In the dozen or so steps that Han Jian walked toward her, Lu Qingmo saw his dress shirt fade into a youthful white T-shirt. His leg was still healthy as if it was just a normal break between classes when Han Jian came to wait for him.
The multimedia lecture hall wasn’t renovated like it was now, and the creaking of the wooden floor could be heard as you walked on the podium. They had conducted many diplomatic drills on the podium. Every time they finished, Han Jian would smile and say to Lu Qingmo, “I’m done with my questioning. Thank you for your answers, dear diplomat.”
They might have been able to become colleagues if Han Jian’s leg had not turned out the way it did.
“I came here as soon as I got out of class, but unfortunately I only heard the end.” Han Jian stopped in front of Lu Qingmo, “Everyone has been looking forward to this speech for a long time.”
She didn’t know who he referred to by “everyone”, whether it was the principal, the students, or someone else.
“I just think of it as sharing some experience.” Lu Qingmo avoided Han Jian’s eyes and said, “I didn’t speak well.”
“If a Union diplomat doesn’t speak well, who will?” Han Jian looked at Lu Qingmo, “Last time I was in a hurry and didn’t have time to chat with you more.”
He paused and asked, “Work must be tough?”
Lu Qingmo’s grip on her bag tightened slightly, “It’s okay.”
They were still unable to chat more and both of them fell into silence. One gazed at the other quietly, while the other avoided eye contact. Undoubtedly, there were many things to say, but they couldn’t say them.
Blood mixing with mud, the hoarse pleas in the rainy night—the night they never wanted to recall and wished to forget had long passed.
Long enough to wear out all the enthusiasm and extinguish all the reckless courage of youth, leaving only a distance of one meter and silence when reunited.
“I still have a class next period, so I have to go to the classroom.” Han Jian checked his watch, “What about you?”
“I have a meeting to attend.”
“Be careful on the way.”
“Mn.”
–
The first swimming lesson of the school year was attended by both Class 1 and Class 2. The sports schedules of the two classes overlapped because all the tests had to be completed within a month to provide a reference for early admission based on their physical education performance.
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
Gu Yunchi came to school this afternoon on a rare occasion, but his expression was bad. Even his deskmate, Lu Heyang, looked particularly gloomy.
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“What’s there for them to fight about?” He Wei sat down on his seat and put his arm on Xu Ze’s back to get closer to him. “Anyhow, don’t tell anyone, I’ll tell you a secret.”
“In half a month, it’s going to be Grandpa Gu’s birthday party, and they’ll probably announce Yunchi’s engagement then.”
Xu Ze was taken aback, “Engagement already?”—they had just started their third year of high school.
“Of course, it’s not official. They’re just letting that omega meet the Gu family. But Grandpa Gu carries a lot of weight in the family, and introducing someone at his birthday party is practically the same as getting engaged.”
“So soon,” Xu Ze couldn’t find any other words to describe it, except that it was so soon.
He thought that Gu Yunchi should be the least restricted among the three, considering their family backgrounds, personalities, and other aspects. But after only one summer, the freest person was the first to be bound, which caught Xu Ze off guard—or maybe it was due to his ignorance. In families like Lu Heyang’s, where power prevailed over affection, elders were not just elders, but also symbols of authority.
“That omega is in the prep school as well. I heard that his family’s business is on the verge of bankruptcy. If it weren’t for his high compatibility with Yunchi, the Gu family wouldn’t have agreed to this marriage. But there’s no other choice, considering Yunchi’s physical condition is so…” He Wei started to speak but then stopped himself. “Ah, never mind, let’s not talk about it. It’s time for swimming class, let’s warm up.”
He Wei had recently been enthusiastic about arm-wrestling with Xu Ze. Even though he never won, that didn’t stop him from competing with Xu Ze every day.
He stretched out his hand to Xu Ze, and Xu Ze took it. Xu Ze hadn’t touched many people’s hands. Among alphas, there were probably only Lu Heyang and He Wei. Both of their hands were beautifully smooth and refined, and they were pampered as if they had never experienced any hardship.
With their elbows on the desk, He Wei stared intently at their hands, while Xu Ze seemed lost in thought. Their fists slowly tilted to the right, and He Wei’s eyes lit up with excitement. However, Xu Ze snapped back to reality and used his wrist to push He Wei’s arm onto the desk on the left.
“It doesn’t matter, losing to a boxer isn’t embarrassing,” He Wei consoled himself with this every time. He held Xu Ze’s hand and looked at the calluses on his palm, “Xiao Ze, let me ask you, if it weren’t for your good relationship with Heyang, would you still arm wrestle with me every day?”
He thought that Xu Ze would at least hesitate, but Xu Ze only paused for half a second and replied, “Probably not.”
“At least you said ‘probably’. Thank you for your consideration,” He Wei smiled.
“Xu Ze.”
The classroom was noisy, and He Wei didn’t hear it. However, Xu Ze immediately turned his head and saw Lu Heyang standing at the back door.
“Going to the swimming pool,” Lu Heyang said to him.
Xu Ze nodded, pulled his hand away from He Wei’s, and picked up his backpack. Only then did He Wei turn around and realize that Lu Heyang was staring at him.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” He Wei was puzzled. “Gu Yunchi has had a bad influence on you.”
On the way to the swimming pool, He Wei suddenly patted Gu Yunchi’s shoulder and pointed in the direction of the equipment room, “Look.”
Xu Ze followed and turned his head to look. In the hallway outside the equipment room, an omega was walking with his backpack. Xu Ze realized that he had a tendency to be nearsighted; he squinted his eyes but still couldn’t see the omega’s profile clearly. He could only tell that the person had his head down and looked pale and thin.
He Wei detected the changes in the alpha pheromone in the air and promptly poked Gu Yunchi’s wristband to increase the level. He then advised him, “Killing is against the law, don’t act impulsively. He’s innocent too.”
“I’ll kill you first,” Gu Yunchi glared at him and said coldly.
At the end of the swimming lesson, Xu Ze returned to the locker room. His results today ranked first among all S-level students. The teacher simply said “Keep it up” and let him leave the class early.
Xu Ze sat in the locker room for a while. It wasn’t until he heard the dismissal whistle from the other side of the building that he rose, grabbed his clothes, and made his way to the showers.
Just as he had hung up his clothes, he heard a few knocks on the cubicle door. Lu Heyang said from outside, “You forgot to take your towel.”
Although Xu Ze could have simply taken the towel from above the stall, he still opened the door and said, “Thank you.”
There was a lot of noise in the locker room and corridor, but the showers were temporarily empty and quiet. Xu Ze grabbed the towel, but Lu Heyang didn’t let go. With Xu Ze’s tug, he took a step into the small cubicle.
Lu Heyang closed the door behind him. Without giving Xu Ze time to be surprised, he leaned over and kissed Xu Ze on the mouth—like a short kiss as a greeting. Lu Heyang was about to straighten up, but Xu Ze cautiously chased after to kiss him. He always took the initiative when Lu Heyang wasn’t expecting it.
For a few minutes, he kissed Xu Ze, whose kissing skills still hadn’t improved. During those few minutes, the other alphas quickly came and finished showering. The noise surrounded Lu Heyang and Xu Ze from all sides and then receded. In the end, Lu Heyang grabbed Xu Ze’s hips and pushed him against the wall, reminding him in a quiet voice, “Xu Ze, this is the swimming pool.”
Xu Ze stared at Lu Heyang for a few seconds, then looked away.
Since the beginning of the school year, he hadn’t spent much time alone with Lu Heyang. That was because Lu Heyang hadn’t attended classes regularly this semester. Sometimes he would come in the afternoon, and sometimes he wouldn’t show up at all. In He Wei’s words, he was “infected with Gu Yunchi’s bad habits”, but Xu Ze knew that wasn’t the reason.
He didn’t even have time to feel anxious. All he could do was silently count and estimate when the countdown timer would be pressed.
“Heyang, are you ready?” He Wei shouted before leaving the showers.
“No, you go first, the driver will pick me up.”
“Gotcha. Where’s Xu Ze?”
“He finished class early and left already,” Lu Heyang’s hand rested on Xu Ze’s waist as he replied calmly.
He Wei responded with an “Oh” and left. Lu Heyang turned back to look at Xu Ze and told him, “I might not come to school every day this semester.”
Xu Ze seemed to have no objection and nodded, “Okay.”
There was no question as to why, not even a hint of confusion in his expression. He simply accepted this reality calmly and submissively. Lu Heyang looked at Xu Ze’s face. Previously, Xu Ze would still ask him if he was going abroad, but now he didn’t ask a single word, as if he had already made some preparations and was just waiting for Lu Heyang to bid him farewell.
Xu Ze’s way of dealing with things was simple; he didn’t pester or demand much, and he didn’t need others to explain or take responsibility for him. Even if Lu Heyang gave him a ride and then left him alone on the side of the road halfway, he would simply watch the direction the car was going, wait in place for a while, and if the car didn’t come back, he would continue walking on his own. He wouldn’t chase the car or call Lu Heyang to ask him why he had left him.
“I can’t text or call you often either.” Lu Heyang said as a joke, “It wouldn’t be good if it was monitored.”
“Okay.” Lu Heyang’s words implied that he shouldn’t initiate contact with him. Xu Ze clutched the towel in his hand and nodded, “I won’t bother you.”
A few drops of water slid down Xu Ze’s forehead, and his face turned pale. He was starting to regret his initiative a few minutes ago, thinking that he had done so many things that weren’t necessary for Lu Heyang.
“Don’t do reading comprehension like this. You’ll get zero points.” Lu Heyang’s voice remained steady as he raised his hand to squeeze the back of Xu Ze’s neck to lift his head and make those deep gray eyes lock onto his own. “I didn’t mean that.”
Xu Ze slowly asked, “Then what did you mean?”
It wasn’t an interrogation or a rhetorical question, and it didn’t carry any negative emotions. Since Lu Heyang said it wasn’t what he meant, Xu Ze wanted to find the answer to his zero-point reading comprehension and figure out the exact meaning—if Lu Heyang didn’t want to answer, it didn’t matter.
He felt Lu Heyang’s hand on the back of his neck tighten.
The shower stall in the swimming pool wasn’t the most ideal place and now wasn’t the perfect time. Not only this moment, this day, and perhaps the next few years, it wouldn’t be the right or appropriate time to ask this question out loud—but Lu Heyang asked anyway.
“Xu Ze.” Lu Heyang let go and stood up straight, observing Xu Ze’s calm expression that indicated his complete unawareness of what was about to occur. He asked, “Have you ever considered being with me?”
Author’s note:
Xu Ze：( ﾟOﾟ)
Ooohhhhhh
Thanks for the chapter!!!
he finally asked 🥺🥺🥺 but i don’t like where this is going, why does it feel like there’s going to be a long separation
Technically, this novel doesn’t have the scary
Long Separationtag on NU so we should be safe. The internet never lies.Take another look… (When I started this, I added a few tags myself, and others contributed more. I put the reunion tag without realizing that there was also a long separation tag available 🥲)
A separation, for real?? 😥
Thx for your translation and your fast update 🙏
OH NO ; O ; Why did I have to ruin everything for us ahahah(Thank you doububu, you the bestest)
Omg I didn’t event know there was such a tag 😂
CRYING SOBBING THROWING UP!!!!!! xu ze is a puppy……
thank you for the chapter!!
OHHHHHHH :000000
Thank you for the chapter~ <3
Ohh thanks for the chapter.
Why why why the cliffhanger, patiently waiting for the next update
(‘◉⌓◉’)
囧
Omg omg omg! 😯