My Beautiful Wife Is Hounded by a Bad Dog

Pre-release. Posting a blurb for now; it may change later. My main project at the moment is The Soft Little Merman Is Actually Super Fierce.

High School:

On the first day of school, Xu Li's new uniform didn't even last half a day before an Alpha on a bicycle tore it. It was the first time Xu Li had lost his temper in front of so many people, and he became a little famous on the very first day of school.

Xu Li thought he wouldn't see that reckless Alpha again, but they crossed paths at the new-student opening ceremony. The other boy was giving a speech as an outstanding freshman, worlds apart from students like Xu Li, who had earned their way out of a small town.

Oh, right. That Alpha was named Pei Zhiheng.

*

Pei Zhiheng had always been curious about how that Beta, who never stopped taking notes even after class, managed to memorize English vocabulary while eating. As far as he could tell, the Beta was always studying, never even taking a break during lunch.

Of course, what he remembered most was the first day of school. Pei Zhiheng had been hurrying by bike to the auditorium for the final rehearsal when he nearly caused trouble at his new school. By sheer coincidence, he crashed into a Beta. Even more coincidentally, they were in the same class!

During their first class introductions, what had that Beta said his name was?

Xu Li...?

But that couldn't be right. Pei Zhiheng had clearly seen Xu Li written on the class roster!

"Xu Li, I was in a hurry that day and accidentally tore your uniform. I'll buy you a new one."

"...No need."

*

They said Alphas and Omegas had all kinds of pheromones: floral, wine-like, fruity... These were things Betas could never experience.

Everyone said Pei Zhiheng's pheromones smelled like lychee wine, sweet and fragrant, just like him. Xu Li couldn't say. After all, he couldn't smell them. But if he had to compare Pei Zhiheng to an animal, all he could think of was a big golden retriever wagging its tail furiously at him through a pane of glass.

Pei Zhiheng didn't know what kind of magic Xu Li had. Whenever he saw him, whatever he was doing, he'd trot right after him. His friends teased him for being just like a big golden retriever that only knew how to follow its owner around.

"Xu Li, wait for me!"

"Why are you always following me?"

*

University:

Xu Li had thought that once he got to university, he wouldn't have to see Pei Zhiheng's devastatingly handsome face every day or put up with his habit of handing out love letters. But before he'd even settled into his chair, he saw that face again in an elective class.

Pei Zhiheng had gotten even more handsome at university. If he hadn't pulled out Xu Li's timetable for the entire upcoming semester right in front of him, Xu Li might have been able to pretend he didn't know Pei Zhiheng.

Xu Li tried to put up with it, again and again, but the other boy just kept pushing his luck. He showed up at practically the same place every day, right on time. Even a video game NPC didn't respawn as quickly as Pei Zhiheng.

Xu Li finally had enough. The big golden retriever was blocked everywhere, without explanation.

With Pei Zhiheng no longer bothering him, Xu Li could finally breathe. But just a month later, when he saw Pei Zhiheng again, there was an Omega by his side...

The first time Xu Li drank lychee wine, he got drunk. That's when he discovered how bitter and astringent it was... By the time Pei Zhiheng arrived, Xu Li was completely drunk, lost in a world called Pei Zhiheng.

Later, after that golden retriever had bullied Xu Li one time too many, Xu Li couldn't take it anymore and started demanding answers. "Pei Zhiheng, that Omega... what exactly is your relationship?"

The big dog said nothing, only bowing his head and throwing himself into his work.

With no answer, Xu Li was filled up with lychee wine once more, sweet to the point of cloying.

*

Years later, at a university reunion, Xu Li finally learned that the Omega was the child of one of Pei Zhiheng's father's close friends, and had only come to the university to deliver something to Pei Zhiheng's father.

Pei Zhiheng had done it on purpose. He'd deliberately kept quiet, deliberately waited for Xu Li to be the one to break the silence.

At last, Xu Li admitted that he was a truly, truly bad dog.

"Did you release your pheromones again?"

"...How did you know?"

"Then do you know that when I show up at a reunion smelling of alcohol, everyone thinks I ignored the traffic laws and drove drunk?"

"...I didn't do it on purpose... It's your fault for coming home smelling like other Alphas' pheromones every time..."

[Note]

1. Alpha/Beta romance, no children, golden retriever protects his owner, everyday slice of life, marking.

2. Preliminary blurb. The high school arc focuses on studying; in university, their relationship is ambiguous? Or openly one-sided?

3. The seme seems like a sunny golden retriever, but is actually a bad dog lurking in the shadows. The uke seems reserved, cool, and like a good student, but is actually a self-conscious, possessive, and gloomy beauty.

4. Classic tropes never go out of style. Start date undecided.

5. The seme's pheromones smell like lychee wine. The uke is a Beta.

Theme: Sunshine