After purchasing everything and returning home, the ordered bed and its matching bedding set were delivered as well.
Su Heng breathed a sigh of relief. Tonight, he finally wouldn’t have to sleep with her.
Moving the bed into the study was effortless for him.
The originally cold, empty study suddenly felt cozy with the addition of a bed.
He had never felt this way before. Sharing a space with her left him at a loss, unsure of what to do.
Especially now, in this moment when his rut remained un-supressed.
He watched as she seemed uncertain, feeling along the bed frame, pressing down on the mattress, pinching the thickness of the comforter, then hugging the pillow to test its softness and height. He just wanted her to leave this room, to get as far away from him as possible.
Unfortunately, she could not hear his inner thoughts, nor see the trembling he fought to keep from drawing closer to her.
“The bed feels a little hard for me.” She stepped aside and called to him, “Come try it yourself, see if we need to lay another layer down for you.”
Don’t go over there.
Stay away from her.
Can you control yourself?
Stay. Away. From her.
Su Heng took one step forward, using every ounce of reason to stop himself two steps away from her. He reached out and pressed down on the mattress.
Exceptionally soft. To him, at least.
The spot his palm touched still held the cool trace of her body heat.
He raised the mechanical arm of his right hand and touched it again. The coolness turned into a warm softness, enveloping his metal fingertips.
“Not hard.” His gaze unconsciously followed the path of her hand as she stroked the bedsheet, finally falling to his own hand at his side. “I like it very much.”
“Eh? Really? But I think…”
Jiang Ying still felt it was a bit hard and leaned over to touch it again. As she felt around, her fingers brushed against a small booklet.
“Eh…”
She flipped through a few pages. No braille. That was no surprise; most products didn’t consider minority groups like her.
She lifted the booklet and passed it to the side. “Su Heng, Su Heng, look and see what’s written in here.”
“Alright.”
Su Heng did not move from his spot. With restraint, he reached out and took the item from her hand.
This was… a rather dubious-looking booklet.
The cover was pink, drawn with two hearts cuffed together by handcuffs. It couldn’t be opened directly; it was tied shut with a white lace ribbon.
Remembering what the sales clerk had said at the mall, he immediately had a bad premonition.
And when he untied the lace ribbon and flipped open the first page, he indeed saw a few words: Atmosphere Bed User Guide.
“…”
His hand holding the booklet trembled.
Before he could tear his gaze away, his eyes had already swept over certain words further below.
Soft/Hard switching function;
Round princess bed mode;
Lace canopy function;
Mood lighting function;
Mood background sound function;
Rotate mode;
Heating function;
Cage mode;
Vibration mode (speed adjustable);…
Special: Beastman shock-absorption function;
Special: Beastman shackle function;
Special: Beastman pheromone enhancement function;
Special: Beastman rut/heat cycle calming function;
Special: Beastman forced calming function;
…
Su Heng’s pupils quaked violently. He dared not turn to the next page.
He forced himself to remain calm as he closed that bizarre manual, hiding it behind his back, unable to speak for a long moment.
“Su Heng?”
Jiang Ying heard the rustling sounds and took two steps toward him, reaching out a hand to wave through the air until she caught the sleeve of his right arm.
She asked curiously, “What is it? What was written in that booklet?”
Her fingertips brushed past, and through the fabric of his sleeve, the sensation and warmth imprinted on the sensors of his mechanical arm.
That fleeting contact was so maddeningly enticing that it made his whole body go limp.
Those absurd words floated before his eyes again, as if a switch had been flipped. His heart suddenly pounded wildly. The violent restlessness of his rut cascaded down from the peak of his consciousness like an avalanche, crushing him until he could barely breathe.
“Nothing.” Su Heng denied it reflexively, and with his mind completely blank, he forced out a few words. “It’s just… the warranty.”
“Oh.” She didn’t doubt him. “Then…”
“I think this bed is very comfortable. Really, there’s no need to adjust anything else.” Su Heng spoke rapidly. “It’s getting late, you should get some rest too.”
Hurry up and go.
Get away from here.
He warned her in his heart.
Get far away from me.
Please, go far away from me.
Jiang Ying nodded and instructed, “Mm, it is indeed a bit late. I’ll go shower first. After I finish, you go wash up, and then be good and go to sleep.”
Su Heng’s gaze drifted. He no longer had the mind to consider whether she treated him as a human or a dog.
He gave a brief “Mm,” afraid he might let out some embarrassing sound.
Finally, she left, even thoughtfully closing the door for him.
It was as if a tightly wound string had loosened for just a moment.
Su Heng could no longer restrain himself.
He didn’t even check whether she had truly walked far away before he immediately pulled out that booklet hidden behind his back again.
His throat swallowed convulsively. With trembling hands, he flipped to the page indicated by the table of contents.
【Rut/Heat Cycle Suppression Function】
If a beastman is in a state of rut/heat and their partner is not by their side, they may choose to activate this function.
He needed this.
But he didn’t have time to think about anything else.
Su Heng lay on his side on the bed and followed the instructions to activate the function.
After a chime, somewhere at the head of the bed began to emit a scent similar to her pheromones.
With the separation anxiety that had immediately set in after Jiang Ying left, he slowly began to feel at ease, even pleased, as if she were still by his side.
As if she were lying right beside him.
Reaching out her arms, gently embracing him.
She leaned over and pecked his nose with her lips.
She didn’t reject him burying his face in the crook of her neck to sniff, letting out a contented sigh in the catnip scent that was so close at hand.
She pressed against him and said, “Good dog.”
He pulled the comforter over his head, hiding himself in the darkness. Turning over, he buried himself into the mattress that felt exceptionally soft to him.
He buried his face into the bed, and in the sinking cotton, his trembling voice responded to a call that didn’t exist. He made sounds like a puppy acting cute, and also like a kitten purring beside its owner.
His stiff tail also completely relaxed, wagging outside the comforter in wide, rapid sweeps.
Gentle, comfortable, at ease, joyful.
So nice.
So very, very, very nice.
He couldn’t help but clutch the bedsheet, rubbing his nose against the headboard that released a scent similar to her pheromones.
Love it…
…
“Su Heng?”
In a drowsy haze, he heard her voice again.
That should be an illusion too, right?
He thought he was soberly sinking into this, and without any guard, a response rolled out from his tight throat.
“Mm…”
The voice was too hoarse, and the door deepened its muffled quality.
Jiang Ying, who had delayed a moment before hugging her clothes to go shower, paused as she passed by the door, puzzled.
Aside from vague, muffled whimpering sounds, there was no meaningful response.
And, in her eyes, he was only a little dog. At a time like this, she had absolutely no awareness that she should knock on his door the way she would seek a human’s permission.
Jiang Ying directly pushed the door open and felt her way along the edge of the bed, looking for her dog. She found him wrapped in the comforter, only a tail left wagging outside.
It seemed he hadn’t noticed she’d entered the room.
Even when she touched his tail, he didn’t resist.
Asleep?
Why was he making those little sounds?
Was he having a nightmare?
Hugging her clothes, she sat down on the edge of the bed and lifted his comforter.
At this moment, he seemed to realize her presence, but also not. He just groggily turned over to face her, rubbing his cheek against the arm she tentatively reached out.
She tested his temperature, probed his smooth brow. Nothing seemed abnormal.
In fact, he even seemed to be in a very relaxed and happy state.
Ah. Was he having some sweet dream?
Perhaps he was dreaming of something delicious.
“Good dog, so cute.” She said this and stood up, ready to leave.
But Su Heng grabbed the pajamas she was bringing to change into and wouldn’t let go.
A muffled sound came from his mouth: “Sta, stay…”
Stay? Stay what?
Her? Or the clothes?
Jiang Ying liked small animals and had seen plenty of videos about raising cats and dogs. But the scattered information didn’t cover everything thoroughly. Now that she actually had a dog, she mostly had to guess.
Did he want to stay beside clothes that carried his owner’s scent? As expected, was he still a bit scared and anxious about the new environment?
She touched his long, taut fingers and suddenly understood.
“Mm, mm. Then I’ll leave the clothes.” She reached out and ruffled his hair, then stroked the beast ears that twitched at the sound of her voice. “You can go back to sleep. Good night.”
Half-asleep and half-awake, he seemed to understand.
As she let go, he pulled her pajamas to his side. As if that wasn’t enough, he buried his face into them.
Even softer than the bed and pillow.
Filled completely with her scent.
So real.
Too real. As if it were truly her…
With a faint click, Jiang Ying closed the door.
And he, in a room saturated with her scent, sank into deep sleep.
…
When Su Heng woke the next day, the bed was full of her scent. Part of it was very real, part of it carried subtle differences.
And he was still holding her pajamas in his arms. One sleeve was pillowed under his cheek, and the entire garment had been crumpled into a wrinkled mess.
It took Su Heng a long time to come back to his senses and figure out the current situation.
Yesterday, he had activated this bed’s rut/heat cycle suppression function. Logically, he should have calmly passed the night.
And indeed, he had—his symptoms had been alleviated.
But the clothes in his arms… what were they?
He stared blankly at that little white bear pajama top for a long moment, then suddenly sat up in bed.
It took him a considerable amount more time to finally accept this reality—
She really had come.
What he thought were illusions were not all illusions.
So which parts were fake, and which were…
The hand holding the pajamas stiffened. As if burned, he tossed it aside.
Yet the scent of her pheromones on it stubbornly lingered on his cheek, his chest, the crook of his arm. It was almost everywhere.
What in the world was this…
Trembling, Su Heng found the manual at the head of the bed and flipped to the back.
【Rut/Heat Suppression Function: Supplementary Notes】
After activation, the system will release simulated pheromones of the user’s partner (samples auto-collected; to change, please refer to 【Pheromone Sample Collection Instructions】) to soothe the user’s emotions.
Note:
This function is for soothing purposes only and cannot fundamentally suppress the state of rut/heat.
Simulated pheromones will create a familiar, pleasant, and reassuring environment to help the user deal with the emotions of the rut/heat cycle and release its desires.
The effectiveness and duration of the results depend on the user.
Please use in moderation to avoid adverse reactions.
(See 【Side Effects Introduction】 for detailed adverse reactions.)
“…”
He didn’t even need to look. He already knew what the so-called side effects were.