After Breaking Up with the Alpha Villain, I was Forcibly Marked - Chapter 9

Early the next morning.

Xing Xiyan was jolted awake by a rustling sound. The moment he opened his eyes, he was met with the sight of a man’s chest, littered with prominent bite marks.

Memories of what had transpired after he was drugged flooded back into his mind, replaying frame by frame with vivid, agonizing clarity.

“What are you doing?!”

He stared coldly at the Alpha leaning over him, his brown eyes layered with a thick frost.

Gao Yang had been about to slip his arm under Xing Xiyan’s shoulders to create an air of post-coital intimacy. Seeing his target wake up early, a flicker of awkwardness crossed his face, and he sheepishly retracted his “boyfriend arm.”

Before Xing Xiyan woke, Gao Yang had already used the information sent by Chen Mujue to investigate the youth’s background.

A bastard son abandoned by his biological father at birth and forced to live under someone else’s roof; a “useless” individual who had failed to differentiate a second gender since the age of sixteen; and a highly gifted first-year freshman at the Empire’s First Military Academy who suffered constant bullying. Could a beautiful youth stacked with so many “tragic-yet-strong” protagonist tropes really appear this coincidentally?

Furthermore, for a split-second last night, he had incredibly sensed a mental fluctuation from his System.

Though it was only a brief, mechanical sound that conveyed no real information and despite how much he had called out for it afterward, it hadn’t reappeared that sudden flash made him certain: Xing Xiyan was the “Protagonist Shou” he was looking for!

The mission target he had been desperately searching for for years was right in front of him. No matter what, he had to take the opportunity to bridge the gap the moment the boy woke up. He couldn’t let a whole night of “taking care of him” go to waste.

With this in mind, he lay down beside Xing Xiyan. Under that increasingly inscrutable gaze, he reached out and tucked in the youth’s loose bathrobe collar with an affectionate, considerate air.

“You’re awake. Why not sleep a bit longer?”

“What is your motive?”

Xing Xiyan slapped away the hand resting on his collar and looked at the man who had rescued him from Feike Li the previous night.

The man’s ebony, curly hair was tousled across the pillow. His features were sharply carved and handsome bright and perfectly balanced. His eyelids drooped lazily over crystal-clear blue eyes that sparkled like gems in the morning light. He looked warm and radiant, as if he possessed an inexhaustible source of vitality. Even the prominent dark circles under his eyes couldn’t diminish his charm.

It was the kind of look that made one sink into a dark desire to pluck those eyes out and observe them closely.

Gao Yang’s prepared speech went blank. The youth’s reaction was somewhat outside his expectations. However, he quickly masked his surprise and asked in a casual tone, “Why do you say that?”

Could he have seen through the ‘Hundred Ways to Chase a Wife’ plan in my head?!

Xing Xiyan’s brow was sharp and stern, radiating an obvious distance. “I have nothing you want, and I am not an Omega.”

The Alpha’s flippant tone when asking Feike Li for him, as well as their conversation, had remained clear in his mind despite the agony he was in at the time.

This man was not only a senior two years above him but also a rich playboy with a constant string of lovers exactly the type of person he disliked most. Compared to a scumbag like Feike Li, this man was arguably worse.

Hearing this, Gao Yang’s inner voice screamed in protest.

“It doesn’t matter. I don’t care if you’re an Omega or not. To be honest, I was interested in your face at first, but after our ‘in-depth’ understanding last night, I feel that you.” He forcibly suppressed a lingering thought about a certain “size” discrepancy and added with a face full of sincerity, “I feel that you are exactly my type. Perhaps we could take it a step further and cultivate some feelings!”

“…”

After listening to this emotional confession, Xing Xiyan’s expression didn’t change in the slightest.

Gao Yang was not discouraged. He brushed the stray hairs from his forehead, straightened his expression, and tried to look more convincing.

“I am generous and loyal to my partners. As long as you are with me, I can satisfy whatever you want!”

Xing Xiyan spoke coldly: “No need.”

Gao Yang pressed on: “I’m not just a good person; I’m even better in bed. Are you really not going to consider it?”

Xing Xiyan remained silent. He scanned the room but didn’t see his clothes. “Where are my clothes?”

Gao Yang scratched his head, sounding perplexed. “That outfit of yours, you tore it up yourself last night. It was dirty and ruined…”

Xing Xiyan’s gaze narrowed. He didn’t wish to explain further. “Where is it?”

Gao Yang pointed toward an intelligent trash can in the corner and answered honestly, “I threw them away.”

Speaking of which, changing Xing Xiyan’s clothes last night had taken a lot of effort. He had almost lost control and gotten himself entangled in the process.

Without a word, Xing Xiyan walked to the trash can. Looking at the tattered, filthy remnants of his clothing which were unrecognizable as a garment it felt like a silent accusation of how excessive things had been last night.

Seeing Xing Xiyan reach for a sleeve hanging over the edge of the bin, Gao Yang thought he was going to pick them up to wear again. He hurriedly advised, “Those clothes are unwearable. Wear mine!”

He nimbly scooped up his own shirt and trousers and held them out to Xing Xiyan, refusing to miss any small detail that might move the boy’s heart.

Xing Xiyan’s eyes fell upon the clothes. The fabric was a rare silk-satin, visibly smooth and lustrous. It emitted a faint scent of bamboo identical to the scent on the man the night before.

His body had now returned to its original state, no longer affected by an Alpha’s pheromones. Yet, that faint, lingering bamboo scent had taken root somewhere in his heart, like bamboo shoots after rain, growing into a forest overnight.

Xing Xiyan did not refuse. He reached out, took the clothes from Gao Yang, and changed into them as if no one else were in the room.

the bold, dark-styled top looked significantly loose on the youth’s thin, slender frame. Afterward, he fished a brooch out of the trash can and habitually pinned it to his chest.

The intricate gold floral border was adorned with ten white diamonds. Unlike his usual brooch, the center of these vines was embedded with a dark green gemstone the size of a fingernail, glowing with a striking, fluid light.

Before Gao Yang could say anything else to build a rapport, Xing Xiyan headed straight for the entrance.

With a thud, the door slammed shut, and the youth’s silhouette disappeared.

“Hey! You’re leaving just like that? I still have so much to say!”

Stunned, Gao Yang quickly pulled the door open and chased after him.

To his surprise, the moment he ran into the hallway, he stepped onto a patch of floor that hadn’t yet dried. He slipped violently and landed flat on his back.

A dull, undeniable pain radiated from the points of impact, spreading across his entire body. “That hurts like hell! Which ‘genius’ did this?!”

Hearing the sudden wail behind him, Xing Xiyan instinctively looked back and witnessed a sight he would never forget.

The man lay with the back of his head against the floor in an uncompromising sprawl. His knee-length navy blue bathrobe had slid all the way up to his hips during his struggle, revealing a glimpse of pale skin that added an unintended touch of lewdness to the scene.

Yet, the person involved had no self-awareness, remaining in that wide-open position.

The passion that should have died out felt like it was on the verge of a comeback.

Xing Xiyan lowered his eyes. His tongue brushed against the roof of his mouth, and he allowed a surge of strange, overwhelming desire to swallow him whole. His body remained stiff and unmoving.

Soon, the silver-white metal doors of the elevator closed into a solid line, completely cutting the man off from view.

“We already slept together… how can he turn so cold the moment he wakes up.”

Glancing at the rapidly changing floor indicator, Gao Yang realized he couldn’t catch up for now. He decided to just lie there and rest for a moment.

Only after the pain at the back of his head subsided did he prop himself up on a dry spot. He kicked off the slippers caught around his ankles and used one hand to brace against the wall and the other to hold his waist. Gritting his teeth, he crawled up from the floor.

Xing Xiyan truly lived up to his role as the “Protagonist Shou.” His cold, “do-not-approach” demeanor now was like a different person compared to the clingy, lost-in-lust version of him last night.

The difficulty of this pursuit was indeed extraordinary.

But since he had found him, he wouldn’t give up easily. If once didn’t work, he would try a second and third time.

Fortunately, he was the only guest on this floor. Aside from Xing Xiyan, no one else had witnessed his embarrassment otherwise, the moment of his blunder would surely have been posted online.

As it turned out, he had significantly underestimated the Empire’s intelligence network’s interest in him.

The day after the celebration, an eye-catching post titled “Richest Man’s Only Son Disheveled, Kneels to Lick Beautiful Youth; Thrown Aside and Left Crying in His Hands!” quickly trended on the Star Network.

Beneath the text were several clear, candid photos taken from a low angle through the hollow railings.

There was a shot of him running out of the room shouting at the youth’s back; one of him “lying” on the floor in his bathrobe with his hands over his face; and one of him hunched over with a “sorrowful” expression staring at the closed elevator doors.

Paired with graphic descriptions, the post wildly distorted the facts.

Furthermore, the original poster pinned a comment featuring a profile shot of Xing Xiyan walking toward the elevator, placed side-by-side with a daily photo of Gao Yang. The user had even used a fluorescent marker to highlight identical details on their clothes, inviting endless speculation.

Initially, most netizens assumed the youth was just the Gao heir’s next target. They were used to his fickle behavior changing boyfriends faster than clothes and after some mockery and insults, they put the matter aside.

A week later, an anonymous user claiming to be a classmate of Gao Yang leaked more info. On the night the incident occurred, they had personally witnessed the Senior carrying a Junior in heat into the elevator and staying in the same room.

According to their observations over several days, the Senior had not ended the relationship on the seventh day as he usually did with his lovers. Even by the eighth and ninth days, the Senior was still frequently seen waiting outside the Junior’s classroom, following him like a shadow, with no intention of switching partners.

Finally, the anonymous user dropped a bombshell: the youth was not a high-compatibility Omega as people thought, but a commoner who had not even entered their differentiation period.

This comment pushed the dying thread back into a fever pitch, causing a massive sensation.

Netizens who had previously missed out on marrying into wealth due to gene compatibility went into a frenzy. They began investigating the background of the youth who had broken Gao Yang’s historical dating record. A few even vowed to oust this “not even an Omega” commoner within a month to become the next candidate for the Gao family’s daughter-in-law.

Gao Yang didn’t see the later comments. He simply scrolled through the top few.

They were all condemnations.

If they weren’t accusing him of harming the innocent, they were cursing him as a “scumbag who plays with feelings” who deserved to die alone. The more he read, the angrier he got. With no heart to continue, he exited the interface with a face full of irritation.