After teaching Zhao Zhifan a lesson, Yan Xun returned to the Research Institute.
At dinner time, he had heard that Fu Siheng was indeed coming. He took advantage of the instructors’ meal break to arrive early at the staff cafeteria and wait in ambush.
Fu Siheng and Shi Yuanyang walked in through the entrance and saw him sitting at a table, poking at the rice on his plate while glancing toward the door.
The moment his eyes met Fu Siheng’s, Yan Xun immediately looked away and pretended to eat.
For some reason, the staff cafeteria was unusually crowded with students today, and several tables were already occupied.
Shi Yuanyang looked around, failed to find a free table, and said, “Let’s share a table with Chairman Yan. He’s alone anyway.”
Without waiting for Fu Siheng’s agreement, he walked over first.
Just what I was dreading, Fu Siheng thought, but he had no choice but to brace himself and follow.
“Is this seat taken, Chairman Yan?” Shi Yuanyang asked, holding his tray.
Yan Xun looked up, pretending he had only just noticed them. “No one’s here. Feel free to sit.”
The two sat down opposite him. Shi Yuanyang glanced around and asked, “Where’s Brother Yi? I don’t see him.”
“Went to play ball,” Yan Xun replied, glancing at Fu Siheng before subtly switching his chopsticks to his left hand.
Shi Yuanyang, his curiosity piqued, asked, “Why didn’t you go?”
In that moment, Yan Xun was absolutely enamored with him, thinking from the bottom of his heart that Fu Siheng, his childhood friend, was truly a master of conversation.
His hand trembled, and his chopsticks clattered onto the table. Fu Siheng lifted his eyelids slightly.
Yan Xun pulled off his fingerless glove, revealing his left hand wrapped in gauze. Shi Yuanyang gasped, “Oh my god, you’re hurt!”
“Yeah, my hand is injured, and it’s pretty serious,” Yan Xun said, trying his best to sound strong yet vulnerable. “Even eating is a bit difficult, let alone playing ball.”
He stole a glance at Fu Siheng, only to meet his gaze. He quickly lowered his eyes, frowning as if in genuine pain.
Shi Yuanyang slapped his forehead. “Right, you must have gotten hurt when you hit the mecha. That’s terrible. I’ll go get you a spoon.”
With that, he stood up and walked toward the window.
Only Fu Siheng and Yan Xun remained at the table. The students nearby were all stealing glances at them.
Yan Xun kept his head down, not initiating conversation, looking rather aggrieved.
Fu Siheng said flatly, “I don’t recall you being left-handed.”
Yan Xun nearly let his cover slip. He coughed a few times dryly and said, “I… sometimes I’m used to using my left hand. I just forgot I could use my right hand.”
He took the chopsticks back into his hand, gripping them so tightly with nerves that they trembled slightly.
“Did you ask Zhao Zhifan to come?” Fu Siheng asked.
“Yeah, I just happened to run into him complaining, so I gave him a piece of my mind,” Yan Xun murmured, his demeanor a far cry from the arrogant bully who had trampled on others’ chests earlier that day.
Fu Siheng remained silent, but the icy chill on his face had thawed.
Yan Xun sensed the shift and seized the opportunity. Softening his voice, he pleaded, “Thank you for bandaging me. I’ve reflected on everything, and I know it was wrong of me to try and brush you off. It’s all my fault. As for the reason we broke up… I honestly can’t remember. I was just young and foolish, making up excuses for no reason. Can you please stop being angry with me?”
As he spoke, he felt even more guilty and added, “If you’re not angry anymore, I’ll do anything you want.”
He didn’t even realize it himself, but his tone was now identical to someone trying to coax their boyfriend.
Fu Siheng’s lips quirked into a faint smile. He set down his chopsticks and looked at Yan Xun.
Whenever Yan Xun faced him, his IQ seemed to plummet. He couldn’t decipher the expression on Fu Siheng’s face. It didn’t look like he was unhappy, but it didn’t look like he was happy, either.
“Forget it. There’s no point in talking about this now,” Fu Siheng said after watching him for a moment, his lips moving slightly.
His gaze held no overt aggression, yet it was enough to make the Little Tyrant of Imperial Military Academy, a man who could command the campus with a single word, shudder visibly.
After a few seconds, he picked up his chopsticks and resumed eating as if nothing had happened.
Yan Xun mustered his courage and placed a portion of steamed egg with sea urchin from his own plate onto Fu Siheng’s. “Here, I know you like seafood.”
“Thanks,” Fu Siheng said without looking up.
Shi Yuanyang, who had just returned with a spoon, witnessed the scene and asked in astonishment, “You two are already this close? I was planning to act as a matchmaker and reintroduce you.”
Yan Xun smiled warmly. “We’ve gone through life-and-death situations together. How could we not be close?”
As he spoke, he skillfully plucked a shrimp from Fu Siheng’s plate and began peeling it.
“…” Shi Yuanyang was momentarily speechless. You two have gotten close way too fast! Peeling shrimp for each other already? Isn’t that something an Alpha does for his Omega?
He discreetly glanced down at his communicator, which still displayed the messages Lin Yue had sent a minute ago.
LinLinIsNotYueYue: Senior! Which cafeteria are you in? I want to come over too qwq
LinLinIsNotYueYue: I’m really worried about him. I heard the Principal called him into his office. Is he okay?
Shi Yuanyang struggled to type with one hand: You’d better not come. There are other people here.
Linlin is not Yueyue: Who is it? TAT But I really want to see Instructor Fu.
Shi Yuanyang glanced at Yan Xun, who was happily peeling shrimp, and Fu Siheng, who was handing him a tissue. For some reason, his intuition told him that Lin Yue wouldn’t like to see such a scene.
Shi Shi Doesn’t Talk About Love: Yan Xun and Yi Fengbei are already here. The place is full.
Linlin is not Yueyue: Fine, huhuhu. Then remember to tell Instructor Fu to rest well. He must be exhausted from dealing with all this over the past couple of days.
Shi Yuanyang sighed, replied, “Okay,” and turned off his communicator.
His junior had fallen for him after all. As expected, Fu Siheng was a devastatingly beautiful sprite; no little omega could escape his grasp.
Yan Xun piled a heap of shrimp meat onto Fu Siheng’s plate, then looked up and smiled at him.
He was sitting diagonally opposite Shi Yuanyang, and that glance happened to fall right into Shi Yuanyang’s line of sight.
His pure black pupils were bright and clear, his peach-blossom eyes slightly curved. His handsome face held a hint of anticipation and eagerness to please, along with a touch of purity and joy.
Shi Yuanyang froze, suddenly feeling that perhaps his earlier thought wasn’t a mistake.
That look… it was clearly the look of someone gazing at the person they loved…
After that meal, Shi Yuanyang found himself unable to look directly at the two of them for a very long time.
He knew his childhood friend was a textbook-strong Alpha, the kind that radiated Alpha energy. Yan Xun, on the other hand, was a rebellious type whose own Alpha aura was off the charts. He couldn’t even imagine what it would be like if those two were together.
Who would submit to whom? Who would mark whom…?
The thought was actually… a little thrilling?
Two weeks later, the Imperial Military Academy was about to hold its first Excellence Assessment.
Fu Siheng had been busy for two full weeks. Once, he even missed a video call from Fu Shouming. He’d never felt this exhausted, even back in the Marine Corps.
Every day was an endless cycle of meetings. The Military Department issued a document, so they had to meet. They had to meet to prepare for a visit from the leadership. They even had to meet to discuss the welcome party for the freshmen.
Besides preparing courses, writing teaching plans, and organizing the assessment items, there were all sorts of miscellaneous chores to deal with every day.
Last Wednesday, an Omega came to see him, saying he’d accidentally left his suppressant here while picking up some documents. Fu Siheng spent an hour searching with him before finally finding it wedged in the sofa cushions.
On Thursday, an Alpha’s parents were getting a divorce. He went out drinking in a bad mood, so Fu Siheng had to fly out in the middle of the night to bring him back.
Saturday was supposed to be a day off, but a student broke his leg playing basketball, so he had to bring a fruit basket to the hospital and keep him company.
Some students couldn’t handle the training, while others were so stressed they sought him out to vent at three in the morning.
After half a month of this, Fu Siheng truly pitied the class advisors from his own college days. Is this even a job for a human? He wondered. Absolutely not.
The instructor from Class 1 dropped the assessment roster on Fu Siheng’s desk, his face grim. “We’re screwed. Yan Xun is proctoring our class.”
The Class 2 instructor chuckled. “Yi Fengbei is proctoring ours. Not bad. Xiao Fu, who’s yours?” he asked, taking a sip of tea.
The periodic assessments weren’t as strict as the midterms or finals. The head proctors were all senior students from the Research Institute.
Fu Siheng flipped to the end of the list. “Gu Chongyang.”
“Cough!” The Class 2 instructor choked on his tea.
The Class 1 instructor’s eyes widened. “Gu Chongyang? Holy crap, you’d better warn your students. That guy…”
He trailed off, as if remembering something, and abruptly pivoted. “That guy is pretty strict. Anyway, just… take it easy.”
Fu Siheng felt like he’d heard the name somewhere before, but he couldn’t place it. He didn’t think much of it and simply posted the roster in the class group chat, reminding everyone to memorize their candidate numbers.
To his surprise, the Class 3 group chat immediately erupted.
Mu Xiaoxiao: Wtf, who? Gu Chongyang is proctoring??
An Ran: No way, no way, am I seeing this right?! He’s already back?! Oh my god, he’s not gonna fail me, is he!
Shi Hongjun: Giao, money’s ready. How much was a retake again? Oh, wait, we don’t have to retake the mid-term phase.
Zhu Rong: @Zhao Zhifan, Brother Fan, your boss is back. Get ready to welcome him.
Fu Siheng: Instead of wasting time mourning, you’d better start preparing properly.
Class Monitor: Crying. Instructor, you have no idea how terrifying he is.
Just then, a private message popped up. Fu Siheng tapped it open to find it was from the Study Committee Member.
Luo Shu: Instructor, you’d better be careful with this proctor! He’s Zhao Zhifan’s boss and Vice Principal Gu’s nephew. He has a pretty bad reputation at school.
Fu Siheng finally recalled something. He seemed to have seen the name in the nightclub group chat. Vice Principal Gu was named Gu Xiao, a figurehead principal who actually served as the second-in-command at the National Defense Headquarters. No wonder Zhao Zhifan acted so recklessly at school; it turned out he was running with this crowd.
Luo Shu sent another message: And he doesn’t get along with anyone from the Research Institute, especially Senior Yan Xun.
Seeing this message, Fu Siheng’s interest was piqued. He asked, What’s the story?
Luo Shu: I heard that Gu Chongyang once misunderstood that Senior Yan had stolen his boyfriend, so he sent people to corner Senior Yan. Of course, Senior Yan didn’t just let it go. He brought his own crew to fight back, and the two of them fought back and forth fiercely. Just then, the omega started crying, begging them to stop fighting over him. Who knew they would both tell him to get lost at the same time?
Fu Siheng: ……
Luo Shu: That omega was furious and started spreading rumors everywhere that Senior Yan was impotent, that he’d been sending him “good morning” and “good night” messages for half a year, but Senior Yan never responded. Senior Yan couldn’t be bothered to argue with an omega, so he took out his grudge on Gu Chongyang instead. Gu Chongyang also felt it was a huge blow to his pride that his own man had run off with Senior Yan. After that, they’d fight whenever they met.
Luo Shu was so fired up by the gossip that he sent a voice message.
Fu Siheng tapped it to play on speaker.
“As luck would have it, they both ended up joining the Night Patrol Team. Ever since then, everyone at the Imperial Military Academy has known they’re on bad terms. But I’m also really curious about one thing: is Senior Yan actually impotent or not?”
Fu Siheng’s eye twitched. Under the bizarre gazes of the other two instructors, he silently turned off his communicator.