Chapter 17

The fever didn't break after he'd cried in the Equipment Room that day. If anything, the second he stepped back into the air-conditioned classroom after gym, Wen Ran spiked completely.

Afraid to take just anything, he had no choice but to call Chen Shuhui and try to get the attending physician's number off her. Chen Shuhui had no time to ask questions — she just said 'got it' and hung up, then texted the number over.

She and Wen Rui had been swamped lately. What exactly they were busy with, Wen Ran had no idea — only that he'd heard Shengdian Group's several new projects were all government partnerships. The Gu Family just had to lift a finger behind the scenes and a company that had been on the brink of bankruptcy could climb to this kind of position so fast. It really showed how successful the Wen Family's gamble had been.

'Watch how it goes today. Tonight you can take one of the special Fever Reducers before bed. When you're out, make sure your Neck Ring is on properly.' Then the doctor, having finished his instructions, asked, 'I hear you can smell Alpha Pheromone now?'

Wen Ran had always been forbidden from talking too much with doctors and nurses, so this could only have come from Chen Shuhui. Wen Ran answered, 'Yes. But I can't smell my own Pheromone.'

'Between an AO Test pair with high compatibility, you can get this — heightened sensitivity to the other's Pheromone. That you can smell his Pheromone means your Gland has basically developed some function. But overall, the degree to which others' Pheromones affect you is still relatively small. Still, I want to warn you first: it's very likely that after a while you'll start showing heat symptoms.'

His body lurched between chills and heat from the fever. Wen Ran shivered and asked, 'Will it be bad?'

'More uncomfortable than now, yes. But you can't use an Inhibitor yet. According to our estimate, though, your heat will be much milder than a normal omega's — even without an Inhibitor, you won't need sex or an alpha's mark to get through it. For you, the best method is to ask a high-compatibility alpha to release some Pheromone to soothe you. It'll help you recover faster.'

Wen Ran wanted to say, doctor, stop joking — but the doctor was only offering professional advice as an outsider. All he could say was thank you.

'Good. Contact me anytime if you have other questions.'

During the break Wen Ran lay slumped over his desk, half-conscious, working through problems. Song Shuangang passed by, stopped, and asked him, 'Did you get it sorted out?'

Wen Ran slowly lifted his head. 'I really wasn't being bullied.'

'Fine.' Song Shuangang left, unconvinced.

After lunch Wen Ran went to the Clinic. The school doctor told him to take off his Neck Ring so she could check his Gland. Terrified of giving himself away, Wen Ran kept refusing, and the moment he got the omega-specific Fever Reducer he bolted.

He stayed alone in the classroom until the latest hour after school. Groggy, Wen Ran finished a test paper, planned to rest a bit before leaving, lay down on the desk and shut his eyes — and unluckily passed straight out.

A security guard found him while checking the doors and windows, shaking his shoulder. 'Student?'

Wen Ran opened his eyes, stared blankly at the guard for a long moment, then jerked upright. 'I fell asleep by accident.'

'No wonder you're still here this late. It's dark out — hurry home.'

'Okay.' Wen Ran quickly packed his Backpack and pulled on his hoodie. 'Thank you, shushu. I'm heading off.'

The bus at the school gate was the Preparatory School's dedicated line, and it'd been too long since dismissal — service had stopped. Wen Ran had no choice but to walk a bit farther to catch the Subway.

He rounded a street corner into a narrow lane, and the light dimmed all at once. The road ran over a hundred meters — one side lined with a Residential Building and a few alley mouths, the other a low Fence with a row of Osmanthus Tree planted along it.

By day it was fine here, pedestrians coming and going, but after dark it turned too quiet. Wen Ran could hear only his own hurried footsteps and the faint din at the end of the road — Capital City's biggest spots, each a Nightclub, were all clustered on that busy new street. He'd often passed by and seen students in Preparatory School uniforms climb out of Sports Cars and stroll in arm in arm.

Still feverish, the dizziness was getting worse, with a faint ringing in his ears. Even his breath felt like steam passing through his nostrils. Wen Ran shook his head.

Passing one of the alley mouths, he caught a figure out of the corner of his eye. He picked up his pace, and soon those footsteps fell in behind him, stumbling without rhythm — drunk. The instant he realized it, Wen Ran nearly broke into a run.

Too late. A heavy reek of alcohol washed over him from behind, and Wen Ran's stomach turned, nauseous. A hand yanked his Backpack, another wrenched his shoulder around. 'Omega...' The alpha's hoarse voice was slurred with drink. 'What're you doing out here all alone?'

In the flickering light he glimpsed the alpha's red, clouded eyes. His heart pounded. Wen Ran twisted his shoulder, trying to break free.

'A high schooler... real pretty. Let's have some fun.' The alpha laughed, out of it, leaning in, alcohol fumes blasting Wen Ran's face. 'Even wearing a Neck Ring — so prim and proper...'

Wen Ran said nothing, drove his knee hard into the man's stomach. The alpha let out a shriek and doubled over. Wen Ran tore loose and ran. The intersection wasn't far, loud and bustling. As he ran he shrugged off his Backpack — his feverish body couldn't take the strain, his legs went weak. When the alpha caught up cursing and grabbed his hood, Wen Ran flung the Backpack with all his strength and screamed, 'Help — !'

The roar of a motorcycle engine swallowed his voice. His cry for help and the Backpack were like pebbles dropped into the sea, raising no ripple on the noisy street. Wen Ran was dragged back and pinned against the wall, the alpha's forearm jammed across his throat, pressing down hard.

The light was right there at the intersection, drawing a clear line against the darkness all around him. He couldn't breathe, the world spun. When he saw a tall, blurred figure walking toward him, Wen Ran thought it had to be a hallucination.

A thud — the alpha grunted and went down. All Wen Ran saw was a long leg drawing back. The pressure on his chest vanished in an instant, air rushed into his mouth. Wen Ran leaned against the wall, gulping breaths, and looked up. The person before him wore a black T-shirt, half a cold, pale face dimly showing.

'Fuck...' The alpha on the ground clutched his waist, writhing, cursing low. 'I'll —'

Gu Yunchi planted a foot on the alpha's chest. He was tall, and looking down at someone he was sheer pressure. But the man was past caring about anything, spewing filth with no restraint. Gu Yunchi got fed up after barely two sentences, lifted his foot and kicked him in the head. The alpha went out cold and didn't make another sound.

Finally coming back to himself, Wen Ran straightened up a bit and said hoarsely, 'Thank you.'

Gu Yunchi looked him up and down. 'What are you doing here.'

'Just got out of school.' Wen Ran wiped his eyes. 'Passing through.'

He was genuinely grateful Gu Yunchi loved hitting up bars — otherwise there was no way he'd have shown up here today, no way he'd have happened to save him. May good people live long and well; may Gu Yunchi come party often, party always, party happily, party to his heart's content.

'Thought you knew him.' Gu Yunchi glanced at the alpha on the ground.

'How could I?' Wen Ran didn't get it. 'He had me pinned to the wall.'

'Lovers' quarrel.' Gu Yunchi said it lightly. 'This kind of thing's all over the place around bars.'

He'd just saved someone and still had to put it that nastily. There seemed to be a fire burning in Wen Ran's head, his Gland scorching too, his ears buzzing. He said dully, 'How would I have a lovers' quarrel.'

His body was light and floating, clearly feverish, yet he felt cold too. Wen Ran shivered without meaning to. His state was too off — Gu Yunchi took a step back. 'You going into heat?'

'No, I've got a fever.' His voice was soft and weak. Wen Ran had no strength left to talk, every word dragging out so it sounded like he was whining — Gu Yunchi frowned.

'Still, thank you. I'm heading back.' Wen Ran tugged at the hem of his coat and started off, only to catch his foot on a stone halfway. He stumbled a few steps, stumbling right up to the two bodyguards standing at the intersection, and only then saw that one of them had picked up his Backpack.

Wen Ran reached out and took the Backpack. 'Thank you, dage.'

Footsteps came from behind. Gu Yunchi walked up, flipped the hood of Wen Ran's coat up and pulled it down over his head. While Wen Ran was still baffled, he pointed to the left side of the street. 'Go that way.'

Without any capacity to think, Wen Ran did exactly as Gu Yunchi said, even though it wasn't the direction he'd meant to go. Clutching his Backpack, he walked left, and a moment later heard someone shout, 'Yunchi! You're leaving already?'

He turned and saw Gu Yunchi nod at his friend, then get into a black Sports Car. The car was parked close to the exit of the lane — Gu Yunchi must have seen the flung Backpack while parking and come to the rescue.

The Sports Car turned around and pulled up beside Wen Ran. The door lifted. Gu Yunchi rested a hand on the wheel without so much as glancing at him. 'Get in.'

Never make a bad-tempered person say something twice — especially Gu Yunchi.

The line flashed through Wen Ran's head. He didn't dare ask anything, brushed the dust off himself, and carefully climbed into the passenger seat.

Once he was settled and looked up, a Private Car was coming straight at them down the oncoming lane. The rear window was open, and Song Shuangang sat inside. When he saw the disheveled Wen Ran his face showed surprise; when he saw Gu Yunchi in the driver's seat his expression turned to shock; in the end he left in silence, with a 'good luck to you' kind of look.

The door slowly came down, and at the same time Wen Ran heard He Wei shouting, 'Holy shit! Gu Yunchi, you just got here and you're leaving? Who's in your car? Let me see! Let me see who it is!'

Gu Yunchi didn't even look back. Expressionless, he stepped on the gas and drove off.

It was dark in the car, and quiet. Cold kept washing over Wen Ran in waves, his teeth chattered, everything he looked at swayed. He examined his left hand, still wrapped in gauze — luckily it hadn't been hit or crushed, or the wound would surely have split open.

Once they'd driven clear of the gridlock, Wen Ran pushed back his hood, hair a mess, and sat dazed for a while. Then, as if something had occurred to him, he immediately pulled out the Mobile Phone Gu Yunchi had given him from his school-trousers pocket, turning it over and over, finding no scrapes or dents.

Letting out a breath, he turned his head a little and looked at Gu Yunchi's profile. 'Do you have a license?'

How could he not — League rules let you take the driving test at sixteen.

Gu Yunchi shot back, 'Do you have a brain?'

'Not today.' Wen Ran said. 'I'm never walking that road again.'

A few seconds later he asked again, 'Aren't you going to turn on the GPS?' Gu Yunchi didn't answer, so Wen Ran switched topics on his own. 'You drive really smoothly.'

Gu Yunchi finally spoke. 'So much chatter.'

'I'm a little shaken up now.' If he could've just died on the spot he wouldn't be this rattled, but in the hands of a drunk like that, something truly horrible would've happened. Wen Ran asked carefully, 'I want to talk, to take the edge off — is that okay?'

'Don't talk nonsense.'

'Okay.' Wen Ran thought of something less like nonsense. 'Are you going to the Preparatory School summer camp?'

'No.'

'Is summer camp not fun?'

'Boring.' Gu Yunchi shot him a glance. 'But perfect for the kind who likes to suck up to people, like you.'

'I don't like sucking up to people, it's my family —' Wen Ran didn't go on, rubbed his face to clear his head a little. 'And I've only ever sucked up to one person — you. And I failed at that.'

'Lucky me,' Gu Yunchi said. 'Fail or not, your family's already scooped up plenty of benefits.'

Wen Ran hung his head, mortified, then said as if giving up, 'Yeah. Thank you all.'

Silence for a few seconds, then he remembered something else and suddenly cheered up a bit. 'And thank you for buying the Computer. I used to draw everything on paper, and now I can learn to use software to make diagrams. The specs are just way too high — kind of a waste, giving it to me.'

Unmoved by his gratitude, Gu Yunchi just said offhandedly, 'You didn't have a computer before?'

'No.' Wen Ran said. 'Whenever school needed something printed, I'd borrow my brother's in the study. I don't have my own Computer.'

Even now that he had one, he didn't dare leave it out on the desk — he put it away after using it, hid it in the wardrobe, afraid it'd be found.

Eighteen years old and never even his own Computer, his Mobile Phone an old model that had been used for who knows how many years. However down on its luck the Wen Family was, the family fortune was still there — it shouldn't have left the youngest son living like this, especially now with the Gu Family backing them. And Wen Ran seemed to take it all as a matter of course, no complaints, no self-pity, as if he'd always lived this way.

And the old Backpack in his arms — last time it had gotten filthy from jumping out of the car, and under normal circumstances should've been thrown out long ago. Yet he still used it every day, and even now was carefully picking the dust off it while he talked.

Gu Yunchi's expression finally stirred a little. 'Are you actually your mother's biological son?'

He asked it carelessly, but Wen Ran went stiff all over. After a long moment he managed a difficult little smile. 'Maybe she's afraid it'd affect my studies.'

Gu Yunchi looked at him and said nothing more.

The car went neither fast nor slow, and they arrived after twenty-some minutes. Wen Ran fumbled with the seatbelt. 'Thank you for driving me back.' Then, feeling that wasn't courteous enough, he asked, 'Want to come in for a glass of water?'

Afraid Gu Yunchi would think he wanted to bring someone home to show off, Wen Ran added, 'My mom and my brother are both out.'

Gu Yunchi stared at him coldly, saying nothing. The look made Wen Ran a bit nervous, and he let out a 'Mm?'

'No.' Gu Yunchi turned back to look at the mottled gate lit by the headlights. 'Your place looks haunted.'

Wen Ran couldn't take any more shocks tonight. Terrified, he said, 'Huh? Really?'

He'd had the same suspicion himself before, but coming out of Gu Yunchi's mouth, the credibility suddenly shot way up.

'Who knows, a run-down place like this.' Gu Yunchi pressed a button to open the passenger door. 'Out.'

Nerves on edge, Wen Ran got out. A gust of wind hit and he shivered a few more times. He tilted his head back to look at his own villa — the longer he looked the eerier it got — and could only steel himself and head for the gate.

Wouldn't you know it, the motion-sensor light at the gate was broken too. Luckily Gu Yunchi hadn't driven off right away, probably checking his phone. By the headlights Wen Ran got the side door open, then turned back. The Sports Car's windshield was pitch black, and Wen Ran couldn't tell whether Gu Yunchi was watching, but he waved goodbye at him anyway.

Before he'd even finished waving, the car turned around and drove off.

Back home, the sight of Aunt Fang chased off most of the fear in Wen Ran's heart. He explained he was late because he'd been doing a test paper at school, and Aunt Fang scolded him for working too hard even as she went to the kitchen to cook him noodles.

After finishing the noodles he went back to his room and took a shower, and the night's roller coaster of emotions gradually settled. Wen Ran swallowed a Fever Reducer, burrowed under the covers, and closed his eyes.