YPSSS Chapter 04

Xie Ji left with a dark expression.

Gao Qiuyun was so worried when Xia Shiruan suddenly started vomiting, so she didn’t properly see Xie Ji off.

As it turned out, apart from the sudden urge to throw up, Xia Shiruan didn’t feel any other discomfort. He felt much better as soon as Xie Ji was far away from him.

In short, his symptoms appeared to be purely from being disgusted by Xie Ji, so it was no wonder Xie Ji left with a face as black as the bottom of a pot.

While trying to suppress his nausea, Xia Shiruan thought that this situation had become impossible to explain.

They obviously didn’t end up having dinner.

Later, when Gao Qiuyun brought porridge up to Xia Shiruan’s room, she felt terrible seeing him sitting listlessly at his desk.

“Xiao Ruan,” Gao Qiuyun placed the porridge on the desk and said, “If you’re tired, stop studying and rest for a while.”

Unlike other parents who would unreasonably blame everything on “looking at your phone too much” whenever their child had even a slight headache, Gao Qiuyun was different. She said, “It’s normal to feel uncomfortable after studying for too long. You should go out more, run around and play. It’s good for your health.”

Xia Shiruan pulled the porridge closer to himself and replied in a bad mood, “I wasn’t studying. I couldn’t focus.”

Gao Qiuyun sat down beside him and felt his forehead to check for fever. Finding none, she asked, “Do you want to play badminton with mom tomorrow?”

Xia Shiruan declined.

After sitting with him for a while, Gao Qiuyun suddenly remembered something and said, “Oh right, Xiao Ji will be attending Science University next semester. You two will see each other often. That’s why his father wanted him to come and meet you, to get to know each other better.”

Xia Shiruan froze for a moment and asked, “He’s coming to Science University?”

“Yes, didn’t he tell you?” Gao Qiuyun stroked Xia Shiruan’s head. “You two barely talked just now, right? Don’t be so shy. Weren’t you and Xiao Ji close when you were little? Making friends is never a bad thing.”

Xia Shiruan pressed his lips together and didn’t speak for a long time.

After a while, he stubbornly said, “There’s nothing to talk about. We’re not even in the same grade.”

Xia Shiruan didn’t consider himself a grudge-holder or someone who got angry easily, but no normal person would want to interact with a brat who had once said, “You disgust me, don’t ever show up in front of me again.”

Although that time… the root cause was probably Xia Shiruan’s inappropriate behavior, he didn’t think he had done anything wrong.

After a moment of silence, Xia Shiruan nudged Gao Qiuyun and said in a soft voice, “Mom, please leave. I want to sleep.”

This was Xia Shiruan’s usual tactic when he wanted to get rid of someone. Gao Qiuyun could only sigh, collect the porridge bowl, and leave.

Xia Shiruan sat alone at his desk for a while but still couldn’t focus on his books. The tiny printed words began to swim before his eyes as drowsiness set in.

He simply closed his book, took an early shower, and lounged on his bed scrolling through his phone.

He wasn’t really looking at anything in particular, just aimlessly tapping around.

Shortly after, two new messages popped up on his phone.

[Yi Junya: Xiao Ruan!! Help me choose! Which one looks better?]
[Yi Junya: [Picture][Picture]]

Xia Shiruan clicked on the pictures without thinking and was instantly blinded by cat-ear crop tops and lace mini skirts.

[Xia Shiruan: …Don’t show me these things.]
[Yi Junya: !! You’re not studying! Then just take a look!]
[Xia Shiruan: No.]
[Yi Junya: QAQ You’re so cold!]

Xia Shiruan didn’t have many people he could call friends, but Yi Junya was one of them.

They were high school classmates and desk mates, but barely spoke to each other in their first month of school.

Until one day, Yi Junya suddenly presented as an Omega during his heat at school. He hid in the bathroom, too scared to come out. No one noticed someone was missing from class. It was Xia Shiruan who ran to a pharmacy outside school to buy suppressants and helped him out of the bathroom.

Since then, Yi Junya had become his best friend and follower. A Beta and Omega duo didn’t seem too strange.

Yi Junya had average grades and graduated from an ordinary university. He now worked at a styling salon and enjoyed cosplay as a hobby.

Which led to moments like this where Xia Shiruan’s eyes got scorched by unexpected photos.

Yi Junya was considered good-looking among Omegas. Sometimes he would tease Xia Shiruan, saying that as a perfectly normal adult male Beta who showed zero interest in Omegas, he might end up with an Alpha instead.

Xia Shiruan usually ignored these comments.

They chatted casually for a while.

Unlike Xia Shiruan, Yi Junya’s salon got even busier during summer break. He had finally saved up a few days off to rest and kept trying to convince Xia Shiruan to hang out.

Usually, Xia Shiruan would definitely refuse.

But today, probably because he had something on his mind and wasn’t in the mood to study, Xia Shiruan thought about it.

[Xia Shiruan: Fine, but don’t bring any weird clothes for me to wear.]
[Yi Junya: TAT Okay.]

–

Xia Shiruan met Yi Junya at their usual café.

The shop owner was a Beta in his thirties. He was tall and built, with a full beard and muscular body. Just by looks alone, he could easily pass for an Alpha.

When Xia Shiruan walked in, the owner called out from afar, “Hey, you’re here! The usual?”

Xia Shiruan nodded, “Yes, thank you.”

Just as two large cups of unsweetened café latte were brought to the table, the wind chimes at the door tinkled again.

The door opened, and a fragrant breeze wafted in. Xia Shiruan’s vision blurred for a moment, and when he looked up, a sparkly Omega had appeared before him.

The word “sparkly” was used because Yi Junya today was… extremely sparkly.

He had glitter on his nails, rhinestones on his phone case, and even his makeup seemed to contain something that sparkled, making his delicate face even more dazzling.

Yi Junya’s eyes lit up when he saw Xia Shiruan, and he immediately tried to pounce on him.

Although Xia Shiruan’s athletic abilities weren’t great, he managed to lean back swiftly and skillfully dodge Yi Junya’s arms.

It was clearly a well-practiced move.

“…” Yi Junya pouted, “You’re avoiding me!”

Xia Shiruan glanced at his nails that could practically be used as weapons and said, “No, I just don’t want your nails to scratch anyone.”

Yi Junya pouted but didn’t say much, knowing this was just how Xia Shiruan was. He flipped his hair and sat down across from Xia Shiruan.

He pulled the café latte closer and took a sip, then frowned, “Hiss… why is it unsweetened again!”

Xia Shiruan took a slow sip and said, “Didn’t you just complain about getting pimples the other day? Let me educate you: drinking less sugary drinks is good for your skin.”

“Really?” Yi Junya listened with wide eyes, unconsciously touching his already fair face. He looked at Xia Shiruan’s face enviously, “Then I won’t eat anything sweet from now on. Can I have skin like yours?”

As he spoke, he leaned forward to pinch Xia Shiruan’s cheeks.

This time, despite leaning his neck back, Xia Shiruan couldn’t dodge.

Yi Junya kneaded and pinched his face for a while, then launched into a rant about how his skin could be even better than an Omega’s.

Xia Shiruan chuckled, about to speak when he caught a faint scent coming from Yi Junya’s neck.

The scent was subtle, something like citrus, different from Yi Junya’s usual perfume.

Xia Shiruan couldn’t help but twitch his nose and said, “There’s a scent.”

“Hm?” Since Xia Shiruan wasn’t resisting, Yi Junya took the chance to pinch his cheeks a few more times before sitting back, “What scent? Probably my perfume.”

Xia Shiruan said, “Oh,” and asked, “Did you change your perfume?”

He remembered Yi Junya used to always wear a milk-scented perfume, supposedly some classic from a luxury brand with a unique bottle design that young Omegas loved.

Yi Junya froze for a second, then burst into excitement, shaking Xia Shiruan’s shoulders, “Yes, I did change it! But you can actually tell? I thought you couldn’t tell the difference no matter what perfume I wore!”

“How could that be? There’s nothing wrong with my nose,” Xia Shiruan said while brushing away his hands.

As they talked, he caught another whiff of that citrus scent.

The scent wasn’t just fragrant; it seemed to have a calming effect on his mind. Xia Shiruan couldn’t quite describe it, but it felt… rather pleasant.

It was like being wrapped in the soft embrace of someone familiar. Comforting.

But after smelling it for a while, something felt off. After all, regular perfumes had never really smelled pleasing to his nose.

Yi Junya had dragged him to perfume stores before, where salespeople would let them smell signature scents on test strips. While Yi Junya got excited over each one, Xia Shiruan had stayed completely indifferent.

He had never used such things himself, and even disliked strongly scented body wash and shampoo. Xia Shiruan preferred people to smell clean and neutral.

Yet now, amazingly, he found Yi Junya’s perfume pleasant. It was quite strange.

But strange as it was, he had the type of personality where if something caught his interest, he had to investigate.

Xia Shiruan took a sip of his unsweetened café latte and asked casually, “Which perfume did you switch to?”

This time Yi Junya was truly shocked, his mouth forming an O.

He’d always thought it was a waste that someone who looked like Xiao Ruan didn’t use his Beta looks to charm Omegas, but Xiao Ruan had never shown any interest in clothes or perfumes.

Now he was actually asking about perfume…

Did Xiao Ruan finally come to his senses?!

Half a minute later, a sly smile spread across his face. “Of course I can tell you, but…”

“But what?” Xia Shiruan had a bad feeling.

“But next week you have to wear a cosplay outfit and come to the convention with me!”

“…”

Xia Shiruan took another sip of his coffee, this time to steady himself.

Xia Shiruan knew what convention this was – it was a new product launch event held by the country’s biggest gaming company.

This company had many popular games. Since they released new games or expansion packs every summer, the launch event was quite lively. It lasted a week, with not just the launch event itself but also cosplay exhibitions, anime conventions, and other large-scale events.

The convention was known for its beautiful Omegas, supposedly a summer feast that every Alpha wanted to attend at least once.

Yi Junya had been preparing meticulously for a month to outshine everyone. He’d gone through hundreds of outfits, sent photos to Xia Shiruan daily for feedback, and recently started experimenting with makeup. His vacation had been completely consumed by preparations.

But Xia Shiruan couldn’t understand how Yi Junya could suggest he join in.

“Isn’t this convention just for Omegas?” Xia Shiruan asked.

“Who said that?” Yi Junya’s eyes widened. “There’s never been such a rule. There are just more Omegas there, but Betas can totally go too.”

Seeing Xia Shiruan’s silence, he whined, “Please come with me, Xiao Ruan. I’ve already prepared your outfit! Plus, I’ve created a new summer makeup look. Once I do your makeup, we sisters will dazzle everyone.”

“…” Xia Shiruan’s face stiffened and he choked, turning away to cough several times before catching his breath to say, “Since when did I become your sister?”