What Should I Do If My Ex-Girlfriend's Pheromones Smell Too Good? - Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Ex-Girlfriend. Pleased to Meet You, I Am the Yan…

The start of the school year brought intense bustle to the Alliance Military University plaza.

The September sun couldn’t melt the enthusiasm of the new students and their accompanying family and friends. Senior students, rushing to maintain order for volunteer credit, had to shout at the top of their lungs:

“Mecha Department! Mecha Department, follow me!”

“Political Science is this way—”

“…”

In the clamor, a relentless individual wearing a thick face mask and cotton neck guard, despite the fierce sun, wove through the crowd. By the time she finally squeezed to the Mecha Department’s assembly point, she was drenched in sweat from being bundled up.

“Student, do you need help?”

A female student volunteer in a red vest asked thoughtfully, “Let me help you with your suitcase.”

A smile bloomed behind the mask, and she replied slightly breathlessly, “Thank you, no need. Is this where the Mecha Department reports?”

“Yes.” The volunteer was momentarily taken aback, then quickly led her to a small green tent nearby. “What’s your name, junior?”

“Shu Qiong.”

The volunteer upperclassman turned to operate the self-service machine: “Okay, Shu Qiong… you are Shu Qiong?”

After speaking, she realized her overreaction and awkwardly lowered her voice, “Sorry, I’m just a little surprised, haha. Uh, Student Shu, we need to input your facial information here. Could you… take off your mask?”

Shu Qiong was already used to this type of reaction and didn’t feel offended. Her mother was too famous. Shu Ci’s name was legendary among mecha enthusiasts, and this attention carried over to her, who was following in her mother’s footsteps.

Shu Qiong consciously stood before the scanner and removed her mask, revealing a sculpted nose and full lips. Her amber eyes curved into a friendly smile toward the red-vested upperclassman, appearing even brighter because they were full of warmth.

The other person’s face flushed, and she quickly returned the smile.

The electronic prompt soon sounded: “Input successful. Student Shu Qiong, welcome to the Alliance Military University. Have a pleasant start to your semester!”

Hearing the voice, Shu Qiong immediately put her mask back on, fastening it tightly. Ignoring the upperclassman’s hesitant expression, she freed one hand to take the new student’s guidance booklet that the machine had slowly spit out, while the other effortlessly lifted her massive suitcase and quickly walked away.

Midway, her wrist vibrated. Shu Qiong clamped the booklet under her arm and fiddled with her communication bracelet. After seeing the contact note, she answered: “Where are you, Miss?”

A leisurely female voice came from the other end: “Naturally, I took the VIP route~ Did you think I’d be pushing and shoving in a crowd and sweating buckets? Ugh, the thought of that makes me want to suffocate!”

“Then what are you waiting for? Come to the rescue!”

Shu Qiong finally found an empty corner by a wall, took off her mask and neck guard completely, and checked the map: “I’m at the north entrance of the Administration Building. There are so many people outside, Miss, save me!”

Jin Yan haughtily scoffed: “Coming! Look up!”

The faint sound of a car engine could be heard. Shu Qiong looked up in surprise and indeed saw a retro-style four-wheeled vehicle driving toward her. A female alpha sat in the driver’s seat, her bright face slightly uplifted, her curly blonde hair shining. She held the steering wheel with one hand and took off her sunglasses with the other, waving at Shu Qiong.

“Screech—”

Jin Yan drove the car as if it were a high-spirited hover-racecar. She executed a handsome, precise drift and stopped the car right at the building entrance closest to Shu Qiong.

“Touched? I specifically prepared this retro sedan for you. It’s a shame hovercars aren’t allowed on campus, or I’d let you experience my driving skills.”

After speaking, Jin Yan saw Shu Qiong’s attire and burst out laughing, “What kind of outfit is that? It’s way too weird!”

Shu Qiong looked at herself in the car window. Her mask was dangling halfway down her chin. The neck guard was droopy like a scarf, radiating heat. Her cheeks were flushed with two patches of trapped heat. She looked utterly pathetic.

Shu Qiong threw her suitcase into the car and slumped onto the seat, collapsing weakly: “There are so many Omegas here. What if I get affected?”

She wished she could wear a gas mask.

“True.”

Jin Yan started the car, sighing, “Who would have thought that the esteemed Shu Qiong, a popular figure, is actually a ‘stomach-friendly’ Alpha! No one would believe this news if it got out!”

Shu Qiong lay ungracefully in the seat, enjoying the blast of cold air, finally feeling a bit alive: “Driver, focus on your driving.”

Jin Yan casually put her sunglasses on: “Hmph, today is a special circumstance. I won’t hold it against you, but remember to pay the fare when we get out.”

Shu Qiong immediately started flattering and massaging “Driver Jin’s” shoulders: “Miss, don’t be like that. It sounds so distant!”

Jin Yan glanced at her in the rearview mirror: “Seriously, what did the doctor say about your condition? Can it be completely cured?”

Shu Qiong looked indifferent: “Intolerance to opposite-sex pheromones, a one-in-ten-million rare case. It’s too difficult to cure. The doctor said during the checkup last week that at most, they can help me not faint or have an allergic reaction when I smell Omega pheromones in the future. Don’t expect anything else.”

Jin Yan immediately felt pity: “Then you’ll have to live with suppressants forever.”

Shu Qiong couldn’t stand it when others showed that sympathetic look. Just being “stomach-friendly” isn’t a big deal!

So she retorted stubbornly: “What if I meet some soulmate Beta girl in the future? As long as there’s love, I’m happy to live with suppressants for the rest of my life!”

“I don’t get it. My ideal type is a cute Omega sister.”

Jin Yan turned the steering wheel. The ridiculously expensive watch on her wrist flashed in the sunlight. “Why don’t you consider the possibility of meeting some soulmate Alpha? That’s not rigorous at all. Are you prejudiced against Alphas?”

She even flirtatiously winked at the rearview mirror after saying that.

“…”

Shu Qiong grimaced: “Then I’d rather be alone forever.”

What can you do with an Alpha? When the heat period comes, do they just hug each other and bite each other’s necks?

She let her imagination run wild for a moment and shuddered with disgust.

With Jin Yan’s chauffeur service, Shu Qiong arrived at the Alpha dormitory building without any hassle. She relaxed a lot once inside. There were no Omegas here, so there was no possibility of an allergic reaction.

Although Jin Yan didn’t live in the collective dorms, she curiously tagged along to take a look.

She surveyed the area and concluded: “A bit run-down, but it’s clean enough to live in.”

Shu Qiong looked at the clean, shining public appliances and cleaning robots in the lobby and completely failed to grasp this Miss’s definition of “run-down.”

She logged into the military university’s student system on her bracelet to find her dorm room number.

“406. Fourth floor, not bad.”

The Alliance Military University, under the pretext of daily physical training, did not equip the dorms with elevators. Shu Qiong weighed her suitcase and steadily started climbing the stairs.

Jin Yan was still following behind. She was browsing the military university’s campus forum, walking and looking at her bracelet—a very bad habit.

Suddenly, she stopped and called out to the panting Shu Qiong, who was carrying her luggage: “A-Qiong.”

Shu Qiong: “Huh?”

Jin Yan’s expression was odd as she lifted her gaze from the forum: “Look who this is.”

Shu Qiong put down her suitcase and leaned in to look.

It was a thread asking for contact information in the form of a confession. Looking at the timestamp, it was posted around 9 AM, only an hour ago, and already had a “hot” flag.

Original Post: “SHOCKER! The freshmen this year are so good-looking! Offering a bounty for this junior’s contact info! [Image] [Image]”

The post itself was unremarkable. Many people were getting carried away and feeling love in the air during the start of the school year. A bunch of young people who had just finished the torture of the college entrance exam had nowhere to vent their excess energy, and they were at peak novelty-seeking. The front page of the forum was full of posts like this asking for contacts, but none had the heat of this one.

Shu Qiong curiously clicked on the images, and the first thing that appeared was an extremely familiar face.

The girl in the photo was tall, standing with her hands in her pockets, waiting in line listlessly. Her dark eyes were deep and sharp. Her straight black hair was simply tied up. Her clothes were dark and clean, but this combination gave her a unique charm.

She was a little taller, her shoulders were a little broader, and she had differentiated into an Alpha, but she was undeniably still that person.

Shu Qiong felt complicated. She strangely scrolled down and, sure enough, saw a pile of gushing comments under the post.

4L: “Prpr her face, I’d totally… I love it even if she has a poker face!”

19L: “Looking at the background… is she a cool Alpha from the Mecha Department!”

37L: “I’m in the Mecha Department too! Pretty junior, can we connect?”

40L: “Reporting—I’m a volunteer at the reception area. This should be Yan Xiangyu from the Mecha Combat specialization. Junior Yan’s voice is also lovely!”

Jin Yan patted her shoulder: “Interview time. Shu Qiong, what are your thoughts on this situation?”

Shu Qiong gave a fake smile: “My thought is that black top, black pants, black shoes—the price of trying to look cool is dying of heat and not being able to complain.”

“Pffft. That’s it?”

Shu Qiong slapped her hand away: “She’s just an ex-girlfriend. What other thoughts could I have?”

Jin Yan tutted: “Stubborn woman! Ex-lovers reuniting, and both have differentiated into Alphas—a dry fire on dry wood… wait, no, you won’t get into a fight over some leftover conflict, will you?”

Shu Qiong had already picked up her suitcase and started climbing the stairs again. Hearing the question, she didn’t look back: “Let me clarify. I am a respectable person. The past is the past. Besides, we’re not even in the same specialization! The Mecha Department is a popular department with so many new students every year. The chance of us running into each other is only this big.”

She used her free left hand to make a pinching gesture, indicating that she would keep a safe distance from Yan Xiangyu.

Shu Qiong didn’t want to continue the ex-girlfriend topic and asked Jin Yan: “If you don’t live in the collective dorms, where are you staying?”

Jin Yan: “The instructor’s quarters. Single rooms with an elevator. My mom donated two buildings for it.”

Shu Qiong regretted asking that question.

Suddenly, Jin Yan looked up and said: “Oh, I remember! I was originally assigned to Room 406 too. If I move out now, I wonder if your dorm will have three people or if they’ll assign a new roommate.”

“You were 406 too?” Shu Qiong was surprised, “Aren’t you in Command?”

The Mecha Department at Alliance Military University had three specializations: Tactical Command, Mecha Combat, and Mecha Design and Manufacturing, training commanders, mecha solo soldiers, and mecha engineers, respectively. The usual practice in previous years was to assign dorms separately.

Shu Qiong was in the Mecha Design and Manufacturing specialization.

“I’m not sure about the specifics,” Jin Yan shrugged, “But I heard a little rumor.”

As they spoke, the two had reached the door of Room 406. The door was slightly ajar, with a small, exquisite metal number plate hanging on it.

Shu Qiong put down her bags and bundles, took a breath, and prepared to greet her future roommates with a state of full enthusiasm.

Jin Yan paused for a moment before continuing: “This year, the school seems to have specially adjusted the dorm assignment mechanism to encourage students to strive. Dorms are assigned based on the entire department’s entrance exam rank, and those with similar ranks are grouped together. The higher the rank, the lower the floor.”

She even specifically looked at the adjacent Room 405 to confirm her thought: “Mhm, 405 is occupied by sophomores. Then 406 should be the dorm with the highest-ranking freshmen in the Mecha Department…”

As Shu Qiong listened to Jin Yan, she reached out to push the dorm door.

Perhaps because they had lingered outside for too long, she heard footsteps from the early-arriving roommate inside.

Before Shu Qiong’s hand could exert force, she felt a strong pull from inside the door.

The dorm room door was pulled open, and it made a slight creaking sound because the hinges were rusty.

The two people were caught off guard, staring at each other across the door frame.

“…”

Shu Qiong, for a split second, thought her pheromone intolerance had flared up, causing dizziness and hallucinations. Her hands moved faster than her brain, and she took a step forward, closing the door with a “bang.”

Closing and opening the door happened in one breath, followed by another soft creak. She saw Yan Xiangyu’s even darker, more sullen face.

Oh, so I wasn’t having an attack.

At this moment, she felt a strange sense of relief.

Behind Shu Qiong, Jin Yan’s voice echoed: “See, I told you the collective dorm doors are too old. A-Qiong, if you can’t stand it, why don’t you move in with me? My place is quiet, and you definitely won’t run into that Yan B-King…”

Before Shu Qiong could stop her best friend’s runaway comments, she heard a voice, laced with a chilling coolness, laughing: “Pleased to meet you. I am the Yan B-King you speak of.”

“…”

A suffocating silence filled the air.

Shu Qiong was caught between the two, wishing she could bury her head in the floor. Why hadn’t she realized before that Miss Jin had such a clueless trait?