The Beautiful Cannon Fodder Becomes The Heartthrob of the Dating Show - Chapter 14

Chapter 14: His Scent is Addictive

Looking at the boy before him with clear eyes and a sincere expression, Huo Yan’s breath hitched. “What did you say?”

Xu Jingchu curled his lips into a smile. “Huo Yan, I’m asking for your forgiveness.”

“No,” Huo Yan shook his head slowly, his gaze fixed on the boy. “Not that sentence.”

His Adam’s apple bobbed with restraint. “You said just now… that you left suddenly yesterday because of an urgent matter?” And not because you were running away to get away from me?

Xu Jingchu blinked. “That’s right.” Since he had gone straight to the hospital to see a doctor after leaving Huo Yan’s house, it wasn’t exactly a lie.

Huo Yan took a deep breath. The negative emotions that had been suppressed all night vanished instantly upon receiving the boy’s definitive answer.

“Thank you…” Thank you for not abandoning me, thank you for your sincerity and openness.

Xu Jingchu was stunned. “For wha—”

Before he could finish, he was pulled into a tight embrace.

The scent of the ocean wrapped around the slender boy with a mix of possessive dominance and gentle tenderness, as if recovering a lost treasure.

They were pressed so closely together that Xu Jingchu felt as if he were soaking in a warm, gentle sea. He couldn’t help but take a deep, intoxicated breath. He realized he really liked the scent on Huo Yan—he was addicted to it, wishing he could bury himself deep in that ocean and never leave.

This man is magical.

This was the only reason Xu Jingchu could think of for his “abnormal” behavior.

“Chuchu…” the man murmured, his voice trembling slightly. “Chuchu…”

Xu Jingchu stiffened. Was Huo Yan… afraid?

Why?

Xu Jingchu remembered his dream from last night again. The man in the dream had been lifeless, his broken legs twisted at abnormal angles, surrounded by suffocating malice. Those bottomless eyes had held not a single shred of a will to live.

Xu Jingchu’s chest began to feel heavy again. He knew he shouldn’t take dreams seriously, but every scene had felt so real—so real it felt as though it had actually happened.

He couldn’t help but look down.

The man’s legs were encased in slightly wrinkled suit trousers, straight and long. It was hard to imagine who could be cruel enough to break them.

“Huo Yan…” Xu Jingchu was suddenly very glad it was only a dream. He buried his face in the man’s chest and whispered, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left yesterday without saying goodbye. To show my apology, you can ask one thing of me.”

He paused. “Anything at all.”

This was the first time in his life Xu Jingchu had made such a promise. It wasn’t that he lacked a sense of self-protection, but rather that he firmly believed Huo Yan wouldn’t take advantage of him.

What he didn’t know, however, was that saying such words to an Alpha in his rut was essentially the equivalent of inviting the other person to do something “intense” to him.

Huo Yan’s breathing grew heavy. The beast suppressed within him all night awoke instantly, and a fire seemed to rush straight to his lower abdomen.

The swelling ache was hard to endure.

If not for the last shred of his sanity, he truly might have done something regrettable in broad daylight.

After a long moment, Xu Jingchu heard the man ask in a voice extremely hoarse, “Truly anything?”

“Yes,” Xu Jingchu said, completely oblivious to the danger. “Anything.”

Huo Yan didn’t immediately state his request. Instead, he led the boy toward the Maybach that had been parked by the roadside all night.

There was plenty of time ahead. They still knew too little about each other; he couldn’t scare the boy—at least, not yet.

It was only after Xu Jingchu sat in the passenger seat that he remembered he was still wearing his pajamas. So… he had just stood outside the school gates in his pajamas, hugging a man for over five minutes?

Thud— Huo Yan sat in the driver’s seat and pulled a thin blanket from the back, handing it to him. “It’s a bit chilly this morning. Put this on.”

The man’s voice had returned to normal, and his face held the steady, refined composure Xu Jingchu was familiar with. No matter how many times he looked at that handsome face, he found it hard to turn away.

Xu Jingchu’s cheeks began to burn with a delayed heat. Hugging a handsome man by the road in pajamas was one thing, but… he hadn’t even brushed his teeth yet!

“What is it?” Huo Yan turned his head to watch him tenderly.

Xu Jingchu clutched the blanket and looked away slightly, the tips of his ears burning. “…It’s nothing.”

While he believed friends should be open with one another, the fact that he had run out to the school gate in his pajamas and stared blankly into space before even washing up was something he preferred to keep hidden.

To prevent the man from asking further, Xu Jingchu stiffly changed the subject: “Did you come to see me for something specific?”

Huo Yan’s gaze lingered on his reddened earlobe for two seconds before the darkening inkiness in his eyes receded.

“I don’t have your contact information yet,” he said, starting the car calmly. “Chuchu, can I have your contact details?”

“Contact details…” Xu Jingchu pulled out his phone, his slender, translucent fingertips swiping through the few apps he had. He didn’t have WeChat, QQ, or any entertainment apps—just a Weibo account he hadn’t opened once since registering it.

Xu Jingchu looked up at the man’s perfect profile and hesitated for a moment. “What’s your phone number?”

Huo Yan recited his private number.

Soon, the phone in his pocket rang.

When Xu Jingchu went to save the contact, he first typed “Huo Yan,” then thought about it and deleted it. Finally, he solemnly typed three words: Best Friend.

Huo Yan was his first friend since transmigrating into the book, and his best friend at that.

As the Maybach left A-University further and further behind, neither of them noticed Zhang Yihui stepping out from behind a cover opposite the school gate. His phone screen was lit up with a freshly taken photo.

In the photo, Xu Jingchu, dressed in pale yellow pajamas, was stepping into the black Maybach. Beside him was Huo Yan, wearing a casual suit, holding the door handle. The man’s gaze was tender and focused, his eyes brimming with love.

An Alpha and an Omega—both were very easy on the eyes, and seeing them in the same frame was doubly so.

Meanwhile, inside the car.

Xu Jingchu watched anxiously as the car drove further from the university. The man driving, whether intentionally or not, hadn’t mentioned where they were going.

“Huo—”

Just as Xu Jingchu was about to speak, a thin figure suddenly stepped out from a fork in the road ahead.

Screech—! Huo Yan slammed on the brakes.

The black Maybach came to a halt just inches before hitting the person, but the figure in front collapsed with a “thud.”

Xu Jingchu turned pale. “Did we hit them?”

Huo Yan stared intently at the person on the ground, his thin lips pressing into a tight line. He didn’t get out of the car, nor did he answer.

Xu Jingchu turned to him. “Huo Yan?”

Huo Yan’s fingers on the steering wheel twitched. “Stay here. Don’t get out.”

His tone was still gentle, yet it carried an undeniable coldness.

Xu Jingchu opened his mouth, then finally nodded obediently. “Okay. Be careful.”

Huo Yan opened the door and stepped out, his long legs taking him step by step toward the person lying on the ground.

The person was lying face-down, eyes tightly shut and face pale.

This was someone who was both a stranger and strangely familiar.

A stranger because Huo Yan didn’t know them in reality, but familiar because he had seen them before.

In his dreams.