After Transmigrating as a Beta, I Got Messed Up with an Alpha (BL) - Chapter 42

Pei Yule thought he wouldn’t be able to sleep.

After all, the person giving off that scent of cold cypress was lying right beside him—someone who, for the time being, considered him a romantic interest and had lost control multiple times. Although, strictly speaking, those incidents hadn’t caused him any real harm, the man had a track record. Falling asleep in front of him was undoubtedly like a lamb walking into a tiger’s den.

He originally planned to keep a close watch on Huo Juan; if the guy dared to act out again—whether toward him or toward his own body—he was determined to throw him out. Then he’d leave him to fend for himself and vow never to lift a finger for him again. Whoever cares about him again is a dog.

But…

That was the plan, yet he fell asleep.

He couldn’t say it was instant, but it was much faster than the hour he’d spent tossing and turning earlier. The familiar cold cypress scent drifted in the air. Unlike before, when the faint, intermittent trace of it had caused him inexplicable agitation, being completely enveloped by the pheromones now made him feel… settled? Or perhaps he was just exhausted. Not long after lying down, he drifted off.

And he slept like a log. Given how deeply he slept, even if Huo Juan actually did touch him… he probably wouldn’t have known.

That was embarrassing. Furthermore, when he woke up and opened his eyes, there was something even more embarrassing. Although he had told Huo Juan, “Touch me and you’re dead,” what if the one taking the initiative was himself? How would that be calculated?

Pei Yule was sensitive to the cold. Even though the heater was on full blast, there was a warmer spot nearby, and even in a deep sleep, he couldn’t help but gravitate toward it. Thus, as soon as he woke up, he realized he and Huo Juan were hugging.

Huo Juan had taken a cold shower, but a young person’s body temperature recovers quickly. Combined with Pei Yule’s timely intervention, a short time in the duvet had turned the Alpha into a human space heater. In the dead of winter, with a furnace radiating heat right next to him… how could he not get close?

The reason Pei Yule knew he was the initiator was that Huo Juan’s posture hadn’t changed at all. It was Pei Yule who was wrapped around him like a koala, arms and legs entangled, head resting in the man’s neck, sleeping like a pig. At least he hadn’t drooled, but he wasn’t sure if he’d snored.

Maintaining the koala pose for ten full seconds, he stared at the sleeping, eyes-closed Huo Juan. For a few moments, his mind was a complete blank. After a few seconds, his brain restarted.

Huo Juan’s posture was perfectly proper—lying flat, hands at his sides. Meanwhile, Pei Yule was practically glued to him: one leg hooked over the Alpha’s thigh, one hand gripping an arm, the other hand resting on his chest…

There was no way to deny it. He was the culprit.

He took a quiet, deep breath. The anger he’d felt before bed had mostly vanished during sleep. Now that he was the one in the wrong, the remaining indignation was like a balloon pricked by a needle—it went pfft and flattened completely.

Pei Yule recalled that for as long as he could remember, though he hadn’t shared a bed with anyone, his sleeping habits were restless. Occasionally he’d wake up to find his pillow on the floor or clutched in his arms like a bolster; his bed was always a mess every morning, as if he’d been rolling around non-stop.

He simply had no memory of it. He’d been so furious last night that he’d intended to keep watch, but he’d forgotten about this habit and slept so soundly that he now faced the awkward reality of being the “offender.”

He looked at Huo Juan. The boy was still sleeping. Perhaps because of the rest, his previously pale complexion had improved significantly. His breathing was steady, and his lips lacked their usual coldness; he had dropped his guard, making him seem less distant and more like a youth who hadn’t yet lost his innocence.

Come to think of it… this person was younger than him. It was only his unapproachable aura and superior physical build that made people forget he was just a teenager not yet eighteen. That face was normally handsome enough to anger the gods, but now, stripped of its indifference in sleep, its lethality was even higher. The novel’s description of “looking like an angel”… Pei Yule thought, It’s actually true. Because he was witnessing it right now, right in front of him.

He exhaled softly again, then carefully and with extremely light movements began to untangle his limbs, intending to release Huo Juan without a trace. While the guy was still out, he had to destroy the evidence. Otherwise, when he woke up, there’d be no way to gloss over it. After warning Huo Juan that he was dead if he touched him, how would he explain this?

It was a major problem. He had to make it look like this never happened before the witness woke up.

However, just as he was staring at Huo Juan’s face and moving the arm draped over the Alpha’s chest, Huo Juan’s body suddenly moved slightly. Pei Yule was startled and didn’t have time to react. Those incredibly long eyelashes flickered, and then those deep dark eyes opened. Likely fresh from sleep, they held a distinct look of daze.

“………………..”

Pei Yule froze with his arm held at a delicate level above Huo Juan’s chest, making eye contact.

In any other time or place, Pei Yule would have found this “clueless” look of Huo Juan’s quite interesting; it was the first time he’d seen such a dazed expression on the normally sharp Alpha. But given the current circumstances, the handsome, bewildered face only made Pei Yule feel more ashamed.

“Uh, I…”

As the daze faded from those dark eyes and they regained their focus, Pei Yule finally remembered he was still in the koala position. He jerked his arm and leg back and scrambled away. Because the movement was too abrupt, he nearly tumbled off the bed. At the critical moment, a hand caught him and pulled him back, preventing a pathetic fall.

Once he was pulled back, before he could react, the hand released him. It was a clear demonstration of the “won’t touch him unless it’s an emergency” attitude.

“Are you okay?” Huo Juan asked in a low voice, looking at the Pei Yule who practically had “Awkward” written across his face in capital letters.

Not really. I feel like something has been lost. My dignity, probably. Completely and utterly gone.

Pei Yule took a deep breath. It was already like this; no matter how he tried to hide it, the facts were right there. He was the one who initiated it. Fine, whatever happens, happens. He threw caution to the wind, sat up with a faked naturalness, and said to Huo Juan: “Now that you’re awake, get up.”

He wanted to use the cold tone from before bed to tell Huo Juan he was still angry, so he shouldn’t start talking and provoke him again. Unfortunately, because he was the one in the wrong now, the coldness was lacking, and he lost some of his momentum.

Huo Juan sat up too. He kept his eyes fixed on him. The dazed look was gone, replaced by the usual Huo Juan, yet he was also slightly different. Perhaps it was because the coldness was gone from his expression, replaced by a rare peace, or maybe it was because the hair dried right before bed was now sticking up in a messy, cute way. The Huo Juan before him wasn’t the one he was used to. He didn’t seem like the lofty, top-tier Alpha, but a boy within reach.

This youth stared at him for a while. He didn’t respond to the forced indifference, but suddenly said in a slow voice: “Happy Birthday.”

Pei Yule was stunned. After meeting Huo Juan yesterday, so much had happened and he’d been so angry before bed that he’d forgotten all about it. That’s right. Today was his birthday. In this world he was eighteen, but in reality, he was twenty-one today.

Thinking that the boy before him was only eighteen while he was actually three years older, for some reason, the inexplicable emotions in Pei Yule’s heart vanished completely. Right, he was the adult; he shouldn’t bicker with a kid. “How did you know it was my birthday?”

Pei Yule exhaled. Relaxing after reaching a conclusion, he became curious about other things. Though he had mentioned his birthday was coming soon, he didn’t think he’d specified the date.

“Knowing your birthday isn’t a difficult task,” Huo Juan replied.

“…” Right, Pei Yule remembered, this guy’s background isn’t ordinary.

Pei Yule stared at Huo Juan. His first birthday away from family, and the first person to say “Happy Birthday” to him was a tall, handsome boy—a boy who liked him, had lost control because of him multiple times, and had triggered a rare fury in him last night. Although there was much to complain about, he appreciated the blessing.

“Thanks,” he said. He pulled back the duvet to get out of bed, turned back to Huo Juan, and his mouth moved. He’d originally intended to send the guy away as soon as he woke up, but hearing the birthday wish made it feel a bit heartless to kick him out immediately. He rubbed his nose awkwardly and said: “Get up, have some breakfast, then head home.”

He turned to go wash up, but his sleeve was caught.

Again? Pei Yule turned back, about to knit his brows, but saw that Huo Juan had only caught his sleeve and hadn’t directly “touched” him. It was a clever way to stop him that left him speechless.

“…What is it?” Recalling how he’d repeatedly gone soft yesterday and lost his dignity this morning, alarm bells blared in Pei Yule’s mind. He was afraid the guy would say something and he’d lose his resolve again.

The Alpha, still sitting on the bed, gazed at him and said: “I slept very well last night. Thank you.”

It wasn’t flattery. Since the pheromone disorder began, he hadn’t had a single night of stable sleep. But last night was truly comfortable; the pain in his body had vanished like a satisfied beast, and even now his body felt refreshed—an unprecedented comfort from head to toe. Although he knew the pain would return eventually, that insignificant ache couldn’t compare to his current state of pleasure.

“…” Pei Yule hesitated. This doesn’t sound like the kind of thing where I should say ‘no problem’?

When he didn’t respond, Huo Juan paused and continued: “And about last night, I’m sorry. I made you worry.”

“…” That wasn’t worry—!

Pei Yule’s eyes widened slightly. He wanted to bark back a retort, but looking at the handsome face that had improved due to good sleep, he was helpless. He was worried, clearly. And he’d been so angry. Pei Yule’s temper was generally good; it wasn’t easy to make him truly angry. Even when they first met and Huo Juan kept forcing him to the empty classroom, he hadn’t felt an urge to punch him. Recalling the guy standing in a cold shower in mid-winter because he was “hot, had no suppressants, and didn’t want to hurt him,” that anger began to resurface.

Even more frustratingly, because of this anger, Pei Yule realized something he hadn’t wanted to realize.

He cared about Huo Juan. And… probably more than he had imagined.

Last night, when he heard that ridiculous reason for the cold shower, a thought had flashed through his mind: If you were suffering, wouldn’t it have been better to ask me than to take a cold shower? It’s not like I’d leave you to die! Even if it was late, he could have found suppressants for him; he wouldn’t have minded! Did you really have to treat yourself like that?

It was precisely because he realized this that he was even angrier. Angry at Huo Juan, and angry at himself. If he’d really fallen into a deep sleep and didn’t wake up even if the house fell down, was this person going to stay in a cold shower all night because of the heat? For a “top-tier Alpha” with a sky-high IQ, he thought the guy was just a pig-head. He didn’t dare imagine what would have happened to Huo Juan’s weakened body after a night in a cold shower.

Pei Yule pursed his lips, his expression grim: “…If there is a next time, I won’t care about you.”

He warned him, his tone very serious. And he knew clearly that this sentence not only represented his attitude, but more importantly, it implied there would be a “next time.”

Huo Juan’s dark eyes brightened slightly. Pei Yule knew he understood. He huffed and warned again: “In the future, if you feel unwell anywhere, tell me directly. If you act like you did yesterday again, stay far away from me so I don’t see it.”

By saying this, it meant he wouldn’t hide anymore. Avoiding him was useless anyway. This person had a hundred ways to make his presence felt. Even when he didn’t come to school, he couldn’t be ignored. Pei Yule was a bit unwilling, but there was nothing to be done. He truly, sincerely cared about Huo Juan.

He wasn’t one to overthink things. Since he realized he cared about Huo Juan more than he thought, he wouldn’t be hypocritical about it. If the guy acted reckless again, he felt his own blood pressure would skyrocket. For that reason, he’d rather watch over him than hide.

“Mm. I understand. I’m sorry.” Although it was an apology, a faint smile appeared on Huo Juan’s face. He smiled so rarely that the sight was precious. Pei Yule was dazed for a moment by the smile, then snapped out of it and became wary.

He told himself: Even though I care about him, it’s not the same as his feelings. I just see him as a friend. It’s friend-love. It has nothing to do with romance. Pei Yule, don’t be a fool. You like petite, cute girls. This guy is huge, taller than you. You can’t even pick him up and spin him around. Don’t get it wrong.

Pei Yule tried to recall the face of the cute “class flower” from the next room, but as he had been in this world for several months, he found he actually couldn’t remember her face! He racked his brain to try and recapture that initial heartbeat, and the blurry silhouette in his memory gradually sharpened, turning into a face—

“!”

He jerked his head violently, shaking the face from his mind. Because the movement was too sudden, and he’d forgotten Huo Juan was still holding his sleeve—and because Huo Juan wasn’t holding tightly so as not to annoy him—the Alpha’s fingers slipped from the fabric. Without the support, Pei Yule toppled backward—

“Careful!”

Huo Juan reached out from the bed, grabbing him but being pulled down by Pei Yule’s momentum.

Thud!

The sound of two people hitting the floor was accompanied by a muffled groan. The duvet fell all over them, half-covering the pair. The blanket still held Huo Juan’s body heat, warm and cozy. A palm cushioned the back of Pei Yule’s head so he wouldn’t hit it, while Huo Juan frowned, propping up his upper body. His dark eyes scrutinized Pei Yule. “Are you okay?”

The cold cypress scent slowly surrounded him. Pei Yule stared at the Alpha above him. He felt his heart very clearly skip a beat.

Just friend-love? Really? …Self-deception should have its limits.