Chapter Index

    Chapter 2: The Fierce Omega Dies of Shame

    The next morning, when Shen Lingfeng woke up, he found a naked man lying next to him.

    Shen Lingfeng’s mind instantly buzzed. He pushed the man away and shot up, “What did you do to me?!”

    “Awake?” The man opened his eyes, sat up as well, revealing the taut lines of his upper body.

    “You bastard! Don’t you know forcing an omega is illegal!”

    “You say I forced you?” The man’s expression turned cold. “Who was it yesterday who was begging me for ‘help’?”

    “…” A few blurry images from the previous day flashed through Shen Lingfeng’s mind. He instantly felt so ashamed he wanted to smash his head against a block of tofu and die!

    Because of the similar agarwood scent, he must have mistaken the man for Chu Hao, the red-haired teenager from his memories, yesterday…

    Shen Lingfeng scrutinized the man again. He had neatly styled black cropped hair, and his handsome face was free of any tattoos. His temperament was cool and detached, completely unlike the delinquent teenager in his memory.

    However, the man’s eyes and brows were actually somewhat similar to Chu Hao’s, though Chu Hao’s appearance was hard to see clearly due to the tattoos.

    To be cautious, Shen Lingfeng still asked, “May I ask what your name is?”

    “The surname is Su. What for? Do you want me to take responsibility?”

    “No need!”

    See, the surname was different too.

    Shen Lingfeng felt like he must be mentally ill to connect these two people.

    Seeing Shen Lingfeng’s low spirits, the man misunderstood the reason for his mood and offered comfort: “Don’t worry, there was no Permanent Mark. It will fade after a while.”

    “Then why aren’t you wearing clothes!”

    “See for yourself.” The man tossed the suit, which was covered in vomit, in front of Shen Lingfeng.

    Only then did Shen Lingfeng realize his T-shirt was still intact. He breathed a sigh of relief, while also feeling a little embarrassed. “Ahem, Mr. Su, I apologize for drinking too much yesterday. How much? I will compensate you.”

    “Forget it. You can’t afford it.”

    “…” As a rich young master, Shen Lingfeng had never been subjected to such disdain and instinctively wanted to retort. But the next moment, he remembered that he had left home in a fit of pique with his CEO father because he insisted on becoming an actor, and he didn’t have much money on him…

    “Fine, since you look like you’re not short on cash, I won’t compensate you then.” Shen Lingfeng immediately found a way to save face.

    Although, given his personality of hating to owe people, he should have given the man an IOU, he really didn’t want to have any more dealings with this man. It would only remind him of those scenes that made him want to die of shame!

    Shen Lingfeng quickly tidied his clothes and got out of bed, but his body still felt somewhat weak.

    He secretly complained in his heart: Damn it, you made a Temporary Mark so intense!

    “Farewell!” Shen Lingfeng used the last of his strength to rush out of the room, slamming the door shut with a bang.

    His heart was still pounding wildly.

    He decided to go eat breakfast to calm his nerves.

    So, Shen Lingfeng went to the hotel restaurant and ordered several steamed buns. He felt he needed to binge eat to dissipate the emotional shock the incident had caused him.

    When he left home, although his CEO Alpha father told him to scram, his Omega father had secretly given him a good amount of money. So, while he might not be able to afford that expensive-looking suit, he could maintain his daily living expenses for a while.

    After eating one bun and finishing a bottle of milk, Shen Lingfeng heard his phone ring.

    He picked it up and saw it was an unfamiliar number.

    “Hello, who is this?”

    “Hello, Mr. Shen, this is the production team for When the Narcissus Fades. You have passed the audition. Are you sure you want to take on this role?”

    “…I passed?!”

    The surprise came so suddenly that Shen Lingfeng wondered if he was dreaming—

    He had auditioned for countless production teams, big and small, recently, and even the minor supporting roles hadn’t looked twice at him. And for this dual-male lead romance film, he remembered auditioning for one of the male leads?! He had submitted his profile to every production he saw and tried out for everything, treating this film as a last resort, and he actually got it!

    “I’ll take it! Of course, I’ll take it!” Shen Lingfeng secretly pinched his thigh, the pain confirming that this was reality.

    “Very well. We will send the electronic contract and script materials to your email shortly. Please sign the contract and memorize your lines in advance. We will begin shooting the first scene at Dongjiao Film and Television City at 9:00 AM on June 6th. Please be punctual.”

    “Yes, yes, I definitely won’t be late.”

    After ending the call, Shen Lingfeng received various materials for the film When the Narcissus Fades in his email.

    It was only then that he learned the other male lead in the film was an A-list actor named Su Chenhui.

    Although Shen Lingfeng had just stepped into the entertainment industry and wasn’t familiar with every celebrity, he had heard of Su Chenhui’s famous reputation. He was momentarily dumbfounded—having a major star act opposite an inexperienced newcomer who hadn’t even graduated from a performance major?! Was this production team crazy!

    Shen Lingfeng wanted to look up Su Chenhui’s profile, but he felt it would only increase his stress, so he simply dedicated all his time to familiarizing himself with the script, starting to memorize his lines day and night.

    However, as luck would have it, these few days happened to be Shen Lingfeng’s Heat Period.

    While memorizing his lines, he couldn’t help but start intensely missing that agarwood scent.

    This also led him to miss the teenager from back then.

    Shen Lingfeng suddenly realized a truth—

    Deep down, he must have always liked that teenager, which was why, upon encountering a similar Pheromones scent, he rushed forward without thinking and allowed himself to be Marked.

    His maternal grandmother’s hometown was in a secluded village. On the eve of the Lunar New Year when Shen Lingfeng was 13, someone was setting off fireworks. His family found a suitable spot outdoors to watch the fireworks, chatting while eating snacks.

    Shen Lingfeng was chewing on a piece of New Year’s cake, his gaze casually sweeping over the crowd, when a red-haired teenager suddenly caught his attention.

    The teenager looked about fifteen or sixteen, with a shoulder-length, explosive hairstyle dyed bright red, and a patch of tattoos on his face, which was a pity for what seemed like a handsome face.

    At this special time, everyone who came out for a stroll was a lively family, but the teenager sat there alone, gazing at the blooming fireworks in the sky with a somewhat lonely expression.

    His eyes made Shen Lingfeng feel a pang of sadness. Shen Lingfeng couldn’t help but grab another piece of New Year’s cake and walk over. “Are you alone? Where is your family?”

    “None of your damn business.” The vulgar words the teenager spat out matched his rebellious image.

    “…Do you want some New Year’s cake?” Shen Lingfeng guessed he might be an orphan and bringing up family would hurt him, so he didn’t dwell on it. He offered the cake he had just grabbed. “My dad made it himself, it’s really good. I’m telling you, my dad is a CEO, yet I never expected his cooking to be so good when he occasionally cooks… Ah, do you know what a CEO is? It’s…”

    “I know.” The teenager interrupted him coldly, took the cake from his hand, and took a small bite. “Do you think I’m pathetic? Let me tell you, I just differentiated into an Alpha. I could beat ten people like you.”

    “Who wants to fight you!” Shen Lingfeng glared at the teenager, faintly smelling the agarwood Pheromones emanating from him. However, he admired the teenager’s attempt to show strength and his unwillingness to be pitied. “What’s your name?”

    “Chu Hao.”

    “A’Hao, it’s getting late, I have to go home soon. Can I come back here to find you tomorrow?”

    “…Mhm.” Chu Hao hesitated but finally agreed.

    From the next day onward, Shen Lingfeng often sought out the teenager named Chu Hao throughout the entire winter break. Chu Hao gradually became less hostile, even jokingly asking once, “If you differentiate into an Omega later, would you marry me?”

    Shen Lingfeng’s face flushed when he heard the question. “I’m still little! Let’s talk about these things later!”

    But when the winter break ended, Shen Lingfeng ultimately had to return to A City.

    Before leaving, he asked Chu Hao for his contact information, but Chu Hao said, “No need. I’ll tell you a secret, my dad is also a CEO.”

    “Huh??” Shen Lingfeng was stunned.

    “I came here just to experience life. There’s no need for us to stay in contact later.”

    “…I! So you’re a liar!” Shen Lingfeng was deeply hurt and ran off in a huff.

    Later, his grandmother passed away, and he never had the chance to visit that village again. From then on, his life and that red-haired teenager named Chu Hao never intersected again.

    But he would still often recall those happy times. As he grew up, he always felt that the teenager’s eyes were genuinely lonely, a kind of loneliness that didn’t seem faked.

    It was only because of the slight resentment he felt when the teenager coldly abandoned him that he hadn’t sought out any news about him all these years.

    But thinking carefully, perhaps he had some difficulties.

    Was it true when he said his father was also a CEO? Did he go to experience life alone? Why did he never see his family appear? Even if that were the case, what part of Shen Lingfeng’s identity was unworthy of him? Could that be a reason not to keep in touch?

    There were too many unanswered questions.

    With these thoughts, Shen Lingfeng called Fu Ran, a friend he had made in the village back then. Shen Lingfeng had first met Fu Ran when he arrived in the village and they became good friends. Sometimes he brought Fu Ran along when he played with the teenager, so he figured Fu Ran should still remember the person.

    “Hi A’Ran, I want to ask you about someone… Chu Hao, the one we used to play with, do you remember him?”

    “Haha, that delinquent teenager, I remember him.”

    “Is he still in your village?”

    “He left here many years ago,” Fu Ran replied.

    Shen Lingfeng felt a little disappointed. “Then do you know where he went?”

    “I don’t know. He was always a loner. The few times he spoke to me were because of you… How about this, I’ll help you ask around the village. I’ll let you know if I hear anything.”

    “Thank you so much! I’ll treat you to dinner next time I visit.” Shen Lingfeng felt he was troubling Fu Ran too much, but he couldn’t help it. His priority right now was memorizing his lines, and he couldn’t spend much time investigating.

    He would wait to see if Fu Ran found any news. If not, he would personally go and investigate after filming this movie.

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