HOYSE CHAPTER 45

Chapter 45 — Dancing on the Tip of My Heart

A sleepless night.

The screen cast a soft shine on Rong Jing’s face. He read the dossiers the fixer had delivered, flipped through files, and taught himself how to run a company. He had learned it once in his previous life, but now it was like going back to the furnace. The so-called golden cheats that belonged to the scum attackers kept hiccupping before the acquisition, so he had Zhou You watch them without blinking.

He had been cutting in on other people’s deals. With their protagonist auras, those scum attackers could cut him off even easier. To avoid being sniped, Rong Jing did not power down his phone. He stayed on standby.

He also worried the plot would start spinning around Gu Xi again and again, fabricating all kinds of “chance” encounters so the attackers could reenter his orbit. When soft tactics failed, they always turned hard. In the original there were forced love arcs all over the place: resource snatching, arson threats, staged car crashes, forced marking. Just thinking about it made his scalp prickle.

Given how this world’s “Heavenly Dao” liked to operate, would it really make them all happen one by one? From experience, the stickiness was off the charts.

Rong Jing looked at the necklace lying by his elbow. He had bought it on impulse. The moment he pictured that high-ridge bloom that was Gu Xi’s face, he just could not give it. He sighed.

He did not know that after a night of brewing, gossip hounds had guessed a whole circle of names for the newcomer replacing Xun Jiarui. They started at third-tier and fell all the way to eighteenth. Plenty of acting-school classmates who had auditioned tossed in their lists. One of the names was Rong Jing.

Even so, his name was just a passing cloud, a tiny ripple. It did not affect him yet. Xun Jiarui wanted to use the topic to splash mud on Rong Jing, and planned to wait a few days for the buzz to ferment.

Meanwhile several “support groups” for Rong Jing were discovered by classmates, who were guessing he was about to make a big move. These support chats, support Weibo accounts, even a fansite, looked like a whole runway being laid. Some classmates even applied to join, only to get kicked by the admins. Could Rong Jing himself be running them?

As campus top traffic, he got private messages asking if he knew there were support groups for him. He was full of question marks. The original him had fans? Those few face-stans on Weibo hardly counted. He let himself be dragged into one of the groups, where his arrival was warmly welcomed. He did not blame them. The original had not. That did not mean he wanted to get chummy. He said nothing, skimmed the postings, and found quite a few casting calls.

Casting calls… He glanced at the stack of study materials and shed a tear of yearning. Work hard. Xie Group had not passed the crisis yet.

When he exited the chat he noticed five friend requests.

Different accounts. The reasons read: Add me. You dare not add me? Rong Jing you want to die?! If you do not add me, I will block your door! You jerk!!

So manic. Had to be the same person.

Wu Fuyu?

Did that kid realize this looked like courting? Rong Jing shivered and messaged Wu Hanqi: Uncle Qi, looks like Wu Fuyu is suddenly into Alphas. I think you have not given him enough homework. Do not blame me. Only his dad could discipline him. Ten minutes later, Wu Hanqi replied: Got it.

Wu Hanqi had been letting his son date Cinderella types to exercise his EQ and patience. You could tell he had expectations for the boy. He probably was not open-minded enough to watch his son pursue AA, though.

With one headache postponed, Rong Jing steadied himself and peeked at his big brother’s Moments. As expected, he was still at the office. One photo: a steaming black coffee on the desk.

That was his brother.

A tireless machine. Rong Jing sent a like and a cheering emoji. Soon he saw that Wu Hanqi had liked it too, and then Ji Jiongjie. Uncle and nephew in sync.

Xie Ling had his own small circle of friends: young strivers like him, some first-gen entrepreneurs, and some heirs who started their own ventures. They all knew Xie Ling had been wearing himself thin for two younger brothers. Xie Jisheng paid lip service. The younger one was even more extreme and had never added any of them as a friend. They felt bad for Xie Ling and also, a little schadenfreude.

Xie Ling fit the word impeccable. Even among princelings he was one of a kind. He never slacked a day and made work his life’s hobby. A man like that could not get his family’s understanding or support.

He was buried in market data when the special alert sounded. Seeing his little brother’s like and comment, the corner of his mouth lifted. He took a screenshot and dropped it into a brothers’ group chat.

“Come look, my little brother finally added me!”

“Wasn’t he already on? You are behind. Wow, this time he liked it.”

“He not only liked, he left an emoji.”

“You are all shameless! I do not care if Xiao Jingjing liked it. I care whether Ah-Ling is grinning like a fool.”

Xie Ling was used to their roasting. He replied a single “Mm.” They told him to bring his brother out and show him off.

“He is going to act. Do not bother him.”

“What project? Our house does film. Tell me which one. I can toss in a million or two.”

“Right. Even if it tanks—”

“That will be on me. Get lost.”

Xie Ling had said he would not pave Rong Jing’s way into entertainment. Seeing them so eager, he suddenly wondered if he had given too little money. Not even enough for Xiao Jing to invest in his own picks. He called the head of their film unit to ask about current slates, probing indirectly.

---

On Gu Xi’s side, he cleaned up the swell of emotion, wiped his face, and wrote a character background for Rong Jing’s role. He had read the original and spun a more interesting story. When he finished, more support-group requests popped up. He checked carefully and saw red flags. He rejected them all.

Why so aggressive? He logged into the school forum. Sure enough, there were threads asking if this little account was Rong Jing’s. Thankfully he had been an actual film-school student, only graduated early, and the account had years of history, so the rumor was quashed.

Scrolling made him think of the Qi Ying who had ruined his business tonight. He saw almost all of the posts about Rong Jing chasing Qi Ying had been wiped. A fresh post said Qi Ying had personally begged the mods to delete them, very moving. Some do-gooders said it felt like he was serious this time, ready to turn over a new leaf and win back an old love. They were betting whether Rong Jing would forgive his gold-digging ex.

Gu Xi saw how formidable Qi Ying was. He had sensed it at the KTV. The tea-act was refined. No hysterical pestering, just soft, pitiable eyes on Rong Jing.

Who would not waver? If he had not happened by, would Qi Ying have succeeded already?

He saved a photo of Qi Ying and sent it with one of his own to Guan Hongyi: Who looks better? 

Before a reply came, he panicked and retracted it.

Guan Hongyi: Huh? What did you send?
Gu Xi: Nothing.
Guan: It is midnight. Insomnia again? Did you take the pills?
Gu: I did.
Guan: Your psychiatrist called my place. You are friends, right? How long since you went?
Gu: Hong, I am not sick.
Guan: Untreated depression can go very wrong. Do not shrug it off. Call them when you can. Also, you did not go to my place. Where are you living now?

Gu Xi went ghost. It was past four. Like a small animal seeking a nest, he padded to the balcony and peered next door. The light in Rong Jing’s room was off. He went back, turned off his own, and lay down, oddly soothed.

---

Early next morning Rong Jing headed to the company. They agreed to meet at the pheromone matching center in the afternoon. Gu Xi watched him go. He should have gone to deal with the apartment and the compensation issues from those missed jobs, but the thought of the matching put an aimless agitation in his chest. He could not sit still.

He opened Weibo. The hired-water company had not reported in. Nothing new from Xun Jiarui. The previous topic kept fanning the heat for Sovereignty. He pinged the water-army lead to keep eyes open and report at once.

He remembered what Guan had said, took the small pouch he carried everywhere, and fished out a paroxetine. One glass of water later, he still could not settle. He opened games. From match-three to Tetris to Plants vs Zombies, yet his mind would not quiet. Anxiety and aversion leaked through everything.

---

Rong Jing spent the morning learning with Zhou Xiang. Near noon, Zhou hesitated, then went into the CEO’s office. “President Xie.”

Xie Ling watched the M-market tickers. “Speak.”

“I still have group matters to handle. The young master’s companies also need alignment with the group. So I was wondering…”

A partner who had worked with him many years hardly needed to say it. “You want a raise?” Xie Ling said. Zhou smiled. If you understand, this is easy.

Whatever they discussed, Zhou came down a floor later, still smiling, and found Rong Jing, who had just finished a meeting with Fun about deeper cooperation. “Young master.”

Rong Jing checked the time on his watch and wondered what Gu Xi was doing. “Mm?”

“President Xie asks if you have burned through your first 100 million.” Zhou lowered his voice. If you do not spend and deliver results, this investment adviser will never get a raise.

Rong Jing: … Do not ask. The answer is no.

Xie Ling had given him a hundred million to invest. No deadline, but he had to file reports and show progress. They had hired a bench of consultants to help him plan. Thinking it over, the companies he picked were indeed the attackers’ original golden cheats. Most were in seed or growth stages, so they did not need large checks. Dozens of thousands here, a few million there. He still had not hit fifty million. He had just put 12 million into a post-production outfit and 12 million was already a lot.

In the elevator he ran into the film unit’s senior exec he had met before and struck up a chat.

“What are this year’s planned investments?” he asked.

For family, the exec was frank and listed a few projects. Rong Jing nodded. “What about Sovereign?”

“Director Liu Yu is young and has drive,” the exec began with the customary praise, “but I do not know if you have heard, he is a film-school directing grad who loves art-house. The family was comfortable, then he nearly bankrupted them chasing art.” Investors got spooked by directors like that. No sense of cost.

Rong Jing had known documentaries lost money. So did art films, apparently.

“But Lota did well.”

“That was a commercial film with an art-house bent. It had both word of mouth and box office. It dissected life in the slums before the old-town redevelopments. By rights his next investment should explode. But in the current winter no one can guarantee it will not flop. Too many Waterloos lately. Everyone is cautious. I also heard the lead investor pulled out. No idea why. Rumor is they suddenly lost faith.”

“Because I replaced the actor that investor wanted.”

The exec looked at him, stunned. Rong Jing added, “I did not lean on my brother.”

Meaning he got the part himself. That was impressive. So that lead investor had been spreading smoke to mislead the rest of them.

“It has advantages,” Rong Jing said. “This is a novel adaptation, so it has a base. It also has a top star like Gu Xi, so there is a foundation audience and traffic. Add Liu Yu’s craft and if they film with care it will hit.”

The exec’s eyes sharpened. The young master was angling.

“You mean…”

“I will invest. But I do not like letting fat water flow into outsiders’ fields. See if our unit is interested.” I will put in money myself and stoke the fire myself. “Of course, this is only a small opinion from a very tiny person, given your plan this year.”

From memory this film blew up. It shot warm blood into a genre that had been cold. Even the scattered small investors made off with buckets.

In the original, when Xie Jisheng took over, he gutted the film unit until nothing was left. It only started thriving again under Wu’s management. How annoying, like he was trying to prove that old companies deserved to die just because they couldn’t keep up. What nonsense.

Old companies had depth. They even had capital. Xie Ling had been working toward balance. It was Xie Jisheng who had failed, plain and simple.

If big brother had no time for side businesses, he would make some waves.

The exec left with a flash of inspiration. Sovereignty had been undervalued by the winter. The young master had said he would crush Shengteng Entertainment. Look at Weibo now. The regulators had stepped in. In a few days it really had collapsed. Maybe spring was coming to their film unit.

Rong Jing moved quickly. With a newly hired professional agent and Zhou You by his side, he went to Shengteng Entertainment to negotiate a stop-gap acquisition plan for 60% of the company.

The current head, Xu Shengteng, had just been arrested for breaking into an Omega’s room. Morals completely in the gutter.

Outside the building, a knot of Gu Xi’s fans was still protesting, demanding that the parent company deal with this social scum. The company’s reputation had tanked. This was the time to buy.

At market value, a company of this size would be worth several billion. In the original timeline, Xie Jisheng had burned through half the group’s liquidity on this deal, which was part of why the collapse had come so fast.

Even a skinny camel is bigger than a horse. No matter how infamous, Shengteng still had B- and C-list artists under contract. Just sorting through those agreements would take time. Still, it was worth acquiring.

Knowing his limits, Rong Jing left the heavy lifting to his agent, tasked with crushing the price and securing consent from the majority of shareholders.

He then rushed to the matching center at the agreed time. Gu Xi was already there. He was playing a match-three and letting the popping sounds smother his rising anxiety. A shadow fell over him. A smile rose from the bottom of his eyes. He looked up. “You are here.”

Simple words, like rain after drought. Rong Jing had to hold back the urge to ruffle his hair. He looked very obedient.

They walked into the sleek building. He had thought Gu Xi’s indifference meant he did not care. Then he noticed Gu Xi was walking left hand and left foot together. Rong Jing nearly laughed. Too cute.

A staff member guided them inside. They took a number at a kiosk. The hall was already filling up with Alphas and Omegas waiting to be matched, neatly seated on opposite sides. Most Omegas came with same-sex friends for support. Most Alphas came alone, ready to be chosen. It was rare to bring another Alpha along.

Rong Jing was about to sit on the Alpha side when Gu Xi pointed to the empty seats in the middle. The two of them took their places there, instantly becoming the center of attention. Heads turned left and right, staring.

The middle row, usually reserved for exceptions, now held just one pair: two cranes among chickens.

An Alpha and an Omega, already paired up, what were they doing here? Showing off? Stirring trouble? Trying to trigger the single crowd?

No one noticed the Alpha in the back wearing a baseball cap, face half-covered with a mask, silently staring in Rong Jing’s direction. That was Wu Fuyu. His mouth was gagged under the mask, his expression tense, struggling against restraints no one else could see.

The center had notified him, and Wu Hanqi had dragged him over literally.

He hadn’t wanted to come. It wasn’t the dark ages anymore. Who still needed arranged matches? All he cared about was how to make Rong Jing look at him. The guy hadn’t even added him yet. So infuriating.

Wu Hanqi had been blunt: I let you run wild, but not to play AA. Go match. I don’t care how many, just meet people. Sooner or later, you’ll see how twisted AA is.

Usually obedient, Wu Fuyu had pushed back for the first time. He even tried to run away from home. Ji Jiongjie caught him, tied him up under orders, and dragged him here like luggage.

“Mmm mmm mmm!” Let me go. Why is Rong Jing here? Who is he matching? Who is that little demon beside him? That waist, that hip, thousand-year fox spirit! Let me look!!

His struggles drew looks. Two bodyguards leaned close. “Young master, if you cannot quiet down, we will take necessary measures.” A cold syringe came into view. Wu Fuyu rolled his eyes. Ji Jiongjie you philandering pervert, I will never be done with you. Waving a chicken feather like an arrow of command, you fake-tiger trash!

When it was Gu Xi’s turn, they stepped up. The staff adjusted the camera. “Please remove your mask and cap. We need to record your face.”

When Gu Xi lifted them off, the composed worker froze. “You, you—” Live Gu Xi!

Then she saw the number on the screen. 99 matches. The very legend they had whispered about after hours. SSS pheromones.

Gu Xi had rejected anything under 99%. Even so, he had 18 matches, many times more than other Omegas. If the center did not forbid disclosure, she would have screamed. Live Gu Xi. SSS. And he was matching.

Gu Xi gave a cool smile. The worker came back to herself and did her idol’s paperwork with religious care. “Your ID, please.” She was a fan from debut days. She had strayed a bit over the years, but Gu Xi was home. Meeting him was enough for one life.

She glanced at the Alpha beside him. “Sir, would you like a match? Please wait for your number.”

“Thank you, no,” Rong Jing said. Today I will be a pretty vase. Do not cue me.

He vaguely remembered a text from the center, but life kept him too busy. His dream was to be a salted fish with no dreams. In this world, one Omega could match multiple Alphas. Whether he matched or not did not matter to him. He had no urge to join the fun.

“He is accompanying me,” Gu Xi explained. “We can go in together?”

“Yes,” the worker said. Few Omegas chose to bring an Alpha, that was all.

As an old fan, she knew Gu Xi avoided Alphas outside of work and had the nickname “Hates-A Xi.” Those socialite rumors were trash. If even their alliance lord was not clean, what Omega in entertainment could claim to be? Maybe this would break the slander. A moment of history. Accompanying meant friend. This Alpha was very good-looking. The two of them together were a feast.

Under her envious gaze, Rong Jing followed Gu Xi into the pairing rooms. She could not help snapping a photo of their backs and kept it as her private treasure.

The rooms came in adjoining pairs. One for Alpha, one for Omega. A one-way glass wall stood between. Only the Omega could see the Alpha. For safety. It kept angry Alphas from causing trouble if rejected. In the past there had been incidents. Now the center had made it humane.

Gu Xi sat. The worker came over to explain the three indicators on the table. The left showed match level. Orange meant above eighty, red above ninety, pink above ninety-five, purple above ninety-eight.

“No perfect pairs?” Rong Jing asked.

“Hard cap at 99.9999. No 100. And above 99 shows black. Almost never seen. If it happens and a match is made, the hall will announce, and the news will carry it.”

The middle indicator was for talk. Press to speak to the Alpha. Release to end. The right held two buttons. Red to reject, green to accept.

“Understood? Shall I repeat?”

“No. Begin,” Gu Xi said. He sounded like he was finishing a task.

Because his pheromone level was so high, five staffers were assigned to this session to host the whole event and try their best to make it work. Though it was only pheromone matching, many AO met this way and went on to marry. It was the state putting on a blind-date fair.

He took his place. The first Alpha entered. Broad-shouldered and strong. The left light glowed red. 90 to 95.

“Hello, I am…”

“Hello,” Gu Xi said when the bio finished. “Before we match, I have a few conditions. If you accept, I will accept.”

He took out a sheet of paper. Rong Jing had no idea when he had written it. He stared at it. Then thought, with this you will be single on strength alone.

Headache pinched his brow. This would scare off most Alphas. In the original, when Gu Xi did not appear during an episode, a few attackers would trigger it on purpose, make him suffer. Rong Jing wanted him to have a normal partner. He deserved good care.

The conditions read:

1. Do not contact me unless I agree.

2. If my episode comes, I will notify you to meet me in a public safety pairing room.

3. On top of number two, restrain yourself. If you do anything extra, be ready to be sued.

4. This will be a temporary mark. I will erase it after this single instance. Please understand.

5. Do not ask my name or job. Do not ask about my life.

6. I can pay you a marking fee. We can sign a contract.

…

In total 20 points, covering every angle. He was clear-headed and careful. Yet it was too hard. Number two alone would offend most Alphas. The public safety room was used for temporary marking. AO were separated by an iron door with a hole. The Omega only needed to bare the nape to be marked briefly. You could even avoid seeing each other. It prevented out-of-control violence or coercion. It had become an industry. Some Alphas with overflowing pheromones made money marking, even though each session drained both parties.

Number four was another slap. Over five temporary marks and AO built involuntary dependence. Marking was an Alpha’s display of strength and desire. Mark once and erase once. That was trampling dignity. What Alpha would be willing when an Omega disliked him this much?

Gu Xi did not hide that he wanted a tool. He was clean about it and no deception. One willing to hit, one willing to take. That was the subtext.

Rong Jing did not interrupt. He only hurt more for him. Without those earlier horrors, would Gu Xi be this sensitive? If only he had crossed over earlier.

He did not notice how he had gone from rejecting this world, to blending into it, to taking the initiative.

The Alpha did not wait for the end. He stood up furious, teeth grinding. “You think you are all that? I am out. Goodbye.” He did not act because there were guards.

First fail, under minutes. Staff gently suggested removing a few terms. Most Alphas would be scared off.

Gu Xi did not budge. “I am forcing no one. If he is willing, I am willing. If not, do not force it.”

The worker had nothing to say. It made sense.

On it went. The second Alpha did not finish listening either. “Do you Omegas think you are some rare treasure?” The third said, “Play by yourself.”

One said he agreed to all except the safety room. He wanted to see Gu Xi’s face first. If he looked good enough they could talk.

Gu Xi hit red.

The conditions were too discouraging. Thus, rejections were expected. He did not stop. It was like he wanted to finish all in one shot. Rong Jing frowned, seeing Gu Xi was too anxious. Not his usual poise. He was a string drawn to breaking.

The ninth entered on a wheelchair. Pale, in elegant white, fine-boned, almost more beautiful than many Omegas, with an artist’s drift in his bearing. He asked the attendant to wheel him in. At first sight, Gu Xi went white.

Rong Jing did not know who he was. He had read the book but would not label a passerby. Gu Xi stood and stabbed the red button. The man had not even come close.

He had not expected to be refused on the threshold. The attendant looked sorry. The man’s smile was warm. He said he was used to it since the accident. The room stirred with pity. Though he was disabled, his looks and aura were so compelling. How hard-hearted to refuse him without a word.

Gu Xi watched Xu Juelian leave with a blank face. He remembered the thoughts he had overheard that day.

“Do you know him?” Rong Jing asked.

“Yes,” Gu Xi said flatly. He did not want to talk. “It is an act.”

Rejections continued until a sunny boy came in and Gu Xi’s expression changed again. The kid had only just turned eighteen. Straight black hair, a touch of baby fat, painfully cute.

Gu Xi slammed red. So fast, so many times it was like he feared being too slow. The attendant hurried to pull his hand away. One press was enough.

He kept shaking his head. His eyes were empty. He had vanished from public view for three years. At the start he had been locked in a villa. And this sunny boy with the pure face had been the one. He posed as an investor’s younger brother and lured him into a car. What came after… He had not been seen again until Wu Hanqi rescued him and sent the boy to a sanatorium.

The boy’s name was Chu Yang. His family had deep roots in the harbor city. He had been underage. Protected by law. Even Wu Hanqi had no better way. He had told Gu Xi to let it go.

A sanatorium should have held him a year. Why was he out? Did his family pull strings?

Rejected at the door, Chu Yang threw a fit, kicking and demanding to see the Omega who had refused him. The guard stopped him and said this Omega had rejected more than ten and even one who had not spoken. That cooled him a bit. Before leaving he pressed close to the glass, beaming. “Brother, change your mind and contact me. Yangyang will wait for you.” He slapped a card to the glass. It fell with a snap.

Gu Xi’s fist tightened. “You do not deserve it,” he said, each word hard. Rotten to the bone. Unworthy of any Omega.

He would rather suffer than match any of them. Tears burned under his eyes, but he swallowed them back. He did not forget Rong Jing was here.

The center had thought so many matches would yield one. The upper levels watched this case. As a public body they hoped to encourage Omegas by showing the system worked.

There were more Alphas to see, but apparently Gu Xi could not stand it and refused to continue. Rong Jing saw it too. He watched him sit on a sofa, arms crossed. From the psychology books, that was a defensive posture.

He fetched a cup of hot water and put it in Gu Xi’s hands. The warmth calmed him a little but did not look up. “Sorry to waste your time. I do not want to match anymore.”

Rong Jing crouched and pulled a blanket over his knees. “Then do not. I am very free. It is nothing. Shall we go home?”

From below, his tone made Gu Xi feel equally seen. He hummed and apologized again.

Rong Jing had never pitied a man. In his mind men should carry themselves, but for Gu Xi he broke rule after rule. He pitied him for real.

He thought about the two spikes earlier and the speed of those red presses. Those two had to be special. One looked like a romantic painter and was almost too fine. The other was a fresh youth. Both had a common trait. Stunning. Good enough to debut. One had a wheelchair. 

The wheelchair... 

In the original, there had been a wheelchair attacker with that exact look. He had stayed hidden until much later, when Gu Xi finally uncovered him. That would make him one of the five, Xu Juelian, the so-called romantic master of oils. Mysterious, brilliant, and deeply coded into the plot. His storyline had always been hazy, but there was something important buried in it.

As original attackers, all five had been a perfect match for Gu Xi. Which meant: if the matches were determined by compatibility, all five were here.

Wu Fuyu. Xu Juelian. Chu Yang.
Wu Fuyu had yet to appear.
Xie Jisheng was still in detention.
Ji Jiongjie’s social media showed him on business in the harbor.

Two were out. Three had shown up.

Then there was the wildcard: Wu Hanqi. A Beta who had never expressed any interest in Gu Xi, at least not openly. Readers had called him "6X", the sixth man in the shadows, unpredictable and unreadable.

Rong Jing approached a staff member and asked, “Did two of the scheduled matches cancel? One should be in the harbor. Both had agreed to match, though.”

She glanced at the sheet and blinked. “Yes. That’s right. How did you know?”

Just as he’d suspected, all five of Gu Xi’s scumbag matches were perfect compatibility hits.

“I choose not to match,” Gu Xi told them when they asked again. The center staff were sorry. For an SSS pheromone this was a waste. “If you refuse, we need you to sign a voluntary waiver and we will notify the remaining Alphas. Are you sure? If you refuse once, you must wait a year to try again.” 

He answered cleanly. “I am sure.” He would not need a year. It would all be over.

Rong Jing knew the look. The same as in the rain. Do not approach. He had sunk into his own world.

“Let me fill it,” Rong Jing said. The worker saw Gu Xi’s state. He was a big star and had recently been victim to a break-in by an Alpha. They understood and led Rong Jing to a desk.

“Use this template,” she said. “Please persuade your friend later. Omegas should not keep hitting inhibitors during episodes. Side effects are big. Over time the body breaks. His pheromone is SSS. Without an Alpha to help him he will hurt so badly he will doubt life. The older he gets the worse it will be.”

“Ordinary Omegas do not hurt?” he asked.

“Less. The higher the grade, the more trouble. You can look it up.”

“I see.”

As he wrote he glanced at Gu Xi’s application number. It looked familiar.

Where had he seen it? He pulled up the center’s text. A user numbered 32908477xxxxxx had an over-eighty match. Would he like to connect? He had tapped reject. He compared digits line by line.

His phone slipped from his hand to the floor.

The numbers matched. Stones dropped into a still lake. Ripples spread.

“Please,” he said. “Schedule one more.”

---

Gu Xi thought he had crawled out of the demon’s cave. It had been an illusion. The monsters were still gnawing, trying to drag him down. As the session ended, staff drifted away. He was alone. Curled up. His breath felt cold. A chill climbed from his soles and froze his thoughts.

He did not know how long had passed when a staffer came to say that an Alpha who had rejected had changed his mind. He had arrived and was waiting.

The rejection. Right. There had been one. No Alpha ever refused. He had remembered that oddity.

“Thank you. Turn them all down,” Gu Xi said, head bowed. He did not want anyone to see this fragility. He wanted to look steady before Rong Jing came back.

“The match rate is 99.9999.”

Heaven-match. So rare that it made the news, drawing crowds online. People liked to say two pheromones that fit meant many joys together. Gu Xi did not want joy. He did not want to look.

“There is no law that says a heaven match must be accepted,” he said. Biology was biology. No one could force him.

He had already wanted to quit when he saw Xu Juelian, then Chu Yang on top of that. He would not be surprised by anyone else. He did not expect anything. Pheromone matching meant nothing. Biology did not mean the heart would fit.

“Of course it is voluntary,” the worker said sweetly. “All forced matching is feudal junk.”

Her answer tugged a crooked smile from him. “Sorry for the trouble.”

“Not at all. It is our job. And maybe there will be a turn for the better.” She sounded like she meant something.

Gu Xi shook his head. What he wanted was out of reach.

The guards took their places again. The door opened.

Gu Xi put his hand on the red button. He would press the instant the man appeared. He did not want to spend another second here.

His finger touched the smooth surface. A pair of familiar sneakers crossed the threshold. His gaze froze.

He stared, unable to blink, afraid that if he did the person would vanish.

The shoes were familiar. The long legs. The hoodie.

Everything around him drained to black and white. Only that person carried color, walking toward him one step at a time.

Thump. Thump thump. Thump thump thump.

His heart pounded, trying to leap from his chest.

He watched Rong Jing come nearer, one step, then another.

Every step was a dance on the tip of his heart.

---

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