Chà Chà Novel

Fang Fengzhi opened his eyes. His body felt as though it had been soaking in water for a long time, weak yet strangely comfortable. Pheromones that did not belong to him enveloped him completely, thick and pungent. Confused about their source, he forced himself upright.

Sleep had left his mind blank. His last memory was of pushing the suppressant needle into his body. Dimly, he recalled someone calling his name, but nothing after that would come back to him.

His stomach suddenly growled with hunger. Fang Fengzhi rubbed his lower abdomen and got out of bed.

Then he stopped.

He stared at the trousers he was wearing. They looked like athletic shorts, yet reached his calves. His shirt was different too, hanging so loosely that a slight tug could expose most of his chest.

Who had changed his clothes?

Fragments of memory suddenly flooded his mind: the dim darkness beneath the covers, thick, clinging gunsmoke, a man’s forceful arms, the painful pleasure of friction against his gland…

Fang Fengzhi’s eyes widened. He stood, only to sink back down when his legs gave way. His whole body was terribly weak, and there was an inexplicable raw, burning pain between his legs. Bracing himself against the bed, he struggled to stand again.

The pheromones in the villa were strong. The man must still be here.

He opened the door and hurried downstairs. First, he glanced toward the entrance. The unfamiliar shoes still seemed to be in the foyer. Turning, he saw someone in the dining room and took a few steps toward it.

The Alpha was eating at the table, studying something intently on the phone in his left hand, his chopsticks in his right.

At Fang Fengzhi’s footsteps, he turned off the screen and set the phone aside. Looking up at the Omega’s alarmed face, he asked, “What’s wrong?”

The Alpha looked perfectly composed, as though nothing had happened. He was no different from usual. Fang Fengzhi almost wondered whether his memories were mistaken.

Then the Alpha stood and slowly approached. Those remembered images returned. Fang Fengzhi stepped toward him, his breathing unsteady.

“Did we… did we…”

He could not bring himself to say the words. He could only look at the Alpha anxiously.

Min Zhi reached out to steady his weak body.

“No.”

“Nothing happened between us.”

At last, Fang Fengzhi breathed a sigh of relief.

Min Zhi gently sampled the Omega’s pheromones. They were not as strong now. Once Fang Fengzhi was steady, he let go.

“Eat something first. I’ll take you to the hospital afterward.”

Fang Fengzhi lifted his head to see Min Zhi’s expression, only for his nose to bump against the Alpha’s chest. Realizing how close they were, he hurriedly stepped back.

It was his first time speaking to this Alpha at such close range. Compared with him, the man was enormous, considerably taller than most Alphas. His broad frame was like a wall of flesh and blood, blocking the path ahead completely.

It had been like that earlier too. Those powerful arms had held him captive… and the man had changed his clothes.

Fang Fengzhi flushed. It all felt far too intimate.

“Thank you… but there’s no need. I can go by myself.”

“I’m going with you.”

The Alpha spoke firmly. As though finding his tone too harsh, he added, “I’m worried something might happen on the way if you go alone.”

Fang Fengzhi wanted to say more, but remembering how he had gone into heat without warning, he ultimately did not refuse.

Perhaps he had absorbed enough pheromones when the Alpha held him beneath the covers earlier. The restlessness in his body was soothed now. He felt no discomfort all the way to the hospital.

Since Min Zhi was the one who had marked him, he remained beside Fang Fengzhi throughout the examination.

The doctor held the test results.

“When did you last take your medication?”

“This morning.”

“And the suppressant injection?”

“…Around noon.”

Both the doctor and Min Zhi looked at him.

The doctor frowned.

“The doses you’re taking are too heavy. Once you develop resistance, the effects become much less noticeable.”

“Your pheromones are currently in a very unstable state.”

He handed Fang Fengzhi the report.

“Excessive suppressant use has caused abnormal pheromone secretion. Your levels fluctuate between high and low.”

“The symptoms aren’t especially pronounced yet. But if this continues and develops into a pheromone disorder, various physical illnesses will begin to appear. In the most severe cases, it can leave you unable to conceive.”

The doctor printed a prescription and handed it over.

“Stop using suppressants. Take this medication to regulate your condition first, then come back for another examination.”

Fang Fengzhi stared at the paper in his hand. After thanking the doctor, he stood. He could not put a name to what he was feeling.

He loved children. He had always hoped that he and Fu Baiqi could have a child of their own, but Fu Baiqi did not want one.

Min Zhi followed him out. At the door, he remembered something.

“Wait for me a moment.”

Fang Fengzhi watched him go back into the office and exchange a few words with the doctor.

When he came out, Fang Fengzhi asked nothing. Min Zhi glanced down at him. Seeing how despondent he was, he remained silent too, simply following at his pace.

They reached the hospital lobby, the busiest and noisiest part of the building, crowded with people and every kind of sound. Yet amid those voices, Fang Fengzhi heard one that was painfully familiar.

He stopped and looked up.

He froze. A brief, sharp pain pierced his heart.

But when the person across the lobby looked their way, he hurriedly turned around.

“Let’s go that way.”

Min Zhi glanced at him, then looked over. It was Fu Baiqi and the Omega from the parking lot.

He looked away and was about to turn when someone called him.

“Mr. Min.”

Min Zhi was tall and conspicuous in the crowd. They had spotted him immediately and were walking over.

He looked at the rigid Omega beside him, then at the two men approaching with such intimacy. After a second’s pause, he suddenly pulled Fang Fengzhi into his arms.

Startled, the Omega was about to struggle, but Min Zhi stopped him.

“Don’t move. Don’t say anything.”

The two men reached them. Fu Baiqi looked at the Omega in Min Zhi’s arms.

“Mr. Min, who is this?”

Min Zhi smiled.

“My fiancé. He isn’t feeling very well.”

“Oh, I see. Nothing serious, I hope?”

Fu Baiqi’s gaze kept returning to the Omega in Min Zhi’s arms. Something about his back looked familiar. Even the pheromones mingled with Min Zhi’s seemed like a scent he had encountered before.

“Nothing serious.”

Min Zhi gently patted the man’s back. His warm hand stroked Fang Fengzhi’s hair reassuringly.

“He’s just a little upset.”

At that, the other two seemed to understand. The test results were probably disappointing, and the Omega was hiding in his fiancé’s arms to cry.

Fu Baiqi was still supporting the beautiful Omega beside him, who was limping. He nodded at Min Zhi.

“We’ll leave you to it, then. He just twisted his ankle. I’m taking him to get it checked.”

Min Zhi felt the man in his arms clutch his clothes tightly.

He nodded to the two men before him.

Once they had gone, Min Zhi loosened his hold.

“They’re gone.”

But the Omega did not move. He remained pressed tightly against him, almost as though seeking affection. Min Zhi did not push him away. Understandingly, he stood in silence and let him hold on.

After a while, he heard faint crying. As though afraid of being overheard, Fang Fengzhi seemed to crush each sob into pieces before letting it escape his throat.

Min Zhi lowered his eyes and gazed at the top of the Omega’s head for a moment. Then he raised his arms and held him.

The man in his embrace was so small. His narrow shoulders could almost be encircled with a single arm. Held like this, his whole body disappeared behind Min Zhi’s. From any angle but the front, people might not even realize he was holding someone.

His voice was small too. Muffled against Min Zhi’s chest, his crying would have been inaudible had Min Zhi not been holding him.

Min Zhi stood silently, stroking his back again and again.

Fang Fengzhi’s tears became even harder to control.

Perhaps heaven meant for him to suffer because he had obtained this marriage so easily. Otherwise, why would it make him encounter Fu Baiqi here, at this moment?

Fu Baiqi was supporting the Omega he loved so anxiously, saying he had twisted his ankle.

Fang Fengzhi had twisted his ankle too. Yet Fu Baiqi had not even come home during that time. Even if he had, the outcome would probably have been the same. He would not have cared. More precisely, he would not have paid any attention to where Fang Fengzhi hurt.

Fang Fengzhi clung tightly to Min Zhi’s clothes. He was in so much pain, so unbearably miserable.

He knew his pheromone secretion had been abnormal for a long time. He and Fu Baiqi were a perfect match, and each could easily go into heat or rut because of the other’s pheromones. To prevent them from having sex, Fu Baiqi had demanded that Fang Fengzhi release no pheromones in his presence.

That was difficult. No Omega could completely control his pheromones. But afraid Fu Baiqi would dislike him, Fang Fengzhi had done as he was told.

At first, he used suppressants only during heat. Later, whenever Fu Baiqi came home, he took pills. If he accidentally encountered Fu Baiqi’s pheromones, he gave himself an injection.

Step by step, his body had become what it was now.

Was Fu Baiqi to blame? No. If anyone was to blame, it was himself.

He was the one who had wanted this marriage so desperately. There had never been love between them. He alone had been struggling to hold it together.

He could not remember who had said that an Omega’s body needed to be nourished by an Alpha’s pheromones. Bai Zhen had looked so beautiful just now.

And he himself was growing more parched, more frail.

He withdrew from Min Zhi’s arms, tears still clinging to his eyelids. For a moment, he stared blankly at the damp patch he had left on Min Zhi’s chest. Then embarrassment struck him. Unable to meet Min Zhi’s eyes, he looked down at the floor.

“I’m sorry… I got your clothes wet…”

Min Zhi looked at the wet tracks covering his face. His eyes and the tip of his nose were red from crying. He looked pitiful, like a sickly little puppy. As he lowered his gaze, another tear slipped from his eye.

Something stirred in Min Zhi’s chest. He wanted to reach out and wipe it away, but Fang Fengzhi did so first.

Min Zhi released him and stepped aside, putting a little distance between them.

“It’s all right.”