#interlinked langtu

“What do you think you’re doing?”

The words sliced through the air like a blade. The entire class, who had been watching as if it were a drama scene, fell silent. The B-class Alpha froze, hands dropping instantly. He hadn’t expected that call to belong to Shen Wen Lang—the heir of Shen Business, an S-class Alpha.

“Everyone, out.”

Wen Lang’s grey eyes glimmered with menace. His tone left no room for argument. Within seconds, the classroom emptied, leaving only the three of them.

“I believe I asked you a question,” Wen Lang said, stepping closer. “What exactly were you doing to him?”

The trembling Alpha stammered. “I—I was just playing with him, can’t I?”

At that, Wen Lang’s expression darkened. He grabbed the Alpha by the collar and slammed him against the wall, his forearm pressing into the boy’s throat.

“Wen Lang! Shen Wen Lang!” Gao Tu cried, rushing forward. “You’ll kill him! Let him go!”

But Wen Lang was lost in instinct—his hunting nature consuming him whole.

“If I ever see you lay a finger on him again,” he hissed, voice low and lethal,

“you’ll be dead before you realise it. Next time, I’ll take your heart out myself.”

“Here,” he said softly, sliding the cup toward him. “One sugar, no pearls. Just like before.”

Gao Tu froze. “Before?”

Wen Lang blinked, realising his slip. “Ah— I mean, just how I thought you’d like it.”

Gao Tu studied him curiously for a moment but didn’t press. Instead, he took a sip, letting the warmth settle his nerves. “Thank you,” he murmured.

Wen Lang smiled faintly and looked out the window. The morning sun had lifted higher, scattering golden light across the courtyard. For the first time in this new life, he felt peaceful.

Anywhere is home next to Gao Tu.

“Mr. Shen,” the doctor began, “the last time I saw Wen Lang, I told you he was an Enigma with a mate-seeking mutation. I’ve never studied a case like his before, and it has been weighing on my mind ever since. Now he’s here again with different symptoms, but there’s one thing I’m particularly frustrated I still can’t understand.”

Shen Yu raised an eyebrow.

“Enigmas’ pheromones take a toll on anyone exposed to them, regardless of secondary gender. Last time, I told you that your son’s pheromones were scentless, but today they weren’t for any of us. Even I, a Beta, reacted to them. But your son’s friend, the boy who came with him, seemed completely unaffected. Do you know who he is to your son?”

Shen Yu scoffed. He couldn’t believe that the Omega he met at the convenience store possessed such resistance. But if he were truly that strong, why was Wen Lang trying to protect him? Then he remembered the line Wen Lang had told him:

He marked me.

“His friend is an Omega pretending to be a Beta. He’s been on suppressants for a few years now. I remember Wen Lang telling me that Gao Tu marked him.”

The doctor leaned back in his chair.

“Mr. Shen, it’s impossible for an Omega to mark an Alpha. It’s always the other way around.”

Shen Yu scoffed again.

“That’s exactly what I told him. But he seemed certain.”

Wen Lang lingered by the door for a moment. He wondered if his Alpha father had ever felt about his Omega father the same way he felt about Gao Tu. Did it hurt when Ying Yi hid himself under that false death declaration? Would it change anything if he told Shen Yu that Ying Yi, in fact, was alive somewhere? Did he know anything at all about his parents’ relationship?

No, he couldn’t step into the role of a son again. Not when he had already cut them both off in his past life; not when he himself had become a parent and realized how easy it is to love your child and want to protect them even from yourself. Something his own parents had never cared to show or provide.