzhi’s trousers.

Wu Yunzhi: “…”

Driven to the edge, he grabbed Xu Ying’s wrists and hauled him up, dragging him into a private stall.

The moment the door slammed shut, the Omega’s pheromones exploded like a burst balloon, releasing a concentrated, cloying sweetness.

Wu Yunzhi had to use every ounce of his willpower not to pounce. He tapped Xu Ying’s cheek, trying to clear the haze in the Omega’s mind.

“I’m going to get you some suppressants. Lock the door and don’t let anyone in, do you hear me?”

Despite Wu Yunzhi’s burning anxiety, an Omega in heat has very little reason left. Xu Ying’s eyes were glassy, his forehead was beaded with sweat, and his entire body was drenched in pheromone-laden perspiration. He looked like he had just been pulled from a river.

Wu Yunzhi couldn’t let anything happen between them here. He gave Xu Ying one last instruction to lock the door, adjusted his clothes, and sprinted out of the restroom, out of the hotel, and into the night to find an emergency suppressant.

The Alpha’s sudden flight left the guests bewildered. Wu Yunzhi offered no explanation, leaving everyone to stare in confusion at Xu Congrong and the rest of the Xu family on the stage.

Xu Congrong’s face had turned a dark, thunderous shade of red.

He didn’t know where Wu Yunzhi had gone, but his dissatisfaction with the Alpha’s lack of cooperation was reaching a breaking point.

Consequently, when Wu Yunzhi finally rushed back with the suppressant in hand, Xu Congrong intercepted him. He stepped forward, his fists clenched so tight he looked ready to punch the Alpha.

“Wu Yunzhi, have you lost your mind?!”

The tension that has been simmering since Chapter 1 finally boils over into a public disaster. The “illicit affair” is no longer hidden in the shadows of the night lake or the corners of the restroom; it has exploded right in front of the patriarch and the high-society guests.

“Today is our engagement!” Xu Congrong hissed, his voice trembling with rage. “How dare you leave the hall?!”

“…Xu Ying has gone into heat.” Wu Yunzhi didn’t want to offer a long explanation. An Omega’s heat was a grueling physical ordeal, no different from a high fever, often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and extreme physical weakness. “Get out of my way. I need to give him the suppressant.”

Xu Congrong’s face grew uglier by the second.

His own fiancé, on their engagement day, had sprinted off to buy suppressants for his illegitimate younger brother. It was a joke; a massive, humiliating joke. It was as if Wu Yunzhi had taken Congrong’s pride and ground it into the dirt with his heel.

Congrong took a sharp step forward, blocking Wu Yunzhi’s path. His eyes were as dark as ink. “Wu Yunzhi,” he said, enunciating every word. “Do not forget. Today is the engagement for you and me, not you and Xu Ying.”

“Anyone can deliver that suppressant. But you cannot.”

Congrong reached out and poked Wu Yunzhi hard in the chest. “Don’t forget what you promised me.”

To be your puppet lover.

Congrong hadn’t forgotten, and neither had Wu Yunzhi.

Wu Yunzhi’s brow furrowed deeper. For a moment, he stopped moving. Xu Congrong, thinking the Alpha had finally yielded, let out a slow breath and allowed a tiny, triumphant smile to touch his lips.

He didn’t actually want to ruin his relationship with Wu Yunzhi yet. Realizing his tone had been harsh, he decided to offer a “sweet treat” after the slap, using profit to lure him back.

“What can that penniless, powerless Omega help you with? Wu Yunzhi, I have the money. Only I can truly help you.” He squinted his eyes and smiled, a practiced expression he knew made him look his most beautiful. “Yunzhi, let’s just go back. Forget about Xu Ying.”

Ideally, Congrong thought, the little brat will just burn up from the fever and save me the headache.

Wu Yunzhi looked down at the suppressant in his hand, his grip tightening. He stared at Xu Congrong for what felt like an eternity before saying quietly:

“I can’t just leave him.”

Without waiting for Congrong’s reaction, he brushed past him and strode toward the restrooms.

Because he had told Xu Ying to lock the door, Wu Yunzhi found the stall still securely shut when he arrived. No Alphas had discovered the scent and tried to force their way in yet. Relieved that he wasn’t too late, Wu Yunzhi took a moment to steady his breathing before knocking gently.

“Xu Ying,” he whispered. “It’s me.”

There was no answer from inside.

However, the scent of Xu Ying’s Omega pheromones was becoming dangerously concentrated. Several Alphas nearby were already beginning to lose their composure, peering toward the restroom area with glazed eyes.

Wu Yunzhi grew frantic. His gentleness vanished, replaced by a heavy pounding on the door. “Xu Ying!”

Still, silence.

Just as Wu Yunzhi began to fear that Xu Ying had lost consciousness from the fever, the Xu family arrived, alerted by the news of an Omega in heat.

An Omega going into heat in a public venue was a scandalous affair. Old Mr. Xu’s face was a mottled shade of blue and white; he looked ready to tear Xu Ying apart the moment the boy recovered.

The hotel management arrived as well, quickly clearing the agitated Alphas from the area. Only Betas and Omegas were left behind to care for the incoherent Xu Ying.

By all rights, Wu Yunzhi should have left, but he refused to budge. As he was mid-argument with the Xu family, a loud click echoed through the room. The stall door swung open.

The scene froze. Everyone stopped talking, their eyes glued to the small, flushed face of the Omega emerging from the stall.

Xu Ying was barely conscious. The high fever was ravaging his senses. He had heard Wu Yunzhi’s voice through the haze and struggled for a long time to pull himself off the floor to unlock the door.

Sweat dripped into his eyes, blurring his vision. He stumbled, nearly tripping over his own feet and falling flat on his face.

Wu Yunzhi, being the closest, caught him. He brushed the damp hair away from Xu Ying’s forehead to check his temperature, whispering low, soothing words to keep him still.

The suppressant was in a syringe. Wu Yunzhi pulled off the cap, intending to inject it into the gland at the back of Xu Ying’s neck. But as he leaned in, Xu Ying, driven by the primal instinct to seek his Alpha, suddenly looked up.

He pressed his lips firmly against Wu Yunzhi’s.

Wu Yunzhi’s pupils dilated. His hand, still holding the needle, went rigid. He was paralyzed by the shock.

Xu Ying didn’t stop. He began to bite at Wu Yunzhi’s lips, trying to finish the kiss that had been interrupted earlier in the night.

But Xu Ying had forgotten, or perhaps he simply couldn’t see, that he was surrounded by the entire Xu family and their guests. Everyone who had come to celebrate the union of Wu Yunzhi and his brother was watching.

He only cared about easing the agony of his heat through the exchange of pheromones. So, in front of everyone, he kissed the man who was supposed to be his brother’s fiancé.

The image was seared into the minds of the onlookers.

Xu Congrong’s expression had gone completely black. He looked like a venomous snake about to strike or a lion whose territory had been invaded. A palpable aura of darkness radiated from him. His teeth chattered from the sheer force of his rage, and his jaw muscles twitched.

A few seconds later, while everyone else was paralyzed by the scandal, Congrong lunged forward.

He reached Xu Ying in a flash, grabbed the weak, incoherent Omega by the collar, and hauled him up. Without a word, he swung his arm back and delivered a resounding, brutal slap across Xu Ying’s face.

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