After Rebirth, My Archrival Omega Looks at Me Differently (GL) - Chapter 17
Lang Lang’s reading voice rose above the sound of cicadas outside the window, drifting from the classroom into the hallway.
Chi Yan sat in the last row of the classroom. In front of her were rows of classmates focused on their morning reading. Only she seemed distracted.
The chairs were close together, and Yan Youqing ended up sitting right beside her. The morning air carried a faint scent of sea salt.
A few strands of Yan Youqing’s long hair brushed against Chi Yan’s shoulder. It was such a light touch, yet it felt like something had gently curved and caught on her heart.
“This part was mentioned by Mr. Qin last time, but he didn’t go into detail. It’s normal if you don’t understand,” Yan Youqing said casually, brushing her hair aside. Her cool and calm voice pulled Chi Yan back to the present in an instant.
Chi Yan looked at the hand resting on her notebook and nodded slowly.
Maybe it was because she had recently differentiated into an Alpha, but the closeness between them no longer made her feel uncomfortable like it used to.
The sunlight coming in from the window softly lit up Yan Youqing’s face. Her slightly lowered eyes were filled with a quiet focus, not quite proud, but serious.
Her voice, though soft in the midst of the loud classroom, was just clear enough for Chi Yan to hear.
Chi Yan hadn’t expected Yan Youqing to explain things so carefully. It made her feel that this version of Yan Youqing was different from the one she remembered as annoying.
“Do you understand now?” Yan Youqing asked, looking up at her after finishing the explanation.
Even though she still felt a little awkward, Chi Yan glanced at the sample sentence Yan Youqing had written and nodded. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” Yan Youqing replied quietly. Then she calmly moved her chair back to the center of her desk, keeping a respectful distance.
It felt like she had only leaned in earlier to explain the problem more clearly, nothing more.
The classroom was still filled with the sound of students reading. Yan Youqing opened her English textbook and joined in.
Her voice wasn’t loud. Her lips moved slightly, and her reading was almost silent. But because Chi Yan sat so close, she could hear it clearly.
Her voice, usually cool and distant, became softer and warmer when lowered like this. The British accent she used stood out in contrast to the rougher English spoken loudly by the others.
It wasn’t unpleasant.
In fact, it sounded quite nice.
Chi Yan, who was used to peace and quiet in the back row, didn’t mind the sound in her ear. She lowered her head and started organizing her notes.
But after just a few seconds, a shadow fell over her desk.
Zhong Yi was holding her English textbook upright, pretending to read. She turned her head with curiosity and asked, “Yan, was Student Yan just explaining something to you?”
Chi Yan quickly looked up at Zhong Yi.
She had forgotten how sharp Zhong Yi’s ears were.
How should she respond?
Should she just brush it off and explain everything to Zhong Yi after class?
That would probably lead to nonstop teasing. Zhong Yi might even involve Wang Chuning.
Wouldn’t that just reignite the rumor she had worked so hard to put out in Wang Chuning’s mind last night?
Chi Yan felt stuck.
Just then, Yan Youqing spoke beside her. “I noticed Chi Yan’s worksheet when I got back, so I offered to explain it.”
Her voice was louder than it had been during reading, but the softness from before had disappeared. All that remained was her usual cool tone.
Chi Yan hadn’t expected Yan Youqing to answer like that. When she looked at her, she saw a calm gaze and nodded along. “Yeah.”
Because the explanation came from Yan Youqing, Zhong Yi didn’t question it, even though she had noticed Chi Yan’s hesitation.
Smiling, Zhong Yi turned to Yan Youqing and said, “Student Yan, actually the worksheet our homeroom teacher went over two days ago? There’s a part I don’t really get. Could you explain it to me too?”
“Sure,” Yan Youqing replied without looking up. “After class.”
Zhong Yi’s face lit up. “Thanks, Student Yan!”
As the morning self-study period neared its end, the reading in the classroom became a little restless.
Chi Yan sat there quietly, listening to their conversation. She looked thoughtfully at Zhong Yi, her deep eyes full of something unreadable.
The first class on Wednesday was Chinese, taught by Ms. Li Qin. The classroom grew quiet except for the sound of chalk tapping the blackboard and the teacher explaining classical Chinese.
Yan Youqing was fully focused on the lesson when a neatly folded note landed on her desk from the left.
She turned her head and saw Chi Yan resting her chin on one hand, pretending to listen, while giving her a look that clearly told her to open the note.
Still unsure what Chi Yan was thinking, Yan Youqing opened it.
A single line was written on the paper:
“I don’t think we should do tutoring in the classroom.”
Chi Yan’s handwriting was a bit wild and flowing. As Yan Youqing read it, her eyes paused briefly.
Ms. Li continued to write and explain the lesson, her changing tone subtly pointing out which parts were important.
Chi Yan was distracted, writing down notes without much thought. A few seconds later, she noticed the note being pushed back toward her.
“Why?”
The sentence didn’t end with a question mark. It ended with a period. The neat handwriting carried a hint of the writer’s cool and distant personality.
Chi Yan looked at the writing, then glanced at Zhong Yi, who was sitting diagonally in front of her.
She absolutely could not let what she had imagined during the morning study session actually happen. She wrote a weak excuse: “Isn’t tutoring supposed to be after class anyway.”
Yan Youqing read the line Chi Yan wrote. Her gaze was calm as she responded, “Then are you coming to my house.”
How could that even be possible?
Chi Yan frowned and quickly scribbled a few words before pushing the note over: “Video call?”
This time it was a question mark, not a period.
Even Chi Yan felt her suggestion was a little bold. After all, they were Alpha and Omega, and there were boundaries. Feeling slightly uneasy, she looked toward Yan Youqing.
But when Yan Youqing read the message, her expression did not change. After a moment of thought, she calmly picked up her pen.
Her handwriting was clean and sharp.
The sunlight touched her slightly lowered eyes. Her quiet profile showed no clear emotion.
For some reason, Chi Yan thought of the conversation they had the night before through the phone screen.
Maybe this was just how Yan Youqing usually acted when texting. Always expressionless. Always the same.
Chi Yan couldn’t help but wonder what kind of thing could actually make her show a little emotion.
As she was silently complaining to herself, she saw the paper being pushed back toward her: “Alright. What time.”
Chi Yan held the note for a moment, thinking, then replied: “After I finish my homework. Eight o’clock?”
“Eight fifteen.” Yan Youqing wrote back.
“Starting today?”
Honestly, Chi Yan had a bit of a show-off tone in that message.
She watched Yan Youqing reply and couldn’t help the small smile that appeared at the corners of her lips.
Without sending another note, Chi Yan quickly crumpled the paper that held their conversation and tossed it into the cubby of her desk like she was destroying the evidence. She nodded and said, “Of course.”
“Alright.” Yan Youqing gently pressed her lips together and gave a small nod.
A sparrow flew past the window. Sunlight reflected across the desks in the back row.
Chi Yan felt a little dazed. She thought she saw a smile flicker across Yan Youqing’s lips.
It might have been the first time she ever saw her smile.
Even though it was just a faint trace, and her lips barely curved, it disappeared almost immediately. By the time Chi Yan looked again to be sure, it was already gone.
Was it just her imagination?
But if it was real, what was she smiling about?
Chi Yan looked at Yan Youqing again, who was now fully focused on the lesson, and frowned slightly.
What are you even overthinking?
She’s not distracted. You are.
For some reason, the school disciplinary inspection was much stricter today. The whole day passed without anything unusual happening.
There was now traffic control at the school gate. The cars picking up students still moved slowly, but everything was much more orderly.
Sitting inside the car that came to pick her up, Yan Youqing sat upright. Her gaze shifted slightly toward the window.
The crowd of students walking home passed by. Through the window, she spotted a girl pushing a bicycle through the crowd.
That girl never seemed to wear her uniform properly. She had tied both sleeves of her jacket around her waist, and the hanging jacket covered her thighs.
But her tall and straight figure always stood out. Her sleek black ponytail and the bright, confident eyes in front of it seemed to say that she knew she looked good and carried herself that way on purpose.
The road ahead began to clear. The girl lifted her long legs beside the car and swung onto the bicycle with a clean and graceful motion.
Yan Youqing watched as the girl rode away quickly and disappeared from her view. She looked down at her watch.
It was five forty-five and twenty-seven seconds.
There were still two hours, twenty-nine minutes, and thirty-three seconds to go.
After passing the crowded school gate, the car sped down the main road.
They drove past rows of similar-looking townhouses until a small white villa appeared in Yan Youqing’s view.
She stepped out of the car and walked inside.
Her movements were quick and smooth, but as she reached the living room, she came to a sudden stop.
A well-dressed woman sat on the sofa. Her hair was tied in a low bun, which gave her a strong, distant Alpha presence.
She had also heard the sound behind her and turned around with a flat voice to greet her.
“You’re back, Yanyan.”