After The Mission Failed, The Scumbag Alpha Ran Away - Chapter 46

46: Chi Ruo, We’re Developing a Relationship

The scent of bl00d mingled with the silent smoke of gunpowder, dissipating into the air.

The two released each other, panting as they locked eyes, both feeling the bloodlust rise from their throats to their chests.

This bloodlust, mixed with indescribable emotions, quickly ignited into a fire within their hearts.

Lou Huaiche glared fiercely into Jiang Youbai’s eyes, inexplicably reminding Jiang Youbai of a provoked beast.

Jiang Youbai pursed her lips and let out a muffled laugh. “Why are you looking at me like that? As if you’re the one who suffered a loss.”

Lou Huaiche continued to glare, her expression unchanging.

Jiang Youbai studied the Omega before her.

In Jiang Youbai’s memory, Lou Huaiche was either mad and venomous or decadent and aloof. No matter the time, Lou Huaiche always seemed like a ghost drifting beyond the world outside the world.

Yet, at some point, the Lou Huaiche in her memory had gradually faded, replaced by the vivid, emotionally expressive Lou Huaiche before her now.

Jiang Youbai’s throat tightened. This feeling—of watching someone peel away their cold, hard exterior layer by layer to reveal their true self—left her heart trembling, her soul utterly captivated.

Jiang Youbai lowered her head and couldn’t resist gently kissing Lou Huaiche’s eyes.

Lou Huaiche instinctively closed her eyes, feeling the Alpha’s tender and affectionate kisses.

The kiss traveled to Lou Huaiche’s lips.

The faint taste of bl00d spread between their tongues, mingling with the surge of intense emotions, yet it felt entirely different from before.

……

The two lay entwined on the single bed.

Lou Huaiche nestled in Jiang Youbai’s arms, gripping her shoulders tightly as she whispered pleadingly, “Your Highness, mark me.”

Jiang Youbai lowered her head, her fair, slender neck elegant and graceful, like a swan entwined with its mate.

She gently took Lou Huaiche’s scent gland between her lips, feeling the Omega’s body tremble. To soothe her, Jiang Youbai stroked Lou Huaiche’s long hair and quickly injected her own pheromones into the Omega’s gland.

Lou Huaiche clung to her, gasping as she suddenly bit down on Jiang Youbai’s shoulder.

Jiang Youbai winced in grievance. “Ouch! Why are you biting me again? I didn’t even bite you that hard earlier!”

Lou Huaiche, breathing unevenly and rapidly, shot her a cold glare before biting her again. Then, in a low, angry voice, she scolded Jiang Youbai, “Look at what you’ve done to my neck! I told you not to kiss there—I didn’t bring a scarf. Are you pretending to be deaf?”

Jiang Youbai guiltily covered Lou Huaiche’s mouth, her eyes darting away. “Alright, alright. If you’re still mad, you can bite me again?”

“We’re meeting Jiang Qingxian tomorrow, Jiang Youbai! I reminded you several times!” Lou Huaiche yanked her hand away, gritting her teeth as she resisted the urge to bite her again. “How could you be so…”

Lou Huaiche’s words trailed off. She couldn’t find the right words to scold Jiang Youbai. Calling her annoying or a rascal felt too embarrassing, and other insults didn’t quite fit.

Stalling any longer would just be awkward, so Lou Huaiche mumbled vaguely: “What are we going to do tomorrow?”

“We’ll cover it up tomorrow,” Jiang Youbai said, reaching out to smooth Lou Huaiche’s hair and adjust her clothes. A faint smile played on her lips. “What were you going to scold me just now?”

Lou Huaiche replied, “Know when to stop. Don’t make me punch you again.”

Annoyed, she turned away, pulling the blanket over her head.

From Jiang Youbai’s perspective, all she could see was a lump under the covers, wriggling like a burrito. Since half the blanket was still under Jiang Youbai, Lou Huaiche couldn’t fully roll away, leaving a small, messy, and fluffy portion of her head exposed.

Jiang Youbai tugged at the blanket. The furious Omega yanked back, but after the ordeal of the official mating mark, she was too exhausted to muster much strength and failed to reclaim the blanket.

Jiang Youbai clearly saw Lou Huaiche’s body stiffen.

She wanted to laugh but held back, afraid of provoking Lou Huaiche further. Yet her mischievous hands couldn’t resist teasing, and she tugged the blanket again.

“Jiang Youbai!”

Lou Huaiche, still turned away, gnashed her teeth and hissed a low threat at Jiang Youbai. She yanked the blanket sharply again—only for Jiang Youbai to seize the chance, roll over, and pull her into an embrace.

Jiang Youbai embraced her, smoothing Lou Huaiche’s hair, which had tangled from all the tossing and turning.

No matter how silky the hair, rough handling would leave it knotted. Jiang Youbai roughly combed through it with her fingers.

Seeing Lou Huaiche curled into a ball, stiff with anger, Jiang Youbai found it amusing. She reached out and deliberately ruffled Lou Huaiche’s hair again.

Lou Huaiche, who had been holding her breath, trying to avoid facing Jiang Youbai after the embarrassing ordeal, felt the Alpha mess up her hair again.

She took a deep breath, turned around, and asked, “Your Highness, did you smooth my hair just so you could mess it up again? Are you a dog?”

Even the most stunning beauty would look a bit silly with disheveled hair.

Jiang Youbai sat up, cleared her throat, and stifled a laugh to avoid further provoking Lou Huaiche. She said earnestly, “Not at all. Let me fix it for you.”

She got out of bed, fetched a comb from the bathroom, and sat back down to gently comb Lou Huaiche’s hair.

Lou Huaiche was dressed simply today. Jiang Youbai deftly tied her hair into a bun, using the comb to loosen a few strands as bangs. The overall look was much neater than Lou Huaiche’s usual haphazard styling.

Jiang Youbai turned on her personal terminal’s camera to show Lou Huaiche. “How does it look? Pretty, right?”

Through the electronic mirror on the terminal, Lou Huaiche saw Jiang Youbai’s expression behind her.

It wasn’t overflowing with tenderness—far from her usual facade of warmth and elegance—but there was a quiet sincerity, a faint softness in her eyes.

As if stripped of all pretense, shedding Jiang Youbai’s mischievous, pleasure-seeking nature, this was the person beneath.

A gentle, understated tenderness that enveloped Lou Huaiche, drawing her into a warm, affectionate embrace.

Lou Huaiche’s heart fluttered. She was about to compliment Jiang Youbai when she heard the young, noble Alpha boast proudly, “Isn’t it much better than how you usually tie it?”

Lou Huaiche: “…” Has Jiang Youbai’s mouth only ever been punched by her?

Lou Huaiche pressed her fingers to her temples, suddenly at a loss for words.

She considered herself a rebellious Omega with an unusually combative personality, yet she’d somehow met Jiang Youbai, whose mouth could keep running even after death.

Lou Huaiche found it amusing and couldn’t be bothered to argue. She turned and patted Jiang Youbai’s cheek a playful, almost flippant pat. “Mm, not bad service.”

Jiang Youbai: “…” She won, but it still felt like a loss.

With that, Lou Huaiche ignored Jiang Youbai’s reaction, tidied herself up, and got out of bed to put on her shoes. Seeing Jiang Youbai’s sullen expression, she crooked a finger with a smirk. “Want to get food?”

Jiang Youbai replied indifferently, “Yes.”

The two went out to eat. After two or three hours, Chi Ruo sent Jiang Youbai a message: “Why’s dinner taking so long? Did you two go make some substantial progress?”

Jiang Youbai glanced across the table at Lou Huaiche, who was eating at a random restaurant they’d found.

In the sunlight, Lou Huaiche’s eyelashes gleamed gold, her amber eyes shimmering with light. Her lips were rosy, accentuating her fair complexion, making her even more enchanting.

Lower, the bun revealed the delicate curve of her neck, now adorned with several mechanical bruise from their earlier activities, looking particularly intimate.

Jiang Youbai, satisfied, replied to Chi Ruo: “Pretty much.”

Chi Ruo perked up. “Oh? Tell me more.”

how could they go from enemies to lovers in one outing? A moment later, Jiang Youbai’s message arrived: “We argued on the way, so we found a hotel to fight.”

Chi Ruo: “What? What did you say?”

Jiang Youbai repeated it.

Chi Ruo: “?”

Chi Ruo: “I feel like my mother tongue has failed me. Can I no longer interpret the phrase ‘substantive progress’ literally?”

Jiang Youbai continued, “Don’t interrupt. We started kissing mid-fight, then went through the formal claiming. I even combed her hair afterward

Chi Ruo asked, “And then?”

“That’s it. We’re eating now.”

Chi Ruo almost said, “That’s it?” But she opted for a more tactful response: “Just that… Well, not bad. It’s certainly an innovative approach to romance.”

Chi Ruo didn’t want to hear more. Jiang Youbai was like a dog who scored 30 out of 200 and thought she’d aced the test—utterly clueless.

She turned off her terminal, wondering where things had gone wrong to make Jiang Youbai so inept at romance. Wasn’t she smooth when flirting with older Omegas?

Then again, Jiang Youbai was dating Lou Huaiche—another lunatic just like him. Maybe unconventional methods were the norm. Besides, Jiang Youbai was far from normal herself. Perhaps the more they fought, the deeper their love grew.

Moreover, being able to unreservedly expose their true selves and flaws to each other was a rare kind of happiness.

Chi Ruo decided to leave Jiang Youbai to her own devices. Everyone had their own way of relating. For these two, this ambiguous, seemingly heartless yet affectionate dynamic might be perfect.

Life was short, especially in these times. How many people could afford so willful?

After replying to Chi Ruo, Jiang Youbai looked up to find Lou Huaiche watching her. She smiled. “What is it?”

Lou Huaiche’s voice was calm. “Just thinking.”

She should have realized these things sooner, but she’d been too busy sparring with Jiang Youbai to notice.

Yet Lou Huaiche had to admit that their back-and-forth had effectively distracted her from her emotions.

Now, days later, the shock of recent events had settled, and she was beginning to see things more clearly.

Before, Lou Huaiche had clung to her boundaries out of fear for her fate, afraid to cross the line. But everything had changed.

Lou Huaiche was no longer that desperate and lonely man, and Jiang Youbai was no longer the prince surrounded by crowds.

Shedding the constraints of fate and status, they could now stroll openly down the street, enter hotels without worry, and ignore the consequences of being seen.

Even the matter of Jiang Youbai’s sincerity, which Lou Huaiche had dreaded facing—

Lou Huaiche studied the Alpha across from her, chin propped on her hand, gaze lazy and she tilted her head slightly. A small smile curved her lips.

Jiang Youbai was so stubborn that even if she did have feelings, she’d never admit them.

After growing so close, after seeing all of Jiang Youbai’s true colors, did it even matter whether her feelings were genuine?

As long as she could hold onto Jiang Youbai, as long as this arrogant Alpha stayed by her side, the truth of her heart was irrelevant.

Noticing Lou Huaiche’s seemingly genuine smile, Jiang Youbai asked curiously, “What’s got you so happy?”

Lou Huaiche lowered her eyes, a surge of meed ro confide overwhelming her. So many words clamored to be spoken, desperate to be shared with the Alpha before her.

Lou Huaiche sat in the sunlight, squinting as she said lightly, “Nothing. I just suddenly feel free.”

She turned to gaze at the bustling Upper District outside the window. “No matter what the future holds, no matter the outcome, it’ll feel complete.”

Jiang Youbai smirked. “Miss Lou, your life is no longer a track.”

Lou Huaiche turned back to look at this person she’d only met in this lifetime, this Alpha who’d survived through seven lifetimes of serendipity. Their eyes met as Jiang Youbai said airily, “Your life is a wilderness.”