Unwell

Wei Yin only assumed Hua Yu was feeling warm from being too close and getting emotional, so she gave her a reassuring smile. “I’m right here.”

Hua Yu turned her head and gave a soft “Mm,” then took the initiative to put some distance between them and went back inside.

Not long after, Hua Yu got the conditioning prescription from her mother. Hua Yu’s father said outright that they would have the medicine prepared and mailed over; one packet a day, taken on time.

“All right, then you handle everything,” Hua Yu said as she took a small box of sandalwood and stopped her parents from going downstairs. “Wei Yin and I are leaving now; no need to see us off.”

Before leaving, Aunt Sun stuffed Wei Yin full of food; the trunk was packed to the brim.

“They’re so warm,” Wei Yin murmured after getting into the car and slowly coming back to her senses. “Such a huge bag of food; it’ll take forever to finish.”

“If you can’t finish it, just leave it. If it goes bad, throw it out.”

Hua Yu was used to it. She was busy with work and probably only came home once a month before; every time, they would send her off with bag after bag of things.

If it had been a few years earlier, her parents wouldn’t have waited for her to come home; every few days, they would have gone to her place and stocked her fridge full.

“That won’t do,” Wei Yin muttered to herself. “I haven’t received anything from my elders in a long time. I should treasure it properly.”

Before, only her mother would buy her good food. After her mother passed away, no one had cared about her clothes, food, shelter, or daily life for a very long time.

Being brought back home by Hua Yu had been a pretty dramatic process, but the feeling itself was really quite nice.

“Then I’ll have to tell them. They’re very idle now and always want something to do,” Hua Yu said, a little surprised. “If they knew you liked it, they’d definitely keep stuffing you with things.”

Wei Yin hurriedly waved her hands. “Eating and taking things all at once is a bit much. Let’s forget it.”

This one time had already left her flattered beyond belief. Better not have something like this happen again.

Back home, Wei Yin ran up and down, putting everything she’d brought back in order.

“I’m feeling a little unwell. I’m going to sleep for a while.”

When she turned around, she saw Hua Yu had already changed into pajamas and was lying on the sofa with her eyes closed.

Wei Yin softened her movements, quietly went over to draw the curtains, and placed a cup of honey water by Hua Yu’s hand.

After that, she hurried into the kitchen and took out her phone to search online for what to do when an alpha was in heat.

There was quite a bit of information and a lot of posts about it online, but most of them were about “how to survive when you run into an alpha in heat” and “a reminder to all alpha comrades to obediently use suppressants.”

That made sense. Alpha heat was different from omega heat; it was more aggressive, and when people talked about aggression, the one who usually suffered and had a hard time was someone else.

Like omegas.

The more she searched, the angrier she got. Why wasn’t there a single example like Hua Yu? Her Dr. Hua not only carefully calculated her heat cycle, she also used strong suppressive patches, wore a suppressive bracelet, and took suppressants. This should be called, “What to do when an alpha still has a headache and feels unwell after doing everything possible to suppress heat.”

Wei Yin bit her lower lip and posted a question in the fan forum.

Very quickly, a lot of comments came in.

[OP got fooled, didn’t they? Alphas only get headaches from producing too much pheromone. This is clearly just not taking suppressants, right?]

[I’ve never seen an alpha who can really “do everything possible.” Suppressants are f***ing painful.]

[OP, please pay attention to safety and get out of there quickly. I’m a community worker; every month there are a few cases of couple marking disputes. They’re all because an alpha in heat forcibly marks an omega and refuses to properly take precautions. Either they say suppressants hurt, or they keep dragging things out, and then once they’re fully in heat and lose their minds, they say they didn’t want that either. Disgusting.]

These “conspiracy theories” had nothing to do with Hua Yu, but Wei Yin also knew they were trying to help, so she didn’t reply.

[The person above doesn’t represent every situation. Maybe they just bought inferior suppressants?]

Wei Yin replied: [The suppressants were obtained from a regular hospital, not inferior ones.]

[Then I’m not sure. Alpha heat is easier to relieve than omega heat. If the headache is really bad, you should still go to the hospital. Maybe there’s a problem with the gland.]

Wei Yin herself had gland problems and couldn’t stand hearing others talk about Hua Yu like that, so she quickly closed Weibo.

After thinking it over, she decided the netizens weren’t professionals; she still had to ask someone reliable.

She opened the chat box, hesitated for a few seconds, and sent Guo Ai a message asking for advice.

[IN: Are you there? I have a question I want to ask you about.]

Guo Ai and Hua Yu were in the same specialty, gland differentiation, so she counted as a professional.

There was no immediate reply. Wei Yin set her phone down first and wiped down the house from top to bottom.

They hadn’t come back in several days, and the place carried a faint sense of loneliness. Opening the fridge, she found that the food she had stuffed in before she left was still there untouched. Wei Yin picked out the stale bread and vegetables, packed them up, and planned to take them downstairs and throw them away.

Just as she finished, Guo Ai finally replied.

[I was in the middle of an experiment. Next time, just ask directly, senior. What’s the question?]

Wei Yin described Hua Yu’s symptoms to Guo Ai, but she didn’t mention Hua Yu’s identity.

On Guo Ai’s side, the typing indicator showed “typing…”; instead of answering, she asked back.

[Senior, I’ve always wanted to ask; is your body okay now? How does it compare to when we were in university?]

Wei Yin frowned. Her own situation was hard to explain in a few words.

Besides, what did her body have to do with this?

Guo Ai probably realized that too and asked if it was convenient to do a voice call.

Wei Yin glanced back at Hua Yu, who was resting on the sofa, then quietly walked to the bathroom and shut the door.

She called Guo Ai, and the other party picked up quickly.

“Senior, are you at your alpha friend’s place right now?” Guo Ai asked worriedly.

Wei Yin said yes. “She’s my good friend. I don’t have anywhere to live right now, so I’m staying at her place temporarily.”

As soon as she said it, Wei Yin felt it was a little improper. She was an omega; moving into an alpha’s home without thinking could make her seem either foolish or overly suggestive.

Guo Ai’s tone didn’t change at all. She hadn’t gone there in that direction and continued asking, “Then can you secrete pheromones right now?”

In university, Wei Yin’s gland was still in its immature stage and couldn’t secrete pheromones; she was like a beta. Now, the degree of gland atrophy was severe, and she still couldn’t secrete pheromones. The cause was different, but the result was the same, so Wei Yin didn’t explain much. “Mm, I can’t.”

“That’s good,” Guo Ai seemed to sigh in relief, then explained, “From my perspective, your friend probably also has some gland issues. Headaches during heat are pretty common in high-tier alphas. After all, their pheromone concentration is high; if the gland can’t handle it, it leaks into the body. Then it’s either a headache or pain somewhere else, but once the heat cycle passes, it gets metabolized away. But your friend is a high-tier alpha and hasn’t thought about finding a partner all these years… that’s very unusual. Do you know why?”

Guo Ai’s conclusion was basically the same as Hua Yu’s.

It was just because the pheromone concentration was too high; during heat, she got headaches, and once it passed, she was fine.

But as for why Hua Yu hadn’t dated for so many years, Wei Yin had no way of knowing something so private.

“Isn’t not dating strange? I never dated either,” Wei Yin said in confusion. “Maybe she just hasn’t met someone she likes, or maybe she’s been busy with school and work and hasn’t had the time.”

Guo Ai laughed. “That’s not what I meant. I mean, for all these years she’s only been suppressing it and easing it with medication; she’s never looked for an omega.”

“Right,” Wei Yin recalled Hua Yu’s behavior. “I’ve never seen her look for one.”

In modern society, there were service companies that helped relieve alpha and omega heat. Alphas and omegas could choose a pheromone scent they liked; after selecting it and paying, the company would provide a set amount of pheromone, bottled up and sent to the alpha or omega during heat. The soothing effect was more useful than any medication.

This method was quite common, and at the very least, it was very suitable for alphas and omegas who weren’t dating anyone.

Even Xu Yaqing’s home had a row of sample vials from well-known soothing companies. Just rose scents alone came in no fewer than five varieties.

A heavy consumer indeed.

But Hua Yu’s home was clean and empty; Wei Yin had never seen anything like that there.

In the end, Guo Ai gave Wei Yin two suggestions. “Senior, if she can take care of herself, I suggest you stay at a hotel for these few days of heat. She may have taken a lot of measures, but there’s no guarantee they’ll all work. Besides, you can’t smell pheromones; if you miss the signs, it can be dangerous. Staying in a space soaked with high-concentration alpha pheromones can also damage your own gland.”

“If you stay, I suggest you order pheromone samples from the store closest to your home, and buy some trial-size packages just in case.”

Wei Yin thanked her and hung up.

Hua Yu was this uncomfortable; there was no way Wei Yin could leave her and go stay at a hotel. Not to mention Hua Yu had even replaced the suppressive patch with the strongest one in order to take care of her. If Hua Yu woke up and found that Wei Yin had left because she was afraid, how would that feel?

As for buying another omega’s pheromones for Hua Yu, that was even more impossible.

Publicly, she was working as a caretaker for them. What was she supposed to leave for?

Privately, Hua Yu and Hua Yu’s family treated her sincerely; even if they were only friends, she still couldn’t just leave.

Besides, Wei Yin actually didn’t feel any danger in her heart.

Hua Yu gave her only a sense of safety, never a threat, even if the comments online and Guo Ai both said alphas in heat had a strong tendency toward aggression.

She walked over to Hua Yu. The honey water in the cup hadn’t been touched and had already gone cold.

Wei Yin replaced it with a cup of warm water.

Hua Yu’s sleeping face was serene and quiet. Every trace of exhaustion had sunk deep into sleep. Strong, yet tired like this, she wasn’t frightening at all; she only made people ache for her.

“Was being in the bathroom for so long because you were cleaning?” Hua Yu suddenly asked.

Wei Yin jumped and leaned over to crouch beside her. “Dr. Hua, you’re awake? Did I wake you?”

Hua Yu kept her eyes closed and said in a low voice, “I wasn’t asleep.”

Wei Yin didn’t speak. Hua Yu’s voice sounded as though it had been scorched by the heat; the hoarseness and discomfort in her tone made Wei Yin’s heart tremble.

“Is it very uncomfortable?” Wei Yin asked nervously.

“Hm?” Hua Yu asked with an unreadable inflection, then gave a faint smile. “No. You were busy beside me, and I didn’t want to sleep.”

Wei Yin said, “Then I won’t be busy anymore. You should sleep.”

The corners of Hua Yu’s lips curved. “I like hearing you busy. If I’m going to sleep, I’ll go to the room.”

With someone bustling around the house, Hua Yu felt steadier inside.

Wei Yin: “Oh, then I’ll fold clothes now.”

“Busy later.” Hua Yu lifted her eyelids and gave Wei Yin a faint look. “I was just asking you.”

Wei Yin froze. “Ah, I was making a phone call in the bathroom.”

Hua Yu didn’t say anything. With her eyelids half-open, her gaze fell on Wei Yin’s face through her long lashes; it was cool, yet somehow warm too.

“If you want to make calls, you can go to the balcony; it’s well insulated,” Hua Yu said. “Doesn’t the bathroom feel stifling?”

Wei Yin nodded. “Don’t worry about me. Close your eyes and rest.”

Hua Yu’s lids lifted a little, as if she were a bit surprised. “You won’t let me worry about you.”

“I didn’t say you couldn’t,” Wei Yin rubbed her knees; she’d been crouching a little too long and her calves were numb. “You’re uncomfortable right now, so don’t mind whether I’m stifled or not.”

Hua Yu’s expression didn’t change. Being sick stripped away some of her usual rationality and coolness; after lying down as soon as she got home and letting the tension in her body loosen, she looked even more stubbornly childish and inflexible.

In her eyes, Wei Yin had simply gone into the bathroom to hide from her and make a phone call, and she still wouldn’t let Hua Yu interfere.

Hua Yu stared at her.

Wei Yin tilted her head and met her gaze. After staring for a while, she smiled. “I really didn’t say anything.”

Hua Yu still looked at her.

Thinking it over, Wei Yin’s smile faded a little as she told the truth. “I asked someone about your condition. I was afraid you’d be uncomfortable, and I didn’t know how to take care of you.”

Hua Yu’s brows tightened, and for a long while she couldn’t say anything.

Wei Yin said softly, “I’m not a doctor. Even the little experience I’ve picked up from being sick for a long time only works for omegas with similar conditions… I don’t know how your heat works. Seeing you this uncomfortable, I just… didn’t have much confidence.”

Hua Yu took Wei Yin’s wrist and pulled her up. “Don’t squat. Get up.”

Wei Yin followed the force and stood, then sat down cross-legged.

Hua Yu laughed at that. “You have to sit right here?”

Wei Yin nodded. “Mm. I’m keeping you company.”

Hua Yu covered her mouth and coughed a few times, then smiled. “So silly.”

After that, a trace of weariness entered her gaze, and she said softly, “I’m fine. No need to worry. If we really have to talk about danger, the dangerous one should be you, little omega.”

She reached out and patted Wei Yin’s hair, then closed her eyes and sighed. “Don’t dwell on this. Go be busy for a bit, and I’ll rest.”

She knew her own body best. If it weren’t for wanting to spend more time with Wei Yin, Hua Yu would even have wanted to find a hotel and stay holed up there for three days until the heat symptoms passed before coming back out.

But Wei Yin had already been set aside by her for several days. If she left the girl alone again, it would probably make Wei Yin overthink things.

Wei Yin dawdled for half a day and only got Hua Yu’s one sentence, “I’m fine.” Although there was no further explanation, it was somehow very convincing.

Hua Yu had always been reliable. She was a doctor; she definitely wouldn’t be in trouble. Wei Yin scratched her head. This time, she really had overreacted.

Wei Yin moved the clothes from her own cabinet out, dusted them off, ironed them, and folded them one by one.

The rustling was gentle and unhurried. After folding the clothes and lifting her head, she realized Hua Yu had already fallen into a deep sleep; no matter how many times she called her, there was no response.

Wei Yin leaned against the edge of the sofa and counted Hua Yu’s eyelashes. Before she knew it, she too had fallen asleep.