"...Do you already like someone, gege? An omega? A female beta? Or maybe… a female alpha?" Yibo asked.
It was a simple question, really, but it landed with surprising weight.
Zhan blinked, caught off guard, unsure of how to answer.
For a moment, he just stared ahead, processing what had just been said.
There was no teasing in Yibo's tone.
No mischief or jest.
Just genuine curiosity.
And that sincerity made it all the more difficult to respond.
Yibo shifted slightly, easing off from leaning against Zhan, and reached out to gently shake his brother's shoulder in an attempt to get his attention.
"Gege?" he called, wondering why Zhan had suddenly fallen quiet.
Zhan blinked as if pulled out of deep thought, replying with a distracted, "Huh?"
The younger one tilted his head, studying his gege's face with concern, and immediately asked, "Are you okay? Did I say something wrong? Are you mad at me?"
His pout appeared instantly, the corners of his lips drooping as guilt began to bloom on his expression.
He knew his gege well enough to tell when something was off, and the abrupt silence following their conversation made him feel like he might've crossed a line.
And he was right, at least partially.
Zhan wasn't angry—not in the way Yibo feared—but he was caught off guard.
The question left him momentarily speechless because he wasn't sure how to explain what he was feeling, or more precisely, what he wasn't feeling.
After a pause that stretched just long enough to weigh heavy in the air, Zhan let out a quiet sigh and answered in a steady but distant voice, "I don't have anyone I like right now, Yibo. Actually, I haven't even really thought about choosing someone to be my mate. Like I said before, I've always wanted to focus on my studies and help mama run the company. If I prioritize looking for a mate, I won't have the time or the energy to support her properly. And to be honest, I still think I'm too young to be thinking about settling down with someone."
Yibo slowly nodded in response, visibly comforted by the answer.
"That makes sense," he said with a small smile, satisfied for now.
"Hm," Zhan murmured, offering a faint reply.
But what Yibo didn't realize was how deeply that question had rooted itself in Zhan's mind.
Though the conversation ended there, Zhan spent the rest of the night turning those thoughts over and over, unable to push them aside.
Deep down, a truth lingered… one he rarely gave voice to.
He knew that one day, as the heir to the Xiao Corporation, it would fall upon him to find a suitable partner, someone who could bear his child, a direct heir to continue their family legacy.
If he failed to do so, everything that his parents had built over the years could end up being handed off to a distant relative, or worse, someone completely unrelated by blood.
That unspoken pressure hovered over him like a quiet storm.
And what bothered him most wasn't the responsibility itself, but the sheer fact that he felt… nothing.
No romantic pull.
No flutter of the heart toward anyone.
Nothing that matched what stories and books described as love or even interest.
It left him unsettled in a way that silence couldn't fix.
That night, while the rest of the world around him drifted into dreams, Zhan lay wide awake, his eyes fixed on the ceiling in the dark. His body eventually gave in to exhaustion, and sleep came not as comfort, but as a necessity his limbs demanded.
And just before unconsciousness claimed him, his final thought was a quiet reassurance that at least his mother would never pressure him into mating.
The years that followed seemed to pass in the blink of an eye.
Six whole years, gone like pages turned too quickly in a novel he hadn't realized he was reading.
And yet, through all that time, nothing changed in the part of his heart that others expected to be full by now.
Zhan remained alone, not by misfortune, but by choice, or perhaps by circumstance.
He buried himself in his education and family, pouring every ounce of his time and energy into learning, advancing, achieving, and being the family's solid support system.
He had become so fixated on excelling that he took an accelerated examination, driven by his desire to move ahead faster than anyone his age. His determination was not born of arrogance, but a desire to accomplish more so he could offer more to his mother, to the company, to the name that he carried.
By the age of eighteen, he was already in his third year at university, studying for a Bachelor of Arts in Legal Studies at Chongqing Technology and Business University.
His rut, however, had never posed much of a problem.
He had been regularly taking suppressants strong enough to neutralize his scent even during the most intense cycles. These suppressants ensured that, should his instincts ever slip beyond his control, no one around him would be affected or drawn in by his scent.
Over time, he had also developed a solid resistance to pheromones.
It wasn't just physical tolerance, it was a mental discipline, honed through years of self-control, that allowed him to remain unaffected when others tried to manipulate or entice him with their own scents.
His life, on the whole, was quiet and predictable.
It centered around his studies, which he approached with methodical dedication, his mother and stepfather, who provided the framework of his calm domestic life, and of course, Yibo.
Occasionally, a few close friends would find their place in his routine, but nothing disrupted the routine he carefully maintained throughout the passing years.
Wang Yibo, on the other hand, had just turned twelve and only recently presented as an omega, something that sent quiet ripples of excitement through the social circles of elite families.
The news spread quickly, and it wasn't long before the eyes of alpha heirs began turning toward the young omega.
After all, the Young Master Wang had grown into a stunningly graceful child, the kind who effortlessly drew attention with his soft features and natural poise.
Wherever he went, people found themselves staring, entranced by the rare, delicate beauty that seemed to follow him like a faint fragrance.
Everything's almost perfect.
Until one seemingly regular afternoon, while Xiao Zhan sat in his room, buried beneath the pile of homework his teachers had sent him home with, his focus was suddenly broken by a sharp, hurried knock at the door.
It was so abrupt that he could only sigh and slowly rise to his feet.
Calmly, he opened the door just wide enough to see who was outside.
"What is it?" he asked.
The housemaid standing there was almost breathless, her face damp with a sheen of nervous sweat.
"It's Young Master Wang!" she blurted out, her words tumbling over each other.
At once, Xiao Zhan's entire body tensed.
His composure cracked just slightly.
"What happened to Yibo?" he asked, sharper now with concern lacing his tone.
"The school called," the maid explained quickly, nearly stumbling over the words. "They said President Wang or Madam Wang needs to come pick him up immediately. They think… they think Young Master Wang might be going into his first heat. Right now!"