Chapter 22

"Trying to sneak off somewhere, Yun Zhi?" Jin Zeli's deep gaze settled on Yun Zhi's face.

"Hm? Sneak off? What do you mean?" Yun Zhi blinked and instantly smoothed away the panic in his eyes. He asked with an expression of genuine confusion, "I came out to give something back to a friend — I accidentally packed one of my dormmate's folders into my bag when I came home yesterday."

Yun Zhi gestured with a tilt of his chin toward the black car waiting at the red light nearby. "See? My friend is here. I'm just returning his thing."

Jin Zeli followed his gaze and looked once more at the only car on the road.

Several seconds passed. He suddenly smiled. "I see."

"Right." Yun Zhi tilted his head and looked at Jin Zeli with innocent eyes. "Brother, did you come to take me home? Then wait a moment — let me give my friend his things first."

Jin Zeli gave a nod and got back into the car to wait.

Fang Yixing turned his car around and pulled up in front of Jin Zeli's black business car. From his rear-view mirror he could clearly see the person in the car behind him was Yun Zhi's brother.

He didn't understand why Jin Zeli wasn't driving away. If he'd decided to abandon Yun Zhi, what was he still doing here?

He was just about to get out of the car when Yun Zhi ran to the driver's side window. Yun Zhi was standing too close — he was blocking the door from opening.

He rolled the window down. Yun Zhi's little head immediately darted in, and in an exaggerated hushed breath he said rapidly, "I can't leave right now — go back quickly."

His words came out in a rush. His long lashes trembled slightly, and in his amber eyes below them swam a faint shimmer of moisture — full of fragility.

Something bad had clearly happened.

Fang Yixing opened his mouth to speak. Yun Zhi immediately cut him off loudly. "Oh, I found it, hold on."

Fang Yixing: ?

Yun Zhi held Fang Yixing's gaze for one second with an expression of sadness he couldn't quite decipher, then bowed his head and dug through his backpack, silently completing the performance.

He produced a folder from his bag, passed it through the window, and said earnestly, "Don't leave your things lying around on my desk anymore. Here you go. Bye."

After saying this, Yun Zhi gave Fang Yixing a small wink.

Fang Yixing: "...Bye."

Full of doubt and worry, with Yun Zhi watching him from behind, he drove away.

Once he saw him leave, Yun Zhi let out a slow breath. He pulled open the front passenger door of Jin Zeli's car, paused for a second, then closed it with a thud.

Then, shrinking a little under Jin Zeli's hawk-like gaze, he climbed into the back seat instead.

"Hmph. I just remembered — weren't you done with me?" Yun Zhi sat in the back seat, arms folded over his chest, head turned to look the other way — entirely put out. "Your blood brother said you're planning to remove me from the Jin family household register, and you didn't even tell me."

Yun Zhi had his lip pushed out, visibly feeling wronged.

Jin Zeli was amused. It seemed his worrying had been unnecessary. Even learning about the plan to transfer his household register out, Yun Zhi hadn't read into it further — he was simply upset and hurt because he felt abandoned.

Jin Zeli nodded quietly to himself. After all these years, Yun Zhi had been well and truly tamed by him. He was already unable to leave.

"The reason for moving you to your own independent household register is because our stepmother threatened to take drastic action," Jin Zeli fabricated a reason off-handedly for Yun Zhi. "It won't affect your life in any way. Our home is still our home, and I'll still take care of you exactly as before."

Yun Zhi turned back, eyes slightly wide. "Really?"

"I'm not lying to you." Jin Zeli smiled.

Yun Zhi let out a relieved smile as well.

All traces of what had transpired in the villa had been tidied away. When Yun Zhi went back, there was no sign that Jin Zeyong had ever been there — as though the person had been erased entirely.

Yun Zhi put Jin Zeyong out of his mind and followed Jin Zeli to dinner.

After the meal, Yun Zhi asked Jin Zeli whether he could have the driver take him back to the training camp that evening. Jin Zeli asked why. Yun Zhi explained that if he went Monday morning he would have to wake up very early, whereas if he went Sunday evening to rest there, he could sleep in a bit longer the next morning.

Jin Zeli had no suspicions and had the driver take Yun Zhi to the training camp that evening.

Only three people were in the dormitory building. Yun Zhi greeted them, then made his way back to the room he shared with Fang Yixing.

He sat cross-legged on the bed, staring into space for a while before snapping back to himself. He got up to find a piece of paper and a pen and sat down to draw up a plan.

First of all, he needed to safely get away from Jin Zeli.

In the original novel, Jin Zeli had been readers' most beloved protagonist gong — entering the story already radiating a powerful domineering CEO aura. It was clear the author was particularly fond of him too, giving him the most detailed introduction of any character.

The Jin family was one of the oldest and most established wealthy clans in the capital. Since Jin Zeli took over as head of the family, in just five years he had doubled the scale of the Jin family's enterprises — a testament to how ruthless and capable he was.

And when it came to something he wanted, he was always absolutely determined to have it. What he couldn't possess, he would mercilessly destroy — he never let things go.

Yun Zhi had little confidence in simply walking away from the Jin household. He had no support, no money, no power in this world. If Jin Zeli decided to lock him up some day, he might have no way to escape.

Just like Fang Yixing in the novel.

Perhaps the fact that Jin Zeli's obsession had shifted from Fang Yixing to him was punishment for recklessly interfering with the plot.

But he had one advantage over Fang Yixing in the novel — he hadn't differentiated yet, and his gland hadn't fully matured. An Alpha forcibly marking an undifferentiated Omega would not only fail to experience any satisfaction from the marking — the immature gland's protective hormones would actually counterattack. These hormones were harmless to Omegas, but to Alphas they were a lethal toxin.

From a physiological standpoint, Omegas were born into a position of inherent vulnerability. In the last century, forced marking of Omegas by Alphas was rampant and difficult to suppress — and some had even gone as far as forcibly marking undifferentiated Omegas for their own gratification.

AO equality advocates had long fought to strengthen Omegas' defenses against Alphas, and twenty years ago had successfully developed a vaccine for undifferentiated Omegas that stimulated the production of protective hormones.

Once the vaccine was introduced, the Huaguo government mandated nationwide that all Omegas receive the protective vaccine before the age of three.

With this protection, Jin Zeli would not move against him for now.

Thinking of it this way, Yun Zhi realized he still had time.

He needed to drag things out until the independent household registration was complete. If he could also debut in a high-ranking position from the talent competition and rise to fame all at once — even better.

He wanted to sign with a strong agency. He wanted to buy a home. He wanted to establish roots in this world.

Before, he would have been satisfied just getting one of the five debut spots. But his current circumstances meant he could not afford a single misstep.

He needed to debut in the center position.

Yun Zhi set this as his goal. He pressed his lips together, his expression unwavering in its resolution.

While sorting through his things, he suddenly realized he hadn't contacted his girl-friend in several hours, and quickly pulled out his phone. He had left Fang Yixing to drive away without any explanation that evening — Fang Yixing was certainly still waiting for him to explain.

Six missed calls. Over ten unread messages. He had been beside Jin Zeli the whole time before, in a state of constant anxiety, terrified his performance would slip and Jin Zeli would see through him — so he hadn't looked at his phone at all.

The last message had come in about ten minutes ago: Something happened, didn't it. I'm near your place. Do you want me to barge in.

Yun Zhi immediately called him back. The line connected after only two rings.

Fang Yixing's voice was slightly urgent. "Where are you?"

Yun Zhi felt very sheepish. He replied softly, "I came back to the dorm. Are you still near my place this late?"

Fang Yixing withdrew his gaze from the lights of the detached villa not far away and said casually, "No — I'm on my way back to the dorm right now. Wait for me."

Yun Zhi: !!!

He had thought he'd be spending this evening alone in the dorm. He hadn't expected his girl-friend to be so perfectly in sync with him!

The moment he heard the key in the lock, Yun Zhi shuffled to the dorm door in his slippers and looked up with a bright face. "What took you so long? Do you live far?"

The words were out before Yun Zhi regretted them. Jin Zeli's villa was in the wealthiest area at the heart of the city, while the training camp was in a suburb on the western outskirts of the capital. Opposite the west district was what was known as the "capital slums" — cramped, rundown streets full of people with nothing to their name.

Getting here from the east district in an hour and a half was already fast — trying to squeeze onto a bus or subway was genuinely brutal.

Yun Zhi silently condemned himself for speaking without thinking.

The truth of it, of course, was that after Yun Zhi's call, Fang Yixing had first left the vicinity of the Jin family villa, returned home, kicked out Xie Sibo who had shown no intention of leaving, and then packed a bag and took a taxi back to the training camp.

He had also stopped along the way to pick up two portions of shrimp dumplings for Yun Zhi as a late-night snack — which was what had taken a bit of extra time.

Fang Yixing lifted the takeout box in front of Yun Zhi. The fresh, fragrant warmth of shrimp filled the air, and Yun Zhi's stomach immediately made an undignified growl.

He had been so preoccupied during dinner with Jin Zeli that he'd barely eaten. Now the shrimp dumpling aroma lured out his appetite in full force.

Fang Yixing saw the way his eyes lit up and found it amusing. He opened the takeout box and placed it on the table, handed him a pair of chopsticks, and said, "Tell me. What happened at home? If it's trouble, I'll share it with you."

Hearing this, Yun Zhi bit his chopsticks a couple of times, wrinkled his face, and asked, "If someone treated me badly, would you stand up for me?"

Fang Yixing's eyelids lifted halfway, a trace of amusement in them. His languid, cool voice carried an inexplicable air of confidence that Yun Zhi found strangely reassuring. "Whoever bullies you — I'll make sure you get to bully them right back."

"Oh." Yun Zhi gave a noncommittal response, but he didn't believe it.

They were both broke nobodies — please don't talk like such a domineering CEO.

Yun Zhi believed his girl-friend genuinely wanted to protect him, but that made things more dangerous, not less. Fang Yixing was an immensely alluring Omega with captivating pheromones — he absolutely could not go wobbling around in front of unhinged gongs!

If his girl-friend ended up overestimating herself and going up against Jin Zeli on his behalf, only to catch Jin Zeli's attention in the process — that would be a disaster on top of a disaster.

The image of him and Fang Yixing locked together in an iron cage, huddled side by side trembling and weeping at the bars, played through Yun Zhi's mind unbidden. Even imagining it felt utterly miserable.

Yun Zhi swallowed back the part about Jin Zeli lusting after him.

"It's not that big a deal. I told you before, I'm an adopted kid in my brother's household. His mother doesn't want me lingering in his home anymore, so she pressured him to take me off the household register." Yun Zhi made light of it, keeping his voice casual.

Fang Yixing watched the brave-faced Yun Zhi with tender eyes, desperately wanting to scoop him into his arms and cuddle and comfort him.

He restrained the impulse, and asked Yun Zhi, "So what are you going to do going forward?"

A brother without a blood connection, who could throw Yun Zhi away at a single word from his other family — a brother like that didn't need to be recognized anymore.

Yun Zhi could come live at his place in the future. The guest room or the master bedroom — either was fine. He should also change his door lock code, so Xie Sibo couldn't come barging in and disturbing Yun Zhi when he wasn't home.

"I can't rely on other people forever. It's time for me to be independent." Yun Zhi smiled, cheeks puffed round with shrimp dumpling. He clenched his fist, full of fighting spirit. "I'm going to debut, I'm going to earn money, and I'm going to buy a place and keep us both!"

Fang Yixing: ?

That wasn't necessary for him, surely.

But since Yun Zhi had made up his mind to stand on his own two feet, Fang Yixing had no objection. He would be there to watch over his little sweet Omega regardless.

* * *

The new week arrived, and while other trainees were still recovering from their post-holiday slump, Wen Xiaoxiao's team was already training at full energy under team captain Yun Zhi's leadership.

In a team competition, team members shared their fate — rise or fall together.

Their team had Yun Zhi, who was skilled and had no obvious weak points, but their opponents — Xue Ruye's team — were equally formidable. Xue Ruye's fan base vastly outstripped any of the other mentors, plus they had the already popular Zhao Jinzhao and the supernaturally voiced Fang Yixing. Setting aside the on-site votes, the viewer votes were certainly going to be high.

But Yun Zhi's team wasn't discouraged. As long as they could take first place in the on-site votes at the day's stage evaluation, none of the five of them would be eliminated.

With less than three days until the first public performance, all thirty trainees threw themselves into preparation without even needing the mentors to push them.

Wednesday morning, all six mentors finished up their various commitments around the country and returned early to the training camp to give their teams final coaching.

The five people on Wen Xiaoxiao's team were all little gluttons, and would start complaining of hunger before the time was even up — so they generally wrapped up slightly earlier than the other practice rooms.

As usual, Yun Zhi went to Fang Yixing's practice room at noon to wait for him to finish so they could eat together.

The practice room door was closed. Yun Zhi stood by the door listening to music while he waited.

After ten minutes or so, the door in front of him was opened from inside.

Yun Zhi looked up — and found himself looking directly into Xue Ruye's eyes, which held a faint, teasing smile.

After a brief moment of eye contact, Yun Zhi felt a strong wave of revulsion. Ugh.

He looked away, took a quiet deep breath, and said politely, "Hello, Xue-laoshi."

In Xue Ruye's reading of this interaction, looking away was obviously because making eye contact with him made Yun Zhi unable to help falling for him, and the deep breath was to calm a quickening heartbeat, not wanting to show any signs in front of him.

Xue Ruye studied the soft, fragile Omega before him with a barely perceptible once-over and let out a quiet sigh. Alas. His feelings were showing this clearly — how could he possibly not notice?

Yun Zhi was actually his most preferred type — whether it was his cute appearance or his soft personality. What a pity that his current little lover was somewhat clingy, constantly glued to his side watching him closely, leaving him no room to maneuver.

Which was why, during the team selection, he'd simply decided out of sight out of mind and not chosen Yun Zhi, instead picking the harder-to-handle Fang Yixing.

But when the little beauty kept giving him those repeated signals of affection, continuing to pretend not to notice was too heartless.

Besides, his current little lover had a throat issue this morning and was at the hospital — unable to watch him for once.

He thought about it and decided to take advantage of Zhao Jinzhao's absence to give Yun Zhi a small response. He could string Yun Zhi along, and when he got tired of Zhao Jinzhao later, he could switch to someone new.

Xue Ruye rested one hand on the doorframe, legs crossed as he stood, upper body lazily leaning against the door — an altogether unhurried, elegant picture. He asked at an easy pace, "Have you been waiting long?"

The words had barely left his lips before a tall figure passed by him from behind, bumping none-too-gently into his shoulder, completely disrupting the carefully cultivated pose.

Fang Yixing's cold, detached voice said, "Excuse me, Xue-laoshi."

Xue Ruye looked toward Fang Yixing with displeasure. But Fang Yixing didn't spare him a single glance — he simply stepped forward and took hold of Yun Zhi's wrist.

Yun Zhi acted as though he hadn't heard Xue Ruye's question and gave him no reply either. He simply looked up at Fang Yixing with a sweet smile, his soft voice coming out with a coaxing lilt. "Let's go eat — I'm about to starve."

"Mm." Fang Yixing reached up and smoothed the disheveled hair at Yun Zhi's forehead from all the dancing.

Xue Ruye: "......"

The two of them demonstrated to perfection the meaning of "completely oblivious to everyone around them" and "warmly intimate."

Xue Ruye's back molars began to itch.

He watched the two of them walk away ahead of him, the corners of his mouth curling in an unreadable smile.

Was Yun Zhi deliberately playing hard to get, and had even roped in someone to help him perform? Heh. Interesting.

**Author's Note:** Chapter 1 with the paywall is here! Tonight I'll post Chapter 2, and the first fifty commenters get a red packet! Please continue to support me — I bow to you~