Maybe influenced by Shen Huaizhi’s words, Jiang Heng had several dreams about him when he slept at night. Although Jiang Heng had similar dreams before, none of them were as vivid and detailed as this one. In the dream, Shen Huaizhi’s image was exceptionally clear. He even dreamed that Shen Huaizhi asked him which flavor he liked the most, and then tried each one.
He took cold medicine before going to bed, so he should have slept soundly. However, he woke up abruptly because the dream was too bizarre.
When he woke up, Jiang Heng felt a bit dazed. After sitting on the bed for a while, suppressing the feeling of excessive reality, Jiang Heng didn’t feel sleepy anymore and decided to take a shower.
Around three in the morning, Jiang Heng checked his phone and found a message from He Ci sent in the middle of the night.
[He Ci: Someone took a photo of you and Shen Huaizhi and posted it on the school forum. Are you okay?]
Below was a link to a forum post.
Jiang Heng thought for a moment. He didn’t really care about their relationship being exposed. Compared to being in love, they had a deeper layer of identity. If someone could dig out that layer, Jiang Heng would admire them more.
[Water Worker King Xing: A photo together? Handsome?]
After replying, since he didn’t have much to do anyway, he clicked on the link He Ci sent him.
[Title: Lifelike (AO Fanfiction, High, Heavy NSFW)]
Jiang Heng: ?
Something seemed off. It didn’t match what He Ci had said.
Jiang Heng continued reading.
A few minutes later, with a straight face, Jiang Heng resisted the urge to block He Ci and began to mock him frantically.
[Water Worker King Xing: Are you fucking crazy?]
He Ci, the night owl, was still playing games at this time. When he saw Jiang Heng’s message, he looked puzzled.
[He Ci: Huh? What’s wrong? I didn’t post that thread.]
[Water Worker King Xing: Idiot, look at the link you sent.]
What fanfiction!
Jiang Heng could tell from the beginning that the author of this post was writing about him and Shen Huaizhi. The key was that it weirdly overlapped with his dream.
[He Ci: Oh shit, sorry, I copied the wrong link.]
[Water Worker King Xing: ?]
[He Ci: Here’s the link]
[Water Worker King Xing: Smiling.jpg]
[He Ci: But it’s okay if you look at it, after all, you’re already in a relationship. I have a lot of resources here, want to try? I have plenty of AO stuff]
[Message sent, but rejected by the recipient]
He Ci: …
After blocking He Ci, Jiang Heng stared at the ceiling for a while.
What’s AO… What the hell is AO?
A few minutes later, he took out his phone again, expressionless, and opened the previous forum post. The consequence of reading fanfiction there at three in the morning was that the next morning, Jiang Heng started to feel sleepy again.
His illness came and went quickly, but being tormented by unhealthy thoughts made him appear a bit haggard.
Seeing him struggling to stay awake, Shen Huaizhi couldn’t concentrate on the teacher’s lecture either. When Jiang Heng almost banged his head on the desk for the third time while propping his chin with one hand, Shen Huaizhi couldn’t help but reach out and support his chin.
Shen Huaizhi’s body temperature was naturally cooler than others’. As soon as his palm touched Jiang Heng’s chin, Jiang Heng’s drowsiness immediately dissipated a bit.
The sensation of Shen Huaizhi holding his chin now overlapped excessively with the sensation in the dream. Jiang Heng remembered that in the dream, Shen Huaizhi also held his chin like this, hugged him against the desk… and kissed him.
Damn.
Realizing what he was thinking, Jiang Heng immediately turned his head away and comforted himself in his heart that this was just the restlessness of adolescence. Totally normal. Absolutely not having any thoughts during the day leading to dreams at night.
Shen Huaizhi paused for a moment, then slowly withdrew his hand.
Afraid of misunderstanding, Jiang Heng scrambled to find an excuse for himself, “Class monitor, your hand is too cold.”
Shen Huaizhi seemed to understand and replied softly, “If you’re tired, just sleep. There’s no need to force yourself. The content of this class won’t be on the exam.”
Hearing Shen Huaizhi’s words, Jiang Heng glanced at his jumbled notebook and couldn’t help but say, “Class monitor, teaching your desk mate like this might not be a good idea.”
If the subject teacher heard this evaluation of his most proud student in the class, they would probably faint in the restroom.
Shen Huaizhi chuckled lightly, as if he didn’t care about what Jiang Heng said earlier, but there was a teasing tone in his words, “That’s good, not letting my desk mate fall asleep. That’s probably good for him, right?”
Jiang Heng just looked so tired a moment ago that Shen Huaizhi was afraid that if he wasn’t careful, Jiang Heng might just fall asleep right then and there. He was afraid his response wouldn’t be quick enough.
Jiang Heng pursed his lips, feeling he might have gone a bit too far just now. How could he reject Shen Huaizhi’s cold hand just because he was having wild thoughts?
He thought for a moment, then glanced at the teacher who had turned away to write on the blackboard. After hesitating for a while, Jiang Heng gritted his teeth, reached out, and grabbed Shen Huaizhi’s left hand, which he had just withdrawn.
The temperature difference between their hands was indeed quite noticeable. His palm was slightly sweaty, probably because of the sweater he was wearing today. He used to be hot-tempered and always active, rarely sitting quietly in the classroom like this, rarely wearing thicker clothes. But succumbing to Shen Huaizhi’s dominance, he not only wore a sweater today but also put on a thick coat. At first glance, he was no different from the ordinary Omegas in the class.
When their palms touched, Jiang Heng clearly felt a moment of stiffness from Shen Huaizhi, probably not expecting this gesture from him.
Shen Huaizhi’s reaction made Jiang Heng inexplicably pleased. It was like, usually, it was Shen Huaizhi taking care of him, but this time, he was warming Shen Huaizhi’s hand.
However, just half a second after holding hands, Jiang Heng sensed that Shen Huaizhi seemed to want to withdraw his hand.
Jiang Heng frowned, clicked his tongue slightly, and felt a little displeased, “Don’t move randomly, class monitor. If there’s too much movement later, the teacher will see.”
Shen Huaizhi was quite surprised.
Jiang Heng was so casual during class, directly holding his hand on the desk like this. He raised his eyelids, stopped moving randomly, and let Jiang Heng hold his hand.
After a while, Jiang Heng unexpectedly rubbed his palm against Shen Huaizhi’s, “Why is it still cold?”
He had been holding it for a while now.
Hearing this, Shen Huaizhi was slightly surprised, “Warming my hand?”
Jiang Heng nodded without hiding anything, “Isn’t it because your hand is cold? Mine is warm.” He couldn’t help but complain, “Why does it feel like it’s not doing anything?”
It probably did work, but Shen Huaizhi’s body temperature change wasn’t very obvious, he couldn’t feel it very much. Maybe it was because the other’s pheromones tended to be cold.
To be honest, before encountering Shen Huaizhi, Jiang Heng never knew that someone’s pheromones could smell like melting snow. It was too metaphorical, impossible to describe concretely, the only feeling was probably cold.
Although he said that, he didn’t release Shen Huaizhi’s hand, but instead held it tighter. Shen Huaizhi’s eyes carried a hint of amusement. “Then I won’t warm it anymore. I’m not cold.”
“But that won’t do. If it’s too cold, you won’t be able to touch my face,” Jiang Heng said earnestly, with no other thoughts in mind, just following up on his earlier comment about Shen Huaizhi’s cold hand.
But words spoken unintentionally can still be interpreted with intent.
“Touch your face?” Shen Huaizhi’s eyes sparkled even more, and even his tone carried a hint of amusement, much more cheerful than before.
Being reminded of it, Jiang Heng suddenly realized the ambiguity in his words, and memories from last night’s dream resurfaced once again. He subconsciously tightened his grip on Shen Huaizhi’s hand a bit and turned his head away, pretending, “Yes, boyfriends touching each other’s faces, isn’t that normal?”
His demeanor was clearly shy again, but he still tried to maintain composure.
Shen Huaizhi couldn’t help but feel that this person was so adorable. He hadn’t noticed before they got together that Jiang Heng was so easily embarrassed.
Shen Huaizhi chuckled lightly, “Yes, quite normal.” After saying that, as if unable to restrain himself, he laughed again.
Jiang Heng was puzzled by his laughter, but before he could respond, he heard Shen Huaizhi whisper to him, “It’s warmer now, can I touch it?”
The question was too ambiguous, and Jiang Heng’s ears started to burn.
Before he could respond, the teacher who had been observing them for quite some time couldn’t bear it any longer, and both the chalk and her voice flew towards them.
“Jiang Heng! Shen Huaizhi! What are you two doing in class!”
Jiang Heng not paying attention in class was one thing, but now Shen Huaizhi wasn’t paying attention either!
The two of them had been whispering to each other for quite some time!
“I’ve been watching you two for a few minutes! What are you whispering about! Your faces are all red!”
Jiang Heng’s expression stiffened, and he glared at Shen Huaizhi.
There were faint whispers coming from the class.
The incident where Jiang Heng beat up an Alpha at Middle School 13 had already spread, and along with it, posts about Shen Huaizhi and Jiang Heng being together seemed to have surfaced.
Since morning, there had been people sneaking glances at them in class, and now it seemed to have confirmed the rumors of the two of them being together.
Seeing the two of them obediently standing up, the teacher was about to breathe a sigh of relief, but neither of these two were easy to deal with.
She glanced down and almost choked.
“Still holding hands!!! This is class!!! Who allowed you to hold hands in class!!!”
Jiang Heng’s eyelids twitched, and he blurted out, “Teacher, we’re not holding hands.”
“I’m just helping my desk mate warm his hand. Don’t believe it? Come feel it for yourself?”
Shen Huaizhi: “?”
Teacher: “Are you trying to drive me crazy? Do you want me to retire early after only a few years in office?”
“Got it. Next time I hold hands with my boyfriend, I’ll just say I’m helping him warm his hands.” After class, Chen Xingchi’s desk mate couldn’t help but give a thumbs up.
Chen Xingchi added fuel to the fire, “Impressive, Jiang Heng. How did you come up with that excuse?”
Jiang Heng held his textbook in front of him and recited with great emotion, “To the east, I drink from the stone, to witness the boundless sea.”
Chen Xingchi couldn’t help but interject, “Jiang Heng, that character is pronounced ‘jie,’ not ‘he.'”
Jiang Heng’s expression froze. “Oh, I did it on purpose.”
Shen Huaizhi, who was organizing papers, tapped on the table. “Chen Xingchi.”
His tone was flat, devoid of any emotion, but Chen Xingchi understood. It was a warning to keep quiet.
“Class is starting soon. See you later.”
Once Chen Xingchi settled down with his desk mate, Jiang Heng couldn’t help but ask, “Is that character pronounced ‘jie’?”
“You can pronounce it however you want.”
“No, Captain, your thinking is off. Shouldn’t you be focusing on helping your desk mate with their studies?” In front of Shen Huaizhi, Jiang Heng didn’t think it was a big deal to mispronounce a character. After all, he didn’t study, so it was normal not to know.
Shen Huaizhi turned to Jiang Heng. “As long as it’s within your capabilities.”
Jiang Heng clicked his tongue twice. “Now everyone knows we’re together.” Just going to the bathroom after class, he could hear people gossiping about them. Jiang Heng didn’t care what others said, as long as he didn’t hear any negative comments. But when it came to Shen Huaizhi…
He thought for a moment before continuing, “Aren’t you afraid that people will say the top student in the grade is dating someone at the bottom?”
“Why would I be?” Shen Huaizhi stopped organizing papers and turned to look at him, seeming somewhat helpless. “I’m not dating them.”
After saying that, he patted Jiang Heng’s head.
Jiang Heng flinched instinctively when he suddenly touched him. Whether it was because of Shen Huaizhi’s words or the sudden touch, Jiang Heng felt a bit better now.
He reached up and touched his own hair, feeling that it wasn’t very pleasant to touch. He asked a question that had been bothering him for a while, “My hair doesn’t feel nice to touch.”
He tried to lift his eyelids to see his buzz cut.
But he couldn’t see anything.
Shen Huaizhi was somewhat speechless at how Jiang Heng’s train of thought suddenly shifted to whether his hair was nice to touch. But he suppressed his amusement and thought for a moment before asking, “Then where can I touch?”
His tone seemed a bit playful.
The topic seemed to have returned to the previous one.
Jiang Heng was stunned for a moment, and images from before suddenly popped into his mind at an inappropriate time.
The smile on his face suddenly collapsed.
Touch where?
Touch the face.
Jiang Heng straightened his heart and stared straight into Shen Huaizhi’s eyes. “Then I’ll just touch your head.”
A true soft little Omega, flexible and adaptable.
As they were talking, the literary committee member from their class suddenly walked over, cautiously glancing at the two of them. Seeing that they seemed to be free, he knocked on Shen Huaizhi’s desk. “Class monitor, do you have the sign-up sheet for the New Year’s Eve party?”
“The teacher asked me to fill it out.” Yesterday, Shen Huaizhi had already confirmed the performers for the New Year’s Eve party, but the literary committee member had been absent yesterday.
Shen Huaizhi nodded and handed the form to the committee member.
Seeing the committee member take the form to fill it out, Jiang Heng couldn’t help but be curious. “I heard that every year’s program is a mass choir?”
Shen Huaizhi responded, “That’s right for our class.”
“What about the other classes? Are you participating?”
Shen Huaizhi explained to him, “I’m not participating.”
Jiang Heng nodded, imagining Shen Huaizhi blending into the crowd singing in the mass choir. He thought that if Shen Huaizhi participated, he could steal everyone’s attention, making the mass choir a solo performance.
Seeing him with his chin resting on his arm, looking up at him with a curious expression, Shen Huaizhi found it somewhat amusing, yet also satisfying.
Being looked at like this by his own Omega, Alpha’s possessiveness seemed to be partially fulfilled, heating up his heart.
“Our class, along with the first and second classes, will perform the same program. The focus of the New Year’s Eve party is on the first-year students, so there are fewer performances from the second and third years.” Because the second and third-year students have heavier study tasks, even if they pay attention to extracurricular activities, they won’t sacrifice class time for rehearsals. It’s already their greatest kindness to occupy weekends.
After listening to Shen Huaizhi’s explanation, Jiang Heng lost interest. After all, he wasn’t participating either.
He was just about to take out his phone when he heard Shen Huaizhi continue, “However, I will indeed be quite busy in the meantime leading up to the New Year’s Eve party. I’ll be hosting it.”
Indeed, as Shen Huaizhi said, up until the New Year’s Eve party, excluding weekends, every evening after school, he would go to the school auditorium for rehearsals.
Unlike students performing other programs, hosts have to stand the entire time. In order not to affect the students’ learning, rehearsals are only one hour each evening, plus Shen Huaizhi. There are four hosts in total, two males and two females, paired up on stage. With such a short time, to be honest, they can’t even finish saying one sentence each.
Dragging out the rehearsal process for about a month.
Jiang Heng initially went to rehearsals with Shen Huaizhi, but it was just too boring. Basically, the instructor was there guiding them on positioning, posture, and pronunciation. Shen Huaizhi didn’t have much time to spare for him either, and Jiang Heng ended up feeling like he was disturbing others. Eventually, in the following days, Jiang Heng simply sat in the classroom playing on his phone. He would only go to the auditorium to find Shen Huaizhi when the rehearsal was almost over, and they would go home together.
The New Year’s Eve party was scheduled for the day before the New Year’s holiday. During the day, everyone was still attending classes as usual, but from around three in the afternoon, the school allowed students to have free time.
Class 3.
“Anyone going out to buy something?”
“Going to the supermarket! Wait for me!”
“What are you buying?”
“The party is definitely going to be boring. We should buy some snacks to pass the time, right? And since we can’t play with our phones, if the headmaster catches us, he might even confiscate them.”
Chen Xingchi was originally there copying homework. Although it was a three-day New Year holiday, there was still a lot of assigned work. Fortunately, Shen Huaizhi was fast at doing homework, and as his desk mate, Jiang Heng had already started copying in advance.
Hearing this, Chen Xingchi stopped writing and thought for a moment, leaning forward. “Jiang Heng, monitor, want to go to the supermarket?”
Jiang Heng was busy playing a game on his phone with the sound on. It was quite sudden to hear Chen Xingchi’s words, and Jiang Heng raised his eyelids. “Why?”
He hadn’t paid much attention to others’ conversations.
“To buy some snacks, and we can have dinner before coming back. Anyway, the party doesn’t start until around seven.” Chen Xingchi tried to persuade Jiang Heng. “We can also give New Year’s greetings together on the way back.”
As long as Jiang Heng agreed, Shen Huaizhi would surely agree too.
Before Chen Xingchi finished speaking, Jiang Heng’s level failed. Feeling somewhat annoyed, he tossed the phone over to Shen Huaizhi’s side. His own phone was out of battery, so he was using Shen Huaizhi’s phone. Then he lowered his head to tidy up the books on the table. “Let’s go to the supermarket and buy some cooling tea.”
Shen Huaizhi glanced down at the level, feeling somewhat amused and helpless. Jiang Heng probably didn’t have much talent for playing games; even a simple game like this was a challenge for him, and he couldn’t even pass it when his energy was depleted.
After a moment’s thought, Shen Huaizhi opened the recharge option. By the time the phone was handed back to Jiang Heng, his energy was restored.
Chen Xingchi, who had initially wanted to go to the supermarket, was dumbfounded. “…Damn, single dogs aren’t worthy.”
Jiang Heng glanced down, and his previously flat brows lifted slightly, but this time he didn’t respond. “Let’s go buy things first and play during the party.”
“Okay, if you run out of energy, you can just recharge.” Shen Huaizhi responded quietly, smiling as he looked at Jiang Heng.
Jiang Heng didn’t make excuses this time. He nodded, and even his lips curled upwards.
Seeing this, Chen Xingchi couldn’t help but feel a little envious.
Since these two started dating, the monitor has become much more approachable. The three of them went to Class 4 and shouted greetings to those who were about to go out for a game.
On the way, He Ci couldn’t help but complain to Chen Xingchi, “If you’re just going to be a third wheel, why did you call me over?”
“Isn’t one person being a third wheel too obvious? If I had a choice, do you think I’d willingly invite you?”
“You know, two Alphas don’t have a future together,” He Ci continued, causing Jiang Heng, who was walking ahead, to pause. He turned back and glanced at the two of them, nodding and shaking his head, looking mysterious as he said to Chen Xingchi, “Chen Xingchi, He Ci is also pursued by many Omegas. You should seize the opportunity.”
“I like Omegas!” He Ci retorted.
“I don’t mess with Alphas either,” Chen Xingchi’s eyelids twitched.
With Jiang Heng joking like this, the road to the supermarket suddenly seemed much shorter.
To avoid suspicion, He Ci and Chen Xingchi kept a distance of about a meter from each other all the way, afraid of rumors starting.
“You scared him,” Shen Huai zhi chuckled as they entered the supermarket, pushing the shopping cart.
Jiang Heng pushed his back and walked in, seemingly casually saying, “Alphas can be together, true love knows no gender.”
After a pause, he blinked, “Monitor, you don’t happen to like me as an Omega, do you?”
He shifted topics too quickly, and Shen Huaizhi responded after a slight pause, “Hmm, you’re right.”
Seeing him admit it, Jiang Heng was stunned for a moment, and his steps slowed down.
So, was his judgment influenced by the mark after all?
Jiang Heng had read on Baidu before that an Alpha, if influenced by the mark, might even be willing to sacrifice their life for that Omega, not necessarily out of love, but possibly because of the deep bond between them.
In the world of AOs, the vast majority of AOs would be together due to high compatibility and the influence of the mark.
He bit his lip, suppressing the inexplicable emotions in his heart, and caught up with Shen Huaizhi’s pace.
He didn’t know whether he should be happy that Shen Huaizhi admitted it so directly or unhappy.
He reached out and tugged at Shen Huaizhi’s clothes.
Shen Huaizhi’s steps also slowed down. Seeing Jiang Heng with lowered brows and the fading smile on his face, Shen Huaizhi felt somewhat helpless. “Jiang Heng?”
It took Jiang Heng a few seconds to snap out of his trance.
Shen Huaizhi sighed and stopped walking. Jiang Heng walked into his back, also stopping. Seeing him lost in thought, Shen Huaizhi regretted his previous answer. The stronger a person appears on the outside, the more fragile they are inside.
“Jiang Heng.” Shen Huaizhi turned around and faced Jiang Heng, reaching out to touch the forehead where he had bumped into him just now. He lowered his head slightly and asked softly, “Does it hurt?”
His voice was too gentle.
Jiang Heng found it hard to imagine what he would do if Shen Huai zhi didn’t want him anymore in the future. He shouldn’t be someone who clung to others like this, especially after being strong for so many years. Perhaps he would become even stronger?
Jiang Heng forced a slight smile, “Where am I delicate?”
Seeing him like this, Shen Huai zhi sighed again. The supermarket was crowded, and they were standing by the shelves. Both of them stood out, and many people would glance back at them.
Shen Huai zhi’s voice carried a hint of apology as his hand remained on Jiang Heng’s forehead, as if eager to explain, “I didn’t mean it that way. What I meant was, if you weren’t an Omega, we wouldn’t have met each other now.”
“Jiang Heng, I’m not that noble,” Shen Huai zhi said with a helpless smile. “Not noble enough to mark someone I don’t like.”
“I also have my own selfishness.”
—
The author has something to say: Jiang Heng, the monitor is cold in other ways too.
1TL: YSIAD “You can support me if you like my translations by leaving a comment below, or by sending me a Ko-fi. Thank you ❤️”
