Chapter 11

Chapter 11

The hair dryer’s roar pierced Gu Shiyun’s eardrums, a sound far more profound than silence. He wasn't one to initiate conversation, but in the intimate quiet of two near-strangers, something compelled him to break the ice.

So, for the first time in his life, Gu Shiyun offered a compliment: "Your hair is really long."

That didn't sound quite right.

He thought for a moment, then added, "Your eyes are very blue."

Shi Jian looked at him, a hint of exasperation in his gaze. "You’re such a textbook Alpha."

Gu Shiyun replied primly, "Thank you."

"...I wasn’t complimenting you."

"Oh..."

Suddenly, Shi Jian turned. Gu Shiyun switched off the hair dryer, about to ask why, when the other met his gaze with clear, admiring eyes, his voice soft and bright. "Thank you so much today, Senior. The moment they saw you were from the Disciplinary Department, they scattered like startled birds. You’re only a second-year, yet you’re already the department head. Your scores must be top-notch, and you’re probably even more capable than some of the instructors. Otherwise, why would the teachers entrust you with such an important position?"

Gu Shiyun felt a strange dizziness, as if he’d plunged headfirst into cotton, light and disembodied, his soul floating free—yet he hadn't had a drop to drink.

"No need to thank me... It’s just my duty."

Shi Jian burst into laughter, his admiring gaze instantly replaced by a playful, triumphant glint.

He lightly tapped the badge pinned to the Alpha’s chest. "Mr. Department Head, I was just teaching you how to properly compliment someone. Don’t be so stiff, like I’m some kind of monster. Or is everyone in the Disciplinary Department as humorless as you?"

The corners of Gu Shiyun’s lips, which had barely lifted, immediately flattened.

Shi Jian patted his shoulder consolingly, temporarily sparing this poor, hopelessly straightforward Alpha. He swept his half-dried hair back, revealing a smooth, fair forehead—and just like that, a flawless face, like that of a celestial being, appeared before him.

Gu Shiyun was caught off guard. His heart plummeted, sinking into a terrifying abyss.

He realized he might have made a mistake. Perhaps he shouldn’t have felt sympathy for the boy before him. It was painfully obvious—he was about to land himself in a heap of trouble.

Shi Jian stretched out his legs, hitching up his pant legs. "Help me apply the medicine."

Gu Shiyun stared at his face for a long moment before finally lowering his head to squeeze medicated oil into his palm, rubbing it warm. "Your instructor was right—you’re quite pampered."

Otherwise, he wouldn't be so adept at giving orders without a second thought.

Shi Jian didn’t catch the implication. He raised an eyebrow slightly, a hint of defiant amusement flashing in his eyes. "I’ve never been able to handle hardship, and I don’t see why I should. Coming to First Military Academy is just temporary. It won’t be long before my father and the others accept the fact that I’m an E-level Alpha. Then I’ll transfer to a regular university and study what I actually love."

Deep down, he believed his stay at First Military Academy wouldn’t last. He felt none of the belonging that ordinary Alphas did toward this place. Though he could recite every school rule, he didn’t care about them in the slightest—in fact, he took pleasure in challenging these rigid doctrines, hoping they’d soon grow tired of him and make the wise decision to expel him.

Gu Shiyun had many questions. "Why did General Shi Cangfeng insist on sending you to military school? You really don’t belong here."

Those eyes lowered, shielded by lashes. "...I don’t know. And it doesn’t matter anymore."

"Then what did you originally want to study?"

"Entomology, botany, painting, music... All the elegant arts and virtues befitting an Omega—those were my lessons growing up. My tutors said that if any Alpha needed a perfect Omega bride, no one would be more suitable than me." Shi Jian said this calmly. "In any case, anything would be better than this."

Gu Shiyun let out an "Oh." "So, if your Secondary Differentiation results hadn’t gone wrong, I would’ve met you at the joint graduation ceremony between First Military Academy and those 'Bride Academies,' as a graduate and an Alpha in rut."

Every year, the summer solstice in late June marked the beginning of the mating season—a grand festival of passion and procreation that lasted through the sweltering summer, from the fireflies' frenzied dances to their eventual dormancy, only gradually fading by the cool arrival of September.

Freshly graduated, young Alphas burning with vigor, before officially throwing themselves into the battles defending the Federation, would receive the one gift the Federation would give them in this lifetime. These young men, who craved romance as much as battlefield honors, could freely showcase themselves at the joint graduation ceremony between military and Omega schools, vying to impress Omegas and earn courtship rights.

Omegas usually attend in white suits, while Alphas wear school uniforms, each placing a flower matching their pheromones in their chest pocket—commonly referred to as a "ring." If they take a liking to someone, they place their "ring" into that person's pocket. If exchanged, it leads to a romantic date. If there's mutual interest in deepening the relationship after the date, Omegas typically give their partner a kiss on the lips—a signal permitting further courtship. Many Alphas and Omegas find their destined partners at this graduation ceremony, walking hand in hand into marriage.

"Then you’d have to be the top of your year," Shi Jian leaned back, hands propped on the sofa, tilting his chin up with a lazy, amused glint in his half-lidded eyes. "Any S-class Omega from a 'Finishing School' would only accept a date proposal from the valedictorian of each military school year—though some might accept multiple. As you know, S-class Omegas are the only ones exempt from the Federation’s monogamy laws. The eugenicists are all too happy about it, eager for them to produce more high-grade offspring."

"Extreme eugenicists are indeed destabilizing elements in society. I hope you haven’t been overly harassed by them before."

"You mean the countless obscene emails and creepy surveillance photos I’ve received since childhood? There were even a few attempted kidnappings. To this day, I still don’t understand their obsession with high-tier genetics."

Shi Jian spoke calmly, merely stating facts: "But my adoptive brother, Wen Yuan—you must know of him—valedictorian of First Military Academy, first in the 28th class of the Joint Air-Land Combat Command Department, an S-class Alpha. I’ve spent more time with him than with my own blood brother. No mercenary would dare make trouble on his watch."

Gu Shiyun’s gaze darkened slightly. "I’ve heard of him. But beyond his academic achievements, his actions at the graduation ceremony are what people talk about most."

Shi Jian leaned forward, intrigued. "What did he do? Did he embarrass himself chasing an Omega?"

"No. He received many 'rings' from Omegas but didn’t give out his own. He left halfway through the ceremony. According to some professors who stayed on as instructors, his reason was that he had to pick up his high school brother from school." Gu Shiyun’s eyes lingered on Shi Jian’s face as he spoke.

Shi Jian froze for a moment before recalling—yes, there had been such an incident. Wen Yuan had invited him to the graduation ceremony and given him a delicately scented orchid. He had preserved it as a specimen, tucked inside his scrapbook.

The previously relaxed atmosphere shifted imperceptibly. Gu Shiyun noticed the subtle, indescribable change in Shi Jian’s mood—like a snail slowly retracting into its shell on a rainy day, curling its antennae, leaving a slick, gloomy trail as it crawled through the wet flowerbed.

Taking a deep breath, Gu Shiyun stood up, ending the conversation for the night. "The dorm monitor will be doing rounds soon. Let me walk you back."

Shi Jian gave a quiet hum, following closely behind Gu Shiyun. His occasionally lifted eyes were unfocused, staring blankly into the heavy, suffocating darkness, like a small planet helplessly drawn into a black hole’s gravity.

Gu Shiyun escorted Shi Jian to his dorm building, waiting until he entered before turning to leave.

After an exhausting day, Shi Jian was completely spent. He leaned against his dorm door, dazed, too tired to think. His vacant gaze fixed on the darkness, unresponsive even when a flashlight beam shone directly on his face.

The Beta dorm monitor waved the light at him, urging him to hurry inside and sleep.

Shi Jian didn't answer him. He quietly pushed open the dormitory door without turning on the lights, met with pitch-black darkness. His two roommates were already asleep, snoring loud enough to shake the walls, yet he seemed not to hear them as he groped his way to his bed in the dark, collapsing onto the hard bed before quickly slipping into a groggy sleep.

In the middle of the night, Shi Jian woke up shivering, his head spinning, nose blocked, and body drained—every bone in his body ached.

Sitting up in a daze, he leaned his entire weight against the bedpost, zoning out at the floor. After a while, for some reason, his nose suddenly stung, and he finally snapped out of his numb, despondent state.

He thought of Wen Yuan.

The same Wen Yuan who skipped his own graduation ceremony just to pick him up from school on time.

And the same Wen Yuan who, before departure, snapped at him and couldn’t even muster the patience to accompany him to military school registration.

It was the same person.

So strange. So strange.

...So strange.

Shi Jian numbly touched the now barely noticeable gland on the back of his neck, unsure whether his family loved the status of being an S-class Omega or simply a person named Shi Jian. In the darkness, he blinked heavily, feeling his eyelashes grow damp. He fished out his phone, wanting to call someone—but after scrolling through his contacts from top to bottom (Lei Yu, Wen Yuan, Shi Xu, Shi Cangfeng) and back again, until the screen’s harsh glow faded to black, the call was never made to anyone at all.