CHAPTER 5

Chapter 5

It was not just a literal bite, but the kind of bite that goes far deeper and lasts longer than this action. The scientific name is “temporary marking.”

While curling his toes in shame and burying his entire head in the pillow, Tong Che couldn’t help but reminisce about the dream. The dream was actually very short, so short that there was no cause and passage, only a result. Maybe it was because he came into contact with Mu Hanfeng at a banquet yesterday, but the background of Tong Che’s dream was a dinner party.

But what was different from reality was that in the dream, as soon as Mu Hanfeng entered the door of the banquet hall, he saw Tong Che, and after that, without saying a word, he tugged him by the wrist and went to the corner.

Tong Che also found it unbelievable in his dream and was about to ask Mu Hanfeng what he wanted to do, when he saw that his always cold iceberg face had a smile that was almost gentle, but at this moment, this smile smelled dangerous, and before Tong Che could react, he listened to Mu Hanfeng speak, as he said with bewitching eyes:

“Tongtong, you are so fragrant, I really want to bite you.”

Tong Che didn’t know whether he was confused by Mu Hanfeng in the dream, or whether he didn’t actually reject it in his heart, but in any case, when he reacted, his whole body was already clasped in Mu Hanfeng’s arms, and the neck collar used to suppress pheromones was also removed by Mu Hanfeng.

Then, after that, there was an unprecedented tingling pain at the back of his neck. Although Tong Che could not see, he could clearly feel something very sharp piercing his glands. It was Mu Hanfeng’s canine teeth.

The air was instantly filled with the smell of the sea and green coconut as if he was on a summer beach.

The sea must have been the smell of Mu Hanfeng’s pheromones; while Tong Che’s own pheromones, on the other hand, were green coconut.

It was light and sweet.

Omega’s physical instincts made the dreaming Tong Che have the urge to run, but he couldn’t run at all, and only when he had the intention of running, the hand that was wrapped around his waist tightened silently.

As if to pacify him, the Alpha behind him paused for a moment, after which Tong Che clearly felt his glands being gently licked by Mu Hanfeng. It was just a light and quick lick, followed by the canine teeth piercing his gland once more.

This time, however, Tong Che felt that the stinging sensation was getting weaker and weaker, replaced by a feeling he had never experienced before like floating on a cloud. His head was heavy, yet his body was so light that it felt like it could fly.

This feeling was unfamiliar, but it didn’t make him feel disgusted; on the contrary, it had a different kind of excitement that made Tong Che’s scalp tingle.

……

The alarm clock woke Tong Che up just as he was feeling euphoric. He couldn’t help but raise his hand and touch the back of his neck. At a certain moment, a strange thought came to Tong Che’s head. It was as if he thought he’d really feel the teeth marks on the back of his neck.

However, the truth was that the skin on the back of his neck was perfectly clean and the glands were intact. In fact, it wasn’t that Tong Che had strange thoughts; it was really because this dream felt so real. Whether it was Mu Hanfeng’s smile, Mu Hanfeng’s hug, the smell of Mu Hanfeng’s pheromones, or the feeling of being temporarily marked…

It all felt very real.

Tong Che was so engrossed in his dream that he didn’t even notice that the bedroom door had been opened. He couldn’t help but mutter to himself:

“So it feels so good to be marked.”

“What’s so good?” Ruan Tang’s voice suddenly rang out, startling Tong Che.

Tong Che sat up sharply and looked at Ruan Tang standing by the bed, saying, “When did you… when did you come in?”

“Just now,” Ruan Tang looked at Tong Che strangely, “I even knocked on the door and said I was coming in, but I didn’t hear your answer, so I thought you were still sleeping.”

Although Ruan Tang was Tong Che’s assistant, she didn’t live with him. She only came to Tong Che’s house every morning to cook breakfast for him and take care of the daily chores.

…

(continued same day routine and suppressant discussion)

After brushing his teeth, Tong Che set up his electric toothbrush on the sink, remembering that he would have to take the suppressant after washing up later while looking down and turning on the tap to wash his face. But the moment he lowered his head, he suddenly paused.

It was the seventh day, but he didn’t have any symptoms at all!

…

(probing suppression confusion, breakfast conversation, and decision not to take suppressant yet)

After eating breakfast, he left for work.

The shooting of the chocolate advertisement went smoothly, and the photographer kept praising him in a mixture of Chinese and English. Time passed quickly, and by night, he returned home.

He lay on the bed, thoughts still circling the variety show and the strange fact that he still had no heat symptoms.

The moment he closed his eyes, anticipation rose again.

Would he still dream about Mu Hanfeng tonight?

And he really did.

In the dream, he was in his nanny car. Mu Hanfeng sat beside him, close enough that the scent of the sea pheromones surrounded him.

The phone vibrated. It was Lou Gui in the dream, saying the same thing as reality.

But after the call ended, Mu Hanfeng turned to him.

His thumb gently brushed the corner of Tong Che’s lips.

“What’s wrong? Not happy?”

…

“I don’t want to participate in any love and cohabitation variety show,” Tong Che said in the dream. “I don’t want to speculate on CP with others, and I don’t want to live with others.”

After a pause, Mu Hanfeng asked:

“Then what if it’s with me?”

Tong Che froze.

Before he could answer—

The alarm clock rang.

When he woke up, the feeling lingered.

And then—he didn’t have heat symptoms again.

Six days passed like this.

Every night, he dreamed of the sea again. And every time, the figure on the beach became more clearly Mu Hanfeng.

Until the seventh night.

When he returned home, dizziness hit him.

Heat.

This time, it was real.

He reached for the suppressant in the drawer… but stopped.

He wanted to confirm something.

He endured it, closed his eyes, and fell asleep.

In the dream, he was again at the seaside.

This time, he walked to Mu Hanfeng.

He was wearing only black swim trunks.

Perfect body, like a sculpture under sunlight.

Without thinking, Tong Che’s hands landed on his abs.

“…Are they good?” Mu Hanfeng asked.

“Very good,” he answered honestly.

Then he was pulled into an embrace.

A tongue brushed his gland.

“Give me a bite, and you will feel good.”

The sea turned wild.

And then—

He woke up.

This time, everything was calm.

No heat.

No symptoms.

Only certainty:

The temporary marking in his dreams… was real.

His phone rang.

It was Lou Gui.

And what came next shattered everything.

“Xiao Che… Han Xu was pushed off the variety show.”

“…Do you know who replaced him?”

“It was Mu Hanfeng.”

There was a brief silence on the line.

For a moment, Tong Che even wondered if the signal had broken.

“…What did you say?” His voice came out slower than he intended.

On the other end, Lou Gui clearly enjoyed the effect he had created. He repeated, word by word, as if afraid the shock wasn’t complete enough:

“I said—Han Xu was pushed off the variety show.”

A pause.

“And the one who replaced him… is Mu Hanfeng.”

The words landed cleanly.

But in Tong Che’s mind, they didn’t land—they exploded.

For a full three seconds, he didn’t react at all.

Then his fingers tightened around the phone so hard that his knuckles turned pale.

“…That’s impossible,” he said softly, almost reflexively.

Even as he said it, his brain was already rejecting his own denial.

Mu Hanfeng.

That person who never attended variety shows.

That person who treated exposure like a kind of unnecessary noise.

That person who, in everyone’s understanding, had already reached a level where he could choose silence over popularity.

Why would he—

“Impossible?” Lou Gui chuckled on the other end. “Xiao Che, I thought you’d be the last person to say that.”

His tone turned meaningful.

“You should know better than anyone what kind of person Mu Hanfeng is.”

The call didn’t continue for long.

Because there was nothing more to explain.

It had already happened.

When the line disconnected, the room fell into a strange kind of silence.

Tong Che stood still in the middle of his bedroom, phone still pressed to his ear.

Only after a long time did he slowly lower his hand.

The air felt a little too warm.

Not heat. Not estrus.

Something else entirely.

He walked to the window without realizing it, pulled the curtain slightly open, and stared outside.

City lights blurred in the distance.

His reflection in the glass looked calm.

But his heartbeat wasn’t.

Mu Hanfeng.

Why would he join a love and cohabitation variety show?

And worse—

Why this show?

A faint memory surfaced again without permission.

The dream.

“Then what if it’s with me?”

That voice, low and steady, like it had never belonged to sleep in the first place.

Tong Che closed his eyes.

“…No way,” he muttered under his breath.

But even he couldn’t tell what he was denying.

The next morning arrived faster than usual.

Or maybe it just felt that way because he barely slept.

When Tong Che got into the car, Ruan Tang immediately noticed something was wrong.

“You didn’t sleep again?” she asked, squinting at him.

“I slept,” he answered automatically.

A beat.

Then added, “…just not enough.”

Ruan Tang clearly didn’t believe him, but before she could press further, her phone buzzed.

She glanced at it.

Then froze.

“Brother Che…” Her voice changed slightly. “There’s trending news.”

“What?”

Ruan Tang turned the screen toward him.

On it—clearly, unmistakably—was the entertainment headline:

#MuHanfeng Joins Nth Power of Love Season 2

Below it, another tag followed closely:

#LoveCohabitationLineupShock

Tong Che stared at the screen.

For a moment, he didn’t move at all.

Then he slowly read it again.

Once.

Twice.

His throat went slightly dry.

“…It’s real,” he said.

Ruan Tang nodded blankly. “It’s real.”

Silence filled the car.

Outside, the world kept moving as usual.

But inside the car, something had quietly shifted—like a door that had been locked for years had suddenly clicked open without permission.

Tong Che leaned back into the seat.

His hand, resting at his side, slowly curled into a loose fist.

A variety show.

A cohabitation show.

With Mu Hanfeng.

And him.

The coincidence was too precise.

Too sharp.

Too… intentional.

His mind flashed again, uncontrollably, to the dream—those waves, that scent of sea, the hand on his neck, the voice asking:

“Then what if it’s with me?”

This time, there was no alarm clock to wake him up.

Only reality.

And reality was far more persistent.

He closed his eyes for a second.

When he opened them again, his expression had already been reset into calm.

“…Let’s go,” he said to Ruan Tang.

Ruan Tang hesitated. “Brother Che, you—”

“I’m fine.”

He said it too quickly.

Then, more quietly, as if convincing himself as much as her:

“It’s just work.”

The car started moving.

But somewhere deep inside him, something refused to settle.

Because for the first time—

The dream didn’t feel like it was staying in the dream anymore.

It was Lou Gui calling again. He wondered what was going on at this earlyhour.Tong Che frowned and picked it up, “Brother Lou?”“Little Che, are you awake?” Lou Gui’s voice sounded explosive.Tong Che answered, “Just woke up.” What’s wrong?”Tong Che, who asked this, was still completely unaware that he would behearing a second magical reality from this morning.“Xiao Che, about that variety show, Han Xu was pushed off! Do you knowwho pushed him off? ” Lou Gui’s tone was exaggerated as he asked, “It wasMu Hanfeng!”

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