Chapter 28
What was this…?
The thought barely formed in Jiang Li's mind before the phone slipped from his fingers and hit the cement with a dull crack. The man in front of him didn't react with anger; he simply bent down, picked it up, and brushed off the dust as though nothing had happened.
Realizing what he had done, Jiang Li hurriedly apologized, his voice rushed and uneven. The man only shook his head, but his gaze remained fixed on Jiang Li's face, his expression slowly tightening into a frown, and that frown made Jiang Li's anxiety spike.
What did he see now?
"What's wrong…?" Jiang Li asked, his voice unsteady as he looked up at the taller man.
The hazel-eyed stranger tilted his head slightly, his expression shifting into something closer to curiosity than concern as he said, "The pink… it's fading. It's like something inside your eyes is absorbing it."
As he spoke, his hand lifted unconsciously, moving closer to Jiang Li's face as if drawn by something he didn't fully understand, but before his fingers could touch him, the bus screeched to a stop beside them.
The sound snapped Jiang Li out of whatever strange moment had formed between them. Without thinking, he turned and rushed onto the bus, not daring to look back. The broken phone and the stranger's words lingered faintly in the back of his mind, but the unease in his chest was far louder as he sank into a seat near the back, his hands trembling slightly.
How could his eyes turn pink…?
Taking out his phone, he opened the camera and stared at his reflection. Just like the man had said, the color was changing. The purple was gone, and in its place was a strange blend of pink and honey-brown, swirling together in a way that almost resembled heterochromia, yet not quite. It didn't look natural. It didn't look right.
His thoughts were interrupted by the sudden vibration of his phone. The ringtone rang out loudly—his and Luo Xin's off-key karaoke duet echoing through the bus—and heat rushed to his face as he answered it quickly, still cursing himself for never changing the ridiculous ringtone Guo Chen had insisted on.
"Hello…" Jiang Li said, his voice quieter now, still tinged with unease.
Silence answered him. Seconds stretched into an uncomfortable pause, long enough for him to consider hanging up, before—
"Did it work?"
Teahyun's voice, calm and direct.
"Were you able to give him the pills?"
Jiang Li's grip on the phone tightened immediately, his eyes squeezing shut as those words sank in. For a moment, he couldn't breathe properly, because how was he supposed to say it? How was he supposed to admit that he couldn't do it?
His life was already complicated enough, already tangled in ways he could barely control, and if Shen Yu ever found out the truth—that Jiang Li had intended to change him into an Alpha without his consent—what would happen then? What would Shen Yu say? What would he become in Shen Yu's eyes?
He wouldn't even be allowed to stay.
Shen Yu would hate him.
"I can't… do this," Jiang Li whispered, his voice breaking as tears slipped down his cheeks.
On the other end, Teahyun's tone sharpened slightly. "What do you mean you can't?"
—
Shen Yu had never woken up feeling like this. Exhaustion pressed heavily against his body, as though he had been crushed under something immense, and every muscle ached, every movement felt delayed, a low groan escaping him as he forced his eyes open.
The scent hit him first.
Winter roses.
It filled the entire room—no, not just the room. It clung to everything, wrapped around him, seeped into his senses until it felt inescapable.
Jiang Li.
Everything smelled like Jiang Li.
But it wasn't the scent alone that made him sit up abruptly despite the protest of his body—it was the air, heavy and thick, filled with something unmistakable.
Desire.
The lingering traces of slick and release hung in the room, undeniable and suffocating, and Shen Yu's eyes widened as the realization struck him. He looked around quickly, his movements sharp despite his fatigue.
The omega wasn't there.
His mind was blank. Completely blank. There was no clear memory, no sequence of events, just a heavy, unsettling feeling that something had happened, something important.
He ran a hand through his hair and forced himself to stand, only to freeze when he realized he was naked.
A sharp wave of panic hit him.
He slept with Jiang Li.
But why?
His thoughts spiraled rapidly as he began pacing the room, his mind racing too fast for him to even think about putting on clothes. Even betas could impregnate omegas, and omegas were incredibly fertile.
What if Jiang Li…?
The thought made his chest tighten painfully.
What would he do if that happened?
Where the hell was Jiang Li?
Something deep inside him stirred, low and restless, like a voice he couldn't quite hear but could still feel, and it made his chest tighten, his thoughts fracture further. Gripping his hair tightly, Shen Yu forced himself to take slow breaths before finally pulling on his discarded trousers.
He took the stairs two at a time, urgency pushing him forward as he searched for any sign of Jiang Li, but the moment he reached the living room, his steps slowed.
It was a mess.
His gaze landed on the half-empty whiskey bottle, and something in his chest sank as memories began to return—not clearly, not fully, but in fragments, like a tide creeping back in.
Jiang Li walking into Teahyun's company without explanation.
The strange, unexplainable pain that had gnawed at him.
The need to drown it out.
The alcohol.
And then—
A thought.
Cold. Sudden. Sickening.
What if he forced him?
Shen Yu froze.
If they had truly slept together, why would Jiang Li leave without a word?
Unless—
His breathing turned uneven.
Did he…?
Did he force himself on Jiang Li?
The idea rooted itself deep in his mind, refusing to leave, twisting everything around it as his fingers tangled into his hair and he crouched down, a laugh escaping him—low, strained, and dangerously close to breaking.
It couldn't be.
It shouldn't be.
But the more he thought about it, the more something inside him whispered otherwise.
And then—
A sound.
Jiang Li's voice.
Soft at first.
Then breaking.
Telling him to stop.
The imagined memory grew louder, turning into something sharper, something desperate, until it sounded like a scream, and Shen Yu's vision blurred.
In that moment, he could almost see it—Jiang Li crying, trying to push him away.
It was enough.
His knees gave out, and he dropped to the floor, his chest tightening painfully as something cracked deep inside him.
Then—
His gaze caught something on the ground.
A pill.
Small and out of place against the dark floor.
With unsteady hands, he picked it up and stared at it, his mind racing despite the exhaustion dragging at him.
What the hell was this?
And why was it here?