The two of them finished filling out all their reports for the coming week in the classroom before heading back to their respective dorms.
“Speaking of which,” as they approached Ji Qiu’s dorm, he was helping Liang Yan count the days, planning things out one by one, “Yan Yan, your heat is coming up soon, right?”
Now that they’d started talking about it, neither of them felt embarrassed.
Liang Yan gave a soft “mm”: “It’s soon.”
Ji Qiu suddenly found himself stuck, unsure whether to say don’t worry, you won’t need suppressants this time or I’ll mark you, it’ll be okay.
No matter how he phrased it, it all sounded a little too presumptuous—like he was taking advantage.
But Liang Yan didn’t seem to care about the topic at all. He remained calm, made a few casual remarks, and moved on. He never once brought up the idea of marking again.
Ji Qiu couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off, though he couldn’t put his finger on it. He went over the dates again in his head, just in case he’d made a mistake.
Over the next few days, Ji Qiu continued reaching out to relevant media contacts, but none took him seriously. Their responses were always either insufficient evidence or we suspect you’re a competitor trying to smear KB.
Xu Yishu, on the other hand, was quite enthusiastic, saying Ji Qiu could come to him for help anytime. But since Ji Qiu hadn’t gone into heat yet and wasn’t a clinical student, there wasn’t much he could do. They’d have to wait until his pheromones could be collected to make further progress.
That weekend, Liang Yan went home. Apparently, Jiang Xinglan’s father had returned to China briefly before leaving again, and this time, instead of hosting, they came to Liang Yan’s home for a farewell dinner.
It seemed Jiang Qi had a really good relationship with the Liang couple.
Jiang Xinglan also came. In front of the elders and himself, he was the picture of politeness and grace. Throughout the entire meal, he remained composed and natural—as if he was born for that kind of social setting.
The two only got a moment of privacy after dinner when Liang Yan accompanied his father to see the guests out.
Liang Chen and his old friend walked ahead, reminiscing, while the two younger men followed behind.
The atmosphere wasn’t exactly awkward. Jiang Xinglan walked beside Liang Yan, chatting casually, like nothing had ever happened between them.
It wasn’t until they reached the parking lot that Liang Yan heard Jiang Xinglan ask:
“Liang Yan,” his tone was gentle and unhurried, “I still want to know—why wouldn’t you choose me?”
Talking with him always felt like trying to explain something to someone who wouldn’t get it. Liang Yan had felt that since last time—this man had a strange sort of stubbornness about things.
He didn’t want to beat around the bush:
“The question you asked me last time—I already have someone I like now.” Liang Yan paused. “So there’s no point in wasting time on me. It’s unnecessary.”
Jiang Xinglan’s pace slowed.
He had anticipated this outcome, so when it actually happened, it didn’t feel as unbearable as he thought it would.
He was disappointed, but composure was always his signature trait.
So he just smiled and nodded. “Alright.”
In the end, he looked at Liang Yan, hesitated a little, and asked one last question:
“The person you like—are they really suitable for you?”
Liang Yan wasn’t sure how to answer.
This man seemed overly fixated on the idea of “suitability.”
“I don’t know how he looks to you from the outside,” Liang Yan replied honestly, “but to me, we’re quite a good match.”
Jiang Xinglan froze slightly, as if something dawned on him, then fell silent for a long while.
—
At the start of the new week, Ji Qiu bounced energetically into Class A again to sit in on lectures.
Liang Yan had arrived early and was sitting with his chin propped up, zoning out.
He was still thinking about Jiang Xinglan’s last words before he left on Saturday night.
The man had wished him well—but there was something strange about the way he’d said it.
Jiang Xinglan had stood there and told him:
“Very well. Then no matter what, if you’ve made your choice, don’t care about what the world thinks. I wish you happiness.”
That last line had Liang Yan frowning now.
What does he mean by ‘what the world thinks’?
Does love really need to be this complicated?
He glanced to the side at Ji Qiu, who looked as cheerful as a kid starting middle school, and suddenly remembered—Jiang Xinglan had apparently talked to him too.
He hadn’t thought much of it at the time, but thinking back now, when Jiang Xinglan had first confessed, he’d said something like “I’m not someone who discriminates based on orientation.”
Liang Yan mulled that over again and suddenly felt like something else was going on.
Mystery solved—it was probably Ji Qiu pulling some kind of stunt behind his back again.
Strangely, he didn’t feel mad. In fact, a different kind of curiosity arose.
“By the way,” before class started, Liang Yan decided to confront Ji Qiu, “I heard Jiang Xinglan talked to you last time?”
!!!
Ji Qiu’s internal alarms blared.
He paused, unsure why that was being brought up now, and played dumb:
“Ah? I think he did? What about it?”
Liang Yan spun his pen lazily between his fingers, completely relaxed:
“What did you two talk about?”
Ji Qiu tried to keep up the clueless act, hoping to shift the attention and take the blame himself:
“Nothing! He was interested in me! Came to ask what I liked, but don’t worry, Yan Yan—I turned him down firmly on the spot!”
“…”
Liang Yan fell silent for a moment.
No matter how many scenarios he imagined, Ji Qiu never expected things to play out like this.
What is this, me hyping myself up 2.0?
Why was he still not used to this?
“Oh.” Liang Yan responded slowly, playing along with him, “Then how exactly did you turn him down?”
Ji Qiu: “I…”
Damn.
Ji Qiu, now being interrogated, suddenly felt that acting was really hard.
Why had he slipped up and said that back then?
Liang Yan casually opened and closed the cap of his fountain pen, the repeated click sounds ringing crisp and clear:
“It’s fine, go ahead and talk. I won’t hit you.”
Ji Qiu lit up like he’d found hope: “…You really won’t?”
Liang Yan raised a brow: “If you keep making stuff up, I might reconsider.”
That basically meant—he already knew something.
Ji Qiu accepted his fate, drooped his head, and covered his face:
“He came to ask me what you liked—kept pestering me about your preferences.”
Liang Yan replied in a flat, unreadable tone: “And? What did you tell him I like?”
Ji Qiu felt like all his shamelessness evaporated in front of Liang Yan.
Still covering his face, he peeked through his fingers, eyes barely visible, and his voice growing smaller and smaller:
“I said… you like me.”
“Ohhh——”
Liang Yan drew out the sound, clearly thinking about how to respond next.
But before he could finish that dragged-out “oh,” Ji Qiu suddenly lunged at him, going full damage control and grabbing Liang Yan’s left hand in the process:
“Yanyan, I was wrong!!”
“…Get off first,” Liang Yan frowned and poked the puddle-like Ji Qiu.
Originally, it was all in good fun and nothing serious—but unfortunately, it was during class time.
Even though the professor hadn’t arrived yet, the classroom had quieted down a little…
So the commotion they made was just noticeable enough to catch a few people’s attention.
It was… a bit awkward.
While Liang Yan didn’t care about hiding his relationship with Ji Qiu, his current identity made it inconvenient to go public.
And “double-O love” was a bit too sensational to just casually drop in public, so the two had always been fairly low-key in front of their classmates.
Ji Qiu quickly realized what he’d done and, in a flash, sat upright again.
He tidied his shirt and gave a small cough, trying to cover up the scene.
Of course, that moment had already been witnessed by a few curious classmates, who immediately started whispering excitedly:
“Did I just see what I think I saw??”
“Huh?? What’s going on?”
“I looked back for one second and saw Ji Qiu clinging to Liang Yan.”
“AH!! YANQIU IS REAL! THEY’RE SO SWEET!! I’M DYING!!”
“Can y’all stop obsessing over them already? What’s the big deal with two omegas?”
“Why is the teacher still not here?”
“Waaah let me go, I can still keep shipping them!!”
“It’s not about them both being omegas! It’s about them being premium omegas!”
Meanwhile, two seats away, Yin Tongguang was desperately holding it together, face tense as he clutched his phone and kept gaming, pretending not to hear anything—terrified he’d accidentally blurt something out.
Thankfully, the professor finally arrived, and all eyes that had been locked on them were finally redirected.
Ji Qiu felt guilty and was about to quietly let go of Liang Yan’s hand—
Only to have Liang Yan hold on tighter.
They were seated in the last row, and with the long desks in front of them, no one could see their hands intertwined.
Ji Qiu looked surprised and whispered, “Yanyan?”
“Mhm.”
Liang Yan flipped open his book with his right hand, pretending to be casual:
“You just said you knew you were wrong?”
Ji Qiu nodded.
“Where were you wrong?”
Ji Qiu put on a pained expression, the classic look of someone who knows they’ve made a mistake and wants to make amends:
“I—I really won’t talk nonsense again…”
“Oh? And what else?”
Ji Qiu looked miserable and whimpered,
“I shouldn’t have even gone to see him. I should’ve just ignored everything he asked. That way, you wouldn’t have gotten jealous—ah!”
His hand was pinched—not too hard, but not too light either—between the thumb and index finger.
“Hmm?”
“Wuwuwu it’s not jealousy, it’s, it’s…”
“Why didn’t you just tell me directly?”
Ji Qiu let out a tiny “ah.”
Liang Yan sometimes really thought this alpha was stupid beyond hope.
“I mean…” Liang Yan kept his voice low so as not to disrupt class. Worried Ji Qiu might not hear, he leaned in a little closer,
“If you wanted me to like you, why didn’t you just say it directly?”
Instead, he stole a kiss during susceptibility, and then couldn’t hold back on the rooftop and dumped everything out in one go…
Liang Yan summed it up and couldn’t help the smile that crept up on his lips:
“Coward to the core.”
Ji Qiu didn’t argue. He just blinked at him with a grin:
“Yeah.”
Even being a coward was worth it, as long as he was wanted.
He was genuinely content.
The two of them held hands for a while—left hand holding right—then Liang Yan tried to shift position, just setting his pen down when that dumb, clingy alpha stuck to him again.
“You a piece of chewing gum?” Liang Yan asked, though he didn’t pull his hand away.
But of course, this was when Ji Qiu loved to walk the line of danger—if he couldn’t get any physical perks, he’d settle for verbal ones.
Still holding Liang Yan’s hand, Ji Qiu leaned in and spoke near his ear:
“Yan Yan Yan Yan, let’s go to the North Campus cafeteria later and eat soup dumplings, okay?”
“No.”
Liang Yan had already blacklisted that cafeteria—first it was Li Han, then Jiang Xinglan. He wasn’t about to walk into that hotbed of drama again.
“Yan Yan Yan Yan, how about an escape room this weekend?”
“Nope.”
Escape room? With Ji Qiu’s cowardice, he’d probably be scared to death by the staff.
“Movie then? I wanna watch a horror film.”
“Nope. Are you that bored? Shut up.”
There weren’t even any good movies out this week. Horror? Totally unnecessary.
When Ji Qiu realized sweet-talking wasn’t working, he rolled his eyes and switched tactics.
The professor’s class was honestly a bit boring—classic read-off-the-slides style. Ji Qiu didn’t even need to comment, and Liang Yan, with his insane learning ability, had already reviewed this topic thoroughly beforehand. The professor had now wandered off into some off-topic rambling.
So Ji Qiu leaned in and whispered:
“Yan Yan! Wouldn’t it be super exciting and thrilling if I kissed you right now?”
“…Go to hell,” Liang Yan wanted to say. “Keep it up and you’re banned from crashing our class.”
But the way he kept calling him “Yan Yan,” and the soft breath brushing against his ear, made his heart tickle.
“Yan Yan? I won’t mess around anymore, okay? Can you pay attention to me again?”
“…”
Like hell I will.
“Yan Yan qaq…”
Here it comes again. He’s at it again.
Maybe it was a moment of clouded judgment, or maybe it was a sudden rush of emotion—but whichever it was, Liang Yan felt like he had been bewitched.
Probably just wanted him to shut up, Liang Yan thought.
He tightened his grip on Ji Qiu’s left hand, then leaned over and gave a light, fleeting kiss at the corner of his lips.
Ji Qiu only had a brief sensation of the other’s warm breath. Liang Yan must’ve been a little flustered—when he moved in, his nose bumped against Ji Qiu’s cheek before quickly shifting away.
“Exciting, huh?” It was Liang Yan’s first time doing something like this. Although his voice remained cold, there was a subtle nervousness underneath, as if he was trying to mask his awkwardness. “Now that you’re thrilled, stop bothering me.”
But before he could react, Ji Qiu—who had just been chatting him up nonstop—suddenly grabbed the thin lab report on the table, used it to cover both their faces, and then closed his eyes and bit down on Liang Yan’s lower lip.
Ji Qiu’s kiss wasn’t too aggressive. If Liang Yan had turned his head, he could have easily dodged it. But he didn’t—he let him explore gently, tasting and nibbling, while their fingers remained tightly intertwined.
Of course, the kiss didn’t last long. Ji Xiao Qiu might be bold, but he still had some sense of location. Finally, reluctantly, he nuzzled Liang Yan’s chin, then put down the report he’d used as cover and abruptly buried his face in the desk.
Liang Yan didn’t think Ji Qiu was the type to suddenly get shy after a kiss, so he nudged his arm in confusion: “?”
Ji Qiu finally lifted his head from the crook of his arm, his eyes sparkling: “That was so exciting!”
“…,” Liang Yan instantly regretted asking.
But that moment—when he’d leaned in on his own—he didn’t regret that at all.
It was kind of thrilling. Still, better not let it happen again.
After saying that, Ji Qiu tilted his head and flopped back down on the desk, face resting on his arm, swaying it back and forth like a child—utterly immature.
Liang Yan heard his muffled voice buzzing through: “I’m—so—hap—py—”
At this rate, he didn’t look like a middle schooler anymore—more like a kid who just started kindergarten.
Liang Yan pressed his lips together and let him be.
But just as he reopened his book, the teacher at the podium suddenly stopped speaking.
The professor felt like he had just suffered the most devastating blow to his teaching career all semester.
He had been watching those two in the back row for a while now.
Great. Just great.
Ji Qiu had shown up in his class too many times for him not to take notice.
Originally, he wouldn’t have cared—but Ji Qiu had appeared not only in his S-class lectures, but also in his A-class ones. It gave the professor the illusion that this student was some kind of diehard fan.
So today, he had instinctively looked for him when class began.
And then…
He had just flipped to the next slide of his PowerPoint when he saw that guy using a report to cover their faces while clearly leaning in toward another student. What they were doing was obvious.
The professor knew the dean had a son studying at the university.
He just hadn’t realized the one sitting in the back row was him.
And even more shocking—he’d always thought Ji Qiu kept coming to class out of admiration for his teaching. Turns out he was just here for romance!
Outrageous!
“You two in the back,” the professor said, his tone heavy with righteous fury. Though they hadn’t technically disrupted the class, they had dealt a serious blow to his pride. “I know this is university, and teachers can’t really control who dates who.”
He deliberately paused for effect, letting the rest of the class catch up.
Sure enough, two seconds later, murmurs spread across the room.
“Who’s he talking about?”
“Those two in the back… who else?”
“Wait—no way! Liang Yan and Ji Qiu???”
“There’s no one else it could be, right?”
“Hold on—are they dating???”
The professor was very pleased with the atmosphere he had stirred. Slowly, he delivered the finishing blow:
“But please have some respect for the instructor—no kissing in my classroom.”
[mfn]If you enjoy my translations, you can show your support by leaving a comment or donating to my Ko-fi. It will be much appreciated. Thank you! [/mfn]
