Lu Tian tossed the test strip into the trash can and said to the doctor, “Test it again.”
“…” The doctor sighed. “The test strip is 100% accurate. Just accept it.”
“Impossible! How can this be such a coincidence!” Lu Tian turned to Jiang Yunxing, seeing his equally disbelieving expression, and frowned. “Hey! Why did you mark my brother? What are you planning?”
“Enough, Lu Tian. Go home first,” Lu Heng said.
Lu Tian froze and looked at Lu Heng. “You’re not coming with me?”
“I’ll take him home first, then return later,” Lu Heng replied.
Lu Tian knew who Lu Heng meant, and his face changed instantly. “Why take him home? It’s dinner time. Aren’t you eating?”
Lu Heng glanced at Lu Tian. “I don’t eat with you anyway.”
Lu Tian: “…”
“Just tell Auntie to leave the food on my desk,” Lu Heng said.
Lu Tian looked frustrated, standing there with clenched fists for a while, but ultimately said nothing.
He turned his head, shot Jiang Yunxing a fierce glare, and stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut.
The loud bang made the doctor look at the door and smile helplessly. “Lu Tian hasn’t changed a bit.”
Lu Heng didn’t say anything. The doctor seemed familiar with Lu Tian, so he might know him too.
Sure enough, once Lu Tian left, the doctor said to Lu Heng, “Lu Heng, ask him to wait outside. I need to talk to you privately.”
Before Lu Heng could respond, Jiang Yunxing obediently walked out.
Only the doctor and Lu Heng remained in the room.
“I heard you used suppressants yesterday and ended up in the hospital?” the doctor asked.
Lu Heng replied with a ‘hmm’.
“Yesterday was the first day of school, right?” The doctor sighed. “I warned you not to go to school yet. Although finding a 100% compatible Alpha… I’m not sure if that’s good luck or bad.”
Lu Heng stayed quiet. From the doctor’s words, he could tell that the doctor knew about his condition and seemed to be his attending physician.
“When did he mark you?” the doctor asked. “Why did he mark you? Any unusual reactions after?”
Lu Heng briefly recounted the afternoon’s events.
“The only unusual thing was feeling very sleepy all afternoon.”
“Drowsiness is normal after marking. It’ll pass after some sleep. However, the fact that you can use suppressants normally indicates the marking is indeed helping your condition.” The doctor rested his chin on his hand. “As your doctor, I recommend continuing the marking as treatment, but it’s up to you two. Although I think… a 100% compatibility rate already speaks for itself.”
“What happens with a 100% compatibility rate?” Lu Heng asked.
The doctor smiled. “For you, he’s the only person whose pheromones can merge with yours. That’s why he can relieve your suppressant allergy symptoms. Moreover, multiple merges can regulate your gland stability and might even completely cure your condition.”
Lu Heng lowered his eyes, feeling somewhat tempted by the doctor’s words.
The doctor noticed his thoughts and added, “However, because of this, the marking will last longer, and this kind of imprint currently can’t be removed.”
“A temporary mark shouldn’t be a problem,” Lu Heng said.
“After three temporary marks, you won’t be satisfied with just that,” the doctor replied. “Besides, temporary marks can’t suppress heat cycles. They only prevent you from passing out when using suppressants. The side effects of suppressants remain, and using them too often will make your heat cycles more irregular.”
In other words, to treat his condition, he needed Jiang Yunxing’s mark, and not just a temporary one.
Lu Heng felt frustrated. He didn’t mind getting involved with Jiang Yunxing. After all, in his twenty-something years, even if he hadn’t done it himself, he’d seen enough of it. He had plenty of friends who would go out at night and fool around.
But Jiang Yunxing was different. They lived in completely different worlds.
The real Jiang Yunxing had just graduated from high school. Even though he was an adult, he was still just a kid fresh out of school who hadn’t experienced society yet and had an innocent personality.
After the temporary mark during lunch, he already blushed bright red. Asking for anything more from him felt like pushing legal boundaries.
“Think about it. You’re both adults, aren’t you?” The doctor paused, then added, “Or is he not of age?”
Lu Heng snapped back to reality. He didn’t answer the doctor’s question, only saying, “Thank you, I’ll think about it.”
When he left the room, Jiang Yunxing was sitting across from him, head down, waiting.
Despite being nearly 1.9 meters tall with a sturdy build, he had an unmistakable childlike air about him.
Jiang Yunxing seemed to sense Lu Heng’s gaze and looked up. He stood up with a smile when he saw him.
His expression showed inexplicable happiness as he walked to Lu Heng’s side. “Ge, are you done talking?”
“…Yeah.” Lu Heng sighed inwardly.
Jiang Yunxing asked, “What did the doctor say?”
Lu Heng glanced at him and replied briefly, “Just discussed my condition. Nothing serious.”
Jiang Yunxing nodded and did not ask further. “Should we head back now?”
Lu Heng hummed a reply. He took out a cigarette and placed it between his lips.
After leaving the hospital, he lit the cigarette and ordered a car on his phone.
Smoking wasn’t convenient at school, but Lu Heng had been sleepy all afternoon due to the marking and hadn’t craved a smoke. Now that he was feeling better, he lit another cigarette after finishing the first one.
Jiang Yunxing stood quietly beside him, lost in thought. Lu Heng glanced at him, figuring he was spacing out.
Jiang Yunxing seemed to be someone who struggled with communication, preferring to space out rather than initiate conversation, and when he did speak, it was usually meaningless chatter.
Lu Heng had a sudden thought. He exhaled a breath of smoke and asked, “Have you ever smoked?”
Jiang Yunxing snapped out of his daze and replied, “No.”
It was as expected.
“What about alcohol?” Lu Heng asked again.
“No, never…” Jiang Yunxing answered.
“…” Lu Heng was a bit surprised. “Not even beer?”
Jiang Yunxing pressed his lips together. “No, never tried it.”
Lu Heng thought of sixteen-year-old Lu Tian, who had stayed home for a week after injuring someone in a group fight before returning to school. Even he himself had already tried both smoking and drinking by sixteen.
Lu Heng studied Jiang Yunxing, trying to read something from him, but Jiang Yunxing kept his head down as if he’d done something wrong.
Lu Heng softened his tone unconsciously. “When you hang out with friends, you never drink at all?”
Without lifting his head, Jiang Yunxing hesitated before answering, “…No.”
He’s really a model student, Lu Heng thought.
He took another drag of his cigarette, then held the remaining half between his fingers in front of Jiang Yunxing. “Want to try?”
Jiang Yunxing’s head shot up, staring blankly at the burning cigarette, his face turning bright red.
“But, Ge, you… you’ve already…”
Lu Heng didn’t expect Jiang Yunxing to focus on that aspect, and frowned. “You find it disgusting?”
“No! How could I ever find you disgusting? I…”
Jiang Yunxing pressed his lips together, clearly at a loss. Lu Heng watched him for a moment before deciding to give up.
Just as he was about to withdraw his hand, Jiang Yunxing grabbed his wrist and lowered his head to put the cigarette filter between his lips.
He squeezed his eyes shut tight, as if someone had pressed a knife to his throat, took a small puff, and immediately broke into violent coughing.
“Cough cough… cough! It’s a bit, unfamiliar.”
“…” Lu Heng gave up completely.
The taxi arrived at their location, and they got in quietly, riding in silence until they reached Jiang Yunxing’s home.
Jiang Yunxing lived in an old residential complex, located deep inside. The car could only stop at the entrance.
Lu Heng and Jiang Yunxing got out together. Although there were many people near the entrance at this hour, it became virtually deserted further in.
They were the only two people on the entire street. Jiang Yunxing, who had just recovered from their recent test, gradually became aware of his 100% compatibility with Lu Heng.
Him and Lu Heng! 100%!
Even though the novel barely mentioned this setting, based on his experience of reading thousands of novels, this setup was quite significant.
He had marked Lu Heng, and just now he even touched the cigarette Lu Heng had smoked…
Jiang Yunxing felt a bit light-headed again. He turned to look at Lu Heng, who seemed lost in thought. Perhaps it was the dim lighting, but his expression appeared darker than usual.
“What are you thinking about, Ge?” Jiang Yunxing asked.
Lu Heng snapped out of his thoughts and said, “About the compatibility rate.”
They were thinking about the same thing. Jiang Yunxing’s ears grew warm.
But Lu Heng’s next words quickly brought him back to reality.
“What’s your compatibility rate with Lin Yao?” Lu Heng asked.
Jiang Yunxing thought for a moment before answering, “I’m not sure exactly. The novel never mentioned it, but maybe it’s 100% too?”
“No, impossible,” Lu Heng denied. “From what the doctor said today, 100% compatibility can only exist between two people, there can’t be a third person.”
Jiang Yunxing finally realized, “So you’re saying that as the male lead in the novel, I have 100% compatibility with the villain?”
“That’s right,” Lu Heng confirmed.
“…So that’s why Lu Heng hated Lin Yao even more and became so crazy later on.” Jiang Yunxing recalled Lu Heng’s storyline in the novel and frowned. “Looking at it this way, the Lu Heng in the novel had serious issues too… Even though only 100% compatibility allows marking, he still let Xu He manipulate him, and his family wasn’t on his side either.”
“He brought that on himself,” Lu Heng said.
Although Lu Shenghua’s pressure might have played a part, from what happened earlier, Lu Tian was clearly on Lu Heng’s side.
Although Lu Tian wasn’t good at expressing himself, he clearly cared about Lu Heng, getting so worried over just a temporary mark.
“Because society kept brainwashing him, after Xu He marked him, even though the marking wasn’t successful and left no trace, he still chose to accept it,” Lu Heng seemed to be talking to himself, then gave a cold laugh. “Writing me as an idiot just to torture the villain. I better not find out who the author is.”
Jiang Yunxing: “…” Why did he feel a chill down his spine despite the hot weather?
They fell into silence again. They were getting closer to Jiang Yunxing’s home, but Lu Heng showed no sign of stopping.
After their conversation, Jiang Yunxing’s steps became lighter. Lu Heng caught glimpses of happiness on Jiang Yunxing’s face in the light.
Lu Heng thought about what the doctor had said and felt slightly troubled.
He finally understood why all his friends preferred to fool around with experienced partners.
With someone like Jiang Yunxing, he had no idea where to start.
“I’m here, Ge,” Jiang Yunxing said.
Lu Heng snapped back to reality and stopped alongside Jiang Yunxing.
Lu Heng glanced at the apartment building behind Jiang Yunxing, where most of the windows were lit up.
“Your parents are home?” Lu Heng asked.
Jiang Yunxing nodded, then added sheepishly, “They’re always fighting. It might be awkward if you come up…”
“I’m not going up. I need to head home for dinner,” Lu Heng said.
“Oh, then… I should go up?” Jiang Yunxing said.
Despite his words, he seemed reluctant to leave, standing there motionless.
It was an old residential complex tucked away from the main street. Most of the streetlights were broken, except for one a few meters away that cast a dim yellow glow.
Jiang Yunxing stood with his back to the motion sensor light, head slightly lowered, too awkward to meet Lu Heng’s eyes.
Lu Heng watched him, the sensor light outlining Jiang Yunxing’s features.
In his twenty-six years, Lu Heng had never dated, never liked anyone, never even explored his orientation.
To him, these things were a waste of time and not worth trying.
Even now, more than being interested in Jiang Yunxing, he just wanted to cure his condition.
Jiang Yunxing’s personality made him easier to manipulate than anyone he’d met before. Even if he was honest about just sleeping together a few times until he was cured, Jiang Yunxing would probably agree to help.
But…
“Ge, see you tomorrow.” Jiang Yunxing’s words were filled with reluctance, his movements slow as he turned away.
Just as he took a step back, Lu Heng grabbed his hand and wrapped his other arm around Jiang Yunxing’s neck.
Before Jiang Yunxing could react, Lu Heng leaned forward, tilted his head up, and pressed his lips against Jiang Yunxing’s.
It was just a light touch, not even a proper kiss since they didn’t use their tongues.
Lu Heng parted his lips slightly, wanting to deepen the kiss, but Jiang Yunxing didn’t give him the chance.
Jiang Yunxing snapped back to his senses and instinctively pushed Lu Heng away.
His face was redder than ever, lips pressed tightly together, eyes filled with panic.
“…”
Before Lu Heng could say anything, Jiang Yunxing had already turned and disappeared into the stairwell at sprint speed.
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