Imperial Military University was a strict, closed campus. Neither students nor faculty were allowed to leave without authorization, except on weekends.
The instructors lived in private suites. Though small, each room was fully equipped with a desk, wardrobe, bathroom, and balcony.
After taking a shower, Fu Siheng picked up his communicator from the desk, still wrapped in his bathrobe.
Earlier that day, under Qu Mengda’s stern glare…which practically screamed, “Don’t you dare tell anyone you’re my student with an attitude like that” Fu Siheng had been forced to add Yan Xun back on his contacts list.
When Yan Xun made that comment, Fu Siheng’s immediate reaction had been regret…regret for telling him to speak freely. His secondary reaction was figuring out how to quietly eliminate the guy without leaving a trace. He knew Yan Xun had done it on purpose.
With a flick of his damp fingertips, Fu Siheng deleted the unread message thread without even looking.
He didn’t care to know what the guy was scheming.
Just then, a new friend request popped up at the bottom of his screen: “Lin Lin Isn’t Yue Yue” requests to add you.
The name was far too easy to recognize, so Fu Siheng casually accepted it.
Lin Yue immediately sent a cute sticker, explaining that he had asked Shi Yuanyang for his contact info so he could reach out if he ever needed advice.
Fu Siheng replied with a simple “Okay” and left it at that.
Seeing that Fu Siheng wasn’t much for small talk, Lin Yue pivoted to scrolling through the group chats.
The heated discussion about the morning’s training session had already died down. Earlier, the non-stop notifications had nearly frozen everyone’s communicators. People were buzzing about how badass Instructor Fu was beating up students and tearing apart mechas. Of course, a few haters called him a try hard show-off.
Strawberry Sweetheart: Word on the street is Instructor Fu was called into the principal’s office. See? You still gotta follow the rules at IMU.
Xiao Hai – Heat Suppressant Agent: LOL, please. None of the people who were there this morning stepped up to preach about rules. They were too busy enjoying the drama.
Li Xiao: = = Exactly. Neither the other instructors nor Council President Yan said a word.
Miao Xian Duo Duo: You guys dare talk about President Yan so openly? Aren’t you afraid he’ll see this?!
Congo Timber Wolf: Hahaha, what’s there to be afraid of? He’s not even in this chat. Besides, his dorm is currently watching adult movies together. Don’t ask me how I know.
Chongyang Fanclub Pres: Hhhhhh I knew it! Timber Wolf definitely lives on their floor, or he wouldn’t always have the tea.
Xiao Hai – Heat Suppressant Agent: [/Smirk] Can you Alphas exert a little self-control? Little old me is so scared~
Li Xiao: Scared my ass. You drive faster than anyone here.
Halfway through drying his hair, Fu Siheng received a call from Qu Mengda telling him to do dorm inspections.
“Technically, this should have been done yesterday,” Qu Mengda said. “But since you just took office, you can use today to get used to the routine. It’s fine.”
“Understood.” Fu Siheng grabbed a T-shirt from the wardrobe, holding the communicator between his shoulder and ear as he prepared to change.
“Oh, by the way,” Qu Mengda added. “Check the Research Institute while you’re at it. Class 3’s dorms are right next to theirs.”
Fu Siheng froze mid-motion. He opened his mouth to protest, but Qu Mengda cut him off before he could speak.
“No excuses. Things are already tense between you and Yan Xun. Use this opportunity to build some rapport. I don’t expect you to kiss up to him, but weigh your options don’t you still want into the ‘Excellence Program’?”
Fu Siheng’s expression darkened. He let out a cold “Yeah,” and hung up.
Qu Mengda shook his head helplessly as his phone went dead mid-sentence.
The student dorms were in the building right next to the instructors’ quarters. Holding the inspection clipboard, Fu Siheng stepped out, thoroughly unamused.
He banged on doors all along the hallway. It didn’t feel like a routine inspection so much as a prison roll call, scaring the daylights out of the students inside.
By the time he reached the Research Institute, his mood had somewhat stabilized through the aggressive door-thumping even if every student opening their door looked at him in sheer terror.
The Research Institute dorms were two-person suites. The very first room belonged to Shi Yuanyang and a quiet, soft-spoken Omega.
Normally, Alphas and Omegas lived in separate buildings. But because there were so few Omegas in the Research Institute, the university housed them on the same floor, creating a rare co-ed arrangement.
“Why did they send you for inspections? Those old fools are really out to get you,” Shi Yuanyang complained.
Fu Siheng scribbled on his clipboard as he spoke. “Because you guys live close to Class 3. I just hope I don’t get stuck with this for the whole semester. See you.”
As he turned to leave, Shi Yuanyang called out, his tone sounding slightly forced. “The room next door belongs to two Alphas, but they’re both out on exchange programs.”
“Oh.” Fu Siheng didn’t pay much mind to the hesitation and skipped the next room entirely.
When he reached the final suite, he had to knock several times before hearing frantic footsteps inside.
This was likely Yan Xun’s dorm. Fu Siheng composed his face, resolving to keep things strictly professional: inspect, finish, and leave, without wasting a single extra word on him.
However, the moment the door swung open, he completely froze.
Yi Fengbei stood there wearing nothing but boxers, holding a half-empty cup of Cola. “What’s the rush, man? I was just smack in the middle of beating my—my… Holy shit?!”
The moment he caught sight of Fu Siheng’s icy expression, the words caught in his throat, and the cup of Cola splattered onto the floor.
Fu Siheng glanced down. The boxers did little to conceal what lay beneath, making his gaze grow cold enough to freeze hell over.
To make matters worse, suggestive moans began echoing from a tablet on the desk, making the air thick with awkwardness.
A sudden noise broke the silence as the bathroom door swung open, and a shirtless Yan Xun walked out.
Unaware of the situation, he casually wiped his cropped hair with a towel and looked up. “Who is it?”
His eyes locked right onto Fu Siheng’s. The three of them stood in dead silence, staring at each other.
Tick, tock. Only the wall clock kept up its relentless ticking.
The tablet on the desk let out another soft moan. Yan Xun glanced down at Yi Fengbei’s midsection, muttered a low “Fuck,” and abruptly strode toward Fu Siheng.
Before Fu Siheng could figure out how to handle the scene, a warm hand suddenly covered his eyes, while another gently caught his shoulder.
Shielding Fu Siheng’s vision, Yan Xun guided him back a step and slammed the dorm door shut behind them.
The movement seemed rough, yet the touch on Fu Siheng was remarkably gentle.
Thump, thump.
The surrounding air fell so silent that every heartbeat echoed clearly though whose heart was pounding, neither could tell.
The palm pressed over Fu Siheng’s eyelids was slightly damp, lightly calloused from years of intense combat training.
A faint scent, resembling rare orchid and musk, drifted into Fu Siheng’s nose. At first, he thought it was pheromones, but he instantly remembered he was immune to sex pheromones; it had to be Yan Xun’s body wash.
Their proximity allowed him to feel the warmth radiating off the other man. An Alpha’s body temperature naturally ran slightly higher than a Beta’s or an Omega’s. Since Yan Xun wasn’t wearing a shirt, subtle waves of heat seeped through Fu Siheng’s T-shirt and onto his skin.
Yan Xun’s other arm reached around Fu Siheng’s back, cradling his shoulder in a way that practically held him in an embrace.
Fu Siheng didn’t pull away, so Yan Xun didn’t let go either. Instead, he lowered his head, staring down at him thoughtfully.
Fu Siheng’s eyelashes fluttered lightly against his palm, sending a subtle flicker through Yan Xun’s chest like the delicate flutter of a butterfly’s wings. He found himself drifting off for a split second.
Until Fu Siheng’s cold voice snapped him back to reality: “Had your fun?”
The words were like a bucket of ice water dumped over his head.
Shaking himself awake, Yan Xun’s usual playful smirk returned to his face. He released his grip and took two steps back, putting some distance between them.
Fu Siheng looked up. Droplets of water still trickled down Yan Xun’s chest, tracing his V-line down to where the towel rested at his hips. He looked relaxed, but his muscles were taut beneath the surface.
His build was sculpted to perfection neither too heavy nor too lean the kind of physique that could make someone’s heart skip a beat, with lines as sharp as carved marble.
Leaning casually against the wall, Yan Xun hooked a smirk and looked him over, his voice dropping an octave. “Why are you looking at me like that, Instructor Fu?”
For some reason, a standard title sounded inexplicably intimate coming out of his mouth.
Fu Siheng stared back with a expression as unfeeling as an AI that had just passed the Turing test. “Stash a tablet in your dorm, stream adult video content are you tired of being the Council President?”
Yan Xun’s eyes fell onto the clipboard in Fu Siheng’s hands, enlightenment dawning on him. “Ah, so you’re doing dorm checks. But let me set the record straight that video belongs to Yi Fengbei. It has zero to do with me.”
Inside the room, Yi Fengbei had no idea he had just been completely thrown under the bus. The only reason Yan Xun hadn’t joined in was that he’d taken one look, thought the Omega in the video was too frail to be interesting, and went to take a shower instead.
Fu Siheng gave him a skeptical look, clearly unconvincing.
He maintained a calm demeanor on the outside, but his thoughts were a chaotic mess.
Seeing Yan Xun clad only in a towel reminded him of the full day and night they had spent together on the simulated battlefield. Even though Fu Siheng remembered nothing from that time, Yan Xun had solemnly claimed he would “take responsibility,” which somehow landed them in a relationship where they “barely even held hands.”
Today was practically the first time he had ever seen Yan Xun half-naked.
A sudden jolt went through him as he realized what he was thinking.
The faint fragrance of orchid and musk in the air seemed to grow stronger. Fu Siheng found the body wash suffocatingly fragrant, reaching his senses even from this distance. An unsettling restlessness welled up in his chest, making it feel tight and heavy, urging him to get out of there immediately.
Yan Xun continued in a conflicted tone, “Anyway, Instructor Fu, setting that aside… what did you think of the message I sent? Sorry for stepping out of line earlier, but I actually have something important to talk to you about.”
Even though they had broken up, Yan Xun instinctively didn’t want Fu Siheng involved in the “Excellence Program”—even if the man clearly didn’t seem to need anyone’s protection.
But Fu Siheng didn’t hear a word he said. His heart rate was accelerating unnaturally fast.
The air here made him deeply uncomfortable, and he couldn’t stand staying another second. Tightly gripping his clipboard, he turned on his heel and walked away.
Yan Xun blinked, seemingly unable to process being brushed off so abruptly. After a long moment, he mumbled to himself with a disappointed sigh:
“Seriously? Is getting a meal with me really that unbearable…”