Forbidden Zone Rose - Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Wait, Where Did He Just Bump Into?

“Ding-ling.”

Hearing the notification for an online order, Su Zhi walked out from the inner chamber of the flower room. He pushed open the partitioned glass door, and the sound of rain suddenly flooded his ears.

Outside, the rain was pouring. It was noon, but the horizon was piled with dark clouds, blocking even a sliver of light. The gloomy sky reflected off the large floor-to-ceiling glass walls of the shop, casting them in a somber, brooding cobalt blue.

Su Zhi glanced outside. Why hasn’t it stopped yet?

The rain in City Z had been falling continuously for three days. Even the air was saturated with the scent of wind and rain. Despite the air purifiers running 24 hours a day in the flower room, there was still a lingering sense of dampness that seeped into one’s lungs with every breath.

Because of the rain, the flower shop business was sparse. Almost no one came in person; the few orders were all for delivery. It lacked “human warmth.” Su Zhi didn’t mind the quiet, but once his tasks were finished, he inevitably felt a moment of boredom.

After packaging the floral materials for a delivery order, Su Zhi looked toward the coffee shop next door for the third time while waiting for the courier. To be precise, he looked at a figure inside the coffee shop.

The wall shared by the two shops was a single sheet of transparent glass, making the interior of the neighbor perfectly visible. On the flower shop’s side, many tall woody plants were placed against the wall, forming a natural visual barrier and decoration. The lush, well-arranged trees actually made it difficult to see clearly. However, by coincidence, a man sat in a spot where the foliage was sparse, allowing him to enter Su Zhi’s field of vision.

Perhaps out of boredom, Su Zhi stole a few more glances at the only living person within his sight. He was a very tall man; even sitting with his knees bent, he possessed the distinct, vivid presence characteristic of large creatures. The man sat partially facing away from him. From Su Zhi’s angle, he could see a small portion of his profile, his neck, and one side of his shoulders and back.

The exposed profile wasn’t perfectly clear, but the deep contours, the sharp jawline, and the slight tension in the side of his neck when he bowed his head already suggested a brooding, cold, and indisputable handsomeness.

Come to think of it, this was the third time Su Zhi had seen this man recently. Since the rain started in City Z, the man had appeared for the first time. Since then, at roughly this time every day, he would punctually show up at the neighboring cafe like he was clocking in, order two cups of coffee, and sit quietly for about two hours.

He sat in the same spot every time, spending most of his time on a laptop without talking to anyone. Even without seeing his full face, anyone would be impressed by such a person. Su Zhi had never seen him before. He guessed the man was likely an office worker on a business trip, working quite diligently.

This part of City Z was a newly developed urban area. With the news circulating early this year that a nearby military “forbidden zone” was about to be opened, several well-known enterprises had sent teams to investigate. Office workers were constantly moving in and out, and personnel changes were frequent.

Su Zhi speculated aimlessly. He wasn’t sure, of course; he had only been in City Z for a month to look after the shop and wasn’t very familiar with the area. It was just a wild guess. This shop didn’t belong to Su Zhi, nor was he an employee; he was just helping out.

The man in his line of sight suddenly shifted. Su Zhi realized it was somewhat impolite to stare, so he blinked and looked away. Fortunately, the man didn’t seem to notice his one-sided gaze; he simply picked up his coffee cup and took a sip. Su Zhi’s eyes were naturally drawn back by the movement of the man’s shoulders, thinking, His shoulders are really broad…

Combining his impressions from the previous few days, he judged the man to be at least 1.9 meters tall. With that height, looks, and aura, he had to be an Alpha. Su Zhi judged the man’s gender entirely by his appearance, feeling his guess had a 95% accuracy rate.

Alphas were superior to ordinary people in height and muscle mass, while Omegas were more delicate, and Betas fell somewhere in between. It was said that there were a few extremely rare and special gender types, but those were beyond the knowledge of ordinary people. In his daily life, Su Zhi rarely cared about gender-related matters; he was just a Beta.

Betas could barely perceive pheromones and had no uncontrollable heat or rut periods. Without those needs, he naturally didn’t invest energy into the topic. But given the man’s striking appearance, even a relatively dull-sensing person like Su Zhi could easily judge that he wasn’t a Beta or an Omega.

However, Su Zhi always felt the man was a bit strange—unlike the Alphas he had met before. Was it because his aura was particularly unique?

The drizzling rain slid down the glass walls. For a brief moment, Su Zhi inexplicably felt as though the man’s profile was tinged with a brooding gloom, as if it might seep through the glass along with the damp cold.

“Ding-dong.”

The notification sounded again. The courier had arrived to pick up the pre-ordered flowers, interrupting the vague curiosity flashing through Su Zhi’s mind. Su Zhi snapped back to reality, withdrew his gaze, and handed the flowers to the courier. Then, he locked the door and walked into the inner chamber of the flower room.

Su Zhi failed to see that after he entered the inner room, the man, who had been looking at his laptop screen, turned his head. His cold, dark, and heavy gaze lingered for a while on the flower stand where Su Zhi had just been standing. By the stand, a large staghorn fern trembled, its dark green leaves condensing with damp dew.

Su Zhi was observing a seedling in the inner room. The seedling was four or five centimeters tall, kept in a specialized experimental glass container. It was a tiny, tender green thing with only two leaves, one large and one small, growing alternately.

Su Zhi inspected it for a while and entered data into his recorder: “Experimental Sample X00409: Growth Status: Normal.”

Su Zhi’s primary job was as a researcher at the Capital Research Institute. This seedling was an experimental sample he had brought back from the lab. His research direction involved the connection between plants and human pheromones to develop new pheromone-related medications.

Su Zhi’s research focused specifically on Alpha suppressants. The seedling before him contained natural components capable of neutralizing Alpha-type pheromones. Recently, the institute had suddenly declared a holiday. Since Su Zhi’s parents had left for a long trip two years ago, going home was meaningless, so he came to this remote city far from the capital. While relaxing, he also helped his mentor manage a flower shop under his name.

Though he called it “managing,” the area was sparsely populated and had almost no foot traffic, making it very quiet. The shop wasn’t meant for profit; it served as a semi-private laboratory equipped with many professional facilities. Su Zhi’s agreement to watch the shop was largely motivated by these facilities, allowing him to take his experimental subjects with him when he left the institute.

Strictly speaking, taking experimental samples out of the institute was against regulations. But Su Zhi couldn’t bear to leave it alone at the lab. The little sprout before him was the result of two years of hard work. It was the ninth sub-type hybridized from the fourth-generation X-type parent—shortened to “0409.”

The components produced by 0409 had an excellent neutralizing effect on Alpha pheromones and yielded high output. Out of several hundred sub-types, it was exceptionally prominent. After trying nearly a hundred hybrid combinations over the last six months, Su Zhi had finally stabilized its high-yield, high-quality traits in 0409.

However, it had one significant flaw: it was extremely fragile and prone to early death. Su Zhi had tried multiple times to introduce new plant genes to improve its constitution, but the results were unsatisfactory. Some improved slightly, but the yield dropped drastically. He hadn’t found a suitable match yet, so he had put those efforts aside.

With the institute’s sudden holiday, researchers weren’t allowed to stay, and samples could only be monitored by automated equipment. For a fragile thing like 0409, which sometimes died for no reason even under careful care, leaving it at the institute meant a 90% chance of returning to a withered husk. To a researcher, a sample they spent their heart and soul on was as precious as their own life. Thus, despite the rules, Su Zhi brought 0409 with him.

Overall, Su Zhi was very satisfied with 0409. It had only one “flaw” that wasn’t really a flaw: during its initial improvement, genes from mint plants were introduced. 0409 inherited some mint characteristics, specifically its scent—a sharp, cooling fragrance.

Unfortuantely, Su Zhi was quite sensitive to the smell of mint. Since childhood, if he accidentally ate anything with mint, he would ask his mother through tears if the leaves were “biting” his mouth because of the spiciness. He was much better as an adult and no longer had painful allergic reactions, but he remained sensitive; smelling it would always make him shiver.

Because of the rain, the flower shop was quiet all afternoon with no new orders. By 6:00 PM, it was time to close. Su Zhi stopped his research and walked out of the flower room.

“Mm…” Su Zhi pinched the bridge of his nose, letting out an uncomfortable sigh. He felt a bit dizzy from the scent. The ventilation system in the flower shop wasn’t as effective as the lab’s, so the smell didn’t dissipate. After spending so long with the experimental plants, his entire body felt “marinated” in mint. He felt like if he sneezed now, it would be mint-flavored. His head felt light, similar to being slightly drunk.

Su Zhi glanced out the window and saw the rain was still drizzling. He picked up his umbrella, planning to go outside for some fresh air. He pushed the door open. The damp, cold air made him shiver. He opened his umbrella and walked out, feeling a bit dazed.

A tall potted palm tree stood at the entrance, blocking his view. As Su Zhi opened his umbrella and turned past the palm, a tall figure suddenly appeared right in front of him, walking forward. By the time Su Zhi realized it, it was too late.

The other person was looking down, dealing with something, seemingly unaware of the imminent collision. Su Zhi crashed straight into him. The umbrella flew out of his hand, spinning on the ground before rolling into a puddle and getting stained with dirt.

“Ugh—” Su Zhi let out a muffled groan.

His posture was poor; he had crashed head-on, burying his entire face firmly into the man. He wasn’t sure what he hit—it wasn’t hard, and even had a bit of “give,” but the impact on his delicate nose still made his eyes water with a sharp sting.

Stimulated by the pain, the mint scent already lingering in his nose seemed to become even more intense, nearly saturating him. For a second, Su Zhi’s heart spasmed; he felt a strange illusion of his breath being snatched away, making him almost faint.

The warmth of another person radiated through the fabric, forcefully driving away the damp, cold air and enveloping him. Su Zhi lost his strength. He tried to stand up, but his legs went soft, causing him to bury his face even deeper, his cheek pressing against a soft yet elastic area.

The man’s arms wrapped around his waist and back—an instinctive move during a collision to prevent a fall—but it now limited Su Zhi’s movement, unintentionally imprisoning him in an embrace.

It wasn’t until several seconds later, when another warm, strong hand gripped his arm, that Su Zhi was able to stand steady. Simultaneously, the arm on his back released him. Su Zhi took a step back, finally rescuing himself from the other’s arms.

“Thank you.” Su Zhi thanked him hurriedly, his voice thick with a muffled nasal tone. He looked up at the person in front of him.

His gaze slid past the man’s well-defined jaw and straight nose, meeting a pair of pitch-black eyes. The man had a deep brow bone that sat low, close to his eyes, giving his features a three-dimensional and sharp handsomeness. Even just standing there, he couldn’t hide the aggression and predatory nature ingrained in his bones.

Su Zhi paused for a moment before quickly apologizing: “I’m sorry, I wasn’t looking where I was going. Are you okay?”

The man he bumped into showed no emotion. Seeing that Su Zhi was steady, he released his grip on his arm and nodded. “I’m fine.” He then picked up the fallen umbrella, shook off the water, and handed it to Su Zhi. Faint veins were visible on the back of his large hand.

Su Zhi took the umbrella and thanked him again. After calming down slightly, his first thought was: What a coincidence. This is the Alpha from the coffee shop this morning. Up close, he was indeed very tall. His shoulders were broad, his chest was wide, and his entire frame was a size larger than Su Zhi’s. Facing him like this, the sense of pressure was even more apparent. Su Zhi was quite tall for a Beta, nearly 1.8 meters, which was about as tall as many Alphas, yet he still had to look up slightly to meet the man’s eyes.

His second thought: Wait, where exactly did I just bump into? That strange sensation…

Su Zhi’s gaze shifted downward sluggishly, slowly moving to the man’s chest. The man wore a well-tailored, crisp suit with clean lines. However, on that broad chest—at roughly the same height as Su Zhi’s cheek—there was a prominent, wrinkled patch of fabric, clearly showing fresh marks of having been “rubbed” against.

Su Zhi’s brain let out a faint buzzing sound. “…”

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