Sun-Moon Lake.
By the muddy shore, where reeds grew thick and tiny nameless flowers dotted the ground, Ji Chenxi stood in front of his easel, brush in hand, slowly layering on color.
The clear sky had already been washed over with a faint golden hue by his strokes. Ji Chenxi loved chasing the changes in the light, adjusting his painting as the day shifted—even if, by the end, the canvas turned muddy, even if it lost some of its beauty in the process.
Day, night, dawn, dusk… there were simply too many changes in a single day. He could dim the bright colors on the canvas until they went dull, or pull a gray, lifeless scene back into the light. Painting often gave Ji Chenxi this subtle, satisfying feeling—as if everything was under his control.
Which was exactly why he hated being disturbed while he worked.
The girl wore a pure white princess dress, a delicate little flower clip tucked into her hair. Her soft flaxen curls fell loosely over her shoulders, half-hiding her back and collarbones, making her already pale, slender neck look even more striking.
When she spoke, Ji Chenxi glanced at her—just a quick look. And the first thing he noticed, as always, was her neck. No other reason—lately, whenever she came to see him, she hadn’t been wearing an inhibitor ring to better release her pheromones. So now, that light green, silk-like inhibitor wrapped around her neck stood out all the more.
The pale green ribbon looped twice around her slender neck, tied into a neat bow. The texture, the shape, even the direction it faced—it all matched Ji Chenxi’s taste perfectly. If he had to pick a favorite style of inhibitor ring, aside from the leather-and-metal ones, it would be this kind—something that could be undone with just a gentle tug. At that point, it felt less like an inhibitor and more like a gift waiting to be unwrapped.
Ji Chenxi’s expression didn’t change as he looked at her. He already knew she hadn’t come with good intentions.
Feeling the inhibitor still sitting properly around his own neck, Ji Chenxi couldn’t help wondering why the force behind her had sent an omega. What, did they think she could really do anything to him?
It wasn’t until later that he realized—in a situation like this, an omega was more than enough.
Who would’ve thought this omega had a compatibility rate with him of over eighty percent—and was currently in heat?
When she first arrived, there had already been an unnatural flush on her face. She must’ve injected a mild suppressant earlier, because she managed to exchange a couple of normal lines with him. But when Ji Chenxi ignored her, her face grew redder and redder, and a restless, hard-to-control wave of heat began to seep from her body.
Ji Chenxi quickly picked up on the abnormal fluctuation of pheromones in the air.
But by then, the girl had already pulled loose the bow tied around her neck.
A thick, cloyingly sweet scent burst out all at once.
Everything unfolded almost exactly as Ji Chenxi had expected. The only thing that went wrong was their compatibility—it was far too high. So high that the moment he caught a trace of her pheromones, his body heated up along with it, and a sensitivity period that shouldn’t have come yet began stirring restlessly.
Looking back, every step had been leading to this. From the moment this omega came to find him, the situation had already been set in motion. If anything, it had turned out even dirtier than he’d predicted.
It didn’t take long for the heat to ignite. The girl who had been putting on a polite front earlier suddenly threw herself at him without holding back. Startled, Ji Chenxi reacted on instinct, slamming her down onto the ground.
It was a terrible position. Her omega pheromones kept flooding into his nose, that thick, sugary scent making him feel both disgusted and strangely excited at the same time.
Even while being pinned down, the girl kept struggling, making the scent grow even stronger. Were omega heat cycles really this intense?
Heat, anxiety, irritation—his sensitivity period surged in full force, this time without much warning at all.
His mind filled with the urge to mark. And right now, in his hands, was a young, beautiful omega, giving off an irresistible scent—tempting, impossible to ignore, drawing him closer, pushing him to mark her.
With a loud ‘splash’, Ji Chenxi shoved the omega straight into the water. As he used the lake to cool her down, he let out a slow, heated breath. Honestly, he’d much rather just throw her into the lake and be done with it—but if she actually died, that would be hard to explain. Leaving right now… that sounded like a better option.
While his mind was busy weighing choices, his gaze drifted on its own, drawn to the omega’s gland. Flushed red and radiating heat, it looked… dangerously easy to bite.
His grip loosened for just a second.
The girl slipped from his hands, falling face-first into the water. The suffocating sensation made her thrash wildly, any trace of that fragile, delicate image gone. Feeling a flicker of guilt, Ji Chenxi quickly pulled her back up.
Her hair was plastered across her face now. He brushed it aside, trying to check if she was still breathing.
But the girl, who had just seemed on the verge of suffocating, suddenly lunged at him again. An omega in heat would keep releasing pheromones, desperate for a response. Even with his inhibitor on, Ji Chenxi couldn’t fully suppress his own scent once his sensitivity period had been forced out—it leaked just a little. And that little bit was exactly what she wanted more of.
Ji Chenxi frowned, irritation flashing across his face. Maybe he really should’ve just let her drown.
Just as he was about to toss her back into the lake, he paused slightly.
Mixed in with that sweet strawberry-and-cream scent… there was a faint trace of something familiar. A hint of alcohol.
A drug?
Or had the heat already messed with his head so badly that he couldn’t think straight anymore?
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
