Chapter 18

"Hm? Why am I sleeping here?"

In the pale early light of morning, Yun Zhi stirred slowly awake in the soft blankets. Unlike the exhausted state he'd been in every morning the past few days, this morning he felt his body extraordinarily light — as if someone had gently soothed him through the night.

A faint cool fragrance lingered in the warmth of the blankets, pressing insistently into his nose. That scent — Yun Zhi caught it on Fang Yixing occasionally.

Warm and restrained, carrying an undeniable weight of presence. Wasn't it exactly the kind of aura his own soft, gentle exterior lacked? What he lacked was what he craved — Yun Zhi very much wanted to claim this scent as his own.

The last time he'd asked Fang Yixing what brand of cologne it was, Fang Yixing had not only refused to tell him, but had insisted he didn't use any cologne.

Stubborn denial.

Hmph. If it wasn't cologne, was it just his natural body scent? Could a human body really produce a smell this distinctively beautiful?

Wait — that wasn't right!

Yun Zhi suddenly remembered — he was in an ABO world. Apart from Betas, humans of all other secondary genders secreted pheromones, and pheromones came in all manner of scents. The pheromones of Alphas and Omegas could form bonds, and the higher the compatibility between two people's pheromones, the stronger the bond, the easier it was to develop mutual feelings.

So his girl-friend's pheromones smelled like cool, deep oud — this wonderful, this intoxicating. No wonder every gong in the novel who caught a whiff of them turned completely unhinged.

Yun Zhi figured that if he had differentiated as an Alpha, he'd have been completely hooked on Fang Yixing's pheromones for certain — and the ship of their friendship might very well have sailed into unmentionable waters.

What a pity. His genetic test results indicated he was an Omega — and an undifferentiated Omega at that, one who couldn't smell anyone else's pheromones or produce any of his own.

He had no idea whether his pheromones would smell good or awful after he differentiated.

Yun Zhi absently lifted his pajama collar to sniff — caught only a very faint milky sweetness, his shower gel, the one his brother had shoved into his suitcase the night before he came here.

"Awake?" The bathroom door opened. Fang Yixing leaned against the doorframe at a slight angle, arms crossed, looking at him with a faint smile. His semi-dry silver hair was tied in a small knot at the back of his head, and beneath those pale, cool eyelids there were slight shadows — it looked like he hadn't slept well last night.

A wave of cool air rolled out from the bathroom. His voice carried the same coolness of someone who'd been soaked in cold water — low and deep, and somehow even more attractive for it.

"Awake! Feeling great!" Yun Zhi sat up cross-legged, stretched luxuriously, then turned his head to look at him, genuinely puzzled. "Why am I in your bed?" What a player-type energy — sleep with someone and immediately forget all about it.

Fang Yixing raised his brow at that.

He had been taken advantage of with no recourse, and found himself unable to resist embellishing slightly. "Someone snuck into my blankets in the middle of the night while I was trying to sleep. They took over my entire bed and couldn't be removed, either. Consider how you're going to make it up to me."

Yun Zhi tried to recall following those instructions. Nothing came back to him. He covered his mouth with an embarrassed smile. "I probably got confused in my sleep. Compensation — I'll definitely compensate you."

He thought for a moment about how to compensate, then poked his fluffy head over the edge of the bed and asked earnestly, "How about I let you sleep in my bed tonight?"

Fang Yixing couldn't hold it back — he shook his head and laughed. He genuinely thought his fated little sweet Omega was endearingly dim, practically volunteering to let himself be taken advantage of.

What could he do? Even a little fool had to be cherished and indulged.

He reached up and pressed down the cowlick that had popped up from Yun Zhi's sleep. "Get up and get washed. Fold my blanket while you're at it."

"On it!" Yun Zhi neatly folded the blanket, then grabbed the production-issued sports uniform and headed for the bathroom. The moment he stepped inside, the temperature sent a shiver through him.

"Fang Yixing, why are you taking cold showers first thing in the morning?! It's not even summer! Is this how you treat yourself as an Omega — do you have no idea how to take care of yourself?!"

Yun Zhi hollered from inside the bathroom, his voice soft and sweet but with piercing carrying power — startling the trainee sleeping in the next room, who thudded straight off their bed.

* * *

They were up early today, so they had the luxury of eating breakfast at a leisurely pace.

"Where exactly did you disappear to for that one hour yesterday?" Yun Zhi remembered and brought it up.

Fang Yixing had already finished breakfast and was now sitting across from Yun Zhi with his hands wiped clean, watching him drink his congee. Yun Zhi's soft pink lips had been reddened by the steaming minced pork congee, and he ate at an extremely slow pace, chewing every mouthful twenty times — a sight that was very appealing to watch.

Fang Yixing glanced at the custard bun on his plate and said, "My mom called me several times, so I went back to the dorm to call her back."

"Did something happen to your auntie?" Yun Zhi grew worried and asked immediately.

"She's fine. She just occasionally needs to make her presence known to me." Fang Yixing was unconcerned. He picked up the custard bun and took a bite to try it.

Average. He'd rather keep watching Yun Zhi eat.

"Oh, okay, good." Yun Zhi paused. "Wait — you have a mom?!"

He had only just processed this. He was fairly certain that in the original novel, Fang Yixing had grown up without parents, surviving on the charity of whoever fed him. How was reality so different?

"......" Fang Yixing couldn't comprehend his shock. "I have a father too. He's very busy with work and rarely home. I'll take you to meet him when there's an opportunity."

Yun Zhi automatically filled in the image of a hard-working man laboring to support the family. A life like that was still fairly close to what the novel had described.

In any case, Yun Zhi still thought Fang Yixing's life was as pitiable as his own had once been — a big kid who deserved to be loved and looked after.

* * *

Regardless of that week's assigned training, all the remaining trainees were required to gather in the training hall every morning on time, in full form, and run through the theme song once.

Today was Saturday, and the edited first episode of the show was airing tonight on Huaguo's largest streaming platform. The thirty trainees wore expressions of excitement and anxiety in equal measure.

Yang Zhuo also announced with a smile a major surprise — the entire production team and all trainees had the weekend off.

Trainees who lived nearby could go home to rest. Those from further away, or those who preferred to stay, could remain in the dormitory.

"Alright, go pack your bags — and remember to collect your phones so you can contact your families."

Yun Zhi and his fellow trainees ran excitedly back to the dorm. The moment he got there, he called Jin Zeli and shared the good news.

Jin Zeli said he'd come to pick him up.

Fang Yixing's boss Xie Sibo arrived first, waiting outside the training camp gates to take him home.

Fang Yixing had only slung a black bag over his shoulder. He asked Yun Zhi if he wanted a ride — Yun Zhi shook his head and said goodbye with a beaming smile. "My brother is coming to get me! You go on ahead — see you next week!"

Not long after Fang Yixing left, Yun Zhi received Jin Zeli's call.

Yun Zhi gave his brother, whom he hadn't seen in a week, a big hug, and they settled into the back seat together.

A lot of interesting things had happened during the week. Yun Zhi chattered away sharing everything with Jin Zeli, like a little chirping sparrow.

Jin Zeli had no particular interest in the affairs of the other Omegas in the training camp, so none of what Yun Zhi shared struck him as funny. He simply kept his head bowed over the financial reports he was reviewing, putting a small fraction of his attention toward listening to Yun Zhi talk, and in the end offered a single perfunctory comment: "Sounds pretty interesting."

Perfunctory could always be sensed. Yun Zhi gradually lost his enthusiasm for sharing.

Brother was busy with work and not interested in entertainment industry things — that kind of response was completely normal, Yun Zhi reasoned.

He watched out the window for a while, found himself bored again, and wasn't sure how to start a new thread of conversation with his brother. He sifted through his mind for a while and realized he knew practically nothing about his brother at all.

After all, they'd only been brothers for less than a month. How close could they really be.

Giving up on trying to find common ground with his brother, he pulled out his just-returned phone and pressed the power button, then opened every app one by one, both regular and occasional.

When he opened Weibo, his phone began buzzing nonstop, new notifications flooding in. The phone lagged for several minutes before recovering.

Unread message notifications: 99+. His follower count displayed 580,000. Yun Zhi was genuinely stunned for quite a while.

He had recently registered a new account, verified his identity as a trainee on Omega Idol Cultivation Plan, and had only posted two casual lifestyle photos before.

Now, the post with his lifestyle photos already had over three thousand comments. The comment section resembled a marmot-screaming scene — "ahhhhhhh," "gorgeous, saving this photo!" "I could worship this face forever!" and similar comments were too numerous to count.

Yun Zhi felt the warmth and affection of strangers who had become fans, and his heart filled with a pleasant glow. He opened the new messages, intending to reply to as many of these lovely fans as possible.

Most of the fan DMs were either showering him with praise or announcing they had officially joined his fandom.

Yun Zhi squinted with pleasure as he replied to them.

Opening the next DM conversation, Yun Zhi saw several long messages. It took him a long time to read them all the way through.

UltraStar Asks No Questions: Hi Yun Zhi, my name is Ma Zijun. We've lost touch for so many years — I'm not sure if you still remember me, haha. I saw your promo photo and recognized you right away. So you're going to be an idol — that's amazing! I've already told my family and friends. They've all promised to vote for you. The kids from the Sunshine Orphanage who grew up with you will all be voting for you too!

UltraStar Asks No Questions: Are you doing well? We haven't heard a thing from you all these years — I was worried. I know Jin Zeli doesn't like you staying in contact with us, but he's not your real brother. You two don't share a single drop of blood. What right does he have to claim our orphanage's little ray of sunshine and cut you off from all of us?! And restrict who you can see! Infuriating!

UltraStar Asks No Questions: Though angry as I am, setting that aside — he must treat you well otherwise, right, aside from being a bit controlling? I remember when his parents came to the orphanage to bring him home, he said he absolutely had to take you with him, and if he couldn't he'd refuse to go back with them. Haha, he really was unhinged.

UltraStar Asks No Questions: Haha, I got sidetracked again — bad habit since I was little, never got above 20 points on a composition, pretty embarrassing. When you see this message I'll know on my end. If you're worried about your brother finding out, go ahead and delete everything I sent. Go for it! We'll always be cheering you on!

The further down he read, the more alarmed Yun Zhi felt. By the very last message, he nearly dropped his phone.

"Brother?" His voice was unsteady as he turned to look at Jin Zeli with an expression of utter disbelief.