During the last class meeting of Class 3, Grade 11, two seats by the window were empty.
“Xiao Yan isn’t here?” The two empty seats were rather noticeable. “Why isn’t Fan Yue here either? Where did they go?”
“The teachers will be back soon. A teacher from the Student Union called an impromptu meeting.”
Tangyuan answered with practiced ease. Besides, it was class meeting period, so even if they skipped class, the teacher wouldn’t really care.
On the rooftop, Xiao Yan leaned against the railing, his fingertips tapping out crisp sounds against the metal.
“I advise you not to lean against the railing like that.” Fan Yue found an empty spot and sat cross-legged on the ground, sincerely advising him. “Although this handsome pose is very popular online and omegas and betas love it, the moment the director happens to pass by downstairs, the two of us are getting caught skipping class.”
Xiao Yan: “…”
“Enough. Tell me. What’s on your mind?”
After thinking about it for several days, Fan Yue decided he should at least care about his deskmate’s emotional well-being.
“A couple of days ago, a girl even asked me why the school heartthrob has been so distracted lately.”
“Then I’ll tell you.” Xiao Yan sat down on the steps. “Prepare yourself mentally.”
Fan Yue: “Huh?”
What could possibly be so serious that he needed to prepare himself mentally?
“You tell me—is an AA relationship possible?” Xiao Yan asked thoughtfully.
Fan Yue: “Huh?!”
Fan Yue shuddered and took a step backward.
Xiao Yan: “???”
“No… listen to me first.”
Xiao Yan paused the message he was halfway through replying to and sat up straight.
“If I remember correctly, there’s no pheromone attraction in an AA relationship, right?”
“What are you trying to say?”
Fan Yue was vaguely beginning to realize something.
“What you’re talking about is possible, but…”
“If even that’s possible, then between an alpha and an omega, is it also possible to break free from pheromone control?”
Fan Yue was convinced.
Xiao Yan had gone all the way around the houses, even dragged AA relationships into the conversation for a lap, and in the end, he was actually talking about himself and Luo Zhiyu.
“Pheromones say we’re impossible, but I kind of want to turn the impossible into possible.”
Fan Yue: “…”
What was the point of talking?
Xiao Yan had already made up his mind unilaterally. He hadn’t come here to ask for advice at all. He was just suffocating from keeping it inside and wanted to announce it to someone.
“So…” Fan Yue asked amicably, “does the little first-year know that you’ve developed some other kind of feelings for him?”
“And that night—you know which night I mean… you didn’t do anything to him, right?”
Xiao Yan shook his head.
The little first-year didn’t seem to know about his feelings yet.
As for whether he had done anything that night, that was a secret between him and Luo Zhiyu.
“Good luck.” Fan Yue patted his deskmate on the shoulder.
“After all, in the eyes of everyone else, the two of you are impossible. But who knows? Honestly, with how often you two have been sticking together lately, if it weren’t for your pheromone compatibility being so low, I’m pretty sure even the teachers would forbid Luo Zhiyu from hanging out with you.”
Xiao Yan: “…”
The little first-year was currently messaging Xiao Yan.
[Zhiyu]: Calling Orange, calling Orange.
“He seems pretty happy to bother you, too.” Fan Yue accidentally caught sight of Xiao Yan’s phone screen.
“Chattering away all day long. How many paper airplanes have you been hit in the head with this week?”
[Orange]: ?
[Zhiyu]: Final exams are this weekend. Are you nervous?
[Orange]: Good boy, keep your mouth shut. If you shout “I’m nervous” at the whole class right now, you might get beaten up.
“How about this?”
Fan Yue was naturally on his friend’s side, so he came up with a crooked idea.
“As for pheromone compatibility… maybe diligence can make up for a lack of talent?”
Although Luo Zhiyu messaged Xiao Yan every day to complain about the final exams, the exams at No. 1 High School actually weren’t that difficult for him.
His foundation was solid, and he understood things faster than other people in class. The written questions themselves weren’t particularly complicated.
On the day the final exam results came out, Luo Zhiyu was at home playing with the three little blue cats, while the school forum had specially put up a new hot thread.
[As a student of No. 1 High School, here are a few things you absolutely must never believe.]
1L: OP summarized these personally. No arguing accepted. If you argue with me, you’re right.
2L: First, Tangyuan says he isn’t afraid of cats.
3L: Second, Luo Zhiyu says he didn’t do very well this time.
4L: Third, Xiao Yan says he has someone he likes.
5L: Slightly off topic, when did Xiao Yan say that?
6L: Don’t know. It’s just a rumor I heard. Maybe one of his roommates said it. I can’t tell who he likes, though. Ever since he and Luo Zhiyu made up, they’ve been walking together every day, even taking detours between classes just to walk together. Does he even have time to like someone else?
7L: Makes sense.
8L ([Not Zhiyu]): Smile.jpg. I really did do badly on the exam.
9L: Get lost, guy above. My mom even uses you as an example when lecturing me.
Luo Zhiyu humbly added one comment and sank the thread.
But Xiao Yan had someone he liked?
Who?
How did he not know?
But if Xiao Yan really had someone he liked, why would he tell him?
[Not Zhiyu]: I’m thinking about an interesting ethical question. It’s making my brain hurt.
[Orange]: ?
[Not Zhiyu]: If you have someone you like, and then, because I force you to, you give me a temporary mark—
[Orange]: ?
[Not Zhiyu]: In this situation, should we classify it as you being a scumbag alpha or me being a scumbag omega? Am I the gangster, or are you the gangster?
[Orange]: In this situation, neither of us is a good person. Understand?
[Not Zhiyu]: Fine. So we’re both going down together.
[Orange]: ? No. Where did you see that I like someone else?
[Not Zhiyu]: The forum.
[Orange]: And you believe everything you read on the forum?!
“Orange” retracted a message.
“Orange” started a video call.
“What?” The instant Luo Zhiyu answered the video call, he lowered his voice, walked to the door, and closed it.
One of the little blue cats squeezed inside and sat at his feet, refusing to leave no matter what.
“You’re calling me again? I’m doing my winter vacation homework.”
“I don’t like anyone else, and I won’t like anyone else.”
The moment Xiao Yan finished speaking, the parrot let out a strange laugh through the video call.
Xiao Yan waved the parrot away.
“Understand?”
“Oh…”
Luo Zhiyu stared blankly at the person on the other side of the screen.
“Okay.”
Actually, Xiao Yan didn’t need to explain this to him.
And Luo Zhiyu didn’t need to care about it, either.
But for some reason, he had shamelessly taken the matter to heart.
That vague, indistinct sense of disappointment he had felt earlier somehow disappeared without a trace.
He had always had a domineering and willful side to his personality. He didn’t know when it had started, but somehow, he seemed to have carefully drawn Xiao Yan into the category of his.
Only he could provoke him.
Only he could cause trouble for him.
Only he could chatter away at Xiao Yan every day and occupy his time.
Put simply, it was completely unreasonable.
Luo Zhiyu had never been reasonable when it came to Xiao Yan.
So when he heard about this, he had felt a little unwilling and angry all on his own.
The fluffy shark pajamas at home were something Luo Zhiyu had bought himself.
With a ferocious-looking shark head covering his own head, he nodded seriously.
The person on the other side of the video call couldn’t hold it in and burst out laughing.
Luo Zhiyu took off the shark hood.
“Want to come out and play, Luo Zhiyu?” Xiao Yan asked.
“The Student Union rented a private room in the city to sing karaoke. Do you want to come? Yan Zihan and the others are there too. We can go join the fun.”
“Huh?”
After vacation started, Luo Zhiyu hadn’t seen Xiao Yan for several days.
The temporary mark around his neck was still faintly affecting him, making him less than thrilled about a vacation where he couldn’t see Xiao Yan.
Yesterday, when his sister called, she had even asked why he seemed to be angry all day long.
“Even though no one’s home, my mom told me to stay home and work on my horrible handwriting.”
Luo Zhiyu picked up a copybook and held it up to the camera.
“See? I can finish one in a week.”
“You won’t improve your handwriting practicing like that,” Xiao Yan said. “Come out and play. Brother will teach you one-on-one.”
The two of them suddenly remembered the multiple-choice question on the alpha version of their old biology exam at exactly the same time.
They both fell silent.
As it approached the usual dinner hour, Luo Zhiyu eventually changed his clothes and slipped out.
At the intersection two blocks from his home, Xiao Yan was waiting for him.
[Orange]: Are you here yet? Are you a turtle?
[Not Zhiyu]: Probably another twenty minutes.
[Orange]: Why are you so slow? Hurry up! Otherwise I’m going to beat you up later!
Luo Zhiyu quietly approached Brother Yan from behind and jumped onto him, covering Xiao Yan’s eyes.
“I’m here!”
Xiao Yan was shoved forward by him and nearly crashed into the streetlamp beside them.
Annoyed, he grabbed Luo Zhiyu and pulled him down, then gave him a light smack on the butt with the back of his hand.
“Get down. Can you behave yourself for once?”
Luo Zhiyu was wearing thick clothes, so he wasn’t afraid of being hit. He didn’t let go or hit back. Instead, he reached out and tugged at Xiao Yan’s scarf, getting a free dose of the orange-scented pheromones on him.
The temporary mark really had affected him.
He always wanted to rub against Xiao Yan’s pheromones, and he could never get enough.
Luo Zhiyu figured it was because their compatibility was too low.
“Not bad.”
Luo Zhiyu nodded solemnly.
“Authentic.”
“You’re being way too much of a gangster, Luo Zhiyu.”
Xiao Yan pushed him away.
“We’re on the street.”
After not seeing each other for more than a week, both of them were in a good mood.
The pedestrians waiting for the traffic light nearby simply assumed they were a pair of high-school sweethearts and shook their heads with a smile.
A temporary mark could probably last for about a month. During that time, the alpha’s pheromones would gradually cover the omega’s pheromones until the mark slowly faded.
Compared with the first two weeks, the scent on Luo Zhiyu had changed slightly. The peach scent had become fainter.
Because of the temporary mark, Luo Zhiyu now smelled like a little orange.
Xiao Yan had discovered this after getting close to him. He was particularly sensitive to his own pheromones.
“Come on, let’s go out and have fun.”
The little orange didn’t know he looked like a little orange at all, and he spoke with complete confidence.
“My parents went overseas on a business trip, and my sister went out on a date. There’s no one home, so it’s fine if I go back a little late.”
A. Happily go out together.
B. Righteously refuse him.
C. Reluctantly agree to go with him.
This time, Xiao Yan chose A without the slightest hesitation.