"My work is being exhibited for the first time today…" Song Sifan spoke into the phone with a pouty voice. "I'm so miffed you can't be here."
"I'm sorry, Sifan." Qin Tiewei's voice sounded on the other end. "You know if I weren't out of the country on business, I'd be right by your side."
"That doesn't make it any less– Fuck!"
"What's the matter?"
"I can scent someone. An alpha."
"So?" Song Sifan stood up from the bench. His eyes glowed blue as he started to track the scent.
"It's overwhelming. Their scent is so… unstable. It's strong and sweet at the same time."
"Strong and sweet?"
"I can't explain it. It's like…" Song Sifan frowned, his steps slowing. "Like they're fighting themselves."
He stopped moving as he found the alpha he was tracking. His eye color returned to normal, but something protective stirred in his chest.
The alpha was standing in front of Song Sifan's painting, neck craned in concentration, as if he were counting the brushstrokes. Song Sifan's heartbeat raced. His pheromones are flooding the air because he was moved by something. My painting. The one Ms. Shen claimed people wouldn't understand.
"So?" Qin Tiewei inquired, and Song Sifan suddenly remembered he was on a call.
"I'll call you back, Tiewei." He disconnected the call. As if on its own accord, his feet started moving toward the Alpha.
"You like this painting?" Song Sifan didn't recognize his own voice—softer than usual, gentle.
The Alpha nodded, his eyes still trained on the painting. When he finally spoke, his voice came out cracked. "Yes. It's stirring something deep in my soul." He touched his chest absently, as if confused by the intensity of his own reaction.
"I can tell." Song Sifan chuckled from the thought that his own painting was doing this to another Alpha. "Your 'soul' is leaking everywhere."
The man's back straightened as if uncomfortable with the words, and he turned sharply toward Song Sifan. But then, his gaze settled on Song Sifan, and they softened remarkably. Song Sifan could've sworn his eyes smiled.
The Alpha narrowed his eyes. "Are you an Omega? I can't tell."
Song Sifan smiled. "I always get that, but I'm an Alpha. What about you?"
The Alpha chuckled. "What do you mean? I'm clearly an Alpha."
"Interesting. Your scent has a sweetness to it." Song Sifan tilted his head, studying him with the perceptiveness that came from a lifetime of being misunderstood himself. "It's not supposed to be there, is it?"
The Alpha brought his wrist to his nose, inhaling with sudden urgency. "It does?" His eyes widened with something like alarm. "That's... I've been feeling strange lately."
"Yes. It's erratic. Like the hardness and sweetness are competing for dominance."
Song Sifan stepped closer, pressing his nose into the Alpha's neck. "It's very strange."
As Song Sifan finally moved away from the stranger's neck, he realized the stranger's eyes were fixed on him, which made sense since he was the one invading the stranger's personal space. A blush crept onto his cheeks at the realization.
The Alpha cleared his throat as if to ease the tension. "Now, see… I never get that."
Song Sifan's gaze dropped to the floor. He chuckled lightly. "I'm sorry. I don't usually go around smelling people."
Biting his lower lip, the Alpha's eyes dragged lazily over Song Sifan's body. Finally, he spoke. "Even if you did, you'd get away with it every time."
Song Sifan could feel the heat rush to his eyes, turning them slightly blue.
"Your eyes…" The stranger observed.
"They do that sometimes."
The Alpha tilted his head, then stretched out his hand for a handshake. "I'm Yuan Jin."
Song Sifan took it and felt another rush as their hands met. "I'm… I'm Song Sifan."
Yuan Jin released his hand gently. "Like Song Sifan of the Songs of SRC Holdings?"
Song Sifan nodded, then pointed to the painting. "I'm also 'Si Fan, the artist'." He didn't realize when he'd introduced himself with both the identities he desperately wanted to keep separate. What are this Alpha's pheromones doing to me?
"This…" Yuan Jin stumbled for words.
Song Sifan noted that Yuan Jin seemed more surprised that the painting was his than he was about his identity as a Song.
"The names sound the same, but the spelling of the artist's name is different from your given name, isn't it?" Yuan Jin, his pheromones flaring again, and Song Sifan bit his lips.
"I mean, it would be weird if your given name had another surname in it."
"It's a misdirection. You see the surname 'Si' and the given name 'Fan', which means the sail of a ship. Even if I were standing in front of the painting, you wouldn't immediately think 'Oh, Song Sifan is the artist'."
"Which would've worked brilliantly if–"
"I didn't introduce myself as both…"
Yuan Jin chuckled. "It's very clever, regardless." His eyes dragged over Song Sifan once more. "You're kinda smart, aren't you? Beauty and brains."
Before Song Sifan could process the words, Yuan Jin's pheromones pulsed again, and his own eyes flicked blue in response to it.
Yuan Jin smirked. His voice low, he leaned in and whispered, "Do you want to get out of here?"
Song Sifan paused. For the last four years, he hadn't heard this question. Kang Wen's scent was always so heavy on him that no one dared to ask. It felt strange to hear, and he wasn't sure how to respond. When he'd considered bedding another person so Kang Wen could understand that their relationship was over, he thought it would be hollow. Not this dizzying pull with every breath of Yuan Jin's scent.
Yuan Jin scoffed. "What are you thinking? Let's go out for a smoke."
Song Sifan chuckled and ran a hand through his curly hair. "I was thinking… just that."