Please Come Before Your Mark Expires

[This story is pure unrestrained melodrama. Don’t read if you dislike that. Blurb below.] Jiang Qi had been notorious for his ferocity since middle school. Omegas went out of their way to avoid him, betas kept their distance, and even alphas were wary of him. Yet there was one person who wasn’t scared of Jiang Qi’s nasty temper, and followed him around every single day. Some people said, “Yan Yiran is a beta, so his family doesn’t value him. He’s a young master, but he’s sunk so low as to fall for someone like Jiang Qi.” Others said, “So what if he’s a beta? Betas are great too. Yan Yiran is exceptional in looks, family background, and personality... So why would he like someone like Jiang Qi?” After giving everyone who gossiped about him a thorough lesson in proper thinking, Jiang Qi was pretty puzzled himself. “Why would you like someone like me?” Yan Yiran asked, “What kind of person?” Jiang Qi thought for a moment, then said, “A bad person.” Yan Yiran told him seriously, “You’re not bad.” At their high school graduation party, Yan Yiran got drunk and clung to Jiang Qi, refusing to let go. Jiang Qi had no choice but to take him back to his own ramshackle home. He gestured at everything around them and said to Yan Yiran, “Look. This is my life. It’s broken and a mess. You still dare to like me?” Yan Yiran said, “I do.” Jiang Qi growled again, “I could have my way with you, then dump you on the street. You’d still dare to like me?” Yan Yiran burped and cheerfully replied, “I do.” For those two little affirmations, Jiang Qi gave everything up and got together with Yan Yiran. But he never expected that in the end, Yan Yiran wouldn’t be the one cast aside. It would be him. - Ten years later, Jiang Qi had become a big-time boss. When he saw new employee Yan Yiran in the conference room, his first reaction wasn’t anger or heartache. Especially when Yan Yiran tried to use their tiny bit of history to get close to him. “Wow, Jiang Qi, you’re doing so well now. For old times’ sake, can you pull some strings for me? I’m already twenty-eight and still an intern. It’s so embarrassing!” Jiang Qi just got a headache. How had the moonlight he’d pined for over ten years turned into such a complete fool? - Yan Yiran thought he would be a beta for his whole life. Then, after that night with Jiang Qi, he suddenly presented as an omega. The Yan family, who had never given him the time of day, suddenly started valuing him and shipped him overseas for a political marriage. Yan Yiran: I thought society was moving forward. A slap landed, and the Yan family told him, “You eat the Yan family’s food and spend the Yan family’s money, so you have to put up with it.” Soon, he was cast out and stripped of everything. He spent ten years living like a stray dog, thinking this was all his life would ever amount to. Until he met Jiang Qi, now the owner of a major company, at the new company that had finally hired him. Yan Yiran excitedly rushed over, only to see the ring on Jiang Qi’s hand. So he swallowed those ten years and said with a cheerful smile: “Jiang Qi, you’re doing so well. For old times’ sake, could you help me get a permanent position?” - Reader advisory: Unrestrained melodrama. I love melodrama. One-on-one romance. Theme: There will always be a rainbow after the storm