After Rebirth, My Archrival Omega Looks at Me Differently (GL) - Chapter 22
The ceiling fan spun rapidly above, carrying the faint scent of sea salt mixed with the early morning dew as it drifted toward Chi Yan.
For some reason, despite usually disliking unfamiliar people touching her, Chi Yan didn’t move away from Yan Youqing’s hand. It was as if she had been frozen in place, sitting stiffly at her desk while Yan Youqing’s hand slowly moved closer.
Chi Yan felt unexpectedly nervous.
Her heart pounded steadily, but besides the nerves, there was something else tangled in those beats.
That clear-boned hand reached her cheek, brushing against a loose strand of hair. The slight tug of her hair, caught gently between fingertips, carried the warmth of another person’s touch.
Chi Yan stayed seated, her eyes fixed on the hand that approached, paused, and then pulled away. Between Yan Youqing’s fingers was a tiny piece of white lint.
“There was fuzz,” Yan Youqing said calmly.
Chi Yan’s wildly beating heart stopped for a moment. She blinked awkwardly. “Oh. Th-thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” Yan Youqing replied softly, watching Chi Yan lower her head and pull her textbook from her backpack.
Holding that tiny bit of fuzz between her fingers, Yan Youqing quietly observed how Chi Yan, who was usually blunt and direct, now looked surprisingly shy.
Today’s morning study session was for Chinese. But Chi Yan, still excited about her renewed motivation to study English, had originally planned to use the time to review what Yan Youqing had helped her with the night before. She didn’t expect Ms. Li Qin to walk in with her bag the moment the bell rang and begin supervising the class personally.
Left with no choice, Chi Yan took out her Chinese textbook under Li Qin’s watchful gaze and started reciting yesterday’s assigned passage.
The moment the bell rang to signal the end of the session, and Li Qin finally left, Chi Yan slumped over her desk in relief.
The classroom was filled with chatter. From the middle rows, the class monitor looked back at Chi Yan, who was resting her head on the desk.
She hesitated, but then met Yan Youqing’s gaze.
For some reason, Yan Youqing’s normally cool and composed expression carried a sudden chill that startled the monitor, making her retreat without saying anything.
Time passed slowly. The class monitor turned down a friend’s invitation to fetch water and finally worked up the courage to walk over to Chi Yan.
“Chi Yan?”
“Hmm?” Chi Yan looked up sleepily at the unfamiliar voice. Realizing it was the class monitor, she asked, “What is it?”
“Well… the school sports meet is in two weeks, on Thursday and Friday. The homeroom teacher mentioned that our class didn’t do well the past two years. I was wondering if you could sign up to participate this time,” the monitor said carefully.
Chi Yan understood. As an S-class Alpha, it made sense she would be the first person people thought of for something like this.
But before she could say anything, Yan Youqing’s slightly cold voice spoke from the side.
“Isn’t the sports meet the responsibility of the sports committee?”
The monitor froze for a second.
She was an Omega, and naturally didn’t want to miss a chance to talk to Chi Yan. That was why she had skipped the proper process and approached her directly.
“Come on, it doesn’t matter who’s in charge, right?” Chi Yan didn’t notice the flicker in the monitor’s eyes. She was just thinking about how fun it might be to test out her Alpha body’s athletic ability. She casually took the sign-up form from the monitor. “Sign-up form, right? I’ll look at it later. I’ll give it back to you after class. Is that okay?”
The monitor hadn’t expected Chi Yan to agree so quickly and smiled brightly. “Sure, thank you so much, Chi Yan.”
She was a petite Omega with a soft, delicate voice, and when she smiled, two dimples appeared on her cheeks.
Chi Yan, still not entirely used to interacting with Omegas, scratched the back of her head in slight discomfort and returned the smile. “It’s no big deal. Just doing my part for the class.”
The bell rang, loud and sharp.
The monitor hadn’t expected Chi Yan, who usually seemed direct and hard to approach, to be this easy to talk to.
She was about to say something else when the next class’s prep bell rang, leaving her no choice but to smile again and return to her seat.
First period on Thursday was biology, the one subject Chi Yan didn’t need to study for.
After joining the others in standing up and greeting the teacher, she sat down and spread open her textbook, placing the sign-up form on top of it.
She definitely planned to sign up for the three-kilometer run, the hardest endurance event. Then there was high jump, long jump, and shot put.
Chi Yan felt a bit conflicted.
Physically, these weren’t too difficult. Mentally, though, they were exhausting. These were the three events that always produced the most embarrassing reaction images every year. She remembered how, in her past life, their class had barely scraped together participants for them.
Still, she believed in finishing what she started. Chi Yan decided to pick one.
Uncertain, she turned to Yan Youqing. “Which one should I do? High jump, long jump, or shot put?”
The biology teacher’s voice echoed from the microphone to the back row. Yan Youqing remained expressionless, taking notes while staring at the blackboard. She didn’t respond to Chi Yan’s question and simply said coldly, “Pay attention in class.”
Although Yan Youqing didn’t spare her a single glance, Chi Yan could feel the chill in her voice.
The fan stirred the paper on her desk, causing the form to flutter slightly. Chi Yan looked back at the list of events and furrowed her brows.
It was strange.
Just a little while ago, this same person had leaned in so gently to remove a piece of fuzz from her hair. Now she was completely cold and distant again.
What had she done to upset her?
She couldn’t figure it out. Frustrated, Chi Yan let out a quiet huff.
If Yan Youqing was going to give her the cold shoulder, then she wasn’t going to bother either.
That little standoff lasted until the end of the school day.
The sunset that evening was especially beautiful, painting the sky in bright orange. It felt like the grapefruit-flavored summer hadn’t completely left yet.
Chi Yan walked out of the classroom slowly, chatting with Zhong Yi about the sunset. Amid the crowd, she thought she spotted Xu Minxue.
He was standing casually in a quiet corner near their classroom, as if he was waiting for something or someone.
Chi Yan felt a strange sense of concern but didn’t have time to think more about it. Wang Chuning appeared, late as usual, and interrupted her.
“Sorry I’m late. I stopped to ask a question. Chi Yan, what are you looking at? Is it a pretty Omega?”
Chi Yan shot her a look of disgust. “Chuning, is there anything else in that brain of yours besides pretty Omegas?”
“Of course. There’s also our lovely Chi Yan and our cool Yanyi,” Wang Chuning replied shamelessly, her tone overly sweet.
Chi Yan and Zhong Yi looked at her with exaggerated distaste.
The three of them laughed and joked as they walked out of the building, and Chi Yan soon forgot all about Xu Minxue acting strangely.
After school, the campus quickly quieted down. The occasional laughter from a few remaining students sounded unusually loud in the silence.
Yan Youqing walked out of the math office on the third floor. As she stepped out of the stairwell, she unexpectedly ran into Xu Minxue.
She made a conscious decision to ignore him. Her eyes lifted briefly, but her steps did not slow.
It seemed that Xu Minxue had been waiting for her. As she walked past, he quickly stepped in front of her to block her path.
“Yan Youqing,” he called.
“What is it?” Yan Youqing stopped just a few centimeters from his arm. Her voice was calm but cold.
Her face remained emotionless, but the slight crease between her eyebrows made it clear how much she disliked what he was doing.
“Do you like Chi Yan?” Xu Minxue asked, without any hesitation or attempt to soften the question.
The day before, he had seen Chi Yan walking Yan Youqing home. He had also seen Chi Yan drape her jacket over Yan Youqing’s head.
Those were all things he had once tried to do for her, offering his help again and again, only to be ignored every time.
“This has nothing to do with you,” Yan Youqing answered, her voice still cold.
To Xu Minxue, her refusal to give a direct answer sounded exactly like an admission.
He thought of the warning she had given him a few days ago and felt his chest tighten. He could not accept it. Holding back his anger, he demanded, “Why would you like her?”
“That also has nothing to do with you,” Yan Youqing repeated, still calm, still distant. Her eyes held the same detached expression she always gave him.
That look was exactly what made Xu Minxue angry.
Because when she looked at Chi Yan, her eyes were never this indifferent.
He had disliked Chi Yan since they were young. His expression darkened. His voice rose slightly as his frustration spilled out.
“Yan Youqing, have you really not noticed me all these years? I was the one by your side the whole time. I was the first to awaken as an Alpha. I liked you long before she did. Sure, she’s an S-class Alpha, but I’m not weak either. I’m an A-class Alpha, and that’s rare too.”
The more he spoke, the more emotional he became. In the stillness of the stairwell, something heavy and unpleasant began to fill the air.
It was like a sour, spoiled scent that had been left to ferment, making the atmosphere thick and suffocating.
Yan Youqing clenched her hand slightly at her side. Her voice was quiet but icy.
“Xu Minxue, I am meeting with Mr. Chen in a few minutes. If you keep wasting my time and he finds out, I will not hesitate to tell him that you are harassing me.”
Xu Minxue froze, like a snake suddenly caught by the neck. Whatever confidence he had vanished instantly.
He suspected she might be bluffing, but he was too cowardly to test it. If Mr. Chen did find out and reported it to his parents, he knew he would be in serious trouble.
School had already been exhausting, and his home life had been no better lately. He was not willing to make things worse for himself. He gave Yan Youqing a resentful look, full of frustration, then turned and stormed away.
Yan Youqing stood still and watched him until he completely disappeared from view. Only then did she release a shaky breath and brace herself against the railing.
Xu Minxue was not a stable Alpha.
While he was getting emotional, his pheromones had lost control.
The aggressive scent had surged toward the back of her neck, hitting the sensitive area around her gland. Even though she was wearing a suppression patch, her body was still vulnerable during her heat cycle.
That sudden stimulation made her body react in ways she could not control.