Shen Yan’s gaze swept past He Yi, whose face had turned ashen, and landed on Wen Xiuran standing at the entrance of the Fine Arts Academy, his breathing slightly uneven.
The scorching sunlight poured down mercilessly, casting a stark glow on Wen Xiuran’s back, sharply outlining his tall and slender figure.
“What are you doing here?” He Yi suppressed his anger, looking at Wen Xiuran with confusion. This was the Fine Arts Academy—both he and Wen Xiuran belonged to the College of Sciences. He Yi had come to help his girlfriend with her oil painting frame, but what business could Wen Xiuran possibly have here?
He Yi’s expression suddenly darkened as he turned to glare at Shen Yan, about to demand an explanation, when Wen Xiuran strode forward and abruptly shoved him aside.
He Yi: “?”
Shen Yan instinctively took two steps back, eyeing Wen Xiuran warily.
Wen Xiuran’s outstretched hand froze awkwardly in mid-air before he reluctantly withdrew it.
Pressing his thin lips together, he spoke in a low voice, “You—”
“You—”
Their voices overlapped.
He Yi stood between them, his eyes darting back and forth.
Shen Yan frowned deeply at Wen Xiuran, while Wen Xiuran returned his gaze with an impassive expression.
“You go first.”
“You go first.”
Their voices clashed again, and Shen Yan nervously licked his lips. This wasn’t the first time he’d experienced something like this, yet for some reason, it was the first time he felt genuinely awkward. His eyes flickered uncertainly, unsure where to settle.
Wen Xiuran gave a slight nod, then turned to He Yi and said coldly, “You leave first.”
“?” He Yi was utterly baffled. Before, Wen Xiuran would go out of his way to avoid Shen Yan—so why was he now actively approaching him? He wanted to ask, but the overwhelming presence of an S-rank pheromone in the air was a clear warning: Wen Xiuran was in a foul mood.
When he looked up and met Wen Xiuran’s icy stare, all his words died in his throat. Forced to retreat, He Yi could only laugh awkwardly and walk away.
Shen Yan wore a windbreaker, a pair of oversized headphones draped around his neck, the black ear pads accentuating the paleness of his skin. The headphone cord hung loosely over his chest. His lower half was clad in dark gray cargo pants, the cuffs slightly rolled up to reveal a glimpse of his well-defined ankles. His hands were casually tucked into his pockets, and a lollipop dangled from his lips. As he chewed lightly, the white stick bobbed up and down, occasionally tapping against his lips with a soft click.
This outfit was a far cry from his usual gentle and sweet image. It was as if he had become a completely different person, exuding an air of carefree boldness.
Wen Xiuran stood there, brows slightly furrowed, lips pressed together, seemingly at a loss for words.
Shen Yan, meanwhile, narrowed his eyes and scrutinized him for a long moment, his gaze filled with curiosity and suspicion.
Finally, Shen Yan tilted his head slightly and spoke first, “You came to find me?”
“Mn.” Wen Xiuran responded simply, his voice deep and curt.
Shen Yan deliberately skipped over yesterday’s incident, pretending as if nothing had happened. “What for?”
But inwardly, he couldn’t help feeling a little guilty: Could he be here to beat me up?
Wen Xiuran lowered his gaze to look at him, his eyes filled with emotions Shen Yan couldn’t quite decipher—there seemed to be indifference, resignation, and a mix of other complicated feelings that left Shen Yan utterly bewildered.
In a completely flat tone, he said, “I should take responsibility for you. Do you want to be with me?”
Shen Yan froze for a moment. He took the lollipop out of his mouth, paused, and asked skeptically, “Then why did you give me money and disappear from the hotel?”
Wen Xiuran was usually someone who cared deeply about logic, so why was he speaking so incoherently now?
“Giving you money was to make you happy,” Wen Xiuran replied swiftly, as he was always adept at answering questions. “I didn’t disappear. I just went to order food for you. But you left without telling me and even deleted my WeChat.”
For some reason, Shen Yan detected a hint of resentment in that last sentence. He couldn’t help but mutter to himself, Why does this guy sound so aggrieved?
But when he looked at Wen Xiuran’s face, the other man showed no expression, as if he didn’t particularly care.
Too many things had happened between him and Wen Xiuran over the past few days, leaving even someone as experienced with alphas as Shen Yan feeling somewhat overwhelmed.
Shen Yan lowered his head and licked his lollipop, feeling both annoyed and amused. He had initially thought Wen Xiuran was naive, and it turned out to be true. Just one night together, and he already wanted to take responsibility. If I’d known, I wouldn’t have bothered with all the effort and just drugged him directly.
Wen Xiuran studied Shen Yan’s face carefully, his tone uncharacteristically fluctuating: “Actually, inducers don’t work on S-rank alphas.”
Though he was extremely reluctant to admit it, the truth was that Wen Xiuran neither wanted to bond with an omega nor be tied down by anything. Yet, for some reason, the thought of being with Shen Yan in the future made an inexplicable sense of anticipation sprout in his heart.
The first time he met Shen Yan, Wen Xiuran had felt his glands grow slightly warm, which irritated him. His instincts were setting off alarm bells in his mind. So, he deliberately kept his distance from this beta. Even so, he couldn’t stop himself from secretly observing Shen Yan. When he saw Shen Yan helping others, he would involuntarily step forward out of concern that the other might get hurt.
Throughout their interactions, Wen Xiuran had found Shen Yan vain, deceitful, evasive, and full of petty schemes—traits that were completely at odds with his ideal partner. He believed he shouldn’t be with someone like that, but his body refused to be fully controlled by his mind. He couldn’t completely suppress his feelings either, which eventually led him to rely on medication to stabilize his pheromones and prevent dependency on Shen Yan.
Yet despite all that, he kept lowering his own boundaries for Shen Yan without realizing it.
Later, when he was drugged at the hotel, Wen Xiuran had remained fully conscious the entire time. Afterward, he had wanted to blame everything on the drugs, but the thought of truly letting Shen Yan go made him feel like he might regret it deeply.
Hesitant, Wen Xiuran tentatively asked, “Do you want to marry me?”
Crack.
Shen Yan bit down on the lollipop in his hand, the crisp sound seeming to echo endlessly in that moment.
He had heard confessions from others many times before, but a casual remark from Wen Xiuran left Shen Yan, who was usually smooth and confident in matters of love, utterly flustered. A flicker of panic flashed in Shen Yan’s eyes as he deliberately avoided Wen Xiuran’s gaze.
All the practiced, playful words he usually had at the ready stuck in his throat, impossible to utter.
His mind was in chaos, and his body reacted before he could think. Head lowered, Shen Yan tightly grasped Wen Xiuran’s hand and hurriedly led him through the crowded hallway, their steps quick as they made their way to a storage room.
With a loud “bang,” Shen Yan shut the door behind them, ignoring the fine dust stirred up around them. He pressed Wen Xiuran against the wall, cupped his face with both hands, and smiled with satisfaction before leaning in without hesitation or delay. His lips met Wen Xiuran’s soft ones in a kiss, and at the same time, he passed over the crushed remnants of a lollipop from his own mouth.
Shen Yan remained silent, his mind blank. He couldn’t quite describe what he was feeling, so he simply followed his instincts, kissing Wen Xiuran fiercely as if pouring all the complicated emotions in his heart into that one kiss.
When his rationality gradually returned, Shen Yan slowly opened his eyes, his gaze hazy and unfocused as he looked at the other man. He smiled faintly, his voice carrying a lazy, seductive tone. “Sweet?”
That smile accidentally tugged at the wound on the corner of his mouth, causing him to suck in a sharp breath from the sudden pain, his brows furrowing slightly.
Wen Xiuran was momentarily dazed by the sudden, intense kiss, taking a while to regain his senses. Staring at the beta before him, who was grinning so brightly, he mirrored the expression with a slow, dazed smile of his own. “Sweet,” he murmured.
Before the word had fully left his lips, Wen Xiuran closed his eyes and kissed him back.
Shen Yan kept his eyes open, feeling Wen Xiuran’s eyelashes brush lightly against his cheeks. The other man had lowered his head slightly to kiss him, his closed eyes radiating focus. Yet Shen Yan’s thoughts inexplicably drifted away, recalling He Yi, who had confronted him earlier.
Though he didn’t know what relationship He Yi had with Xu Shiyan, it seemed the other man was well aware of his past. Back then, Xu Shiyan had sworn to convince his parents and take Shen Yan home, but when their secret relationship was exposed, Shen Yan was abandoned, left to shoulder all the blame alone.
A faint worry surfaced in his heart. Wen Xiuran was the heir to a conglomerate, a rare S-class alpha—would choosing a beta as his partner really go unchallenged?
Alphas often developed strong dependencies on partners with high compatibility rates, but Shen Yan was just an ordinary beta, unlikely to form a deep bond with an alpha. If he and Wen Xiuran really got together, and their feelings changed one day, the fallout might be even worse than before.
Perhaps sensing Shen Yan’s distraction, Wen Xiuran suddenly leaned in and nipped lightly at the corner of his mouth.
The sharp sting snapped Shen Yan back to reality, but before he could react, Wen Xiuran had already pulled him into a tight embrace, his burning gaze fixed on him as he asked, “What are you thinking about?”
Shen Yan smiled.
“Thinking about how you’ve never been in a relationship—” The beta drew out his words, lazily tracing circles on Wen Xiuran’s chest with his finger. “—yet you’re awfully eager to propose to someone.”
Wen Xiuran’s ears turned red. In an attempt to hide his embarrassment, he kissed Shen Yan’s lips again.
Beta responded with a smile, the quiet classroom filled only with the sound of their heavy breathing. Outside the window, a gentle breeze rustled through the leaves, creating a soft, whispering sound. Time seemed to stand still, as if the entire world had narrowed down to just their shared breaths and heartbeats.
“Enough, enough,” Shen Yan said, pushing Wen Xiuran’s head away before soothingly pressing it against his shoulder. He glanced down at his phone. They had been kissing for over half an hour.
Shen Yan clicked his tongue. Apparently, being in a relationship was just a distraction.
“I need to talk to the teacher about something. Want to come with me?”