The Cannon Fodder Became the Empire's Beloved Omega - Chapter 44

His restless heart was suddenly soothed by something inexplicable.

“Hey, hey?” Cheng Mu’s nagging voice reached his ears. “Gu Yu? Are you listening?”

“Do me a favor.” Snapping back to reality, Gu Yu glanced at the person in the center of the dance floor and said calmly, “Remove my ID from the lottery pool.”

“Huh?”

“I don’t want to dance.”

He didn’t want to dance with anyone else.

As the song ended, Yu Ruan stumbled out of the dance floor in a daze, instinctively searching for Gu Yu.

His gaze swept briefly across the room. With so many people in the hall, even if he had spotted Gu Yu earlier, it was difficult to pinpoint his exact location now.

Slipping into the crowd, he hesitated.

There were simply too many people. The scene was a blur of colorful lights and masked students, each covering the upper half of their faces. Yu Ruan stood there bewildered, unable to even recognize the classmates he had arrived with, let alone find Gu Yu.

After a moment of hesitation, Yu Ruan decided to send him a message to ask.

But just as he raised his wrist to open his communicator, he froze. It seemed maybe, there wasn’t any urgent reason to find Gu Yu right now?

The dance would go on for a while longer, but it had nothing to do with him anymore. Since he had already been chosen earlier, his ID wouldn’t appear again in the random pool.

But Gu Yu’s ID was still in the pool, and sooner or later, he would have to dance with whoever drew his name. So, going to find him now seemed pointless and would only make him feel like a third wheel.

A very bright and conspicuous one.

After a brief pause, Yu Ruan lowered his hand. He decided to wait until after the dance to message Gu Yu, to avoid any awkwardness.

Suddenly, a shadow fell over him from behind. Before Yu Ruan could react, someone gently took his wrist. The touch of high-quality fabric brushed against his skin. He looked up and saw a familiar profile.

“Gu Yu?”

“Mm.”

“Don’t you need to go for the draw?” Yu Ruan asked, watching as Gu Yu led him by the hand to a corner of the hall. “Haven’t you danced yet.”

“Cheng Mu just told me there was a mistake when he modified the data,” Gu Yu said calmly. “My ID is temporarily grayed out and can’t be added back. I don’t have to participate in the rest of the dance.”

Yu Ruan was stunned, a wave of guilt washing over him.

He hadn’t expected that Gu Yu would sacrifice his chance at the dance just to help him. It was only once a year, and now, because of him.

Yu Ruan felt terribly sorry. After hesitating, he couldn’t help but murmur, “Then, if you don’t mind.”

Gu Yu’s gaze shifted to him, locking onto his eyes as if waiting for him to continue.

Feeling a bit flustered, Yu Ruan pressed on, “How about I dance with you as an apology? After all, your ID was grayed out because you helped me. I…”

He racked his brains, trying to phrase it more gently, to avoid sounding patronizing. But before he could finish, a cool voice sounded beside his ear: “Okay.”

Yu Ruan’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Fine,” the speaker said, his lips pressed together slightly. “I don’t mind.”

Gu Yu’s resolute attitude made Yu Ruan hesitate slightly. He blinked in confusion and tentatively asked, “Are you sure you don’t want to reconsider?”

“No need.”

“But my dancing…”

“You danced very well just now,” Gu Yu said. “You’ve mastered all the techniques I taught you.” After a brief pause, he added slowly, “And this is a corner, so you don’t have to worry about others watching.”

“…” Convinced by his words, Yu Ruan nodded blankly.

As he finished speaking, the person before him extended a hand: “Come here.”

Yu Ruan nervously placed his hand in Gu Yu’s and was led to an empty corner.

Just then, melodious music began playing in the hall. The first round of the lottery had ended, marking the official start of the dance.

The familiar scent once again enveloped Yu Ruan’s senses. Flustered, he tightened his grip on Gu Yu’s hand and moved a little closer.

A warm sensation seeped through the thin fabric of their clothes. This time, instead of the simple attire worn during practice, they were dressed in elaborate, heavy formal wear. Yet even so, Yu Ruan could feel an astonishing warmth radiating from the person before him, causing his face to flush slightly.

Whether it was due to his heat cycle or not, he found himself unusually sensitive to pheromones. The scent emanating from the Alpha in front of himc, a delicate fragrance tinged with a hint of bitterness was utterly intoxicating.

Under the lights, the other’s features appeared handsome and sharply defined. His chin was slender, his skin slightly pale against the pure black formal wear, and his prominent Adam’s apple was partially concealed by the collar of his outfit.

He looked somewhat biteable.

The moment he became aware of his unusual thoughts, Yu Ruan’s face flushed a deep red.

As the music continued in the hall, the pheromones unique to the other person grew increasingly potent. The gland at the nape of his neck burned intensely, making Yu Ruan press his lips together tightly and lower his gaze, attempting to hide his strange emotions.

Thankfully, he was wearing a mask. Yu Ruan breathed a quiet sigh of relief, grateful that it could at least partially conceal his embarrassment.

Suddenly, a warm breath brushed against his ear: “Is something wrong?”

“Huh?” He looked up in confusion, only to see Gu Yu frowning slightly. His voice was calm as he said, “You lost focus.”

Yu Ruan’s face instantly heated up.

Recalling his earlier thoughts, he shook his head in a fluster, trying to defend himself: “No! I was dancing very seriously.”

As if seeing right through his act, Gu Yu replied, “Just now, you missed a step.”

“…” Overwhelmed with shame and embarrassment, Yu Ruan lowered his head.

There was nothing more mortifying than being caught in a lie.

“Sorry,” he murmured apologetically. “I got a little distracted for a moment. I didn’t mean to.”

“What were you thinking about?”

Surprised that Gu Yu would press further, Yu Ruan froze for a moment. He opened his mouth but couldn’t bring himself to admit that he had been tempted by the other’s pheromones. Growing even more flustered, he attempted to cover it up with a lie.

“The competition later,” he stammered, trying to deflect. “I couldn’t help wondering what the questions might be, so I got distracted.”

He struggled to get the last words out, his head sinking lower and lower.

Please, he prayed silently, don’t let Gu Yu expose my lie again.

Yet, things went against his wishes. Before he could even banish the thought from his mind, the Alpha in front of him slightly furrowed his brows, lowering his gaze to scrutinize Yu Ruan’s face as if searching for some hidden detail.

Yu Ruan nervously met his gaze, trying hard to ignore the heat emanating from the gland at the nape of his neck and the uncontrollable pounding of his heart.

The music continued to play, but the once serene and melodious tune had now transitioned into an intense and passionate prelude. Yu Ruan instinctively took a step back, only to see the other man lean in closer, bringing his face near.

Their masks collided with a crisp ding. Yu Ruan’s heart leaped into his throat, and he could almost make out the distinct, thick lashes of Gu Yu’s eyes beneath the mask.

Gu Yu’s gaze remained fixed on him, his dark blue eyes as deep and unfathomable as a bottomless abyss, shimmering faintly. Their breaths mingled so closely that it was hard to tell whose was whose, their lips barely an inch apart. Yu Ruan instinctively tried to retreat, but the hand at his waist tightened, preventing him from moving even an inch further.

A long moment passed so long that Yu Ruan almost thought Gu Yu was angry. Finally, as if having finished his deliberation, Gu Yu spoke slowly, “Lying isn’t good.”

Then, he added, “Don’t do it again.”

“…” For a moment, Yu Ruan didn’t know whether to feel relieved or distressed.

He nodded blankly, his lips still tingling with the lingering warmth from their proximity. Embarrassed, he averted his gaze, took a deep breath, and whispered, “Could you let me go?” Noticing Gu Yu’s lingering stare, he added, “The song is almost over.”

As he spoke, the music in the hall gradually softened, signaling its impending end. Yu Ruan’s words were not far from the truth.

Yet, even after hearing this, Gu Yu’s hand on his waist remained unmoved.

Unsure if Gu Yu was contemplating his request, Yu Ruan waited patiently.

But after a long while, Gu Yu still made no move to release him. The two of them remained frozen in an intimate stance, standing stiffly in the corner.

The gland at the nape of Yu Ruan’s neck grew increasingly warm, and he shifted uncomfortably. Their location was secluded, and for the time being, no one else would notice them.

Even so, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of shame.

He even had the impulse to push Gu Yu’s hand away and rush to the restroom alone to take a suppressant.

Just then, a familiar, amused male voice interrupted the tension between them. “So this is where you’ve been hiding. I was wondering where you’d gone.”

Startled, Yu Ruan instinctively turned toward the source of the voice.

Their masks scraped against each other again with a crisp clink. Gu Yu released him, slightly furrowing his brows as he turned to face the newcomer. “Do you need something?”

“What’s wrong?” Ye Yizhou smiled lightly. “Can’t I come over to check on you without a reason?”

Gu Yu stared back coldly, his lips pressed tightly together, offering no response.

Yu Ruan felt a wave of awkwardness wash over him. The intimate position he and Gu Yu had been in was embarrassing enough when it was just the two of them, but now a third person had witnessed it.

Especially since that person was technically his teacher.

The more he thought about it, the more mortified he felt.

He lowered his head awkwardly and said, “Professor Ye, why are you here all of a sudden?” Remembering what had just happened, Yu Ruan choked on his words and instinctively defended himself, “Just now, we no, I mean Gu Yu and I didn’t no, no, it’s not what you think!”

For some reason, Yu Ruan felt a sense of panic, as if he were a student caught red-handed in a secret early romance by his homeroom teacher.

But the thing was, he and Gu Yu weren’t involved in any early romance at all!

The more nervous he became, the more his words stumbled. Frantically, Yu Ruan tried to explain the situation to Ye Yizhou, hoping to clear the other person’s name, but it only seemed to make things worse.

As he watched the corners of the other’s lips curl higher and higher, Yu Ruan gave up in frustration. He instinctively glanced at the Alpha beside him, hoping he would also make an effort to help clarify the misunderstanding instead of leaving him to fight this battle alone.

Unexpectedly, he was caught off guard by a pair of shimmering, elusive eyes.

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