After I Stopped Being a Simp, My Husband Fell for Me on His Own - Chapter 23

The Ji Xingxiao standing before him was entirely different from his usual cold and restrained self. His bangs were soaked with sweat and then frozen by his natural ability, leaving a layer of frost over his dark hair. His breathing was heavy and scorching. Even though Yu Yi could not smell the pheromones nearly exploding in the room, he could feel the dangerous aura radiating from the man.

Yu Yi looked at Ji Xingxiao’s blood-red eyes with trepidation and called out tentatively, “Ji Xingxiao?” At this moment, he truly did not dare to flippantly call him “husband.”

“What are you doing here?” Ji Xingxiao’s voice was terrifyingly hoarse.

Unlike the scorching breath he exhaled onto Yu Yi’s face, Ji Xingxiao’s body was ice-cold. He pinned Yu Yi against the door between his arms, pressing in so closely that he breached every line of defense. They were so close that if Yu Yi moved his head even slightly, their lips would meet.

“I, I just wanted to,” even someone as thick-skinned as Yu Yi found himself stuttering, unable to speak. Although he could not sense pheromones, his instincts told him that Ji Xingxiao was currently extremely dangerous.

The rampaging pheromones within his body were nearly destroying his sanity. Ji Xingxiao bit his back teeth and forced a single word out: “Get out.”

“Okay, okay,” Yu Yi replied, as if granted a divine reprieve. “I will get out right now.”

He struggled to turn around within Ji Xingxiao’s slightly loosened grip, reaching for the door handle. Little did he know that this action completely exposed the back of his neck to Ji Xingxiao’s sight. This behavior was practically indistinguishable from an invitation.

Ji Xingxiao’s eyes darkened further. His possessiveness and the urge to mark surged forth with his every breath. Yu Yi, still oblivious, grasped the handle, only to feel a punitive bite land on his fragile nape an instant later.

Stunned, Yu Yi instinctively tried to dodge. No matter how ignorant he was, he knew this was the place where an Alpha marked an Omega. They?

The heavy sound of Ji Xingxiao’s panting was in his ear, followed by the touch of scorching lips that contrasted with the room’s icy chill. This action, even if it was not a full marking, was far too intimate for them. Yu Yi dodged a few times, but his movements gradually slowed. He was not unprepared; he just felt things were moving a bit too fast.

However, thinking about it now, he felt this was the best opportunity. This was the simplest, most direct way to ease his relationship with Ji Xingxiao or even take it a step further. While it was not exactly honorable?

Hearing the Alpha’s chaotic, heated breath on his neck as he sniffed like a wild beast searching for a gland to mark, Yu Yi slowly relaxed his body. His own breathing grew heavy from tension. Ji Xingxiao’s sanity had been entirely replaced by instinct; sensing the other’s relenting, he bit down on Yu Yi’s nape without hesitation.

Soon, Yu Yi felt a sharp pang of pain. Ji Xingxiao’s canines showed no mercy as they pierced Yu Yi’s smooth, fair skin, forcefully injecting pheromones. It was an unrefined marking, fueled by the chaos and possessiveness of the rut.

Yu Yi remained still, like a submissive prey waiting for Ji Xingxiao’s next move. As a Beta, he was naturally indifferent to such matters. He had seen “videos” before, but options for Betas were few, and those of Alphas and Omegas were too wild; he had watched a few as a compromise and felt they were just okay. They were less exciting to him than the free vegetable soup in the cafeteria.

But now, being pressed by Ji Xingxiao’s tall, sturdy, and unnervingly hot body, Yu Yi could not help but be nervous. Alphas and Omegas needed matching pheromones, but a Beta’s body was not compatible with an Alpha’s at all. Would he get hurt?

Honestly, if it were not for Ji Xingxiao’s rut, Yu Yi felt he would never have had the chance to be this close to him in his entire life. Right, this was a rare opportunity.

Yu Yi swallowed hard, suppressed the fear in his heart, and whispered tentatively, “Husband?”

This address was less of a test and more of an acceptance. If he could make this relationship real, Yu Yi did not mind. He had seen Ji Xingxiao’s prowess in the polluted zone with his own eyes. Call him shameless or lacking self-respect, but Yu Yi truly felt that if doing this would give him a “backer” and something to “hold” over Ji Xingxiao so he could stay in the Upper City, then why not?

However, the only answer Yu Yi received was endless silence. There was only the stinging pain of the bite on his neck; afterward, he felt nothing. Ji Xingxiao did not continue with any other actions. Time seemed to stand still until the pheromone injection was complete.

Yu Yi felt Ji Xingxiao take a heavy breath behind him. The weight on him suddenly lifted as Ji Xingxiao stepped back. Then, he said something Yu Yi never expected: “I am sorry.”

Ji Xingxiao’s voice was still raspy, but less deep than before. He continued, “You should not have come in.”

Yu Yi was left wondering: That is it? It is over?

He had mentally prepared himself for everything, only to end up with a single bite. He felt the specific frustration of being fully prepared for a main event only to have it end at the appetizer.

But Yu Yi also cleared his head. He suddenly found his previous thoughts a bit ridiculous. Could doing that with Ji Xingxiao really give him a powerful, top-tier Commander fiancé with an elite family background? No. With Ji Xingxiao’s abilities, he could make Yu Yi vanish from the Upper City without anyone knowing; how could he be manipulated by something like this?

Yu Yi silently adjusted his collar, letting out a sigh of relief. “It is fine. As long as you are okay.”

“Mm,” Ji Xingxiao was silent for a moment and then apologized again. “I am sorry.”

“It is nothing,” Yu Yi felt awkward. He did not dare turn around to see Ji Xingxiao’s expression, fearing the man would see through his ridiculous thoughts or remember the “husband” he had intentionally called out during the chaos. Thus, he said, “I will go out first.”

After Yu Yi left, the icy chill in the room dissipated slightly. An Alpha in a rut enters a rapid decline phase after marking. Ji Xingxiao soon regained his clarity, and the surging, chaotic pheromones in his body gradually calmed.

Ji Xingxiao stared at the door handle for a long time. Suddenly, as if venting his frustration, he punched the door hard. The thick, sturdy panel did not budge, keeping his anger contained within the room.

How could he? How could he fail to restrain himself and inject pheromones into a Beta’s neck? That Beta?

Yu Yi must have done it on purpose. Now, as long as he appeared at school with a body full of Ji Xingxiao’s pheromones, everyone would know he had marked this mediocre, ignorant Beta. At that point, canceling the engagement would be a matter of damaged reputation for both him and the Ji family. He should not have been soft-hearted enough to let him stay here in the first place!

Ji Xingxiao felt nothing but infinite regret. Did he really have to marry this Beta? He felt it had been a mistake from the very beginning.

Before his differentiation, he knew of his engagement to Bai Ziqi. He had heard from his father how powerful Bai Ziqi’s mother was, and that only an equally powerful Omega could be a match for him in the future. But Bai Ziqi had differentiated into an Alpha. Everything had become unpredictable.

Ji Xingxiao simply felt that taking time every week to meet different Omegas was a massive waste of time. He had no interest in interacting with strangers. When his mother suggested he start seeing Omegas from other families, Ji Xingxiao remembered seeing Yu Yi in that cheap bunny girl outfit at the nightclub and casually said that the Beta would do. He did not need help from any Omega.

But he had not expected Yu Yi to be so weak and ignorant, ignorant enough to make such a stupid mistake in the polluted zone. No Commander would want a partner who offered zero help. Ji Xingxiao sat in silence for an hour before reluctantly accepting the reality. After all, Yu Yi was somewhat obedient, as long as he did not cause more trouble.

With a somber expression, he opened the door and walked out, only to see a freshly showered Yu Yi leaning back on the sofa watching television. Hearing the movement, Yu Yi turned around. A small Band-Aid was stuck to the back of his neck; it was an obsolete type of medical supply.

“Are you feeling better?” Yu Yi asked with concern.

Ji Xingxiao was stunned. The scent of his own pheromones on Yu Yi’s body had been completely eliminated. He was so clean it was as if what had just happened never occurred.

For some reason, a spark of annoyance rose in Ji Xingxiao’s heart. Was his pheromone something so shameful? He had gone to clean it off almost immediately. And furthermore, Yu Yi clearly knew how to use the bathroom functions, yet he never turned on the bathroom’s shielding mode!

“Do you have something to say?” Rather than answering Yu Yi’s concern, Ji Xingxiao remembered that Yu Yi had knocked on his door earlier to say something.

Yu Yi looked at him, his smile still on his face. Upon hearing the question, it was as if he suddenly remembered something, and his expression slowly stiffened.

“Oh no!” Yu Yi cried out. “My turtle!”

A turtle?

When Ji Xingxiao had pulled him into the room, the turtle in his hand had been dropped somewhere. They searched the room for a long while before finally finding the frozen turtle in the corner of the door, its limbs in the air and its belly upturned.

Yu Yi wailed, “The turtle I bought for 1,232.5 Star Credits!”

Ji Xingxiao: “…”

Yu Yi: “How did it die!”

The veins on Ji Xingxiao’s forehead throbbed slightly. “Why did you buy this thing?”

“I wanted to put it in the water wall in the living room.”

Ji Xingxiao: “That is my natural ability.”

“I know,” Yu Yi was still trying to pry the frozen turtle off the floor.

Ji Xingxiao took a deep breath. “I did not give you permission to put that thing in there.”

“Is it dead?” Yu Yi had a mournful face, immersed in the heartache of losing over a thousand Star Credits, completely ignoring Ji Xingxiao’s words.

“Are you listening to me?” Ji Xingxiao gritted his teeth.

“Waaa, you died such a tragic death, I had not even given you a name yet.”

Ji Xingxiao: “…”

After a silence, the turtle on the floor suddenly thawed. Ji Xingxiao looked down at Yu Yi, who was still squatting on the floor mourning his money, and said with annoyance, “This was never alive to begin with!”

Yu Yi: “Huh?”

“Did you buy it at the Eco-Market?”

“Yes.”

“Pets in the Upper City are all bionic AI. They would not give you a living creature.”

Yu Yi silently flipped the turtle over and indeed felt a tiny switch on the edge of the shell. He felt a bit embarrassed. “Is that so,” since it was not a living thing, it could be fixed. Yu Yi breathed a sigh of relief.

“Why did you buy this?” Ji Xingxiao asked.

“To give to you!” Yu Yi held the turtle up to Ji Xingxiao’s eyes, his own eyes curving into a smile. “What do you think?”

“Not much,” Ji Xingxiao refused decisively. “I will not allow you to put that thing in there.”

“Oh, alright,” Yu Yi walked away clutching the turtle, looking a bit disappointed.

Seeing Yu Yi like this made Ji Xingxiao even more annoyed. This person, this shameless Beta. How could he act as if nothing happened right after being marked? It was as if Ji Xingxiao himself was less important than that frozen turtle!

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