Lop-Eared Guard

More than twenty high-grade omegas sat around the long table, each taking notes intently as Dr. Zhong stood in front of a stereo projection, discussing the glandular genes of high-grade omegas.

Yan Yi rested his cheek on his hand and listened, occasionally turning his pen and jotting down key points in his notebook.

This was the villa that Tan Meng bought himself, which was usually used as a writing studio where high-grade omegas got to meet each other through reading. Over time, it became a club. 

The cohesiveness of a top writer was really scary. Sometimes, you could see omegas from different countries and races talking and laughing in high spirits here.

When Dr. Zhong brought up the psychology of higher level dependency markers, he asked who in the audience had such an experience. 

More than a dozen omegas, including Yan Yi, raised their hands. In addition to Yan Yi, most of the other omegas were of J1 differentiation, and a few were of M2 differentiation.

Even Tan Meng raised his hand.

Yan Yi looked to the back of his neck, where there was a poison arrow-wood leaf-shaped emblem under the light red skin of his glands. 

He had originally thought that Tan Meng was more free and easygoing than he was, but it turned out he was also tormented by the same morbid infatuation.

Dr. Zhong regrettably asked everyone to put their hands down and asked the representatives of different grades of omegas to elaborate on the characteristics of higher level dependencies.

When it was Yan Yi’s turn, he sat up:

“I took the alpha that marked me as everything. Everything in my world lost its meaning. I lived only for him, my dignity and character as a human being gradually disappeared, and I willingly became a plaything that was at his beck and call.”

Despite his words being as clear as ever, they still carried a trace of helpless grief. 

He was telling the truth, but his mind kept going back to the scene before he left the house this morning.

Before going to work, Lu Shangjin had said to him, “Baobei, I’m leaving.”

It was unbearable when he heard it. His heart seized, and there was something stuck in his throat that couldn’t go down nor come up.

So he asked Lu Shangjin to not call him that. 

Lu Shangjin thought for a while, before quickly writing three notes. On the first note, he wrote “baobei”, on the second, he wrote “lao-po”, and on the third, “wife”. He then held up “baobei” and asked if it was okay. 

Yan Yi shook his head. 

Lu Shangjin then held up “lao-po” to show him, and Yan Yi still shook his head.

He suddenly put away the notes and came over, hugging Yan Yi as he kissed his ear and said, “Then remove the two wrong answers, wife, I’m going to work. Don’t touch the water, wait for me to come back to wash the bowls.”

Yan Yi was speechless for a moment.

With such an alpha, it was really difficult to push all dependency to higher instincts. 

Dr. Zhong then proposed the “freedom to mark” theory. As marking was only a way for alphas to biologically declare possession of their properties and had nothing to do with reproduction, an omega should have the right to choose whether or when they receive the mark.

However, the number of high-grade omegas was low, their presence scattered, and difficult to assemble as a family. As they were always in a position of being prey, the “freedom to mark” theory was just a dream at this stage.

After the speech, Yan Yi approached Dr. Zhong for a while to ask about the original details of his glandular repair surgery.

But Dr. Zhong avoided the important questions and dwelled on trivial ones. He was also a good talker, leading the conversation away with a few sentences and talking to Yan Yi about the “freedom to mark” theory.

“I certainly won’t let anyone mark me easily.” Dr. Zhong smiled cheekily and poured a cup of fresh juice for Yan Yi, “Not only is there a high-grade dependency, there are also glandular hunters who are always searching for high-grade omegas for the big families. Remember to take care of yourself and the baby.”

The omegas chatted pleasantly with each other. Getting along with the same kind made Yan Yi very relaxed. There were omegas in every corner of the world who were in a similar situation as he was, some forced to give birth, some agonizing over unrequited love, while some were used as biological weapons to die in battles. 

Another drenching spring rain came freely and naturally, the thundering downpour trapping Yan Yi on his way home.

He stood under the eave of a coffee shop to escape the rain, thinking that if he couldn’t get a taxi, he would go inside and sit for a while until the rain stopped.

After a muffled clap of thunder, the white flashes of lightning that filled the sky shook before his eyes. 

Yan Yi grabbed his rabbit ears and rolled them into two small rolls, blocking all the gaps that allowed sound to squeeze in. A rabbit’s hearing was too sensitive; his heart pounded every time there was a clap of thunder. He was afraid it might scare the baby in his stomach. 

Suddenly, the hood of a coat that still carried the residual warmth of body temperature covered him. Lu Shangjin leaned down slightly, wrapping the little rabbit in his arms, and shielding his ears in the darkness. 

Many years ago, there had also been a pair of young and tender hands covering his ears in a thunderstorm.

After the initial differentiation of Yan Yi’s glands, he was kept in the laboratory to observe the energy consumption when he could not eat, while electronic voice-print locks were cuffed to his neck. The little rabbit was afraid of the dark and silence, hiding in a ball under the lab table.

The door lock gently jabbed open. Lu Shangjin crawled in all the way under the lab tables, avoiding the cameras. He took out his lunch box from his schoolbag and fed Yan Yi spoonful by spoonful, whispering that the security guards would change shifts in ten minutes, and to hurry up and eat. 

With tears in his eyes, Yan Yi ate obediently, his little hands clutching tightly onto the corner of Lu Shangjin’s clothes. 

It was raining heavily outside the lab. A white light flashed. Lu Shangjin put down the lunch box and used his school uniform jacket by the side to cover both of their heads, shielding the little rabbit’s ears.

Yan Yi opened his eyes and stared blankly at the face of the little alpha very close to him. 

Ten minutes was too short. Lu Shangjin carried his bag to get ready to leave, but Yan Yi grasped his pant leg gently, crawling with him a few steps, his voice trembling as he pleaded, “One more minute…I’m scared to be alone.” 

Lu Shangjin backtracked and held the little rabbit’s shoulders as he said seriously, “I’ll come back again tomorrow. I’ll take you away sooner or later.”

Every day, Yan Yi sat obediently in the corner and stared at the door, knowing that every night, a light would shine in from there.

The wind chimes of the coffee shop tinkled. Yan Yi was stunned, covered with a coat carrying the scent of narcissus.

Lu Shangjin held him with one hand while the other held the umbrella. It was tilted towards his side, drenching half his shoulder under his snow-white shirt. 

“It’s wet…” Yan Yi unintentionally reached out to straighten the umbrella, but Lu Shangjin hooked the handle back to his side, ill-intentionally kissing his forehead. 

Only then did Yan Yi remember that they were not the same as before and stiffly withdrew his hand to stick it back into his pocket.

Lu Shangjin felt for Yan Yi’s hand and stuffed it into his pocket, clutching his hand to warm it up.

When they got into the car, Lu Shangjin looked at him, “Did you have a fight with a friend? You look distracted.”

Yan Yi unscrewed a bottle of mineral water and took a sip. He pillowed his hands and leaned against the window, forehead pressing against the glass while he listened to the ba-da ba-da sound of the rain:

“I thought about something many years ago, but the feasibility is very low.”

Lu Shangjin raised his brow, “What is it?” 

“The establishment of a joint organization of high-grade omegas.” Yan Yi said it out, scratching his hair gently and laughed lightly to himself, “I tried to do it with a few of the PBB members, but failed. It’s such an absurd thing, maybe we are just put on the list of vulnerable prey by the laws of nature.”

“A high-grade omega joint organization.” Lu Shangjin tapped his fingertips on the steering wheel and pondered for a moment.

Yan Yi knew that mentioning this kind of thing to Lu Shangjin would be in vain. Alphas were the dominant ones on earth, the pillar gender of various industries. The arrogance in their bones predestined them to be unable to empathize, and even less put themselves in the shoes of others.  

“It should be an anti-hunting organization.” Lu Shangjin looked straight ahead. The rabbit ball charm on the rearview mirror shook slightly.

“I can provide weapons, ammunition, and funding.”

Taking advantage of the red light, Lu Shangjin leaned over to look at him, “If I’m allowed to join, I’ll draft four proposals for you tonight.”

The water bottle slipped from Yan Yi’s hand.

The car stopped outside the Lu family cemetery. The rain had stopped, but dark clouds still covered half the sky.

Lu Shangjin held a bouquet of lilies and led Yan Yi to stand in front of a tombstone.

“I actually shouldn’t have brought you here.” Lu Shangjin squatted down, brushing away the fallen leaves and dusting off the tombstone, before putting a bundle of lilies in water on it.

“Today is the anniversary of my dad’s death. I thought for a long time whether I should come to see him.” Lu Shangjin held Yan Yi’s shoulders, speaking softly as if he was telling a story about someone else’s family.

At the age when he could first remember, he accidentally peeked into the adult bedroom and saw Lu Lin holding Ye Wan against the windowsill for a kiss. At that time, the alpha’s eyes were clear and full of deep affection.

“Lu Lin was once an A3 alpha, the rarest peregrine falcon A3.” Lu Shangjin clenched his fists, his eyes pitch black and serene, “But because of my dad’s mistake during a mission, Lu Lin’s glands were destroyed by a sniper, and his newly transplanted ones could only differentiate to J1.”

“Lu Lin hated my dad, and my dad felt that he owed him because of the high level of dependency, so even if he was being tortured to death, he simply couldn’t leave him.”

“I told you about what happened later. The child my dad left behind died of organ failure. I took that child as a continuation of my dad, but my dad wouldn’t leave me anything.” He didn’t love me.

Lu Shangjin donated his little brother’s body to An Fei Ya Hospital. Maybe there were still healthy organs that could be transplanted in hopes that other children could see the world for him.

“Yan Yan, I haven’t seriously apologized to you.” Lu Shangjin lowered his head and looked into Yan Yi’s eyes, “I don’t want to become Lu Lin, but the more afraid I get, the more I become like him. I’m as irritable and suspicious of others as he is, and as condescending as he is.

“At first, erasing the mark was done out of a concern that you wouldn’t be able to escape if you were targeted by Lu Lin. Even so, I overestimated my own devotion and never asked you what you wanted.

“It wasn’t until my dad died that I learned that omegas need protection no matter how strong they are.”

“I’ve done a lot of things to hurt you before, so much that I’ve lost face to ask for forgiveness, but I still want to beg you to give me a chance to protect you and the baby properly.”

Yan Yi rarely heard Lu Shangjin say so many words at once. He stared at him blankly and backed away two steps. 

Lu Shangjin was standing two steps away from him with his hand spread out, an old platinum ring lying in his palm.

“If one day in the future you are willing to accept my apology, will you allow me to mark you?”

Yan Yi’s fingers trembled slightly, he grabbed the ring back and clutched it tightly, but did not put it on. 

He hurriedly ran to Ye Wan’s tombstone and bowed, then turned and fled back to the car in a panic.

That night, Yan Yi didn’t allow Lu Shangjin into his bedroom. He gripped the ring tightly, thinking in bed the whole night. 

Early the next morning, the four drafted proposals were placed neatly on the table.