最佳契合 (Perfect Match) – 十九瑶
Chapter 27
The mountains have a cool breeze and a distant, clear sky.
A silvery gray sports car rushed out of the Zheng family gate and down the mountain road, sweeping away a huge cloud of snow and fog as it turned sharply onto the inner lane.
For a brief moment, the sheer adrenaline rush of going fast can make everything feel lighter.
Unaware that he was approaching his last full, conscious twenty-four hours, Zheng Feiluan stepped onto the gas and sped up, inhaling the cool air that filled his lungs. The increased concentration of sedatives coursing through his veins gave him enough sanity to think clearly in front of his father and make decisions that weren’t against his own will. However, it also greatly increased the probability of a pheromone imbalance by ten to twenty percent.
When he returned to his downtown home, the 24-hour drug coverage period ran out, the suppressed alpha pheromones resurfaced very quickly, and his mate-seeking disorder intensified at an unanticipated rate.
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On a strange street corner in the early hours of the next day, Zheng Feiluan was jolted awake by the cold.
Pain shot through his back and shoulders as he struggled to lift his head from the steering wheel after being seated so rigidly for so long.
Outside the car window, the snow was gradually falling.
Like most people in the cold, the morning light is slow and unwilling to show up early throughout the winter. The wide street was still in total darkness, and the high, thin streetlights stood apart from one another, lighting up the desolate road. Every speck of snow is a pale yellow in the dim light. When it hits a bright surface, it turns white; when it hits a dark surface, it turns black.
There was too much dark fog that weighed down the clouds and the ground. The flagpole-like streetlights vanished into the darkness, revealing only the unclear silhouettes of trees.
There are several small and uneven old residential buildings along the street. A number of shops with tacky storefront signs and rusted roll-up doors fill the ground floor of the buildings. The public garbage cans are an unsightly dark green color, with plastic bags, disposable chopsticks, and soup-stained recyclable lunch boxes piled up and scattered all over the area, buried in the overnight snow.
Where is he?
Given the state of the filthy street, he is probably in one of Yuanjiang’s secluded districts.
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There was a lot of snow on the sunroof, and the car’s ventilating system had stopped working, so it was very cold inside. The car’s interior lights were out, the dashboard backlighting was dead, and the only thing that displayed the current time was his working IWC quartz watch1IWC Schaffhausen, a luxury watch manufacturer like Rolex, Omega, Cartier, etc.:
05:30 AM.
Zheng Feiluan wiggled his fingers, but he couldn’t feel the cowhide-patterned steering wheel since his muscles were numb and his skin had lost much of its feeling. He tried to start the car to heat it up, but the engine sounded like a sleeping creature that had been woken up: a gurgle in the throat, a low growl, and a few murmurs of displeasure before going back to its sleep.
The heater wouldn’t open, and the temperature inside the car continued to drop, nearing the freezing point. Even though he had on a coat over a shirt, the air around him was so cold that it penetrated all the way to his bones that he couldn’t stop shivering.
He lowered his head, put both hands on the steering wheel, and took a deep breath.
He realized that the main reason for his shivering was not the cold.
It was desire.
His lower body was on fire, and the stubborn thing was so hard that it seemed like a steel rod was lodged in his crotch, waiting for him to give in to whatever it wanted. The shaft was so swollen that the semen was on the brink of spilling, yet there was no help available for ejaculating. It longed to be shoved into the omega’s tight genitals, where it could be sucked dry, stroked from root to tip, and finally reach orgasm to its heart’s content.
He’s so close to taking it out, and it can’t wait any longer.
But—
Fuck this!
I’m the one in control of this body now, and I’m not giving in!
Zheng Feiluan tightened his fist and banged it on the steering wheel, leaned back to pushed hard against the back of the seat, and clenched his teeth, doing everything he could to fight off the overpowering desire.
Beep——!!
A deafening honk from a car horn echoed down the long street.
He caught a glimpse of himself in the rearview mirror and saw a face both familiar and foreign: bearded and bloodshot, with insatiable desire burning in his eyes like the eyes of a trapped ravenous animal in heat.
Is this what “he” looks like when looking for a mate?
It’s embarrassing.
Zheng Feiluan took a few breaths, closed his eyes, and started breathing slowly and deeply—it’s okay, he had woken up, and the lingering urge to find a mate would go away once “he” went to sleep and wouldn’t affect him any longer.
But the exact opposite happened.
As he closed his eyes, multiple seductive, sexual images rushed through his head, making his cock harder.
He saw his little nightingale squished in the leather chair as they were having fun in the back seat. The little nightingale was naked, riding shyly and nervously on his waist, the little hole between his thighs squeezing him extremely tight. His slim, white body shook like a ship in the sea, swinging from side to side as if about to collapse at any moment.
The car was filled with breathtaking moans, some distant and some close, some as stiff as a bow and some as soft as cotton, sweetly surrounding his ears and driving his heart to skip a beat.
His tongue was wet, his lips dry, and there was a protruding red spot in his chest like a rosy drop of blood, tempting him to kiss it.
Between the intense movements, the little nightingale’s curly hair quivered and shook off a drop of heated sweat that fell on Zheng Feiluan’s lips. He licked it off with the tip of his tongue and the sweet taste rushed directly to his heart. Instantly, his burning desire exploded to the point that he lost all self-control, reached out, pulled the neck, opened his mouth wide, and bit down hard.
As the strong omega pheromones reached his nose and were about to calm down all his tension, the illusion disappeared in a wisp of smoke.
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Snow fell silently outside the car window.
Zheng Feiluan sat in the darkness, his heart pounding and his breathing unsteady. The big chunk of crimson flesh in his crotch was standing up violently, which caused the fabric to pop out in a more defined form.
Just like that, he understood what it was like to look for a mate:
When his cock was just about to form a knot, he lost the omega in his arms, and everything became pointless in the midst of his painful lust. Blood surged into his veins, an erection built up in his penis, and the overwhelming desire to ejaculate broke any remaining shreds of his sanity, leaving only his natural urge to seek.
Stay out of his way. Make him feel better by giving in to his demands.
Shut the fuck up and leave him be. The omega is all he needs.
Because of these thoughts…
Snippets of memories tucked away in the shadows came flooding back.
In late November, at midnight, he left his house, endured the freezing temperatures, drove erratically all through the night, passed hundreds of intersections, emptied an entire tank of gasoline, and looked everywhere to no purpose. In his despair, he rushed onto a brick and stone path by the sidewalk and got caught between a fire hydrant and a streetlight, scraping his car’s front and back doors disastrously.
The car stalled, the temperature fell significantly, his vision blurred, and his eyelids drooped.
He knew it was nearing sunrise and that his time with him was about to come to an end, but even at the last second before he passed out, he glanced fiercely at the dark window across the street, wishing it would light up.
This is your old house, He An.
I came here countless times after you disappeared, and each time I was welcomed by a dirty, empty room. I have no idea where you went, and all of the reports about you were lost; they always fade away after sunrise, once I’m asleep, and I can’t stop “him” from erasing everything.
He An, I’m nothing but a shard of a personality born by lust, confused and agitated, and often incapable of grasping how serious the situation is. For the past six months, my thoughts have been consumed by you, and as a result, my mind has become fatigued, slow, and incoherent, making it really hard for me to accomplish lots of things that were once easy to complete.
The more I think about you, the harder it is to go on.
There was very little time for me—only a few hours in the late night, and not enough for me to leave Yuanjiang and go farther away. All I could do was buy this room after many hurdles and keep it empty forever. If you ever feel like coming home, just push the slightly open door and turn on the warm lights.
I’ll see it.
On your first night back, I’ll come over and kiss you.
The car’s clock struck 5:29 AM, and he slumped sleepily over the steering wheel, closing his eyes that had been kept awake all night.
Tick tock.
A minute later, the clock hand ticked slowly forward by one frame. The stinging cold woke Zheng Feiluan up and forced him to open his eyes again.
Snow was falling on the outside of his car, and in front of him was an unfamiliar long street with a couple of old residential buildings all over the street. He didn’t know where he was or why he was here. It was 5:30 AM, everyone was sleeping, and every single window was closed. None of them looked familiar, and not a single one should.
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The flashback scenes are unsettling.
After around ten minutes of silence, he opened the car door and stepped onto the slushy snow by the side of the road. There was a window with a torn curtain and dust sticking to it above the milk tea shop that was set up across the street.
He looked at it, laughed sarcastically, and thought: You really wasted my money on such a shabby, filthy place?
It looks like you were hoping he’d come back.
Trust me, as long as I don’t give in, your omega won’t be able to set foot in Yuanjiang for the rest of his life. No matter how long you spend hunting for him, the ending will be the same.
There’s no way I’d let you share my bed with someone I don’t approve of.
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The western suburbs aren’t as visited as the city, so the huge street only has one Lawson convenience store that’s open 24 hours a day. When Zheng Feiluan walked in, he grabbed inside his pants pockets for his wallet and ID but didn’t find anything.
Right.
What did he even expect from an alpha who constantly has an erection and only thinks about sex all the time?
Luckily, in order to maintain a good impression in the eyes of his beloved omega, “he” took good care of his outfit before leaving the house and didn’t force Zheng Feiluan to walk to the convenience store in his pajamas to ask for help.
The night shift clerk watched Zheng Feiluan suspiciously and asked, “Borrowing a cellphone? Where’s yours?”
Zheng Feiluan put out his hands and said, “Sorry, I was in too much of a hurry and forgot to take it with me.”
“Here…”
For the first time in his life, he was being looked down on from above, and the other person was a little beta store part-timer, so Zheng Feiluan was truly upset. However, he couldn’t throw a tantrum unless he was willing to walk over ten kilometers in a thin shirt through the freezing cold. Luckily, the clerk gave him the benefit of the doubt because of his excellent looks and clothing and handed him his phone.
As soon as daylight arrived, the driver came to take Zheng Feiluan back to his downtown home, and the broken-down car was also towed away.
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Last night’s havoc came to an end at sunrise, along with the first signs of a rapidly worsening case of mate-seeking disorder.
Never again did Zheng Feiluan wake up in his own bed after that day.
He woke up on street corners of every form and size, sometimes downtown, sometimes in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by variously situated cheap rental houses one after another.
Jiang Qi once warned him that the crazy “he” would try anything to find the omega, so every night before going to bed, he would take out the SIM card and lock it in the drawer to avoid pestering people who shouldn’t be bothered. But even when every way is blocked off, the longing for a mate goes on.
As a result of the prolonged pheromone comfort, “he” started to follow a very simple, but ridiculous, logic:
Since “he” has always had sex with He An in a cheap rental house, He An must be currently hiding in a place like that. If one day isn’t enough, then two days. If a year isn’t enough, then two years, until all the rental houses are searched.
Insane, but determined.
Whenever Zheng Feiluan regained consciousness on a street corner, he would feel a heavy despair, as if he were tightly bound in his throat by something—there was tightness in his chest, a shortness of breath, and he struggled to break free.
He had come to terms with the fact that he was effectively fighting against himself and that the other man was just as tough as he was. The difference was that he wanted far too much, whereas the other him detested Zheng Feiluan to no end and wanted nothing but the omega, no matter the outcome, not considering the advantages and downsides.
He’s2Zheng Feiluan’s other self. bound to lose, and it’s not because of paranoia.
But what’s worse is that the adverse effects of this mate-seeking behavior last a very long time. Even when he has clearly regained sanity, an insatiable craving could persist despite his best efforts. Like a long-term smoker, the deep emptiness that results from being unable to find his mate will itch all the way into the tiniest cracks in the body.
He is not a saint.
He has desires.
Especially when there’s someone who is clearly the subject of his affection, his desires are exceptionally intense and completely out of control.
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When Zheng Feiluan awoke on a street corner one day, he remembered the magical night they bonded again.
He looked tiredly at the heavy snow fluttering under the streetlight and suddenly had a vision that his little nightingale would look perfect in a sweater and a scarf: a light color, pure cashmere, wrapped around his stunning face with cheeks shaded with a faint red, in which half reflected his nervous heart and the other half was the dim glow of the red umbrella above his head.
He would show up in that corner and walk towards him, and the snow would compress, turning into a trail of soft footprints. Quietly, like the sound of a bud opening.
Zheng Feiluan gripped the steering wheel tightly, waited with anticipation, and then quickly lost his patience, opened the door, hopped out of the car, and ran toward the street corner with swift strides.
But the corner was empty.
How is that possible?
His little nightingale could still be strolling around with his red umbrella, maybe hiding at the next street corner or in some hidden alley, waiting to be found.
It was dangerously cold, and the frail omega couldn’t wait long.
Zheng Feiluan got anxious, went back to start the car engine, not bothering to look at the fuel gauge, and directly stepped on the gas. Tires screeching, the silvery gray car transformed into a ghost and rushed around the corner, scattering snow in an arrogant arc that covered the entire block.
But the next second, with a loud braking sound, the car suddenly stopped in the middle of the road.
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Zheng Feiluan’s hands tightly clasped on the steering wheel as his face became pale and cold sweat trickled down his forehead.
He tried to process everything that had just happened, but he wasn’t able to tell whether he was awake or asleep when the car drove away.
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Translated and edited by janemoyu (11/18/23)
