AN: This chapter is unedited cause I'm tired and I've got school work to do so... yeah~

*****

The day he met Chen Guiren, he punched the boy in the face.

It wasn't the best way to introduce themselves but Yibai would never regret his decision to do this. When else, when time passed and this annoying person pestered him endlessly, would he ever get another chance like this?

Besides, he deserved it.

***

It was the weekend by the time Yibai found the time to go to the gym that Yangru had suggested. The trip there was uneventful, despite all the energy of those around him. The people around him were excited about something or another but Yibai just found it annoying and drowned them out with his headphones.

Upon arrival, the beta looked around, quickly finding the gym nearby one of the heavily crowded streets. He wasn't sure how to feel about that, both dreading the notion of having to talk to people often and mildly hopeful that he wouldn't have to deal with anyone annoying.

As expected, the now hiring sign was out front but to his surprise, there was no one else there. When he saw how close they were to the main street, he was thinking he'd have to deal with a bunch of other interviewee's yet the place was dead quiet.

If not for the signs up front, he might have assumed the place was closed.

Yet when he stepped inside, he quickly realized why the place was empty.

"What do you mean he's not here yet!? He said 11:30 am and yet he dares to be late?!"

From within, a young man could be seen with his back to the down. Hair as black as night shook as he shouted, his voice echoing through the gym.

"How dare he make so many demands from me and yet brazenly chose not to show up?" He snapped, slamming his hand on the receptionist's desk. The person behind the desk, a smaller teen, shivered as he pressed in close. "Give me his number."

"S-sir, I can't give out privat-"

The desk was swept clean as the hooligan's arm dashed away all the items. The receptionist flinched, looking terrified.

Yibai, who had been standing silently, scowled.

"Are you going to continue standing there like a yapping dog all day or will you move?" He snapped, gaining the attention of the young man. Yibai really didn't want to get involved but he couldn't stand people like this. Making trouble just because they were the consumer.

Bright red eyes glared at him, his handsome features marred by his scowl.

To be stared down so intensely by a stranger, one would think they were enemies. Yet Yibai didn't even flinch, instead rolling his eyes at the teen.

"Troublesome." He muttered, moving past him to talk to the receptionist. Seeing her shiver, he came to realize why they were looking for a replacement. This girl looked seconds away from quitting right then and there.

Yibai opened his mouth to speak, only to find the troublesome young man closing in on him. Red to grey, they stared at each other.

"What did you call me?" He snarled. Yibai thought he caught a whiff of something but wrote it off as nothing.

"Did I stutter?" He snapped back, his tone drawl and uninterested. "Do you wish for me to define the words I used?"

"Who are you calling a dog?!"

"What else would you call something that yaps about incessantly and indiscriminately?"

"I'm the wronged party here!" The young man argued, huffing indignantly. "Do you know how busy I am? You think I have time for abrupt cancelations with no notice?"

"So you make trouble for the clerk? You really are immature."

While Yibai could sympathize with the man's annoyance, he couldn't stand the fact that he chose to take it out on the clerk, who could only stand there and take it.

Hearing such reasoning, the young man could say nothing. He'd been angry before because he'd had to cancel a lot of plans to make this appointment. Learning that his trainer had just chosen not to show up pissed him off a lot more than anticipated.

Still, he had too much pride to admit he was wrong.

Peeking over, he watched as Yibai spoke to the clerk, his intentions made clear. The young man smirked.

"Oh?" He mused, leaning in. "So you are planning on working here?"

Yibai glowered at him. "You're still here?"

"Are you telling me to get out?"

"Shouldn't you? You made enough trouble, haven't you?"

A lesser man might have denied such a claim, slinking away in shame. Yet this man was completely shameless, choosing the linger about like a ghost.

"I've got nothing better to do." He stated, shrugging. On a whim, he looked over to the young man who chewed him out.

Yibai, despite being a beta, was built well. His stature wasn't much but he took up enough space to be intimidating. On this day, Yibai wore casual clothes that showed off his muscles and drew eyes. If not for his plain face, he might have drawn a few more eyes.

Today, he drew a troublesome person's eyes.

"Whoa, you are quite a sight!" The troublesome person mused, openly admiring the young man beside him. Despite being thinner than Yibai, the young man looked fit, being only a little taller.

With a predatory grin that made the clerk shiver, the young man grabbed Yibai by the shoulder.

"Maybe you want to play with me?"

Looking him over, it was clear the young man had a desire to fight. He looked very excited, his age showing through as he tried to pull Yibai over.

Yibai, unamused, shook him off. "Don't touch me."

The young man laughed, his previous sour mood having evaporated. He'd been itching for a fight and ended up being stood up. This guy had to compensate.

"Oh? How about you make me?" He pressed, smirking. He had expected that his taunt would egg him on but this guy's face remained static.

Boo.

He was starting to think this guy must be an elder. How could someone so young be so uptight?

Said uptight youth felt very tempted to take him up on his offer. While Yibai wasn't usually the violent type, he found people like this way too annoying. It was clear that talking wasn't getting through to him.

Yet he couldn't get into a fight like some kind of delinquent.

Then a thought occurred to him.

The young man was about to try again to egg the shorter man on when he felt his collar being tugged, Before he could blink, he was dragged through the gym and dumped onto the fighting mats.

Yibai loomed over him, his cold glaze, bearing down on the young man as he cracked his knuckles.

"I haven't gone in for my interview yet so I'm still just a customer right now." He proclaimed, grabbing the young man by his collar. "That means we can settle your punishment right here and now."

The young man paled, even as his heart raced with excitement.

It was on this day that he met Chen Guiren for the first time. It was also the beginning of his most annoying part-time job.

***

Much to his surprise, Yibai ended up getting hired. He'd been worried that his punishment of that guy would make his would-be employers unwilling but...

It turned out that the guy he'd beat up was well known for causing trouble.

That was in no way surprising.

The young man, Chen Guiren, was a frequent client, sent in by his parents. It was unclear why, as the youth was clearly strong already but the amount of money his family had given them made it hard to deal with their troublesome son.

Yibai yet again felt great pride for having decked the guy quite a few times.

While the punishment wasn't as one-sided as he'd liked, it was good to have gotten the upper hand early on. Sure, he ended up taking an interview with a black eye but the win under his belt made it well worth it.

Yet despite his excitement, he felt a bit worried. If this Guiren was such a valuable client, would his actions have offended him enough to cause trouble?

Yibai really didn’t want to bring any trouble to his life.

Yet even after a week, there were no strange knocks on his doors or mysterious vans around to make him think he might have to deal with any retaliation.

It was a relief.

So imagine his surprise when he was abruptly called into work by a nervous sounding manager only to find that same troublesome person standing by the door with that same predatory smile.

“Yo!” Guiren looked overjoyed, his fangs glinting in the sun.

Yibai’s expression soured, bringing forth a burst of laughter from the young man.

“Is that any way to greet a client? Shouldn’t you smile and say ‘welcome’?”

“You're not the one paying us so why should I bother?”

“Ack, it's that kind of scathing tongue that I was starting to miss.” He muttered, following Yibai as he walked in. “It’s so cool how you just tear into people so ruthlessly.”

“That’s only with annoying people like you.”

“Oh, so I’m special then?”

“What do you want?!” He snapped, glaring at Guiren. The man grinned, feeling happy he’d gotten this guy’s attention.

“Didn’t anyone tell you?” He said with a wink. “I requested you as my sparring partner.”

It turned out that for the last few days, Chen Guiren had been making a fuss. For some reason, he didn’t want to fight with anyone other than Yibai, saying some strange nonsense about ‘he smells like a good partner’ or something.

After days of nagging, the manager relented and asked Yibai to come in just to shut him up.

How annoying.

Yibai couldn’t help but state, “I’m a receptionist.”

“A receptionist that fist fought with me.”

“That was before I even had my interview so I was just as much a client as you.”

“You nearly broke my nose!” He cried, touching his sharp nose like a wounded puppy.

“Yet here you are, with an unbroken nose. It’s a miracle.”

The sarcasm in his words was heavy and pricked at Guiren’s pride.

“You!” He wanted to say more but the teen behind the desk steadied him with a glare. He’d hoped that the teen would get the hint and leave so he could work yet this clingy ghost refused to move even an inch away.

“Look, if you’re not making an appointment or becoming a member, get out.” Yibai grumbled, resting his chin on his fist. He could feel Guiren’s heat radiating off him yet paid it no mind. This hotblooded guy had to be guided on the right path. “Its way too noisy with you around and you are keeping other customers from coming in.”

Guiren leaned in close, liking Yibai’s smell. “So?”

“It’s troublesome.”

“Ah, you sure do like that word, don’t you?” He grumbled, pouting. He folded his hands, trying to look contrite despite his ferocious looks. “Look, if you face me just one more time, I swear I’ll be good. I’ll even call you master.”

“I’d rather you just leave.”

“Ah, it's very rude to kick out paying customers.”

“It’s not illegal if they are causing a disturbance.”

“Just give me this, won’t you? Please~”

Something told him that this guy didn’t use the word ‘please’ often. Actually, everything about him screamed that he was a person who expected compliance the first time he spoke. Why else would he so brazenly cause trouble with no remorse.

Actually, that might be a good thing.

“If I spar with you and win, you have to promise to not cause any trouble here.” He proclaimed, staring the teen down with crossed arms. “I don’t need any servants but if you stop being troublesome, it’d be preferred.”

“Really?!” Guiren beamed, looking like a child being promised candy. “You’ll fight me again? Like before?”

Something about those words made Yibai consider rescinding his offer. Why act so excited over a fight?

Yet Guiren looked like he was about to scream, his predatory grin growing as they came close to the arena.

It was a normal gym with a closed off area for those who wanted to box or spar. As most people in the gym were beta’s there was no set rule about how a sparing match could go. Whether the fighters wore protection or not was up to them.

Like the first time, they chose to go without protection. Yibai really wanted to make this annoying person feel his punches

Guiren agreed, saying that those kinds of protections were for those who disliked pain. He wasn’t afraid of pain.

Hearing this declaration, Yibai had to wonder if the guy in front of his was really a beta or not. He’d peeked at Guiren’s record briefly and he was listed as a beta, which confused him.

What about this guy was like a beta?!

While there was no set look for beta’s there were a number of traits not generally found in betas.  Being tall, good looking and aggressive were high on the list.

That and he kept going on about smells.

Beta’s didn’t have as good a sense of smell as Alpha’s or Omegas. It made sense, as they didn’t need them. Most beta’s identified subgenders by looks hence Yibai’s confusion.

Yet what could he say? There was no reason to lie about being a beta. There was no reward for saying so.

“Oi, why are you spacing out?” The beta called out, looking miffed. “Am I boring you?”

“There are a dozen other things I’d rather be doing.” He shot back. He was lucky that there weren’t any clients in yet or he would have never agreed to this farce.

“Then I’d better make it worth your oh so precious time then, love.” Before Yibai could voice his complaint about being called love, Guiren ran up to him with his fist raised.

(AN: Let it be known that this apple is absolute shit at writing action scenes)

Yibai ducked, moving to strike from below. Unexpectedly, Guiren took the hit, his grunt of pain being the only indication that he felt it.

Guiren reached down to grab hold of Yibai but he rolled out of reach, sweeping his foot across the mat. Again, rather than moving away, Guiren jumped toward Yibai, tackling him.

Yibai had expected to have a fistfight, not a wrestling match but he refused to give in to this troublesome person. God knows what kind of annoying thing he’d pull if Yibai lost.

While Yibai’s focus was on the match, Guiren’s mind had drifted slightly. His instincts were focused on the fight but he couldn’t help but wonder why he felt antsy.

He’d felt it when he first saw Yibai and felt a familiar itch to fight, wanting to test this guy.

He was strong, which he liked.

Now that he was closer, he could take in Yibai’s scent as they tumbled and grappled. Sweat glistened off his muscles, making Guiren’s mouth water as he imagined how firm they were.

A wayward hand squeezed the beta’s bicep, making Guiren’s fang tingle as he imagined…

He fantasized about-

No, it wasn’t a fantasy. Those large hands were digging into his hand, tugging him away from firm skin as he licked his lips.

He could taste Yibai on his tongue.

Yibai tossed Guiren away, clutching his arm defensively. No skin was broken but the bite left a tingly feeling.

“D-did you just bite me?!” He cried, unable to believe it, even as he spoke the words aloud.

Guiren at least had the decency to look ashamed and he mumbled. “I-I…”

Yibai stormed over, looming over the young man.

“Chen Guiren, don’t act improperly.” He chastised. “This is a gym for betas. There's no need to act like something you’re not.”

To bite someone was not an act beta’s did. The only ones who did such a thing were alpha’s or even the rare omega. To bite someone was to mark them, proclaiming to the world that the other party was their bondmate.

Beta’s had no such thing, lacking the fangs to mark anyone. Even children didn’t do it, instinctively knowing it wasn’t proper for them to do such a thing.

Yet this beta dared trespass such an ingrained rule just to win a match?

Despite all the rallying calls of equality, reality was cruel. Alphas, Betas, and Omegas were different and had to be separated in certain fields. One of those being physical facilities. If an Alpha were to face an Omega or even a beta in a fight, it was clear who would win.

It would be like pitting a child against a professional athlete.

As such, there were very very few coed facilities that catered to all subgenders as it was bound to face difficulties. If too many people got hurt, it was inevitably going to be an issue.

Yet, despite the odds, the gym they resided in now was one of those mythical co-ed facilities.

Guiren stared up at Yibai, feeling mildly embarrassed.

He was an alpha but was instructed to pretend to be a beta. The scent blockers on him made it easy, making him scentless to everyone around him. He could have gone as an alpha, as they allowed such a thing but his parents were adamant about him learning to control himself.

Yet he bit this guy…

He’d never bit anyone, finding the thought disgusting. He didn’t want anyone’s skin that close to his mouth. Even kisses felt gross. Yet when he smelled Yibai, a haze came over him.

This strong person was so close, he could feel his breath on his skin.

He smelled wonderful, like something earthy and wild.

He really wanted to bite him.

He wanted to mark him.

For the first time since he presented, Guiren felt Alpha-like urges well up in him. Yet it was for a beta. A plain-faced, sharp-tongued beta.

A tongue ran over his fangs.

He felt mildly disappointed he hadn’t broken skin.

Seeing that his opponent looked unrepentant, Yibai could hold back his anger. Without a word, he punched Guiren in the face, knocking him to the floor. While he didn’t go down, he looked up at Yibai with a sour look on his face.

“Shouldn’t you have waited for the match to resume?” He grumbled, wiping the blood from his nose.

“Did it ever pause?”

At that, Guiren laughed, amused by this guy’s words. Was there anyone else who dared speak to him so

Yibai grabbed the young alpha by the collar, pulling him in close to glare into his blood-red eyes. Guiren stared back, briefly enchanted by those pale grey eyes to the point he almost missed the beta’s words.

“If you have time to bitch about me beating you, how about you do something about that attitude of yours?” He growled, scowling as he pointed at his arm. “Don’t go biting people so recklessly.

While an Alpha was all for biting others, if someone bit them it was sure to be seen as a challenge to their authority. Yibai felt he should try and guide this thick-headed young master before he did something stupid.

Like pick a fight and bite the wrong person.

Despite these good intentions, Guiren was no longer listening, feeling his heart race as Yibai tore into him with his words.

It would be many years down the line when this moment would be brought as the day Yibai gained an annoying person. Jun Yibai would never know just how much those words had enticed this young man.

What kind of weirdo fell in love with someone's sharp words?

*****

AN: And thus, 14 year old Jun Yibai has earned himself a clingy ghost.