After the Corporate Slave Beta and the Top Alpha Married - Chapter 18

What was originally a massive blunder mistaking a “rut” for a feverish illness should have ended with a single injection of a suppressant followed by a quick exit from the hospital.

However, the doctor overheard that this was Shang Yuanzhou’s first time experiencing a rut, so he was forced to remain at the hospital temporarily for some essential check-ups.

An Alpha’s rut isn’t as frequent as an Omega’s heat cycle, typically occurring once or twice a year. If an Alpha is exceptionally fixated on their partner, the frequency might increase to three times.

During a rut, an Alpha’s concern for their partner is characterized by a mix of dependence and clinginess, underscored by intense negative emotions. It isn’t a contradiction; the more they care, the more they want to possess. Once they possess, they want to monopolize ideally hiding their partner away in their very marrow so that no one else can catch even a glimpse of them.

If the frequency of ruts is too high, the Alpha’s natural aggression and possessive, destructive instincts are further catalyzed. If it exceeds three times a year, the Alpha requires more than just an Omega’s comfort; they need medical treatment.

However, such Alphas are rare.

That said, the doctor had never encountered a case like Shang Yuanzhou’s: a man who had presented five years ago and hadn’t experienced a single rut in all that time.

Alphas in a rut are irritable and sensitive. That injection of suppressant only served to clear Shang Yuanzhou’s groggy mind slightly; as he was subjected to the examinations, a faint look of impatience settled between his brows.

The doctor had seen plenty of Alphas going through their first rut and expected Shang Yuanzhou to lose his temper or make things difficult for the medical staff. Instead, this Alpha was cooperative from start to finish.

Despite his extreme impatience, he extended his arm when told and went for scans when directed.

Then again, he wasn’t some hot-headed boy who had just presented.

Shang Yuanzhou hadn’t had time to change out of his suit, making him look mature and steady. Because of the blood draw, his sleeve was rolled up to reveal a section of firm, powerful forearm with taut muscles. Even with a slight frown, his intense male hormones were impossible to suppress.

Not to mention the restless pheromones surrounding him, which made the other Alphas and Omegas in the hospital afraid to approach.

Even those who had to get close for the examinations appeared trembling and fearful, like mice seeing a cat, looking ready to bolt at any second.

Ji Yu watched these people, and they, in turn, kept glancing at him.

…Ji Yu felt restless under their pleading gazes, eventually patting Shang Yuanzhou on the shoulder. “Don’t scare the medical staff.”

Shang Yuanzhou, who was currently having blood drawn, turned to look at him. His faint red eyes met Ji Yu’s quietly before he lowered his gaze and looked away. “I didn’t do anything.”

Ji Yu: …

He felt seemed probably maybe that in a daze, he had heard a hint of grievance in Shang Yuanzhou’s calm, level tone.

An illusion, right?

It must be an illusion.

Ji Yu gave a strained “Mm” and picked up his phone to pretend to be busy, avoiding the pleading eyes of the medical staff.

People tend to look especially busy when they are embarrassed. Fortunately, thanks to his long life as a “social animal” (corporate drone), Ji Yu had learned how to maintain a straight face while looking genuinely swamped.

His phone screen displayed a Word document filled with garbled code. From a distance, it just looked like a dense wall of text. Combined with Ji Yu’s serious expression, it looked as though he were handling some thorny work issue.

It was enough to make people feel a sense of “unclear but great” awe.

Meanwhile, Ji Yu was passing the agonizing time by picking out pleasing characters from the jumbled mess to piece together sentences.

“The dachshund… has a long body… one day it was very good…”

Specific characters were hard to find in this textual landfill. Ji Yu flipped through several pages without success, but fortunately, Shang Yuanzhou’s check-up was nearing its end.

The doctor said, “There’s nothing wrong with Mr. Shang’s body. It’s likely because his first presentation failed and he underwent a second presentation; that’s why his rut arrived so late.”

The doctor, wearing thick glasses, brought the data-filled sheets closer. “However, because the rut came so late and was suppressed for so long, Mr. Shang’s pheromones are highly active. The effect of the suppressant is quite limited.”

“There’s no good way around this; he just has to endure it. It’s best if family members can put aside work to accompany him. An Alpha in a rut will be very sensitive and anxious; having family present will help.”

What he actually wanted to say was that with an Omega’s comfort, the rut wouldn’t be so difficult. However, the information sheet listed him as “Married,” and it was obvious his partner was that Beta.

A Beta has almost zero soothing effect on an Alpha in a rut. The doctor only said this so that someone would keep an eye on Shang Yuanzhou to prevent any incidents.

When they returned from the hospital to the house where they lived, the slippers Ji Yu had hurriedly kicked off while rushing Shang Yuanzhou to the hospital were still scattered messily in the entryway.

After changing shoes and entering, they reached the living room, where the view down the hallway showed Shang Yuanzhou’s wide-open door and the messy sheets in Ji Yu’s own open room.

Away from the hospital environment and the presence of others, the atmosphere between the two of them alone was a mix of quietude and a strange, awkward haze.

Everything served to remind Ji Yu that not long ago, he had been pinned to the floor by this man and heavily licked on the back of his neck.

That patch of skin, which had initially lost all sensation, now seemed to burn.

Ji Yu resisted the urge to touch it. Since it was Shang Yuanzhou’s first rut, he had probably mistaken him for some Omega.

Still, the experience of being forcibly restrained in a man’s arms while having the back of his neck sucked and licked left Ji Yu with a faint sense of crisis.

It wasn’t that he thought Shang Yuanzhou would actually do something to him, but rather an instinctive crisis born from the sheer disparity in strength.

Ji Yu glanced at Shang Yuanzhou, just in time to see the other man loosening his tie.

Long, well-defined fingers hooked behind the tie. With his head tilted back slightly, he yanked the knot left and right. Once the collar was loose, he ripped it off in one go. His narrow, deep eyes were half-closed, and his handsome face was almost expressionless, yet one could sense the agitation beneath the calm.

Like the surface of a placid lake with a fierce, rapid undercurrent rushing beneath.

The doctor had said… it was Shang Yuanzhou’s first rut, one that had been suppressed for a long time, so the suppressant injection was weak.

He was probably having a very hard time right now.

Thinking this, Ji Yu prepared to get a glass of water for Shang Yuanzhou. Just as he stepped away, his hand was caught. “Where are you going?”

The hand that had just torn off the tie now gripped Ji Yu’s wrist. Shang Yuanzhou’s body temperature was already very high; his large, powerful hand around the wrist felt like a circular branding iron.

It didn’t hurt, but it was so hot it felt like it might burn.

Before Ji Yu could speak, he felt a lightly calloused thumb graze the small protruding bone of his wrist.

Back and forth, again and again. The movement went from light to heavy, grinding down with a touch of restless ruthlessness and a greedy desire for more.

Ji Yu’s heart skipped a beat. He looked at Shang Yuanzhou with a hint of wariness and spoke tentatively, “President Shang, how about I find an Omega for you?”

He stopped using the more intimate “A-Zhou,” hoping that the polite, distant, and professional “President Shang” would bring a bit of clarity to the man in his rut.

“Oh?” Shang Yuanzhou sneered, his tone turning somewhat frivolous. “Are you planning to arrange a hookup for me?”

“No, no, no, that’s not it.”

The words startled Ji Yu, his eyes widening slightly and his ears turning bright red in an instant.

He had known Shang Yuanzhou for nearly a month, and the man had always been steady and calm in his eyes. This was the first time he had heard such coarse words from Shang Yuanzhou’s mouth.

It was like the undercurrent beneath the calm sea being revealed to Ji Yu.

Wild, frivolous, and hiding a sense of danger.

It wasn’t off-putting; rather, it made his heart race in overdrive. Faced with danger, humans often find themselves unable to resist getting closer while being instinctively afraid.

Ji Yu shook his head frantically, trying to wave his hand, but his wrist was still held firmly. “I meant… I’ll find your, uh, bed partner for you.”

Although he hadn’t experienced any romantic affairs, he wasn’t a child who knew nothing. With Shang Yuanzhou’s status and position, it was impossible for him to be “clean” during his single years like an average person.

Moreover, many ordinary people enjoyed that sort of lifestyle.

“I don’t have those things.”

Eh?

Ji Yu stared at Shang Yuanzhou in bewilderment, earning a light tap on the forehead. “What’s with that face? Don’t I look like the type?”

Originally, Shang Yuanzhou seemed like an iceberg that wouldn’t provoke any lust; it truly was hard to imagine him in bed with anyone else.

But this version of Shang Yuanzhou…

Ji Yu wanted to nod and say he really didn’t look like the type, but he succumbed to Shang Yuanzhou’s half-narrowed eyes. “You do.”

He knew that with Shang Yuanzhou’s status, he wouldn’t deign to tell such a lie, nor was there any need to lie to him.

Though it was hard to believe, the person in front of him was likely just like him… still a virgin.

His back suddenly pressed against a scorching chest. Ji Yu shuddered and shouted Shang Yuanzhou’s name. “President Shang!!”

His bravado didn’t last two seconds before weakening. “You… you didn’t mistake me for an Omega again, did you?”

“Again?”

“Did I do something?”

Shang Yuanzhou pulled back a short distance, gripping Ji Yu’s shoulders to turn him around.

Ji Yu was so startled he forgot to struggle. “Don’t you remember?”

Shang Yuanzhou pinched the bridge of his nose as if troubled. “I only remember you touching me constantly and calling my name repeatedly.”

At that time, he truly wasn’t lucid, and his actions had been driven by instinct.

But…

“I was not touching you!!!”

Ji Yu was both shocked and ashamed. “I was trying to pat you awake, not touch you. I was patting you very hard.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes!!”

Shang Yuanzhou chuckled. “Strength like a kitten’s… then so be it.”

Ji Yu looked at him suspiciously for two seconds before speaking with difficulty, “I feel like you don’t really believe me.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes!!”

“And didn’t you apologize to me? Do you not stand by your own words?” Ji Yu felt his innocence had been severely slandered. His wariness had vanished to who-knows-where, leaving his heart filled only with the desire to defend his honor.

Shang Yuanzhou: “I was apologizing for making you accompany me to the hospital so late at night.”

“It’s my first rut; my head was groggy and I really can’t remember clearly,” Shang Yuanzhou continued solemnly. “So, tell me what I did? I’ll try to recall.”

Ji Yu stared at him with wide eyes, his lips parting and closing, unable to say a single word for a long time.

How could he say it? Say that you held me in your arms and wouldn’t let me go?

Say that you kept licking the back of my neck, sucking and licking at it?

If he hadn’t just seen the doctor and learned that the suppressants didn’t work well on Shang Yuanzhou, and that the man was indeed in an unclear state of mind…

Then he really didn’t remember.

Otherwise, he would have suspected that Shang Yuanzhou was certain he’d be too embarrassed to speak and was teasing him on purpose.