Out of Control

“Are you the patient in Bed 41?” a nurse asked curiously as she came up beside Wei Yin.

Wei Yin drew her feet up and sat up straight. “Ah, yes. Is something wrong?”

The nurse shook her head, smiling. “No. The sunlight over there is better, and there’s a little balcony.”

“Thank you.”

Under the nurse’s smiling gaze, Wei Yin got to her feet in a daze and walked toward the small balcony, only gradually realizing that the nurse’s expression was a little strange.

For the next two hours, Wei Yin sat at the tea table on the balcony and endured the attention of seven or eight nurses and doctors who passed by.

Wei Yin, who felt like a zoo exhibit: …

But the sunlight really was nice, and a little nurse had even brought snacks.

“My name is Yang Cha. These are for you.” It was the same young nurse who had first said there were no discharge slots; she brought Wei Yin pastries. Wei Yin felt a little embarrassed. “You’re all being so nice. I’m a little overwhelmed.”

Yang Cha said generously, “Don’t mind us. We’re just too curious.”

At last, Wei Yin got to the real question. “What exactly have you all been staring at this whole morning? Is my condition really that unusual?”

At first, Wei Yin had been baffled. By now she was numb, even starting to wonder whether she owed the hospital too much money, or whether her illness had somehow mutated into some second-stage abnormality of an omega’s atrophied gland.

“Hahaha, not exactly.” Yang Cha gave her a mischievous look. “We’re curious what kind of person could make Dr. Hua personally snatch someone away.”

“Snatch someone away?”

“Yeah. At first your attending physician was Dr. Liu; Dr. Hua personally took you out of Dr. Liu’s care and redid your records.” Yang Cha looked like an adoring fan. “Dr. Hua is usually in surgery and rarely takes on patients.”

Wei Yin hadn’t expected there to be that layer to it. “Then does she usually like cooking?”

“No idea. Dr. Hua always eats in the cafeteria.” After saying that, Yang Cha paused, then suddenly understood. “You mean the nutritional meals she prepared for you?”

Wei Yin nodded.

“Then we don’t know. Anyway, those nutritional meals weren’t made by the hospital.” Yang Cha grinned. “So what are you to Dr. Hua?”

Wei Yin said, “I don’t know Dr. Hua.”

Yang Cha’s mouth fell open. “How could that be?”

Wei Yin answered honestly, “It’s true.”

Yang Cha clearly didn’t believe her and assumed Wei Yin didn’t want to say more, so she didn’t press. “Fine. Then tell me when you want to.”

Wei Yin thought to herself that her answer would be the same no matter when she was asked.

Yang Cha left, disappointed but still excited, and Wei Yin could read “hiding something” and “a little stingy” all over her face.

But she really didn’t know when she had ever met Hua Yu.

Although Hua Yu had seemed a little familiar the first time they met, Wei Yin herself had lost her memory, but Hua Yu hadn’t. If they really knew each other, Hua Yu would never have failed to tell her.

In short, even if they had met before, it was probably only in passing; their relationship couldn’t have been deep.

Come to think of it, she was just an ordinary omega. Hua Yu was such a dazzling person; alphas were already rare, and she was kind, had a good personality... and was beautiful. She probably would never have anything to do with someone like Wei Yin in her whole life.

Wei Yin didn’t want to go back to the ward, so she ate lunch on the balcony. It was May, the weather was perfect, and from the balcony she could see the garden below; the grass was lush and the flowers were in full bloom. Just looking at it made her feel much better. Add in the delicious lunch, and her whole body relaxed.

That atmosphere didn’t last long, however; a shrill cry shattered the afternoon quiet.

“I don’t have any pheromones anymore. You cut out my gland—what right do you have to cut out my gland!”

A young-looking omega was waving a knife in the air. Wei Yin instinctively reached for her phone, thinking there was a medical disturbance.

“Don’t come any closer! If you do, I’ll kill myself right now!”

He was gripping a fruit knife. After forcing everyone back, he turned the blade toward himself and pressed it against his own neck.

Wei Yin’s hand didn’t stop moving to call the police, but someone nearby was faster; it was Yang Cha, the nurse who had spoken with her that morning.

“Calm down first. Don’t get agitated. Put the knife down; we can continue treatment.”

As she tried to soothe him, Yang Cha anxiously looked toward the elevator, praying that security would get there soon.

But the omega couldn’t hear a word. He was young, even thinner and weaker than Wei Yin, with thick bandages wrapped around the back of his neck. He looked haggard beyond words, and despair was already flooding his eyes.

“No, you don’t understand. Without my gland, he’ll never look at me again,” the omega said sadly but calmly, tightening his grip on the knife. “Why did you cut off my last hope?”

His family finally arrived, crying and begging him miserably to put the knife down. He still had a long life ahead of him; if his gland was gone, he could just be a beta. Nothing mattered more than his life.

His emotions were still in complete chaos; he clearly couldn’t hear any comfort. The blade had already drawn a long, bloody line across his neck, his wrist was trembling nonstop, and blood had soaked a large patch of the fabric over his chest.

“No!” Wei Yin suddenly shouted at the top of her lungs. “It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a gland! It’s not like only healthy alphas and omegas can survive in this world!”

The omega trying to kill himself looked at Wei Yin. Pointing at her own neck, Wei Yin said, “I have a gland, but it’s underdeveloped. Since I was little, I’ve had a hard time smelling pheromones, and even after I grew up, it never got better. I wish I didn’t have this gland at all.”

The omega looked confused. “No gland?”

“Yes.” Wei Yin took a step forward. “Having a gland just means having one more organ. If it doesn’t develop properly, the whole person is affected; you’ll also be discriminated against in all kinds of ways. It’d be better to have been a beta from the start. Then I could do whatever I wanted freely!”

These were Wei Yin’s honest thoughts.

In this world, alphas and omegas were both minorities, making up only ten percent of the population. The vast majority of them had excellent genes, and even those born in the slums could rise into the upper levels of society. That was why “glands” were so highly valued.

But Wei Yin had never received any special treatment from other omegas since she was a child. Her life was even worse than that of the most ordinary beta, which proved that even the most precious gland wasn’t worth clinging to when it could only bring negative effects.

Wei Yin’s words stunned the omega. He froze in place, thinking hard about something.

At that moment, security seized the chance to rush in and snatch the knife from his hand.

The omega, finally reacting, became frantic. He struggled desperately, roaring, “You don’t understand anything! I can’t do the things I want to do. Without a gland, I can’t do anything at all. Don’t touch me, get away—”

The knife was taken away, but the omega was already beyond reason. He lunged forward with all his strength, slamming into the blade’s edge; blood burst into a bright line in the air and splattered beside Wei Yin’s foot.

Amid the chaos and clamor, hurried footsteps sounded; a pair of hands covered Wei Yin’s eyes and pulled her back.

“Shh, don’t be afraid. Don’t look. Close your eyes.” It was Hua Yu.

Wei Yin’s whole body stiffened, but she obeyed unexpectedly well, following Hua Yu back to her office.

Only after all the noise was shut out behind the door did Hua Yu gently lift her hand away and place both hands on Wei Yin’s shoulders.

“Look at me, Wei Yin. Look at me.”

Wei Yin looked at Hua Yu, her gaze full of confusion, shock, worry, and helplessness.

Hua Yu said tensely, “Are you hurt?”

Wei Yin shook her head very slowly. “I was far away from him.”

Hua Yu let out a breath of relief. She had just finished surgery; when she went looking for Wei Yin, she happened to see that scene of her confronting the suicidal omega, and it had frightened her so badly her heart nearly stopped.

“You were scared, weren’t you?” Hua Yu let go of her hands, poured her a cup of hot water, and helped her sit down. “Drink some water and steady yourself.”

Wei Yin held the cup in both hands. Steam rose from it, dampening her lashes until she looked as if she had been crying.