The Cannon Fodder 'Seme' is the Center of Attention Again (Quick Transmigration) - Chapter 24

A pale, damp hand gripped the doorknob. But before he could turn the gold plated spherical handle, a dry, rough sensation landed on the back of his hand. It felt like a piece of wood that had been burning in a fire for half a day, carrying a thick scent of gunpowder. The heat made Gu Shiyu pause abruptly.

Jiang Siran was equally stunned for a few seconds.

Their eyes met, and both Alphas let go at the same time as if they had received an electric shock. But immediately after, they both reached out again, resulting in another round of mutual recoiling.

In front of the ancient, heavy door, the two Alphas remained at a stalemate for a long time. Neither wanted to back down. Both wanted to be the one to open the door first, rush in, and appear before Li Qingran. At the same time, they truly did not want to touch each other; even a touch as light as a dragonfly skimming water was unacceptable.

It was truly disgusting.

Jiang Siran completely lost his patience. “Can you stop reaching out? Did you not hear him call my name?”

“So? Does calling someone’s name mean that person must be the one to open the door? If you are that overbearing, why not install voice controlled locks on every door and change the password to your name?” Gu Shiyu sneered.

“This is my house!”

“And my friend is inside!” Gu Shiyu did not back down at all. “Therefore, I have the right to open the door. Furthermore, if I find my friend injured or in trouble after opening the door, I have the right to hold you accountable!”

“Hey! Do you really want to!”

The two of them broke into a full argument.

Using the spherical doorknob as the center line, two Alphas of similar build but completely different temperaments faced each other on the left and right. Like two vicious dogs occupying half of the door each, they both developed a strong possessiveness toward that handle. Both wanted to seize the right to use it before the other.

Creak.

Before they could come to blows, the door was opened from the inside.

The arguing at the door stopped instantly. The two Alphas, who refused to yield an inch a second ago, both looked into the room at the same time.

In the dim light, the handsome youth stood tall and elegant. With black hair and gray eyes, he looked at them with eyes slightly curved, but the smile did not seem to reach his gaze.

“Are you two busy?”

“…” “…”

“If you are busy, I can wait a little longer,” Li Qingran said softly. His tone was calm and gentle. At the same time, he took a step back with his left foot, appearing as though he truly wanted to give Gu Shiyu and Jiang Siran some space to fully resolve their issue with the doorknob.

“No! No need!” Jiang Siran immediately reached out to steady the door that had finally opened and was about to close again. He explained anxiously, “I am not busy. I am not busy at all. If it were not for the person beside me!”

He seemed to want to shout an insult, but to maintain his image in front of Li Qingran, the words rolled on the tip of his tongue and were regretfully swallowed back down. Jiang Siran could not even be bothered to give Gu Shiyu a proper title.

“This whoever person kept blocking me from opening the door, or I would have come in long ago. I am sorry. If I had known, I would not have wasted my breath on him and just kicked the door open instead. Please do not be angry, okay?”

Jiang Siran looked at Li Qingran cautiously, while secretly reaching out to hook Li Qingran’s limp pinky finger.

The latter either truly was not angry or simply did not notice the gesture, as he did not pull away.

Jiang Siran was instantly happy, but beside him, Gu Shiyu’s eyes grew even darker and heavier. He still could not accept Li Qingran and Jiang Siran engaging in such intimate gestures. The strength with which he clenched his fists grew tighter, and his expression became increasingly unsightly as Jiang Siran tried to edge closer to Li Qingran. His black eyes reflected the red light from the room as if a fire had been lit within them.

Ultimately, he could not restrain himself and reached out toward Jiang Siran.

The sudden sensation of being strangled by the neck made Jiang Siran instinctively stumble back two steps following the force on his nape. By the time he reacted, his fist was already raised to strike Gu Shiyu’s face—a face so calm it looked as if nothing had happened.

“I am asking you, are you actually sick? Looking for trouble, are you?”

However, before his fist could land, Gu Shiyu took a step into the room. He not only dodged Jiang Siran’s attack but also ended up closer to Li Qingran than the other was.

Having achieved this, the Alpha’s expression finally softened slightly, but his gaze remained serious. When he spoke to Li Qingran, his tone was full of helplessness and disapproval.

“Some Alphas are just too violent, always resorting to fighting and killing.”

Jiang Siran’s body, which was about to explode in rage, froze in place.

Gu Shiyu continued unhurriedly, “I am very sorry for the long delay. Your voice sounded very anxious just now. Did something happen? Are you unhurt?”

“…”

Jiang Siran’s back grew even stiffer. His stomach churned as if he had swallowed a gallon of spoiled green tea; he felt like vomiting. This Alpha was so sinister and cunning!

Li Qingran did not have a reaction as intense as Jiang Siran’s. He simply looked at Gu Shiyu and smiled, then spoke.

“Something did happen, but it was not me. It was Jingyi.”

The Alpha pursed his lips, his brow furrowing slightly. He already possessed a cold and delicate appearance. Making such a worried gesture now made one want to tear out their own heart to help him solve any problem, regardless of whether they were an Alpha or Omega.

For example, Jiang Siran immediately leaned over. “What happened to Su Jingyi?”

The story was finally moving onto the right track.

Li Qingran’s lowered eyelashes fluttered imperceptibly, but on the surface, he still looked troubled.

“He could not accept what I just told him and fainted. That is why I called your name; I wanted you to find someone to check on him.”

“I will go right now!” Jiang Siran said, preparing to head downstairs to call a doctor.

However, before he could turn around, Li Qingran grabbed him. “Just take him downstairs yourself. There are too many Alpha pheromones in this room. I am afraid that if he stays here as an Omega, he will have a more serious reaction.”

“I take him?” Jiang Siran instinctively looked at Gu Shiyu.

He was so eager to steal the spotlight just now, so why is he silent when it is time to use some strength?

Jiang Siran felt Li Qingran’s decision was somewhat inappropriate. “Is it not better if I do not go? Why not let him do it?” Jiang Siran looked at Gu Shiyu. “Were you not in a hurry to check on your friend’s condition? Now I am giving you the chance.”

I thank you so much, Gu Shiyu sneered in his heart. On the surface, he merely shrugged helplessly.

“I would be willing, of course. But I am currently drenched, freezing and damp. I am truly afraid of passing this dampness on to him. As you know, Omegas are very fragile; a small accident can lead to more serious consequences.” He then turned his gaze toward Li Qingran. “Qingran must have considered this as well, which is why he asked Mr. Jiang to go.”

He is quite sharp, Li Qingran thought, raising an eyebrow slightly. A hint of a smile finally appeared in his eyes.

“That is indeed the case. So Ran, I will have to trouble you this time.”

The Alpha’s gaze returned to Jiang Siran. His eyes were like water, carrying a touch of pitiful pleading.

“I originally planned to go myself, but you would have been unhappy about it, so.”

“I will go!”

Before Li Qingran could finish, Jiang Siran immediately nodded and agreed to the request. The Alpha, who had shoved Gu Shiyu aside to step forward, had reddened eyes, looking like a little puppy snake that had finally found its master. His dark green eyes were full of emotion from Li Qingran’s words.

“You do not need to say more, Qingran. I will go!”

The person before him was so determined not to make him jealous that he cruelly refused to touch the boyfriend he had been with for so long. What was wrong with being a porter for his sake!

Jiang Siran acted immediately. After giving Li Qingran a solemn hug, he strode toward the room without looking back. The look of “do or die” on his face made it seem like he was not heading to the sofa by the fireplace, but to a battlefield of fire and smoke.

Gu Shiyu curled his lip wordlessly, then turned his gaze to Li Qingran, who was also watching Jiang Siran leave. He looked him up and down. In his black eyes, there was confusion, along with a sense of strangeness and bewilderment.

He moved his lips, wanting to say something to Li Qingran in these few minutes while Jiang Siran was away. But when the words reached his lips, he did not know what to say.

“Does Mr. Gu regret agreeing to my decision just now?”

While Gu Shiyu was still struggling with his thoughts, Li Qingran’s voice drifted into his ears.

The Alpha did not even turn his head. He watched the situation over by the sofa while speaking, and although his mouth was turned up slightly at the corners, those gray eyes reflecting the firelight remained cold without a trace of emotion.

He truly felt so strange.

Gu Shiyu unconsciously pursed his lips and said in a deep voice, “No, I have no objection to your decision just now. I just feel like you seem a bit different from before.”

“Is that so?” Li Qingran blinked, his voice remaining calm. “Then where exactly do you think I am different?”

Everything was different. The aura, the expression, and the attitude toward him, or rather, toward every one of them, was different.

Gu Shiyu clenched his fingers. He wanted to ask Li Qingran if he had been brainwashed by Jiang Siran after the phone call had ended. Otherwise, how could he have accepted the other man in such a short time? He was an Alpha. Was it just because the other person would take him away from Su Jingyi? Had Gu Shiyu not promised to do the same before?

Before Li Qingran could speak, Gu Shiyu was stunned for several seconds by the inexplicable thought that suddenly appeared in his mind. The anger he felt toward Li Qingran for betraying their plan was replaced by a wave of bewilderment. He wondered how this could be happening.

He uncontrollably lifted his eyes to look at Li Qingran, staring at the other man’s profile for several seconds. It was not until the Alpha turned his head in confusion, sensing his gaze, that Gu Shiyu snapped out of it. He jerked his gaze away and retreated several steps, his face turning instantly pale.

Li Qingran asked in confusion, “What is wrong with you?”

“Nothing! It is nothing! I was not thinking about anything at all!” Gu Shiyu immediately retorted.

Li Qingran remained silent. He had not even asked the Alpha what he was thinking. Indeed, the main characters were all somewhat abnormal. Li Qingran, who had just given Gu Shiyu two normalcy points for his previous sensible behavior, promptly deducted them.

At this point, Gu Shiyu realized his reaction had been excessive. He rubbed his nose awkwardly and stiffly brought the topic back to the previous one. “I just feel that compared to before, your way of handling problems has changed a lot.”

“Has it?”

Li Qingran raised an eyebrow slightly. A faint smile seemed to appear in his gray eyes as he looked at Gu Shiyu, but it might have been a delusion. The Alpha only looked at him for a moment before withdrawing his gaze, just as he had every other time they interacted. Li Qingran never looked at him for long. His gaze had lingered on Su Jingyi and on Qi Ziyan, and even the scenery outside the window had received his prolonged attention. Only Gu Shiyu’s figure would disappear from those gray eyes in less than three seconds.

Gu Shiyu’s thoughts drifted away again, but this time they were not gone for long before being pulled back by Li Qingran’s voice.

“Is it possible that compared to before, I have not changed at all?” The Alpha spoke softly, his tone flat and his words slow. “You think I have changed, but perhaps it is just that I am different from the image in your mind. But that image was only what you assumed, or what you wanted me to be, was it not?”

Gu Shiyu choked for a moment and instinctively argued, “No, I did not think that. I have read many of your files, seen how you usually interact with Su Jingyi, and even observed you personally.”

“But you have never truly interacted with me, Mr. Gu,” Li Qingran chuckled softly. “Words on a file are dead, but people are living, are they not?”

He too should be a living person. He should not be boxed in by procedures, bound by missions, or defined by strings of text. Otherwise, why would he have developed a consciousness? He could have just cycled through the plot of the game and repeated lines he had said countless times.

Li Qingran stared fixedly at Jiang Siran, who had finally prepared himself mentally in front of the sofa. He watched Jiang Siran slowly lean down, approaching the Omega whose body was wrapped in a coat. Li Qingran’s gray eyes shone brilliantly as if a fire had truly been lit within them.

The Alpha beside him seemed to mutter a few more defensive words, but Li Qingran did not care. At this moment, he only wanted to know the result of this experiment. Would the plot return to its original track, or would it collapse completely? Li Qingran bit the tip of his tongue, and his fingers hanging at his side trembled slightly.

888 was still praising him in his mind. “You are truly amazing, Host, entering the fray yourself! You finally got the villain and the protagonist Omega to meet! You have worked so hard, Host. I have been stuck in the dark room and could not help you with anything.”

At this point, 888 added with some confusion, “I do not know if it is because I have been in the dark room too often, but the judgment for it feels a bit neurotic this time. Every time the notification says I will be released after three minutes, the door locks again right before I can step out.”

Li Qingran’s lips curled slightly. From the moment Jiang Siran approached Su Jingyi, his eyes never left them. He watched the Alpha lean down gently and reach out to pull back the black coat covering the Omega’s face. The orange yellow firelight fell upon them, stretching their shadows onto the gray black floor. As the fire flickered, the shadows on the ground also leaned forward, blurred and haunting. The atmosphere was so thick it felt like a movie scene. The two in the frame should have been a pair of lovers, with the Alpha leaning down tenderly to care for his Omega.

Li Qingran held his breath. 888 stopped talking as well. Even Gu Shiyu, who could not grasp the situation, fell silent and watched the two at the sofa with a frown. He felt as if something was not quite right, but this intuition was swallowed instantly without a trace.

Time seemed to slow down at this moment. Even the crackling of the firewood in the fireplace felt like it was playing at half speed. Sparks rose slowly, tracing orange red parabolas in the air before falling to the floor. The spark died instantly, but a faint scent of ash rose with it, spreading toward the sofa.

The Omega, who was already unable to sleep peacefully, began to struggle the moment the Alpha touched him. The coat meant to soothe him slid down with his movements, and the scent of gunpowder in the air forced its way into his nose.

“Mm!” The Omega, whose body had long reached its limit, let out a strained groan.

In the next second, an extremely thick scent of lemon surged toward Jiang Siran. It carried an undeniable attraction, as if written by destiny itself. Li Qingran watched as Jiang Siran, holding the Omega, froze on the spot. This was normal. After all, an Omega’s pheromones possess a fatal attraction for an Alpha, let alone for the villain who was supposed to be obsessed with the protagonist Omega.

So, would the result of the experiment be that everything returns to the right track? Li Qingran bit his tongue, the pain gradually calming him down. A certain crazy idea in his mind seemed to be vanishing along with this calmness.

However, before Li Qingran could completely settle down, the Alpha kneeling on the floor suddenly lowered his head. He opened his mouth and drove his sharp canine teeth, which were instantly releasing a large amount of pheromones, deep into the back of his own hand.

Li Qingran was stunned. He instinctively blinked to make sure he had not seen it wrong. But before he could focus his gaze on Jiang Siran and Su Jingyi again, a faint aroma of red wine suddenly enveloped him. Simultaneously, a searing heat landed on his arm.

Li Qingran instinctively tried to break free, but before he could even raise his arm, he was unexpectedly pulled out of the door by Gu Shiyu. The door was closed with a thud.

In the dim light, the Alpha was gripped by the wrist by a tall figure the moment he exited the room and was pressed against the door panel behind him. The thick scent of red wine immediately rushed into his face.

“Mm.”

Inside and outside the room, the breathing of the men grew heavy, and someone could not help but let out a muffled groan during the entanglement.

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