The silence lasted only a moment before Jiang Zhihuo’s message popped up.
Jiang Zhihuo: What the heck!
Jiang Zhihuo: You jerk!
Jiang Zhihuo: You actually went to the library with Yujun behind my back!
Jiang Zhihuo: Where are you?! Send me your location!
As expected.
Yan Mu: Send it to you?
Jiang Zhihuo: I need to study!
Yan Mu: Study? You?
Jiang Zhihuo said righteously: Yes.
Yan Mu: ……
It looked like they weren’t planning to cooperate.
Jiang Zhihuo sent a screenshot.
Jiang Zhihuo: [Image].
Jiang Zhihuo: Friend.
Jiang Zhihuo: Remember the agreement we agreed on?
Jiang Zhihuo: Should you write out the 4th, 5th, and 6th rules three times each?
Yan Mu: ……
Jiang Zhihuo: Forget it; I’m too lazy to go out. How about you come back instead?
Yan Mu: ……
Bai Yujun, seeing Yan Mu typing with his head down, asked, “Is there something going on?”
“No,” Yan Mu said, “Jiang Zhihuo.”
Bai Yujun smiled. “You two better not argue.”
Yan Mu replied flatly, “We’re arguing right now.”
Bai Yujun smiled again, lowered her head, and while reading a book, said, “You two have such a good relationship.”
Yan Mu: “‘Such a good relationship’ shouldn’t be used that way.”
Bai Yujun let out a laugh.
In the end, Yan Mu didn’t argue with Jiang Zhihuo.
Compared to a rival, no one could match him.
Jiang Zhihuo took a photo of himself directly in the mirror and even drew a circle around the bite mark on his neck.
Jiang Zhihuo: Come back.
Yan Mu: ……
He turned off the screen and said to Bai Yujun, “I’m going back.”
Bai Yujun didn’t ask why; she just nodded and said, “Alright.”
“What about you?” Yan Mu asked.
Bai Yujun pointed to the books spread out on the table and smiled, “I’ll finish these questions and head back after that. The driver will pick me up, so you don’t need to worry about me.”
In the car on the way back, Yan Mu leaned against the back seat and rubbed his temples.
This period of time has been really chaotic.
In his pocket, the phone buzzed again, and Yan Mu was extremely annoyed.
When he took it out and looked, it wasn’t Jiang Zhihuo but rather the three-person group chat with Wen Da. Normally, these two would occasionally post some memes or jokes in the chat.
Qu Xiao: Do you remember the cool and aloof bartender I mentioned last weekend who’s similar to Young Master Yan?
Qu Xiao: He’s scheduled to work every night these days. Want to come and check it out?
Qu Xiao: @Wendadadada @Mu
Wendadadada: Really? Then I’m definitely going!
Wendadadada: Young Master Yan, are you coming too? Tomorrow is Saturday. There’s only one Saturday a week; how can we not go out? @Mu
Qu Xiao: Yeah, we’ve got new drinks at the bar. Come try them. @Mu
As long as they want to go out, these two could come up with countless reasons.
Yan Mu didn’t refuse or immediately agree. Instead, he replied, I’ll think about it.
As they got closer to his place, Yan Mu instructed the driver to pull over to the side of the road.
“Young Master.” Before getting out of the car, the driver called out to him, “You haven’t…”
Yan Mu interrupted him, “Sorry, Uncle Wang, I don’t want to go back.”
Uncle Wang, the driver, sighed and said, “Alright, be careful on the road, Young Master.”
He walked alone on the way back to his place.
The night breeze stirred the cicada chirps, and above the sky, the stars were as numerous as fine grains of sand.
When the door opened, Jiang Zhihuo had just finished his shower, with a towel wrapped around his head. He walked straight into the room without noticing Yan Mu entering.
The window in the room was suddenly opened with a “whooshing” sound.
For some unknown reason, Jiang Zhihuo had developed the habit of never turning on the air conditioning when he was alone at home.
Since Jiang Zhihuo didn’t see him, Yan Mu didn’t bother to call out. He put on his slippers, walked to the side of the room, and paused.
Jiang Zhihuo was sitting on the carpet by the bed, legs crossed, head lowered, as he looked at his phone. His fingers were tapping on the screen, seemingly sending messages to someone.
From this angle, Yan Mu could see the situation in the room, but Jiang Zhihuo couldn’t see the outside of the room.
Yan Mu’s brows twitched.
As expected, before long, the phone started vibrating again.
It was a message from Jiang Zhihuo.
Jiang Zhihuo: Are you back? Are you back? Are you back?
Jiang Zhihuo: Five minutes have already passed!!
Jiang Zhihuo: You’re late!
Jiang Zhihuo: Handle it yourself!!
Jiang Zhihuo was quite a character. Perhaps it was the frequent use of exclamation marks, but even though he was just typing, there was always a kind of loud, almost overwhelming presence that seemed to spill out of the screen.
In the past, Yan Mu would have certainly sent a string of ellipses in response.
But this time, he was perfectly clear about it.
Throughout, Jiang Zhihuo’s face hadn’t shown much emotion.
There was none of the usual enthusiasm or noise. He quietly finished typing, then quietly placed his phone by the pillow, removed the towel, and, lost in thought, stared blankly for a moment before grabbing a random book from the desk.
Having just washed his hair, the strands of his fringe fell down, slightly bent by the water droplets, with his brows and eyes slightly lowered.
He was wearing clean, casual clothes, with the collar pressed against his neck. His collarbone was deeply sunken, his head lowered, his back straight, and a small portion of his spine protruded at the back of his neck.
It didn’t seem deliberate, yet it had the air of pride deeply ingrained, as if branded into his very bones.
Yan Mu frowned slightly.
Even though they had been living together recently, Yan Mu had never seen Jiang Zhihuo like this: quiet and well-behaved, without any noise or fuss.
Yan Mu wasn’t sure what he was thinking. By the time he came to his senses, he had already burst into the room and grabbed Jiang Zhihuo’s wrist.
Jiang Zhihuo was also momentarily stunned. His first reaction was to throw the book he was holding onto the desk. The pride he had inadvertently displayed was quickly hidden away again, and he asked, “Hey, what are you doing?!?”
Yan Mu was taken aback by the question. After a long pause, he finally let go of Jiang Zhihuo’s wrist and said, “Sorry.”
Jiang Zhihuo: “?”
“Ah? What?” Jiang Zhihuo thought he must have misheard. He didn’t understand why Yan Mu suddenly apologized, but since the apology was made, he felt he should respond. He said, “Alright, it’s good that you realize your mistake. Dad forgives you.”
“……” Yan Mu didn’t want to say anything more and walked out of the room.
What was he doing just now?
Yan Mu couldn’t explain it at all.
His body reacted before his mind—seeing Jiang Zhihuo like that, the momentary heartache completely took over his entire brain.
It was an indescribable instinct.
It wasn’t until this moment that Yan Mu suddenly realized he seemed to know nothing about Jiang Zhihuo.
It’s too chaotic.
Meanwhile, the three-person group chat started flooding with messages again.
Wen Da and Qu Xiao tried to use various odd reasons to persuade Yan Mu to go out. Yan Mu rubbed his temples, let out a soft sigh, and began typing.
Yan Mu: Okay.
In summer, showers were quick. When Yan Mu came out of the bathroom, Jiang Zhihuo was drying his hair. As soon as he saw Yan Mu, he pointed the hairdryer directly at him, blasting hot air at his face, and said, “Stay away from me!”
Yan Mu could tell what Jiang Zhihuo was thinking. He walked in and said, “No makeup lessons tonight.”
Jiang Zhihuo: “Really?!”
“Mhm.” Yan Mu opened the test paper and said, “Finish writing the test paper first.”
Jiang Zhihuo: “……”
How is that any different from makeup lessons?!
On Saturday, during self-study time, Jiang Zhihuo showed up unexpectedly.
Seeing someone sitting at what was supposed to be an empty desk, Chang Luo stared in surprise and said, “Huo-ge? You actually came!”
Jiang Zhihuo lifted his chin and said, “Aren’t I very diligent?”
During the break, Zong Bei, hearing that Jiang Zhihuo had actually come to school, specially came over to ask, “Am I really seeing a living Jiang Zhihuo on a Saturday?!”
Jiang Zhihuo: “I come if I want to, okay?!”
Zong Bei: “Is it Yan Mu’s makeup lessons that motivated you?!”
At the mention of makeup lessons, Jiang Zhihuo collapsed. “Shut up, don’t mention it!”
“What’s wrong?” Zong Bei asked in confusion.
Jiang Zhihuo leaned back, tilting his whole body.
Outside the corridor, a small flowerbed had several unknown flowers that were already in bloom. Their tiny petals swayed in the wind, releasing a faint, subtle fragrance.
“Last night…”
Chang Luo, having heard Jiang Zhihuo and Zong Bei’s conversation, leaned in and asked, “Last night?”
“Nothing,” Jiang Zhihuo said, pausing before he continued. He didn’t say anything further.
— Yan Mu was a bit strange last night.
But when it came to explaining what was strange, Jiang Zhihuo couldn’t quite put it into words.
In a bad mood?
Or… did he see something?
Leaving the conversation unfinished was the most frustrating. Zong Bei and Chang Luo waited for Jiang Zhihuo to continue; their hearts were left in a state of anxiousness.
Chang Luo: “What exactly happened last night?”
Seeing that Jiang Zhihuo had no intention of continuing, Zong Bei said anxiously, “Huo, come on, just tell us!”
Jiang Zhihuo genuinely didn’t know what to say and replied, “There really isn’t anything.”
At that moment, a figure came running up the stairs, stumbling and gasping for breath. On the last step, he missed his footing and tripped forward, crashing into Jiang Zhihuo.
Jiang Zhihuo steadied him, recognized who it was, and called out, “Qiu Bian?”
Qiu Bian, wearing a black collar, looked panicked. Seeing Jiang Zhihuo, he reacted intensely, abruptly shaking off his hand and saying defensively, “Don’t touch me, you alphas!!”
Jiang Zhihuo, who hadn’t done anything at all, was puzzled. “?”
“What’s wrong with you?” Jiang Zhihuo asked.
The atmosphere grew tense.
Only then did Qiu Bian realize his own outburst. Still too flustered to speak clearly, he quickly tried to calm his breathing. Once he was a bit better, he asked abruptly, “Where is Tang Anmiao?”
Chang Luo, who happened to see her before leaving the classroom, said, “I just saw her leave with Director Feng. She’s not in the class right now. Is there something you need? I can pass along a message for you.”
“Director Feng?!” Hearing those words, Qiu Bian’s face turned ashen. “Never mind; I need to go now. You don’t need to tell her I was here. I’ll… I’ll say it myself.
He paused, then started shaking his head, saying, “No, no.”
Qiu Bian clenched the collar with one hand and kept scratching at the back of his neck with the other, as if the area wasn’t the most vulnerable gland of an omega but a disgusting, nightmarish tumor that he desperately wanted to remove.
“No, I can’t.” Qiu Bian’s legs suddenly gave way, and he staggered backward. Chang Luo hurriedly reached out to support him.
Qiu Bian had reacted so strongly earlier that Jiang Zhihuo was hesitant to touch him. Zong Bei hurriedly grabbed his hand and said, “What’s going on with you? Stop scratching; you’re going to make yourself bleed.”
“It’s nothing; I’m fine.” Qiu Bian lifted his head, his eyes already red. He bit his lower lip hard and pushed away Chang Luo and Zong Bei, stammering, “I, I…”
He tried to run downstairs, but his legs were already too weak to support him. With no strength left, tears finally streamed down his cheeks. He kept wiping his tears, his eyes blank, and murmured, “I… I can’t say…”
