Jiang Zhihuo lowered his eyes, then looked up at Yan Mu.
Yan Mu still wore that indifferent expression, but his lips were tightly pressed together.
A real case of his mouth denying what his body wanted!
Jiang Zhihuo immediately grabbed Yan Mu by the wrist and burst into laughter.
An ordinary touch could suppress the fever, as long as they didn’t let go.
“Hahahahaha!” He laughed so hard his shoulders shook. “And with an act like that, you still had the nerve to laugh at me before!”
Yan Mu curled his lips and clicked his tongue in annoyance.
After having his fill of mercilessly mocking Yan Mu and getting his revenge, Jiang Zhihuo grew somber again.
There was no escaping this.
Jiang Zhihuo took a deep breath, instantly looking despairing, and said, “I’ll continue…”
Yan Mu raised a hand to cover his face.
As soon as Jiang Zhihuo let go, the feverish sensation surged back, pain seeping out through every pore and spreading from the inside out, as if a knife were frantically twisting inside him.
Jiang Zhihuo endured it until he was half-conscious and half-unconscious before gathering the courage to raise his hand and set it down.
Yan Mu shuddered all over.
Just then, the phone that had been tossed aside suddenly rang.
Jiang Zhihuo froze, turning dazedly toward the sound of the ringtone.
Yan Mu: “…”
Twice!
This kind of thing had been interrupted twice!
Yan Mu grabbed Jiang Zhihuo by the neck, pulled him close, pressed his lips against his, then shoved the phone at him. “Your call.”
Snapping out of his fever-induced stupor, Jiang Zhihuo answered the phone. “Hello?”
A female voice came through the line. “Hello, this is the ABO department at Provincial Hospital. Am I speaking to Jiang Zhihuo?”
Jiang Zhihuo: “Yes.”
Nurse: “Well, you came in for a checkup two months ago, and now we recommend you schedule a follow-up.”
His sudden secondary differentiation in the alley had happened more than two months ago, and he’d been taken to the hospital that same day he was marked. The doctor had made it very clear back then that a deeply marked Omega’s fever couldn’t be suppressed with medication. Before leaving the hospital, they’d drawn a vial of blood and sent it to the Capital Hospital for testing. If there were any results or developments, they’d notify Jiang Zhihuo. Unless he felt unwell, he could just monitor his condition at home without going back to the hospital.
That was also why, over the past two months, neither Jiang Zhihuo nor Yan Mu had considered going to the hospital for another checkup.
Since they were calling now to ask for a follow-up, they might as well go.
The ABO department was closed on Sundays. The nurse asked Jiang Zhihuo when he’d be free. Jiang Zhihuo said, “Let me check.” Then he covered the receiver and asked Yan Mu, “The hospital’s calling for a follow-up. When are you free next week?”
“Whenever,” Yan Mu said.
Jiang Zhihuo said to the nurse, “Let’s make it next Monday, the twentieth.” The sooner, the better.
The nurse checked the schedule and asked, “How does Monday at four in the afternoon work?”
Jiang Zhihuo replied politely, “Sure, that’s fine. Thank you, miss.”
The nurse let out a soft chuckle and hung up.
Jiang Zhihuo opened his calendar and set a reminder so he wouldn’t forget the time.
Then he looked up and found Yan Mu watching him. Still not over what had just happened, Jiang Zhihuo raised an eyebrow and shot a provocative glance downward. Before he could see anything clearly, Yan Mu let out a cold snort, grabbed his towel, and headed off to shower.
As the door clicked shut, the room suddenly fell quiet.
Jiang Zhihuo lost his earlier relaxed composure, lay down on the bed, tossed his phone aside, put his hands behind his head, and stared blankly at the ceiling.
When Yan Mu came out of the shower, Jiang Zhihuo was lying on the bed playing a game, a rapid series of gunshot sound effects drowning out the sound of the door opening behind him. Yan Mu didn’t go in. Instead, he sat down on the living room sofa.
It didn’t make sense.
The mind could mislead itself through psychological suggestion, but the body wouldn’t lie.
Yan Mu let out a soft sigh.
Forget it. He wouldn’t think about it anymore.
Just as Yan Mu gave up on analysing himself, Qu Xiao sent a message.
Qu Xiao: Boss Yan, Boss Yan, Boss Yan!
Qu Xiao: How’d things go with Shin? Did you sort it out?
Yan Mu had exams this week, so Qu Xiao held back from bothering him. Even Shin took a week off, leaving Qu Xiao with no one to ask. The gossip-loving young master Qu was nearly bursting with curiosity.
Yan Mu replied quickly, but what he asked was: What’s up?
Qu Xiao said: What else could it be?
Qu Xiao: That thing about Shin confessing to you. How are things between you now?
Yan Mu: …
Qu Xiao: Young Master Yan?
Yan Mu: Nothing much.
Yan Mu: That day, he was drunk and just talking nonsense.
Qu Xiao: ?
With no shifts scheduled for the past couple of days, Jiang Zhihuo let himself rest for a day. Exams and tutoring sessions had been utterly exhausting, and only sleep could heal his weary body and mind.
He slept from morning till night and from night till morning again. Come Monday, he arrived at school full of energy. As he went upstairs, he found Tang Anmiao being cornered in the hallway by a group of boys and girls, trembling. Qiu Bian stood in front of her with arms spread wide. “She doesn’t want to say. Anmiao is just keeping the secret for that person! Stop asking already!”
“We know that,” someone in the crowd said. “We’re not asking for a name. Just give us a hint. At least tell us which class they’re from.”
Another person added, “Exactly! The God of Learning has chosen someone for the first time. How can we not get the full story?”
Qiu Bian was fed up with these guys who had ambushed them first thing in the morning to grill them about who the God of Learning’s omega was. Curiosity was a good thing for senior year students, but not when it meant pressuring a girl.
Tang Anmiao had been chased from upstairs to downstairs. Qiu Bian said irritably, “Since you’re brave enough to corner Anmiao for answers, why don’t you go ask the God of Learning himself?”
At the mention of the God of Learning, the girls standing in front wore expressions of gloom and frustration.
As senior members of the God of Learning Fan Club, of course they had already asked Yan Mu.
They started with Xie Qiu, who was always by Yan Mu’s side. When Xie Qiu heard the story, he was equally baffled. “What omega? How would I know?”
Last week, something was already off about Yan Mu. The school beauty had taken leave and wasn’t around, yet Yan Mu didn’t bother asking. Xie Qiu couldn’t hold back and asked him, “Yan-ge, why are you so passive? Are you still going to pursue the school beauty or not?”
Yan Mu was silent for a long time. “I was wrong about this.”
Xie Qiu didn’t understand what he meant, but whatever it was, the bottom line was that he was no longer pursuing the school beauty!
Xie Qiu got nothing out of him, so he went around asking the others in Class 4, but they all knew nothing.
Later, the girls started sending Yan Mu anonymous private messages on the forum. “Who is the omega? Male or female? God of Learning, please tell us!”
Forum private messages triggered notifications. Seeing that they were all from anonymous users, Yan Mu naturally had no reason to reply. He picked one at random and answered with three short phrases.
“No one. Guess. Don’t disturb.”
After going around in circles and getting nowhere, the girls finally cornered Tang Anmiao. She was the only one who knew, but this Omega from Class 1 was tight-lipped. No matter who asked, her answer was always the same. “Sorry, I haven’t asked them if I can tell anyone yet. It wouldn’t be right to just blab about it.”
“Hey, what are you all doing? Bullying someone?” Jiang Zhihuo pushed through the crowd and squeezed in beside Tang Anmiao and Qiu Bian.
“Huo-ge,” Qiu Bian complained, “They’re insisting on asking who the Omega from that day was.”
Jiang Zhihuo looked at the crowd. “What’s there to ask about?”
Someone in the crowd said, “We don’t want to know who the Omega who went into heat that day was. We want to know who the God of Learning’s Omega is!”
Jiang Zhihuo replied, “Oh, that question? Ask me.”
The girls in front lit up. “You know?! Who is it? Who?!”
Jiang Zhihuo said nonchalantly, “No one. It’s me.”
Everyone: “…”
Tang Anmiao saw Jiang Zhihuo announce it so casually. When she noticed the people around them wearing expressions that said, ‘Yeah, right. Stop joking,’ she added. “It really is Huo-ge.”
After the Omega heat incident, someone had suggested finding out who had handed in their exam papers early or skipped the exam altogether. However, after asking around the entire grade, they discovered that everyone had stayed until the bell rang, except Jiang Zhihuo, who had left early from the last exam room.
So everyone immediately ruled out the possibility that the Omega was a senior high school student.
“Hahahahaha!” A guy laughed. “Huo-ge, don’t get involved. Who doesn’t know you’re an Alpha? We all saw the live test when you entered high school!”
Jiang Zhihuo: “…”
He turned to Tang Anmiao and helplessly shrugged.
How tragic. He had told the truth, yet not a single person believed him.
The farce ended as soon as the bell for morning self-study rang. Everyone had no choice but to suppress their curiosity and return to their classrooms.
No. 1 High School graded papers quickly. By Monday morning, the results for the Chinese and math exams, which had been held earlier, were already out.
The first period was Chinese class. As usual, Ding Jianhui began by reading out the scores and handing back the test papers.
For Class 1 students, having their scores read aloud wasn’t a public execution. They all performed well. On the contrary, they actually liked this way of announcing results because it allowed them to see the gaps between themselves and their classmates clearly, giving them more motivation to improve.
Everyone had performed steadily on the Chinese exam, with no major improvements or declines. There had been occasional murmurs of discussion as the scores were read out, but when Ding Jianhui reached the final paper, the whole class suddenly fell silent.
There was only one person’s score left to announce.
Jiang Zhihuo felt the entire class’s attention turn toward him again, and he couldn’t help sitting up straight.
At the podium, Ding Jianhui announced slowly, emphasizing every word. “Jiang Zhihuo, midterm Chinese score: 70! Although he’s still a little short of passing, this is a huge improvement and deserves encouragement.”
After two seconds of silence, the whole class erupted in cheers.
“Aaaaaah!!!”
Seventy! He actually got seventy! That was more than half of 120! If he could get seventy in math and English too, his total would be 210! That was ninety points higher than last time. Just Jiang Zhihuo’s improvement alone could raise the class average by two points! If their science score went up just a little more, they might even overtake Class 4! What if they actually pulled it off?!
“That’s amazing!!!”
“Huo-ge is too strong!!”
“This midterm is unbeatable!”
“Huo-ge is a beast!!!”
Jiang Zhihuo: “?”
Huh???
Wait, what???
He’d only scored seventy points, right???
???
The commotion in Class 1 was so loud that it reached Class 2. The students were screaming, clapping, stomping their feet, and cheering nonstop. Zong Bei couldn’t help messaging Jiang Zhihuo.
Zong Bei: Huo, what’s going on with your class?
Zong Bei: What’s the big celebration about?
Jiang Zhihuo was definitely on his phone. He replied, “Dunno. Seems like they’re celebrating me getting 70 in Chinese.”
Zong Bei: ?
Zong Bei: With all that commotion, I seriously thought you were about to get recommended for admission to Tsinghua University.
In the afternoon, the English and science scores came out too.
Eighty!!!
Huo-ge had actually scored eighty in English!!!!
And his science score was impressive too! He’d gotten 111!!
When the first period ended, a crowd gathered around Jiang Zhihuo’s desk.
“Huo-ge!! You’ve improved so much this time!!”
Jiang Zhihuo was tidying up his desk, laughing awkwardly. “Hahahaha… really?”
“Looks like you’ve actually been working hard lately.”
Jiang Zhihuo continued his awkward laughter. “Hahahahahaha…”
Wait, were their expectations of him really that low?
His total score was only 330, and he hadn’t passed a single subject, yet they were this happy?!
Should he be happy too? Hahahaha, good job!
Under Ding Jianhui’s guidance, the students in Class 1 had developed a strange sense of collective pride in certain areas.
“330 this time, 430 next time!” The academic committee member patted Jiang Zhihuo on the shoulder with a satisfied smile. “Huo-ge, you’ve got a bright future in academics!!!”
Jiang Zhihuo: “???”
The academic committee member asked again, “So, what’s your study plan for the rest of the semester?”
“The rest of the semester? Oh, right. I’m applying for…”
Jiang Zhihuo had barely said the word “applying” before the whole area fell silent. He hadn’t even managed to finish saying “leave” when the subject representatives, class committee members, and academic committee member narrowed their eyes and stared at him.
“Applying for leave?”
“You just did well on your exams, and now you’re asking for leave?”
“Huo-ge, are you getting a little carried away?”
“That’s not the right attitude toward studying!”
As they spoke, they moved closer. Jiang Zhihuo backed away little by little until his back hit the wall.
“No, I have something to do this afternoon.”
Academic Committee Member: “What is it?”
Chinese Class Representative: “As a senior high school student, what could be more important than studying?”
Math Class Representative: “No, you don’t have anything to do.”
Class Monitor: “Exactly. You need to study.”
Jiang Zhihuo stared at them in shock. “…”
Crazy! This whole group was crazy!
Just as he had nowhere left to retreat, someone tapped on the window.
It was Yan Mu, carrying his backpack over one shoulder with his thumb hooked around the strap. He gave Jiang Zhihuo a calm nod. “Let’s go.”
Jiang Zhihuo immediately sprang up from his seat. Since he was sitting by the window, he planted his hands on the windowsill and vaulted lightly out of the classroom.
He slung an arm around Yan Mu’s shoulders. “I’m going to discuss my study plan for the second half of the semester with the God of Learning. It’s important stuff, so I’ve gotta go. See you, guys!”
With that, before anyone in the classroom could react, he grabbed Yan Mu and ran all the way to the school gate.
Even after running the whole way, Yan Mu still wore his usual cool expression as he asked, “Why do I have to run too?”
Jiang Zhihuo replied, “If you don’t run, they’ll keep asking who the Omega is.”
Yan Mu: “…”
He rubbed his brow.
What a pain.
Later, that popular post about him took a slight turn, as people started sharing photos.
There were pictures from PE class, the flag-raising ceremony, the corridors, and the classrooms. They were candid shots taken from all sorts of angles.
Every shot was taken from a bizarre angle, yet Yan Mu’s unbelievably good looks somehow survived every single one.
He was still ridiculously handsome even in candid shots.
By the end of the day, quite a few first-year girls had come to Class 4 just to get a look at him.
Fortunately, the students in Class 4 were already battle-hardened. With a handsome guy in their class and the added appeal of the God of Learning, they were used to people coming over to admire them. The God of Learning was cold and aloof, unlike Jiang Zhihuo, who shamelessly walked out to show himself off and even asked, “Want to take a picture? What pose should I strike? Is a peace sign okay?”
The students in Class 4 had long since learned how to handle this. As soon as the bell rang, they shut the doors and windows and drew the curtains. Anyone who went to the bathroom had to give the secret password before being allowed back in.
Yan Mu: “…”
Headache.
The hospital wasn’t far from the school, so the two decided to walk there.
It was the same doctor as last time. He first wrote Jiang Zhihuo a referral for an X-ray, then drew some blood. By the time they returned to the consultation room, the X-ray images had already appeared on the doctor’s computer.
The doctor stared at the images, zooming in and out, switching between them and examining them over and over. He studied them intently for quite a while, looking so serious that Jiang Zhihuo began to suspect he had some incurable disease. After a long silence, the doctor finally turned to Jiang Zhihuo and Yan Mu and said, “Just as I thought.”
Just as he thought what?! Did he really have an incurable disease?!
Jiang Zhihuo couldn’t help feeling nervous. “What?”
The doctor didn’t explain right away. Instead, he asked them a few questions.
Doctor: “Have you tried the different kinds of contact I mentioned last time?”
Jiang Zhihuo nodded. “Yes.”
Doctor: “How effective were they at first? How about now? Has the duration of the effect been getting shorter?”
Jiang Zhihuo replied, “Yes.”
Doctor: “And your mark, the bite marks on the back of your neck, have they been fading too?”
“…Yes.” This time, Yan Mu answered.
Doctor: “Then that confirms it.”
Jiang Zhihuo was completely baffled. “Huh?”
Previously, both he and Yan Mu had thought that the suppression period was getting shorter because his body was developing something like drug resistance. But from what the doctor was saying, that didn’t seem to be the case.
The doctor adjusted the computer screen, turning it slightly to the left to make sure they could both see it. Then he used the mouse to circle something on one of the images.
Doctor: “You were originally an Alpha. When you were marked, your Alpha characteristics were still dominant, and your gland hadn’t fully developed. You’re still gradually differentiating into an Omega.”
“So, unlike the marks on other Omegas, your deep mark won’t last a lifetime. It will gradually fade away. Once you have fully differentiated into an Omega, the mark will disappear completely.”
Jiang Zhihuo: “…”
“In other words, the bite marks are fading and the suppression period is getting shorter because the mark is disappearing. Your dependence on Alpha pheromones is fading as well. You can now gradually start using some stronger medication.”
“…”
“……”
“…!”
“…………”
The consultation room fell into an eerie silence. Yan Mu said nothing. Even Jiang Zhihuo, the person at the center of it all, opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, not a word came out.
Seeing that neither of them spoke, the doctor took out two more reports and continued, “These are the test results from the Capital Hospital. I suspected last time that the mark might fade, but our hospital didn’t have the equipment to confirm it fully, so I couldn’t just tell you out of the blue. Most patients who differentiate from Alpha to Omega are treated at the Capital Hospital, where the equipment is more advanced and the results are more precise. These are the results they provided.”
The reports were filled with technical figures that Jiang Zhihuo couldn’t understand, but he didn’t need to understand them. All he needed to do was read the last line.
“The patient’s pheromone levels are normal, and differentiation signs are normal. There is no risk of secondary differentiation. The marking concentration is 99%. Contact therapy is recommended in the early stage, followed by a special inhibitor once the marking concentration drops to 50%.”
Jiang Zhihuo stared at the last line, his fingers clenching tighter and tighter.
The news had come completely out of the blue.
He could use the special inhibitor. That meant his marking concentration had already dropped to 50%, and he no longer needed physical contact to suppress his heat.
This was wonderful news.
He wouldn’t have to live with Yan Mu anymore, and he wouldn’t have to put up with the headache of tutoring.
He should have been happy.
But…
“How could this be…” Jiang Zhihuo murmured without thinking. “Just a couple of days ago, those regular inhibitors didn’t work at all, did they?”
The doctor replied, “You need the special inhibitor. Of course, the regular ones wouldn’t work.”
Jiang Zhihuo stared blankly at the doctor. Everything around him seemed to fall silent, leaving him in a strange, empty stillness. All he could hear was his own quiet, dejected, “Oh.”
It wasn’t dark yet. The warmth of the day was slowly fading, and the evening mist drifted over the distant mountains. The setting sun blazed like fire, its glow stretching all the way to the horizon.
No one spoke.
Jiang Zhihuo had left school without bringing anything with him. The few vials of special inhibitor the doctor had prescribed were all in Yan Mu’s bag.
Before they left the consultation room, the doctor explained, “This kind of special inhibitor usually works for a day, but its effectiveness varies from person to person. Try it when you get home. There’s still a chance it might not work, so if that happens, contact me immediately. However, that possibility is very small. I’ll prescribe enough for a week for now. Come back next Monday, and I’ll check your condition.”
Yan Mu remained silent too. He had never been much of a talker, so his silence wasn’t unusual.
Jiang Zhihuo, however, was acting completely out of character. Before, no matter how strained their relationship became, he would always find something to talk about. He had always been talkative. This time, though, he simply trudged along with his head down, looking listless. It wasn’t until they were almost home that he finally hesitated before speaking.
“So, soon… we won’t have to kiss anymore. I want to try this inhibitor.”
Yan Mu: “…Yeah.”
Jiang Zhihuo glanced sideways at him.
Yan Mu’s expression remained as calm as ever.
Jiang Zhihuo actually wanted to ask him, Don’t you have anything else to say?
But a moment later, he felt that the thought itself was rather strange.
Did Yan Mu even need to say anything?
Light a fire? Set off fireworks? Congratulate him?
If the special inhibitor worked, it should be a relief for both of them.
The key slid into the lock, and the lock clicked open. Yan Mu pulled out the key, and the door slowly swung open a crack.
Jiang Zhihuo walked inside first. Yan Mu remained outside for about ten seconds before stopping the door from closing.
Seconds ticked by. In the silence, an hour and a half passed, and the suppressive effect of their earlier kiss finally wore off.
The unbearable, burning pain brought on by the heat spread through Jiang Zhihuo’s body in an instant, while a faint, wine-like fragrance seeped from the back of his neck.
Without a second thought, and without even taking the time to change his shoes, Jiang Zhihuo turned around, opened his arms, and threw himself into Yan Mu’s embrace.
Yan Mu caught him naturally, slipping his fingers gently into Jiang Zhihuo’s hair and giving it a light rub.
The moment their skin touched, it felt scorching hot. They breathed in each other’s pheromones, their heartbeats seeming to merge into one. Their fingertips trembled slightly, but neither of them noticed, not even realizing that their own fingers were shaking.
This kiss was probably different from the ones before. At least, none of their previous kisses had required them to pull apart for a moment to catch their breath. Their lips separated for only two or three seconds, barely giving them time to react, before Yan Mu’s fingers caught Jiang Zhihuo’s chin again. A fingertip brushed across his lips, and then their lips met once more.
There was no keeping track of time. At a moment like this, neither of them would bother counting the seconds, let alone noticing how much time had passed.
Jiang Zhihuo had no idea how long it had been. Maybe three minutes, maybe ten. He opened his eyes. He usually preferred to keep them closed when kissing, since closed eyes revealed nothing about his feelings. But this time, he opened them and saw that Yan Mu’s eyes were open too. They gazed at each other from such a short distance that their pupils reflected each other’s faces.
Jiang Zhihuo froze for a moment, his heart seeming to skip a beat.
Yet in the very next instant, a string that had somehow gone slack suddenly pulled taut.
He suddenly realized that he had lost his composure. He shoved Yan Mu away and stumbled backward, breathing rapidly. His lower back struck the shoe cabinet at the far right, sending a sharp pang of pain through him.
Ignoring the pain, Jiang Zhihuo kept his head down and vigorously wiped his lips with the back of his hand several times.
“Hahahaha… sorry, I’m just used to it. I haven’t broken the habit yet… Don’t… don’t mind me…”
The author has something to say:
Don’t worry, there won’t be any angst! No misunderstandings either!!
TL’s Note: This novel will be moved back to this site, everyone. Do enjoy your reading^^
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