DPT chapter 3

Sheng Li supported Zuo Chi to the elevator, attracting quite a few stares along the way.

Zuo Chi stared at the elevator indicator, slowly releasing his hand covering his stomach, “It’s just a stomachache, I can go to the parking lot by myself. Don’t you have something else to do?”

“Did you hear me?” Sheng Li raised an eyebrow, “Didn’t I tell you to come find me? Actually, what I wanted to talk about concerns you.”

For a few seconds as Zuo Chi looked up at him, he was convinced that Sheng Changyu had already told Sheng Li about the marriage alliance plan between the Sheng and Zuo families.

“This matter is really difficult to talk about.” Sheng Li scratched his head irritably, showing a rare expression of conflict, stumbling over his words, “I don’t know what my father is thinking… He talked to me this afternoon, and I thought he was going to scold me for not working well, but it wasn’t… He said I’m almost twenty-five, it’s time to settle down, and he…”

It seemed like what he was about to say was extremely difficult to say. Sheng Li paused for a long time, gritting his teeth before finally saying, “He actually wants me to marry you.”

“Ding,” the elevator door opened suddenly, but neither of them stepped in.

“Are you going in or not? Don’t block the way if you’re not.” A drunken man behind them shouted.

Sheng Li pulled Zuo Chi back a few steps, giving the man a displeased glance, and the man immediately shut up. Sheng Li was tall, standing at 1.88 meters, and appeared quite intimidating among Alphas, but when he turned to meet Zuo Chi’s gaze, his aura softened.

“Scared?” Sheng Li said, “I was startled too when I heard it. It’s ridiculous. What’s the relationship between us? We’re like brothers! How could I possibly marry my own brother! Don’t worry, I’ve never seen you as an Omega… I’m afraid you’ll overthink it if you find out, so I wanted to discuss countermeasures with you first. Neither of us wants this, can they still force us into it?”

What’s the relationship between us? We’re like brothers!

How could I possibly marry my own brother!

Don’t worry, I’ve never seen you as an Omega!

Those words echoed in Zuo Chi’s ears, each one piercing his nerves, none of them something he wanted to hear.

His fingertips dug into his palm as he forced out a strained smile, his voice low but his attitude clear, “Sheng Li, who said I’m unwilling?”

Sheng Li was stunned, his hand that was originally grabbing Zuo Chi’s sleeve slipped away. He stood there dumbfounded for several seconds before incredulously saying, “What are you talking about? Have you gone mad along with them?”

Zuo Chi smoothed out the wrinkles on his cuffs, his tone calm, but his heart was pounding violently. “My mother told me this afternoon about the decision for the marriage alliance between the Zou family and Sheng families. My reply to her was… I agree.”

Sheng Li widened his eyes, his chest heaving unevenly, his cognition shocked. “But you like Omegas, don’t you? Why are you marrying me?”

Zuo Chi opened his mouth, and for a moment, he wanted to tell Sheng Li the truth. His liking for Omegas was a lie. Why did he agree to marry Sheng Li? Of course, it was because he wanted to be Sheng Li’s Omega. Ever since he considered himself an Alpha, he had wanted to be Sheng Li’s Omega.

But his pride wouldn’t allow him to say it. He couldn’t imagine Sheng Li’s reaction if he knew what was in his heart.

He couldn’t afford to take that risk.

Zuo Chi smiled faintly. “So what if I like Omegas? The Zou family would never let me be with an Omega.”

“Huh?” Sheng Li clenched his fists, laughing bitterly. “So you agreed to marry me? What does marriage mean to you? Are you thinking that I won’t care, that even if you’re married, you can still be with Omegas as you please? You really are… as cunning as ever.”

Zuo Chi didn’t argue. “In the end, your marriage isn’t your decision either. Marrying me is no different from marrying someone else.”

Sheng Li’s expression darkened. “How can it be the same? I’d rather marry an unfamiliar Omega than you. Wouldn’t it feel awkward for you to see our names side by side on the marriage certificate? Do you even consider me a brother? You’re scheming against me!”

Zuo Chi’s lips trembled. If he did marry Sheng Li as he wished, why would it feel awkward? He would only feel despicable, trying to obtain the person he had longed for through such detestable means.

“Zuo Chi, whatever you think, I absolutely won’t compromise like this.” Sheng Li called out his full name, angrily turning away. After a few steps, he remembered Zuo Chi was still suffering from stomach pain. He hesitated to turn back, but found Zuo Chi was no longer there.

Zuo Chi entered the elevator, cold sweat drenching his back. He needed a lot of effort to steady himself. Luckily, the driver had parked in a good spot. He returned to the car and immediately swallowed a painkiller.

“What’s wrong? Did you drink too much?” The driver, who had been working with Zuo Chi for over a year, asked with concern. “Master Zuo, you shouldn’t neglect your health.”

“Let me sit here for a while.” Zuo Chi opened the car window for some fresh air. He wanted to smoke, but after searching his pockets for a while, he remembered the unfinished pack of cigarettes was still in his office drawer.

Shu Qingyu didn’t like him smoking, so he never brought cigarettes home.

The accumulation of inner frustration grew heavier and heavier, with no outlet. Zuo Chi looked up at the car roof, inadvertently reminiscing about the past.

Unlike Sheng Li’s high-profile flamboyance, Zuo Chi was someone who wouldn’t boast even if he reached level seventeen in Tetris. During his youthful and spirited student days, he was like a puzzle. Because he was hard to figure out, it made people feel distant from him. But also because he was hard to figure out, it made people want to get close to him and explore.

In his first year of junior high, Zuo Chi encountered his first ardent admirer, Han Qice. Han Qice sat at the desk in front of Zuo Chi, often hovering in front of him for no reason, annoying him to no end. The classmates in the class always teased them, making jokes about them.

During the ten-minute break between classes, Zuo Chi was doing math problems at his desk when Han Qice approached, taking out a beautifully packaged box of imported chocolates from his desk pocket and asking if he wanted to eat. With Valentine’s Day just a few days away, at this sensitive time, everyone didn’t miss the opportunity to watch the show. Someone loudly exclaimed, “Han Qice is confessing to Zuo Chi,” and half the class gathered around them.

Han Qice’s group of friends were even more excited, urging Zuo Chi to accept, shouting “say yes” loud enough for the whole floor to hear.

Unable to bear it any longer, Zuo Chi stood up and asked, “Han Qice, your secondary gender is Alpha, right?”

Families who could afford to send their children to aristocratic schools were not ordinary families. Generally, they would conduct secondary gender testing before the child was born. During those years, secondary gender testing was in a gray area, with no law explicitly prohibiting it, so the results of the testing were not exactly a secret.

Han Qice nodded. “Yes.”

Sometimes classmates would casually mention secondary genders, but Zuo Chi never liked sharing his own personal matters with others. To reject Han Qice, he said, “I’m also an Alpha, so it’s impossible for us.”

Han Qice didn’t believe him. That day, Zuo Chi went back to his study, found his secondary gender test report, took a photo, and showed it to him the next day. “Believe it now?”

This caused a stir in their grade. “Zuo Chi is an Alpha” spread like wildfire, and soon everyone knew.

Zuo Chi began to grow taller in junior high, reaching one meter eighty by the second year. Although his physique wasn’t as robust as most Alphas, it wasn’t as slender as most Omegas. Coupled with his good grades and athletic ability, when he said he was an Alpha, his classmates didn’t doubt him.

Later, those who pursued Zuo Chi became Betas and Omegas, and Zuo Chi also had several relationships.

Most people would differentiate between the ages of 14 and 16, revealing their secondary gender. But Zuo Chi’s differentiation came very late. Just a week before he turned 18, while he was taking final exams, differentiation suddenly occurred. At first, he just felt dizzy and tired, then cold sweat broke out on his back, and he felt weak all over, even holding a pen became difficult.

Differentiation couldn’t be hidden. The first to react were the Alphas and Omegas in the exam room, who could smell the sweet scent of pheromones.

“Which Omega is in heat?”

“No way, didn’t they take suppressants?”

“It must be differentiation. There are still people who haven’t differentiated in the third year of high school?”

“Damn, it smells so good. Are we still going to take the exam?”

“Damn, Zuo Chi is an Omega?”

As the surprised gazes of his classmates gathered on him, Zuo Chi realized he had differentiated.

But an Omega? How could he differentiate into an Omega? Panic, fear, and unease tormented him. Zuo Chi was physically and mentally distressed, unable to think properly.

Accompanying his differentiation was his first heat, during which Omegas couldn’t stay in public places as their pheromones could trigger Alpha’s loss of control.

The invigilator was asking who was Beta when the door of the examination room was suddenly pushed open.

Sheng Li sat in the last row of the adjacent examination room and also smelled the pervasive scent of pheromones. He wasn’t academically excellent, but he was quick-witted. Zuo Chi was in the adjacent examination room… Zuo Chi hadn’t differentiated yet. Without hesitation, he dashed out of the exam room, not even pausing to consider why Zuo Chi had differentiated into an Omega.

“I’ll do it,” Sheng Li said, looking at the flushed Zuo Chi. He took a deep breath, crouched down, and without any further thought, gestured for a stunned Beta classmate to help lift Zuo Chi onto his back.

The teacher attempted to stop him, “Sheng Li, you’re an Alpha…”

Intimate contact between Alpha and an Omega in heat was inappropriate. Sheng Li knew this, but he was firm, “I can control myself….”

Supporting Zuo Chi’s hips with his hands, Sheng Li carried him towards the isolation room. Zuo Chi’s hands clung to his neck, his head resting against his back. His body twisted restlessly, alternating between murmuring about being hot and crying that it was cold.

“We’re almost there, Ah-Chi, don’t be afraid.”

The scent of blackcurrant triggered his reaction. Sheng Li’s forehead perspired, he bit his wrist to keep himself alert, while reassuring Zuo Chi aloud.

He was used to seeing Zuo Chi calm and rational, so he dared not turn his head to look at this Zuo Chi, who emitted such strong lustful vibes.

Although it was only a few minutes, Sheng Li felt like hours had passed during the walk from the exam room to the isolation room. He handed Zuo Chi over to the Beta school doctor, knowing it was futile, but still sat outside the isolation room after taking his suppressants, as if it could give him some peace of mind.