After Transmigrating as a Beta, I Got Messed Up with an Alpha (BL) - Chapter 20

When Pei Yule woke up the next day, his spirits had fully recovered. His body felt no discomfort at all, as if he had simply enjoyed a long, comfortable sleep.

However, after washing up at Xu Yanxi’s place, he sat in the living room—which had an almost identical layout to Huo Juan’s—feeling a bit dazed.

The reason for his confusion was that he couldn’t remember what happened after Huo Juan dragged him off the sofa. He felt like something significant had occurred between him and Huo Juan afterward, but no matter how hard he tried to recall, his memory remained a blank.

He only had a vague, hazy recollection of a single moment where Huo Juan’s expression was no longer “emotionally dead,” but he couldn’t remember the specifics at all.

Regarding this, Xu Yanxi was quite dismissive. “You were being suppressed by Ah-Juan’s pheromones from all sides at the time. It was pretty rough for you. It’s likely your body’s self-protection mechanism kicked in, which is why you can’t remember what happened then.”

After all, under the heavy pressure of pheromones, he had been on the verge of a mental panic. It was normal for the subconscious mind to perceive danger and suppress the memory to protect itself.

“Oh…” Pei Yule replied, only half-understanding.

He had learned most of the ABO settings from books and only had a superficial grasp of them. Now that he had actually encountered an incident, he was unclear about the process and couldn’t recall a thing. He only knew that Huo Juan’s pheromones had apparently gone out of control, and supposedly, it was Xu Yanxi who came in to stop it.

Self-protection mechanism, huh…

The human brain was already a mysterious thing, and adding the ABO setting only made it more so. Pei Yule thought seriously for a while and realized that although he didn’t remember the process, he vaguely recalled a scene involving blood.

Since he wasn’t injured, the person bleeding must have been someone else. At that time, it was only him and Huo Juan. If that memory was real and not a hallucination, then the person injured was clearly Huo Juan, who was currently absent.

Even in his dazed state, that metallic scent of blood had been very potent. It felt as if it were still lingering around his nose, making him feel uneasy.

He couldn’t help but ask Xu Yanxi, “Um, is Huo Juan okay?”

When he woke up, he was in a guest room at Xu Yanxi’s house. At the moment he opened his eyes, he saw Xu Yanxi’s face leaning in close, which gave him such a fright he nearly tumbled off the bed. Opening your eyes in a completely strange room only to find Xu Yanxi staring at you with great interest was a massive shock for the unprepared Pei Yule.

Finding his reaction amusing, Xu Yanxi let out a laugh, which made Pei Yule feel a bit embarrassed.

He was actually somewhat afraid of Xu Yanxi. The man was a top-tier Alpha, after all; even when Xu Yanxi smiled at him, Pei Yule felt he wasn’t someone easily approachable. But for some reason, the current Xu Yanxi lacked his usual aura of arrogant aloofness. His smile seemed more genuine, and his attitude was quite kind.

It was a joke, really. This was the person Huo Juan had forbidden him from teasing.

Previously, Xu Yanxi hadn’t realized Huo Juan’s true intentions, but now that he knew, he naturally considered Pei Yule one of their own. After all, it was likely that before long, Pei Yule would become his buddy’s partner. Naturally, his attitude toward “one of us” was different than toward an outsider.

Xu Yanxi didn’t answer the question directly. Instead, he asked with a smile, “He’s at his own place. Do you want to go over and see him?”

As a friend, Xu Yanxi was more than happy to create opportunities for them.

Pei Yule hesitated. “Is that okay?”

To be honest, he was worried about Huo Juan. The “contact therapy” had been cut short when he lost consciousness, and now that he was awake and clueless, he only remembered that Huo Juan might be hurt. Acting as if nothing had happened made him feel guilty.

Xu Yanxi glanced at him. He figured it was probably thanks to the self-protection mechanism that Pei Yule had forgotten the trauma and thus didn’t fear Huo Juan. Otherwise, he certainly wouldn’t be volunteering to see him.

It was a good thing. As long as Pei Yule didn’t avoid Huo Juan, with his childhood friend’s decisiveness, the chance of making the boy “part of the family” was much higher.

Then again, the fact that Pei Yule had been so terrified that he’d wiped the memory meant he had truly suffered.

Xu Yanxi’s gaze softened slightly. “Of course you can. Just walk over yourself. I have to go to school, so I won’t be joining you.” He had already changed into his school shirt and was casually adjusting his crooked tie. Remembering something, he added, “I helped you call in sick at school. Take a good rest today.”

“…Oh.”

Pei Yule was a little flattered by Xu Yanxi’s pleasantness. When this person decided to be nice to someone, it felt like a warm spring breeze—and you didn’t feel like it was a calculated performance, but a heartfelt attitude.

As Pei Yule stepped out of Xu Yanxi’s house to head toward Huo Juan’s, Xu Yanxi suddenly poked his head out and said, “If he doesn’t open the door, the passcode is 0202.”

Wait… is it really okay for you to just give me his code like that?

Huo Juan might get angry if he knew. Besides, if Huo Juan didn’t want to open the door, wouldn’t entering with a code be asking for trouble? He didn’t want to end up meeting the guy at a police station.

Muttering to himself, Pei Yule obviously didn’t dare to just barge in. He stood at the door and rang the bell properly.

The bell chimed twice, and with a click, the door was pulled open from the inside.

The tall Alpha was wearing light-colored loungewear. Because of the step at the entrance, the height difference between them seemed even greater. The man looked down and locked eyes with him.

Pei Yule hadn’t expected the door to open so quickly. He tilted his head back slightly, meeting those unreadable dark eyes. For a moment, he didn’t know what to say as an opening. It took two seconds before he remembered his purpose. He just asked directly, “Uh, are you okay? I think I remember you getting hurt…”

His gaze instinctively moved down, landing on the white gauze wrapped around Huo Juan’s right hand. His memory was correct; the man was indeed injured. Based on his blurry impressions, it was likely self-inflicted, just like during the Rut.

“It’s nothing,” Huo Juan said, moving his right hand behind his back imperceptibly. His voice was flat. “It’s not serious.”

Pei Yule muttered, “I can’t remember clearly. Xu Yanxi said a self-protection mechanism made me forget. What happened? Why did you…” Bite yourself again? Recalling the reason Huo Juan bit himself last time, Pei Yule’s voice trailed off.

Could it be… related to him again?

Huo Juan’s expression froze for a moment. No wonder this person’s expression is the same as before and his attitude hasn’t changed. He really couldn’t remember.

Looking at Pei Yule, whose complexion had returned to a healthy color and who no longer looked weak like yesterday, Huo Juan fell silent for a moment. He stepped aside, his voice dropping slightly—sounding polite, yet as if he were suppressing something. “…Do you want to come in?”

“Oh, okay.”

Having just arrived and exchanged a few words, it felt wrong to just leave. So, after a brief thought, Pei Yule went inside.

The moment he entered the living room, he noticed something was wrong.

There were no pheromones.

That faint scent of cold cypress had vanished completely. There wasn’t a trace of fragrance in the entire space, only the crisp air of winter—a chill that slowly seeped into the skin.

He didn’t feel that immediate weakness in his limbs caused by a top-tier Alpha’s pheromones; Pei Yule felt full of energy. What’s going on? It was full of Huo Juan’s scent yesterday. How could it disappear overnight?

Noticing the surprise on Pei Yule’s face, Huo Juan asked, “What is it?”

Pei Yule didn’t hide his confusion. “The pheromones… they’re gone?”

He had only slept for one night, right?

Huo Juan’s eyes flickered. Although he had already guessed this person could smell the pheromones of others, he hadn’t expected him to be able to detect their absence so easily. For a Beta, this was undoubtedly a very special talent.

Huo Juan lowered his gaze. “It’s nothing. I just sprayed some blocking agent.”

Pei Yule knew what blocking agents were—as the name implied, they were used to block pheromones. This was the first time he had experienced the effect firsthand; Huo Juan’s scent was totally gone. Even on the man’s person, that familiar cypress smell seemed to have vanished.

In this world, only Betas were completely scentless. Pei Yule could usually smell pheromones on any Alpha or Omega. Now that Huo Juan had no scent, he simply looked like a very tall Beta who looked like an Alpha.

Pei Yule wasn’t an idiot. When strange things started happening, it meant something serious had occurred. His expression became solemn.

“Last night… what exactly happened?”

During that time he couldn’t remember, had something very serious occurred? Huo Juan had bitten himself and was now even using blocking agents to hide his scent. The Alpha who had always radiated that cold cypress scent without a care was now covering it up.

Pei Yule felt that this was a big deal. Having no memory of it made him panic a little.

“I lost control yesterday,” Huo Juan said. He didn’t plan to lie to Pei Yule, but he didn’t tell him everything either. “During the contact therapy, having no pheromones makes it easier for me to stay calm.”

Is that so?

Pei Yule frowned, looking at the calm Alpha. He suddenly asked, “Is the wound on your hand also from losing control?” Just like during his Rut.

“No,” Huo Juan replied. He let out a rare, faint curl of his lips as he looked down at his bandaged wrist. “This is proof that my reason was still intact.” Thanks to this, the boy in front of him hadn’t been more deeply hurt.

Pei Yule didn’t understand the implication. Huo Juan didn’t want him to understand either and changed the subject seamlessly. “It’s getting late. Since you have the day off, if you want to go home, I’ll have someone take you.”

Why does it feel like he’s chasing me away?

Pei Yule looked at Huo Juan suspiciously, but he couldn’t read anything from that placid face. He felt like he was missing something important, yet his useless brain couldn’t recall a thing, which made him frustrated. He looked at Huo Juan and, on a sudden impulse, blurted out:

“—Today’s contact therapy hasn’t started yet. I’ll go back after the treatment.”

The moment the words left his mouth, he saw Huo Juan’s expression change slightly. A flash of surprise or perhaps slight astonishment crossed his face—Pei Yule couldn’t quite name it, but it was complex. It was the first time he had seen this Alpha show such a range of emotion.

He waited for a response, unaware that the Alpha’s fingers had reached forward slightly, only to be pulled back just before touching the hem of his clothes.

In the blink of an eye, Huo Juan suppressed that complex emotion. He gazed at the boy, his mind flashing back to the boy’s pained, trembling face from the night before. This person had forgotten as soon as he woke up and was now bold enough to ask for “contact therapy.”

The scar heals, and the pain is forgotten. It was exactly like that.

Huo Juan hid an imperceptible sigh in his tone and said:

“Next time.”

He had only just pulled his sanity back from the brink of total loss; currently, his self-control wasn’t high enough. He didn’t have the confidence to touch this person yet.

Once he could control himself, whether the boy wanted to “start” or not… would no longer be up to him.