The Little Bookworm Marked Her Ex-aunt - Chapter 43: Drowning in Omega's Pheromones

Chapter 43: Drowning in Omega’s Pheromones

Shu Yue sat in the car. Shiyi nestled in her arms. Her chin was casually stroked by Shu Yue. She felt comfortable, like a boneless, warm toy.

“Was your susceptible period like this before?” Ji Shiyi placed both hands on the steering wheel. She controlled the silver vehicle as it moved forward on the road.

“Like what?” Shu Yue asked.

Ji Shiyi’s lips curved slightly. She glanced at Shu Yue during a traffic light stop. “What do you think? Since we got in the car, someone has been staring at me. It’s like if they look away even a bit, I’d run off.”

Shu Yue’s face burned.

She hadn’t even noticed this herself!

She shifted her gaze back to the kitten. Shu Yue said, “I don’t know. I always took medicine during susceptible periods before.”

This time, the medicine didn’t work, and she couldn’t take more. Shu Yue experienced this situation for the first time.

Ji Shiyi seemed very experienced.

She not only keenly noticed changes in Shu Yue’s susceptible period but also offered to go to work together as a comforting measure.

Shu Yue’s heart felt a bit sour.

After noticing her emotions, she silently cursed the existence of the susceptible period in her mind. This thing was more annoying than a menstrual cycle. It amplified all her usual thoughts. Shu Yue couldn’t tell if this was her body’s hormones causing brain changes and altering her behavior, or if she truly thought this way and just acted more recklessly during the susceptible period.

Shu Yue disliked this feeling.

Her brain felt out of control.

Shiyi, nestled in her arms, sensed her rapidly changing emotions. She opened her mouth and bit Shu Yue’s finger.

The pain wasn’t intense, but it clearly reminded Shu Yue she was lost in endless thoughts again.

She snapped back to reality.

Shu Yue stroked the kitten’s head. She secretly swore in her heart that when she followed Ji Shiyi to the company later, she would control herself. She absolutely couldn’t act recklessly just because of her susceptible period.

This was Shu Yue’s first time at Ji Shiyi’s company.

She had only heard about Ji Shiyi’s reputation and the capital behind her from Lin Chu before. Shu Yue never had a real sense of it.

Today, she looked up and saw the building towering into the clouds. When they drove into the complex’s gate, the greenery inside was more extravagant than a park.

“Get out,” Ji Shiyi said.

Shu Yue hugged the cat and nodded. She followed Ji Shiyi.

Ji Shiyi had a dedicated direct elevator. Standing beside her, watching the floor numbers change gradually, Shu Yue suddenly recalled their first meeting at the hotel.

Back then, the naive Shu Yue didn’t know a presidential suite could have a direct elevator. She thought she was clever and pointed out Ji Shiyi was going the wrong way.

Ji Shiyi was considerate even then. She didn’t point out the mistake directly.

“I’ll go to a meeting soon. Will you wait in the office?” Ji Shiyi said.

Shu Yue nodded. “Hmm.”

Ji Shiyi led her into the office and introduced it. “There’s a lounge inside. If you’re sleepy, you can lie on the bed. This phone connects to the secretary’s office. If you need help, just call them.”

She glanced at her watch.

“I’ll probably need two or three hours to finish. Can you manage alone?”

Shu Yue said, “Of course!”

She felt Ji Shiyi treated her a bit like a child.

Her tone was like instructing a free-range kid.

“Miss Ji,” she said, “I can handle myself fine!”

Ji Shiyi approached her and looked into her eyes. “Really? Then who was it that clung to me earlier, saying they wanted to stay with me?”

Shu Yue was speechless.

She knew it! The susceptible period was bad!

Ji Shiyi noticed her neck turning red. She was still so easily embarrassed, blushing after a few words.

“Why so shy? It’s a normal need during the susceptible period. I understand.” Ji Shiyi reached out and touched Shiyi, who was in Shu Yue’s arms. “Should I release some pheromones for you? Would that make you feel better later?”

“No need…” Shu Yue assessed herself. She felt quite normal now. There wasn’t a trace of that susceptible period frenzy, the burning body, or the desperate craving for omega pheromones.

She nudged Ji Shiyi. “Miss Ji, go do your work. Don’t worry about me. I’ll take care of myself.”

Ji Shiyi said, “You just said you wanted to stay with me, and now you’re shooing me away?”

A barrage of “ahhh” flashed through Shu Yue’s mind.

Seeing her about to turn into a tomato, Ji Shiyi stopped teasing her.

“I’m going.” Ji Shiyi ruffled her hair. “Message me if anything comes up. You can use the iPad and computer on the desk. The password is shiyi0601.”

“Miss Ji, is that your birthday?” Shu Yue asked curiously.

Ji Shiyi shook her head. “Shiyi’s birthday.”

Shu Yue was surprised. “Shiyi… has a birthday too?”

Ji Shiyi recalled, “Theoretically, yes. I counted it from the first day it appeared.”

Shu Yue looked down at Shiyi. It tilted its cat face up, pure and innocent, as if it couldn’t understand their conversation was about it.

“Miss Ji, sometimes I feel Shiyi isn’t just your spirit body. It’s like your child.”

Ji Shiyi even set a birthday for her spirit body and used it as a password. So cute. Shu Yue’s heart fluttered slightly. Tiny butterflies flapped their wings for this moment’s discovery of Ji Shiyi.

“It’s different,” Ji Shiyi said. “Shiyi never calls me Mother.”

After final instructions, Ji Shiyi left the office.

Shu Yue hugged Shiyi and looked around the office.

The whole space had a cold vibe. Black, gray, and white dominated. The only splash of color was a lush nandina plant in the corner, thriving vibrantly, like a forest in one tree.

Shu Yue entered Ji Shiyi’s lounge. The style inside was completely different from the cold exterior.

Soft purple curtains glowed gently in the sunlight. A plush toy, a round shark resembling a kitten with a short tail, sat on the plain bed. It looked adorable.

So Ji Shiyi privately liked such things.

Just beyond a door, Shu Yue felt like she stepped into another place.

Ji Shiyi’s private place.

Although Ji Shiyi said to make herself at home and sleep if tired, Shu Yue felt it wasn’t quite right.

Once Ji Shiyi left, Shu Yue’s heart grew restless. Locking eyes with Shiyi, who jumped onto the bed, Shu Yue suddenly realized her symptoms resembled a pet with separation anxiety.

Damn susceptible period.

To calm her restlessness, Shu Yue decided to drink some ice water.

She explored Ji Shiyi’s office thoroughly but found no ice in the fridge. Shu Yue pressed the phone to contact the secretary’s office.

Jiang Qian had heard from Ji Shiyi earlier that someone would rest in her office that afternoon. If they had needs, just fulfill them.

When she heard this, Jiang Qian agreed obediently but gossiped inwardly.

The secretary’s office chat group buzzed because of it.

WorkBeatMeAgain: What’s going on?

WorkBeatMeAgain: Someone’s in the boss’s office?

ILoveBossTrue: !!!

ILoveBossTrue: Who!!!

ILoveBossTrue: I’ve been here three years and never saw anyone rest in the boss’s office!!!

WealthGodAwaits: Did anyone see?

WorkBeatMeAgain: They went straight to the office via elevator. How could we see?

WealthGodAwaits: I’ve never wanted the intercom to ring so badly.

WorkBeatMeAgain: Waiting for a call.

ILoveBossTrue: I’m sharpening my knife. Call me when the phone rings.

“Ring ring ring.”

When Ji Shiyi’s dedicated intercom rang, the entire secretary’s office fell silent instantly.

Under her colleagues’ eager gazes, Jiang Qian cleared her throat, answered the phone, and a colleague nearby turned on the speaker.

“Hello.” Shu Yue, doing such a high-class thing for the first time, asked uncertainly, “Is this the secretary’s office?”

Damn.

What a clear voice.

Jiang Qian pinched her throat to sound professional. “Yes, hello. How can I assist you?”

“I’d like to know where I can find ice. Or what’s the delivery address here? I want to order an iced drink.”

Jiang Qian said, “You need an iced drink? There’s ice in the pantry. Shall I get it for you?”

Shu Yue wasn’t used to having others do things for her.

She hurriedly said, “No, no. I’ll do it myself.”

Jiang Qian said, “Alright. I’ll wait at the door and take you there.”

Shu Yue said, “Thank you.”

Jiang Qian said, “You’re welcome.”

“…”

“…”

Jiang Qian reminded, “Miss, you can hang up now.”

Shu Yue said, “Okay!”

Unaccustomed to hanging up on others, even listening fully to scam calls or bank pitches before hanging up, Shu Yue thought: Is this what being a boss feels like?

On Jiang Qian’s end, once the call ended, with years of secretarial experience and gossiping behind backs, she checked to confirm the call was indeed disconnected. Then she turned to her colleagues and gave an OK sign.

“Sounds young,” the self-proclaimed biggest Ji Shiyi fangirl in the secretary’s office said with a hint of jealousy. “About my age, right?”

The joker who always joined the fangirl in calling Ji Shiyi “Mommy” said, “Stop flattering yourself.”

The oldest and most composed omega in the office asked, “Who’s going later?”

All four pairs of eyes met instantly.

Jiang Qian won the honor in the black-and-white game.

She walked out of the secretary’s office. The other three lined up like a string, heads peeking one after another at the door, waiting to see who came out.

The door opened, revealing a girl wearing a mask.

Glasses covered her face, and the mask hid most of it. They couldn’t see her appearance.

She followed Jiang Qian to get water, returned shortly with a cup in both hands, bowed politely to Jiang Qian, and slipped back into the office.

“She looks so young,” Fangirl Sis said. “What gender? Beta?”

Jiang Qian said, “I thought beta too, but her mask seems like an alpha-specific isolation mask.”

“Alpha!?” The joker was shocked. “Can’t tell at all. Could she be our mom’s alpha?”

Fangirl Sis shattered, glaring at her nonsense-spouting colleague.

“Don’t talk nonsense,” Fangirl Sis said. “That’s typical stereotyping. Can’t omega and alpha just be relatives? Maybe a bored kid brought to the office to play.”

“Bring a kid to the office to play?” Senior Bro said. “Isn’t that torture? What’s fun here? Oh, stay in Ning City and see all sorts of chaos without stepping out?”

Fangirl Sis was stumped.

Jiang Qian clapped her hands. “Alright, enough chatting. Get back to work. If you really want to know, when the boss passes by after her meeting, go ask her directly.”

Fangirl Sis returned to her desk. “Forget it. Between gossip and my job, I choose my job. I can’t imagine leaving Tianhe. The world outside is brutal.”

Tianhe was known for great benefits, high salaries, and strong employee care.

Since joining via campus recruitment, Fangirl Sis never thought of leaving.

Ten-to-five with weekends off, a five-figure monthly salary, two paid personal days monthly besides statutory holidays, and cleared annually. If saved up, it could amount to two or three Spring Festivals.

Not to mention housing and meal subsidies.

Since she couldn’t escape working her whole life, might as well work at Tianhe.

“Wanna bet?” Before starting work, Fangirl Sis couldn’t resist. “She’s definitely not the boss’s alpha. Probably a niece or relative’s kid.”

“Bet what?” the joker said. “Money’s boring.”

“…My one-day leave!” Fangirl Sis went wild, slamming the desk. “Brothers and sisters, you in?”

The joker laughed. “I bet alpha.”

Senior Bro said, “Me too.”

Fangirl Sis turned to Jiang Qian. “Teacher Jiang, it’s up to you. 1v2, time to change fate!”

Jiang Qian said calmly, “I bet alpha too.”

Fangirl Sis cursed, “Damn!”

I’ll kill you AO-brained lot!

She didn’t believe it!

It was a risky move with low odds, but if she won, she’d beat three and gain three paid days off. Plus her own two days and the weekend, she wouldn’t need to come to work for a week.

Bet!

She’d bet to the abyss!

Fangirl Sis declared boldly, “If I win, each of you gives me one day off.”

The joker replied, “Fine. If you lose, one day’s twenty-four hours, we three split eight each. It’ll do.”

Fangirl Sis asked, “…?”

She couldn’t help asking, “How do you use eight hours?”

The joker said, “Two hours daily, leave early, rest four days a week. You’d be the only one left guarding the office till lights out.”

Fangirl Sis spat, “Vicious woman!”

The joker sneered, “No one’s kind at work!”

“But how will you ask later? Really go up and ask our mom?”

Jiang Qian looked at the two kids. “Want an N+3 severance? Try it.”

Fangirl Sis was silent.

The joker was silent.

“Ask her later?” Fangirl Sis suggested. “When I get the chance, I’ll go for it.”

The joker patted her shoulder. “Good luck, go far.”

During the next work hours, Fangirl Sis waited for Shu Yue to appear. One hour passed, two hours passed, the office door stayed shut, never opening.

Ji Shiyi returned.

Under her gaze, Jiang Qian stepped forward to report. “Miss Shu didn’t request anything, just a glass of ice water.”

Ji Shiyi nodded. “Thanks.”

She pushed open the office door, saw no one in the work area, and headed to the lounge.

She opened the hidden partition.

Shu Yue wasn’t there.

No one was on the sofa or the bed.

A pillow was missing.

Ji Shiyi frowned, searched the room, and finally fixed her gaze on the wardrobe.

She carefully opened the door.

Inside, Shu Yue curled into a ball, hugging the plain soft pillow from the bed. Scattered around her were various clothes.

They were Ji Shiyi’s, kept in the lounge year-round.

Shiyi slept beside her. Seeing Ji Shiyi enter, it meowed softly.

Ji Shiyi put a finger to her lips.

Shiyi instantly quieted.

Ji Shiyi looked at Shu Yue.

She knew alphas had nesting behavior during susceptible periods but didn’t expect Shu Yue to nest like this.

Both cute and heart-wrenching.

She saw a white dress caught in the wardrobe’s door seam, tugged it, but it didn’t budge. Shu Yue woke.

She didn’t open her eyes but instinctively gripped the dress, refusing to let Ji Shiyi take it.

Slowly opening her eyes, seeing Ji Shiyi, her fjord-like pupils flashed with the beauty of dusk’s glow.

“Miss Ji! You’re back!”

Before Ji Shiyi could answer, Shu Yue realized what she’d done. Panicked, she wished she could grovel and apologize to Ji Shiyi.

Before “sorry” left her mouth, the woman’s kiss landed.

A light kiss, just touching her lips, a fleeting brush.

Even so, Shu Yue’s heart pounded.

Ji Shiyi half-squatted, one hand on the wardrobe door, looking at her. “Didn’t I say? Don’t say that word in front of me.”

Shu Yue said, “Oh—”

Her eyes were dazed, clearly still reeling from the kiss.

“Scared?” Ji Shiyi asked with a smile.

Shu Yue shook her head.

Rather than scared, she was struck by joy.

Why did Ji Shiyi kiss her?

Was this part of helping? Like what Shu Yue did to Ji Shiyi in the hotel before.

She couldn’t hide her thoughts and wanted to ask. At other times, she’d have blurted it out. But because it was Ji Shiyi, Shu Yue didn’t dare. For the first time, she wanted to play deaf and mute, hiding her thoughts.

Ji Shiyi was so perfect, Shu Yue didn’t dare speak lightly.

“Still uncomfortable?” Ji Shiyi saw her somber expression, assuming it was the susceptible period’s symptoms. “How about this? Does it help?”

Omega pheromones spread in the air.

The scent of cold wood carried a hint of bergamot.

Warm, elegant, and calming.

Shu Yue’s inner restlessness eased, but only briefly. A beast seemed to stir within her. The pheromones calmed it momentarily but sparked a greater craving.

The bracelet monitoring alpha pheromones on Shu Yue’s right hand emitted a sharp alert.

Shu Yue wanted to raise the threshold, but Ji Shiyi grabbed her wrist.

“Fang Wenyan said it’s best not to do that right now.”

“But…”

Ji Shiyi’s hands cupped her face. “I said I’d help you.”

Ji Shiyi’s eyes were clear. Without emotion, they were like a mirror, lofty, seeing through all desires. But now, looking at her with gentle acceptance, they made Shu Yue want to shed everything.

With Ji Shiyi, she could strip away all pretense and be her truest self. But Shu Yue had almost forgotten what that self was. She couldn’t find the original child, already sculpted into something else by her own hands.

Ji Shiyi was like silent, nurturing water, flowing gently over the hard shell of a clay figure, not striking violently or piercing sharply.

It only washed over, again and again, with patience, support, and affirmation.

Her eyes were so gentle and calm, as if no matter how ugly the face beneath the clay, it was wholly accepted.

“Can I do anything?” Shu Yue asked softly.

Ji Shiyi saw her softening, a faint smile in her eyes.

“Hmm,” she promised. “Anything.”

Shu Yue pursed her lips, tugging Ji Shiyi’s dangling hem.

“Miss Ji,” she asked earnestly, her eyes cautious. “Can I have a kiss?”

Ji Shiyi raised a brow, saying nothing.

Shu Yue’s heart sank, cursing her boldness.

She quickly backtracked. “It’s okay if not. I understand—mmph!”

The woman’s lips sealed hers, biting her lip. As Shu Yue’s eyes widened and mouth opened, Ji Shiyi’s tongue slipped in.

Shu Yue leaned back from the kiss, with no retreat, pressed against the wardrobe’s edge, surrounded by clothes filled with Ji Shiyi’s scent.

At the same time, omega pheromones spread.

Her tongue was teased, entangled in circles, before Ji Shiyi let go.

“Understand what?” Ji Shiyi’s voice was almost coaxing. “Just one kiss, really?”

Shu Yue swallowed.

She tested, “Then… another?”

Ji Shiyi laughed, looking at her. “Coward.”

Before Shu Yue could defend herself, Ji Shiyi removed her obstructive glasses, set them aside, and kissed her again. Her lips were sucked, and she playfully tugged Ji Shiyi’s lip, biting, letting go only when Shu Yue’s hands hesitantly wrapped around her, then kissing deeper.

Shu Yue felt like a cake, savored and nearly melted by Ji Shiyi’s licks.

She didn’t know how long it lasted. When Ji Shiyi’s tongue retreated, no longer claiming her mouth’s sweetness, Shu Yue instinctively didn’t want to let go. She chased, slipping her tongue between Ji Shiyi’s lips.

Mimicking Ji Shiyi’s earlier moves, she greeted slowly, then grew more intense.

Her arms hugged Ji Shiyi tighter.

Ji Shiyi’s body pressed closer, both leaning into the wardrobe.

Shu Yue felt Ji Shiyi guide her wrist, from her back forward, pressing there.

Omega pheromones nearly exploded.

Ji Shiyi pressed with her, matching the kiss’s rhythm.

When they parted, gasping, their pupils flickered with secret, tiny flames.

“Eased?” Ji Shiyi’s fingertip brushed her bracelet.

Shu Yue nodded, already drowning in omega pheromones, nearly crazed.

“Click.”

The bracelet fell off, dropping onto the wardrobe’s wooden floor.

Suppressed alpha pheromones surged like vines, entwining the entire space.

Shiyi, previously bored and licking its raised hind leg, perked its ears, let out a delicate meow, and sidled up, rubbing inch by inch against Shu Yue’s arm.