INTRODUCTION

🐇 Lan Zhan (Lan Wangji) — Alpha

Age: 21

Role: Cold top student, heir to the Lan mafia syndicate

Major: Business Management

Personality: Stoic, disciplined, emotionally repressed but deeply loyal. Speaks little but sees everything.

Traits: White button-up, neat handwriting, scar on collarbone, scent-blocked always.

Secret: Suffers PTSD from a failed bond and assassination attempt. Trained since childhood in self-control and martial arts.

Relationship to Wei Ying: Begins as reluctant protector; eventually drawn to him against all instinct and rules.

☀️ Wei Wuxian (Wei Ying) — Omega

Age: 20

Role: Chaotic literature student with a soft heart and sharp tongue

Major: Classical Chinese Literature

Personality: Flirtatious, deflects with humor, hides loneliness under charm. Fiercely loyal.

Traits: Wears hoodies backward, forgets meals but remembers others' birthdays. Smells like rain and sugar.

Secret: Grew up orphaned; refuses pity. Carries old grief behind his grin.

Relationship to Lan Zhan: Pushes all his buttons. Falls for him slowly, painfully, entirely.

🌿 Wen Qing — Alpha

Age: 23

Role: Pre-med student and underground medic for injured mafia operatives

Major: Medicine

Personality: Fierce, protective, blunt. Has no patience for male stupidity.

Traits: Sharp eyes, lab coat over street clothes, caffeine-dependent

Secret: Hiding her brother's identity as a former Wen clan enforcer

Relationship to Wei Ying: Protective big sister type. Keeps him alive, yells a lot doing it.

⚡ Jiang Cheng — Alpha

Age: 21

Role: Wei Ying’s temperamental foster brother

Major: Criminology

Personality: Hot-headed, competitive, jealous, secretly soft inside

Traits: Always in track pants, carries electric baton "for safety", extremely single

Secret: Feels inferior to Wei Ying but would kill for him

Relationship to Wei Ying: Adoptive brother. They fight. Then protect each other without question.

🌙 Wen Ning — Omega

Age: 19

Role: Silent tech genius and Wen Qing’s younger brother

Major: Cybersecurity

Personality: Gentle, shy, brilliant with machines but anxious with people

Traits: Oversized hoodies, always barefoot indoors, sweet scent

Secret: Former hacker for the Wen mafia. Witnessed things he doesn’t talk about.

Relationship to Wei Ying: Like a younger cousin. Calms around Wei Ying. Only trusts a few.

🍵 Jiang Yanli — Beta

Age: 24

Role: Graduate student and honorary mom friend of the group

Major: Biochemistry (PhD track)

Personality: Soft-spoken, nurturing, wise beyond her years

Traits: Wears floral cardigans, makes the best soup, always smells like chrysanthemum tea

Secret: Knows far more about the mafia world than she lets on

Relationship to Wei Ying: His big sister by heart. The only one he listens to without arguing.

🕊️ Lan Xichen (Zewu-jun) — Alpha

Age: 26

Role: Eldest son of the Lan clan, acting head of the Lan mafia syndicate

Occupation: Corporate front CEO, unofficial diplomat of the underworld

Personality: Calm, gracious, endlessly polite—but terrifying when crossed. Speaks like a scholar, thinks like a strategist.

Traits: Always dressed in formal wear, long hair tied neatly, scent like white sandalwood and still water

Secret: Once brokered peace with the Wen clan at great personal cost. Carries guilt for letting Lan Zhan carry the weight alone.

Relationship to Lan Zhan: Protective older brother. Wants to keep Lan Zhan out of the family's darker legacy, but knows he can’t.\nRelationship to Wei Ying: Curious and quietly approving—sees how his brother softens around him.

The morning rain fell in soft sheets over Beijing University, drumming a steady rhythm against the glass dome of the business building. Thick clouds painted the sky a dull gray, the entire campus soaked in a melancholic chill.

Inside Lecture Hall B4, warmth and hushed murmurs filled the room. Students gathered in small clusters, exchanging notes or gossiping under their breath. The air buzzed faintly with the mix of scents — perfumes, deodorants, and subtle pheromones muted by blockers.

Suddenly—

SLAM.

The back door burst open with a gust of cold wind and the smell of rain.

Wei Ying stumbled in — late again. His black hair clung messily to his forehead, strands dripping with water. A faded, inside-out hoodie hung off one shoulder like he didn’t even realize — or didn’t care.

With a dramatic groan, he flung his messenger bag onto the last row and dropped himself into the seat like gravity had personally offended him.

He rubbed his temples and mumbled under his breath.

Wei Ying (grumbling):

“Professor Xu’s voice is more effective than melatonin… I should've just stayed in bed.”

The students nearby gave side glances — not just for his loud entrance, but because something else had shifted.

A soft bloom of scent — warm, sweet, and slightly spicy — began to spread.

An Omega’s scent.

Several Alphas in the lecture hall shifted in their seats, stiffening. Their eyes darted to the back row. Some adjusted their blockers. Others simply turned away, trying to stay focused.

Wei Ying sighed, popping a piece of mint gum into his mouth, oblivious to the discomfort he was causing.

Or maybe he just didn’t care.

Then—

The front doors opened.

This time, silence fell like a blade.

The soft click of leather shoes echoed against the polished floor.

A tall man stepped in, holding a black umbrella folded neatly at his side. He wore a tailored grey overcoat over a crisp shirt, his hair slicked back immaculately.

His expression?

Cold. Composed. Dangerous.

Like he didn’t belong here — like this university was just a temporary cover for something darker.

Lan Zhan.

An Alpha whose name no one dared whisper too loud. New to campus, always alone, and the kind of man who drew stares without trying.

He scanned the room once, his eyes as sharp as obsidian.

Then, without a word, he strode past every empty bench.

And stopped.

Right beside Wei Ying.

The Omega blinked without lifting his head, already sensing the overpowering presence standing next to him.

Lan Zhan (calm, low voice):

“Move.”

It wasn’t a request. It was a command.

Wei Ying let out a soft laugh, barely glancing up.

Wei Ying:

“Excuse you? Is your name engraved on this bench or something, Mr. Iceface?”

A few students turned to look, eyes wide. Tension spiked instantly.

Lan Zhan said nothing.

He simply stared — eyes cool and unreadable, face carved from stone.

Wei Ying slowly looked up — and froze.

Their eyes met.

In that second, the world faded.

All Wei Ying could hear was his own breath.

Alpha.

Omega.

A spark of recognition passed between them — primal, electric, inevitable.

Wei Ying’s heart gave a traitorous thump.

That scent.

So clean. So cold.

Like black ink brushed over rice paper — precise, poised, controlled… but capable of staining everything it touched.

He swallowed hard but smirked, covering the sudden rush in his chest with attitude.

Wei Ying (teasing):

“…Fine. Sit down. But if you bite, I bite back.”

Lan Zhan didn’t flinch. He simply sat down beside him, moving with the grace of a man who always knew his surroundings — like even in a lecture hall, he was prepared to kill or protect.

He didn’t speak again.

Didn’t need to.

Wei Ying turned away, trying to act unaffected.

But his heart wouldn’t stop pounding.

For the first time in a long while…

Someone had looked at him like they knew him.

After that strange, electric moment in the lecture hall, something shifted.

From that day forward, Lan Zhan began sitting beside Wei Ying in every class — like clockwork.

Same bench. Same silence.

He never initiated conversation, never reacted to Wei Ying’s dramatic sighs or mutterings. But his presence… was impossible to ignore. Silent, still, observing like a shadow with a heartbeat.

At first, Wei Ying found it annoying.

Then… intriguing.

He began to poke at the silence.

One sunny afternoon, the room was half empty before Professor Xu arrived. Wei Ying was already lounging at the back, spinning his pen like a bored cat. Lan Zhan arrived, cool as ever, sliding into the seat beside him.

Wei Ying leaned in, voice dripping with mischief.

Wei Ying (grinning):

“So… are you a stalker, Ice Prince? Or just obsessed with me?”

Lan Zhan didn’t even flinch.

He opened his laptop, eyes focused, ignoring the taunt.

But as he reached for a book, the back of his hand brushed against Wei Ying’s.

A simple touch. Barely there.

And yet —

Wei Ying’s heart jumped.

His pupils dilated for half a second. His scent wavered — sweetening slightly, giving off a trace of cinnamon and rain-soaked petals. A tell only an Alpha would catch.

Wei Ying quickly pulled back, masking his reaction with a smirk and a pop of his gum.

Library: The Project Pairing

Two days later, Professor Xu paired them for a group project.

“Business Crime Syndicates in Modern China,” the title read. Wei Ying had barely skimmed it.

When he finally arrived at the campus library — thirty minutes late — the main reading room was nearly empty.

There, at the far table by the window, sat Lan Zhan.

He was immaculately composed — his dark coat folded with surgical precision on the back of the chair, sleeves rolled just enough to reveal his wristwatch. His notes were color-coded, a laptop open beside a hardcover book on Mafia Governance Structures.

Wei Ying slouched into the chair across from him, bubblegum still in his mouth.

Wei Ying:

“You’re really into this mafia business case study, huh? What, planning to start one?”

He grinned, hoping for a reaction.

Lan Zhan didn’t look up. He highlighted a line slowly.

Lan Zhan (calmly):

“Because I’ve lived it.”

Wei Ying blinked, unsure if he’d heard right.

He leaned forward, elbow on the table, smirk returning.

Wei Ying (mocking gasp):

“Wow. You roleplay your project topics too? That’s intense. Should I start calling you Boss Lan?”

Lan Zhan finally looked up.

His eyes, deep and dark, met Wei Ying’s without blinking.

Lan Zhan (low voice):

“It’s not roleplay.”

The air went still.

Wei Ying’s smile faltered. There was something deadly real behind Lan Zhan’s words. Not a threat — just a fact. Cold, quiet, and unwavering.

Wei Ying sat back, chewing slowly now. His heart thudded somewhere beneath the teasing mask.

For a moment, neither of them said anything.

Raindrops began to tap lightly against the tall library windows.

Unspoken Questions

Wei Ying studied Lan Zhan, really looked at him this time.

The way his shoulders never relaxed.

The way his eyes always swept the room before settling.

The faint scar near his thumb — the kind you only got from handling knives, not kitchen ones.

A chill danced along his spine.

Wei Ying (softer now):

“…You’re serious, aren’t you?”

Lan Zhan didn’t answer.

He turned the page.

But his silence was the answer.

Wei Ying left the library that day with a heavy folder full of case study materials…

…and an even heavier knot of curiosity coiling inside his chest.

Who was this man really?

Why was he in this university?

And why — out of everyone — was he always watching him?

Wei Ying told himself he didn’t care.

But that night, for the first time in a long time…

He dreamed of ink-black eyes and a hand brushing his.