“I’ll pay you back if it breaks. I can get as many as you want.” Dai Li’s mood suddenly deflated.
“I just want this one.” Too lazy to bicker with Dai Li, Xu Changxing ignored him.
Obediently, Dai Li loosened his grip, though he didn’t pull back his forward-leaning posture. “Answer my question.”
Before Xu Changxing could give an answer, the class bell rang.
It was still a math class. Seeing the math teacher walk in, Dai Li immediately sat up straight.
The next second, however, he heard Xu Changxing’s smiling voice right beside his ear, “You came three times last week.”
Dai Li turned his head, eyes widening in shock. He opened his mouth to say something, but a deep voice boomed from the podium, “Class!”
“Stand up! Good morning, teacher.” Following the crowd, Dai Li stood up, cutting off whatever he had wanted to say. He could only bow while tilting his head to glare at Xu Changxing.
As soon as they sat back down, Dai Li lowered his voice to whisper into Xu Changxing’s ear, “Three times?! Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Why should I?” Xu Changxing continued working on his biology practice problems.
“I’m your deskmate!” For some reason, Dai Li felt an itch in his chest, as if ants were crawling across it.
“Still, I have to admit, your taste in friends is pretty good. That guy even invited me to the mall last weekend, though unfortunately, he ended up getting dragged off by them to visit you in the hospital.” Xu Changxing couldn’t help but smile.
“Unfortunately? Oh great, it looks like I held you guys up.” Dai Li laughed in frustration, his voice involuntarily raising a notch.
Suddenly, the entire classroom fell into a dead silence, quiet enough to hear a pin drop.
Sure enough, the next second, a piece of chalk came flying straight toward them. “Dai Li, get out!”
Indulging a silent flash of anger, Dai Li accepted his fate, stood up, and walked out.
Unable to hold it in any longer, Xu Changxing let out a low chuckle, raised his hand, and said, “Teacher, I’ll go keep him company.” With that, he walked toward the back door.
His tall figure leaned against the tiled wall beside the back door. The black and white school uniform T-shirt looked a bit small on him, clinging tightly to his frame. The top two buttons of the collar were casually undone, and his long-sleeved jacket hung loosely over his shoulders.
A gust of breeze swept by, fluttering the tips of his slightly curly hair.
“Why did you come out?” Dai Li tilted his head with a smug, schadenfreude-filled smile.
“Afraid you’d be lonely, so I came to keep you company.”
“Well, look at that, the sun really did rise from the west.” Teasing him, Dai Li slid over a bit to make room for Xu Changxing.
Xu Changxing stepped over and leaned against the wall beside Dai Li. The tiles in the shaded area were somewhat cold, sending a wave of chill slicing through the thin fabric. “Hiss.”
Taking off his jacket, Dai Li handed it to Xu Changxing.
When Xu Changxing tilted his head in confusion, Dai Li looked at him with an expression of utter exasperation, reached out to grab Xu Changxing’s shoulders to pull him up, wedged the jacket behind Xu Changxing’s back, and pressed him back down.
The Alpha’s residual body warmth still lingered on the jacket, immediately shutting out the freezing tiles as the heat spread across the skin that had been chilled through.
Feeling slightly awkward, Dai Li returned to his own spot. Even though they were in the shaded area, a faint blush quietly crept up his ears, and he pressed his back flat against the wall as if trying to use it to cool down.
Fixating on those reddened tips of Dai Li’s ears, Xu Changxing let out a soft laugh lighter than the wind, which landed squarely in Dai Li’s ears.
“What are you laughing at?”
Lifting his gaze to look out at the distant sports field, Xu Changxing replied, “I just think it’s funny that the legendary school bully has a side like this.” Then he turned his head back, meeting Dai Li’s eyes with a slight smile.
“I’ve always been like this,” Dai Li said with a proud shrug.
Clutching the corner of the jacket behind him, Xu Changxing shifted slightly forward, pulled the jacket out, and handed it back. “Here.”
Caught completely off guard by this move, Dai Li took his jacket back in a daze, opened his mouth to say something, but saw Xu Changxing turn around and head straight toward the restroom without looking back.
“Hey!” Chasing after him, Dai Li walked side by side with him. “I’ll go with you.”
“No need.” Xu Changxing’s voice was cold.
“You were fine just a second ago, why the sudden cold shoulder?” Puzzled, Dai Li draped the jacket back over his shoulders.
“Like you said, I’m the high-ridge flower.” Xu Changxing pursed his lips into a faint smile, frowning slightly.
“Who calls themselves a high-ridge flower. Fine, fine, if you’re a high-ridge flower, you’re the prettiest one.” Following right beside Xu Changxing, Dai Li occasionally glanced down to check his expression.
“Young Master Dai flatters me.” Dropping those words, Xu Changxing walked straight into a restroom stall and slammed the door shut with a bang.
Left hanging, Dai Li took a step back.
“Need any help?” Leaning over the gap in the door, Dai Li asked mischievously.
“Get lost,” came a muffled voice from inside.
“Hey, what’s wrong with you?” Sensing something off about Xu Changxing’s voice, Dai Li tentatively knocked on the stall door.
The door swung inward abruptly. Xu Changxing walked out looking completely unphased, standing on the steps to look down at Dai Li. “I’m fine.”
“Good, you scared the life out of me.” Letting out a breath, Dai Li followed Xu Changxing back out.
Just as they reached the classroom door, the passing-period bell rang. Xu Changxing walked straight back to his seat, tidied up his desk, and got his books ready for the next class, while Dai Li lingered behind, failing to take his seat.
Turning his head to look, Xu Changxing found Dai Li standing in a daze behind him, still staring intently at his neck with a guilty expression, looking precisely like a misbehaving child afraid of being punished.
“What?”
“Did I just touch you?” Dai Li’s tone sounded anxious and aggrieved.
“Huh?” Xu Changxing tilted his head.
“Your neck,” Dai Li reached up to touch a spot on his own neck. “It’s red.”
“Ah. It’s fine, it’ll go away in a minute.” Covering the spot with his hand, Xu Changxing lowered his gaze awkwardly to the table leg.
“You… do you have any ointment and cotton swabs? Here, let me help you apply it. You can’t see the back yourself,” Dai Li offered apologetically, feeling as though he were the one who had caused this mess.
“Mm.” Pulling a small tube of ointment from his desk drawer, Xu Changxing handed it over.
Turning around, Xu Changxing lowered his head to expose the area. The superior lines of his neck, the smooth, flawless skin, and that reddened spot marked the exact location where a gland would grow if he were an Alpha or an Omega.
Swallowing hard, Dai Li opened the tube, squeezed a dab onto a cotton swab, and began gently swirling it in circles over the area.
“Hiss.” Xu Changxing shrank his neck back slightly.
“What’s wrong, was I too rough?” Dai Li hurriedly pulled his hand back.
“It’s fine. All done, thank you.” Reaching out to take the ointment back, Xu Changxing put it away in his drawer and lowered his head, refusing to engage further.
Turning his gaze toward the window, Dai Li absentmindedly rubbed his own ear, pulled out his chair, and finally sat down.
The familiar rustling sound of pen tips scraping against paper drifted from beside him, yet it felt as though someone were drawing and writing directly on his own skin, sending ripples of itchiness through him.
Recalling the scene from just moments ago, that gorgeous, fair neck seemed to still linger right before his eyes, and its owner was sitting within arm’s reach.
Damn it.
He really wanted to bite.