MVCFO CH14

On the way home after school, Lin Xiangqi clearly felt that the pressure aura from Lu Cong beside him was lower than usual. His brow was slightly furrowed, and he didn’t say a word.

Lin Xiangqi reasonably suspected that Lu Cong was still unhappy about the 400-meter race registration.

Lin Xiangqi let Lu Cong remain silent and didn’t dare to ask, afraid that Lu Cong might change his mind later and insist on running for him.

Lu Cong’s physical fitness was indeed excellent, with the innate advantages of an elite Alpha not to be underestimated.

But no matter how strong someone was, they were still human and needed rest when tired.

Lin Xiangqi considered himself to have fairly good physical condition and, as Lu Cong’s best friend, naturally felt it was his duty to share the burden.

Besides…

Maybe he could even place in the top three!

When they reached the doorstep, Lin Xiangqi first pushed open his own gate and said, “I’ll go change clothes first. Don’t start your math homework yet—wait for me.”

Just as he was about to go inside, Lu Cong suddenly reached out and grabbed the strap of his backpack.

Lin Xiangqi was confused and looked back. Lu Cong said nothing but led him toward his own house next door.

Something felt off.

Very off.

Curious about what was going on with Lu Cong, Lin Xiangqi didn’t refuse and followed him inside the neighboring yard.

What Lu Cong did next was something Lin Xiangqi found hard to understand.

He took Lin Xiangqi back to his bedroom, stripped off Lin Xiangqi’s school uniform jacket, then found a set of pajamas that Lin Xiangqi had left at his place before and helped him change into it.

With a bewildered expression, Lin Xiangqi watched as Lu Cong emptied the books from his backpack, took the empty bag along with the set of school clothes he’d taken off, and headed to the laundry room.

It was the middle of winter, and Lu Cong was actually hand-washing his uniform!

Lin Xiangqi said, “Why not just put it in the washing machine?”

Lu Cong replied, “It won’t get clean enough.”

Lin Xiangqi was almost speechless: “Okay… but why wash clothes at this time?”

Lu Cong poured a powerful tenfold stain remover into warm water: “If you wash it early, you can wear it sooner.”

Although Lin Xiangqi didn’t understand why Lu Cong insisted on hand-washing the uniform, he knew Lu Cong was always diligent. Maybe Lu Cong noticed his uniform was dirty and was helping him wash it.

After watching for a while and seeing Lu Cong genuinely scrubbing the clothes seriously, Lin Xiangqi didn’t argue further.

He also got to work—while Lu Cong was deeply focused on scrubbing, Lin Xiangqi washed the lunch thermos and grabbed a couple of snacks from Lu Cong’s house, then leisurely took out his homework and began to work on it.

Whenever he encountered problems he couldn’t solve, he would wait for Lu Cong to explain, but the unsolved problems kept piling up, and he was getting anxious.

Glancing at the time, Lu Cong had been scrubbing the uniform for half an hour already, so Lin Xiangqi went over to urge him.

Lu Cong had just wrung out the uniform and was about to put it in the dryer.

Not gonna lie, Lin Xiangqi quite enjoyed this spoiled life of having everything done for him. With Lu Cong around, he never had to worry about anything. He decided to praise Lu Cong as encouragement.

“Wow, Lu Cong, you’re so nice, helping me wash my uniform—”

At that moment, Lu Cong shook the clothes out, and Lin Xiangqi choked at what he saw: “—it’s faded?!”

There was a subtle trace of embarrassment in Lu Cong’s otherwise calm expression.

Lin Xiangqi rushed over to take a closer look: “Wow, how hard did you scrub this?”

“Sorry, I used the wrong detergent,” Lu Cong admitted with a good attitude and quickly found a solution, “Just wear my uniform for now.”

Lin Xiangqi believed him and accepted the offer, only remarking, “You Alphas really do have endless energy all day long.”

After tidying up, Lu Cong went to the living room to do homework with Lin Xiangqi.

The two of them focused on writing problems, explaining questions, and correcting mistakes until around 10 PM. They had ordered a pizza for dinner; Lin Xiangqi, with his big eyes and small stomach, ordered two flavors but got full after just a little. Lu Cong finished the rest and continued working.

Lu Cong never once mentioned the residual pheromone on the clothes.

He knew Lin Xiangqi had applied a barrier patch today, so he probably didn’t notice the scent Shen Qiaolan had left on him.

Alpha’s intense emotions were expressed through pheromones, especially possessiveness—anyone who smelled it could feel how uncontrollable the Alpha’s feelings toward the Omega right in front of them were.

Lu Cong didn’t know why Lin Xiangqi had met Shen Qiaolan today.

But if he asked, Lin Xiangqi would definitely tell him.

However, that would inevitably lead to talking about Shen Qiaolan, so Lu Cong chose not to ask—it wasn’t necessary.

Anyway, he had already washed off Shen Qiaolan’s scent.

Around eleven, after finishing their homework and explanations, Lin Xiangqi stretched, feeling every joint pop.

Seeing that the day was nearly over, he calculated that 24 hours had passed since the last marking.

According to the doctor’s orders, Lin Xiangqi should now get today’s marking treatment from Lu Cong.

He instinctively touched the back of his neck, where the ointment and barrier patch had been removed, leaving only smooth skin. Lin Xiangqi couldn’t help but sigh—Doctor Tang Luyu’s barrier patch was really effective; the bite mark healed within 24 hours.

But Lin Xiangqi also knew that Lu Cong’s marking bites were never heavy to begin with.

It was said that Omega’s glandular structure was special; even a slight skin break allowed pheromones to deeply penetrate, and Lu Cong was careful to hold back so Lin Xiangqi wouldn’t feel pain.

“I’ll go take a shower, then come find you,” Lin Xiangqi stood up, hugging his homework. Since Lu Cong had washed his backpack too, he would have to go home and change bags.

Lu Cong nodded slightly with a small motion of his fingers, unconsciously cracking his knuckles.

Watching Lin Xiangqi walk out the door, Lu Cong then stood up by himself.

Lin Xiangqi’s shower time could be fast or slow, but at least ten minutes. Lu Cong didn’t expect him to come back halfway.

In the medicine box in the living room was a bottle of enhanced inhibitor Doctor Tang Luyu had brought, plus some drugs specially for alleviating various adverse reactions during the sensitive period.

Lu Cong pulled out a syringe, rolled up his sleeve, and inserted the needle into his skin. The whole process was very practiced, as if he had done it many times before.

Just as he was about to inject the medicine, the door suddenly opened without warning.

Lin Xiangqi hurried in, “I left my keys here—”

His words cut off abruptly.

The moment Lu Cong looked at him, he withdrew the syringe, but Lin Xiangqi still saw the movement.

“What are you doing?!”

Lin Xiangqi reacted strongly because he had never seen an Alpha inject inhibitors on themselves before.

Lin Xiangqi had also researched some related science recently—both Alphas and Omegas had special inhibitors for their physiological cycles, available in injection and daily-use forms.

Daily-type suppressants come in various forms such as sprays, capsules, ointments, and lozenges.

Of course, the most effective is still the injectable type, but Lin Xiangqi hadn’t looked into it in detail.

Because the injectable suppressants usually need to be administered with a doctor’s assistance, for normal physiological periods it’s not necessary to be so complicated.

Generally speaking, AO just need to keep a suppressant spray on hand to deal with most situations.

Lin Xiangqi never thought of the syringe in Lu Cong’s hand as being suppressant medication.

He even thought Lu Cong had gotten into some bad habits, doing something illegal or shady. So he rushed over and grabbed Lu Cong’s arm, shouting, “Lu Cong, what are you doing?!”

At first glance, Lin Xiangqi was already mad, but when he saw it carefully, he got even angrier.

There were multiple needle marks on Lu Cong’s arm.

Lin Xiangqi slapped his shoulder angrily, “When did you start this? Quit it, quit right now!”

Lu Cong silently looked at him, then suddenly smiled.

Lin Xiangqi trembled with anger, gritting his teeth and glaring at him, “You’re laughing? You want to make me mad to death?!”

“This is Alpha suppressant,” Lu Cong explained quickly, not wanting to anger him further, “It’s medicine to suppress pheromones, not what you think it is.”

“…Really?” Lin Xiangqi stood there dumbfounded for a few seconds, then exhaled heavily and patted his chest in relief, “You scared me to death!”

Lu Cong quietly pulled his arm back from Lin Xiangqi’s grip.

But halfway, Lin Xiangqi caught it again, “Wait, isn’t suppressant supposed to be used during the sensitive period? You’re fine now, why are you using it? Did Dr. Tang tell you to inject every day? Isn’t this kind of thing supposed to be done by a doctor? You just do it yourself at home, no sterilization—what if you get an infection?”

Lu Cong looked at him but didn’t say anything.

Lin Xiangqi knew him too well—when Lu Cong had something to say, he wouldn’t beat around the bush; but if he wanted to hide something, he wouldn’t say a word.

He didn’t press further. Instead, he took out his phone and called Dr. Tang Luyu.

He thought Lu Cong would try to stop him, but he didn’t.

Lu Cong just quietly watched him dial.

A few minutes later, Lin Xiangqi got his answer.

The suppressant was indeed prescribed by Dr. Tang.

Because Lu Cong’s pheromones were stronger than those of an average Alpha, dangerously so.

He usually didn’t show any abnormal signs because he never released pheromones recklessly. He was very good at holding back, so on the surface he seemed normal. But if he released too much, all kinds of accidents could happen.

This was also why Lu Cong had been using suppressants long-term, not daring to enter the sensitive period.

Pheromone chaos was the worst scenario.

At that time, Lu Cong could seriously harm those around him.

But Dr. Tang also told Lin Xiangqi something else.

Since Lin Xiangqi was an Omega, and Omega glands could tolerate the agitation in Alpha pheromones, plus he had a strong demand for Lu Cong’s pheromones,

Dr. Tang suggested that during the marking process, Lu Cong could release more of his pheromones.

The more he gave, the better it was for Lin Xiangqi’s gland recovery.

This was beneficial to both of them.

The suppressant prescribed by Dr. Tang was a backup to be used only in critical times. As long as Lu Cong didn’t mark Lin Xiangqi during the sensitive period, he wouldn’t need to inject the suppressant.

She didn’t know that Lu Cong had been injecting himself these past two days.

After hearing Dr. Tang’s explanation, Lin Xiangqi thanked her and hung up.

Then he seriously looked at Lu Cong and said, “Dr. Tang said releasing more pheromones is good for both of us, so we’re going to mark later. Why did you secretly inject suppressant beforehand?”

He asked question after question, no matter if Lu Cong answered or not, “I see more than one needle mark on your arm, so you injected suppressant before marking me yesterday too?”

This time, Lu Cong didn’t continue to pretend silence.

He lifted his eyelids, gave Lin Xiangqi a cryptic look, and confessed, “When Alpha release large amounts of pheromones, emotions fluctuate wildly. Behavior follows instinctual urges and loses control. Without suppressant, I can’t guarantee my consciousness stays clear the whole time.”

That was a reasonable explanation. Lin Xiangqi asked, “Does losing consciousness mean you’ll suddenly faint?”

If Lu Cong fainted halfway through marking, that would be troublesome.

Lu Cong paused, then answered, “No.”

Lin Xiangqi didn’t understand and thought for a moment, “Then will you lose control enough to kill me?”

Lu Cong: “No.”

Lin Xiangqi: “Will you hit me?”

Lu Cong: “No.”

Lin Xiangqi: “Will you—”

Lu Cong interrupted, “I won’t hurt you.”

Being influenced by instinct meant when consciousness was fuzzy, a person wouldn’t easily control their behavior and might do things subconsciously that they wouldn’t do rationally.

Lu Cong had never released massive pheromones and lost control before, so he didn’t know what he might do.

In fact, there was a high chance he’d remain rational throughout, since that was what he was best at.

He just hesitated over that one-in-a-thousand chance, so he injected suppressant in advance.

But no matter how out of control he might get, Lu Cong was sure he wouldn’t harm Lin Xiangqi.

“Then that’s settled!” Lin Xiangqi clapped his hands and unilaterally announced the conclusion, “It’s not that serious, so don’t use that suppressant anymore.”

Seeing that Lu Cong didn’t seem convinced, Lin Xiangqi added, “Lu Cong, I understand what you’re worried about. We’ve known each other for so many years, I know what kind of person you are. You never do anything out of line or break any explicit rules, so losing consciousness might mean losing your order… You’re afraid of making mistakes?”

Lu Cong lowered his eyes.

He admitted to being somewhat stubborn.

“But it’s okay, I’m not an outsider. Even if you make mistakes in front of me, what does it matter?”

Lu Cong heard Lin Xiangqi say this—

“You can let go of your order here, let go of all the rules you’ve set in your heart. Make a little mistake, lose face, I won’t laugh at you… Though, on the other hand, if you really lose control and try to hit me, I’ll hit back!”

Lin Xiangqi shook his fist at him, pretending to be fierce.

Then he tilted his head and smiled at Lu Cong, “So, let’s try it once tonight, okay?”

Lu Cong’s breathing grew heavier. Looking into Lin Xiangqi’s eyes, before releasing any pheromones, he already felt an illusion of losing order.

The scarlet needle marks on his arm, already healed or nearly healed, seemed to throb painfully. His limbs stiffened involuntarily, trapped in a forbidden zone where he dared not take a step forward nor retreat.

He had no way to refuse.