After Transmigrating as a Beta, I Got Messed Up with an Alpha (BL) - Chapter 18

Although contact therapy requires touching, to Pei Yule, this was a very “pure” matter—simply a medical method to help Huo Juan feel better.

Fortunately, Huo Juan seemed to realize this too, as he had set the location in the living room rather than the bedroom. Otherwise, Pei Yule felt things would have gotten awkward.

“How should we start?”

Keeping his mind on the treatment, Pei Yule took the lead and asked.

In the past, Huo Juan usually hugged him by force. Now that he had decided to help, there was no need for the usual struggle followed by pheromone suppression. However, how exactly to begin was a problem…

Was he supposed to just walk up and hug him?

Pei Yule sized up Huo Juan’s tall, upright frame and hesitated. This guy was several notches sturdier than the “High-School Class Flower” he’d seen in his dream. Hugging him out of the blue… he couldn’t quite bring himself to do it.

But he didn’t have to worry for long. The tall Alpha sat down on the sofa, legs spread casually, and slowly lifted his eyelids to lock onto Pei Yule’s gaze.

“Come here.”

Huo Juan’s voice was low and heavy, falling on the ears like a deep drum. Yet, because of his aloof personality, it carried a hint of cold elegance. He was around eighteen, but his voice sounded like that of a fully mature man.

It was likely the Alpha gene; even their maturity came a step faster than others.

Despite being around the same age, Pei Yule’s voice wasn’t nearly as deep. Having passed his voice-changing period, he still carried a bit of teenage boyishness. Pei Yule, whose real age was over twenty, knew his voice likely wouldn’t change much more, as it had stayed the same throughout university.

He certainly didn’t have the kind of voice that “makes ears pregnant” as described in novels, yet the Alpha before him possessed it effortlessly. Alphas truly were an enviable bunch.

Carrying that sliver of hidden envy, Pei Yule walked over. As soon as he was within reach, Huo Juan reached out and clasped his wrist.

Even though he was mentally prepared, the sensation of a man grabbing his wrist made Pei Yule instinctively flinch. Sensing that slight tremor, Huo Juan’s fingers twitched. He abandoned the idea of pulling Pei Yule down directly but didn’t let go of his hand. He said flatly, “You do it.”

“Huh? Me?” Pei Yule’s attention was completely diverted by this. He didn’t even notice his hand was still held. He asked blankly, “What am I supposed to do?”

He truly had no idea how to start. Usually, Huo Juan took the lead; now that it was his turn to be active, he was lost.

However, the person he sought answers from simply dropped two words: “Up to you.”

Okay.

Big brother is going in.

Pei Yule took a deep breath in his mind and reached out both hands to press against Huo Juan’s shoulders. Since Huo Juan was sitting and he was standing, he had to bend over slightly to make the posture comfortable. Meeting Huo Juan’s calm gaze, Pei Yule tried to knead his shoulders in a massage-like motion.

The subject of the “massage” showed no change in expression. Pei Yule became uncertain and asked naturally, “Is this… actually effective?”

Don’t blame him for being suspicious; this person’s face really showed no reaction. It was only natural to doubt.

“…Mm.”

Huo Juan paused briefly, his voice dropping even lower than before.

The previous sensation wasn’t an illusion; compared to him taking the initiative, contact initiated by Pei Yule was even more effective. The moderate pressure sliding across his shoulders easily brushed away the pain, and the relief didn’t immediately vanish when the contact stopped.

“Alright, I’ll keep going then.”

Is this guy’s facial muscle dead? Why is there no emotional change? Pei Yule grumbled to himself but resignedly continued the “treatment.”

His palms slid down the lines of Huo Juan’s smooth arms. It was winter, and the other was wearing a long-sleeved school shirt; not having to touch bare skin made Pei Yule feel much less burdened. In the past, he would have resisted even an embrace through clothes, but knowing this was just a form of therapy—and realizing that Huo Juan might be forcing himself too—he felt less resistant and even a bit sympathetic.

Although Alphas were superior in every way, there was one thing they couldn’t beat Betas at. Betas didn’t have to deal with the agony of pheromone disorder. It wasn’t exactly a sense of superiority, just a feeling of luck. He was lucky he transmigrated as a Beta and didn’t have to suffer like this. After all, even a top-tier Alpha like the one in front of him couldn’t avoid this trouble.

As Huo Juan said, it was “up to him.” He didn’t refuse at all, allowing Pei Yule to stroke his arms until his palms reached Huo Juan’s wrist bones. The sleeves were likely folded up from when he was cooking, revealing the full wrist—veins bulging slightly, bones sharply defined, slightly thicker than his own.

Pei Yule looked at the bulging veins and couldn’t help but press down out of curiosity. Here, too, they were different. He was thin, and his wrists were slender, with veins that weren’t very obvious, hidden under a thin layer of skin. This had been a nuisance when he was a child because it was so hard to find a vein for a needle. Sometimes they’d miss and have to poke him twice, which caused him a lot of suffering.

When he pressed on Huo Juan’s vein, the surrounding area turned white and then red. Pei Yule found it a bit fascinating and couldn’t help but press again.

The surrounding pheromones thickened silently. Because Pei Yule was used to the smell and the resulting weak limbs, he didn’t realize anything was wrong at first. However, he remembered he was supposed to be doing “therapy,” so he didn’t play for long. After pressing twice, he took Huo Juan’s hand.

This time was different from the first time he had actively touched Huo Juan’s palm. This time, the Alpha responded, curling his fingers slightly to interlace them with his. The contrasting, dry palm was a bit larger than his own, transferring a body temperature that didn’t belong to him.

Looking at the hand that was larger than his, Pei Yule blinked and instinctively looked up. The “facial-muscle-dead” Alpha had his eyes lowered, still expressionless. His gaze was the same as usual—neither warm nor cold, perfectly calm, as if he were looking at common grass.

Just for a split second, it seemed he saw a flash of suppressed restraint in those deep dark eyes. He blinked and looked again, but it was still just that same stoic Alpha.

An illusion?

Pei Yule muttered to himself. He felt that holding hands like this was a bit childish, so he let go and stepped back, feeling a bit conflicted. He remembered that when Huo Juan did the therapy, he usually just hugged him like an octopus. Since he was changing from passive to active, he probably needed to do the same.

Huo Juan had said it was up to him… He had been so polite and hadn’t rushed him, so Pei Yule felt he shouldn’t skip this step. After all, the symptoms were full-body; touching a hand or a shoulder was probably just a drop in the bucket. It was their first formal cooperation, so it was important to leave an impression that he was helping sincerely.

Pei Yule glanced at Huo Juan, who hadn’t changed his posture. Hugging him from the front was a bit difficult, so after thinking for a bit, he circled around to the back of the sofa. He opened his arms and embraced Huo Juan from behind, replicating the “back-hug” the Alpha had once given him.

But the moment he touched him, the Alpha’s spine went rigid.

This obvious physical reaction startled Pei Yule. He immediately let go. “Uh, is this not okay?”

“…It’s fine.”

Standing behind Huo Juan, Pei Yule couldn’t see that the Alpha’s knuckles were turning white at his sides. Huo Juan exhaled slowly and imperceptibly.

From the moment they started, his pheromones had been leaking out uncontrollably. Although the contact was meant to soothe his pain, it felt like a rebound effect; after the initial comfort, he began to crave more. It wasn’t enough. Even though it wasn’t a Rut, this impulse was harder to control than one. The pain had receded, only to be replaced by a different kind of restlessness that was on the verge of spiraling out of control.

How did it come to this…

And yet, Pei Yule remained completely oblivious. Hearing that it was fine, he hesitated a moment before embracing Huo Juan again. This time, the Alpha’s spine didn’t stiffen—perhaps the previous move had just been too sudden.

Pei Yule breathed a sigh of relief and continued the back-hug. The other person remained motionless, making it impossible to tell if it was working. Thinking about the guy’s annoying pride, Pei Yule decided to stop looking for a reaction.

However… how long was this “contact therapy” supposed to last?

Pei Yule belatedly remembered this question. He leaned his head forward instinctively. “By the way, how long do we have to do this? Is it as long as the lunch breaks were?”

The boy leaned forward while still in the back-hug, the movement bringing them even closer. The skin of his cheek brushed lightly against Huo Juan’s ear, and his breath fanned across it as he spoke.

That’s it.

Huo Juan closed his eyes.

Pei Yule received no answer. Instead, his arms were suddenly gripped tight. Huo Juan pinned his wrists and pulled hard. Caught off guard, Pei Yule was yanked over the back of the sofa toward Huo Juan, only to be caught around the waist.

Immediately, violent pheromones exploded throughout the room. In an instant, the entire living room was saturated with the heavy scent of cold cypress. The unrestrained, arrogant pheromones even seeped through the cracks of the doors and windows, yet they could not dissipate the cold fragrance filling the house.

Before Pei Yule could even process what was happening, he was completely enveloped by the thick cypress scent, and his body went limp.