Fouls Prohibited

It would be better if the layer of window paper was not pierced [1], but since it was pierced, the atmosphere immediately became ambiguous and strange.

Ye Ci lowered his head, squeezed the zipper pull of his sportswear, and pulled it down. The movement was painfully slow, the zipper teeth releasing one by one. Blood rushed to his face and painted it red.

Because he didn’t dare to look up, Huo Tinglan stared at him almost recklessly, like a falcon locking onto its prey. It wasn’t until Ye Ci’s shame reached a critical point and his fists loosened and clenched as if he was about to beat someone, that Huo Tinglan restrained his wicked foolishness and said:  “Hold on.”

Ye Ci’s eyes trembled, and he raised his head as if he had been rescued.

Huo Tinglan had returned to his usual gentle and prudent demeanor, feigning magnanimity, and asked softly: “Is there something like a throw pillow? Those can possibly be used.”

“There, there are throw pillows.” Ye Ci nodded hurriedly.

He had the habit of holding something to sleep, but he had been so panicked that he didn’t remember. Afraid that Huo Tinglan would regret it, he rushed back to the bedroom to get a pillow and hand it over. He lowered his eyes the whole time, not daring to look at Huo Tinglan’s face.

He thought this calamity was over, but when he was about to go out, Huo Tinglan stopped him again and told him euphemistically to come back early from school.

After all, a throw pillow couldn’t hold a lot of pheromones.

At night, he still needed Ye Ci’s help.

Ye Ci was so embarrassed that he was dizzy, and he barely remembered how he got out the door of the Huo residence.

This morning was so hard to bear.

If Huo Tinglan was as bad as he’d thought, and attempted to use treatment as an excuse to do something beyond the norm, the situation would have been easier. He was not afraid of confrontation with people.

But Huo Tinglan was really upright, restrained and polite, and strictly abided by the rules. The more he was like this, the more at a loss Ye Ci was. His emotions were held inside without an outlet, causing him to turn red from his hair to the soles of his feet.

He had been in a daze all day, and before he knew it, evening self-study was over and he had to go back.

In the inner courtyard of the Huo residence, Ye Ci was walking along the tree-lined path with his school bag on his back.

He had to treat Huo Tinglan, as he had agreed that morning.

However, his psychological cognition was still that of an Alpha, and if another Alpha pressed against the back of his neck to smell the glands . . . . 

“. . . . . .”

Ye Ci had to punch a tree.

The pain in his hand calmed him down.

In any case, he would have to help sooner or later. If you were going to die anyway, it was better to fight. It was better to be straightforward than to dawdle . . . .

Ye Ci clenched his fists, his heart in chaos, and was about to return to the main building of the Huo residence. When he looked up, he saw Huo Tinglan standing a few steps away and looking at him.

His shirt collar was unbuttoned, and he could see the undulating lines of his chest muscles. The tendons in his neck stood out clearly, and the hair over his forehead fell messily across the ridge of his brow. His pupils were dark, handsome and somber, and five fingers clamped on to a ravaged and wrinkled throw pillow . . . . obviously, his torment on this day was not light.

Alphas approaching their susceptible period would gradually become violent and jealous under the catalyst of pheromones, paranoid and clingy. They would show an outrageous and unbearable urge to monopolize, along with a morbid craving for a high-match Omega, and not be their usual self. With the official start of the susceptible period, these negative emotions would also reach their peak. The higher the Alpha’s level, the more obvious these personality changes were during the susceptible period . . . .

But Huo Tinglan’s had obviously not started yet.

It was just in the early stages, and the symptoms were already so serious?

It was no wonder that some A+ Alphas were so tormented that they abused themselves during their susceptible period . . . .

Ye Ci was startled and took a step back in a conditioned reflex.

“Pardon me, I came out to get some air.” Huo Tinglan hooked his collar. “Did I scare you?”

His eyes were still calm.

However, it was not the same as his usual composure. At this moment, Huo Tinglan seemed to be trying his best to hold something back.

Like viscous lava flowing under a slab of rock, the seemingly cold and hard obsidian had long been burned to the point of melting. That high temperature came from the illogical possessiveness of an Alpha’s susceptible period, and the fiery . . . . lust.

Ye Ci’s heart skipped a beat, and his eyes widened. He wanted to take a closer look, but Huo Tinglan had returned to normal and was looking at him calmly with a pair of black eyes. The burning, thirsty eyes just now seemed to be Ye Ci’s fleeting illusion.

Ye Ci was startled, shook his head, and murmured, “I’m not scared.”

Huo Tinglan smiled gently, as if to make up for something, and there was even a bit of relief on his face. “You came back early today.”

“. . . . En.”

Huo Tinglan slowly confirmed the reason: “Is it because I asked you this morning or because racing isn’t fun?”

Even in an outdoor environment, Huo Tinglan’s pheromone concentration was still unprecedentedly high. Ye Ci held his breath and only opened his mouth a little as he muttered, “Because, because in the morning . . . . you asked.”

Huo Tinglan rubbed the soft, dry cloth of the pillow with his fingertips, stared at Ye Ci for two seconds with his handsome face half hidden in the dim shadow of a tree, and asked softly, “So, can I assume that you are mentally prepared to treat me?”

Ye Ci’s breath was shaking, and he was silent for a while before making a vague “En.”

It was already dark at this time, but the courtyard lights emitted warm yellow halos and there were servants passing by not far away. 

“Is it okay to do it here?” Huo Tinglan asked his opinion, like a patient hunter.

Compared to a closed room, a garden could obviously make Ye Ci feel more secure.

And a sense of security would mean relaxing his guard.

Ye Ci tried his best to put on a cold and indifferent face, and nodded casually.

“Then we’ll do it here.” Huo Tinglan still stood unmoving in his original place. “Will you actively release pheromones?”

“What?” Ye Ci raised his eyes, looking confused. “No, I can’t.”

How long had he been an Omega? His glands weren’t well developed, how could he do this . . . .

Huo Tinglan was silent for a while, giving Ye Ci space to breathe.

Like holding a slippery, timid little silver fish, the tighter you held it, the faster the fish would escape your hands.

He had to hold him neither loosely nor tightly, to avoid startling him and also prevent him from running.

After a while, Huo Tinglan said slowly: “Then I might need to be closer to you.”

Ye Ci slowed down a bit and forced himself to keep cool: “Whatever.”

Huo Tinglan took a few steps closer, walked around behind Ye Ci, and reminded him: “The barrier patch needs to be removed.”

“Oh.” Ye Ci’s hands trembled violently. Fearing that he would be found out, he said firmly, “You tear it.”

The barrier patch had been pasted on for several hours, and the corners had lost their stickiness, curling slightly. Huo Tinglan pinched it with his fingertips, carefully not touching Ye Ci, tore off the barrier patch, and held it in the palm of his hand. 

The moist, slightly warm sweat mixed with Omega pheromones penetrated into the lines of his palm, and Huo Tinglan’s eyes moved nervously.

Ye Ci’s neck had been stimulated by Alpha pheromones to become pink, and was covered in a thin sheen of sweat. The moment the barrier patch was removed, the scent of sweet, sticky, creamy vanilla spread out suddenly, and the comfort brought by the absolute match at the genetic level was like warm spring water. It wrapped around Huo Tinglan’s violent, manic nerves and painfully twitching blood vessels, and in an instant, those torturous symptoms disappered as if they had never existed . . . .

Sweet, happy vanilla.

It was the smell that had soothed him repeatedly in his previous life.

So familiar.

It made him yearn so much.

Huo Tinglan’s breathing suddenly became heavy, and the light blue blood vessels protruding from his temples were accompanied by the violent beating of his heart. Like someone on the verge of drowning breaking through the water’s surface, he panted eagerly. Shaking slightly, he leaned down, and the distance between him and Ye Ci immediately narrowed.

The hot, rough breath was repeatedly sprayed on the back of his neck. As if a salivating tiger had climbed onto his back, whether his bones would be ripped out to suck the marrow or if he would be eaten into its belly depended on whether the tiger still had a conscience.

Ye Ci suddenly went numb from his spine to the top of his skull. His skin was sore and itchy from the highly aggressive A+ pheromones, and from head to foot, the fine hairs on his body all stood up in horror.

“Wait . . . .” Ye Ci couldn’t stand it anymore. He took a step forward and instinctively wanted to run.

Huo Tinglan tried his best to regain his sanity and avoid scaring Ye Ci away.

He stretched out his arms to grasp the tree in front of Ye Ci, confining that person within the circle of his arms. His Adam’s apple trembled and his voice was hoarse as he almost shamelessly coaxed his young lover: “Don’t be afraid . . . . it’s just treatment . . . . don’t move . . . .”

Their limbs didn’t really touch, but they were too close. The Alpha’s muscles were hard and hot, burning his back like red-hot charcoal, and Ye Ci’s head and face were flushed. He’d thought he could grit his teeth and endure it, but it turned out that he couldn’t. His willpower and his resistance to another Alpha twisted against each other, grinding together with a tooth-aching metallic sound, and the battle between the two forces reached a critical point. Sparks shot out, and the ambiguous breath between the two bodies was detonated with a bang . . . without warning, Ye Ci jumped up like a wild cat.

The back of his head seemed to have hit something, making Huo Tinglan groan, but Ye Ci couldn’t care about anything. With his face so hot that he was almost cooked through, he disappeared without a trace.

The garden was quiet again except for the night wind.

The front of his shirt was stained with a few drops of blood. Huo Tinglan took out a silk handkerchief and folded it in half calmly.

He immediately used the silk handkerchief to cover his nose, which was hurt by that little head. He was obviously injured, but as if he had gotten a bargain, he gave a low smile.

. . . . . .

Huo Tinglan’s alpha glands, which had suffered from illness for many years, were highly sensitive to Ye Ci’s pheromones. Just a couple of sniffs up close, and the effects lasted for hours. He did not suffer from his various symptoms all the way through bedtime.

He leisurely leaned on the bed and flipped through a few less important documents. The screen of his mobile phone remained on, showing Ye Ci’s WeChat interface.

He was curious how long Ye Ci would maintain the state of “The other party is typing . . . .” this time.

Ye Ci really lived up to his expectations, and operated to no avail for more than 20 minutes.

Huo Tinglan sighed with a smile. After going back and forth between the choice of teasing the little gentleman or being chivalrous, he finally decided to maintain his current good image.

He took the phone and typed a few words to help Ye Ci open up the conversation.

[Huo Tinglan]: I’m not angry. Rest early after finishing your homework.

Perhaps he was finally relieved, because the reply came quickly.

[Ye Ci]: Sorry, did I bump into you?

[Huo Tinglan]: En.

[Ye Ci]: Where did it hit?

Another one followed.

[Ye Ci]: Are you hurt?

[Huo Tinglan]: The nose.

Huo Tinglan first responded to the previous query. Immediately, he stroked the bridge of his nose, savoring Ye Ci’s unintentionally revealed urgent concern, and thought.

After pondering for a while, he deleted “it’s not damaged,” smiled, and retyped three words.

[Huo Tinglan]: It’s bruised.

Ye Ci was silent for a while.

There was not even a “typing.”

Was he . . . . cruelly teasing him?

After getting no response for a long time, Huo Tinglan tapped the screen with his fingertips, intending to say something to give Ye Ci a way out, and opened the page.

But at this moment, a series of footsteps suddenly sounded in the corridor outside his bedroom. Cautious, the steps were lighter than those of a kitten, and normal people should not be able to hear it. However, as a top-level Alpha, Huo Tinglan’s hearing was so good that he could hear the rustling sounds clearly.

That person lingered in the hallway, stopped for a few seconds in front of the door, and ran away.

Back and forth, as if testing someone.

When this was repeated for the third time, Huo Tinglan finally couldn’t hold back the itch in his heart like sprawling spring grass. He took a deep breath, walked to the door, and took the initiative to open it.

The door opened without warning, frightening Ye Ci, who was almost standing against the door panel. Like a stressed cat, he almost gave Huo Tinglan a hard punch.

“Why are you here?” Huo Tinglan raised his eyebrows, pretending to be surprised.

“To give you, to give . . . .” Ye Ci glanced at the bridge of Huo Tinglan’s nose. He swallowed the second half of the sentence suspiciously, and only shook the ice back and trauma spray in his hand.

The ice pack and spray were prescribed by Huo Tinglan’s personal doctor when he injured his ankle last time. The spray was very easy to use, and the pain would go away after a while. Seeing as there was half a can left, he brought it. If he had a choice, he wouldn’t want to come even under pain of being beaten to death, but Huo Tinglan’s nose had been bruised by him. He had to be responsible, hmm, for hurting it . . . .

The question was . . . . where was his nose bruised?

In an instant, Ye Ci, the “perpetrator,” had a few heartless speculations flash through his mind.

The author has something to say:

His speculations were all right.

Dog Huo: No bruises, but it’s fractured QAQ

[1] Piercing the window paper refers to shedding light on a subject or bringing it out into the open. ⮐