Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"Bang." The desk hit the ground, scattering into pieces.

Jiang Su spat out a mouthful of blood in fury, glaring at the one who had reduced him to this state: "He Shi, you’d better pray you never cross me again, or I’ll kill you."

He Shi gave him a cold, indifferent glance, too lazy to waste words. He bent down to pick up the still-usable chairs and desks, intending to end the fight.

Jiang Su charged at him again.

Most Omegas, due to their physiology, are physically weaker than Alphas, but some top-tier Omegas can hold their own against them.

Except during Heat.

Once an Omega enters Heat, biology compels them to submit to Alphas from the core of their being, craving to be Marked.

The reason He Shi and Jiang Su were fighting was because Jiang Su had used this fact to mock and provoke He Shi.

"I give up," Wen Yun finally realized this farce was beyond his control. Noticing Li Yang had returned, he slumped over looking miserable.

"Hey, where’s your desk?" He blinked in confusion at the empty spot.

Li Yang tilted his chin toward the completely wrecked desk in the distance. "Over there."

His tone was calm, utterly removed from the chaos, as if none of it concerned him.

Wen Yun glanced over and shrugged helplessly, muttering, "Unfortunately, my desk and chair got wrecked too."

Li Yang sat on his chair. "Lucky me—still got a chair."

Wen Yun chuckled. "How can you still be so composed in this mess?"

The only exception in the classroom was right next to Li Yang.

While everyone else’s desks and chairs were toppled or askew, Ying Xi’s remained untouched, and people instinctively avoided it when passing by.

Even He Shi and Jiang Su deliberately kept their distance, not daring to get too close.

"Where’s Ying Xi?" Li Yang asked casually.

"Dunno," Wen Yun sighed. "With the classroom this chaotic, he probably couldn’t be bothered to come in. These two have been fighting for half an hour."

"It’s fine. If the sky falls, the tall will hold it up," Li Yang said with a faint smile, picking up a page from the book he had been reading earlier and quickly scanning it.

"It’s too loud," Wen Yun rubbed his temples, whispering, "Who knows how long they’ll keep this up?"

As the overwhelming surge of pheromones flooded the room, he winced in pain, trying to suppress the reaction they triggered, murmuring, "I wish I were a Beta."

Li Yang, a variant-type Beta, couldn’t voice his own troubles. He could only clutch his mask tighter, pretending nothing was happening.

"Jiang Su!" A furious roar echoed from the hallway. Jiang Su, who had just punched He Shi in the face, froze, immediately standing straight, all his bravado vanished.

A middle-aged man stood at the door, brows furrowed, waving impatiently at him, his voice filled with rage. "Get over here, now!"

Under everyone’s gaze, Jiang Su trudged over, head bowed like a deflated balloon, completely deflated.

"I sent you to school to study, not to fight and cause trouble every day!" A slap landed mercilessly on his head.

The man roughly dragged Jiang Su away.

Along the way, he didn’t forget to kick him hard while repeatedly glancing in a certain direction, his anger melting into a cautious, obsequious grin.

Li Yang followed the man’s gaze and pushed open the window, leaning out.

Ying Xi stood at the back door, seemingly about to enter the classroom. He paused at Li Yang’s movement, then crinkled his eyes in a smile.

He walked into the classroom unhurriedly, his demeanor elegant and relaxed. Without any grand gestures, he effortlessly commanded all eyes.

The last remnants of chaos in the classroom vanished with his arrival.

Ying Xi sat down, glancing sideways at Jiang Su’s henchman.

The henchman immediately understood, mopping up the aftermath, bringing in new desks and chairs, arranging them one by one, and even gathering Li Yang’s books to return them to their place, not forgetting to apologize.

"Sorry, your books are all sorted now."

"It’s fine," came the indifferent reply.

The henchman glanced at him, recalling how this class president was always aloof, seemingly indifferent to everything, never involved in the class’s dramas.

Which was exactly why Jiang Su often targeted him when looking for someone to pick on.

The nearly hour-long spectacle finally came to an end.

He Shi wiped the blood from his brow, slumping into his seat awkwardly. He glanced at Li Yang, then at Ying Xi, his expression shifting subtly.

"That man—Jiang Su’s father?" Li Yang asked.

The only one who could reduce Jiang Su to such a pitiful state was probably his dad.

"Yeah," Ying Xi pulled a novel from his desk and placed it on the table. "No more disturbances."

Li Yang’s gaze naturally followed his movements to the book.

The title was so large it nearly covered the entire cover.

—*I Really Want to Tell You, I Like You So Much*.

Li Yang’s eye twitched. He averted his gaze uncomfortably, only for his peripheral vision to catch Ying Xi inching the book across the desk’s dividing line—then inching it again, as if afraid he wouldn’t notice.

Until it crossed the line, appearing right beside his arm.

Li Yang: "...Your love-struck antics should be directed elsewhere."

"Huh?"

Li Yang didn’t know how to explain.

He wasn’t sure if Ying Xi was the protagonist. If he was, then naturally, there’d be another protagonist to match him.

If not, given his looks and status, there was only one role left in the novel that would fit.

—The villain.

Li Yang studied Ying Xi.

That face, when silent, exuded an icy aloofness, his brows sharp as ice, gaze wintry, his pupils a deep black that could devour you whole. Yet when he smiled, a glimmer of light would surface, melting the frost in his gaze.

Handsome—just devoid of any villainous edge.

"Nothing," Li Yang muttered indistinctly.

Not knowing what Jiang Su's father had done, Jiang Su seemed like a completely different person after returning—sitting quietly in his seat without any urge to stir things up, just brooding with a scowl.

"Boss, are you okay?" his sidekick asked worriedly.

"I'm fine," Jiang Su groused irritably, the only warning echoing in his ears: *Don’t provoke Ying Xi. He’s not someone our family can afford to mess with.*

Jiang Su seethed silently, unable to understand why fighting He Shi had anything to do with Ying Xi.

Thinking this, Jiang Su stole a glance at Ying Xi, then kicked his sidekick and asked with a swollen face, "What makes me worse than Ying Xi?"

His face was so puffed up it was unrecognizable. The sidekick didn’t know how to answer and struggled to come up with something flattering, but when Jiang Su made an expression, the swelling twitched, making him look absurdly comical.

The sidekick couldn’t help but choke back a giggle before quickly covering it with a cough. "Of course, Boss, you’re just as good."

"Then why does everyone think Ying Xi is better than me?" Jiang Su grumbled indignantly.

"Ying Xi... his family is powerful," the sidekick scrambled for an answer.

Jiang Su grew even more frustrated, tugging at his hair.

The room fell quiet, and the air felt fresher. Li Yang took off his mask.

Now that winter had arrived, wearing a mask wasn’t too bad, but it was hard to imagine how miserable it’d be in summer.

*Just endure it.*

Li Yang calmly told himself: *Less than a year until graduation, and then I can bid these crazies farewell.*

Strangely enough, the classroom entered a weird truce.

When He Shi saw Jiang Su, he didn’t so much as glance.

When Jiang Su saw He Shi, he just kept his mouth shut.

The two rarely walked past each other without a snide remark, and their respective sidekicks also behaved themselves.

Li Yang spaced out for a sec: *Finally, I caught a break.*

The only thing worth complaining about now was that Ying Xi was back to dogging his steps.

"How many times is this?" Li Yang asked, sipping his milk tea without looking up.

The boy who insisted on hogging half the chair with him answered obediently, "The third time."

In the morning, Li Yang went to the bathroom—they "coincidentally" ran into each other.

At noon, he deliberately tried to ditch Ying Xi when going to the cafeteria—yet another "coincidence."

After lunch, they "coincidentally" ran into each other again at the milk tea shop.

"How about you find someone else to like?" Li Yang tilted his head, offering a sincere suggestion. "Find someone who likes to stick like glue—it’d suit you perfectly."

Ying Xi: "If it were that easy to switch who I like, then you liking me should be just as easy."

That shut Li Yang up.

"My cat can really do a backflip," Ying Xi tried. "Want to come over this weekend and see?"

"No." Knowing this was just another attempt to get closer, Li Yang shut him down again.

Ying Xi lowered his eyes, slightly disappointed. "I can do a backflip too."

The image of Ying Xi doing a backflip flashed through Li Yang’s mind, making him snort in exasperation. "Even if you can do a backflip, I’m not going."

Who would’ve thought a guy who acted all cold and distant would just casually do a backflip like that?

"So, what are your plans this weekend?" Ying Xi propped his chin on his hand, staring intently at Li Yang.

"No plans." The boy had grown somewhat immune to his intense gaze and lazily slumped over the table, idly fidgeting with his milk tea cup.

Ying Xi mimicked him, turning his face toward Li Yang, his deep eyes dancing with glee—enough to make your stomach flip.

Li Yang quickly raised a hand to cover his face. "Quit staring."

Ying Xi lifted his hand as if to grab Li Yang’s, but at the last moment, thinking better of it, his fingers froze mid-air before dropping back down.

"Okay." He looked away, leaving only the back of his head visible to Li Yang.

*Much better.*

Li Yang let out a breath, inexplicably unwilling to meet his gaze.

He couldn’t tell if it was nervousness or awkwardness, but every time their eyes met, Li Yang felt a jittery feeling, as if some emotion was desperately clawing at his chest.

Ying Xi asked quietly, "If Wen Yun invited you, would you go?"

"Wen Yun?" Li Yang sat up. "He’s on leave."

Omegas in heat found it increasingly difficult to control their pheromones, so they were given a week’s leave to manage it.

Wen Yun had already been on leave for three days.

"Is that so?" Ying Xi sat up as well, his face doing something weird for some reason.

Li Yang didn’t ask.

Most of the time when he was with Ying Xi, it was Ying Xi who kept the conversation going. These days, it was impossible to see any trace of the silent, reserved person he used to be.

At times, Ying Xi was practically a total motormouth.

"I’m heading back to the classroom." Li Yang quickly finished his milk tea and bolted before Ying Xi moved.

The boy’s light footsteps brushed past him just as Ying Xi was about to stand, his face skimming Li Yang’s neck.

A whiff of something sweet hit him, brushing against his nose.

Ying Xi instinctively looked up at the milk tea shop employee. "Did you make a cake?"

"We don’t sell cakes here," the employee replied with a smile. "Maybe it’s the smell of the milk tea?"

Ying Xi didn’t respond, his gaze fixed in the direction Li Yang had left, his face going blank.

The scent had been like lemony frosting—he could even detect the sweetness of cream.

It was faint, there one second, gone the next, making it impossible to confirm whether it had come from Li Yang.

Remembering that smell from the bus last time, Ying Xi frowned, his eyes going sharp.

Betas don't have pheromones, so where does this scent come from?

And Li Yang himself can't smell it.

Ying Xi caught up with Li Yang and asked quietly, "Are you *sure* you're a Beta?"

"I've taken the test three times, it's definitive," Li Yang hesitated mid-step. "I'm sure."

"You have very faint pheromones on you," Ying Xi lowered his gaze, his long lashes shielding his expression.

"On me?" Li Yang found it impossible and took a careful sniff, then asked in confusion, "No, where did you smell it?"

The lanky teen didn't answer but suddenly leaned in, tilting his head toward Li Yang's neck.

"Right here. Faint... but it's gone now."