Determining whether Chi Junyan was intersex would be simple. This was the age of data; his medical history would provide the answer.
Or there was no need for that trouble. A hospital examination would make everything clear.
But an examination required cooperation. Shao Siyan also found it absurd to drag someone to a hospital for an examination of his sexual organs based on a rumor, so he did not pursue confirmation and merely retained the suspicion.
Even if Chi Junyan were intersex, he possessed no external female organs. That meant any female organs were closed off internally.
What was there to fear?
Having just learned that this world’s contraceptive medicine could alter his hormones and turn him into a woman, Chi Junyan immediately abandoned his plan to secretly buy more.
In his original world, even female Omegas did not possess estrogen alone.
If he had been a female Omega, it would have mattered little. His appearance would not change significantly, and fully becoming a woman by this world’s standards might even help him integrate.
But he was a male Omega.
If his hormones became female, his appearance would change accordingly.
Chi Junyan secretly searched for sex-reassignment surgery. The animated images frightened even a military operative like him, who had served on the front lines and matched wits with enemy spies.
They would cut that thing off?
He shuddered and hurriedly tried to close the page. His hand slipped, and instead of closing it, he activated the sound.
Shao Siyan looked over in confusion and saw a three-dimensional animation of a scalpel cutting apart male anatomy.
Shao Siyan: …
“Mm.”
Seeing Chi Junyan clamp his legs together, Shao Siyan believed him.
Clearly, it had frightened him.
After that day, Chi Junyan never requested contraceptive pills again, but he remained worried.
Shao Siyan never used any other protection.
Each time, Chi Junyan attempted to stand firm and insist that he use it. Each time, he failed.
Moreover, by the end, Chi Junyan became the one unwilling for it to stop.
He increasingly wondered whether something had been wrong with his former lessons.
What was this claim that “If a guide Omega does not find a compatible sentinel Alpha, his mating heat cannot be satisfied, damaging his health in mild cases and even threatening his life in severe ones”?
He was thoroughly satisfied every time with Shao Siyan.
Shao Siyan could sometimes be rough, but unexpectedly, Chi Junyan liked it and adapted well.
As for damage to his health…
He attempted to release his mental tendrils.
Hmm.
When he first arrived, his mental-world rampage had weakened him until only three or five thin, soft tendrils remained, unable even to stand upright. Now his mental world had been successfully rebuilt.
Every tendril had returned to its strongest state and could move at will—except when he was with Shao Siyan.
For some unknown reason, they were extraordinarily attached to the man. Whenever Chi Junyan was near him, they wrapped around his head unless he deliberately restrained them.
Yet Shao Siyan’s magnificent mental world, which Chi Junyan had once sensed during their union, never appeared before him again.
To investigate, he had never refused Shao Siyan’s requests.
But several days had passed, and he still could not reenter that mysterious, compelling place.
What condition had changed?
After eliminating most possibilities, Chi Junyan reluctantly realized that he might be able to enter only when his reproductive cavity was open.
An adult guide Omega entered mating heat once every six months.
So to determine whether Shao Siyan was a potential sentinel Alpha, he had to remain beside him for half a year?
Secretary Zhuang happened to enter for water and asked, “What’s wrong, Assistant Chi? A headache? I have medicine in my office. Should I bring you some?”
Secretary Zhuang was curious. “What is it?”
If anyone in the company inspired his admiration, Wen Yu once had, and Chi Junyan did now.
Wen Yu hardly required explanation. Foolishly believing he was dating Shao Siyan, he had performed a series of bizarre stunts, successfully been dismissed, and then been blacklisted throughout the industry, preventing him from holding a comparable position again. His prospects were bleak.
Secretary Zhuang admired the fact that such an idiot still existed in modern times.
Secretary Zhuang was among the few who knew his background.
Someone educated only through middle school could serve as a personal assistant without difficulty.
He merely needed to know how to attend to people.
But Chi Junyan did far more than a personal assistant’s work.
Shao Siyan was bold yet meticulous. After Chi Junyan successfully organized the office bookcase, he assigned him tasks involving documents and data.
Remarkably, Chi Junyan performed them well.
Whenever Secretary Zhuang coordinated with him, everything was methodical.
Even with unfamiliar material, a brief explanation from experienced colleagues allowed him to understand the essentials and handle it systematically.
He absorbed knowledge like a sponge. Within days, he had mastered nearly every assigned duty and even begun learning new responsibilities.
Offices generally liked intelligent, studious juniors.
They disliked people who lacked ability but occupied desirable positions through connections.
His exceptional appearance even earned him greater tolerance.
Chi Junyan happened to have a work matter he did not fully understand and used it as an excuse. As expected, Secretary Zhuang stopped asking.
Discussing work, they left the break room and walked toward the office area.
After only a few steps, Chi Junyan stopped and looked ahead.
Secretary Zhuang, who had been speaking without pause, finally noticed Shao Siyan standing nearby in the corridor and staring at them.
Headquarters did not exploit its staff and allowed ample time to relax over coffee, but few salaried employees could leisurely continue under the boss’s stare.
Secretary Zhuang signaled Chi Junyan and hurried forward. “President Shao, what do you need?”
Shao Siyan glanced coolly at him. “Coffee turns bitter when it cools.”
The boss’s senses remained astonishingly sharp. Relaxing, Secretary Zhuang smiled. “I was discussing work with Assistant Chi and forgot to drink it.”
He did not mind the slight bitterness of lukewarm coffee and took a sip. “I’ll return to work.”
Shao Siyan hummed. Once he had gone, he turned. Chi Junyan already stood half a step behind him, eyes lowered respectfully. “President Shao.”
Comparing him with Secretary Zhuang, Shao Siyan noticed a difference.
Secretary Zhuang received his salary and worked for him. He feared him slightly and treated him respectfully, but after years together, something resembling friendship also existed.
Chi Junyan slept in Shao Siyan’s arms every night, clung more tightly than an octopus, and cried out wantonly. Yet outside bed, he appeared even more passionless than his employer.
Watching him stand obediently and silently, his back straight, head lowered, and feet steady as though he could remain there until the end of time without complaint, Shao Siyan felt inexplicably irritated.
He waited. Chi Junyan neither looked up nor asked anything, resembling a rigid, boring puppet that moved only after receiving orders. A thought drifted into Shao Siyan’s mind.
He wanted to take him.
He wanted to take him fiercely in full public view.
He wanted to tear away that polite, dignified mask and show everyone that this obedient, quiet, modest young man was nothing more than a shameless creature who had traveled an enormous distance to offer himself and beg to be used.
Why pretend?
The sudden pressure surrounding Shao Siyan made Chi Junyan’s brow twitch.
He looked up in surprise, only for Shao Siyan’s gaze to pierce his heart with fear.
“President Shao?”
Shao Siyan narrowed his eyes. His thin lips moved, ready to release hurtful words and scrape away Chi Junyan’s impossibly thick mask.
But his overheated brain abruptly became cool and comfortable, while the nameless fire in his heart gradually diminished.
Shao Siyan: …
What had he intended to say?
No—he had plainly been about to suffer an episode. Without medicine, what had changed his state?
Could it be the person before him?
Shao Siyan was secretly startled.
The moment he sensed Shao Siyan’s abnormal emotions, instinct made him release his mental tendrils to organize the man’s mental world.
Only when they wrapped around Shao Siyan’s mind did he remember that this man was not a sentinel Alpha and should not respond to mental guidance. Before he could withdraw them, however, the image transmitted from their tips shocked him.
The scene vanished in a flash, but he had seen that magnificent, strange landscape again.
He had finally succeeded in seeing Shao Siyan’s mental world.
It lasted only an instant, but there could be no mistake.
Chi Junyan urgently wanted to determine whether his mental tendrils remained effective on other humans in this world, so he separated several and probed the nearest colleague.
The receptionist at the nearby secretarial desk was a suitable subject.
Unfortunately, no matter how he tested, the tendrils passed through her mind as though passing through empty air.
Neither side felt anything.
When he tried again, Shao Siyan’s voice sounded with restrained anger. “What are you looking at now?”
Chi Junyan abruptly returned to himself. Shao Siyan had already trapped him between his body and the wall, and oppressive pressure descended instantly.
He wore different cologne today. As anger raised his temperature, a strong pine-needle fragrance mixed with intense masculinity rushed toward Chi Junyan.
Dressed in a complete bespoke three-piece suit, Shao Siyan now resembled a perfect cold weapon: sharp and dangerous.
“I wasn’t looking…”
“Liar!” Shao Siyan interrupted. “You were clearly looking at someone else.”
With the man’s condition worsening, Chi Junyan dared not divide his attention. He recalled every mental tendril and gently wound them around Shao Siyan.
Almost unconsciously, he employed the soothing techniques learned at school. His voice became slower, lower, and softer. “You are the only person I can see.”
Author’s Note:
Happy Dragon Boat Festival!
