On Saturday, Xu Ze had been frowning from the moment he woke up.
Being hungover felt awful. He slowly climbed out of bed, took some clean clothes, and went to shower.
After washing the smell of alcohol off his body, Xu Ze stood in front of the mirror with his head lowered, brushing his teeth while piecing together his memories from the night before.
As he brushed, Xu Ze suddenly froze.
The toothbrush fell from his hand.
If he remembered correctly, he had kissed Lu Heyang’s face yesterday while reeking of alcohol.
Xu Ze stood there dumbfounded.
He didn’t even dare recall the expression on Lu Heyang’s face afterward, or what he had said.
He would rather have completely blacked out.
As far as Xu Ze was concerned, there had never been a more impulsive or foolish act of self-exposure than this.
But why exactly had Lu Heyang given him those opportunities?
Xu Ze didn’t believe Lu Heyang could have had any malicious intentions. He couldn’t imagine Lu Heyang being bored enough to tease him in such a way.
But at the same time, it was difficult for him to imagine that Lu Heyang would give him three opportunities to do whatever he wanted simply out of sympathy.
That logic just didn’t make sense.
He stood there with his head lowered, lost in thought for a long time.
Finally, he picked up the toothbrush and rinsed it clean.
After getting himself ready, Xu Ze left the house and bought breakfast at a roadside shop. He finished eating before reaching the bus stop.
After waiting for about seven or eight minutes, the bus arrived, and Xu Ze got on.
He transferred to another bus partway through the journey.
More than an hour later, Xu Ze got off, walked for several minutes, and arrived at the entrance of the nursing home.
He followed the main road around the hospital building and reached the outside of the garden. As he walked, he looked through the fence at the inside.
He went to the entrance to register, and a nurse pointed him in a direction.
“She’s over there. She hasn’t wanted to walk these past few days and has been using a wheelchair, but there’s nothing wrong with her legs. Don’t worry.”
“Okay, thank you.”
After entering the garden, the nurse pushing the wheelchair saw Xu Ze and stepped aside, speaking softly.
“Call me if you need anything.”
“Okay.”
Xu Ze walked over to the wheelchair and crouched beside the elderly woman’s knees.
“Grandma.”
Ye Yunhua looked indifferently at the tree beside the fence, its branches swaying in the morning breeze.
She showed no reaction at all.
Of course, this already counted as the best possible reaction.
At least she wasn’t screaming hysterically or hitting and kicking.
Xu Ze couldn’t predict what state Ye Yunhua would suddenly be in every time she saw him. All he could do was try to appear as little as possible.
Many times, when he came here, he would simply stand at a distance and take a look.
He knew that Ye Yunhua would never remember him again.
And he was partly responsible for that outcome.
Two years ago, when Xu Ze had just started boxing, he fought one match after another, and the injuries on his body were practically constant.
He was afraid his grandmother would worry, so he never dared see her while he was injured.
But once, Ye Yunhua had cut her arm in an attempt to commit suicide.
Xu Ze had rushed to the hospital with his face bruised and swollen. Before he even had time to ask the doctor about her condition, Ye Yunhua suddenly stood up from her chair and asked him,
“Who are you?”
“Grandma, I’m Xu Ze.” As usual, Xu Ze reminded her who he was and wanted to check her injuries.
“No.” Ye Yunhua’s lips trembled, and the look in her eyes was utterly unfamiliar. “Our Xiaozhe is a good boy. He wouldn’t get into fights. You’re not Xu Ze!”
Xu Ze stood there rigidly, all four limbs stiff. In an instant, he could no longer feel the wounds on his body. They became numb and cold.
“Get out! Liar! Give me my Xiaozhe back!”
Ye Yunhua clenched her fists and charged toward Xu Ze, screaming at the top of her lungs, but the doctors and nurses nearby stopped her.
The doctor turned around and shouted at Xu Ze, “You go outside first. Hurry!”
The scene before him was like a silent, rapidly moving black-and-white film.
A nurse dragged Xu Ze out of the hospital room, and the door closed in front of him.
Much later, whenever Xu Ze remembered those few minutes when he had stood in the hallway, looking through the glass into the hospital room, there had been nothing but ringing in his ears in the background.
He couldn’t hear anything else.
After that, Ye Yunhua could never recognize Xu Ze again.
Not even intermittently—not even for one or two seconds.
“Final exams are coming up,” Xu Ze said. “After the holiday starts, I’ll have more time to come see you.”
Ye Yunhua’s fingers moved slightly. Her expression softened a little.
“Our Xiaozhe is such a good boy. He gets very good grades.”
“Yeah.”
Xu Ze fell silent.
After a while, he stood up and said, “I’ll push you around for a while.”
Before the last class on Monday, the S-ranks were summoned to the conference room for a short meeting.
When Xu Ze arrived, the teacher was just about to take attendance. He lowered his head and walked to a seat near the edge of the second row.
Throughout the entire process, he never looked anywhere else.
“Today I’ll call out your student numbers. Raise your hand and say ‘Here’ when you hear yours.”
The teacher looked at the attendance sheet.
“Class One, No. 9.”
“Here.”
“Class One, No. 17.”
No one answered.
The teacher raised his voice and repeated it.
“Class One, No. 17.”
“Here.”
Unhurried and calm.
It was Lu Heyang’s voice.
Xu Ze stared at the desktop, making his breathing as light and quiet as possible, as though doing so could make him lose his presence in this conference room and make everyone unable to see him—
Make Lu Heyang unable to see him.
Xu Ze should have absolutely no secrets left in front of Lu Heyang.
From masturbating in front of him, to that kiss on Friday, to being No. 17 today.
Xu Ze knew very little about Lu Heyang’s personal information. He had never deliberately searched for information about him or tried to pry into his affairs. Xu Ze simply wasn’t the type to do that.
He only knew Lu Heyang’s name, age, class, and student number.
So Xu Ze had simply used the number 17 without thinking too much about it.
He had never imagined that one day, he would meet Lu Heyang in a filthy underground boxing club as a fighter known as “No. 17.”
Now that he thought back on it, none of his disguises could withstand scrutiny.
Xu Ze knew that Lu Heyang had recognized him long ago.
But at this moment, Xu Ze realized that this “long ago” might have been even earlier than he had imagined.
The short meeting lasted only about ten minutes.
After taking attendance, the teacher briefly introduced the activities scheduled for this weekend, along with their times. The relevant materials were handed out to everyone, and they were asked to decide whether they wanted to participate before Wednesday.
After the meeting ended, Xu Ze had never moved so quickly in his life.
He lowered his head, slipped past several empty seats, and walked into the aisle. He had just taken two steps down when he walked straight into an alpha.
He knew who it was without even looking up.
Because he could smell the faint scent of pheromones on him.
“Are you in a hurry?” Lu Heyang had just stepped into the aisle when Xu Ze bumped into his shoulder.
He lowered his eyes to look at that head which seemed particularly reluctant to lift today and asked.
Ever since entering the conference room, Xu Ze’s gaze had remained fixed on the floor or the desktops.
He had no idea Lu Heyang was sitting in the first row.
If he had known, he definitely would have waited until everyone else had left.
“Sorry,” Xu Ze said.
Then he answered, “I’m not in a hurry.”
He Wei immediately laughed beside them.
Not wanting to appear too strange or rude, Xu Ze raised his head and glanced at Lu Heyang.
Xu Ze knew Lu Heyang had to be looking at him because they were talking to each other.
But even with that mental preparation, the moment their eyes met, Xu Ze still felt a sudden sheen of cold sweat break out across his back.
A wave of heat spread through his brain without leaving a single corner untouched.
If Xu Ze had known that kissing Lu Heyang once that Friday night would make it impossible for him to face him ever again, he wasn’t sure whether he would still have asked Lu Heyang to restore the first opportunity he had wasted.
When he was sober, even if Lu Heyang gave him a hundred opportunities—or only one—Xu Ze wasn’t necessarily brave enough to kiss him.
Xu Ze felt that, in Lu Heyang’s eyes, he might as well have been standing there completely naked.
He just wanted to disappear from Lu Heyang’s sight immediately.
But just as he was about to say, “I’ll go first,” He Wei asked, “Hey, Xu Ze, are you going to the weekend activities?”
As he spoke, He Wei draped an arm over Lu Heyang’s shoulder and stepped down the stairs.
Xu Ze had no choice but to walk outside with them.
Fortunately, He Wei was between him and Lu Heyang, which made Xu Ze feel much less nervous and awkward.
“I’m not sure yet,” he said.
“Are you fighting on Friday?” He Wei lowered his voice. “It won’t be another exhibition match, right?”
He thought exhibition matches were neither profitable nor worthy of Xu Ze’s abilities.
There was nothing interesting about them at all.
“I’ll fight.” Xu Ze answered each of his questions one by one. “It’s not an exhibition match.”
He Wei happily snapped his fingers.
“Great!”
As they walked out of the conference room, they happened to run into Chi Jiahan, who was carrying his schoolbag and heading to swimming class.
Seeing Xu Ze walking together with He Wei and Lu Heyang, Chi Jiahan paused.
He glanced at Lu Heyang, then looked at Xu Ze and asked, “Just finished the meeting?”
Xu Ze looked at him with such a vacant, unfocused gaze that it was almost as if he hadn’t recognized Chi Jiahan.
After a second or two, Xu Ze finally nodded.
“Oh, I’m going to swimming class,” Chi Jiahan said, fully understanding Xu Ze’s absentmindedness.
“I have swimming next period too. Want to go together?” He Wei asked.
He had never spoken so softly and gently before.
Ever since hearing Xu Ze say that Chi Jiahan was afraid of alphas, He Wei had been paying particular attention to this aspect, hoping he wouldn’t scare this fragile little omega.
Chi Jiahan gave him a cold look. “No thanks. I know the way.”
After saying that, he left.
He Wei watched Chi Jiahan’s back as he walked away, then turned to Lu Heyang and Xu Ze and said, “He’s so cool and cute. I really like him.”
Then he followed after him like a pervert.
After He Wei left, the air immediately fell silent.
Xu Ze maintained the same distance from Lu Heyang, with He Wei’s former position between them, and continued walking.
After about four or five steps, Lu Heyang casually asked, “Is your rut coming again? Your face and ears are really red.”
Xu Ze let out a soft, “Huh?”
He even instinctively reached up to touch the back of his neck to check.
But at the same time, he remembered that Lu Heyang clearly knew he had only gone through his rut the week before last. There was no way it could come again so soon.
Xu Ze stopped walking.
He didn’t even know what he was thinking anymore.
“It probably isn’t. I’ll go back to class.”
He turned around and walked toward the other end of the footbridge.
Lu Heyang looked back at Xu Ze’s retreating figure.
Actually, he really wanted to remind Xu Ze:
You seem to be going the wrong way. Your classroom isn’t over there.
“Xiaozhe” wasn’t Xu Ze’s nickname. It was more like an affectionate term used by an elder.