IMAO Chapter 118

Damn it!

Ji Rong clearly misunderstood!

Was this why he was acting so off earlier?

Was he… jealous?

Jiang Yuan’s Adam’s apple bobbed slightly as he grabbed his things and rushed out, but how could he find anyone after all this time?

After some thought, Jiang Yuan headed straight for Ji Rong’s dorm.

“Knock knock knock.”

“Knock knock knock.”

Jiang Yuan knocked several times, but no one came to open the door.

Instead, Arlo heard the knocking and opened it. Without checking who it was, he shouted, “Stop knocking! Ji Rong’s not in the dorm. If you’re looking for him, try the building at the southwest corner!”

Jiang Yuan: “…” The southwest building was his dorm…

Only after finishing did Arlo fully open the door. Seeing Jiang Yuan, he froze in surprise, clearly not expecting him to be the one looking for Ji Rong. “Oh… it’s you… I thought it was another one of Ji Rong’s admirers…”

“Mm… yes, it’s me,” Jiang Yuan responded, concerned about Arlo’s words. He unconsciously asked, “Do many people come looking for Ji Rong?”

Arlo shrugged, “Many, too many. But… more come looking for you.”

Of course, many people looked for him. Ever since he revealed his Omega status… it had become such a headache that he’d asked his classmates not to tell others where he lived.

Jiang Yuan changed the subject. “Did Ji Rong come back just now?”

Arlo shook his head. “Probably not, I didn’t hear anything.”

Seeing Jiang Yuan’s brows furrowed, Arlo paused, “What’s wrong? Did you two fight?”

Jiang Yuan shook his head and took out his communicator to call Ji Rong, but the call was rejected. Jiang Yuan tried a second time, and by the third attempt, Ji Rong had turned off his communicator completely.

Jiang Yuan: “…”

Arlo was already amazed when he saw Ji Rong reject two calls, but seeing him turn off his communicator left him completely dumbfounded.

Although Ji Rong had once tricked him into thinking he couldn’t be an Alpha mistress, once he thought it through, it was obvious Ji Rong liked Jiang Yuan. He was always so good to him. But today, something was clearly off!

“This guy… is really going to drive me crazy!” Jiang Yuan gritted his teeth in frustration. Not returning to the dorm, not answering calls, and now turning off his communicator?

If he’d known this would happen, he might as well have sent a message to explain. At least then Ji Rong would have seen it when he opened his communicator.

Arlo frowned deeply and asked cautiously, “Do you need my help?”

Jiang Yuan wanted to refuse, but the school was huge. With Ji Rong not returning to the dorm and his communicator turned off, searching alone would probably take until tomorrow morning.

“Thanks for your trouble.”

Hearing the slight helplessness in Jiang Yuan’s tone, Arlo felt a pang of sympathy. After all, he’d once had feelings for Jiang Yuan, even when he thought Jiang Yuan was a Beta and he might end up being topped!

Damn, if only he’d watched fewer dramas about dominant Alphas and pretty Omegas, and more about handsome Omegas instead. Maybe then Ji Rong wouldn’t even be in the picture!

After searching around with Jiang Yuan without finding anyone, Arlo suggested, “He can’t leave school grounds, so he must be somewhere here. Going place by place won’t work. How about we check the school’s surveillance room? Once we spot him, we can go find him.”

Hearing Arlo’s suggestion, Jiang Yuan agreed, “Okay.”

Ji Rong’s hand was injured, and his clothes were completely soaked in the shower earlier. In this cold weather, who could stand that?

If he had to run… he could at least change his clothes first!

Jiang Yuan was both furious and worried.

When they arrived at the surveillance room, Jiang Yuan quietly explained the situation to the staff. They seemed unsure at first, but eventually agreed to help, likely out of respect for Jiang Yuan. The staff quickly pulled up the surveillance footage.

“Not here…”

“Not here either.”

“Nothing here either…”

Jiang Yuan glanced outside. It started snowing. How could that guy stand the cold? Ji Rong’s clothes were wet!

Was he really trying to worry him to death?

…

In a small garden on campus.

Ji Rong hugged himself, feeling cold, yet somehow not that cold. Compared to his body, his heart felt colder.

The pain made it hard to breathe, like a dull knife slicing his flesh piece by piece. It hurt.

He knew a condom didn’t really prove anything, and he shouldn’t have overthought it.

But in the heat of the moment, he rushed in, and Jiang Yuan’s reaction stabbed at his heart.

Suddenly becoming so proactive, telling him to continue…

Jiang Yuan had mentioned finding someone else before. Every time he heard it, it hurt, but this time was different. He couldn’t stop his mind from wandering.

The thought of strangers touching Jiang Yuan drove him crazy. He just wanted to find that person and break their bones inch by inch.

Ji Rong was lost in thought, but more than breaking bones, his heart ached worse.

“Do you really like him that much…”

Ji Rong murmured softly, curling up in pain.

“Whirr—”

Ji Rong noticed the surveillance camera turning toward him and was about to leave.

Jiang Yuan had been searching the surveillance feeds for ages when he finally spotted Ji Rong in one of them.

Seeing Ji Rong about to leave, he thought…

When Alphas get dramatic, they’re worse than Omegas!

He immediately opened the surveillance room’s broadcast system, the one that reached the entire school!

“Ji Rong, don’t you dare leave! Stay right where you are, I’m coming to find you! Why couldn’t you just ask me directly? I don’t know what you’re thinking, but stop making wild assumptions, okay?” Jiang Yuan shouted.

Jiang Yuan’s shout instantly stunned the entire school.

Arlo: “???”

Staff: “???”

Students who were still awake: “???”

Teachers and students who were already half-asleep: “???”

Meanwhile, in one dorm—

Ji Yang recognized the voice from the school broadcast immediately.

“Is that Jiang Yuan’s voice?”

Ma Lin nodded. “Seems like it.”

The others nodded too. Thanks to their connection with Ji Yang, they were all fairly close to Jiang Yuan and recognized his voice.

“What’s going on between Jiang Yuan and Ji Rong?” Ma Lin asked Ji Yang with interest.

Ji Yang spread his hands. “How would I know? They’re together every day, and I’ve never even seen them argue.”

As they were discussing, the broadcast came on again—

“Also, why didn’t you answer when I called? Fine, don’t answer! But you even turned off your communicator! I couldn’t even send you a message to explain!

“Why are you Alphas so dramatic?!”

All Alphas in school: “???”

“I don’t like what Jiang Yuan’s saying, that’s totally stereotyping! I’m not dramatic at all!” Ma Lin joked to Ji Yang beside him.

Ji Yang: “Alright, shut up! Keep listening!”

The entire school perked up their ears.

“If you dare leave, I’ll blow your head off!”

Ji Rong heard Jiang Yuan’s last words through the broadcast and stopped in his tracks.

Jiang Yuan left the surveillance room, while Arlo, who stayed behind watching the monitors, couldn’t help but twitch his lips.

Ji Rong, who had only taken two steps, even shuffled back a few steps to his original spot.

Was he really afraid of getting his head blown off…

Ji Rong returned to his original position. This… didn’t count as leaving, right?

Ji Rong’s face burned red, his heart thumping wildly. Not like deer prancing, but like a mad deer crashing everywhere. His clothes had frozen stiff from the snow, dropping ice chips with every slight movement, but just like before, he didn’t feel cold.

But it was different from earlier…

In the surveillance room, Arlo watched Ji Rong on the monitor while talking to Jiang Yuan on his communicator.

“He’s still there, right?” Jiang Yuan’s voice came through.

“Yeah, he didn’t leave. Probably afraid you’ll blow his head off.” Arlo chuckled.

Jiang Yuan: “…Oh.”

In the senior dorms—

Gu Bai nearly choked on his water. To those who didn’t know him well, Ji Rong was just a powerful mecha expert, his actual personality was unknown.

But Gu Bai knew better. He’d competed alongside Ji Rong and Jiang Yuan, so he knew Ji Rong much better than others. Not only was Ji Rong naturally intimidating to Alphas, but his identity… was different from theirs!

The War God’s son!

Was the person talking to him like that not afraid of death?!

Wait, the important thing was, Ji Rong really stayed put???

Jiang Yuan ran all the way to the surveillance spot. Seeing Ji Rong standing there pathetically, he slowed down, approached him, and immediately put the clothes he’d brought on Ji Rong.

When Jiang Yuan tried to lead him away, Ji Rong stood motionless, tugging at Jiang Yuan’s hem, “You still haven’t explained…”

Jiang Yuan: “Then tell me, do you like me?!”

Ji Rong was stunned by Jiang Yuan’s question, only able to nod foolishly.

Jiang Yuan: “When did you start liking me?”

Ji Rong: “…”

Jiang Yuan: “Tell the truth.”

Ji Rong: “A long time ago.”

Jiang Yuan: “Be more specific.”

Ji Rong: “…Not long after school started.”

Although Jiang Yuan knew Ji Rong liked him, he’d always thought it happened after his own scheming. But Ji Rong’s answer was completely different from what he’d imagined.

Wait…

He wondered before why Ji Rong could help him handle those Alphas when Qiu Jingming was in heat, but lost control and took him when he was in heat. He even planned to force himself on Ji Rong if his plan failed!

Jiang Yuan: “That early… Weren’t I still with Song Yirui back then?”

Ji Rong’s face shifted between pale and flushed. Then, he gave up all pretense and acted rather childishly. After all, the whole school already knew he was afraid to leave for fear of getting his ‘head’ blown off. He said shamelessly, “Yeah, is that not okay?!”

Jiang Yuan patted Ji Rong’s shoulder, “It’s okay, everything’s okay!”

“I’ve explained, now it’s your turn!” Ji Rong stared at Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan: “Remember Su Lan? It was one of Su Lan’s friends who put it in my clothes. I had no idea.”

Hearing Jiang Yuan’s explanation, Ji Rong’s eyes suddenly lit up as he looked at him.

Meeting Ji Rong’s beautiful, bright eyes, Jiang Yuan was drawn in, thinking how attractive they were.

Ji Rong grabbed Jiang Yuan’s hand, suddenly feeling insecure, uncertain, and even scared. “Then just now in the shower, you… you… didn’t… push me away… and your body didn’t feel uncomfortable…”

“What’s with all the stammering?” Remembering how dramatic Ji Rong had been about turning off his communicator, Jiang Yuan suddenly got angry. He pinched both of Ji Rong’s cheeks, whose nose had turned red from the cold, making him look a bit silly.

Jiang Yuan said directly, “Ji Rong, I like you, is that not okay?”

Ji Rong felt like ice melting in spring, like dawn breaking. All the anxiety and unease in his heart scattered in that instant.

A pleasant voice answered eagerly after Jiang Yuan’s words fell.

“It’s okay! More than okay!”

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