SCOM - Chapter 26
Chapter 26
A low, smiling voice drifted into his ears on the early autumn breeze, like a small hook gently scratching at the tip of his heart.
Ji Yuezhi, with his back to Zuo Luohuan, felt his eyelashes tremble instinctively. He curled his fingertips into his palm and created some distance between them before speaking, "They've left."
"You should get some rest too." Zuo Luohuan tapped her optical computer, noting the late hour. "See you tomorrow."
Ji Yuezhi wanted to reply, but before he could get the words out, Zuo Luohuan had already turned crisply, leaving only her back for him to see.
It was always like this. For so many years, he could only ever watch her back, as if the distance between them could never be closed.
Ji Yuezhi lowered his gaze and turned away, his bangs falling across his forehead. He should be content. Now, she would say 'see you tomorrow' to him.
On Monday, the school released the list for the Federal Military Academy exercise first thing in the morning: Zuo Luohuan, Ji Yuezhi, Jiang Hong, Guan Xue, Qian Mao, Yan Yan, and Ding Wuming.
Of the seven, five were sophomores and two were freshmen.
Along with the list came a training schedule. The instructors had barely rested, working through the night to arrange it. They sent the schedule to the seven students, informing them they would have extra training together in the evenings and on weekends.
When Zuo Luohuan woke up and turned on her optical computer, she saw the packed training schedule. Fortunately, they only had to train for a little over half a month before the military academy exercise.
She turned off her optical computer, opened her closet, and stood there for a long time. Finally, she turned to grab the jacket she had washed last night. The new jacket was indeed the exact same size as the old one.
But trading an old one for a new one, no matter how you looked at it... she was the one who had gotten the better end of the deal.
Today, Zuo Luohuan only had one elective class in the starship department building, so it was a light day. However, at 7:30 in the evening, their joint training would begin.
The first day of joint training was a pheromone resistance class. Since it didn't require physical activity, Qian Mao, who was still recovering from his injuries, was forcibly carried over for the session.
When the others arrived, they saw Qian Mao lying half-dead on a mobile cart, hooked up to an IV drip for nutrition.
"Brother, stay strong!" Jiang Hong patted Qian Mao's shoulder and gave him a thumbs-up in praise.
Qian Mao: "..." He didn't want to be strong; he just wanted to die.
"Good evening. Today's class doesn't require much skill. You'll simply be staying indoors for two hours." A man named Bai Feng was the only instructor present. He looked at the seven students. "Alphas and Omegas, split into two teams."
Guan Xue raised her hand. "Instructor, what about Betas?"
Bai Feng pondered for a moment. "As for the Beta, it's up to you. You can join the Omega team or the Alpha team."
"Is it that casual?" Guan Xue felt like she was being discriminated against.
Bai Feng suddenly tilted his head as if someone was speaking to him remotely. A minute later, he changed his mind. "The Beta will be a separate team. A total of three teams."
The Alphas were the most numerous, with Zuo Luohuan, Jiang Hong, Yan Yan, and Ding Wuming. The remaining two, Ji Yuezhi and Qian Mao, were Omegas, and Guan Xue was the only Beta.
They split into three teams and entered three rooms. The rooms were empty, with nothing inside but several vents.
As soon as they entered, Jiang Hong sat on the floor, looked up at Zuo Luohuan, and said, "Are they going to release pheromones? To be honest, this won't have much effect on you, right?"
Zuo Luohuan also sat down. "Probably."
All four Alphas sat against the wall. Before long, several vents simultaneously released Omega pheromones, filling the air with an alluring and seductive scent.
"Pheromones from an S-class Omega." Jiang Hong sniffed the air and looked at Yan Yan, who was already blushing. "Hey, freshman, don't tell me you've never done this kind of pheromone resistance training before?"
Yan Yan covered his nose, his voice muffled. "I haven't."
He wasn't used to such a high concentration of Omega pheromones and was struggling to fight his instinctive reaction. Ding Wuming, next to him, was only slightly better off.
"You can try to focus your mind on something else, think about other things," Jiang Hong kindly advised.
Beside them, Zuo Luohuan had her eyes closed and remained silent. She always scored well in pheromone resistance training, but she never liked having someone else's pheromones invade her personal space.
Whether Alpha or Omega, their pheromones were all... unpleasant.
In the other room, where Alpha pheromones were being released, Qian Mao was lying down while Ji Yuezhi stood in a corner.
"Um, Classmate Ji..." Qian Mao struggled to lift his head. "Could you... help me pull this cart a bit further away? The vent is blowing right in my face, it's... uncomfortable!"
For a patient still running a fever to endure such terrible torture, it was simply horrifying!
Qian Mao couldn't help but shed a tear of sorrow for himself in his heart.
Ji Yuezhi stepped forward, pulled him to the middle of the room, and then returned to his corner. It was a partial blind spot for the surveillance camera, which could only capture his lower body.
Alpha pheromones always carried a raw, unreasonable oppression. For Omegas, they were a potent aphrodisiac, causing their legs to weaken and their bodies to heat up.
The Alpha pheromones released in the room had a dry, woody scent, thick and long-lasting. Over time, it would become pungent.
Lying on the mobile cart, Qian Mao whimpered with a look of utter despair, "Help! Help! I feel like I'm about to go into heat, boohoohoohoo."
"Have we met before?" Ji Yuezhi suddenly asked.
Qian Mao was instantly like a duck with its throat squeezed. "N-No, I don't think so."
"You were the one handing out flyers at the school gate at the start of the term." Ji Yuezhi had already remembered.
Qian Mao: "...Haha, Classmate Ji, you have a great memory!"
They had to stay in the room filled with high-concentration pheromones for a full two hours. It was bound to be unpleasant for everyone, except for Guan Xue, who was alone in her room. Her room had both Alpha and Omega pheromones released simultaneously, but her situation was much better; she basically felt nothing from the scents.
Ji Yuezhi disliked the pheromones in the room. It wasn't that he couldn't resist them; he even felt they weren't potent enough to truly tempt him. He simply didn't like them.
He slowly buried his face in the collar of his jacket, sniffing the faint, lingering scent.
When he returned last night, he had found bloodstains on the jacket, so he washed it. After drying, there wasn't much of her scent left on it; you couldn't smell it unless you were very close.
As for the tear on the sleeve, when he went to buy a new uniform yesterday, he had the staff in the clothing department mend it for him. The repair was almost invisible.
After seeing the training schedule this morning, he had spontaneously decided to wear her jacket.
The faint, light scent made Ji Yuezhi feel as if he were in a vast expanse of ice and snow. He didn't feel cold, only a sense of joy blooming in his heart.
This was her scent.
Ji Yuezhi leaned in the corner, his face buried in the jacket's collar, rubbing his cheek against it gently. The corners of his eyes gradually turned red. It wasn't enough. He wanted more of her pheromones.
This faint scent was like the song of a siren from the deep sea, reminding Ji Yuezhi over and over again. A secret temptation quietly arose in his heart, stirring his deepest desires.
Ji Yuezhi pressed his lips together, blinked his beautiful, misty eyes, and reached out a hand to press it against the wall.
She was in the room next door.
In the next room, Zuo Luohuan, who was sitting against the wall, also seemed to sense something. She turned her head to look at the wall behind her, and just as she was about to press her hand against it, someone suddenly shouted.
"Hey, freshman, take it easy." Jiang Hong scrambled to his feet and restrained Yan Yan's hands. "You're this rough even with yourself?"
This freshman was interesting. It was probably his first time encountering such a high concentration of high-grade Omega pheromones. Unable to control his impulses, he had actually started to self-harm.
"Not much longer, just twenty more minutes. Hang in there." Jiang Hong held Yan Yan down. "Don't let the pheromones control you."
Yan Yan's own pheromones had already leaked out, filling the room. With red eyes, he gritted his teeth and said, "This place is too strange!"
"You'll get used to it with more training." In truth, Jiang Hong was also very uncomfortable. The concentration of pheromones in the room was too high. Not everyone was a freak like Zuo Luohuan, who showed no reaction at all.
The longer it went on, the harder it was to endure. In the end, Yan Yan knocked himself unconscious.
"You're Ding Wuming, right? I remember you're also from the Disciplinary Committee." Jiang Hong turned his attention to the other freshman. "Your endurance is pretty good."
"These pheromones aren't that tempting to me," Ding Wuming said with a smile.
When the final twenty minutes passed, Bai Feng's voice echoed in all three rooms: 【Two hours are up. The pheromone release has stopped. You may all come out in ten minutes.】
The room's circulation system activated, quickly absorbing and clearing out all the pheromones, leaving only the occasional uncontrolled release from the people inside.
Ten minutes later, the doors to all three rooms opened.
"Freshman, wake up." Jiang Hong patted Yan Yan's face. "We should go."
"Make him retract his pheromones before you come out," Zuo Luohuan said, then got up and left the room.
As she came out, she ran right into Ji Yuezhi, who was emerging from the next room, still pushing Qian Mao.
"I'll push." Zuo Luohuan took over, looking down at Qian Mao, whose face was flushed red as he whimpered and struggled. She tutted, "So ugly."
Qian Mao: "???"
Hello? Verbally attacking a delicate, injured Omega?
Seeing Qian Mao's angry but helpless expression, Zuo Luohuan's foul mood from the unpleasant pheromones eased. Her gaze inadvertently swept over Ji Yuezhi beside her, and her hand on the cart paused slightly: his... the corners of his eyes were slightly red.
Just because of the unfamiliar Alpha pheromones inside?
The curve of Zuo Luohuan's lips disappeared without her noticing. She silently pushed Qian Mao to stand before Instructor Bai Feng.
Ji Yuezhi gradually fell behind, his eyes fixed on Zuo Luohuan's back. Having just been tempted by her pheromones, and now being so close to her again, even his fingers felt weak.
Fortunately, everyone else was also in a poor state, which helped to conceal his abnormality.
"The two-hour pheromone resistance class ends here." Bai Feng glanced at the students lined up. "A few of you didn't perform well. If it's the same next week, I'll add extra time as a penalty. Alright, that's all. Dismissed. Remember to be on time for class tomorrow evening."
Zuo Luohuan was the first to walk straight out, leaving everyone behind.
Jiang Hong commented from behind, "Every time she's covered in pheromones, her temper gets bad. Don't contact her tonight unless it's important."
"Senior, we don't have Senior Zuo's contact number yet," Ding Wuming said, supporting Yan Yan.
"Just a heads-up. This kind of situation will definitely happen again in the future," Jiang Hong said seriously.
Ji Yuezhi wasn't walking fast, but he had already left through the main door without chatting with the others.
"Isn't that..." Guan Xue, who had almost fallen asleep in her room, was now pushing Qian Mao. She rubbed her eyes, staring at Ji Yuezhi's disappearing back, wondering if she had seen wrong.
Why was there a small, teardrop-shaped burn mark on the back of Ji Yuezhi's jacket?
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