Yang Xun sat beneath the wisteria trellis, pretending to read a book while his eyes remained fixed on the skateboarder in the plaza. Each time the boy completed an impressive trick, Yang Xun’s eyes would widen with excitement, and he would secretly feel happy for the other’s success.
Only when it was almost completely dark did the young man leave with his companions. Yang Xun packed up his book and limped toward the dormitory building.
“Yang Xun, aren’t you coming back yet? The graduation thesis forms are due. Have you filled yours out?” His roommate called, sounding anxious.
“On my way.” Yang Xun quickened his pace slightly. Someone rushed past him, accidentally bumping his shoulder, leaving only a “sorry” hanging in the air. Yang Xun rubbed his aching shoulder, watching the running figure’s retreating back with envy.
An accident had left him permanently disabled. No matter how hard he tried to hide it, others could easily tell he was lame.
Back in the dorm, his roommate supervised as he completed the forms, then rushed off to submit them to the class monitor. Yang Xun boiled hot water for them both and made himself instant noodles, settling in to watch a classic drama while he waited.
“Instant noodles again.” His roommate returned and grumbled, tossing him a boiled egg. “Here’s something extra for you.”
“Thanks, Xiao Zhu.” Yang Xun smiled at him. Shi Zhu reached over and pinched his cheek, sighing:
“If I were an Alpha, I’d take you home with me.”
“I’m older than you,” Yang Xun said, lifting the lid of his instant noodles and blowing away the steam.
Shi Zhu climbed onto his bed. “Younger partners are trending now, and besides, with that baby face of yours looking like a freshman, I wouldn’t be losing out.”
Yang Xun ignored his teasing and focused on his noodles.
“Lian Zhouxing’s alleged relationship exposed, partner reportedly a freshman from the Music Academy…” Shi Zhu read aloud from his phone. As soon as he finished speaking, he noticed Yang Xun’s frozen movements and suddenly realized that what he read was not a good thing.
He asked carefully, “Yang Xun, did you go watch Lian Zhouxing skateboarding again?”
Yang Xun remained silent, still scrolling through the confession wall. Seeing this, Shi Zhu spoke sympathetically, “It’s probably not true. Want me to ask my boyfriend to find out?”
Shi Zhu’s boyfriend lived in the dorm next to Lian Zhouxing’s and was on decent terms with him.
“No need.” Yang Xun had found the post, and although the photo was blurry, their clasped hands were clearly visible.
He finished his noodles carefully, even drinking all the soup, before throwing away the container.
“I’m going downstairs to take out the trash. Need me to take anything?” He looked up at the worried Shi Zhu.
“No…”
“Don’t worry,” Yang Xun smiled. “I just think he’s nice. It’s not like I’m dying of love. Besides, he’d never look at someone like me anyway. I’ll wish him happiness no matter who he’s with.”
Despite his words, the moment Yang Xun left the room, his face fell, his heart pierced with waves of pain.
He had viewed Lian Zhouxing as a distant light. Although he never dared hope they could be together, news like this still hurt.
Two years ago, during freshman orientation, Yang Xun was drafted as a student council member to welcome new students. Under the scorching sun, he felt his leg weakening and asked a senior to cover his position while he limped to the gymnasium to rest.
The gymnasium wouldn’t open to the public until evening. He had intended to go to the ping-pong room on the second floor, but severe dizziness forced him to collapse in a corner, breathing heavily. He dozed off for an unknown time.
“Hey… wake up…” Yang Xun struggled to open his eyes, finding a blurry face looming above him. He could vaguely make out that the person seemed to be shouting something. He wanted to respond, but his head was filled with buzzing. He felt as if he’d been thrown into deep water, his body drenched in sweat, even breathing was difficult.
“Damn, could it be an Omega in heat…” The voice before him seemed to come from far away. Yang Xun tried to understand, but his brain couldn’t process the meaning of the words.
Suddenly, someone lifted him up, their grip urgent and tight enough to make Yang Xun’s arms ache. This brought him slightly to his senses, and through the haze, he made out the sharp profile of the person’s face.
Then, he completely lost consciousness.
When he woke up in the clinic, the school doctor awkwardly explained that he had undergone a second gender differentiation into an Omega. Yang Xun stared blankly at the doctor as the senior beside him continued, “The doctor says your first differentiation might have been affected by trauma, leaving your glands underdeveloped and hidden internally, which is why you were mistaken for a Beta. The timing was probably right for your second differentiation today. The dizziness and discomfort you felt earlier were symptoms of the change.”
When Yang Xun was twelve, his father died in a car accident, leaving him disabled. He had fainted at the funeral and somehow differentiated into a Beta.
He pressed his lips together, hiding his emotions, and said to the senior, “Thank you, Senior.”
“Don’t thank me,” she waved her hand. “A handsome young man carried you to an empty office on the second floor and found me at the school gate. That’s how we got the school doctor to help you in time.”
“Where is he?” Yang Xun wanted to thank him in person.
“He left already.” The senior gossiped with a smile. “He seemed to be in induced heat. He took two suppressant shots as soon as he got here. You two might have high compatibility!”
“Must have been a freshman. He said he needed to find his dorm room and left after making sure you were okay.”
Yang Xun recalled that handsome, somewhat striking profile and pressed his lips together.
He soon discovered who his rescuer was. During freshman military training, Yang Xun helped distribute water and fans, immediately spotting Lian Zhouxing standing out from the crowd.
He was impossible to miss, with his height advantage and a face that could stun at first glance. The junior beside Yang Xun clearly noticed, too, excitedly pulling him in that direction. “Senior, let’s go to that class!”
She whispered the gossip, “Those are the Math Department freshmen. The most handsome one must be the campus heartthrob everyone’s talking about on the confession wall. I think his name is Lian Zhouxing.”
Even his name was beautiful1Zhouxing means daytime star..
Yang Xun set the water bottles beside the formation line. When he looked up, he caught Lian Zhouxing looking his way. He froze, suddenly nervous, and while hesitating whether to go over and thank him, Lian Zhouxing had already turned away, his gaze showing no recognition.
Yang Xun felt relieved for some reason, but after some thought, he went to buy a box of popsicles and asked the junior to deliver them, as an indirect way of showing his gratitude.
Perhaps due to the law of attraction, Yang Xun often encountered Lian Zhouxing afterward. His gaze lingered longer and longer on Lian Zhouxing, and whenever the skateboarding club practiced in the small plaza, he would pretend to be a graduate student studying under the wisteria trellis.
His books remained clean and tidy while his carefully hidden thoughts were all tied to that skateboarding young man, weaving into the bittersweet threads of unrequited love. But these emotions were known only to him.
TL Notes
- 1Zhouxing means daytime star.
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