ABMSI Chapter 35
by Suxxi[Breaking News from the Front Lines!! The school heartthrob and the school bully temporarily marked each other!!]
[I swear, you should’ve seen it live—what a spectacle! Several Alphas straight-up got suppressed the moment they caught a whiff of the school heartthrob’s pheromones.]
[Jumping in to add: the school heartthrob’s scent is white pine!]
[Ahhhhh I can’t even describe it properly—it’s just so refined, way above anything I’ve ever smelled before! I’m in love!!]
[Careful up there, that’s a dangerous statement. Duan Wei warning issued.]
——
The forum had exploded like fireworks, but one of the subjects, Duan Wei, was staring idly out the window.
After sitting for a while, he finally felt his strength returning bit by bit—only for his stomach to grumble loudly at the worst possible time.
Gurgle.
“…”
During the outdoor cookout earlier, Duan Wei had been too focused on “pushing the plot forward,” so he hadn’t eaten properly. Then that whole scene happened at night, leaving his already empty stomach utterly bankrupt.
He glanced at Fu Duqiu, only to realize the other man was also staring at him.
Their eyes met unexpectedly, and Duan Wei flinched like a cat whose tail had just been stepped on. He instantly looked away, fixing his gaze back on the scenery outside the window.
A faint, awkward silence drifted through the air.
Duan Wei frowned in regret.
Tonight’s fiasco was a total loss—he hadn’t accomplished anything, and somehow ended up dragging himself into a mess. Now, not only was the romance route tangled beyond repair, even the main storyline was completely derailed.
He leaned against the window, racking his brain for a way to fix the narrative… when suddenly, a sealed can of porridge appeared before his eyes.
“Eat,” Fu Duqiu said, pulling open the tab with one hand.
Duan Wei shot him a look, trying to salvage a bit of dignity after losing so much face during that marking incident.
“I’m not hungry,” he said coolly.
Right then, his stomach growled again.
Duan Wei: “…”
Fu Duqiu chuckled quietly and shoved the porridge into his hands.
“Go on, eat. Otherwise, people will really think we’re in some enemies-to-lovers drama.”
“You—!” Duan Wei glared at him, furious and embarrassed, while Fu Duqiu remained calm and unbothered.
When Duan Wei glanced around, sure enough, everyone from Class 8 was subtly—well, not so subtly—watching them.
Their faces were lit up with expressions that could only be described as CP-shipping euphoria.
Even the female lead, Xu Jianian, was looking their way with an eager, almost expectant look.
Seeing that, Duan Wei restrained himself.
He knew all too well how fast rumors about him and Fu Duqiu spread at school.
After what happened down in that pit earlier, who knew how wild the next version would be.
He personally didn’t care, but he couldn’t afford to lose the heroine’s favorability points—otherwise, all his previous efforts would’ve been for nothing.
So, with a calm face, he accepted the porridge, scooped up a spoonful, and began eating slowly.
Maybe it was hunger, maybe it was exhaustion, but the taste of warm food quickly dissolved his earlier irritation. He focused entirely on the meal, almost forgetting his troubles.
Meanwhile, Fu Duqiu was quietly watching him.
He observed Duan Wei’s profile—the same hands that had been pinned under him earlier were now pale and clean, gently holding a small plastic spoon, bringing it to his lips one bite at a time.
The soft movement of his jaw made his cheeks puff slightly with each chew.
From that angle, he looked… unexpectedly cute.
Completely oblivious to this scrutiny, Duan Wei kept his head down, staring into the can of porridge, determined not to give the guy beside him even a glance.
But Fu Duqiu’s unwavering gaze didn’t go unnoticed by the rest of the class, whose collective excitement began to reach dangerous levels.
[What day is it today?? My CP is serving sugar nonstop!!!]
[That look in the school heartthrob’s eyes—tell me that’s not pure lover-boy gaze!!!]
Because it was already night, the bus drove slower than during the day. By the time they got back to the hotel, it was deep into the night.
At the entrance stood Old Qin, looking deeply worried.
When he finally saw the bus approaching, he rushed forward and asked anxiously, “What happened? Why are you all back so late?”
Tour guide Zhu Fan got off first, his face weary after a long day. With an apologetic tone, he said, “There was an unexpected incident. A few students fell into a pit on the mountain… and one Omega went into heat.”
“What??” Old Qin’s voice shot up eight octaves.
He quickly scanned the students filing off the bus.
“Who went into heat?” he demanded.
Old Qin’s shout was loud enough to wake the dead.
Duan Wei, utterly speechless, dragged himself off the bus like a ghost and muttered weakly, “Me.”
“Duan Wei?!”
Clearly, the fact that he had gone into heat shocked Old Qin far more than the students falling into a pit. It took him a good few seconds to recover, and just then he caught a faint trace of Alpha pheromones on Duan Wei.
“You’re…?” he began hesitantly.
Before he could finish, Duan Wei raised a hand to stop him, then pointed toward the man standing behind him.
“Ask him,” he said flatly.
And with that, he slung his bag over his shoulder and walked straight into the hotel.
He’d barely taken a few steps when he heard Fu Duqiu and Old Qin talking behind him. The conversation wasn’t loud, but in the quiet of the night, every word rang out crystal clear.
“What? You marked him?”
“Yes, Teacher Qin.”
“He didn’t force you, did he?? Poor child, you must’ve suffered… sigh…”
Duan Wei: “???”
Who the hell forced who, exactly?!
He rolled his eyes so hard they nearly flew out the back of his head and stomped back to his room.
Once inside, he collapsed onto the bed, lying there for a while before finally letting out a long, defeated sigh and burying his face into the pillow.
Now that he was alone, the scent on his body was undeniable.
It wasn’t just his own sweet orange pheromones anymore—there was a subtle layer of crisp white pine clinging to it.
The smell wasn’t strong, but it was impossible to ignore, constantly reminding him that he’d been marked.
He closed his eyes, mind blank for a few seconds, before his thoughts drifted against his will—
the dark corner, the heat at the back of his neck, that clean, sharp scent…
He was halfway lost in thought when suddenly he jolted upright, scaring the life out of Peng Yan, who had just walked through the door.
Peng Yan froze, staring at Duan Wei, whose cheeks were suspiciously flushed.
“What’s wrong, Duan-ge? You got a fever or something?”
“No—no.”
Duan Wei scrambled upright, forcing away the flood of embarrassing memories in his head.
He grabbed a pile of clothes and made a beeline for the bathroom, leaving Peng Yan behind in utter confusion.
He’d barely reached the door when it suddenly swung open from the inside, letting out a wave of steamy, cloudlike heat—
and standing there, freshly showered and holding a pile of clean clothes, was Fu Duqiu.
Duan Wei almost tripped backward in shock, stumbling several steps before regaining his balance.
Fu Duqiu looked at him, puzzled, and said with mild concern, “Maybe you should see a doctor?”
“…Why?” Duan Wei replied, trying his best to act casual.
Fu Duqiu gave him a small, teasing smile. “Because it seems like your heat fried your brain a bit.”
“…”
“And,” he added, pointing toward Duan Wei’s legs,
“you were just walking out of sync. You know—same hand, same foot.”
“Bullshit! You’re the one walking out of sync!”
Duan Wei glared at him in disbelief, pacing around the cramped space to prove he was perfectly coordinated.
Fu Duqiu only chuckled more deeply, leaning against the doorframe, watching him with lazy amusement.
Finally, he said, “Alright, alright—must’ve been my mistake then.”
“That’s more like it,” Duan Wei said, pointing a warning finger at him. “Someone as exceptional as me doesn’t make low-level mistakes like that.”
For reasons unknown, Fu Duqiu always found his thoughts pulled along by this guy’s rhythm.
He nodded obediently. “Fine, fine. Go wash up. Just—don’t get water on your gland.”
“Why?” Duan Wei blurted, then instantly regretted it.
Images from earlier flashed through his mind again, and his ears flushed red.
“Because you were just marked,” Fu Duqiu said matter-of-factly. “If water gets in, it might get infected. Think of it like an open wound, alright?”
He paused for a second, then added quietly, “I’m sorry.”
“…Huh?”
The sudden change in tone caught Duan Wei off guard.
Fu Duqiu frowned slightly. “Back in the pit—since the situation didn’t allow much choice—and, well, some selfishness got mixed in… I marked you without your consent. I won’t do that again.”
It was, surprisingly, the first time Duan Wei had ever heard Fu Duqiu apologize to him.
He blinked, startled, and maybe a little embarrassed, because truth be told, he had begged for it at the time.
It wasn’t fair to dump all the blame on Fu Duqiu.
He nodded awkwardly. “Got it. And there won’t be a next time. Now get out.”
Before Fu Duqiu could respond, Duan Wei shoved the clothes onto the shelf, pressed both hands against Fu Duqiu’s back, and forcibly pushed him out of the bathroom.
Unfortunately, the moment the door opened, one of their classmates— a Beta—was standing right there.
He froze mid-step, taking in the sight of the two of them shoving each other around, Duan Wei’s ears faintly red.
Just as Duan Wei was about to explain, Ba gave him a look that screamed I didn’t see anything and hurried off—like a bystander who’d accidentally walked in on a couple’s private moment.
“Damn it, this is all your fault!” Duan Wei hissed, his tone the very image of a wronged heroine in a tragic opera.
He glared at the unbothered culprit strolling ahead, then, unable to contain his irritation, punched Fu Duqiu’s shoulder and slammed the bathroom door shut with a loud bang.
Still fuming, he turned toward the mirror.
The reflection staring back at him was a mess—flushed cheeks, disheveled hair, eyes too bright.
He sighed.
The bathroom still held traces of Fu Duqiu’s scent.
The warm steam tangled with that crisp white pine fragrance, wrapping around him until he found himself wondering—
What does white pine even look like?
Is it really just some kind of tree?
And if I smelled the real thing… would it be as good as Fu Duqiu’s scent?
His breath hitched. He smacked his cheeks with both hands, muttering,
“This marking business has some serious aftereffects…”
Now, not only was his body covered in that white pine scent—
his head was full of Fu Duqiu’s pheromones, too.
“Crazy. I’ve gone completely crazy…” Duan Wei murmured, closing his eyes.
What a damn mess.
Meanwhile, just beyond the door, Fu Duqiu sat on the sofa, listening to the steady rush of water and the faint pheromone scent seeping through the crack.
His phone was still charging in the bedroom, so he picked up a magazine from the coffee table and started flipping through it—
only to realize several minutes later that he’d been holding it upside down.
With a quiet sigh, he clasped his hands together, eyes drifting back toward the bathroom.
The water kept running.
He stared blankly at the dense rows of text on the page before finally closing the magazine and tossing it aside.
He couldn’t focus at all.