extra chapter thanks to Ko-fi Supporter 
enjoy~ ❤️
The apartment had two bedrooms and a living room. In terms of decoration and layout, it wasn’t much different from apartments in residential areas and was nothing like a dormitory. This building had such living conditions because the majority of its occupants were military officers.
Lu Heyang poured a glass of water for Xu Ze and placed it on the coffee table, “I told them that I didn’t need to be included in this medical checkup. I didn’t expect them to make you come at this late hour. Thank you for your trouble, Dr. Xu.”
“It’s nothing, it’s my job.” Xu Ze forced himself to concentrate to make sure he didn’t say anything wrong, “It’s just a simple checkup.”
“Let’s get started then. What do you need me to do?” Lu Heyang stood in front of Xu Ze with his head slightly tilted, looking extremely relaxed and cooperative.
Xu Ze instinctively looked away, “Just sit on the sofa.”
Lu Heyang sat down. Xu Ze put down the medical kit and opened it. He used the system to access the external software for the stethoscope and the medical examination form. He stood by Lu Heyang’s legs and put on the stethoscope. Then he leaned down and placed the chest piece on Lu Heyang’s chest. He observed the graphic fluctuate on the screen as he listened.
Xu Ze had used a stethoscope on many people. Some would look down to see how his hands moved, some would watch the screen with him, and some would space out. But few were as calm and direct as Lu Heyang, who stared at his profile from such a close distance.
Xu Ze was grateful that it wasn’t his chest that was being listened to.
Time passed unusually slowly. Xu Ze breathed a sigh of relief as he silently counted down the last second. He stored the data in the information system before stowing away his stethoscope. He retrieved the collection tube. The packaging was usually easy to open, but now it refused to tear despite his attempts. Xu Ze’s brows furrowed slightly, not with displeasure but with frustration.
A hand reached out and took the collection tube away. Lu Heyang tore the packaging open and handed it back to Xu Ze. He said, “Dr. Xu, don’t be angry.”
Xu Ze was taken aback. He lowered his head to grab a cotton swab and explained, “I’m not angry.”
“I know,” Lu Heyang said.
“I need to extract some pheromones,” Xu Ze closed the cotton swab box. He tried to act as normal as possible to inquire about the patient’s condition, “Are your glands and pheromones… okay?”
“Not bad,” Lu Heyang turned to the side to expose his back to Xu Ze for easier work and replied, “But I will be in rut once every three months or so.”
Xu Ze thought he had misheard and paused. The occurrence of ruts for S-level alphas was rare. Due to his second differentiation, he had experienced it many times. The physiological discomfort was secondary at this point; the primary inconvenience was its effect on work. Besides, Lu Heyang was in an important position—he could have remained unaffected by the inconvenience of ruts forever.
Lu Heyang waited a long time but Xu Ze didn’t start extracting the pheromones. Lu Heyang tilted his head and reminded him, “Dr. Xu?”
Xu Ze responded with an “Mn” and lowered his hand. He let his slightly trembling wrist relax for a few seconds. Then he raised it again and disinfected the gland’s skin with iodine before slowly inserting the needle.
After extracting the pheromones, Xu Ze pulled out the needle and pressed a cotton swab against the needle hole on the glands. The living room wasn’t too bright as the lighting was soft. Xu Ze examined the muscle contours on Lu Heyang’s shoulders and back, but found no evident scars—it was true that members of the Air Force rarely got hurt. Injuries indicated the fighter jet had sustained damage, potentially leading to loss of control over the aircraft or the pilot’s parachute. To some extent, they had to be prepared to face death from the moment they were injured at high altitude.
After a dozen seconds, Lu Heyang raised his hand, “I’ll press it myself.”
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.
His hand inevitably overlapped with the back of Xu Ze’s hand. It appeared to be a size larger and capable of fully covering Xu Ze’s hand. When Lu Heyang’s calloused palm touched Xu Ze, Xu Ze felt a tingling and numbness on his skin. Xu Ze unnaturally withdrew his hand and put down the collection tube. Then he crouched down beside the coffee table and concentrated on writing on the label.
“Jbibcfi?” bcis joafg We If qea atf ijyfi bc atf mbiifmalbc aeyf vlv Oe Lfsjcu rqfjx, “Gg. We, P gfwfwyfg afiilcu sbe ws cjwf fjgilfg.”
“Pa’r pera j wjgx.” We If rjlv, “P’ii fcafg la lcab atf rsrafw ktfc P gfaegc jcv ufcfgjaf j rfqjgjaf lvfcalolmjalbc mbvf yfobgf ralmxlcu la bc ab qgfnfca fzqbrlcu atf cjwf.”
He responded before standing up, squatting at Lu Heyang’s feet with Lu Heyang’s knee at his shoulders. Xu Ze explained earnestly in detail, as though worried that Lu Heyang might be displeased.
Lu Heyang lowered his eyes to look at Xu Ze and told him, “I’m not angry.”
Xu Ze paused and tilted his head to look at Lu Heyang. Then he quickly turned away and said, “I know.”
“When did you start wearing glasses, Dr. Xu?” Lu Heyang suddenly asked.
“In high school… during the third year,” Xu Ze pushed his glasses up.
His first pair of glasses was given by Lu Heyang.
Lu Heyang tossed the cotton swab into the trash, “Can I take a look at your glasses?”
Xu Ze nodded, completely ignoring what there was to see in the glasses. He took off his glasses and handed them to Lu Heyang.
His degree of nearsightedness wasn’t too severe and sometimes he could function normally without glasses. But the moment he removed his glasses, he squinted his eyes because he wasn’t used to it. His eyelashes shattered the light into countless broken shadows. He felt that Lu Heyang was looking at the glasses, but he also seemed to be looking at him, giving him the illusion that they were looking at each other.
By the time Xu Ze’s vision recovered, Lu Heyang returned the glasses to him. Xu Ze put them back on and stood up.
It was time to leave. Xu Ze packed his things. After hesitating briefly, he asked, “How do you usually spend your rut?”
As Xu Ze wasn’t a doctor in the military district, this question wasn’t exactly appropriate, but he asked it anyway.
However, Lu Heyang seemed to be interested in the formal “you”. He smiled and asked, “Aren’t we the same age?”
“Yes,” Xu Ze thought for a moment, “But you are the superior.”
“You were He Wei’s deskmate in high school.” Lu Heyang leaned on the edge of the sofa and lifted his head to look at Xu Ze, “We should have talked?”
Xu Ze looked at the medical kit on the coffee table and felt it would have been better if He Wei hadn’t mentioned him to Lu Heyang. They would have remained total strangers rather than having to be like they were now, where he was just Lu Heyang’s high school schoolmate with an indistinct name and face.
“We talked.” Xu Ze couldn’t lie about their past and claim that they had never crossed paths in any way.
Lu Heyang nodded, “Sorry, my memory isn’t great.”
Xu Ze closed the medical kit and suddenly gave a faint smile that was hard to describe, with a hint of regret and distraction. He said, “Mn, your memory isn’t great.”
The living room fell silent. Xu Ze realized that he had said something strange. He stood still for a moment and said, “You should rest early. I’ll get going.”
Lu Heyang didn’t reply and stood up. There was only half a meter between the sofa and the coffee table, and the two adult alphas standing there seemed a little crowded. Xu Ze could feel the heat emanating from Lu Heyang’s body. He instinctively stepped back, but his calf immediately hit the edge of the coffee table.
“Want some water?” Lu Heyang picked up the glass from the coffee table.
Even though it was a question, Xu Ze acted like he was obeying some request or order. After a brief hesitation, he took the glass and said, “Okay.”
As Xu Ze tilted his head to drink, his eyelashes naturally drooped, casting two fine shadows under his eyes. He seemed genuinely thirsty, and his lips brushed against the rim as he drank almost the entire glass. His throat moved and made a subtle swallowing sound.
“Thank you.” The words were addressed to Lu Heyang, but Xu Ze didn’t look at him. Xu Ze licked the wet corner of his mouth and placed the glass back on the coffee table.
He didn’t know where to look, so he could only look outside the balcony. He could see lush treetops with swaying branches and leaves, reminding him of his old house where similar trees stood outside his small room.
Xu Ze could smell Lu Heyang’s pheromones even though his wristband had been set to the highest level before entering the apartment. It was faint but enough to evoke many memories.
Lu Heyang’s face, body, and eyes remained vivid in Xu Ze’s mind, but only when he smelled the specific scent that belonged to him did all the scenes become complete. The summer that was filled with night storms, afternoon sunlight, white gardenias, and throbbing heartbeats.
Lu Heyang didn’t say “You’re welcome”. During Xu Ze’s momentary distraction, he asked, “Dr. Xu, do you mind if I smell your neck?”
Xu Ze never refused Lu Heyang and never delved into his motives—this habit remained unchanged to this day. Xu Ze instinctively nodded without thinking and agreed to this peculiar request, “I don’t mind.”
Their proximity allowed Lu Heyang to touch Xu Ze with a lift of his hand. He gently pressed the side of Xu Ze’s neck, lowered his head, and brought his nose close to the glands at the back of Xu Ze’s neck. The warm breath clung to Xu Ze’s skin. Xu Ze suddenly shrunk his shoulders and stared ahead with his eyes wide open—such an action was too familiar to him. It was like the position they used to kiss in the past.
Lu Heyang only stayed for a short time. He straightened up and withdrew his hand from Xu Ze’s neck. He stepped back to the right side to assume a normal social distance, while Xu Ze remained motionless. As the light fell on Xu Ze, his white coat made his hair unusually black, and his pale skin showed a more distinct blush.
“My ruts are usually treated with inhibitors and some special medications.” Lu Heyang answered Xu Ze’s question after a delay and added, “Thank you for your hard work today, Dr. Xu.”
Xu Ze’s eyes shifted and he reacted slowly. He bent down to pick up the medical kit and said softly, “It’s nothing.”
“Did the sergeant who came in with you arrange a car to take you back to the dormitory?” Lu Heyang walked past Xu Ze and went to his room to retrieve the black T-shirt he had removed earlier, then put it back on.
Xu Ze had passed the medical dormitory on his way here. It was a short distance and he estimated it would take him about five minutes to walk there. He answered ambiguously with an “Mn” and didn’t mention that he would walk back.
Lu Heyang walked out of the room. Xu Ze was unsure if he didn’t hear or for some other reason but Lu Heyang looked into his eyes and asked, “Dr. Xu?”
Under such a look, Xu Ze couldn’t evade the question. He averted his eyes from Lu Heyang’s and said, “The walk back takes only a few minutes. It’ll be quick.”
Lu Heyang didn’t say anything and walked through the living room to open the door. Xu Ze self-consciously hurried out. He couldn’t help but look back after he left, thinking he would only see the door closing. To his surprise, Lu Heyang was right behind him.
“I can go down alone,” Xu Ze said.
“Really?” Lu Heyang asked.
“Mn.” Xu Ze nodded.
“But the elevator requires a fingerprint to work,” Lu Heyang kindly informed him.
“…Okay.”
After the fingerprint recognition, Lu Heyang pressed the button for the first floor for Xu Ze. He then stepped out of the elevator and stood face-to-face with him. Xu Ze was carrying the medical kit. There probably wouldn’t be many chances to meet Lu Heyang again. He wanted to say something, but the words he most wanted to say weren’t suitable to say to the Lu Heyang in front of him.
Xu Ze suddenly raised his head and locked eyes with Lu Heyang, then his eyes returned to the ground.
The elevator doors slowly closed. Xu Ze heard Lu Heyang say, “Dr. Xu, until next time.”
Xu Ze was about to reply with “Okay”, but the doors had closed completely before he could open his mouth.
Less than thirty seconds after Xu Ze left the apartment building and started walking down the street, a military vehicle pulled up behind him.
“Dr. Xu, I’ll take you back to the dorm.”
An unknown soldier stopped the car in front of him. Xu Ze said, “Thank you,” and got into the car because refusing would be a waste of time. He didn’t ask who had given the soldier the order to escort him; it was most likely the sergeant who had accompanied him earlier.
Lu Heyang returned to the apartment and heard his cell phone ringing. He searched the living room for a while before finding his phone. He hardly used his phone since he primarily used the military communicator.
“Hello?”
“Am I hearing this right? I can’t believe that I got through Colonel Lu’s phone one day.”
Lu Heyang laughed. He took off his T-shirt with one hand and threw it into the laundry basket, “Officer He should have heard it right.”
“It’s been three hours since I got back to the capital. I’m wondering why Colonel Lu hasn’t invited me to dinner yet.”
“The last two days have been a bit busy, how about Thursday?”
“Okay. Could Colonel Lu pick me up with a helicopter?”
“Can do.”
Author’s note:
Even if it’s only a five-minute walk, he doesn’t want Dr. Xu to walk back on his own.
if its He Wei, i could accept it. But if its another character then… 😐
calms myself after rereading its He Wei alright relieved
Thank you so much for this chapter🙏🤗
I hope something with He wei returning and meeting Xu ze can help trigger Lu Heyang’s memories….. but oh well
Thanks for the chapter!!!
meeting with he wei who doesn’t know when to shut up… pretty sure he will end up saying something he shouldn’t again
I hope Officer He will make Colonel Lu drink vinegar juice once Officer He reunites with our Dr Xu 👀 🤭
The neck sniffing… very suspicious thing to ask someone, especially a doctor outta no where🤨
The more i read the more I feel like I can’t get enough of xz and lh . Thank you for new chapters
Thanks for the update ☺️