Chapter 37
During the lunch break, Class 3 of Grade 12 was unusually lively.
The buzz from Lin Xiaoran’s gender revelation yesterday was still going strong. The online forums were ablaze with discussions, and Class 3 was not to be outdone.
“Oh my god, these Alphas are something else! Being bootlickers is one thing, but they even have the audacity to name themselves the ‘Knights’? Where do they get off?”
“What ‘Knights’ are you talking about?”
“On the forum, a group of Alphas spontaneously formed a ‘Knights’ group, claiming they want to protect our school’s heavenly Omega, Lin Xueshen. Bootlicking is one thing, but they’re doing it so grandiosely. It’s really shameless.”
“That’s not entirely fair! When we thought Lin Xueshen was an Alpha, didn’t a bunch of us Omegas form a support group for him? How come it’s okay for you to bootlick but not us?”
“We didn’t change sides as quickly as you did. We’re still the Xueshen Support Group and won’t waver just because of Xueshen’s gender! Look at you all, after finding out Xueshen is an Omega, your eyes are all twinkling with lust. Thankfully, our Xueshen is already taken, protected by Yang-ge. At most, you guys are just having wicked thoughts.”
“Nobody wanted to do anything, we just thought it was cool that our school has an Omega like Xueshen, isn’t it normal to feel proud? It’s the same as when you guys boasted about having two top-tier campus hotties at our school before. Who doesn’t know about the relationship between Xueshen and Yang-ge? Only those who are really out of their minds would dare to compete with Yang-ge.”
“That’s true, I don’t think anyone would dare…”
“Oh my god! On the forum, in the live broadcast section, someone is confessing their love to Lin Xueshen at the confession wall, and it’s being live-streamed!”
“Whoa, who’s that? So bold!”
“Jiang Chen!”
“The one who lost to our Lin Xueshen in the basketball game yesterday?”
“Yeah, him. He’s written ‘Lin Xiaoran, I like you’ nine hundred and ninety-nine times on the confession wall, and he’s up to ninety-nine now.”
“So, does that mean if we go now, we can still catch him in action?”
“Yeah, let’s go check it out.”
Excited by the gossip, the group of students completely forgot that they were in their final year of high school and should be focusing on their studies. Just before leaving, someone bravely shouted to Lin Xiaoran, “Xueshen, do you want to come along and see?”
But the person at the center of the gossip couldn’t care less, ignoring them completely, lazily lying on the table and staring out the window.
He couldn’t understand, what was wrong with Gu Yang?
It wasn’t normal for him to be up early. By midday, Lin Xiaoran was even more convinced that Gu Yang was avoiding him.
During the break, Gu Yang usually stayed in the classroom to study, but today, as soon as class was over, he disappeared.
During class, although he sat next to Lin Xiaoran, his gaze never strayed in Lin Xiaoran’s direction, always fixed firmly on the blackboard. Those who didn’t know might think he was just being attentive, but Lin Xiaoran knew he was avoiding him.
And during lunch break, he was nowhere to be found.
So, what had he done to Gu Yang last night?
Lin Xiaoran was a bit concerned.
Suddenly, he saw Gu Yang walking past downstairs and without a second thought, he ran out.
At this moment, a crowd had gathered near the confession wall at the school. After all, such a grand confession event hadn’t happened at the school for a long time. Moreover, the target of the confession was the school’s Alpha bully, now revealed to be an Omega. From any angle, this event was enough to cause a sensation.
Jiang Chen, at the center of the event, seemed completely unperturbed, writing out his confession calmly.
Some students watching nearby asked him, “Do you know that Lin Xueshen is with Yang-ge?”
“I do,” he replied confidently, facing the camera of the student who had asked.
“So, does that mean you’re planning to snatch him from Yang-ge?”
“You can’t put it that way. We’re not married, there’s no mark, I believe Senior has the right to choose who he wants to be with.”
“Aren’t you afraid Yang-ge will cause trouble for you?”
“I believe this is fair competition, and Senior Yang wouldn’t do anything ungraceful.”
What a guy, he really is planning to snatch him!
Even though Jiang Chen had written “I like Lin Xiaoran” nine hundred and ninety-nine times on the confession wall, it couldn’t really be considered a true declaration. After all, this was the confession wall, where people often wrote about who they liked. Countless people probably secretly liked Lin Xiaoran, and Jiang Chen’s extra effort was just a bit more than usual.
But now, speaking out like this on a live broadcast was making his stance clear.
One had to admit, these few words he said carried much more weight than nine hundred and ninety-nine repetitions of “I like Lin Xiaoran”. After all, it was rare to see anyone openly challenge Gu Yang at Seven High School. Currently, Jiang Chen was the only one.
He really wasn’t afraid of death, huh?
“Why do I find Jiang Chen quite handsome?”
“Me too, me too!”
Two Omegas behind the crowd couldn’t help but excitedly exchange whispers.
“To be honest, Jiang Chen is actually quite good-looking if you don’t compare him to Yang-ge.”
“Yeah, I heard there are a lot of his fangirls at school. I’m just a little puzzled. When watching him play, even after knowing that Xueshen is an Omega, I couldn’t see any signs of him liking Xueshen. Why is he suddenly making such a big move today?”
“Maybe it was just a game, and then he saw a different side of Xueshen, and then he fell in love. Or maybe, before he thought Xueshen was an Alpha, so even if he had feelings, he couldn’t do anything. Now that he knows Xueshen is an Omega, he doesn’t need to suppress himself anymore. Someone like Xueshen, who wouldn’t like him? I’m not surprised. And besides, younger, devoted – I think they’re a good match!”
“Whoa! The way you put it, I also feel that I could… Yang, Yang-ge?”
As the two were chatting excitedly, they suddenly caught sight of Gu Yang standing behind the crowd at some point. His hands were in his pockets, his posture a bit lazy, but his expression was different from usual. He wasn’t smiling, and his amber eyes were fixed on Jiang Chen through the crowd.
Could it be? Jiang Chen challenges here, and Gu Yang immediately shows up. Is he here to retaliate?
Surely he is, right? Alphas have strong possessiveness over Omegas, especially someone like Gu Yang. Someone openly competing with him for someone else would surely make him angry, right?
Are the two of them going to duel over Xueshen?
The two Omegas looked at Gu Yang timidly, but couldn’t help feeling a little excited.
Well, how should I put it? Seeing two handsome guys duel for love, even if it’s not for oneself, such a plot is usually only found in movies and novels. If it could happen in real life, it would definitely be exciting.
However, Gu Yang’s eyes suddenly darkened slightly, and he turned and walked away.
At the same time, Lin Xiaoran walked over from another direction, instantly capturing everyone’s attention. The cheers of the onlookers rose higher and higher.
The person being confessed to has arrived. Isn’t this exciting?
Even Jiang Chen, who had been so calm before, now seemed a bit less composed. He wrote “Lin Xiaoran” again on the wall, and this time his hand was trembling slightly.
Although when he decided to do this, he had imagined that Lin Xiaoran might come, after all, the matter had become big, and Lin Xiaoran would surely know about it. As a result, when Lin Xiaoran actually showed up, he suddenly felt nervous, pinched the chalk in his hand, and secretly took a deep breath before turning to look at Lin Xiaoran.
But Lin Xiaoran’s gaze wasn’t on him at all; it was looking through the crowd behind him, completely ignoring the cheers of the crowd. He was just here to find Gu Yang.
But wasn’t Gu Yang just standing there a moment ago? How come he’s gone now?
“Senior.” Jiang Chen didn’t know what Lin Xiaoran was thinking and assumed he had come because of him, so he called out.
The crowd immediately quieted down, but their hearts were still pounding with excitement.
He’s here, he’s here, the real confession is here.
Lin Xiaoran stopped in front of the confession wall, and his gaze fell on Jiang Chen. He didn’t speak, but his meaning was clear: What’s up?
Jiang Chen’s heart was pounding, trying to make himself appear less nervous. He pointed to the confession wall beside him. “This… is for you.”
Lin Xiaoran glanced at the confession wall, which was full of “Lin Xiaoran, I like you – Jiang Chen”, and a hint of confusion flashed in his eyes. Of course, he understood the meaning of these words, but he couldn’t understand why they had to be written so many times. What’s the difference between writing it once and writing it so many times?
Furthermore, if he had time to write all this, why didn’t he just tell him directly? What a waste of time.
“Confession?” His gaze shifted back to Jiang Chen, straightforwardly asking.
Uh…
Jiang Chen was caught off guard by his question and was stunned.
Wait, this wasn’t how he imagined it. Wouldn’t normal people be surprised to see this? Even if not surprised, they would be astonished, and then they would ask him why he wrote so much, and then he could smoothly say the prepared lines.
How come Lin Xiaoran just asked him directly?
But since Lin Xiaoran had asked, he could only grit his teeth and nod. “Uh, yeah.”
“I refuse.”
With those words, Lin Xiaoran’s clear voice reached his ears, neither light nor heavy, steady but decisive.
After speaking, Lin Xiaoran walked past him, heading in the direction Gu Yang had left earlier.
Jiang Chen, along with the onlookers, remained frozen in place, not knowing what to do.
Is that it?
From Lin Xiaoran’s appearance to his clean and clear rejection of Jiang Chen, it all happened in less than ten seconds.
Everyone was still anticipating the show to unfold, but it ended just like that?
Wasn’t the other main character supposed to show up? Weren’t they supposed to duel for love? Refund!
Lin Xiaoran didn’t care about all this; he wasn’t here for this matter in the first place. Rejecting Jiang Chen was just an aside. He hated beating around the bush; rejecting someone straightforwardly was natural for him.
However, even after passing through the crowd, he still didn’t find Gu Yang.
He wondered where that guy could be hiding.
Lin Xiaoran frowned slightly, feeling annoyed, then turned and headed back towards the teaching building. Unaware that after he turned around, Gu Yang emerged from behind a sturdy plane tree, a faint smile lingering on his lips.
Gu Yang had heard Lin Xiaoran’s rejection of Jiang Chen just now. Lin Xiaoran truly lived up to his reputation; even rejecting someone was so straightforward.
Watching Jiang Chen’s crestfallen expression from afar, Gu Yang’s smile couldn’t help but widen a little.
However, his smile gradually faded. From a distance, he watched Lin Xiaoran’s slender figure, feeling a bit worried if he had gone too far. He had been avoiding Lin Xiaoran since early this morning. Lin Xiaoran must be very confused, right?
But, Gu Yang himself was even more confused!
How did he lose control last night and almost kissed Lin Xiaoran? And then he had that dream. It left him clueless about how to face Lin Xiaoran today. Whenever he saw Lin Xiaoran, his mind was filled with yesterday’s scenes, making him feel like a pervert.
Sigh!
He sighed helplessly, leaning against the tree, looking up at the sky.
Indeed, is it because of the marking?
He found that the more he marked Lin Xiaoran, the stranger he felt towards him.
Marking was originally something that could only be done between intimate people. Although the first few times he marked Lin Xiaoran were not under duress, he had indeed crossed a boundary.
He really couldn’t mark him anymore in the future; he was afraid he would become even stranger.
After not finding Gu Yang, Lin Xiaoran returned to the classroom and went to sleep on the desk.
As he expected, Gu Yang entered the classroom with the sound of the bell, following closely behind the teacher. Then, just like in the morning, he disappeared right after class. During the break in the afternoon after school, he was nowhere to be found, just like during lunch break. He vanished without a trace until evening self-study began.
Lin Xiaoran saw through it; Gu Yang was deliberately avoiding him.
Humph! Can he really avoid it?
“Gu Yang, stop right there!”
After evening self-study ended, Gu Yang immediately packed his bag and turned to leave. However, just as he took a step forward, Lin Xiaoran’s voice entered his ears. He couldn’t help but freeze for a moment, turned around, and met those clear eyes head-on.