Wang Luan was still at the stage where seeing Yan Qiongyu made her feel awkward, and bumping into him gave her goosebumps, but when she stood at the ward door and saw the look in Yan Qiongyu’s eyes, she hazily felt as though she must have, at some point, shared a deep bond with him—so much so that his gaze was this gentle and affectionate.

The butler who escorted or rather, escorted under guard her here, the nurse who had originally been taking care of Yan Qiongyu in the ward, and a teacher from Omega Academy who had come to watch over the student, all left with smiles that suggested they were happy to see it happen, leaving the two of them alone together.

“Are these flowers brought for me by Miss Wang Luan? I like them very much,” Yan Qiongyu said, his gaze shifting to the vase placed by the hospital bed. “Put them here.”

Inside the vase was a bouquet of purple irises. Wang Luan inserted the large bundle of gladiolus she had brought into the vase, stuffing it until it was completely full, also blocking the irises from view.

Yan Qiongyu sat on the bed, his gaze sweeping over the vase. The sparkle in his eyes and his pleased expression instantly faded, only his voice still carrying a trace of eagerness.

“Miss Wang Luan, did you also bring me a gift?”

Wang Luan placed the large bag of fruit on the table, opened the packaging to show him, and said, “Eating more fruit is good for your health.”

Yan Qiongyu looked at her deeply, then opened his smart-brain and quickly tapped a few times with one hand, typing out two lines of text.

(The irises in the vase contain surveillance equipment. It was arranged by the Omega Academy teacher.)

Although Omega had always been strictly managed, reaching his level was still a kind of special case.

Over all these years, the number of times Yan Qiongyu could leave Omega Academy could be counted on one hand. Apart from when he was by Wang Luan’s side, Omega Academy would always place monitoring devices around him, as well as at least one guardian.

From childhood to adulthood, he had long been accustomed to living under other people’s surveillance. Being treated this way was all because of the things his mother, Yan Mu, had done back then—they were too shocking—and because she had passed on outstanding talent to him, causing these people to not even dare to feel at ease when dealing with a child.

Of course, as he slowly grew up, became more obedient and more “outstanding,” those overt monitoring behaviors were gradually withdrawn. Now these little tricks were merely for insurance, carried out secretly behind the scenes, and he simply pretended not to know.

The moment Wang Luan saw the word “surveillance,” her whole body stiffened. The Wang family monitored her, Omega Academy monitored Yan Qiongyu—did the people of this world have some kind of terrible voyeuristic fetish?

Yan Qiongyu showed her another line of text.

(The image is blocked by the flowers you brought, Miss Wang Luan, but the sound can still be heard.)

Out loud, he said, “Please sit.”

When she first arrived, Wang Luan had wanted to offer a few words of concern, but now that she knew someone might be listening to everything they said, she instantly did not want to speak a single word. She silently sat down by the bed… half a meter away from Yan Qiongyu.

Seeing the sullen look on her face, she probably had no intention of speaking much or deepening their relationship. In order to satisfy his monitors, he could only take the initiative to start a conversation.

“How have you been doing lately, Miss Wang Luan?”

“……It’s been okay, I guess.” Wang Luan was not very good at acting. In her ears, she heard Yan Qiongyu’s gentle voice, while what she saw was him lowering his head and fumbling around with something by the cabinet at the side.

“My body has already recovered,” Yan Qiongyu said, his voice carrying a hint of shyness. “They said that today we are going to carry out… the second marking.”

Just listening to his voice, one could imagine a weak yet reserved expression, but in reality, he did not even look at her once, busying himself with the small capsule he had fished out from beside the cabinet.

Watching him from the side, Wang Luan felt a bit split. She said vaguely, “You… um, are we doing it like last time…?”

It wasn’t strange for her to hesitate like this. Ever since last time, she had looked up a lot of information about markings between Alphas and Omegas, and then she realized that she seemed to be quite different from other Alphas.

She could not actively release pheromones. Even though the level of this body was very low, it should still have pheromones, but ever since she came to this world, she had never smelled any scent on herself.

More importantly, the so-called glandular fangs that an Alpha uses to mark an Omega—she had poked around inside her mouth in front of the mirror several times and never found them, nor did she know how to make them grow.

Thinking back to what happened last time, it seemed that it was only after she smelled Yan Qiongyu’s pheromones that the glandular fangs in her mouth appeared.

Hearing her hesitation, Yan Qiongyu finally glanced at her, a faint smile in his eyes. “Miss Wang Luan, do you want it to be the same as last time?”

With his hand, he typed her another line of text.

(Has Miss Wang Luan not yet learned how to reveal her glandular fangs?)

Wang Luan: “Mm.”

Yan Qiongyu: “As you wish.”

He sat on the hospital bed, his complexion still not looking good, but as he took thin gloves out of the capsule and put them on his hands, his movements were still practiced and crisp.

When he brought the extractor close to her mouth, Wang Luan hesitated and leaned her body back slightly.

Yan Qiongyu expressed his question with his eyes, almost immediately guessing that perhaps something was wrong with her again. Then he heard her say, “Your body—are the problems serious?”

Realizing that she was actually concerned about his health, Yan Qiongyu was very surprised. He almost suspected that this person had fallen for him like those Alphas he had met before. But when he looked into her eyes, all he saw was openness and a trace of unease.

Realizing that things had not become more troublesome, that it was merely this person carrying a bit of the burden of being a good person, Yan Qiongyu’s mood did not improve either.

His mood over these past few days had not been very good. That night, when he left Wang Luan’s residence, he had told her that she could relax for a while next, and that sentence was also a hint that she should not come disturb him in the following days.

Marking behavior between AOs could cause the two parties to develop a sense of dependence. Generally, the Omega would become more dependent on the Alpha, though it was also possible for the Alpha to develop reluctance to part from the Omega.

Naturally, he would not have such feelings, and he also hoped that she would not.

She should have understood his words. She indeed had not come to bother him, and her behavior looked normal enough. What was abnormal was his side. After that night’s not-quite-a-marking marking, he waited for his body to naturally produce a rejection reaction, yet there was no reaction.

To put it bluntly, at the time he only felt like he had seen a ghost—why was there no rejection reaction?

Their levels differed so greatly, neither of them had feelings for the other, he had not even smelled her pheromones before. A rejection reaction should have been inevitable.

Yet this inevitable thing did not happen. He had no choice but to use some other medications to make his body produce a pheromone-like rejection reaction, only then allowing him to enter White Oak Hospital according to the original plan.

In private, he had Doctor Hu examine him, but still could not figure out why his body did not reject Wang Luan’s pheromones. This feeling of something being beyond his control made his mood sink.

Stared at until his gaze made her scalp prickle, Wang Luan had no idea what he was thinking. Seeing his gloved fingers reach over, she opened her mouth toward him.

Last time, Yan Qiongyu had only used the extractor to touch her teeth briefly, at most lightly brushing her cheek with his fingers. But this time, she clearly felt his thumb probe into her mouth and touch her teeth!

The warm pad of his finger brushed across her teeth through the thin layer of glove. That light groping even carried a faint itch.

Yan Qiongyu sat on the bed looking down at her, his gaze probing and complex, his tone as gentle as ever. “Miss Wang Luan, can’t you extend your glandular fangs yourself?”

What was he doing?

Eyes widening, Wang Luan felt her cheeks go numb, almost wanting to jump up to avoid his hand. However, as if Yan Qiongyu had anticipated this, one hand rolled up the blanket and, through the blanket, firmly pressed her arm against the bedside.

With a sudden movement, Wang Luan almost fell onto him. This time, Yan Qiongyu took the initiative to dodge her.

Wang Luan was completely thrown off by him, unable to understand why he suddenly pulled such a strange move. Last time too—he had changed expression without saying anything, perfectly fine one moment and different the next.

When she struggled again, Yan Qiongyu loosened his grip, letting her successfully retreat. Wang Luan swallowed the saliva that had built up from having her mouth open, rubbing her arm as she turned to the side to pour herself a cup of hot water.

Drinking hot water could effectively relieve the goosebumps she got from physiological discomfort.

Yan Qiongyu was still sitting on the bed, smiling as he said to her, “Sorry, I’m not ready yet. Is Miss Wang Luan angry?”

Holding the hot water, Wang Luan looked back at him warily and warned, “Behave yourself. Don’t mess around.”

Listening to their words, it sounded like playful banter between lovers. In reality, the atmosphere was nothing like that. Wang Luan was genuinely a little afraid that he might suddenly touch her again. She could tell that this person’s personality was not as good as he appeared—he might enjoy playing pranks.

It was just that, given his age and the fact that he was ill, she did not feel right arguing with him.

Finding that she was not angry at all, Yan Qiongyu felt a trace of regret. Setting aside what he had just done, he raised the extractor in his hand again and gestured toward her.

This time, he did not deliberately do anything, nor did he make her try to reveal her glandular fangs herself. He quickly released a bit of his own pheromones to help her expose them.

Most Omega pheromones smelled like flowers or fruit. The scent of Yan Qiongyu’s pheromones was somewhat special. Wang Luan liked this scent a little. Unlike its owner, the scent was relaxing.

When she smelled it, she would suddenly think of some happy things.

Wang Luan fell into a daze again. When she came back to herself, she saw that Yan Qiongyu had already finished. Lowering his eyes, he was injecting glandular fluid into himself, and at the same time took out another small syringe, injecting it into his own neck as well.

Wang Luan did not know what was in the second syringe. She only saw that after that small amount of liquid was injected, Yan Qiongyu’s skin visibly flushed red, a light sheen of sweat appearing on his forehead, looking rather uncomfortable.

He also took out a small clip-like object and clipped it to the back of his neck, creating a red mark similar to one left by a light bite.

Wang Luan: “………………” So professional.

Yan Qiongyu did not restrain his rapid breathing, even deliberately amplifying the sound, while his hands calmly and efficiently cleaned up the remnants, hiding these disposable items in a concealed corner by the bedside.

Wang Luan continued to sit silently by the bed, drinking her hot water. She felt strange—her teeth were a little itchy, and she wanted to lick them with her tongue. That foreign sensation in her mouth was like having wisdom teeth growing in.

The sound of breathing by her ear grew more and more rapid. Seeing that even Yan Qiongyu’s pale fingers had begun to flush red, she realized that the situation seemed somewhat serious. “Are you okay? Should I call a doctor?”

“No, this is a normal reaction after marking. Please don’t worry,” Yan Qiongyu said, while typing to her on his smart-brain.

(Can’t call a doctor. I can’t be pushed out for an examination right now. Chat with me, for at least ten minutes.)