abo desire

Waking up in a world where your biological worth is determined by how much you smell like a botanical garden or a spice rack was not on my Sunday to-do list. One minute, I was sitting on my couch, yelling at the screen because the plot of *ABO Desire* was making my brain cells commit mass suicide, and the next, I’m staring at a ceiling that looks way too expensive to belong to a girl who works a nine-to-five.

I sat up, my head throbbing with the kind of hangover you only get from reality-shattering trauma. I caught my reflection in a nearby full-length mirror and froze. The woman staring back was gorgeous, sharp-jawed, and dressed in a suit that cost more than my entire previous life's savings.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me," I muttered, my voice dropping an octave. "Sheng Shaoyou? The Alpha's daughter? The one who basically exists to be a plot device for the male leads' ego trips?"

I looked down at my hands. They were steady, but my soul was doing a backflip of pure, unadulterated rage. I was an Alpha. In this universe, that meant I was supposed to be a dominant, pheromone-leaking jerk who thought the world revolved around my scent glands.

"Men," I sighed, rubbing my temples. "Honestly, give them a little bit of biological power and they think they're the main characters of the universe. If I smell one more drop of 'Stallion Musk' or whatever these idiots call their pheromones, I'm going to commit a felony."

I stood up, testing out my new legs. I felt... strong. Disgustingly strong. Like I could punch a hole through a brick wall and then file my nails. It was annoying.

The door to my suite burst open, and a man walked in. He was tall, handsome in a 'I spend four hours on my hair' kind of way, and currently looking like he’d seen a ghost. Gao Tu. The loyal sidekick. The beta—wait, no, the guy who was supposed to be my subordinate but mostly just looked stressed.

He stared at me. I stared at him.

"Young Miss Sheng?" he asked, his voice trembling slightly.

I rolled my eyes so hard I nearly saw my own brain. "No, I'm the tooth fairy. What do you want, Gao Tu? If it's about the meeting with the Wen family, tell them I've retired to become a hermit."

Gao Tu blinked. Then his eyes widened. He took a step forward, his professional facade cracking like a cheap windshield. "Wait... 'men are like bad Wi-Fi, always dropping when you need them'?"

I froze. That was my favorite line from my Twitter rant last night. I squinted at him. "Gao Tu? Or should I say... Zhang Wei, the guy who owed me twenty bucks for that pizza last Friday?"

Gao Tu’s face crumpled into a look of pure relief and horror. "Shut up! Oh my god, it is you! I'm in the body of a secondary character who gets treated like a doormat! Do you know how much these Alphas smell? It’s like being trapped in a locker room that’s on fire!"

"Tell me about it!" I threw my hands up, the Alpha energy in my body making the gesture look way more intimidating than I intended. "I woke up and realized I have to play the part of a 'dominant leader.' Me! I hate leadership! I hate responsibility! And most of all, I hate the way Wen Lang looks at everyone like they’re a snack he’s about to overcharge for."

Gao Tu—or Zhang Wei—slumped into a chair, looking utterly defeated. "We are so screwed. You know the plot. We’re at the beginning. This is the day of the first meeting. You’re supposed to go to the club and find Hua Yong."

I groaned, a long, low sound of misery. "Hua Yong. The 'weak' Omega who is actually the most dangerous man in the city. The enigma. The guy Wen Lang is currently trying to terrorize into submission. I remember."

"You have to go," Zhang Wei said, looking at me with pity. "If you don't, the plot might collapse and who knows what happens to us then? We might get deleted."

"Fine," I snapped, grabbing a designer blazer and throwing it on. "But I'm doing it my way. No pheromone-measuring contests. No brooding in corners. And if Wen Lang tries to act all 'Alpha-male' near me, I’m going to tell him his cologne smells like a wet dog in a lavender field."

"Please don't get us killed," Zhang Wei pleaded, following me out the door.

***

The club was exactly as it was in the series: dark, pulsing with bass, and thick with the cloying, suffocating scents of a hundred different people trying to out-smell each other. It was a biological nightmare.

"Ugh, someone tell these guys to stop releasing pheromones," I hissed, covering my nose with a silk handkerchief. "It’s like a chemical plant exploded in here. Do they think this is attractive? It’s just aggressive. It’s the biological equivalent of shouting 'look at my truck' at three in the morning."

Zhang Wei stayed close to me, looking equally disgusted. "Just find the room, Shaoyou. Get the scene over with."

We reached the private VIP lounge. This was the moment. Inside this room, Wen Lang was supposed to be 'intimidating' Hua Yong. In the show, the scene was framed to make Hua Yong look like a delicate flower being crushed by the big, bad Alpha. But I knew better. Hua Yong was a predator playing with his food.

I reached the door and put my hand on the handle. I took a deep breath, braced myself, and pushed it open.

The scene was identical to the first episode. The lighting was dim, the air was heavy, and there sat Hua Yong—pale, beautiful, and looking utterly vulnerable on the sofa. Standing over him was Wen Lang, radiating that toxic 'I own the world' energy that made my skin crawl.

I took one look at them—the tension, the dramatic lighting, the sheer *audacity* of the staging—and I immediately turned around.

I walked right back out, closing the door behind me, and covered my eyes with my hand.

"Nope," I said to the hallway. "Absolutely not. I am not entering that room."

Zhang Wei stared at me. "What are you doing? You have to go in! That’s the plot!"

"Did you see the way they were framed?" I whispered-yelled. "It’s too much. The cringe is physical. I can feel the plot armor thickening the air. If I go in there, I’ll have to say something 'Alpha-like' and I might actually vomit."

"Shaoyou, get back in there!"

I sighed, squared my shoulders, and turned back. "Fine. But I’m skipping the script."

I kicked the door open this time. The 'bang' echoed through the room, making Wen Lang jump slightly and Hua Yong’s eyes flicker toward me.

"Sheng Shaoyou," Wen Lang said, his voice dropping into that low, gravelly tone that Alphas in this world thought was sexy but just sounded like they needed a lozenge. "You're late."

I walked into the room, ignoring him entirely. I walked straight up to the table, grabbed a glass of water—not even the expensive whiskey, just the water—and downed it.

"I'm not late, I was just reconsidering my life choices," I said, finally looking at Wen Lang. "And Wen Lang, seriously? Ease up on the pheromones. You’re making the air taste like copper and bad decisions. It’s tacky."

Wen Lang’s jaw dropped. Behind him, I saw Hua Yong’s eyes narrow. He wasn't looking at me like a victim anymore. He was looking at me with genuine, dangerous curiosity.

"What did you say?" Wen Lang growled, stepping toward me.

I held up a hand. "Stop. Don't do the 'step into my personal space' thing. It’s Tuesday. I don't have the energy for your ego. I’m here for the business proposal, not to watch you try to scare a man who clearly isn't scared of you."

I glanced at Hua Yong. Up close, he was even more unsettling. He was playing the part of the fragile Omega perfectly, but his scent—or lack thereof—was a lie. He was an enigma, a black hole in the middle of this bright, loud world.

"You," I said, pointing at Hua Yong.

He tilted his head, a stray lock of hair falling over his eyes. "Yes, Miss Sheng?"

"Stop pretending to be a damsel," I said bluntly. "It’s insulting to my intelligence and your acting skills. You’re about as fragile as a diamond-tipped drill bit. Now, can we all sit down and talk like adults, or do I need to go get some air freshener to clear out all this posturing?"

The silence in the room was deafening. Zhang Wei was standing in the doorway, his hand over his mouth, looking like he wanted to both laugh and cry.

Wen Lang looked like he was about to have an aneurysm. "Sheng Shaoyou, you are overstepping. This Omega—"

"Is a person, not a prop for your bad mood," I interrupted. I sat down in the chair opposite Hua Yong, crossing my legs and leaning back with an air of boredom I didn't entirely have to fake. "Men. Honestly. You all think that just because you have a 'dominant' secondary gender, you get to skip the part where you develop a personality."

Hua Yong suddenly laughed. It wasn't the soft, tinkling laugh of a submissive character. It was short, sharp, and genuinely amused. He sat up, his posture shifting from 'victim' to 'predator' in a heartbeat. The illusion shattered, and for a second, the sheer power he was hiding flared behind his eyes.

"You're different today, Miss Sheng," Hua Yong said, his voice smooth and dangerous.

"I'm enlightened," I replied, giving him a flat look. "I realized that this whole system is a scam designed to make people act like idiots. Now, Wen Lang, sit down. You’re blocking the light, and your shadow is making me look less fabulous than I actually am."

Wen Lang looked between us, his face turning a fascinating shade of purple. He was the 'top' Alpha, the protagonist’s rival, the man everyone feared. And I was treating him like an annoying younger brother.

"I will not be spoke to this way," Wen Lang hissed.

"Then leave," I said, waving a hand toward the door. "Go find someone who enjoys being growled at. I’m sure there’s a support group for people who think scent-marking is a valid form of communication."

Zhang Wei finally stepped into the room, coughing to hide a snort. "Miss Sheng, perhaps we should get to the point of the meeting?"

"The point is," I said, looking directly at Hua Yong, "that I’m not interested in the games you’re playing with the Wen family. I’m here because I want to make sure no one burns the city down while I’m trying to enjoy my retirement. Hua Yong, you want Wen Lang off your back, and Wen Lang, you want... whatever it is you want. Power? Validation? A hug? I don't care."

Hua Yong leaned forward, his eyes locked on mine. "And what do you want, Shaoyou?"

"I want a world where I don't have to smell your emotions," I said firmly. "But since that’s not happening, I want a partnership. A real one. No lies, no 'hidden Omega' nonsense, and definitely no more of whatever... *this* was." I gestured vaguely at the room.

Hua Yong’s lips curled into a smirk. "A partnership. With an Alpha who hates Alphas. How intriguing."

"I don't hate Alphas," I corrected him. "I just hate the ones who make it their entire personality. It’s boring. It’s like meeting someone who only talks about their veganism or their crypto portfolio. We get it, you’re an Alpha. Move on."

Wen Lang finally snapped. He slammed his hand onto the table, his pheromones exploding in a wave of pure, aggressive dominance. It was meant to make us bow. It was meant to make me submit.

I didn't even blink. I just sighed and looked at Zhang Wei. "See? This is what I’m talking about. Toxic masculinity in its literal, chemical form."

I turned back to Wen Lang. "Are you done? Or do you have more 'man-smell' to get out of your system? Because if you’re finished, I’d like to actually talk business before I die of boredom."

Wen Lang stared at me, completely disarmed by my lack of reaction. In this world, an Alpha’s pressure was supposed to be absolute. But I wasn't from this world. My brain didn't recognize his 'authority.' To me, he was just a guy making a weird face and smelling like a burnt forest.

Hua Yong watched the exchange, his fascination growing by the second. He looked at me not as a piece in a game, but as a player he hadn't accounted for.

"I think," Hua Yong said softly, "that I like this version of you much better, Miss Sheng."

"Of course you do," I said, standing up. "I'm the only person in this room who isn't trying to date you or kill you. Now, Zhang Wei, let's go. I need to find a place that sells coffee that doesn't taste like 'Alpha-grade' beans."

"Wait!" Wen Lang called out, but I was already halfway to the door.

"Don't 'wait' me, Wen Lang," I called over my shoulder. "Fix your attitude, get a hobby, and for the love of everything holy, buy some unscented deodorant."

As we walked out of the club and into the cool night air, Zhang Wei let out a breath he’d been holding for ten minutes. "That was the most terrifying and hilarious thing I have ever witnessed. You just insulted the two most powerful men in the city."

"They needed it," I said, feeling a strange sense of satisfaction. "If I have to live in this fanfiction, I’m going to be the critic, not the character. Now, let’s go find some actual food. I’m starving, and if I see one more 'elegant' glass of wine, I’m going to scream."

"You're going to change the whole story, aren't you?" Zhang Wei asked, a grin spreading across his face.

"The story was trash anyway," I said, stepping into the waiting car. "It’s time for a rewrite. And step one is making sure Wen Lang never, ever tries to brood in my presence again."

As the car pulled away, I caught a glimpse of the club entrance in the rearview mirror. Hua Yong was standing there, watching us leave. He didn't look like an enigma anymore. He looked like someone who had just found a new favorite toy.

I sighed. "Men. They just can't take a hint, can they?"

"Not in this genre, they can't," Zhang Wei joked.

"Well," I said, leaning back into the leather seat. "They're about to learn. Because Sheng Shaoyou is officially out of the 'desire' business. I’m in the 'making everyone’s life difficult' business now."