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Alternative
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Xiang Shuyu has suffered from a lost sense of smell since childhood; he can perceive the pheromones of Alphas, but finds it very difficult to distinguish between specific scents. As he grew older, his mother, desperate to squeeze into a higher social stratum, instigated Xiang Shuyu to seduce the young master of the Duan family, Duan Yue an Alpha whose pheromone scent is tuberose. Xiang Shuyu pursued Duan Yue with cautious care.
He would take the initiative to offer a toast at banquets but dared not say a single word; he asked other young socialites to bring him along on mountain villa vacations with Duan Yue but dared not initiate a conversation. Yet, through painstaking effort, he finally stood before Duan Yue and said he wanted to be with him. You want to be my boyfriend?” the Alpha laughed. Sure, let me hear you call me ‘hubby’. Held in his arms, Xiang Shuyu’s face flushed as he whispered: Hubby.
Duan Lin was an accident. On the day he broke up with Duan Yue, they had a massive fight. His spirits were low, and that night at a banquet, he was pressured by friends into drinking too much. Being in his heat cycle, his body was burning and muddled when he was carried home by someone. A familiar pheromone permeated the air. Xiang Shuyu hugged the Alpha and, in a daze, called out: Hubby.
Waking up the next morning to a scene of total chaos, Xiang Shuyu sobbed as he told Duan Lin that jasmine and tuberose smelled very similar, and he had simply mistaken him for the other. But Duan Yue didn’t mark you, Duan Lin said in a calm voice. “You two have already broken up. Now, the person who has marked you is me. Alright, stop crying, Duan Lin reached out to wipe his tears. I can take responsibility. I will marry you, but you must make a clean break with Duan Yue.
Xiang Shuyu didn’t want anyone to take responsibility; he only wanted to break up. But Duan Yue didn’t want to break up, and he especially didn’t want to watch Duan Lin pursue his ex-boyfriend so openly and rightfully. From childhood to adulthood, whatever the elder brother had, the younger brother had too; there was no reason to step aside and hand over the person he loved. The fighting between the two brothers was childish, but the one suffering was always Xiang Shuyu. In the dead of night, someone would always sneak into his bed, holding him while releasing pheromones, kissing the back of his neck, and asking him:
“Who am I?” Xiang Shuyu couldn’t distinguish their looks, nor could he distinguish their pheromones; he always guessed wrong. Every time he guessed wrong, it resulted in a storm-like harvest of plucking and kissing, followed by the forced question:
Between him and me, who do you want more?” Xiang Shuyu wanted neither. Duan Yue’s PUA (emotional manipulation) and Duan Lin’s desire for control the struggle and covetousness of the two made him feel like he was suffocating. After his mother passed away, he felt a sense of relief. Picking a bright and beautiful afternoon, he left behind the words “Stop entangling with me,” and disappeared from then on.
Xiang Shuyu was free for two years. Two years later, at a victory banquet, Xiang Shuyu made another mistake and drank wine that had been spiked. Blurry-eyed and dizzy as he walked toward his room, he was suddenly gagged by someone, his cries for help blocked, and dragged into a room.
The room was filled with familiar pheromones. Burning palms lightly stroked his neck, and sturdy arms barred his waist, like countless vines tightly entwining him. Kisses fell thick and fast. Xiang Shuyu struggled to no avail, only able to hear that person say: “I’ve changed everything you didn’t like about me. Can you forgive me and stay with me?” Xiang Shuyu’s vision was blurred, his body swaying. He pointed at the person in front of him and asked: “Who are you?. The person silently bit his Adam’s apple.
Take a guess. Xiang Shuyu guessed wrong again, and the consequences of guessing wrong were very serious. Having not met for two years, his two ex-boyfriends seemed to have both turned into madmen.
