The festival's echo lingered across campus long after the music stage lights dimmed.
Yu Zhen walked alone toward the main library, headphones looped loosely around his neck, the autumn wind threading through his silver hair. He kept his steps measured and calm, yet the System hummed steadily in the back of his mind.
[SYSTEM NOTICE]
[LOCAL INTEREST SPIKE DETECTED]
[ALPHA RIVALS PRESENT]
[MEMORY FRAGMENT 2 — STABILITY: 72%]
[AFFINITY LEVEL: 80/100]
Ever since the public performance, attention had followed him.
Students whispered his name.Some admired the music.Some coveted the beauty.Some — especially certain Alphas — noticed something deeper they couldn't define.
Yu Zhen sensed it clearly: eyes tracking him.
He entered the towering glass library, welcomed by cool air and the scent of ink and aged paper. Sunlight slanted across long wooden tables filled with students studying or pretending to study. Yu Zhen slipped into the quiet back aisle where the music theory shelves lined high walls.
But he was not alone.
Two tall male students appeared as if by accident.
Both Alphas — their instincts undisguised in the way they stood too close, their gazes lingering too long. One leaned against a shelf casually.
"The pianist from the festival," the Alpha said, voice warm but edged. "Didn't expect you to be so… approachable."
Yu Zhen paused but did not retreat.
He merely tilted his head slightly. "Is there something you need?"
The Alpha exchanged a look with his friend. "We were hoping to talk. Maybe grab a drink sometime?"
Yu Zhen smiled politely — calm, smooth, practiced.
"I'm busy."
The Alpha chuckled. "Busy doesn't mean unavailable."
The second Alpha stepped closer.
Yu Zhen felt instinct prick at his skin.
[WARNING: MULTIPLE ALPHA PRESENCES] [USER SITUATION: POTENTIAL INSTINCTUAL CONFLICT] [PROCEED WITH CAUTION]
Before Yu Zhen could speak again, the atmosphere changed.
The air thickened, pressure dropping sharply — the unmistakable weight of a dominant Alpha approaching.
Bootsteps echoed between the shelves.
Slow.Measured.Inevitable.
Yu Zhen did not look back.
He didn't need to.
Lian Xuan's voice cut through the aisle like drawn steel.
"Step away."
The two Alphas turned. The moment they registered who stood behind them, all color drained from their faces.
Lian Xuan towered over them, heat radiating from his presence even while standing perfectly still. His golden eyes locked onto the Alpha who had stepped too close to Yu Zhen.
"I wasn't asking," he continued, tone deceptively calm."I was warning you."
[ALPHA DOMINANCE: OVERFLOW] [JEALOUSY LEVEL: CRITICAL] [INSTINCT THREAT RESPONSE: ACTIVE]
"I-I didn't know he—" the Alpha stammered.
Lian Xuan took a single step forward.
The shelf rattled as fear froze their limbs.
"He's claimed," Lian Xuan said flatly."By me."
The words weren't loud.
They didn't need to be.
Every Alpha in the vicinity felt it — the bone-deep instinctual truth in his statement.
The two students stumbled back immediately, muttering apologies before retreating hastily down the aisle.
Silence returned.
Yu Zhen slowly exhaled.
Only then did he turn.
Lian Xuan stood directly behind him, eyes still fierce, breathing slow and measured as if forcibly restraining his instincts. The dominance curving from him was palpable — thick, territorial, unmistakable.
"You shouldn't wander alone anymore," he said quietly.
Yu Zhen met his gaze without fear. "It's a university, not a war zone."
"It doesn't matter."Lian Xuan's eyes softened by just a fraction — the possessive glare warping into raw concern."Danger doesn't need weapons."
He lifted his hand — stopped just short of touching Yu Zhen's cheek.
"…And I don't like when people look at what's mine."
Yu Zhen's pulse flickered.
[INSTINCT SYNC: 92%] [SOUL FRAGMENT 2 — ACTIVATION RATE: RISING RAPIDLY] [AFFINITY LEVEL: 87/100]
"Careful," Yu Zhen murmured. "You might sound jealous."
"I am."
The single word came without hesitation.
Lian Xuan stepped closer until the library aisle narrowed to nothing but the breath between them.
"No one else gets to think of you that way."
Yu Zhen didn't retreat — didn't yield — but the heat crowned through their bond made it hard to breathe.
Instead, he reached past Lian Xuan toward a music theory book.
"You cut off their courage faster than any threat I could have given," he said mildly.
Lian Xuan's eyes tracked Yu Zhen's fingers carefully.
"Because I don't threaten."A dangerous smile tugged at the corner of his lips."I warn."
Yu Zhen chuckled softly.
In the quiet of the library, a pulse of energy coiled between them.
[MEMORY FRAGMENT 2 — CRITICAL THRESHOLD REACHED] [RESONANCE CHAIN ESTABLISHED]
Yu Zhen's chest burned gently — not pain, but something awakening.
Images flickered across his mind:
• Moonlit gardens.• Black armor streaked with blood.• Lian Xuan standing alone against armies.• A voice whispering:
"You've always been mine."
Yu Zhen swayed slightly.
Lian Xuan instantly moved — catching his wrist, grounding him.
"What's wrong?" he asked sharply.
"...Nothing," Yu Zhen said slowly. "Just remembering."
Lian Xuan stilled.
"Remembering what?"
Yu Zhen lifted his eyes and held the Alpha's gaze — silver meeting gold.
"Us."
The world seemed to hold its breath.
[MEMORY FRAGMENT 2 — COMPLETE] [AFFINITY LEVEL: 90/100] [SOUL THREAD STRENGTHENED] [NEW SKILL UNLOCKED: Resonant Awareness]
Lian Xuan's hand tightened just slightly on Yu Zhen's wrist — not painful, not restraining — simply unwilling to release.
"Tell me," he said quietly."What you remember."
Yu Zhen hesitated.
The system chimed a caution:
[REVELATION RISK: HIGH] [RECOMMEND PARTIAL TRUTH]
"Pieces," Yu Zhen answered honestly."You're protecting me. Even when you didn't know why."
Lian Xuan's eyes darkened with something dangerous and deep.
"I don't need to remember why," he said."I just know I won't ever stop."
He leaned forward until their foreheads nearly touched, breath brushing Yu Zhen's temple.
"You don't walk alone anymore.""Anywhere."
Yu Zhen didn't argue.
Because for the first time in this world…
He didn't want to.
[MEMORY FRAGMENT 2 — COMPLETE]
[AFFINITY LEVEL: 90/100]
[BOND STATUS: STABILIZED]
[NEXT OBJECTIVE: TRANSITION PREPARATION]