Chapter 39

Huangfu Yi was afraid of Asher because Asher was thorny, stubborn, ruthless, and unsparingly arrogant.

Huangfu Yi’s fear of Sebastian, however, stemmed purely from the crushing dominance of pheromones between Alpha and Alpha.

This was the law of the jungle written into their genes, and despite Huangfu Yi’s resilience and backbone, it wasn't something he could overcome.

Swallowing hard, his tone was a mix of helplessness and an eagerness to explain: "You did say that, but I haven't been looking for trouble lately. You still have the surveillance footage in your hands; I'd have to be insane to look for trouble. Even if I really wanted to stir things up, I'd at least wait until I got my offer and left the school. Don't you think that makes sense?"

Sebastian lowered his head, fiddling with his glasses as he nodded slowly. "What you're saying makes some sense. It's just a bit unfortunate..."

Lifting his head, he glanced at Huangfu Yi with a very polite smile. "It's just a bit unfortunate that there are a few people who seem to be on quite good terms with you."

"Which people?" Huangfu Yi was dazed for a moment, and then something suddenly clicked. His eyes widened in shock. "That hacker was you?"

Sebastian curled his lips, his tone lazy. "Without evidence, you shouldn't talk nonsense. I thought you understood the concept that trouble comes from the mouth."

"..."

Huangfu Yi was struck dumb. He knew what Sebastian was talking about, but he really felt a bit wronged.

"This matter truly has nothing to do with me. Out of those guys, two were playing basketball with me that day, and two are on the school basketball team. We just casually chatted before about how Asher’s reaction to Alpha pheromones during the fight looked a bit like an Omega's... and wondered if he might actually be an Omega..."

As he spoke, Huangfu Yi also felt it sounded completely absurd.

At the time, they indeed felt that Asher’s reaction to Alpha pheromones was a bit off, and they had indeed vaguely caught a faint, blurry floral scent. That was why they started releasing their pheromones, wanting to see if they could suppress Asher and win back some face.

In the end, they were still flipped flat on the ground by Asher.

But because Sebastian appeared at the very end and used his pheromones to forcefully crush everyone, ending the brawl, exactly what was going on with Asher remained a bit of a question mark.

Coupled with the fact that Asher hadn't presented for the longest time, suddenly took a day off after that, and even switched rooms during the military camp—thinking about it further, this deduction actually seemed quite logical.

The only thing that didn't fit was that Asher was too strong.

It was impossible for any Omega to be this strong, managing to flip Alphas flat on the ground while facing a crowd of Alpha pheromones, and ranking either first or second in every single military camp evaluation. So everyone was merely suspicious; no one dared to ask, and at most, they just talked trash anonymously on the school forum.

But Sebastian’s current reaction... why did it look like he was here to seal their mouths? Could it be...

While Huangfu Yi was letting his thoughts drift, Sebastian let out a soft sneer, his tone dripping with mockery. "Who said anything about that to you? Even if you go around saying Asher is an Omega, someone has to actually believe it for it to matter. For something this obvious, I don't think there's any need for me to step in. After all, people aren't blind or stupid."

Throughout his speech, he never explicitly or directly denied that Asher was an Omega, but the impression he gave Huangfu Yi was that in his heart, Asher absolutely was not an Omega. Therefore, he scoffed at such a claim, finding it too amusing to even bother dealing with.

The absurd suspicion in Huangfu Yi’s heart vanished completely, and he let out a slight sigh of relief, feeling somewhat fortunate. After all, being flipped by an Alpha was still acceptable, but if they had genuinely been flipped by an Omega, it would be far too embarrassing.

He rubbed his nose. "Then why exactly did you come looking for me?"

Sebastian lifted his eyelids. His eyelids were thin and his eyes were light in color. Every time he slowly lifted them to look straight at someone, there was an air of casual intimidation. Huangfu Yi shuddered.

Sebastian spoke airily, "Do you want me to read those threads out loud, word for word? Like how we're a pair of Alpha dogs? Or how we train during the day and do it at night, and our physical endurance can't keep up? Or perhaps how disgusting it is for me to be pinned down and dominated? Do I need to read them all out loud for you to understand?"

His voice was cold and his tone was flat. When he delivered those words, it sounded exceptionally ironic and deeply unsettling.

Huangfu Yi didn't use the school forum, but he had generally heard about what kind of filthy words were being tossed around. Realizing that those guys were indeed his fair-weather friends and that the source had started from his end, he quickly said, "It's true that their mouths are filthy. Boss Seb, however you want to handle this, that's how we'll handle it."

"This matter, if you want to call it big, it isn't that big. But if you want to call it small... you already know Asher’s temper. When have you ever seen him tolerate a single speck of dust in his eyes? And what's even more unfortunate is that if there's a speck of dust he can't tolerate, I can tolerate it even less. So what do you think we should do about this?"

Finishing his line, he patted Huangfu Yi’s shoulder, his smile gentle and faint.

Yet in the very next second, Huangfu Yi dropped straight to his knees.

The scent of a pine forest after snow instantly felt like a raging blizzard sweeping across the dead of winter, directly battering the scent of whiskey until it was thoroughly miserable and barely detectable.

Huangfu Yi prostrated on the ground, gasping for air in massive gulps. His entire body was pinned flat against the earth by the powerful pheromones, unable to even lift his head, enduring an unbearable wave of pain.

This was the third time Sebastian had suppressed him, and every single time, it was because of Asher.

Huangfu Yi knew he couldn't afford to offend these two terrifying deities. He could only endure the intense discomfort, speaking in broken fragments: "The rest, I can't guarantee anything about the others, but I can only say that my friends and I will absolutely never utter a single word that harms you or Asher in the future. My disciplinary demerit is still carried on my record, and the surveillance footage is still in your hands; you can completely trust me to handle this matter."

The blizzard finally withdrew.

Sebastian put his gold-rimmed glasses back on, straightening his cuffs. "Fine. And one more thing..."

"I won't say a single word about what happened today either."

Sebastian nodded, turned around, and walked away.

He believed Huangfu Yi would keep his word. This person would soon be heading to a top-tier business college in the US, with a bright future ahead of him. At most, he and Asher just didn't see eye to eye; it was a petty rivalry, and there was no need to gamble away his own prospects.

Furthermore, this guy had a good network; the crowd that loved to stir up trouble in the high school section was quite close with him. That was exactly why Sebastian had sought him out, wanting to use him to strangle any suspicion regarding Asher being an Omega right in the cradle.

After all, if he went knocking on doors one by one, it would be far too tedious and look like an obvious cover-up.

Particularly that basketball team member in Class 5 who had transferred from High School No.1—due to certain events back in middle school, his relationship with Sebastian couldn't be described as upstanding. If Sebastian stepped forward personally, it would only invite unnecessary trouble.

Therefore, terrifying their friend Huangfu Yi could yield twice the result with half the effort.

Fortunately, Huangfu Yi lived up to his iron reputation.

As Sebastian was reflecting, he had unconsciously walked to the front gate of the school. Pulling out his phone, he was just about to call a car when he was suddenly flashed twice by high beams.

Squinting his eyes, he lifted his head and saw Asher standing by a car across the street, his backpack slung over his shoulder, his face full of impatience. "What are you staring at? I'm waiting for you. Hurry up, you're slow as hell."

This foul temper was truly as foul as it could get.

Sebastian let out a helpless smile, walked over, and sat in the back seat with Asher.

Asher didn't ask where he had gone, who he had met, what he had said, or what he had done. It was as if he were completely detached from all of it.

Except when they got out of the car, he followed Sebastian straight through the front door of the Sebastian household.

Sebastian raised an eyebrow to look at him.

Asher let out a lazy yawn. "We haven't done resistance training in days. Let's practice today. Can we increase it to sixty percent?"

Sebastian had always believed that people who were far too proud would easily snap under intense pressure.

But Asher was different.

Asher’s pride had transformed into a relentless resilience deep within his bones, something that could never be broken no matter how hard it was pressed, consistently straightening itself back up. Then he would lift his chin, look sideways, and let out an unbridled, arrogant smile that defied the universe.

He was clearly a delicate rose, yet he was incredibly tough, delivering surprises to him over and over again.

In just a short half-month, he had successfully advanced from resisting a forty percent pheromone intensity all the way up to eighty percent.

Because he never gave himself a buffer to adapt; the exact moment he broke through a barrier, he would immediately push forward against the pressure to conquer the next.

Even if the pain turned his face deathly pale, even if the sweat thoroughly soaked his clothes, and even if his entire body felt soft and weak after training, rendering him barely able to stand straight while his voice trembled.

Yet he never paused for a single second.

Only advancing, never halting.

That stubborn drive in his bones was an endless defiance against destiny.

Every single night, they trained until midnight until his physical strength was entirely spent. Yet due to the discomfort and pain, he could only manage to drift off to sleep around three in the morning.

However, the exact moment daylight arrived, he would restore his casual, elegant young master persona, appearing lazy and careless on the surface. Yet the topics he needed to learn and the problems he needed to solve were meticulously executed, with not a single one left behind.

He was smart, but he wasn't an unmatched genius dropped from the heavens either. Those qualities that others envied were all earned through his own hard labor; it wasn't a reality where he could simply sleep every day and secure rank one across the grade.

Sometimes Sebastian felt a pang of worry, attempting to find excuses to let him rest and pause the training, yet every single time, his attempts were quietly dismissed without a sound.

He understood Asher, but he always felt Asher seemed a bit rushed, even more rushed compared to when he had first presented. It was as if something had abruptly transpired, leaving him desperately impatient to transform into an Omega who could completely refuse to be suppressed by Alpha pheromones.

With a heavy gaze, Sebastian withdrew his pheromones, wanting to extend his hand to support Asher, who was still swaying slightly after finishing the training loop. Yet that single attempt unexpectedly fell through empty air.

He was too thin, even thinner than he had imagined, to the extent that his school uniform was far too loose, causing Sebastian to miss the exact positioning of his waist.

Asher didn't notice, casually shoving him away as he let out a soft

hiss

. "Eighty percent is a bit intense. Although I managed to stand up, half my life is gone anyway. What's the difference between this and failing to stand up? I evaluate that for this specific tier, I'll need at least another two to three months of practice."

"It's enough." Sebastian withdrew his hand without a sound, brushing past his damp hair. "It's enough to handle a regular Alpha; you won't suffer much of a loss."

Asher curled his lip. "If I can't even beat you, what kind of a man do I count as?"

Finishing his line, he turned around to head downstairs.

As fate would have it, a draft swept through the corridor, billowing his uniform outward.

Watching from behind, Sebastian felt like this little bamboo pole of a person was about to be blown away by the wind. Following behind, he gave his empty uniform a small tug. "If you keep losing weight, a whole human being could be hidden inside your uniform."

Asher swatted his hand away. "You're just jealous of my great body."

Sebastian squinted his eyes. "Is that so? I thought you were jealous of my abs instead."

"..."

Asher had abs too, lean and toned, but he was simply too thin, his waist far too narrow, looking far less solid and reassuring compared to Sebastian's.

It had to be said that from the standpoint of an Omega who desperately desired to be an Alpha, he indeed harbored a sliver of jealousy toward Sebastian's build.

Looking slim in clothes yet packed with muscle underneath, it radiated a strong sense of security.

He, a dignified school boss, unexpectedly looked like a tiny bamboo pole right before his face.

He mumbled with absolute displeasure, "You're just two inches taller and a dozen pounds heavier than me, what's the big deal anyway? My mom said boys can still experience a growth spurt up to the age of twenty. I haven't hit adulthood yet; in a couple of years, I will definitively outgrow you."

Sebastian let out a soft chuckle. "Don't you find these words incredibly familiar?"

Asher: "?"

The two had just reached the front door. Sebastian stepped outside first, walking a few steps before turning right to stop right before the exterior wall shaded by an ancient scholar tree. He tapped it. "Here, come look at it yourself."

Asher leaned close to take a look, his face flushing with embarrassment instantly.

The wall surface was scored with a collection of crooked lines, tracing from the height of a tiny toddler all the way up to over five feet.

It was generally partitioned into two rows. For the row on the right, every single mark was a bit higher compared against the left axis, and this gap had abruptly widened by four inches when they hit twelve or thirteen, though it had fortunately narrowed back down a bit recently.

Sebastian pointed toward the absolute bottom two marks. "You've been saying this since you were only this tiny. So many years have passed, does that beautiful little face of yours sting or what?"

Asher exploded into pure fury, launching a punch straight over to claim Sebastian’s life, yet his fist was caught securely by Sebastian. With a gentle pull backward, Sebastian brought him right right before his face: "So can you find it within yourself to eat your meals properly and eat a bit more? Otherwise, you might have to remain shorter than me for the rest of your life."

"You motherf—"

Before Asher could completely blow his top, Sebastian retrieved a carton of milk from somewhere, stuffing it straight inside his uniform pocket. "Your mom is right; boys can still grow before hitting the age of twenty. So drink more milk and catch more sleep, only then can you outgrow me."

"..."

Coaxing a child, perhaps?

"Since there's nothing left for today, head back quickly to get some rest. Otherwise, if you fail to outrank me on the monthly exam tomorrow, you'll get angry and demand me to coax you again. Aren't you embarrassed?"

Asher let out a cold, arrogant scoff. "Heh, just watch how your dad crushes the entire field."

Withdrawing his hand to put it back inside his uniform pocket, his fingertips instantly touched the paper packaging of the milk carton.

It was still warm.

Hadn't they been training together the entire time? Exactly when had the milk been warmed, and how on earth had he failed to notice it?

Sebastian genuinely should be a pediatrician.

Thinking along this trajectory, Asher failed to realize in the slightest that if the reality aligned along this axis, he was exactly a giant baby. He turned around with a cool front, walking back toward his house.

After walking a few steps, a low, deep, gentle voice abruptly drifted over from behind his back, the words delivered appearing a bit out of nowhere: "If you're too tired, you can actually take a break. There's no need to rush, I'm still here."

"Oh."

Asher caught the meaning, delivering a dismissive blurt, while his heart missed a single beat along the path.

He didn't say any extra words, nor did he halt his steps, yet the shoulder lines of his silhouette naturally and loosely relaxed down past their tension.

Things were a bit rushed, Asher knew that.

But he also knew that an individual as cold and detached as Sebastian would actively track down Huangfu Yi for the sake of a few forum threads, executing a stealthy plan behind his back that wasn't like a gentleman for once, purely out of a sheer fear that his Omega identity would be exposed unexpectedly, driving those Alphas who held grudges against him to deploy foul tactics.

Naturally, it was also meant to safeguard his pride and self-esteem.

Therefore, Asher inexplicably wanted to become stronger a bit earlier.

Although he knew Sebastian was incredibly formidable, it was precisely because he was formidable that he desperately wanted to become just as formidable a bit earlier. That way, he could treat him with absolute kindness, matching the exact way the man treated him. At the absolute least, if an actual crisis surfaced, he wouldn't drag Sebastian down after all.

Yet despite all of this, the exact moment he caught that line—

I'm still here

—his heart was still pierced by a gentle touch, turning so soft it forgot to beat, missing a single beat entirely.

Sebastian was genuinely gentle sometimes.

If he hadn't witnessed exactly how freezing Sebastian behaved toward other individuals, he would even suspect Sebastian had consistently been an individual of this extreme gentleness from start to finish.

It looked exactly as if Eugene’s assertion held absolute truth—Sebastian only refrained from putting on that deadpan face when his eyes were locked onto his own face.

Thinking up to this point, Asher halted his steps abruptly, turning around to look at Sebastian, who was standing beneath the ancient scholar tree to watch him walk home. Opening his mouth: "The monthly exam kicks off tomorrow, do you want to place another wager?"

Sebastian raised an eyebrow. "Wagering who calls whom dad a second time?"

"Get lost." Asher's embarrassment transformed into pure fury. "Is there no end to this? You want to fight, is that it?"

Sebastian let out a soft chuckle.

Asher was too lazy to deal with him, casting a flat glance over him before continuing: "If I secure rank one across the grade on this monthly exam, you must answer a single question for me with absolute honesty."

"What question?"

"I'll ask when the time comes. Just tell me whether you agree or not first."

"Alright."