YPSSS Chapter 25

Xie Ji was still fuming as he entered the bathroom. He showered with loud splashing sounds making quite a commotion.

Xia Shiruan sat obediently on the edge of the single bed closer to the wall, lost in thought.

His thoughts weren’t empty though. Xie Ji’s words sparked many scenes in his mind.

He first recalled a small fragment from his memory.

In the summer when Xia Shiruan was thirteen, he, Xie Ji, and Chen Rongxin secretly went to a forest park without any adults.

The park wasn’t freely accessible. It had several A-level dangerous entertainment facilities, so children under twelve weren’t allowed to buy tickets independently and had to be accompanied by adults.

Xia Shiruan, being the only one over twelve among them, was forced to buy tickets for all three.

At the ticket window, he handed over the change like a little adult, specifically requesting a certain package deal. Despite his serious demeanor, there were still some flaws in his act that the Beta uncle at the counter noticed.

The uncle seemed amused. He had already spotted the three kids huddling together to discuss not far away, before sending one kid alone to come forward.

The uncle deliberately asked, “Buying a ticket alone? Where are your parents?”

Xia Shiruan calmly replied, “Mom and Dad went to buy drinks. They told me to buy the tickets first. Uncle, how much is it in total?”

Xia Shiruan’s still slightly chubby face showed a calmness and maturity that didn’t match his age, yet his words made adults find him adorable.

The uncle, wanting to tease him, chatted with him more without giving him the tickets.

But Xie Ji, who was watching from behind, couldn’t stand it anymore. When the uncle reached out to pat Xia Shiruan’s head for the second time, he rushed out and stood in front of him.

Nine-year-old Xie Ji was still half a head shorter than Xia Shiruan, but his fierce behavior was just like a young beast protecting a weaker member of its pack.

It wasn’t much different from how he was today.

Still the same bad temper, saying similar things.

As the water sounds in the bathroom gradually stopped, Xia Shiruan’s thoughts were interrupted by knocking at the door.

Chen Rongxin’s signature loud voice penetrated through clearly, “Are you guys ready yet? You’re the only ones left. What’s up, is the room too comfortable that you don’t want to come out?”

Just as Xia Shiruan was about to get up to open the door, the bathroom door opened first with a “click.”

Xie Ji came out with only a towel wrapped around his waist and went straight to open the door.

From Xia Shiruan’s angle, he could see the water droplets still running down Xie Ji’s bare back.

If Alpha physiques were naturally superior, then Xie Ji was definitely the most superior and eye-catching among that privileged group.

His vigorous back muscles were full of youthful vitality, creating trails of glistening water as he raised his arm to open the door.

Something suddenly triggered in Xia Shiruan’s mind, reminding him of a scene he’d seen somewhere before.

It seemed dark, in a locker room, and the face couldn’t be seen…

That image gradually overlapped with the back view before him.

“Whoa-” Chen Rongxin was also stunned by the sight of this half-naked beautiful man that greeted him at the door. He turned to leave, “Wait, let me get my phone, I have to take a photo of this, or I won’t get another chance. Wait for me!”

Before Chen Rongxin could take a single step, Xie Ji’s “Get back here” froze him in place. Chen Rongxin turned his head, said “Just kidding” with a grin, then peered past Xie Ji into the room.

“It’s still early, and you’re already showering? This double room is nice. We should’ve booked three doubles- hey? Ruan-ge, why is your face so red?”

Xia Shiruan froze, touched his cheeks with the back of his hand, met Xie Ji’s gaze, lowered his hand, and said calmly, “It’s not.”

“…” Chen Rongxin thought your face is clearly redder than your neck, but considerately said, “Maybe because Xie-ge just finished showering-”

Xia Shiruan: “…”

“-so the room is stuffy?”

“…Mm.”

Xie Ji asked Chen Rongxin what they were going to do later, and after getting the reply “nothing much, it’s too late to climb the mountain now so we can only walk around nearby,” he pushed and kicked him out of the room.

He turned back, glancing at the person sitting stiffly on the bed, whose face still seemed flushed.

Yet this person either didn’t notice or was pretending to be calm. Either way, his serious expression didn’t match at all with his fair, pink-tinged cheeks.

Xie Ji stared at Xia Shiruan’s pointed chin, remembered a certain short video he’d seen on his phone, and gave a short laugh, suddenly feeling that his inexplicable anger from the whole day had mostly dissipated.

But some people couldn’t help being cheeky when they were in a good mood.

Xie Ji dried his hair with a large towel and said, “I don’t understand why you won’t tell your classmates you’ve presented as an Omega.”

Last time at the bar near the school, he’d encountered him being pressured to drink by people from the same lab.

Thinking back to what Huang Yun had said then, Xie Ji still wanted to frown.

Xia Shiruan looked up at him.

Pulling his thoughts back, Xie Ji tugged at the corner of his mouth and randomly changed topics, “If my dad knew you were actually an Omega and shared a room with me for a night, would he force me to marry you?”

Xia Shiruan took a deep breath, suppressing those inappropriate images in his mind, then gave him an expressionless look. He stood up, changed into his shoes for going out, and first answered Xie Ji’s first question.

“Since my new ID hasn’t come through yet, I haven’t made it public. It’s troublesome to explain to everyone one by one.”

He shouldered his bag ready to leave, then answered the second question, “Besides, don’t worry, even if Uncle Xie said that, I wouldn’t agree.”

Xie Ji: “…”

The slight improvement in his mood vanished without a trace.

He gritted his teeth, watching Xia Shiruan slowly open the door and leave, then grabbed a T-shirt from the sofa, roughly pulled it over his head, and followed him down.

–

The main attraction of Mount Xia Scenic Area was Mount Xia itself, but the small town at its foot was also worth exploring.

After getting ready, the group set out from the hotel to wander around the small town.

The group of young men and women, each attractive in their own way, drew countless gazes as soon as they entered the town.

Among them, except for Xie Ji, Shi Yi, and another Alpha who were from the Military Engineering Department at Science University, the others were all close friends of Chen Rongxin. They chatted as they walked, occasionally entering interesting shops they spotted.

Xia Shiruan walked slowly at the back of the group, listlessly looking around at both sides of the street, finding nothing particularly interesting.

Xie Ji walked alongside Chen Rongxin in front of him, the two occasionally exchanging words.

When Chen Rongxin saw something interesting, he would specifically turn back to show Xia Shiruan, who would smile politely in response.

Xie Ji hadn’t given him a single glance from start to finish.

“Holy shit, they actually have this kind of store here!” A guy walking in front suddenly pointed in one direction and shouted, “Let’s go check it out!”

“What store? A perfume store?!”

Xia Shiruan looked up as the group swarmed into a small shop with a sign reading “Xia Town Enchanting Fragrances,” with small text in the bottom right corner saying “Imitation (Available).”

The shop was even more crowded than outside, with everyone excitedly holding small bottles, pulling out wooden stoppers to smell the fragrances inside.

Xia Shiruan also played with several small bottles, and after smelling one, as if sensing something, he turned the bottle around to see a small note written in marker on the label – “Caramel scent.”

He weighed the bottle in his hand, lost in thought.

“Haven’t seen these before?” Shi Yi had somehow come over, also holding a bottle. She smelled it, put it down, and smiled at Xia Shiruan. “But it’s nothing special. I don’t get why they’re so excited.”

Xia Shiruan smiled and said, “I’ve seen them before.”

“You’ve seen them?” Shi Yi paused, but was not too surprised, and remarked, “Pheromone perfume. The inventor was a Beta who supposedly created it to let Betas smell pheromones too.”

Shi Yi shook her head and said casually, “He didn’t understand that being Beta is actually quite nice.”

Xia Shiruan glanced at Shi Yi, suddenly remembering Xie Ji’s opinion of her, and fell silent.

He played with the caramel-scented imitation perfume in his hand, thinking it smelled nice but something wasn’t quite right.

It was different from the scent he truly liked.

As Shi Yi said, imitation perfume, or pheromone perfume, was initially invented to make pheromone scents tangible. Apart from lacking physiological effects, the perfume was identical to normal pheromones.

Simply put, when Betas wore this perfume, they’d have the appearance of having pheromones and could be mistaken for Alphas or Omegas, but this didn’t change that they were fundamentally Betas uncontrolled by glands.

Yi Junya also collected these perfumes and had shared them with Xia Shiruan before. However, in modern society where everyone used blockers, these had become mere collectibles, rarely used in daily life.

Now, these imitation perfumes were mainly sold in tourist areas with local characteristic scents. Some people supposedly collected them to find their favorite type and thus find true love. Others said Betas working in red-light districts used these perfumes to increase their value.

A simple artificial chemical compound reflected society’s strange phenomena.

Xia Shiruan put down the glass bottle and looked toward the bustling crowd.

Xie Ji stood with Chen Rongxin, talking about something.

As if sensing something, Xie Ji turned around, catching Xia Shiruan’s gaze.

He looked at Xia Shiruan, then his eyes swept to Shi Yi beside him, and paused.

Shi Yi laughed softly and whispered in Xia Shiruan’s ear, “Xie Ji keeps looking at me like this, as if he’s worried I’ll do something to you.”

She sighed leisurely, “I may play around, but I don’t mess with just anyone, at least not with someone my friend likes.”

Xia Shiruan froze for a second.

“Xie Ji is so childish,” she sought Xia Shiruan’s opinion, “isn’t he?”

Before Xia Shiruan could express his slight agreement, Xie Ji pushed through the crowd and came over.

He looked at the bottle Xia Shiruan was reluctant to put down with a dark face and asked, “What did I just say?”

Xia Shiruan thought back, and the first words that came to mind were “if I like someone, it would only be them.”

Xie Ji answered himself, “I told you to stay behind me. Didn’t you hear?”