After Liang Yan spoke, he felt a bit regretful.
His tone had been aggressive, making even him uncomfortable, let alone Ji Qiu.
Moreover, if Ji Qiu really had something going on with Lai Qiutong, it would be a mutual feeling. It was rather ridiculous for him to jump in without knowing the circumstances.
Thinking of this, Liang Yan couldn’t help but lower his head, softening his tone as he said, “I shouldn’t…”
“Sorry.”
Unexpectedly, Ji Qiu interrupted him.
Liang Yan looked up in surprise.
The Omega in front of him appeared to be in a good mood, seemingly unaffected by Liang Yan’s earlier words. Ji Qiu’s smile was dazzling, momentarily leaving Liang Yan’s mind in a haze.
“Sorry, Yan Yan,” Ji Qiu said, “It’s my fault; I’ll be more careful next time. I know you’re just worried about me.”
“—Please don’t be angry, okay?”
Liang Yan himself didn’t even realize when his lips stopped pressing tightly together. Facing Ji Qiu’s smile, he felt a bit hesitant.
“I’m not worried about you.” Instinctively, Liang Yan avoided looking into Ji Qiu’s eyes and said, “…I’m not angry either.”
Ji Qiu had a completely accepting expression, as if taking everything Liang Yan said as truth: “Mm-hmm, not at all.”
“I just had the basic data and conclusions checked by the teacher, so I’m heading back now.”
“Mm-hmm.” Ji Qiu’s expression didn’t change, “Be careful on your way.”
Liang Yan nodded lightly.
Just as he was about to head to the elevator, he heard Ji Qiu call out to him again.
“Well,” Ji Qiu hesitated slightly, then asked shyly, “I know I might not really know how to be an Omega. Can you teach me?”
Liang Yan felt a sense of being tricked.
How to be an Omega?
Isn’t this something you can learn after differentiation?
Why is this person getting more demanding?
“You…” Liang Yan looked at Ji Qiu and saw the anticipation and joy in his eyes. All the sarcastic remarks and teasing he wanted to make vanished.
In the end, he simply nodded, “…Alright then.”
“Let’s go.”
“Mm, I’ll go back and fill in the data.”
“Okay, if you have any questions during the process, feel free to ask me.”
“Goodbye, Yan Yan!”
Liang Yan couldn’t shake the feeling that this person’s words had an undertone of waves.
“…Mm.”
When Ji Qiu returned to the laboratory, other groups were still nervously recording data and testing conclusions.
He sat down, quickly filled in the required values on the report, didn’t double-check, and directly handed it to the teacher. He didn’t wait for Yin Tongguang to help him organize the experimental station. After tidying up efficiently, he left the classroom.
He left behind a group of students from Class S and A, looking both astonished and in admiration.
“Are these two Omegas monsters? They’re too outstanding.”
“Don’t say that. I don’t deserve to be an A.”
“What about us Betas? What are we supposed to do?”
“I suddenly feel like he and Liang Yan being together isn’t impossible. Anyway, I can’t handle it.”
“No way, that can’t happen. Even if I’m not worthy of them, surely there are Alphas who are! Homosexuality is simply heresy! Heresy!”
“…Your thinking is a bit old-fashioned. What’s wrong with pursuing true love? I just want to do an AA with Sister Lai.”
The discussions grew louder, prompting the teaching assistant to tap the table. “If you keep discussing, they’ll be gone! You’re just neglecting your own experiments, right?”
The conversations in the laboratory finally quieted down.
After leaving the functional room, Ji Qiu didn’t head towards the dormitory or cafeteria but instead turned two buildings over to the new laboratory.
He entered the elevator and pressed the eighth floor. After getting off, he turned around two corners and finally stopped at the laboratory at the end of the hallway.
After unlocking the automatic door with his fingerprint, as soon as Ji Qiu smoothly changed into his lab coat, he noticed someone else had also entered the laboratory.
The newcomer had silver-gray long hair and nodded at Ji Qiu.
“Hey,” he smiled at the person, greeting them, “You’re quick.”
“The rabbits in the functional room are too jumpy, it’s giving me a headache,” Lai Qiutong said as she walked to the changing area, changed her clothes, tied her long hair up, and stretched lazily.
Ji Qiu leaned against the door, chuckling at her. “Don’t pull that. It’s not like you almost cut the vagus nerve into the carotid artery.”
Lai Qiutong didn’t refute that; she pouted in agreement and returned to her position.
“The experimental results from that group should come out today, so keep an eye on it later.”
“Got it.”
The two each focused on their tasks, exchanging little but working together seamlessly, as if they were old friends who had known each other for many years, rather than the high-profile duo they had been in the functional lab.
The sky quickly darkened. Once Ji Qiu finished recording the last set of data, Lai Qiutong loosened her hair and asked, “Want to grab a bite to eat together?”
Ji Qiu was about to agree, but after a moment of hesitation, he ultimately shook his head. “Never mind, you go ahead.”
Lai Qiutong nodded and didn’t say much. “Alright. Then I’ll head out first.”
“Wait a moment.” Ji Qiu called out to her. “I need to tell you something.”
Lai Qiutong turned back. “What is it? Suddenly feeling guilty? Have you had enough of pretending to be an Omega, or are you planning to pick some little Alpha to make you head over heels?”
Ji Qiu ignored her teasing. “It’s just… well, you don’t need to be so… enthusiastic towards me in the future.”
Lai Qiutong rolled her eyes. “Didn’t you ask me to act with you? I don’t want to play the role of a lovesick female Alpha pining after a male Omega; it’s really exhausting.”
She had to maintain the character and couldn’t break the persona. If it weren’t for knowing Ji Qiu for so long, she definitely wouldn’t have agreed.
Lai Qiutong thought about how she also liked sweet and adorable little Omegas, provided they weren’t just for show.
She felt a spark and thought she might have caught onto something important. “Could it be that Liang Yan is jealous?!”
Ji Qiu, unusually, looked a bit irritated. “Jealous my ass, go away!”
“If I were him, I wouldn’t be able to handle you either. You’re constantly acting like a green tea princess, and you even give yourself a sickly sweet fake vibe… tsk tsk tsk.”
“Don’t call me a green tea princess; you’re the real green tea, okay?”
Lai Qiutong’s pheromone had a bitter matcha scent. When Ji Qiu first got to know her, he thought her pheromone was so faint it was almost undetectable.
Lai Qiutong observed Ji Qiu’s expression and exclaimed, “One day, if I can make you so angry you can’t help but get flustered, it’ll be a historical moment!”
Ji Qiu tugged at the corners of his mouth, too lazy to banter with her further. “Just remember what I said.”
Otherwise, Liang Yan would get upset.
After that functional experiment, Liang Yan hadn’t seen Ji Qiu for a while.
Previously, Ji Qiu would always come by to sit in on classes according to the schedule, but now even if Class S was empty all afternoon, Ji Qiu wouldn’t sneak over.
At first, Yin Tongguang found it a bit unusual and asked Liang Yan a couple of times why Ji Qiu hadn’t been coming.
At that moment, Liang Yan was focused on drawing his embryology assignment. When he heard the question, his expression remained calm. “How would I know?”
Yin Tongguang lamented, “I thought you two had a pretty good relationship. I’ve been saving him a spot every time, but now he doesn’t even show up.”
Liang Yan lowered his eyes. “…No.”
He didn’t catch what Yin Tongguang said next, continuing to draw with his pencil.
“…But I think Ji Qiu is quite nice, has a good temperament, and is a great friend.” Yin Tongguang concluded.
Liang Yan held his pencil. “Mm.”
Ten minutes later, he stared at his messy embryology assignment in silence, tearing the paper into a ball and tossing it into the trash can.
Yin Tongguang was shocked. “Why did you throw it away?! You were almost done! Redoing it is such a hassle.”
Besides, he had clearly seen that Liang Yan’s drawing was almost as standard as the examples in the textbook.
“No,” Liang Yan said in a calm tone. “The final structure diagram collapsed, so it’s unusable.”
He could just draw another one.
Liang Yan thought to himself this way.
But it wasn’t until the evening, after throwing away five or six drafts, that he finally calmed down and drew a perfect assignment.
The day after submitting the assignment was the day of the lab class. The new laboratory building at the school had quickly gone into use after its completion, but general undergraduate students usually operated on the first to fourth floors.
Yin Tongguang and Liang Yan arrived early, and the lab hadn’t opened yet. After waiting for a while, Yin Tongguang suddenly got excited. “Yan Yan, they say the upper floors are all high-end laboratories? Besides a few projects funded by several countries, some are reportedly classified experiments.”
Liang Yan nodded, having heard his father mention it a few times during phone calls. “Mm.”
“Do you want to go take a look?” Yin Tongguang asked excitedly. “The doors won’t open for a while anyway. I haven’t really explored the new lab building since it was completed, so let’s go upstairs and have a look?”
Liang Yan hesitated a bit.
Yin Tongguang seemed to understand his concerns. “I promise we won’t go in; we’ll just look from outside. Just a quick peek, alright?”
Liang Yan didn’t refuse. “…Okay.”
Yin Tongguang eagerly led Liang Yan to the elevator. “They say the seventh floor has a holographic control station. Even though we don’t need it right now, it’s always good to learn about it.”
Liang Yan had no objections and followed him to the seventh floor.
Yin Tongguang pulled him around, checking out everything. It was indeed a high-tech laboratory. Even through the glass, one could feel the advancements that modern technology brought to medicine.
Liang Yan glanced at his watch. “It’s about time; ready to head back?”
Yin Tongguang still seemed a bit unsatisfied. “Let’s wait a couple more minutes…”
Liang Yan chuckled. “Fine, I’ll go to the restroom and be right back.”
“Go ahead,” Yin Tongguang said, leaning against the window without turning his head.
The restrooms in the laboratory building were on separate floors for males and females. The seventh floor had the women’s restroom, while Liang Yan took a couple of steps to the stairwell and went up to the eighth floor.
The overall environment on the eighth floor was quite different from the seventh. There were many laboratories, but most of them had their doors tightly shut, giving off a mysterious vibe.
As Liang Yan went up the stairs and turned a corner, he was about to head to the restroom when he suddenly saw a white light on in a lab at the end of the hallway.
He wasn’t originally curious, but just as he turned his head, he caught sight of a familiar figure.
Liang Yan was taken aback, his breathing instinctively lightening for a moment, and then he found himself unable to control his steps as he walked over.
The figure was wearing a lab coat and a mask, but Liang Yan recognized him at a glance.
Ji Qiu was focused on something under the microscope, oblivious to someone approaching, occasionally switching lenses with great caution and care.
His brows were furrowed tightly, as if he were facing a difficult problem.
Liang Yan felt that he shouldn’t have snuck up like this; his rational mind kept telling him to go back, yet he couldn’t help but gaze at the person inside through the glass.
His gaze fell on a nearby table, and he froze.
Next to Ji Qiu were two intact, unopened ampoules of suppressants.
—It was the suppressants he had personally handed to him that day.
1Since I’m not the one who started translating this novel, I’m really having a hard time if the names mentioned here are correct so pls don’t be shy to tell me if there are mistranslations! I’m trying my best hehe :>You can support me if you like my translations by leaving a comment below, or by sending me a Ko-fi. Thank you and Enjoy reading! ❤️ -TL: Ysiad
