Tuesday. Swimming class.
Xu Ze picked up his locker card from the lobby. Today, he had drawn changing room No. 6.
After the midterm exams last week, noticeably more students were taking leave from swimming class this time. The PE teacher turned a blind eye, focusing only on catching the students who had failed, and did not pay much attention to everyone else. As a result, the entire swimming complex was emptier than usual during class.
Xu Ze could have skipped swimming class too, but he still packed up his schoolbag and came over as soon as class ended.
There weren’t many people in the changing rooms he passed. Occasionally, one or two alphas could be seen changing clothes and chatting.
When he reached the entrance to Changing Room No. 6, his vision suddenly brightened. This changing room had the largest skylight, and broad patches of the setting sun streamed through it, dyeing the lockers and benches a pale gold.
A tall, broad-shouldered alpha stood in that patch of light with his back to Xu Ze, raising his hands to pull off his school T-shirt.
The muscles in his arms and back flexed and relaxed with his movements, almost as if they were breathing.
Xu Ze stood there in a daze for several seconds before finally coming back to himself. For no apparent reason, he grabbed the strap of his schoolbag and started to walk forward.
But the red lettering on the raised sign beside the door clearly reminded him that this was indeed Changing Room No. 6.
Lu Heyang put his school uniform into a locker, casually smoothing back the loose hair over his forehead. He opened his water bottle and finished the water inside.
He picked up his swim trunks and was about to head to the showers when he turned around and saw Xu Ze standing at the doorway.
Lu Heyang closed the locker and walked toward the door.
“What a coincidence.”
“Mm.”
This time, Xu Ze answered very quickly.
It was only after answering that he realized Lu Heyang meant that they had both happened to draw Changing Room No. 6.
“Was it really hot outside?”
As he passed Xu Ze, Lu Heyang suddenly asked.
Xu Ze looked up at him in confusion, but immediately avoided his eyes and looked somewhere else.
In reality, he had no idea where he was supposed to look.
Lu Heyang was standing there with his upper body completely bare. He was only half a meter away, yet Xu Ze still felt that he was too close.
Even though they were both alphas.
“Your face is red from the sun.”
Lu Heyang continued.
Xu Ze’s breathing stopped for a moment. His gaze drifted slightly as he answered, “Yeah. It’s a little hot.”
But Lu Heyang said, “The sun is already about to set. It’s still that hot?”
Xu Ze suddenly had no idea how to respond.
Lu Heyang had already taken off his wristband. His pheromones were spreading within a small area, partially blocked by Xu Ze’s old wristband, but he could still smell some of them.
An S-rank alpha’s pheromones naturally carried a sense of pressure, like an invisible hand tightening around one’s throat—or somewhere else.
Xu Ze’s Adam’s apple bobbed once.
He had forgotten that his wristband wasn’t very good quality. Since it could not completely block Lu Heyang’s pheromones, naturally, it could not completely isolate his own pheromones either.
When Lu Heyang caught the increasingly strong scent of another alpha’s pheromones in the air, he merely glanced at Xu Ze before walking toward the showers opposite them.
After changing into his swim trunks, Lu Heyang came out of the shower area.
Xu Ze was still wearing his school uniform, sitting on the bench and staring blankly at the floor.
The dim golden sunlight fell silently across his back.
“Class is about to start.”
Lu Heyang put his uniform pants into the locker and reminded him.
Xu Ze seemed to come back to his senses as if waking from a dream. He lifted his head and looked at Lu Heyang’s back. Two seconds later, he said, “Mm,” picked up his swim trunks, and went into the shower room.
When he reached the doorway, he habitually grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled it down, taking off his top as he walked. Lu Heyang took his goggles and walked out of the changing room, just in time to see Xu Ze halfway out of his shirt, revealing a strip of his lower back—narrow and supple, with several scars on it, but otherwise smooth skin.
The shirt was about to come off completely when Xu Ze turned into the shower room and disappeared from Lu Heyang’s sight.
During class, Xu Ze followed the training requirements given by the PE teacher. Lu Heyang was two pools away from him, having a free competition with several other alphas from their class. Half an hour later, after the teacher finished recording their results, Xu Ze was dismissed early and returned to the changing room.
He took his clothes into the shower room and quickly rinsed off. He did not even dry his hair before heading straight to the swimming pool lobby.
There was a vending machine in the lobby. Xu Ze stood in front of it for a while and confirmed that there was no bottled mineral water left in stock. There were about ten minutes left before class ended. Without hesitating, Xu Ze turned around and walked out of the swimming pool.
The nearest vending machine was at the basketball gym, but it was not actually close. The usual route was under repair, so he had to take a detour. With his hair still wet, Xu Ze ran beneath the setting sun and the shade of the trees. The sun really was about to set, but without any evening breeze, it was still somewhat hot, and he started sweating after only a few steps.
Five minutes before class ended, Lu Heyang finished showering and returned to the changing room while drying his hair. He glanced at his phone and saw that He Wei was waiting for him in the parking lot. Lu Heyang put everything into his backpack and closed the locker door.
“Heyang, are you ready? Let’s go together?” Several other alphas from his class had also finished packing and came over from the other changing room, calling to him from the doorway.
“Ready. Let’s go,” Lu Heyang said.
When they reached the entrance of Changing Room No. 4, Xu Ze came running toward them from the end of the hallway, panting. He was wearing that old black T-shirt, his hair was still wet, and his neck was damp. It was unclear whether it was sweat or water dripping down from his hair.
The moment Xu Ze raised his head, his eyes met Lu Heyang’s. He froze for a very brief moment and parted his lips slightly, looking as though he wanted to say something. But then he realized that there were several other alphas beside Lu Heyang, so in the end, he merely pressed his lips together silently and walked inside with his back against the wall.
As they passed each other, one of the alphas accidentally bumped into Xu Ze, causing the things in Xu Ze’s hand to fall to the floor. The alpha said, “Sorry.”
Xu Ze did not answer. After they had walked past, he silently bent down and picked up his things.
After walking a few steps, Lu Heyang suddenly looked back.
The thing Xu Ze was holding was a bottle of mineral water. It had probably gotten dirty after falling onto the floor. Xu Ze lowered his head, and there was no discernible expression on his profile. He wiped the bottle with his palm, then headed toward Changing Room No. 6.
His throat felt a little dry. Lu Heyang turned his head back and looked at the empty water bottle in his hand. After intense exercise, he really was thirsty. He thought that he would go buy a bottle of water in the lobby later.
Thursday morning, the S-ranks in their second year of high school were organized to go to the neighboring city for a lecture and a tour of a base. The school was paying for the trip this time, so no one needed to pay out of pocket. Even so, Xu Ze had still applied not to participate. However, the teacher quickly came to talk to him and told him that he should go listen to the lecture, as it would be helpful for his future choices regarding schools and majors.
There were thirty-five S-ranks in total, and thirty-one ultimately confirmed that they would participate. Some of them, citing reasons such as the school bus not being spacious enough or the journey being too long, simply had their families’ drivers bring over luxury vans.
Lu Heyang and the others were not particularly picky about this. The three of them grabbed their travel bags, boarded the school bus, and sat in the last row.
He Wei was extremely surprised that Gu Yunchi was willing to participate. After all, Young Master Gu was a habitual truant who had not come to school more than thirty times in an entire year. The fact that he would appear at an activity like this was, to put it mildly, very strange.
He had been asking questions nonstop since before they boarded the bus. Gu Yunchi was so annoyed by his questions that he finally threw out a “Shut up,” closed his eyes, leaned back against the seat, and began to sleep.
The other S-ranks gradually boarded the bus. Lu Heyang was looking at his phone when he suddenly heard He Wei whistle softly.
“I thought Xu Ze wasn’t coming.”
Lu Heyang raised his head slightly and discovered that Xu Ze was also looking in their direction. The moment their eyes met, Xu Ze turned his head away and sat down in one of the seats toward the middle of the bus.
He was only carrying one backpack. It looked flat and deflated, as though he had barely put anything inside.
More than three hours later, they arrived at the foot of the mountain where the base was located. It was somewhat far from the city and seemed rather remote. The only hotel nearby was specifically used to accommodate higher-ups and professors coming for inspections, and the conditions were fairly decent.
Everyone gathered in the hotel lobby. Since there were not enough rooms with large beds, several people would have to sleep alone in twin rooms. To keep things fair, the teacher decided the room assignments by drawing lots. Whoever drew which room card would stay in that room.
Lu Heyang raised a hand.
“Teacher, I’m not drawing. Just give me a twin room.”
He had not been able to fall asleep on the bus and was a little tired now. He wanted to rest as soon as possible, and he did not really care which room he slept in. Whether it was a large bed in a single room or a small bed in a twin room, it was not important to him.
The teacher therefore handed him a room card for a twin room. Lu Heyang took it, curled up on the sofa, and closed his eyes while waiting for them to finish drawing lots.
Before long, Lu Heyang heard Xu Ze say, “Teacher, give me a twin room too.”
Lu Heyang opened his eyes halfway. From a distance of two or three meters, he could vaguely see Xu Ze’s profile.
After Xu Ze finished speaking, several more alphas claimed twin rooms. In the end, the rooms left over were actually all large-bed rooms, making the drawing of lots unnecessary.
Because He Wei and Gu Yunchi had gone to use the restroom after getting off the bus, they were directly assigned large-bed room cards when they returned to the lobby.
Everyone went to the front desk to register. Suddenly, the lobby manager came over with a walkie-talkie and said, “I’m sorry, there’s a problem with the water pipe in Room 503. It needs to be repaired, so it can’t be occupied for the time being.”
“Who has Room 503?” the teacher asked.
“Me.” Xu Ze raised his hand.
The teacher nodded and asked the front desk, “Are there any other rooms available? Can we switch him to another one?”
“Please wait a moment.” After checking, the front desk attendant said apologetically, “I’m sorry, there are no vacant rooms left.”
“In that case, Xu Ze, you may need to share a room with a classmate for one night.” The teacher turned around. “Those who just chose twin rooms, raise your hands.”
The situation was actually a little awkward. These S-ranks came from different classes, and Xu Ze usually kept to himself and did not socialize with anyone. The teacher was worried that he would end up without anyone to room with.
But before anyone could raise a hand, a voice sounded.
“I’m in a twin room. Let him stay with me.”
The S-ranks all turned to look back. Only Xu Ze remained standing where he was, completely motionless, his expression dazed and his shoulders and back held rigidly tense.
Lu Heyang: Claiming one stray alpha.