IPDAOLR Chapter 17

Qu Xiao’s bar was as crowded as the last time, with the same fairly organized order. Various lights poured from above, and the thumping bass pounded in his ears, causing a headache.

Qu Xiao had the waiter bring over a few cocktails, saying they were new on the menu. He hadn’t tasted them, so he didn’t know how they were, but the colors were appealing.

In the transparent glass, the drink was a deep blue, as the cup was adorned with glitter.

Along with the cocktails, three small plates were brought out with orange sugar balls in them.

The waiter placed the glasses in front of the three people and then added the sugar balls to each cocktail one by one.

The sugar dissolved almost instantly, as if the night sky were being pierced by the morning sun. The orange and deep blue swirled and merged in the glasses gently mingling with the ice cubes.

Wen Da: “!!!”

Qu Xiao was most pleased to see his friends’ reaction when they saw the drink. Yan Mu was still expressionless, and Qu Xiao didn’t have high hopes for the other party either. However, Wen Da’s surprised look greatly satisfied Qu Xiao’s pride. “This drink is called ‘Dawn’.”

Wen Da: “Looks good! The name sounds great too! It’s so cool! How does it taste?”

Few people came to a bar to get drunk. If they wanted to get drunk, they certainly wouldn’t order cocktails, especially ones with a lower alcohol content. Cocktails were designed to appear good, helping people ignore the taste of the alcohol.

Qu Xiao didn’t shy away at all; he extended his hand and made a ‘please drink’ gesture.

Wen Da shook the glass lightly, took a sip, and his eyes lit up. “Wow! It tastes amazing!”

“Isn’t it?” Qu Xiao grew even more proud. Wen Da’s family worked in the alcohol industry, and drinking had been a part of Wen Da’s life since childhood. Getting an ‘amazing’ from Wen Da was definitely high praise.

Qu Xiao: “This wine is the creation of the bartender I mentioned to you before.”

At that time, the bartender threw a sugar cube into the glass in front of Qu Xiao, and as the two colors blended, everyone present, including Qu Xiao, was amazed. Without hesitation, Qu Xiao immediately decided to purchase the recipe for the drink.

After signing the contract, Qu Xiao asked the bartender for the name of the drink. The bartender gave him a cold glance, his gaze sliding past his proud nose with an air of indifference that was oddly intimidating. He replied, “Call it whatever you like.”

Qu Xiao recalled that look, which was so cool, so indifferent, as if he didn’t care about the world, yet he still appeared so A, making him get goosebumps all over. “That look was just so damn A!!”

“Boss Qu,” Wen Da said, “I can’t help but think you might be a bit of a masochist.”

The masochist Boss Qu’s face darkened. He pushed away the ‘Dawn’ in front of Wen Da and said indifferently, “Alright, you don’t have to drink this.”

”Wait, wait, wait.” Wen Da quickly admitted his mistake. “Boss, I was wrong. Please let me have another sip.”

Qu Xiao and Wen Da went back and forth for a while and then suddenly called out to Yan Mu.

”Young Master Yan, Young Master Yan.” Qu Xiao leaned toward Yan Mu, pointing with his chin toward a corner, and said, “Those girls over there are watching you.”

Yan Mu didn’t look back. “Not interested.”

”That’s great then.” Qu Xiao lifted his drink. “Those girls are really beautiful. Young Master Yan, let me talk to them for a while.”

Second Young Master Qu was enthusiastic about flirting with girls. His love history could be traced back to elementary school, where he would rapidly get to know a girl, quickly develop a relationship, then break up or get dumped as swift as lightning as well.

Most of the people who came to the bar were good at chatting. Within a few words, Qu Xiao was already talking to those girls and got QR codes to exchange WeChat contacts. Wen Da clicked his tongue in admiration, saying, “In a way, his brother gave him this bar to fulfill his wishes.”

”Hey, handsome.” At that moment, a male omega came over and smoothly took Qu Xiao’s seat. The edge of his glass clinked against Yan Mu’s, and he spoke in a soft, seductive voice, “Care for a drink?”

A strikingly handsome guy with an unmistakable alpha aura sat at the bar. Yan Mu was like a magnet, drawing attention from all around. Even before Qu Xiao pointed out that some girls were eyeing them, many had already wanted to strike up a conversation with this handsome man.

The omega who approached was male, with features that carried a hint of feminine softness. His well-tailored outfit and light makeup gave him a gentle and elegant appearance.

This omega was open-minded and attracted both men and women. He knew how to make the most of his omega appearance, perfectly controlling every expression and smile. He never failed to take home any alpha he set his sights on.

However, Yan Mu didn’t spare him even a glance.

This situation was normal, as most alphas tended to look down upon omegas.

He deliberately released a hint of his pheromones.

In stark contrast to his appearance, this omega’s pheromones were quite alluring. It was like the scent of rose nectar. This floral scent symbolized love and could easily trigger alpha’s susceptible period.

The omega flashed a breath-taking smile.

Wen Da, sitting beside them, was already starting to turn red. His breath quickened, and his gaze was fixed on the omega. In his eyes, there was a hint of an unspeakable danger.

—All alphas were like this.

The omega had absolute confidence in his pheromones.

The handsome guy would be just like the alpha sitting next to him.

Yan Mu remained unmoved and only said in a deep voice, “Put away your pheromones.”

His voice, like his attitude, was cold, and his words were sharp, which made one feel as if they had fallen into an ice cellar.

The omega instinctively wanted to back away but was unwilling to give in. Gritting his teeth, he placed his hand on Yan Mu’s arm.

Yan Mu, who had remained expressionless from the start, finally showed some reactions. He shook off the hand and, with a gaze that seemed contained with fire, spitting out, “Get lost.”

The omega felt a chill run down his entire body from that gaze. He stumbled back several steps before finally fleeing in panic.

Apart from Yan Mu, Wen Da was the closest to the omega. The deliberate release of pheromones made Wen Da turn red, and his heart raced, nearly having a susceptible period. It took him some time to suppress the restlessness within him.

Looking up, he saw Yan Mu’s forearm covered in a large, horrific red mark.

When a nurse accidentally brushed against him before, it left a bruise-like mark that lingered for so many days. Now that the omega touched him directly, the reaction was even more obvious.

Wen Da was shocked. “Oh my god, just a touch and it turned out like this?! Is it getting worse?!”

”Don’t worry about it.” Yan Mu responded. His fists clenched as the pain drilled deep into his bones.

He had this problem of being unable to be touched since childhood. Despite visiting big hospitals, no issue was detected; all the indicators were normal, and no treatment could be identified. In the end, it was left unsolved; as long as he wasn’t being touched, then it was alright.

Wen Da had always believed that a part of Yan Mu’s present personality was due to his tactile aversion.

The pain in his hand felt like needles, and Yan Mu didn’t want to show it. Wen Da realized this and didn’t want to remind him of the pain; thus, he switched the topic and said, “You’re amazing. With how strong that omega’s pheromones were, you didn’t have any reaction at all!”

One of the conditions that triggered an alpha’s susceptible period was an omega’s pheromones. During this period, an alpha wouldn’t be able to control themselves, so in daily situations, alpha avoided contact with omegas who didn’t use masking spray or didn’t wear a collar.

Of course, a normal omega won’t release pheromones recklessly in public. The one who just came over was clearly a scheming type, probably experienced in this, making it difficult for an ordinary alpha to resist.

Yan Mu, however, was completely indifferent to the omega’s pheromones and even told the other party to get lost.

Wen Da thought about it and said, “That’s true; you didn’t react to omega’s pheromones before.”

This wasn’t the first situation.

During the military training in the first year of high school, Lingchen No. 1 High School, along with five or six other schools, gathered at a military base in a neighboring city. At that time, a beta girl took a liking to Yan Mu. Within just a week, she pursued him obsessively, and after being rejected, she ran straight to the boy’s dormitory.

Yan Mu was living in a four-person room with three other alpha students from different schools. When the door was pushed open, the room was filled with a strong scent of pheromones. That was when they found out that the girl was actually an omega pretending to be a beta.

The girl was lying on Yan Mu’s bed, her intense pheromones dominating the nerves of the alphas outside the door.

Her pheromones were the kind of seductive type, causing the other three alphas to immediately have a susceptible period. They rushed into the room, intending to take the advantage of the girl. It was Yan Mu who pulled them away one by one and shut the door.

Wen Da was also in the same base and rushed to Yan Mu’s dorm room as soon as he heard the news. At that time, the other alphas who came were all affected by the omega’s pheromones. Only Yan Mu remained completely unaffected and calm throughout the entire incident, as if he were wearing a gas mask.

Yan Mu: “……”

He rubbed his forehead gently.

Wen Da avoided one minefield, only to step into another.

—Not long ago, he had a period susceptible to the pheromones and ended up marking Jiang Zhihuo.

Wen Da was about to ask when seeing Yan Mu’s unnatural expression and not knowing what went wrong. Suddenly, there was commotion nearby, with the sounds of girls and omegas mixing under the heavy bass music.

”He’s coming! He’s coming!”

”I come here every day; you’re really cool!”

”This kind of temperature and appearance—it’s such a waste to be a bartender, isn’t it?”

”Don’t mention it. A talent scout came by a couple of days ago to give a business card, but he didn’t accept it at all.”

”Could he be a rich young master come out to experience the world?”

Qu Xiao said a few words to the girl he had just met, then returned to his seat. The bar counter was a large circle, and Qu Xiao pointed to a door on the other side, saying, “The bartender I told you about is coming. It’s always a big scene every time, just like a star making an appearance.”

Wen Da: “Does it have to be so exaggerated?”

Qu Xiao: “What era are we in? Looks are justice, you know. Everyone around the bar counter is basically here for appearances.”

Wen Da: “And we’re here to appreciate the temperature.”

Qu Xiao confidently said, “Hahaha, Young Master Yan is like the second version of him. The temperature is exactly the same.”

Yan Mu showed no interest in any of this, and he couldn’t even bothered to look in that direction.

On the far left side of the bar, the back hall was connected to a door and walls decorated with a strong metallic feel. When the bartender walked out from behind the door, the girls and the omegas became restless once again. Even Wen Da, an alpha, couldn’t help but exclaim, “Damn.”

Wen Da: “He really is handsome, almost rivaling Young Master Yan.”

Wen Da paused for a moment and then sighed again, “His temperature is truly aloof. Look at his hand; tsk, he’s not mixing the drink; he’s mixing indifference.”

”Exactly.” Qu Xiao was especially pleased with his aloof bartender.

After talking for a while, Qu Xiao noticed that Yan Mu had not reacted at all. Turning around, he found out that Yan Mu wasn’t looking in that direction at all and was instead focused on something on his phone. Qu Xiao urged, “Young Master Yan, come on, take a look!”

Wen Da also said, “I’m praying he doesn’t turn around. He’s just too cool and arrogant. Young Master Yan, really, you should look at how others think of you!”

The two of them were talking this and that, which was really too noisy, making Yan Mu grow impatient, and finally raised his head.

Upon seeing the bartender’s face, Yan Mu’s expression changed instantly. First, he froze, then his face showed an indescribable look, with his brow slightly furrowed and his mouth twitching.

On the other side of the bar, the bartender’s gaze was indifferent, exuding an air of coldness and aloofness from within. He cast a cold glance over the bar counter and then lowered his eyes, seeming oblivious to his surroundings, focusing solely on his movements.

The bartender’s unique and skilled techniques produced drinks with different colors and flavors. The aloof bartender, with his broad shoulders and narrow waist, was completely out of place compared to the surrounding customers, making him particularly eye-catching among the crowd.

Yan Mu: “…”

Yan Mu: “…………”

Yan Mu: “………………”

The glass was slammed down on the table with a heavy thud. “Damn.”

The bartender was actually observing the people around the bar, anxious about seeing a certain figure. However, every time he appeared, the crowd would gather around him, making it impossible to spot a person at a glance.

In a place like this, so noisy and crowded, that person probably wouldn’t actually come, right?

Even if he did come, he likely wouldn’t notice him.

The bartender cautiously relaxed.

However, before he could fully relax—

“Handsome,” a girl who had squeezed her way to the front row propped up her chin with one hand and said sweetly, “You’re so good-looking that even alphas are falling for you.”

The bartender responded coldly, “……..”

The girl pointed with her chin toward the other side and said, “There are three alphas over there, all looking this way.”

The bartender lifted his cold, emotionless eyes and shot a sharp glance in the direction the girl pointed—

Then, his arms stiffened, and the bottle in his hand nearly slipped from his grips.

In the distance, an alpha was staring intently at this corner. Their eyes locked across the crowd, and the alpha on the other side was looking at him with the same indifference, the same coldness, the same sharp gaze, just like the countless times they had exchanged looks before.

Then, mouthing the words slowly and deliberately, the alpha called out his name.

Jiang?

Zhi?

Huo?

---

The author has something to say:

Yan-ge: Only lose control because of a certain someone’s pheromones.

In addition, here is a randomly dropped character profile card (excerpt):

Name: Jiang Zhihuo

Age: 18 years and 69 days

Character Title (one of): Work/Part-time Job Maniac.