Thirty-Three

Xu Ze felt he must look, in Lu Heyang's eyes, like the sort of Alpha who takes advantage of an Omega in heat—because Lu Heyang kept watching him with a scrutinizing gaze, and Xu Ze didn't dare lift his head.

'Can I borrow your Wristband?' Xu Ze asked, head lowered.

He wanted to cut off his own Pheromone. An Alpha's Pheromone would have no effect on Lu Heyang anyway—it would probably only make him want to hit someone.

Lu Heyang didn't answer. He straightened up, unclasped his Wristband, then took Xu Ze's hand and fastened it on for him.

...

Lu Heyang seemed to study him for a few seconds, then reached out, pulled three tissues from the box, and wiped Xu Ze's face for him.

'Second chance...' Xu Ze murmured, as if to himself. 'Used up.'

His lips were a little swollen, flushed with a color they never usually carried; the bruise at the corner of his mouth hadn't faded. Lu Heyang leaned in close to him, and just as their lips were about to meet, he tilted his head and kissed Xu Ze's right cheek instead.

'This one doesn't count,' Lu Heyang said.

They were very close. Nothing particularly special showed in Lu Heyang's eyes—only a slightly heavy gaze. His kiss was like a reward, or like a comfort; in any case it wasn't affection, wasn't liking. He said this one didn't count among those three chances. Xu Ze didn't register it for a moment; he only felt Lu Heyang's hand sliding down along his waist. Xu Ze's reaction to that was immediate—he caught Lu Heyang's hand at once.

'You don't have to,' Xu Ze said, awkward and embarrassed. 'I'm fine.'

Lu Heyang withdrew his hand, then, with some unreadable meaning, patted Xu Ze's face very lightly: 'Go wash up.'

After letting the water run over him for a while, Xu Ze was much clearer-headed. He raised a hand to wipe the water from his face, and felt a cold touch on his back—Lu Heyang was pulling his clothes up and off. Xu Ze didn't understand why, but he raised his arms and let Lu Heyang take the shirt off.

'Change into this.' Lu Heyang draped a white T-shirt over Xu Ze's shoulder. He stood behind Xu Ze, meeting his eyes through the mirror. 'Your clothes are dirty.'

Xu Ze had been wearing a black T-shirt; the marks on it were very obvious. He changed into the new one, then took his own T-shirt from Lu Heyang's hand and said quietly: 'I'll take it back to wash.'

He was always slow to realize—slow to realize he should have left the room with He Wei, slow to realize he ought to feel shame and self-loathing at his own initiative. Never once was he timely.

They faced each other. Lu Heyang didn't speak. They could hear each other breathing. Xu Ze absolutely could not bear this kind of situation. He shifted a step outward and said: 'I'm going back to my room.'

Lu Heyang extended his hand toward him, palm up. Xu Ze didn't understand what it meant. He looked up at Lu Heyang, and only then did Lu Heyang say: 'The Wristband.'

...

Without the constraint of Lu Heyang's Wristband, Xu Ze's own Wristband seemed especially useless—it could neither suppress Xu Ze's Pheromone nor block Lu Heyang's. The two Alphas' Pheromones filled the bathroom, colliding and suppressing each other.

Before the two might come to blows, Xu Ze grabbed his clothes and hurried out of Lu Heyang's room.

The next morning Xu Ze woke very early, because he had barely slept all night. After returning to his room the night before, he hadn't been able to settle his feelings even after completing two sets of test papers. Lying in bed, the moment he recalled what he had done, sleep became impossible.

Lu Heyang's clothes were clean, carrying the faint fresh scent of laundry detergent. After waking, Xu Ze didn't get up right away. He lay on his side, pulled up the hem of the shirt, and buried his face in it to breathe in.

He felt he had become thoroughly perverted—taking Lu Heyang's politeness for indulgence, acting on impulse without considering the consequences.

After washing up, Xu Ze braced himself with great difficulty and opened the door, going downstairs for breakfast. Most of the others had already arrived; the teacher was already eating. She waved at Xu Ze: 'Xu Ze, there's an empty seat at that table.'

Following the direction she pointed, Xu Ze was immediately struck speechless, able only to nod mechanically.

The teacher was pointing at Lu Heyang's table, and the empty seat was right beside Lu Heyang.

When Xu Ze reached the table, He Wei said between bites: 'Xu Ze, you look really expensive today.'

He had sharp eyes and noticed at once that it was a clothing issue, so he pulled Xu Ze over—but couldn't find anything unusual about the plain white T-shirt with no pattern, so He Wei folded up the hem a little to look at the side label.

'Isn't this the brand Lu Heyang always wears?' He Wei muttered. 'That shouldn't be...'

He Wei said, turning to look at Lu Heyang. Lu Heyang took a sip of milk and said: 'He got ice cream on his clothes yesterday, so I lent him mine.'

'Oh, I see.' He Wei didn't doubt it at all.

But Xu Ze's mind had already been thrown into chaos by Lu Heyang's simple sentence—shame and guilt. Lu Heyang had kindly offered him an excuse, but he himself had maliciously associated it with something else, twisting the words into something pointed.

While Xu Ze was reflecting like this, he was eating breakfast. He had no mind to drink milk, and choked on it very easily. Xu Ze immediately pulled out a tissue, pressed it to his mouth, and coughed twice behind him.

When he turned back, he saw Lu Heyang push the milk in front of him. Xu Ze was about to say thank you, but Lu Heyang commented: 'Such a shallow throat.'

Xu Ze choked even harder.

After breakfast, back in the room to pack up, Xu Ze went downstairs first. He rarely competed with anyone for anything, but this time he walked ahead, got on the bus, and found a seat in the second row.

Lu Heyang and He Wei were among the last to board. Seeing Xu Ze sitting in the second row, He Wei let out an 'Oh?' and asked, 'Xu Ze, want to go to the back and sit together?'

He was still very enthusiastic about introducing cute Omegas to Xu Ze.

Xu Ze looked up and the first thing he met was Lu Heyang's gaze. Like he'd been shocked, Xu Ze lowered his head again and said: 'It's fine, I'll sit here.'

'Alright then,' He Wei said.

Not long after the bus started, Xu Ze fell asleep. By the time they reached the Preparatory Academy gate it was nearly noon. Xu Ze rubbed his face with his hand, picked up his backpack, and got off. Today he had learned from Zhou Zhen that Ye Yunhua was in good condition, and Xu Ze wanted to keep her company for lunch.

The moment he got off, Xu Ze planned to start running—he needed to catch the subway—but he hesitated for a second, then stood to the side, eyes on the bus door.

After a while, Lu Heyang came down carrying his backpack. He glanced at Xu Ze, then walked in the opposite direction. Xu Ze thought Lu Heyang was leaving, and without thinking chased after him, but Lu Heyang only walked a few steps before stopping—He Wei hadn't gotten off yet; he had to wait for him.

What Lu Heyang turned around to see was precisely Xu Ze running toward him. Xu Ze's hair had rubbed against the seat back while he slept on the bus, a little messy, a few strands sticking up crookedly, waving at Lu Heyang like a hand in the wind.

Xu Ze was a person who could keep things well hidden, but was always betrayed by other parts of his body.

'The shirt—I'll return it to you next week during swimming class.' Xu Ze slowed his steps and stopped in front of Lu Heyang, saying.

The shirt was new; the housekeeper had only washed it once after purchase, as a routine. Lu Heyang wanted to tell Xu Ze the shirt suits you, you don't need to return it, but Xu Ze seemed to be in a hurry, so Lu Heyang just nodded.

'I'm leaving now. Goodbye.' When Xu Ze said goodbye, his eyes were looking somewhere else.

Lu Heyang extended his hand, his fingertips touching the strands of Xu Ze's hair that were sticking up.

He didn't press the hair down for Xu Ze, but propped those strands up a little more, shooting straight toward the sky.

'Goodbye,' Lu Heyang said.

Xu Ze didn't doubt his actions at all, thinking Lu Heyang had picked off some dirt from his hair, and even said 'thank you,' before running toward the subway station.