The deafening singing drowned out Xiao Yan’s voice. Aside from Luo Zhiyu, no one could hear what Xiao Yan was saying.
He wasn’t very good at suppressing his pheromones, so he looked at Xiao Yan with a faintly aggrieved expression, his long eyelashes trembling slightly. He even bit his lip restlessly, clearly looking a little helpless.
But if he let Xiao Yan teach him, he was afraid Xiao Yan might do that again to the gland at the back of his neck, and he probably wouldn’t be able to handle it.
Luo Zhiyu had always bullied the weak and feared the strong. If he couldn’t win, he absolutely wouldn’t force the issue.
And the current Xiao Yan was clearly much harder to provoke. He was even better at finding reasons to pick on him than before.
So Luo Zhiyu immediately wanted to surrender, but unfortunately, Xiao Yan had covered his mouth and blocked his only way to make a sound.
Because he was being held at someone else’s mercy, Luo Zhiyu racked his brain for a solution.
By accident, he got it right.
When his mood dropped slightly, his body obediently hid away the pheromones Xiao Yan had given him during the temporary marking. He was no longer broadcasting them as conspicuously as before.
“I told you to figure it out yourself. Who made you unhappy?”
Xiao Yan noticed it too and released his hand.
“Are you angry? Blaming me for being unreasonable? I’m just more sensitive to my own pheromones.”
The moment Xiao Yan moved his hand away, Luo Zhiyu perked up again.
The obedient, aggrieved expression from before disappeared completely. He lunged forward and shoved Xiao Yan, and the two of them immediately started wrestling again over their little corner of the sofa.
“You say that like it’s true—that you don’t bully me.”
Luo Zhiyu reached out and grabbed Xiao Yan’s scarf, pushing him down onto the sofa.
“Get lost. Where do you get the nerve? Do you really think I’m an idiot? You’re the only alpha who’s dared to bully me this whole semester. Don’t pretend.”
“I didn’t bully you.”
I just like you a little. Whenever it involves you, even my self-control gets worse.
“Ever since we were little, you’ve always found excuses to bully me.”
Luo Zhiyu’s right knee pressed between Xiao Yan’s legs.
“That little orange scent of yours can only be smelled by an alpha when they’re close. And the only alpha who can get that close to me is you.”
While Luo Zhiyu wasn’t paying attention, Xiao Yan knocked him back onto the sofa and quickly subdued the irritable little gangster again.
“Fine, fine, my fault. If you want to be a little orange, then be a little orange.”
There was no perfunctory tone in his voice. Instead, there was a hint of indulgence and tolerance that even Xiao Yan himself hadn’t noticed.
Luo Zhiyu landed on the soft sofa. Afraid he would struggle again, Xiao Yan pinned both his hands above his head, forcibly suppressing Luo Zhiyu’s temper.
He knelt on one knee beside the sofa and looked down at him.
“Are you still going to cause trouble?” Xiao Yan asked. “If you are, then calm down for a while.”
“Have you no shame? You say you’re not bullying me, so what are you doing right now?”
Luo Zhiyu lay on the sofa and shook his head.
He didn’t know whether it was because he had suddenly been thrown down or because this position was uncomfortable, but his heart seemed to be beating a little faster.
Especially when he looked up and met Xiao Yan’s eyes, a faint tingling sensation spread from the place at the back of his neck where he had been bitten, traveling along his spine.
He turned his gaze away and stopped looking into Xiao Yan’s eyes.
“Don’t pretend to be pitiful.”
Xiao Yan’s free right hand gave Luo Zhiyu’s cheek two warning pats, making him continue looking at him.
“I’m not falling for it anymore. Look at all these people here. Has anyone said I’m bullying you? In their eyes, this is just reasonable retaliation.”
Xiao Yan had been through enough battles during this period to know very well that if he thought Luo Zhiyu was “weak,” “helpless,” and “pitiful,” the only two possible outcomes were getting beaten up and having his reputation ruined.
Naturally, he wasn’t going to give in to Luo Zhiyu anymore.
“Fine, then…”
Luo Zhiyu gave up pretending and smiled.
“I suddenly think you’re pretty handsome.”
The students around them were already used to their antics. They simply assumed the two had started arguing again over some disagreement and deliberately looked away.
Only Fan Yue hesitated several times, as though he wanted to say something.
In the end, he sighed and took a drink straight from his bottle of Coke.
After Luo Zhiyu said that, both of them fell silent for several seconds.
Xiao Yan released him and pulled Luo Zhiyu upright.
The two sat side by side on the sofa, no longer arguing, harmonious as if they hadn’t just been fighting.
The onlookers clicked their tongues in amazement.
“If it weren’t for their pheromones being incompatible, I’d almost think those two had something going on.”
Yan Zihan said enviously, “Look at them. Doesn’t it have that whole ‘fight at the head of the bed, make up at the foot of the bed’ vibe?”
“Leave them alone. Those two are always up to something. They do weird things every day.”
Tangyuan continued singing into the microphone.
“Brother Yan, are you a little irritable lately?”
Luo Zhiyu rubbed his wrist, looking extremely concerned.
“Is your rut coming soon?”
Xiao Yan: “…”
“Zhiyu.”
Xiao Yan asked him seriously, “If an alpha right now—not me—asked you when your heat is, what would you think?”
“Oh, then I’m the gangster, and you’re insulting me indirectly.”
Luo Zhiyu was exceptionally quick to catch on.
“I guess I always unconsciously forget to treat you like an alpha.”
Xiao Yan: “…”
Wasn’t Luo Zhiyu also insulting him indirectly?
Xiao Yan’s rut seemed to be much later than the doctor had predicted.
Throughout the entire vacation, Luo Zhiyu never got to see the excitement he had been hoping for. And Xiao Yan’s “slightly irritable” state continued all the way into the second semester.
High school students had a very short winter vacation.
Before the Lantern Festival had even arrived, the students at No. 1 High School were already back at school.
On the day they reported back, Luo Zhiyu saw quite a few classmates in the classroom who had gained an extra pound or two.
“Quick, quick, quick! Zhiyu, let me copy your homework. Emergency!”
Jing Ximing urged Luo Zhiyu.
“It’s due today.”
“Here.”
Luo Zhiyu unzipped his schoolbag.
“I think I didn’t finish some of it either…”
Throughout the entire winter vacation, he had been going out and messing around with Xiao Yan and the others every few days.
Otherwise, they would play games over voice chat.
His rank had climbed quite a bit, but he really hadn’t done much homework.
“Let’s finish it together.”
Nothing could awaken the friendship between deskmates more effectively than the realization that neither of them had done their homework.
“School doesn’t officially start until next Monday, right?”
Luo Zhiyu still hadn’t recovered from his winter-vacation routine.
“I want to go home tomorrow night and celebrate the Lantern Festival.”
Although Luo Zhiyu wasn’t particularly interested in family gatherings, home was still more comfortable than school.
“I’m going home too,” Jing Ximing said. “The internet at home is better. If I can mooch off it for one more day, I will. Gotta enjoy life.”
“So coming in today wasn’t actually mandatory?”
Luo Zhiyu handed over his completed homework.
“Brother Yan didn’t even come. Boring.”
On the night of the Lantern Festival, after making his five-year-old chubby little cousin cry for the fifth time while playing games, Luo Zhiyu guiltily took the initiative to suggest going outside for a walk.
His father knew he didn’t like these family-style gatherings and didn’t force him to stay. He simply waved his hand and let him go out.
Quite a few lanterns had been hung throughout the residential area. The extremely modern architecture had gained a touch of traditional charm.
His uncle’s house was quite close to Xiao Yan’s home.
After walking only a short distance, Luo Zhiyu saw the light coming from Xiao Yan’s bedroom from across the courtyard.
A top student was a top student.
The New Year wasn’t even over yet, and he was already working so diligently.
[Zhiyu]: Doing homework?
[Orange]: No.
Luo Zhiyu didn’t know what Xiao Yan was doing.
His replies were slower than usual, his tone colder than usual, and he hadn’t even used a sticker.
Luo Zhiyu wasn’t happy.
His temper came on for no apparent reason, making him restless, so he simply stopped continuing the conversation.
It wasn’t until he left the residential area and had walked around the streets for quite a while that he realized Xiao Yan had sent him several more messages.
[Orange]: [Location]
[Orange]: Coming to find me?
[Orange]: I’m a little annoyed.
When Luo Zhiyu saw the messages, more than twenty minutes had already passed since they were sent.
The hotel location Xiao Yan had sent happened to be near him.
[Zhiyu]: I’m coming…
He was still typing when another message came through.
[Orange]: Don’t come.
[Orange]: Good boy.
Luo Zhiyu: “?”
Was he a dog?
Come whenever he called and leave whenever he waved him away?
Why was he acting so strange? Why was his temper so bad?
It had only been more than twenty minutes since Luo Zhiyu had replied.
If Xiao Yan didn’t want him to come, then he absolutely had to go.
“Get down here.”
Luo Zhiyu sat beside the fountain downstairs at the hotel and called Xiao Yan.
“I’m giving you three minutes. Get down here.”
There was silence on the other end for several seconds before Xiao Yan finally spoke.
His voice was lower than usual.
“You really are… asking to die.”
“Who are you calling that?”
Luo Zhiyu was unhappy.
“Two minutes. Come down and let me see why you’re acting so precious today… Ow.”
The fountain, which sprayed water irregularly, splashed Luo Zhiyu with droplets.
When Xiao Yan saw him, Luo Zhiyu was using a towel borrowed from the hotel to dry his hair, half his clothes completely soaked.
“What happened?”
Xiao Yan quickly walked over.
The hotel staff hurriedly apologized.
“You don’t need to apologize. This was my own fault.”
Luo Zhiyu lowered his head to dry his hair, revealing the pale skin of his neck.
“I was the one who chose to sit there.”
The previous temporary mark had left no visible trace on his neck.
Xiao Yan had just injected himself with an A-type suppressant for his rut, and he found it difficult to look away.
He took the towel and dried Luo Zhiyu’s hair for him, the towel occasionally brushing against the back of Luo Zhiyu’s neck, seemingly intentionally and seemingly not.
“What’s wrong with you?”
Luo Zhiyu could tell that Xiao Yan was different from usual today.
“Tell me so I can enjoy myself.”
“My rut. The stage you’ve been waiting to see.”
Xiao Yan put down the towel.
He also found it strange. Normally, an alpha’s rut could be suppressed with an inhibitor. So why had he become this irritable?
“I already had the injection. I’m just feeling a little uncomfortable.”
Could it be that an alpha’s instincts were simply too troublesome?
Even a temporary mark with almost zero compatibility could make someone crave the sensation once they had experienced it?
“Hmm…”
Luo Zhiyu stared at him thoughtfully.
“But I feel like you haven’t suppressed your pheromones. Did you notice that the hotel staff were really scared of you just now? He probably thought he was about to get beaten up by an orange.”
Xiao Yan’s alpha pheromones were clearly much more aggressive than those of other alphas.
Luo Zhiyu felt as though there was no one else around them anymore.
There was only him, standing right in the center of an Orange storm.
“And then, look at me.”
Luo Zhiyu spoke to him with complete seriousness as he pressed one fingertip against Xiao Yan’s chest.
“But actually, I’m a little afraid of you right now. Can you stop being so fierce toward me? I don’t think I can beat you right now.”
No one had ever been this fierce with him before.
With his spoiled, terrible temper, he thought he should have gotten angry.
But somehow, he couldn’t bring himself to complain.
Xiao Yan: “…”
He hadn’t noticed it himself.
Earlier, while eating, the moment he felt slightly irritable, he had already keenly realized something was wrong.
So he had used feeling unwell as an excuse to leave the family banquet and injected himself with a suppressant.
But afterward, it seemed that his sensitivity to pheromones had gotten somewhat out of control.
The instant Luo Zhiyu messaged him, some unreasonable part of his consciousness had clamored for him to trick Luo Zhiyu into coming over and keeping him company.
Yet his rational mind had told him that he couldn’t let the little gangster come over.
But Luo Zhiyu had still come.
And even though he was afraid, he hadn’t run away.
“Don’t be afraid of me.”
Xiao Yan didn’t know how to comfort Luo Zhiyu.
“Sit with me for a while. I won’t hurt you.”
“If I bite you, will you feel better?”
Luo Zhiyu forced himself to stand up.
Under the horrified gaze of the hotel staff, he put both hands around Xiao Yan’s neck.
“Just like you did to me before.”
Xiao Yan: “?”
Some people really were bold.
“Luo Zhiyu.”
Xiao Yan pried his hands away.
His headache instantly became worse.
“Did you even learn anything in your alpha-omega biology class?”