c20 - Sense of Belonging
The private elevator was not used by outsiders.
What should have been a spacious and empty space made Gu Junwan feel strangely crowded.
The alpha beside her was standing far too close!
The crisp snow cedar scent subtly permeated the space, swirling around the omega empress like mist.
The feeling was as if she were being gently embraced.
It made her heart flutter, yet also feel at ease.
The elevator quickly ascended to the rooftop landing pad of the apartment building.
As soon as she stepped out of the elevator, Shen Han froze.
In the vast rooftop area, there was only one hovercar parked.
Even though Shen Han wasn’t well-versed in this world’s hovercars, she could tell from the vehicle’s exterior that it was incredibly valuable.
Perhaps afraid of misunderstanding,
Shen Han suddenly shifted her gaze from the hovercar, instead looking around the rooftop.
She inexplicably remembered an idol drama she had watched before crossing over.
In the drama, the CEO brought the female lead to an expensive car, and after she got excited, he pulled out a bicycle from the trunk to give her.
Of course, Shen Han knew Gu Junwan wouldn’t play such a prank.
But being cautious was better than making a fool of herself.
The alpha’s glancing around made Gu Junwan unsure if she liked the gift she had chosen.
“What’s wrong? Don’t you want to take a look inside?”
As Gu Junwan’s words fell, the Flying Dragon McLaren in front suddenly lit up its lights.
The crescent-shaped light brows and slightly downward-sloping headlights, when illuminated, looked like a sleeping beast suddenly opening its eyes.
The engine sound was low and melodious, like the resonance of a cello.
The smooth body lines were elegant yet full of pent-up power.
The moment Gu Junwan saw this model, she felt it matched Shen Han’s temperament perfectly.
“This is for me?”
Shen Han’s voice was full of excitement. She turned to look at the person beside her, wanting to lift up this extravagant empress and spin her around three times on the spot.
But thinking that Xu Zhao was still watching, she didn’t dare do so.
She settled for the next best thing, seemingly casually but actually very precisely taking Gu Junwan’s hand, pulling her quickly towards the hovercar’s side door.
The omega empress’s hand was delicate and soft; Shen Han didn’t want to let go once she held it.
To divert the other’s attention, she quickly found a topic: “You’re amazing, Miss Gu! This hovercar is exactly my dream type, it’s just too precious!”
Gu Junwan was tightly held by her, the heat from the other’s palm transmitting through her skin, directly warming her heart.
Every heartbeat seemed to carry a hint of the snow cedar scent’s warmth.
She naturally wouldn’t tell Shen Han about the questionnaire test.
She only said lightly: “I’m glad you like it. I heard from Instructor Liu that the upcoming training will be more relaxed. When you have free time, you can drive out for a spin, no need to always be cooped up in the compound.”
Xu Zhao, following beside them, had intended to be an unnoticeable presence.
But hearing her empress speak too vaguely, she couldn’t help but speak up: “Her Majesty has even applied for full air route authorization for you.”
“You can drive on all public air routes within the Free Federation at any time. Of course, given the current situation, it’s best not to go to the three northern districts casually.”
Realizing she might have said too much, the special assistant quickly lowered her eyes after speaking.
Successfully avoiding the empress’s gaze.
Gu Junwan didn’t want to mention these things in front of Shen Han.
She feared it would put too much pressure on her.
After all, most alphas inherently had strong competitive spirits and desires for conquest.
Not to mention Shen Han was an excellent S-rank alpha in all aspects.
Thinking of this, Gu Junwan secretly observed the expression of the person beside her.
She saw that the alpha holding her hand had joy in her brows and eyes.
There wasn’t the slightest hint of discomfort in her demeanor.
Only then did she inwardly breathe a sigh of relief.
The two quickly arrived at the side door.
After Shen Han completed identity verification, Gu Junwan handed the activation key she had just used to her assistant, having her directly erase the program code inside the key.
This meant that in this world, only Shen Han herself could start this Flying Dragon McLaren.
Of course, if she set up sharing permissions for others, that would be a different matter.
Watching the alpha directly pull her empress into the car,
The special assistant hesitated for a moment, but eventually followed into the hovercar.
The interior space was very spacious, allowing passengers to stand upright and move around.
Besides the main driver and co-pilot seats, there were six more positions behind.
Xu Zhao was particularly self-aware, sitting down quietly in a rear cabin seat after entering and fastening her seatbelt.
It was obvious that having received such a gift, a test flight was inevitable.
She had even set up special passage permissions in advance; this time flying out of the compound area, the hovercar wouldn’t be subject to routine checks.
She just hoped they wouldn’t fly too far with the empress, to avoid any safety issues.
The engine hummed softly, the Flying Dragon coiled in the sky like its namesake.
The night scene of the entire city transformed into a beautiful strip of lights, inlaid in this land symbolizing freedom.
After driving the hovercar into a secluded air route, Shen Han switched to autopilot mode.
She turned her face to look at the omega in the co-pilot cabin.
Today, Gu Junwan wore a long black dress, making her already fair skin appear even more lustrous like jade.
Her slightly curled hair fell lazily on her shoulders, revealing a swan-like beautiful neck curve.
Gentle and dignified, yet with a hint of mystery, she exuded the ancient charm of an Eastern beauty.
At this moment, a sense of indescribable stability and belonging suddenly welled up in Shen Han’s heart.
Since crossing over to this strange world, this was the first time she had felt this way.
Even if she could never go back, it seemed not to matter anymore.
Because Gu Junwan was here.
Perhaps it was the intense gaze from the alpha in the pilot’s seat.
Or perhaps it was the increasingly strong snow cedar scent enveloping her.
Gu Junwan could no longer pretend not to notice the other staring at her.
“What is it?” She raised her hand to tuck a stray lock of hair behind her ear, turning her head to ask softly.
Shen Han didn’t show any embarrassment at being caught.
She unbuckled her seatbelt, stood up, and said very naturally: “There are a few function keys on your side that I don’t seem to have seen before.”
After switching to autopilot mode, the steering wheel and some devices had retracted into the control panel.
Unrestrained by equipment, Shen Han walked directly to the co-pilot seat position.
At this time, Gu Junwan also unbuckled her seatbelt and stood up from her seat.
Following the alpha’s gaze, she began to look for unfamiliar function keys on the control panel.
“Which one are you referring to?”
The simple inquiry had barely left her lips when the omega empress’s slender back stiffened.
Because Shen Han had unobtrusively stood behind her, her arm brushing past the snow-white skin of her uncovered forearm, pointing to a nearby button and saying seriously: “That one.”
The gentle snow cedar scent gently enveloped Gu Junwan from behind.
Their bodies were very close; the omega felt as if she were being embraced by the other.
But in reality, to say she was embraced wasn’t quite accurate, because Shen Han hadn’t made any move to wrap her arms around her.
She had only, secretly, enclosed her in the small area between herself and the control panel.
The subtle fragrance of cold plum surrounded her nose, making every inch of the alpha’s flesh rejoice.
Her other hand lightly rested on the edge of the control panel, visible blue veins crawling across the back of her hand.
Gu Junwan suppressed her gradually quickening heartbeat, trying to keep her voice steady: “That’s the warning button.”
After saying this, she wanted to escape the confinement of the snow cedar.
But before she could move to the side, she noticed that a fair, slender hand had appeared on the control panel at her waist.
Snow cedar and cold plum comforted each other in the small space, dispelling the fatigue from the omega empress’s days of intense work.
It also banished the loneliness hidden deep in Shen Han’s heart since crossing over to this strange world.
The two stood close together at the control panel, occasionally asking and answering, discussing only the ordinary function keys inside the car.
The holographic projections above the city were gorgeous and dreamlike, like a scroll slowly unfolding in the night sky.
Shen Han’s hovercar passed through the light and shadows of the scroll, like a whale emerging from a solitary island, traversing the ocean of freedom.
Special Assistant Xu silently shrank into her cabin seat, trying hard to reduce her presence.
She somewhat regretted coming along.
Now it was too late to get off the car…
…
The guard team’s upcoming training days, as Gu Junwan had said, were slightly relaxed.
On this evening, after special training ended, Ning Xi directly grabbed Shen Han and her little follower Ma Haoyu.
“Tomorrow’s a rest day, we must have a good get-together tonight! Boss, you can’t refuse me again, otherwise I’ll be angry!”
Ning Xi suggested going to a bar.
Shen Han, calculating that Miss Gu probably wouldn’t come to the apartment to find her tonight, nodded in agreement.
To be honest, she was also curious.
Would the entertainment venues in this world be different from the blue planet she had crossed over from?
The three agreed on a meeting point, then each went back to their residences to freshen up.
Ma Haoyu was the quickest; his dormitory was also within the compound. He changed into a shirt and ran to Shen Han’s apartment.
He had long known she lived in this high-end apartment building, but today was his first time coming over.
Whether it was because people here didn’t move around much or for some other reason,
Ma Haoyu didn’t encounter many people on his way.
Passing through the security and access control system, Ma Haoyu took the elevator up, easily finding Shen Han’s apartment.
After entering,
He looked around at the seemingly simple but actually latest model appliances in the room, exclaiming in surprise: “Boss, I didn’t expect you to have such high requirements for quality of life!”
“Must cost a lot, right?”
Shen Han walked towards the living room while tying up her hair.
Hearing Ma Haoyu’s inquiry, she was also surprised: “It didn’t cost anything. Isn’t this the dormitory arranged for us by the compound?”
After saying this, she saw the dumbfounded expression on the small man’s face.
Shen Han handed him a bottle of water and added: “Don’t you live in a dormitory like this?”
Ma Haoyu shook his head somewhat sourly.
If he couldn’t guess by now that all this was the empress’s doing, the special agent training he had received before would have been wasted.
He tilted his head back to drink a sip of cold beverage to keep himself calm.
But he couldn’t help grumbling inwardly: You think everyone can have a girlfriend like the empress?
The two left the apartment and took the elevator straight to the rooftop.
When Ma Haoyu saw Shen Han start the engine of the only Flying Dragon McLaren on the landing pad,
He turned completely sour like a lemon.