Late at night in a distant star system, the storm rages on. An urgent news bulletin comes over the radio.
"The Empire's Supreme Commander, Shen Xingshu, has been imprisoned for treason. He assassinated the Crown Prince and escaped after being seriously injured."
"He is now the only S+-rank wanted criminal in the entire interstellar realm. The bounty is..."
At that moment, Shang Yingxu has just intercepted a phantom mecha.
His subordinate brings the mecha's owner in under guard.
The radiant beauty known as the Empire's Rose lies before him, a dreadful gash cutting across his deathly pale cheek.
Shen Xingshu smiles weakly, yet with absolute confidence.
"Hello. Want to work with the number-one fugitive in the interstellar realm?"
Shang Yingxu pulls off his tie. The hideous scar running from his neck to his heart still hasn't healed.
It was left there by Shen Xingshu's own hand.
"Commander Shen wants to work with me, your archenemy, a rebel leader? Hmm?"
He grips the beauty by the nape, only to feel scorching blood.
The Omega gland has been gouged out, leaving a bloody mess.
Shang Yingxu's eyes darken, and his smile fades.
"We can work together."
"Beg me."
No one knows that these sworn enemies, constantly at each other's throats, grew up together as childhood friends.
They should have been made for each other, perfectly in love.
-
After they move in together, Shen Xingshu goes into heat unexpectedly because his gland is missing.
Shang Yingxu releases his pheromones, and Shen immediately retches. His pale lips are bitten until they're blood-red.
A classic case of pheromone allergy.
One cause is that the gland was injected with the pheromones of several Alphas.
Shang Yingxu remembers the photo that was deleted seconds after it was posted.
Under the night sky, Shen Xingshu stands beside the Crown Prince, his face turned slightly away, his brow softened by the warm light.
The caption on the accompanying news story reads:
"A high-ranking official surnamed S and the Crown Prince were seen entering an entertainment venue and leaving nine hours later."
Shang Yingxu's fingertips graze the split on Shen Xingshu's lip.
He forcibly suppresses his instincts, squeezing his pheromones down to a thin thread.
They wind around the Omega, strand by strand, impossible to cut or break free from.
Shen Xingshu comes to from his suffocation, the agonizing pain in his gland forcibly soothed.
He sees Shang Yingxu's shirt soaked through with cold sweat. The skin around his gland is torn, and a ring of bloody marks encircles his neck, like a willingly accepted shackle.
The Alpha still manages a smug smile.
"One day... you'll get used to my pheromones again."
[ABO, exclusive to each other in body and heart, no childbirth in the story, romance and plot are split evenly]
Theme: Love is the only baggage we carry on the road
