The White Moonlight is Both Competitive and Predatory - Chapter 13

“Yan Chi, I need you.”

Beep. License plate search successful.

Yan Chi parked the car, his mind still somewhat dazed.

Four minutes and fifty seconds later, the car window was tapped.

The air conditioning was on inside the car, but Yan Chi had cracked the passenger window slightly. Outside, Ji Yueting’s breathing was slightly hurried as he asked, “Can I sit in the passenger seat?”

Yan Chi nodded, picking up the cake.

Without hesitation, Ji Yueting slid into the car, his long legs stretching out. Just minutes ago, he had been in a meeting, dressed in a formal, serious suit and shirt, the buttons fastened tightly against his chest, which now rose and fell at a slightly faster pace.

As if he had just run over.

Yan Chi’s gaze swept over him. Though he hadn’t meant to dwell on it, his mind involuntarily recalled the glimpse of contours he’d seen during the video call that night.

So defined.

Sensing his thoughts drifting in an inappropriate direction, Yan Chi quickly called “cut” in his mind, stopping the train of thought. “Is the meeting over?”

Ji Yueting: “I pointed out a few areas for improvement and left. Let them figure it out on their own.”

“Aren’t you worried about scaring the person in charge now, Mr. Ji?” Yan Chi blinked mischievously.

“Worrying won’t help. They’ll have to make changes anyway,” Ji Yueting said, his gaze drifting to the pale, striking fingertips hidden in the night. He tilted his head slightly. “Besides. I really wanted to clock out.”

Wanting to leave work was a perfectly human desire, and Yan Chi understood it well. But soon, his movements paused as he opened the box he realized the café staff had only given him one spoon.

“…”

“What’s wrong?” Ji Yueting asked.

“Ji Yueting, there’s only one spoon,” Yan Chi said helplessly. “What do we do?”

Though called a “small mille-feuille,” the cake was actually quite large. Yan Chi’s mind raced as he asked, “Do you have any other utensils upstairs?”

“Yes,” Ji Yueting straightened up. “Are you planning to come up with me?”

Yan Chi shook his head decisively. He didn’t like environments with too many strangers. “I won’t go up. Besides, I shouldn’t eat too much chocolate it might affect my work. I’ll just take a couple of bites.”

After a moment of silence, Ji Yueting replied, “Alright.”

Yan Chi unwrapped the spoon, completely forgetting the advice he’d received when leaving. Two bites weren’t enough he took an extra scoop. Licking the chocolate residue from the corner of his mouth, Yan Chi looked up, the amber light in his eyes hidden beneath his lashes. “You don’t mind that I’ve already eaten from this cake, do you?”

Ji Yueting chuckled, pulling a tissue from the center console and lightly tapping the right corner of Yan Chi’s mouth. “There’s still a bit there.”

Getting food on his face felt like a childish mistake to Yan Chi. He took the tissue and wiped it off quickly.

“I’ve noticed something,” Ji Yueting drawled. “Yan Chi, you can be a bit clumsy sometimes.”

Having always been praised for his intelligence, Yan Chi felt indignant at being called clumsy. “Why?”

Ji Yueting leaned back leisurely. “If I minded, why would I be sitting here right now?”

“Oh.” Fair point.

Yan Chi feigned indifference, retaliating for Ji Yueting’s earlier remark about him being clumsy.

Ji Yueting laughed softly, not intending to intrude further on Yan Chi’s rest time. He got out of the car. “Come by whenever you want. You’re free to come and go here.”

Yan Chi slowly turned his face away like a cat, his annoyance not fully dissipated as he bid Ji Yueting a curt goodbye.

Though he’d said goodbye, Ji Yueting didn’t close the door immediately.

Ji Yueting teased him, and Yan Chi didn’t want to talk. But now that Ji Yueting had fallen silent, lost in thought, Yan Chi couldn’t help asking, “Is there something else?”

“There is one thing, Yan Chi. I might not be able to send you photos of Chichi for the next week.”

“?” Yan Chi widened his eyes. “Why? Are you going on a business trip?”

Feeling stifled, Ji Yueting unbuttoned the collar of his shirt without any hesitation. “No, it’s not a business trip. My rut is coming up soon. My condition is quite severe, usually lasting about seven days.”

“I don’t have a partner, so I have to rely on suppressants. But suppressants don’t always work well. I become quite irritable, to the point where I need to be locked up,” Ji Yueting said lightly, even gesturing with his hands to mimic the shape of a gag. “Every time my rut comes, I have someone take Chichi away. Otherwise, my pheromones might scare it.”

What if I take care of it? Yan Chi swallowed the words before they could leave his mouth. His schedule for the next few days was packed. Taking care of himself was already a challenge, let alone a kitten.

After a long pause, he asked, “Is the rut very difficult?”

Betas didn’t have to attend Alpha physiology classes, so Yan Chi didn’t know the specific reactions during a rut. All he had been told was to stay as far away as possible from Alphas in rut, especially those without fixed partners. They were irritable and prone to anger because their emotions and pheromones had nowhere to vent. Uncontrolled, they could develop intense, unwarranted possessiveness.

This was all written in Beta textbooks.

A good student like him couldn’t possibly not know.

Ji Yueting thought carefully for a moment before answering casually, “My mind gets a bit foggy, but sleeping it off usually helps.”

“You’re lying.” Yan Chi didn’t believe him. A rut couldn’t possibly be that simple.

“Alright, it hurts a bit, and sometimes I feel like biting something,” Ji Yueting said, closing the car door for him. “I’m not lying this time. That’s the truth.”

Yan Chi felt a little disappointed. Not seeing the cat for a week probably meant not seeing the person either.

After Ji Yueting left, the car fell silent again. But barely ten seconds later, the Alpha returned.

“There’s one more thing I need to tell you.”

Yan Chi looked up at him.

Ji Yueting’s expression turned serious. “Yan Chi, if I send you any strange messages during that time, just ignore them. Don’t respond.”

“Absolutely do not respond.”

Yan Chi didn’t have clear days off, let alone the luxury of a two-day weekend. Saturdays and Sundays were just as busy as weekdays for him no rest, and the commute to work was even more crowded.

In the past, he never paid much attention to the start of a new week, but this time was different.

Because when he woke up this morning, the message box belonging to Ji Yueting was eerily quiet.

Yan Chi told himself it was nothing, but he couldn’t shake the feeling of unfamiliarity. They say it takes twenty-one days to form a habit. Yan Chi thought, maybe he’d get used to it in a couple of days.

Distractedly heading to the studio, he stopped Qin Siming and another Alpha while handing over a project, asking earnestly, “Do you have partners? What does a rut feel like?”

The two single Alphas shook their heads in unison. At first, they thought their spring had come, but it turned out Teacher Yan was genuinely asking for advice.

Qin Siming shuddered. “It’s awful. It feels like your whole body is being torn apart painful and unsettling.”

Another alpha chimed in, “Yeah, those alphas with omegas just need to hold someone and nibble a bit to feel better. Guys like us can only rely on suppressants. Thank goodness my pheromone level isn’t high, otherwise I’d explode!”

“Pheromone level,” Yan Chi caught the key phrase, “Does a higher pheromone level make it more unbearable?”

“Yeah, teacher, didn’t you know?” Qin Siming then remembered again that Yan Chi was a beta and proceeded to explain, “The higher an alpha’s pheromone level, the more intense and prolonged their rut reactions are. For high-level alphas without partners, their rut is practically like torture every pheromone surge is pure agony.”

Yan Chi listened intently, his expression now distant.

“Agony.”

He was wearing a designer shirt today, with two ties at the back. Instead of being fastened according to the pattern, they were loosely knotted and draped over the wooden chair, following the slight curve of his shoulder blades.

Qin Siming couldn’t help but steal a few more glances, only to realize his colleague hadn’t looked away either.

Once outside, the two whispered to each other.

“Is Teacher Yan really a beta? I doubt it every time I see him. What beta could be this beautiful?”

The other nodded in deep agreement, “You arrived later, so you didn’t see how many people pursued the boss back in the day. He never accepted any of them.”

“That’s really great,” Qin Siming clasped his hands together devoutly, “I swear to give up fried dough sticks for a week to pray that Teacher Yan doesn’t get taken away by some bad alpha.”

After they left, the surroundings returned to quiet. Yan Chi made a call to Liu Muqing.

“Xiao Chi, what brings you to call me today?” Liu Muqing sounded surprised.

“I have a question,” Yan Chi rested his chin on his hand, “Is Ji Yueting’s pheromone level very high? I vaguely remember you mentioning it back in high school.”

“Yeah, that was quite famous at the time,” Liu Muqing grew animated, “It was during some basketball game. Ji Yueting’s friends dragged him onto the court, but someone accidentally brushed against his neck, causing his suppressant patch to come half off. The thing is, Ji Yueting was about to enter his rut, and his pheromones were incredibly strong. Just a slight leak made half the players on the court vomit.”

“Tsk tsk, you weren’t there, so you didn’t see how pathetic those usually arrogant alphas looked.”

Yan Chi had a faint memory of it and murmured an absent-minded “Mm.”

“Why are you suddenly asking about this? What’s up with Ji Yueting?” Liu Muqing pressed, “Actually, I’ve been meaning to ask you what’s going on between you two now? Are you still in touch?”

Yan Chi organized his thoughts and roughly explained, “We’re just friends.”

Upon hearing this, Liu Muqing burst into uproarious laughter, startling his colleagues in the office.

“?” Yan Chi was puzzled.

“You say you’re just friends? Xiao Chi, I’m not joking, but have you ever seen an alpha who can just be friends with you? Do you really think Ji Yueting is an exception?” Liu Muqing stated firmly.

Yan Chi frowned and defended, “Ji Yueting isn’t like that. He doesn’t act intrusive like other alphas, and he doesn’t have any ulterior motives. We really are just friends.”

Yan Chi’s words came out without any hint of personal affection. He genuinely thought highly of the other polite, gentle, witty, kind, and comfortable to be around.

“Alright, alright,” Liu Muqing knew Yan Chi was just as stubborn and unlikely to trust others’ words easily. “Anyway, he’s Ji Yueting, the CEO of Changying. No matter what, he wouldn’t do you wrong. So, you’re asking me about this because of him?”

“Mhm,” Yan Chi said. “I was just thinking, with his pheromone level so high, his rut must be really tough to endure.”

“…” Liu Muqing fell silent for a moment before replying, “Sweetie, promise me, don’t just go feeling sorry for other alphas, okay? It’s all over the internet pitying alphas never ends well.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I know. Then let me ask you one question,” Liu Muqing said seriously. “After all these years, Xiao Chi, do you still like him? Or do you still think he’s the most special one?”

After so many years, was the answer now any different from the one he gave back in the school hallway back then?

Yan Chi didn’t answer immediately. He always had an instinctive aversion to intimate emotions, and establishing or engaging in such relationships wasn’t easy for him. Liu Muqing knew this too, so she hung up the phone, giving Yan Chi plenty of space to think.

Several days passed in a flash, and Yan Chi’s WeChat remained as quiet as ever. It was as if “Ji Yueting” had vanished from his world without a trace.

If not for the chat history still sitting in his WeChat, Yan Chi might have wondered whether everything that had happened over the past few months was just his imagination.

On Thursday, Yan Chi finished work and returned home. After a quick shower, he collapsed onto the bed, dizzy with exhaustion.

He had visited Hongshan Orphanage again during the day, this time bringing improved aromatherapy. Looking out from the dormitory window, Changying’s construction project was progressing rapidly, with more than half of the foundation already laid. Just as Ji Yueting had said, they didn’t need to worry everything was moving forward as planned.

In the afternoon, he found time to teach the children and play games with them. As he was leaving, a little boy tugged at his hand and asked, “Why didn’t the big brother who’s bad at math come this time?”

Even though the alpha wasn’t there, Yan Chi couldn’t stop thinking about him.

What was Ji Yueting doing right now? Was he still in rut? How many suppressants had he taken? Was he in pain, suffering?

But they were just friends. Overthinking was pointless. It was just a rut once this week was over, it would pass. Yan Chi told himself this.

The soft mattress and blankets enveloped him, fragments of thoughts swirling in his mind as drowsiness washed over him. Yan Chi was on the verge of falling asleep.

Until “Beep beep.”

Who would message him at this hour?

Too tired to open his eyes, Yan Chi flipped his phone over and squinted at the screen.

Ji Yueting: [Yan Chi, come find me, please]

Ji Yueting: [It hurts so much]

All traces of sleepiness vanished instantly. Yan Chi sat up and typed rapidly: [What’s wrong? Do you need me to call a doctor for you?]

Ji Yueting ignored the question, sending only his address and a voice message.

The alpha’s voice during rut was hoarse and weary as he said:

“Yan Chi, I need you.”