Editor: Decembery
(1/2 double update – the next ch will be up tomorrow! T_T Sorry I just submitted two assignments today and am kinda ded… will finish the next ch off soon :)))
The next day, EL narrowly lost against MIG, who won 3:2. With this second semi-final game, team Eagle Riders’ final opponent has also been confirmed.
That afternoon, Qi Zhefeng examined Qiu Yu once more. Looking at the numbers on the divide, he said, “There are indicators of your heat arriving again. There’s still two days before the finals, so try to find a suitable time before then to get another temporary mark.”
Qiu Yu’s brows twitched in surprise, “…this soon?”
“It has been around twenty days.” Qi Zhefeng calmly replied, “Your cycles weren’t regular, to begin with, and temporary marks won’t have the same effect as a true mark—its effect is more limited. You…”
This time, he seemed to sense some changes in Qiu Yu’s emotions and asked, “Are you feeling reluctant towards temporary marks?”
“Not exactly reluctant,” Qiu Yu said, “I’ll do it.”
It’s just that the memories of his experiences during the previous two temporary marks were seared into his mind. That feeling of excitement and joy… Although he enjoyed it, he also felt fearful—fearful that after experiencing it too many times, he would be willingly mesmerised and shackled by the rules of this world.
“I can tell that you feel some resistance towards it.” Qi Zhefeng didn’t believe Qiu Yu’s words.
His tone remained flat as always, “I’m a doctor, you can place your trust in me. Talk to me about the problem you’re facing and maybe we can find a way to mitigate it.”
“I’m not physically resistant towards it,” Qiu Yu replied, “so it should be some psychological issue,”
“Psychology is also one of the medicines,” Qi Zhefeng continued, “It is all a part of a doctor’s duty to listen to a patient’s thoughts and feelings and assuage their worries.”
Having once been a warrior who could get injured at any time, Qiu Yu had quite a high degree of trust towards doctors and medical professionals as a whole. Hearing this, he thought briefly and told his worries to Qi Zhefeng. Of course, he kept his past to himself and only mentioned how he wasn’t willing to long for and become reliant or addicted to that feeling during the mark.
Hearing Qiu Yu’s words, Qi Zhefeng fell silent for a while before he asked, “Are the sensations very intense?”
Qiu Yu answered, “En, very… intense.”
Qi Zhefeng continued, “This shows that the compatibility rate between yours and Mu Feibai’s pheromones is very high.”
Qiu Yu was surprised, “What do you mean?”
“Normally, Omegas won’t be affected intensely by a temporary mark. What’s happening to you occurs very rarely between Omegas and Alphas.” Qi Zhefeng’s words seemed to be emotionless, “Although our current medical developments are still unable to accurately state the degree of compatibility, it is a common understanding in the academic world that situations like yours would happen when the Omega and Alpha’s pheromones are extremely compatible. It could be termed…”
Speaking up to here, he suddenly paused and huffed a short but quiet puff of air from his nose, as though in a scoff, “It could be termed a ‘preordained marriage’.”
Qiu Yu was taken aback. He didn’t expect Qi Zhefeng to suddenly say such a sentence at the end of a bunch of dry medical explanations.
“Your situation is very rare, however I… am lucky enough to have encountered it once before.”
Qi Zhefeng spoke with lowered eyes as he tapped lightly on his bracelet.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Finishing his speech, he looked up at Qiu Yu, “You’re concerned because you’re not sure you want to have further relationships in the future with him, right?”
After a while, Qiu Yu nodded. “Yes.”
Qi Zhefeng continued to ask, “Is it that you don’t like Alphas, or are you not into men?”
After some thought, Qiu Yu answered, “I should be into men. As for Alphas or ABO, I don’t…”
Mulling over his words, Qiu Yu switched to a more direct way of expressing himself, “I cannot accept being restrained by something I am incapable of resisting, and I cannot accept the thought of myself having children. Other than this, in my opinion, Alphas don’t have any particular qualities that are worthy of liking or disliking.”
Qi Zhefeng was thoughtful.
After some time, he said, “You seem to have some degree of cognitive dissociation from your gender as an Omega, and completely do not categorise yourself as one.”
This pierced straight to the heart of the issue.
Qiu Yu looked up, straight into Qi Zhefeng’s eyes, “Yes.”
“This is an innate condition and can’t be changed.” Qi Zhefeng said, “I also don’t recommend you go through any of those so-called ‘corrective therapies’. The better ones only treat the outward signs but not the root cause, while the worse ones aren’t any different in principle from torture.”
After a short pause, he added, “If you can’t accept being marked by Mu Feibai again, the only recommendation I can give you is to temporarily change the marker until you undergo the surgery.”
Hearing this, Qiu Yu fell silent for a long time. In the end, he refused, “I won’t.”
For some reason, whenever he thought of being marked by another Alpha, his mental resistance towards a mark became even more severe. Not to mention being marked and carrying around another Alpah’s scent, he even despised the thought of another Alpha touching the back of his neck.
“You like him?” Qi Zhefeng suddenly asked uncharacteristically.
Qiu Yu didn’t think much of it, merely seeing it as an extension of their previous subject.
After some thought, he answered, “I should like him a bit.”
“So you like him, but are fearful of being addicted to the sensations he brings you?” Qu Zhefeng continued.
“I…” Qiu Yu was at a loss.
“Because you still haven’t thought through your future together?” Qi Zhefeng’s line of questioning became more aggressive.
Exasperated, Qiu Yu replied, “Doctor Qi, I still haven’t figured out how much I actually like him. Right now I’m just a little interested in his body…”
Perhaps because Qi Zhefeng was a little older and had a more mature air than the team members, as well as his identity as a doctor, Qiu Yu didn’t feel much pressure or embarrassment when admitting to his physical desires.
Qi Zhefeng opened his lips, as though wanting to say something.
In the end, he gave Qiu Yu a rare smile and said, “You don’t actually have to worry about indulging yourself. Even if, under the influence of pheromones, you two accidentally broke into the reproductive cavity and fully marked each other, the current medical technology can perfectly prevent any possibilities of impregnation.”
Qiu Yu: ……
He had been under the impression that the majority of people in this world were very cautious regarding matters of the bedroom and would have a hard time accepting physical relationships with no strings attached like those back in the apocalypse.
However, why does Doctor Qi’s words sound like he’s encouraging him to mess around?
Qi Zhefeng looked seriously at Qiu Yu, “You really are the most special Omega I have ever encountered.”
……
In the end, Qiu Yu still decided to look for Mu Feibai for his third temporary mark. However, this time Doctor Qi didn’t raise the issue of watching over them.
“What’s his deal? Changed his nature?” Mu Feibai found it strange, “Why isn’t he worried about something else happening this time?”
Qiu Yu smiled and took out that surgical blade from the waistband of his pants, deftly controlling it to turn between his fingers.
Watching this, Mu Feibai felt as though his heart was about to leap out of his chest, “Don’t play with surgical blades like that, it’s really sharp!”
Qiu Yu put the blade back between the cloth of his waistband and briskly walked to the edge of the bed, “Come.”
It was a familiar process.
Afterwards, Mu Feibai retrieved the disinfecting towel and gently wiped away the last traces of blood. He then reached out and pulled Qiu Yu backwards into his arms.
After hugging for some time in comfortable silence, Mu Feibai saw how Qiu Yu didn’t protest and asked quietly, voice hoarse, “Can I kiss you again?”
Qiu Yu laughed softly.
Eyelids shuttered, he thought about it for a little while and then peeled Mu Feibai’s arms from around his body.
Mu Feibai’s arms followed Qiu Yu’s movements and let go, dejection clear on his face.
However, unexpectedly, Qiu Yu turned around in the next instant and straddled his legs. He placed both palms on the sides of Mu Feibai’s face and pressed a kiss downwards!
Youthful bodies were susceptible to the slightest stimulation, when Mu Feibai came back to himself again, he had already pressed Qiu Yu down into the bed. By then, their clothing and breathing were completely messed up. Bodies pressed to each other and only separated by a thin layer of cloth, they could feel each other rearing to go.
Mu Feibai’s hand had reached into the waistband of Qiu Yu’s pants before it was firmly held in place.
“We can’t.” Qiu Yu’s eyes were misted over as he panted, yet his tone was strangely steady. “We can’t, not now.”
After a moment, Mu Feibai slowly withdrew his hand.
He then fiercely hugged Qiu Yu and buried his face in the crook of his neck. Mu Feibai pressed Qiu Yu tightly to his chest and said, sounding like he was almost about to cry, “Ge… If you want to kill me then please do it quickly.”
Qiu Yu pushed him gently, “Let go a little, hurts.”
Mu Feibai loosed his arms but didn’t end the embrace. He grumbled, “It hurts for me too ah, ge. You took the initiative to kiss me so many times but never took responsibility, it’s alright if you won’t let me be your boyfriend but now you don’t even let me act spoiled…”
Hearing Mu Feibai acting wronged, Qiu Yu couldn’t help laughing.
Mu Feibai kissed up the side of Qiu Yu’s neck until he reached the bottom of Qiu Yu’s ear, and asked softly, “What are you thinking?”
Qiu Yu replied, “I’m thinking whether I should let you be my boyfriend.”
Mu Feibai froze.
Soon after, he let go of Qiu Yu and pushed the other a little distance away from himself. He looked piercingly into Qiu Yu’s eyes, “Are you serious?”
Qiu Yu smiled, “Dead serious.”
Mu Feibai’s eyes instantly lit up.
Qiu Yu then said, “Don’t get too excited, let me finish.”
Mu Feibai nodded, “Go ahead.”
Qiu Yu gathered his words and slowly began, “I don’t identify with my Omega identity. If I had the choice, I would have wanted to be an ordinary Beta. I can’t accept pregnancy in any way, so to prevent accidental markings, I refuse to take that step before the surgery.”
Mu Feibai looked at Qiu Yu, silent.
Qiu Yu continued, “If you want to be my boyfriend, you’ll have to accept me as I am. If you can’t, then we’ll just remain as people who have temporarily marked each other… I won’t cross the line again in the future.”
The silence grew longer.
After waiting a while and not getting a response, Qiu Yu sighed at the bottom of his heart and placed a palm against Mu Feibai’s chest, wanting to push him away.
Unexpectedly, Mu Feibai suddenly tightened his arms, encircling Qiu Yu’s body before quickly pressing a kiss to Qiu Yu’s lips.
“I can accept that.” Mu Feibai smiled so wide his eyebrows almost took flight, “Of course I can accept that! I like you—not because you’re an Omega. I’ll like you no matter who you are, gege.”
The weight in Qiu Yu’s chest dissipated and he unconsciously revealed some annoyance, “Then why didn’t you say anything earlier!”
Mu Feibai grinned, “Isn’t that because I want to make it seem like I thought it through deeply and didn’t just agree on impulse…”
Having just confirmed their relationship, the two cuddled together for another long while.
Mu Feibai tried to control the urge time and time again but failed in the end. He asked, “You said that you refuse to take that further step before the surgery… which step were you referring to exactly? Is it ok as long as it doesn’t go in?”
Qiu Yu: ……
Heh, Alpha.
Mu Feibai please you’re ruining the moment 😭
Thanks for the update ❤️
more like heh, men
hahaha. Mu ge is gonna die from pure excitement and joy at this point
I really love the sexuality/gender allegories in this story and how well it’s handled…. there’s so much Gender here I’m chewing on all this good worldbuilding and characterization
+1 although the sexism still bothers me it’s not like the author themself is sexist and I’ve also come to appreciate just how much thought and effort they put into the worldbuilding for this story
He likes him! Not because of his gender or status, but simply because it’s him!
It’s so romantic my heart is melting