Scum A with a Sweet Black Lotus O – Chapter 167
by Little PandaShe and Her · Side CP
Zhao Yujun x Lu Ningyan ②
Pavlov’s dog.
The news that Zhao Yujun and Lu Ningyan had gotten back together surprised no one.
There were only sighs and wistful remarks.
“I told you so. Old Zhao waited for so long. The woman finally came back from abroad. It was one thing when she didn’t know, but now that she’s seen her, how could she possibly leave her be?”
“For those who’ve followed them since their school days, just you watch. There’s more drama to come.”
“I hope it’s a happy ending this time.”
At first, it was sweet.
The years of separation, that long vacuum, had fermented past conflicts and problems into a beautiful, wistful sense of loss.
The mind automatically polishes the past, making one more forgiving.
The air was thick with oxygen. Once these two flames of passion met, they consumed everything, setting the world around them ablaze.
Clinging to each other, day and night…
The air would be left with the scent of Zhao Yujun’s Alpha pheromones.
But after the initial passion faded, the conflicts resurfaced—some were old issues left unresolved, some had been there all along, and some were new problems that had brewed during their years apart.
One after another. An endless stream.
But these were setbacks any couple might face. As long as they were truly in love and worked together, every problem could be resolved one by one.
That was what Zhao Yujun thought.
Whether it’s hate or resentment, the essence of it all comes from ‘love’!
It could overcome everything.
As long as she still loved her, these emotions, though inevitable, were something she would choose to either tolerate or resolve.
And that was indeed the case.
After getting back together, partly due to Lu Ningyan’s personality and work, and partly due to Zhao Yujun’s own desire to just live peacefully in the moment, the Alpha would almost always give in to her Omega whenever a conflict arose.
Until one time—
Lu Ningyan said she had to work overtime, but later that night, Zhao Yujun caught her at a bar with someone else.
“I told you, it was work-related. After I finished, I came out with a colleague for a drink to relax.”
“You didn’t tell me,” Zhao Yujun said.
“I forgot,” Lu Ningyan explained casually. “It’s just for a little while. I’ll be back soon.”
The colleague had already tactfully moved away, leaving just the two of them.
The dim, hazy light of the bar made Zhao Yujun’s eyes, which were fixed on the Omega, seem pitch-black and bottomless.
Perhaps because she was genuinely tired, Lu Ningyan lit a cigarette, a small spark glowing in the darkness.
The Omega’s face, framed by shadow and smoke, was stunningly beautiful, lending her an aura of veiled danger.
“We may be dating, but I don’t think I need to report to you every time I have a casual get-together with colleagues.”
Lu Ningyan’s eyes were hazy. She casually exhaled a puff of smoke, and as if deliberately, blew it right into Zhao Yujun’s face in a clear provocation. “Besides, didn’t you show up here without telling me, too?”
Zhao Yujun partied a lot, but she rarely touched cigarettes. When she first met Lu Ningyan, the other girl was the school’s model “good girl” who would never have touched something like this.
Now, the Alpha frowned slightly, as if in discomfort. “I’m the silent owner of this bar.”
“Okay, okay, same difference.”
Lu Ningyan took another two drags and explained again, “Zhao Yujun, they’re a Beta.”
No threat.
“That’s not the point.”
“You’re always seen with Fu Chaoyun. Don’t people misunderstand your relationship too?” Lu Ningyan retorted.
“That’s different.”
Besides, Fu Chaoyun had her own Omega now.
Even with Lu Ningyan’s examples and explanations, the look on Zhao Yujun’s face didn’t soften—because this wasn’t the first time.
Being cast aside for other, unimportant people under the perfectly valid guise of “work” or “catching up with friends,” while she could only choose to be magnanimous and accept it.
And yet, after they got together, she had deliberately cut back on her own outings just to spend more time with her lover.
She wasn’t asking the other to be just like her, nor was she trying to restrict her freedom. But couldn’t she at least get a heads-up when she was waiting like a dog at what she thought was their home, waiting for a scrap of her master’s favor?
Was that too much to ask?
Then at the very least, couldn’t she stop letting her catch her by “accident” or “coincidence” every single time?
“Then there’s no talking sense into you.”
Lu Ningyan breathed out another cloud of smoke. “Is it that you don’t trust yourself, or you don’t trust… me? Have you ever truly trusted me?”
Her beautiful eyes, veiled by the smoke, became hazy and indistinct, truly showing the traces of time.
At that moment, Zhao Yujun suddenly realized that the six-plus-year gap was real. Lu Ningyan was clearly different from the little girl in her memory. She shouldn’t be standing in the past, looking at her with the same unchanging eyes, making the same demands.
Likewise.
In the other’s eyes, she must have changed too.
“That’s not what I…” Zhao Yujun was about to explain, or perhaps just concede, just like every other time.
Then they would go home, probably back to Lu Ningyan’s rented apartment—she wasn’t poor, but her current savings weren’t enough to buy a house in the expensive city of Rong.
It wasn’t that Zhao Yujun was stingy and couldn’t afford a hotel, or that she didn’t want to take her back to her own place.
It was just that Lu Ningyan had her own pride.
She had brought it up a few times, but the other had always steered the conversation away, so Zhao Yujun chose to respect her wishes and not insist.
And then would come a fiery, passionate session. She would leave her pheromones behind. Compared to their shy school days, the two, now adults, were far more indulgent.
Doing whatever they pleased.
After so many times, their bodies had grown accustomed to this rhythm, even finding it pleasurable, but their hearts seemed to be drifting further and further apart.
A far cry from the age when secretly holding hands would make them blush.
“We are indeed in a relationship, but outside of it, we have our own lives and careers—this isn’t kindergarteners playing house.”
Lu Ningyan continued, “Zhao Yujun, my life path is different from yours. I have to carry the full weight of my present and my future. Not like you. You have parents and older brothers watching over you. No matter what you do, even if you’re just messing around, there’s always someone to clean up your mess. You’ll never starve. All you have to do is lie back and take it easy. Must be nice. When we got back together, I said from the start that I wanted our relationship to be light and happy, because I’m so busy and tired. I simply don’t have the time to argue with you. But your reaction right now feels incredibly immature to me. I’m tired. I’m so, so tired. Don’t add to my burdens.”
“Zhao Yujun, don’t make me regret this.”
Regret what? Regret getting back together with her?
Lu Ningyan’s speech was too long. So long that there were several points where Zhao Yujun could have interjected, either to argue or to comfort.
For instance, that she wasn’t as useless or pathetic as the other made her out to be; that she had been trying hard to adapt to her rhythm, making sacrifices and changes, not trying to pressure her…
But for every point, the other woman clearly gave her no chance to speak.
And the way she said it all in one smooth breath gave the impression that everything she’d just said had been weighing on her heart for a long, long time—a deep-seated resentment that she was only now, with this opportunity, letting it all out.
Zhao Yujun’s mind was a mess. From their youthful romance, she of course knew of Lu Ningyan’s background; she adored her and felt for her, but…
Before she could sort through these emotions, Lu Ningyan had already moved on to the next stage.
The Omega stood up and stubbed out her cigarette. The last ember vanished, making her eyes seem even clearer.
“This is who I am. You should know that. If you didn’t know before, you should know now. In any case, you can either accept it or not. If you can’t, I don’t want to argue with you anymore either.”
After a pause, the Omega’s voice sounded incredibly cold. “Zhao Yujun, let’s break up. We’ll go our separate ways from now on.”
BOOM—
Something exploded in her head. All Zhao Yujun could see was the teetering, precarious building before her eyes suddenly collapsing in a thunderous roar. She didn’t even have time to reach out and steady it.
“Let’s both calm down.” Lu Ningyan tossed out the line and left, cold and indifferent.
Leaving Zhao Yujun standing there alone, still trying to pick up the pieces of the collapsed building.
…
This actually wasn’t the first time Lu Ningyan had brought up breaking up.
They were like this back in their school days—breaking up and getting back together, on again, off again. Back then, Father Lu hadn’t fallen from grace yet, nor had her mother abandoned her, taking most of their wealth before leaving to remarry.
At that time, the Lu family was harmonious and wealthy. The burdens of life had not yet fallen on Lu Ningyan’s delicate shoulders.
She was a good student at school, a “good girl.” At home, she was a little princess raised with endless love and affection. It was inevitable that she’d be a bit spoiled, but those who weren’t close to her never knew. They only thought she was good-tempered. Only the person closest to her was “privileged” enough to bear her sudden tantrums.
Most of their troubles from their school days would seem so childish now; to the current Lu Ningyan, they were nothing at all.
But when the little princess acted up, lost her temper, or was displeased about something, bringing up a breakup with Zhao Yujun was a common occurrence.
Back then, however, it was mostly just verbal squabbles over trivial matters that seem laughable now. They’d make up in two or three days at most; at the shortest, they’d be clinging to each other again by the next free period between classes.
Of course, every time, it was Zhao Yujun who bowed her head and coaxed her.
At first, it was surprising, but gradually, everyone seemed to get used to it. Who even remembered that the Zhao Yujun of the past had once been so proud, a figure to be looked up to?
Compared to the petty fights of their school days, those three words—”let’s break up”—coming from the now more mature Lu Ningyan were obviously far more serious.
Zhao Yujun brooded for half the night. The next morning, she was knocking on Lu Ningyan’s door with a hot breakfast in hand.
“Xiao Yan, I was wrong. I won’t ask about your schedule anymore.”
This time, once again, it was Zhao Yujun who decided to bow her head first.
Just like every time before.
Inside, Lu Ningyan glanced at her.
The Omega seemed to have slept well, not at all troubled by last night’s argument. Dressed in a soft house sweater with her hair down, she looked soft, almost radiant.
Finally, her gaze fell on the breakfast Zhao Yujun had brought.
“Come in.”
Like receiving a pardon.
She was forgiven.
“Have you eaten?” Lu Ningyan asked.
“No.”
“Then let’s eat together.”
Zhao Yujun followed her inside. “Mm.”
After they finished breakfast, the Omega’s soft hand rested on the Alpha’s neck, her breath as fragrant as an orchid. “I have the day off. Stay here?”
What a normal tone of voice, as if yesterday’s fight had never happened.
It was all just a dream Zhao Yujun had.
Today, she had woken up, and the world was proceeding on its original course.
Zhao Yujun was silent for a moment. “Okay.”
It was the reward a master gives to an obedient dog, something she could get just by prostrating herself on the ground and wagging her tail.
What an honor…
The only thing I can’t be is a person.
…
The process was still fiery and scalding hot.
Just like every time before, after their lovemaking ended, it wasn’t until she was in the bathroom, when the water temperature wasn’t adjusted right and a sudden cold shock washed over her body, dousing the burning heat on her skin, that Zhao Yujun had a sudden realization—
The soft, scalding heat that had covered her body was a sham. Her heart had been cold the entire time.
And this was clearly supposed to be an affair for two, but as an Omega, Lu Ningyan had a problem with her glands and couldn’t secrete pheromones. In the end, the only scent left in the room and the bathroom was that of Zhao Yujun, the Alpha.
Even without an Omega’s scent to guide her, an Alpha would still release some pheromones during intimacy—a tiny amount that would linger in the air. But the other party left no trace, like a fleeting dream. The entire act felt like her own solo performance.
I don’t know if this is right or wrong…
The water washed over her, rinsing away even the faintest residual trace of the other’s presence. Droplets splashed onto her face, blurring her emotions.
After hearing the word “breakup,” Zhao Yujun hadn’t rested at all the previous night. Even though she’d brought breakfast and been invited to stay, she had barely eaten anything. Now, her stomach felt like it was cramping, and something was churning inside her, threatening to rise.
She began to feel sick and exhausted, as if she was finally experiencing that “so, so tired” feeling that Lu Ningyan had talked about.
It wasn’t quite the same, and yet, it seemed to be exactly the same.
All at once.
She just—
Suddenly disliked the way adults loved.
And even.
Retch—
Nausea. Disgust.
I think, she thought, maybe the problem isn’t with Lu Ningyan’s glands, but with me. My entire being. I’m slowly ceasing to be a person and starting to become a dog.
The author has something to say:
Fixed a BUG from the last chapter. Xiao Lu’s gender has been changed from Beta to Omega. However, she’s an Omega with gland issues, so she can’t release pheromones and can’t experience the ultimate A/O dynamic. The main story always had her as an Omega, it was just so long ago that I forgot _(:з”∠)_
It’s not that I absolutely have to write something grim, but based on the previous foreshadowing, a bad ending for this couple just makes more sense…
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