After Being Bitten By Top-Tier O, Flop A Went Viral - Chapter 3

3: Thanks to You

Qin Que had a short dream. In it, she was a child, tricked by an older sister visiting her home into taking a few sips of her mother’s treasured wine. Before any adults could scold her, she was already drunk and passed out.

Amidst the hazy drowsiness, a delicate, warm hand brushed past her ear, tucking the stray strands of hair behind it.

The touch was so gentle, the faint tickle by her ear so comforting, that Qin Que instinctively nuzzled into it.

Then she heard a soft chuckle from a woman—one she didn’t recognize.

Wait, that’s not right!

“Hah!” She abruptly sat up, blinking dazedly at her surroundings.

A dimly lit room. Herself, slumped over a table. And… Yan Qing, resting her chin on her hand, watching her with leisurely amusement.

The woman had just retracted her hand, gazing at Qin Que with the same expression one might reserve for an adorable little animal—utterly entertained.

“I thought you’d sleep till tomorrow. Is my pheromone really that strong?”

“N-no, it’s not your fault. It’s probably because I… I’ve never been marked before, s-so I’m not used to it?” Qin Que stammered, unsure of what she was even saying. “Are you feeling better now?”

“Thanks to you, much better.” The woman tilted her head slightly, the alluring lines of her slender neck faintly visible. The scent blocker on the back of her neck had been reapplied, and she was no longer emitting high concentrations of pheromones—this wave of heat had passed.

Qin Que only glanced once before averting her eyes. Whether it was due to the marking or not, she felt her body temperature was alarmingly high, and there was a hint of… inappropriate thoughts creeping in.

This was really bad.

“Hmm, am I that scary? You don’t even dare to look at me.” Strangely, Yan Qing, who had initially been wary of her, now seemed to take delight in teasing her, deliberately leaning closer.

That stunning face suddenly dominated Qin Que’s vision, and for a moment, she forgot to breathe.

“N-no, that’s not it.” She hastily stood up from the chair, taking two steps back and staring at her own feet. “Since you’re fine now, I should…”

Before she could finish, a crisp ringtone cut through the air. The amusement faded from Yan Qing’s face as she raised a finger to signal Qin Que to wait, then pulled out her phone from the handbag behind her.

“Hello.”

From where Qin Que stood, she couldn’t make out the specifics of the conversation, but the tone alone made it clear the person on the other end was yelling.

“Alright, don’t get so worked up. I’m fine, aren’t I? I’m even talking to you properly right now.” Yan Qing listened for a moment, then pulled the phone away from her ear with a sigh.

Another rapid-fire barrage of words followed. Qin Que vaguely caught words like “reporters” and “police.”

“Mhm, I figured. They went through all that trouble, even dragging the owner of Yunxiang Pavilion into it—all just to ruin me. For them to fail at the last step? I almost feel sorry for them.” Yan Qing leaned back slightly into the leather chair, her expression cool and indifferent.

If the Yan Qing from earlier had left Qin Que flustered, the Yan Qing now made her somewhat fearful.

In less than half an hour of knowing her, Qin Que had already witnessed two completely different sides of Yan Qing. It was… intriguing.

Her gaze lingered on the diamond earring swaying gently by the woman’s ear, lost in thought.

Until Yan Qing hung up the phone and noticed the tall alpha standing stiffly in place, dark eyes fixed unblinkingly on her… earring.

She wasn’t sure whether to feel more exasperated or amused.

Under normal circumstances, when a young alpha and a freshly post-heat omega were alone in a room together, and the alpha remained this calm and well-behaved, the usual assumptions were either that the alpha was incompetent or that the omega lacked charm.

Yan Qing never doubted her own charm—that was as unquestionable as one plus one equaling two.

But she didn’t blame Qin Que for her naivety. If anything, in an industry like theirs, maintaining such innocence and integrity was the rarest thing of all.

It was… kind of cute.

“You like it? It’s yours.” She casually plucked off the earring and tossed it to Qin Que.

Qin Que reflexively caught it. The earring was cool to the touch, but the tip still carried the residual warmth from the woman’s earlobe.

“N-no, I can’t take this.” She hurriedly tried to return it, but Yan Qing waved her off. “Keep it. Consider it an advance thank-you gift. There’s something else I need your help with.”

“A concerned citizen reported to the police that someone at Yunxiang Pavilion was in possession of illegal pheromone inducers. They’re sweeping the place now, and they’ll probably reach the top floor in less than fifteen minutes. If they find me here, all our earlier efforts will be for nothing.”

Yan Qing spoke leisurely, still smiling, but Qin Que’s hair practically stood on end. “Then what do we do?!”

“I—I can’t stay here!” She turned toward the door in a panic. If she and Yan Qing were discovered in the same room, it would only make things worse for the other woman.

“Ah, if you leave now, I’ll just have to wait for the headlines tomorrow.” The omega sighed dramatically behind her, half-joking, half-serious.

Qin Que froze, then turned back in confusion.

Had she misunderstood Yan Qing’s meaning?

“Bad news: the elevators are already locked down.” Yan Qing’s slender fingers curled around her phone as she smiled faintly. “Good news: the emergency stairs are clear and lead straight to the underground parking lot.”

“But I don’t have the strength to walk down all those stairs right now, so…” The omega spread her hands, grinning at her. “You’re pretty strong, aren’t you?”

—

Most of the time, intimacy provided comfort.

Warm skin, the weight of another body, the heartbeat and breath of another person—for a brief moment, the loneliness the universe imposed on every individual temporarily faded, and the soul found solace elsewhere.

Qin Que carried Yan Qing on her back, descending flight after flight of stairs.

The pale fluorescent lights overhead cast a meager glow, and a few flickered intermittently, like something out of a horror movie.

Even in a luxurious building, there were still these incongruously dark corners.

Early autumn nights were already chilly, and the stairwell lacked climate control.

Qin Que had given her suit jacket to Yan Qing, leaving herself in nothing but a thin dress shirt.

Yet she didn’t feel cold at all.

The body pressed against her back was like a pool of hot water in the dead of winter, enveloping her until she burned with the same heat.

Warm breaths brushed against the freshly marked gland on the back of her neck, sending shivers down her spine amidst the bone-melting embrace.

Qin Que struggled to breathe, but she couldn’t free a hand to loosen the suffocatingly tight bow tie.

Is Yan Qing still feverish? Is she uncomfortable?

She wanted to move faster, to help the omega escape this suffocating trap as quickly as possible.

Yet with every step downward, she treaded carefully, afraid of jostling the woman on her back.

By the time they reached the eighth floor, sweat dripped incessantly down her face.

When she pushed open the emergency exit door, a sleek black van was already waiting outside. The side door slid open automatically, revealing a middle-aged woman with glasses sitting stiffly in the back seat. The moment she saw the two of them, her stern expression faltered slightly before she quickly reached out to help Yan Qing into the car.

Qin Que vaguely recognized her—Yan Qing’s manager, Ai Jia, who often dealt with the media on her behalf.

The sudden lightness on her back left her feeling strangely empty as the cold wind bit through her sweat-drenched shirt. She shivered.

“Thank you.” Yan Qing stopped Ai Jia from closing the door. The omega, still wrapped in Qin Que’s jacket, gazed at her softly. “You’ve been a huge help.”

“It’s nothing.” Qin Que wiped the sweat from her face and urged quietly, “You should go. This place isn’t safe either.”

Yan Qing’s eyes curved into crescents as she nodded. Then she reached out, fingers brushing against Qin Que’s bow tie, and tugged lightly.

The dark blue silk ribbon unraveled, now entwined around the woman’s pale fingers, instantly seeming far more expensive than it was.

Freed from the constriction, Qin Que’s collar loosened slightly, revealing the delicate lines of her collarbones. She could finally breathe properly again.

“Your face was turning red from suffocation. This suit doesn’t suit you.” The woman toyed with the ribbon. “I still don’t know your name.”

“Qin Que. My name is Qin Que.” Qin Que stared at her hands, flustered.

“Mn. Miss Qin, thank you.” Yan Qing met her eyes, sincerity in her voice.

The car door slid shut.

Still dazed, Qin Que didn’t catch the woman’s final words.

“We’ll meet again.”