Chapter Text
Once again, Wang Jie awoke from an unbearably difficult heat. He leaned weakly against the leg of the bed frame, having accidentally rolled onto the floor during the struggle.
After attempting to move his lower body, he couldn’t help but let out a gasp of pain. The bumps were likely because there had been no safeguards when he had rolled off, and in a few hours, they were sure to turn into distinct bruises.
He pondered for a bit, then decided that once he was back to normal, he’d go out and buy a rug for his house. And if he was really that unfit to do it himself, then he could always ask a subordinate to come to his house to help set one up.
Was this the end to this most recent round of his heat? Wang Jie wasn't sure. When he had been in command on the front lines, the enemy had used a new type of weapon that specifically targeted pheromones. It had been a gaseous type of diffusion and if contaminated, one would go into heat like a wild beast and become engulfed in the unstoppable fires of lust.
Countless soldiers on the battlefield immediately lost their reason and the Empire was left with few options - though some were brought back to the base for medical treatment, a cure was not to be found and in the end, euthanasia was implemented.
Wang Jie was one of the lucky ones. When he was made aware of the enemy’s underhanded strategy, a loyal subordinate immediately went to fetch gas masks. But it was still too late. In an instant, his gland was under assault and his pheromones was utterly wrecked. In the end, he was secretly sent back to the capital to await the next step of his treatment.
With some effort, he pushed himself up and eyed the quantum clock hanging on the clock. Five hours. It was clear that the intervals between his episodes were becoming shorter, and that the duration of each was becoming longer. There was a sense of helplessness to this discovery and perhaps a few days from now, he too, would be euthanized.
It’s alright, Wang Jie consoled himself. Dying with his soldiers was a good thing, was it not? Even if he was only twenty-five years old, even if he had been dubbed by the media as a slowly rising star in the military, even if there was still so much he hadn’t done with his life. However, his father had once said that dying with one’s troops was a very, very romantic notion and had himself passed in this manner. He had held the line with his men and ultimately died in a foreign land. Though it had been a pity, it was only to be expected.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
It was the alarm from his communication device. He rummaged through the bedcovers and then looked all over the floor. His strength had not fully recovered and he hadn’t eaten a meal in ages, which left him bleary-eyed and dizzy. Finally, he found the communication device that had fallen to the floor during his heat-induced struggles.
The notifications included a missed call that caught his eye - it was from the command center. Wang Jie cleared his throat and asked, “Is something the matter?”
The command center had good news to share. Through the analysis of the chemicals that the enemy had released, they had identified the basic mechanisms and were one step closer to formulating a preliminary treatment procedure.
The gist of it was that they would find him a highly compatible alpha who would, through sexual intercourse, treat the imbalance of his pheromones until they eventually reverted to a normal status and secretion curve.
Why don’t we start with someone from the infected group? the command center asked him. Although the situation was dire and there were few alternatives, consideration still had to be given to differences in higher and lower ranks and the awkwardness it may prompt.
Wang Jie didn’t hesitate too long and agreed with a ‘yes’.
After hanging up, the command center sent a profile of the subordinate, as if they had already prepared the materials well in advance. There was a note beside the compatibility - it was 82%, which wasn’t too high of a figure. ‘Is he the only option?’ Wang Jie asked. He had some recollection of the man, whose rank wasn’t very high and must have been scared out of his wits at the situation. The command center advised, ‘just give it a try’.
“Alright,” Wang Jie said with a sigh. He got up and pulled himself together, refusing to allow himself to meet the other man in such a sorry state.
Upon arriving at the designated medical center, he noted that the subordinate was still very nervous. Wang Jie smiled a little to reassure him. The medical staff had them put a detector on their arm to more easily measure the pheromone levels before and after sex. Wang Jie bent his head and gave it a quick scan - the number displayed was one that was obviously irregular, even to someone without much medical knowledge.
He pointed towards the room, indicating to his subordinate to enter. The lovemaking process wasn’t all that successful because the subordinate had a stimulating scent of gunpowder, whereas Wang Jie’s own scent held the lightness of plain boiled water. The overpowering smell only exacerbated his headache.
The moment when his glands were bitten and the other’s pheromones seeped through, he was in so much pain that his vision darkened and he almost passed out. Was this what happened with an incompatible mate?
He thought about his close friends who had, at the start, enjoyed a fairly blissful and mutually respectful marriage, despite their 60% compatibility. It was only near the end of the marriage that the cracks became increasingly difficult to seal and the fights became incessant. Since Wang Jie was friends with the both of them, he had tried persuading them a few times. Perhaps it was because he lacked the gift of persuasion, or more likely because of their pheromones, but they filed for divorce soon after and he didn’t make any move to stop their separation.
His subordinate seemed to realize that he might have mucked things up and was at a loss. Wang Jie waved a hand. As his superior, Wang Jie could understand his unease and said, “Don’t worry about it. Just treat it as…a failed attempt.” He removed the detector on his arm and handed it to the doctor, then leaned against the headboard to alleviate the excruciating pain he had just endured.
Wang Jie turned on the ventilation system and while the ventilator hummed, he curled up on the bed. Staring at the grey-white wall, he wondered how much time he had left. A month? Half a month? Or did he only have a week? Would a matching pheromone cure him? Wang Jie wasn’t so sure.
The doctor knocked on the door, interrupting Wang Jie’s spiraling thoughts, and handed him a report. A quick scan told Wang Jie that the good news was that this kind of torment would not happen again. The bad news was that the report indicated that he had symptoms of a pheromone allergy. This meant that he needed an alpha of a higher compatibility to effectively treat him.
“Is that easy to find?” Wang Jie wasn’t too familiar with the concept of compatibility. He had been in the middle of building his career so things like love and marriage were not on his radar at all. What he knew of marriage-related policies were approximate outlines of things he had heard from friends that had married early.
The doctor could make no promises but the gentle omega nurse came over to console him. “You’ve contributed so much to the Empire, I’m sure the higher-ups will do their utmost to find a suitable partner for you.”
A bitter smile crossed Wang Jie’s face and in the end, he settled on requesting a higher dosage of suppressants. Even though they no longer gave him substantial relief, they still set his heart more at ease, at least for the time being.
—
Cui Xiaojun had been feeling restless over a certain matter for the past few days. Two days ago, the ministry of defense had given him a call, which had scared him half to death. He thought he had somehow broken the law but after a bit more thought, he realized that there was no way he could have done anything illegal as an idle nepo baby whose only occupation was eating, drinking, and playing around.
When he picked up the call, he learned that a high ranking official in the army had been attacked by a new type of weapon which had wreaked havoc on his pheromones. As an alpha with a high degree of compatibility, he was being enlisted to help the official with his treatment. The treatment process was simple and crude - the extremely primitive act of sexual intercourse - and Cui Xiaojun was so shocked he couldn’t hold back a curse.
The person on the line had said politely and courteously, “What are your thoughts on the matter, sir?”
Cui Xiaojun had been a bit hesitant and said, “I’ll give you a reply tomorrow.”
“Of course. I shall send you an email immediately. You need only to follow the procedures outlined in the email and by proceeding, you will be deemed to have given your consent,” the person said before hanging up.
Cui Xiaojun reached out to a few friends to seek their opinion. Some thought that since it was an omega, there was no loss in playing around a bit. Some thought two strangers having sex was preposterous and some simply thought that this was a new type of scam, and told him not to reply.
Cui Xiaojun mulled over it and thought there was a good chance it really was a scam. But after pondering some more, he figured he’d been swindled enough times that one more wouldn’t matter too much anyway, so he went ahead and opened the link. The familiar face on the page made his eyes widen and without a moment’s hesitation, he hit ‘accept’.
—
A few days later, a new candidate had been selected. The candidate asked to meet at a cafe near his place and the command center explained that this was specifically requested by the candidate himself.
Did the candidate want to do self introductions first? He must be someone who lives life to the fullest, thought Wang Jie. The candidate’s profile indicated that he was an heir of a wealthy family, someone Wang Jie would never have crossed paths with and was, by and large, at the epicenter of alpha-ism.
Wang Jie tied his tie, lacking the energy to overthink the particulars. He hadn’t rested well these past two days, even when he was sleeping. His pheromones had also stirred up his fragile nerves and plunged him into a whirlpool of lust.
Before heading out, he injected a few shots of suppressants into his arm. Although it was the newest prototype with high efficacy, Wang Jie didn’t feel much of an impact. With a shake of his head, he wrapped the needle with tissues and tossed it in the trash can. From his drawer, he retrieved an inhibitor patch. He didn’t want others to smell his haywire heat, even if his scent was rather light.
When he arrived at the cafe, the young man waiting for him appeared to have been there for a while. He was idly playing with a lighter in his hand and was looking around all over the place. Through the pane of glass, he gave Wang Jie a wave. Wang Jie pointed at the door, indicating that he’d wait until he was inside to speak.
Wang Jie asked haltingly, “Are you…Cui Xiaojun?”
Cui Xiaojun was wearing a pair of black-framed glasses and had the air of a student, even though he was only a few months younger than Wang Jie. He smiled brightly and said, “That’s me! I know your name too, it’s Wang Jie, right?”
“Yes.” Wang Jie tugged a bit at his collar, then solemnly introduced himself once more.
The cup of coffee that Cui Xiaojun had ordered for him sat on the table. Wang Jie picked it up and took a sip. The taste was rather nice, and reminded him of an omega friend’s gentle and familiar scent. A regular drink was in front of Cui Xiaojun, but Wang Jie couldn’t tell what it was.
“Is the coffee good?” Cui Xiaojun asked him. “I ordered it especially for you.”
“It’s good,” Wang Jie replied, flashing him a small smile.
Cui Xiaojun seemed to be able to sense the misery that Wang Jie’s pheromones had put him through and took the initiative to ask, “How have you been lately?”
Wang Jie shook his head and replied, “Not very well, to be honest. You should have an idea of my situation, right? I can tell you now that this kind of torture has basically pushed me to the brink of collapse.”
Wang Jie wasn’t used to laying bare his weaknesses in front of others. The soldier in him subconsciously compelled him to conceal any pain he suffered, but he knew that his current self was far different than the image of a soldier he once upheld. It wasn’t something he could hide any longer. He had glanced at the mirror before heading out and his eye bags hung past his chin, not to mention his thin frame and haggard face.
Cui Xiaojun reached out and took hold of the hand he had rested on the table and gave his wrist a few intimate strokes as he said, “It must have been hard on you. I’ll help you get back to normal.”
When he noticed that Wang Jie had hesitantly avoided his gaze, Cui Xiaojun repeated himself and added, “Really, you have to believe me.”
Faced with Cui Xiaojun’s sincere and resolute gaze, Wang Jie couldn’t help but feel guilty. He deliberated for a moment, then decided to come clean about his experience over the past few days. “To be honest, I don’t really want to keep this from you.” He took a deep breath, then continued, “Before you were contacted, I already tried this type of treatment with another soldier.”
Cui Xiaojun unconsciously increased the tightness of his grip and it was painful enough that Wang Jie drew back his hand. Cui Xiaojun’s expression remained as courteous as when they had first greeted each other, and he forced out a smile as he asked, “And what was the result?”
Wang Jie gave a shake of his head and said, “It didn’t go very well. The doctor told me I needed a more compatible alpha.”
Taking notice of his gloomy expression, Cui Xiaojun once again took hold of Wang Jie’s hand and quickly consoled him. “Don’t worry, I’m here now, aren’t I! Do you know what our compatibility is?” Cui Xiaojun paused for dramatic effect and waited until Wang Jie met his eyes before continuing, “Ninety-six percent! There’s no one more compatible than us!”
The enthusiastic response from Wang Jie that he hoped for didn’t come, and it was only through their linked hands that Cui Xiaojun felt Wang Jie’s slight trembles. Cui Xiaojun shook his arm and asked, “What’s wrong?”
For some reason, Wang Jie felt a sense of shame rise within him and he waved him over. Cui Xiaojun understood anyway and stuck his head forward to listen to his words. With a low and pleasant-sounding voice, Wang Jie stammered, “I think…I’m in heat.”
That familiar feeling of lust climbed up into his brain and incinerated every piece of his rationality. His ears turned blood red - going into heat in a public setting went beyond his expectations. Before he had headed out, he had anticipated the possibility of something like this happening, but it was only when he found himself in the predicament that he learned just how endlessly mortifying it was. Was he about to have sex with the young man in front of him whom he had just met?
Cui Xiaojun had never encountered such a situation, but he quickly paid the bill and immediately started searching up the nearest omega quarantine room - the Empire had built these facilities specifically to assist omegas who needed emergency relief. Beckoning with his hands, he pointedly posed in a way that would allow him to pick Wang Jie up in a princess carry, but was firmly rejected. So all he could do was half-hold, half-carry Wang Jie out. Thankfully, the cafe was in a shopping center and they only had to walk a short distance to their destination.
He could sense that the body pressed against his was softening, its center of gravity shifting closer towards him. Cui Xiaojun pushed Wang Jie into the quarantine room and then swiftly ripped off the inhibitor patch on Wang Jie’s neck. He let out a puzzled noise and said, “Huh? Why’s there no scent?”
Wang Jie had already lost his sense of reason under the torment of his heat and as his hands carelessly undid the buttons of the suit that Cui Xiaojun had worn especially for their meeting, he said, “It’s the scent of plain boiled water. Take a second and give it a good sniff, alright?”
Cui Xiaojun almost buried himself completely in the crook of Wang Jie’s shoulder and only then was he able to smell the light scent. As he tore off the inhibitor patch over his own gland, he said with a note of pity, “Forget it, just smell my scent.”
A cookie-like scent immediately exploded in the quarantine room. It was as if the cookies had just been taken out of the oven and carried with them a waft of hot air. Like some kind of small animal, Wang Jie pressed closer as he sniffed and he couldn’t help but exclaim admiringly, “So sweet.”
Cui Xiaojun patted Wang Jie’s back, a little dissatisfied with his reaction, but laughed in amusement at the clumsy way Wang Jie was unbuttoning his buttons. He couldn’t help but interrupt and said, “Say, ge, if you want me to fuck you, why are you unbuttoning my suit jacket?”
Wang Jie’s movements stilled for a moment and his head pressed forward to ask for a kiss. Cui Xiaojun held his head in place and deepened the kiss, before he began to work on unbuckling his belt. He also covered the bed in a disposable bed sheet. Afterwards, he sat down on the bed, grabbed hold of Wang Jie’s soft and delicate waist, then pointed at his lower half, which was already standing erect. “Don’t you want this? Come and take it yourself.”
Wang Jie didn’t have too much experience when it came to sex, so he could only position himself and use the force of gravity to allow his hole to sink down on Cui Xiaojun’s cock. And then he stopped moving when he got midway, his hand pressing down on his own belly as if trying to gauge how deep Cui Xiaojun’s cock had entered him. Cui Xiaojun watched his thin face, noting that his body was all flowing lines and that there wasn’t a hint of fat to his waist when he grabbed him. If Wang Jie were to climb on top of him, his weight would be barely noticeable and Cui Xiaojun sighed as he wondered when the meals in the military meals had become so terrible that its commanders had become this thin.
“Were you mistreated in the army, ge?” Cui Xiaojun asked as his hands worked to push his entire cock inside Wang Jie. Already delirious, Wang Jie began inciting heat from other parts of his body by touching his chest, his leg, and wherever Cui Xiaojun was the most sensitive. Without waiting for his cock to enter completely, Cui Xiaojun impatiently began to thrust, which startled a moan from Wang Jie’s mouth.
The violent ups-and-downs caught Wang Jie off guard and out of fear that he would lose his balance, he could only grip tightly at Cui Xiaojun’s shoulders. However, Cui Xiaojun grabbed hold of both his wrists and pressed his hands against his body.
Cui Xiaojun pointed at the buttons of his suit and said, “Isn’t it boring if you’re just getting fucked? Why don’t you undo my buttons and play around a little. If you unbutton a few then I’ll…” Cui Xiaojun paused, as if he hadn’t thought things through, then said, “I’ll reward ge with a kiss.”
With a probing motion, he nudged around in a few different places and was eventually gratified with a shift in the sound of Wang Jie’s moans. After confirming that it was a sensitive spot, he concentrated on thrusting against it. Wang Jie’s brain didn’t register Cui Xiaojun’s comments about the buttons - all he could do was lean against Cui Xiaojun’s shoulder and ride along as he was toyed with. And within just a few minutes, he climaxed.
After coming, his consciousness was gradually restored and reason also gradually reoccupied his thoughts. He put the shoulder with his gland forward, indicating for Cui Xiaojun to quickly place a temporary mark. Cui Xiaojun flatly refused; he only just got started, how could it end this quickly?
“I wanna come inside you, is that okay?” With his black-framed glasses, Cui Xiaojun was almost like a student bargaining with a teacher to give out less homework. Wang Jie agreed without a second thought, and Cui Xiaojun resumed playing with his nipples. An omega’s chest truly was sensitive - a fact that Wang Jie only realized today - and when Cui Xiaojun wrapped his lips around a nipple, Wang Jie felt a tingling sensation and couldn’t help but let out a groan as he arched forward to present Cui Xiaojun his other neglected nipple.
As Cui Xiaojun continued to fuck into Wang Jie, the head of his cock nudged against a small seam and he guessed this was what the biology textbooks referred to as an omega womb. He began to slowly rub his cock against it, hoping to expand it so that his entire cock would be able to fit inside. An omega’s womb was the most sensitive part of his body, and Wang Jie felt his lower body drip incessantly with slick, almost like a woman’s squirting. The wet sound of the thrusts became more apparent and filled his ear without any obstruction. He covered his face with his hands in shame - compared to descending into the unconscious lust of heat, this kind of clear-headed depravity was more fatal. He could feel himself become further removed from the ideal of a stern soldier, and progress uncontrollably towards some kind of lewd, loose whore with innumerable lovers.
He bit down on his own lips and softly uttered an apology. Cui Xiaojun paused the movements of his lower body and asked him why. Wang Jie shook his head, refusing to give a reason, so Cui Xiaojun had no choice but to once again dig away at Wang Jie’s womb. Whether it was Wang Jie’s mouth or his womb, one of them would surely open for him, right? With this thought in mind, he was finally able to open the thin seam. Wang Jie trembled a bit, but nothing shot out of his cock - he had well and truly achieved a dry orgasm.
Cui Xiaojun embraced the contractions of the womb cavity - that incredible part of Wang Jie’s body greedily sucked at him and Cui Xiaojun eventually came inside Wang Jie’s innermost recesses. When an alpha ejaculated inside an omega’s womb, a knot would normally form and increase the likelihood of conceiving. Wang Jie’s underbelly felt bloated - it was the first time his womb had been filled up like this. He shifted his lower body, but the rubbing from the knot brought a few tears to his eyes. Cui Xiaojun kissed his cheek, then kissed away the tears. Curious, Cui Xiaojun reached to touch the place where they were knotted but Wang Jie swatted his hand away and said, “It’s sore, don’t touch it.”
Even the simple act of breathing caused the knot to dig itself further inside and this kind of minute pleasure was truly unbearable, like an itch that couldn’t be scratched. He asked Cui Xiaojun to give him his communications device and sent a few messages to the medical center. He then stammered, “Take me to the hospital after. I want to check if there were any improvements to my indices.”
Cui Xiaojun nodded his head obediently and then helped Wang Jie button up his shirt. Once the knot had mostly loosened, he helped Wang Jie into his pants and tried to tidy up his appearance. Wang Jie glanced at his own wrinkled suit jacket and thought it was mostly an exercise in futility. Cui Xiaojun said thoughtlessly, “Ge, is it okay for your clothes to be this wrinkled?”
Wang Jie felt a bit helpless and leaned against Cui Xiaojun’s shoulder as he said vaguely, “Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t.”
Cui Xiaojun nodded his head speciously and held Wang Jie as they headed towards the underground parking lot.