Lu Heyang saw Seventeen tremble slightly, slowly open his eyes, and stare at him bewildered.
It took Seventeen ten seconds or so to react. His gaze slowly shifted as he pulled his face away from Lu Heyang’s hand.
Eventually, he asked, “When?”
Dreading Lu Heyang’s response, he continued, “You’ve known for a long time, haven’t you?”
Lu Heyang looked at him but still didn’t say anything.
He had been foolish enough to believe that Lu Heyang wouldn’t pick up on the similarities in voice, pheromones, and body language between Xu Ze and Seventeen. He just thought that Lu Heyang wouldn’t have much of an impression of the person called “Xu Ze” and wouldn’t be able to make the connection between the two.
It turned out that not everyone was as stupid and clueless as him.
Suddenly Xu Ze woke up to the pain in his chest, back, and left shoulder, which had been dislocated earlier. The inhibitor could only stabilize the pheromones, but couldn’t numb the pain.
He didn’t understand why the pain had suddenly become so intense. He even began muttering to himself in a delirious state.
“Why…” Xu Ze murmured in a low voice, “You already knew…”
If it were anyone else, Xu Ze would have thought the other person was treating him as a fool, but he didn’t believe Lu Heyang was such a person. But he couldn’t figure out why he did this, which made him feel sort of uncomfortable.
Then he thought, even if Lu Heyang had that kind of mindset, there was no way he could blame him.
Xu Ze turned his head. The old full-length mirror was beside him. He saw his reflection, and in the faint light, he simply didn’t resemble a human being. Wretched, even his features muddled—this was how Lu Heyang saw him now.
Xu Ze dropped his head in embarrassment. He was feeling truly exhausted. He said, “You should go first.”
Then, in a tone that almost sounded like a plea, he continued, “Don’t come here in the future.”
Before Lu Heyang could answer, Xu Ze closed his eyes and passed out. He collapsed forward and Lu Heyang held his shoulders. At the same time, the door was opened and several alphas came in.
Lu Heyang turned around and looked at one of the alphas in a white coat. Zhuo Yan nodded his head and walked over. He crouched next to Xu Ze, checked his chest and back, and said, “No broken bones, but we need to do a CT scan to know more.”
The other alphas came forward and placed Xu Ze on a stretcher. Xiao Feng was still waiting outside the door. He had no idea where these alphas came from or how they got in—but they looked professional in any case. Lu Heyang carried Xu Ze’s backpack. He walked up to Xiao Feng and said, “Thank you for today. I’ll take Seventeen to the hospital.”
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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He Wei looked confused, “Heyang, why did you…”
He also knew Zhuo Yan, but Seventeen had only been backstage for twenty minutes. He Wei didn’t know how Zhuo Yan and the others had arrived so quickly—unless someone had informed them before the match was even over.
“I’m taking Xu Ze to the hospital,” Lu Heyang said, “You guys go back by car.”
Once the ambulance had driven away, He Wei turned to Gu Yunchi and asked, “What Xu Ze?”
“There are not many S-level alphas with your IQ,” Gu Yunchi said.
A few seconds later, He Wei fully realized the situation, and his eyes widened, “You knew too? When did you find out? Why didn’t you tell me?!”
“The day we went to listen to the lecture.”
That evening, he and He Wei went to Lu Heyang and Xu Ze’s hotel room to eat and chat. It was then that Gu Yunchi discovered the clues. Of course, Lu Heyang must have discovered them earlier than him.
The fact that Seventeen was Xu Ze didn’t matter to Gu Yunchi. After all, he and Xu Ze weren’t familiar with each other and had no association whatsoever. As for why Lu Heyang kept pretending not to know, Gu Yunchi thought that it was completely understandable based on his personality. They were quite similar in some aspects—such as never showing curiosity or concern for people who had nothing to do with them.
However, the last time at the hotel and tonight’s incident had left Gu Yunchi more or less perplexed.
It didn’t matter though. He was far less confused than He Wei.
On the way to the hospital, Xu Ze started having mild breathing difficulties and coughed up some blood. He frowned and seemed to be in great pain—probably the only time he would let go of his restraints was in such a state of unconsciousness.
“It hurts…” Xu Ze gasped, whimpering unconsciously, “Morphine… give me a shot…”
The fact that he asked for morphine meant that someone had given it to him when he was previously injured.
Since most of the patients Zhuo Yan had encountered since becoming a doctor were powerful and wealthy, he had never seen someone like Xu Ze who immediately requested morphine. This was too straightforward and crude. Zhuo Yan couldn’t even give him painkillers before confirming the extent of his injuries.
With no pain relief in sight, Xu Ze accepted this reality. His voice gradually faded and finally fell silent.
Zhuo Yan glanced at Lu Heyang, who was still sitting on the seat on the other side, showing no signs of nervousness or panic—it was a look that Zhuo Yan was familiar with, a look of not being overly concerned about anything.
After the examination at the hospital, it was identified that Xu Ze had suffered lung contusion and hemorrhage. It wasn’t too serious, but without treatment, it could lead to complications or leave lasting effects.
“Is he your friend?” Zhuo Yan asked Lu Heyang after recording the information on the monitor.
The paint and blood on Xu Ze’s face had been cleaned away, revealing a clean sleeping face. Lu Heyang was leaning against the window some distance away from the hospital bed. He replied, “Not exactly, just someone I know from school.”
“A student from the prep school?” Zhuo Yan was a little surprised.
“Mn,” Lu Heyang straightened up and headed toward the exit, “Once he wakes up, if there are no issues, let him be discharged from the hospital. Thank you for your help today.”
“Alright.”
There wasn’t much light in the room when Xu Ze woke up. He stared at the IV bag hanging in the air for a long time. He could only come to the conclusion that “I am in the hospital now” as for when he arrived and how he had no memory of it.
He only remembered that before losing consciousness, he had asked Lu Heyang not to go to the club again. He wondered if Lu Heyang would be upset with that.
Someone entered the room. He lifted the head of Xu Ze’s bed and used the remote control to open the curtains. Xu Ze finally got a clear look at the person, it was a young doctor.
“I’m Zhuo Yan.” Zhuo Yan asked, “How are you feeling now?”
“I’m fine,” Xu Ze sat up, and then asked, “Can I pay the medical bill and get discharged now?”
“You can. The medicine has been prepared for you to take home and take on time,” Zhuo Yan said, “The medical expenses have been settled, no need to worry.”
Xu Ze looked at the pale alpha in front of him and hesitated before asking, “Who paid it for me?”
“It should be a schoolmate you know,” Zhuo Yan flipped through the report, “I checked your pheromone data. You seem to be an S-level alpha with frequent rut cycles. We detected a strong inhibitor in your blood yesterday. So I’d like to remind you that if you enter your rut during this time, you can no longer use inhibitors.”
“I guess it will be in the next couple of days, because last night, due to your injuries and pain, your pheromone secretion was slightly disordered. Keep an eye on it for the next few days. If you are in rut, it is best to take time off and rest at home.”
“Okay, thank you,” Xu Ze nodded.
Xu Ze was discharged from the hospital an hour later with his medication. The hospital even arranged a car for him. Xu Ze sat in the backseat and opened the outermost pocket of his backpack. The crumpled banknotes were still inside—of course, Lu Heyang wouldn’t have taken them.
Back at home, Xu Ze went into the bathroom to wash his hands. He looked up at the mirror—he rarely looked at himself in the mirror because he didn’t think there was anything to look at.
Various-sized band-aids and gauze covered his neck, arms, and the corners of his swollen and bruised mouth. They were all small wounds that he hadn’t noticed or felt last night. Normally, he would ignore them, but now the nurses had carefully treated and covered them up.
Xu Ze stood for a moment before returning to his room. He opened his books to do his homework. He couldn’t concentrate at first because he was thinking about Lu Heyang calling his name last night and the disguise he believed he had created without leaving a trace. It turned out to be like the Emperor’s new clothes; no one had merely exposed it.
After a while, he managed to temporarily separate himself from the embarrassment and other complicated feelings and completed his homework properly.
His glands were hot. Xu Ze touched the back of his neck—his rut was probably coming. But there were no suppressant patches at home. He put his textbooks away and prepared to go to the pharmacy to buy a pack.
His body still ached, but it no longer affected his normal movements. Xu Ze took the keys, put on a baseball cap, and walked out of his room.
As he walked to the front door, he suddenly heard a knock.
Few people would knock on his door. There was no peephole on the old wooden door, so Xu Ze turned the lock and opened the door.
Xu Ze saw an alpha standing outside through the rusty black security door. His first thought was that he was hallucinating because his head must have been damaged yesterday.
“Going out?” Lu Heyang asked him with a subtle smile on his face.
Xu Ze was unable to answer Lu Heyang’s question as his thought process wasn’t clear. While he was still trying to remember what he was going out to buy, his hand was already a step ahead of his brain and reached out to open the security door.
Translator’s note:
I’m getting the hang of this and might add an additional chapter starting next week. I don’t think anyone will mind 
thank you for the chapter💗
Thank you for the chapter
Such a nice DP, it was Chen Jingshen and Yu Fan 🫶🏼
Thank you for the chapter 💛💛💛
Thank you sm for the hardwork<3 so happy we get one more chapter!! you’re the greatest, but take good care of yourself 🩷💐
I’m really enjoying this story. Thank you for the translations 💕