He is not my Alpha! - Chapter 22
Ji Yifei finally stopped laughing after a while. Li Jiang emerged from the office with a long face, saw Ji Yifei’s expression as he passed, and gave him an “international friendly gesture.”
Ji Yifei couldn’t help but laugh again, almost to the point of tears.
He subconsciously looked at Shang Yan next to him and noticed he was also smiling, but he was looking at him.
Ji Yifei felt he had laughed too long, and his face was starting to feel hot.
“Why were you late?” Ji Yifei pulled a tissue to wipe away the tears of laughter, picked up his pen again, and asked while looking at the problem.
“My father had something to discuss with me,” Shang Yan replied while starting to tidy the things on his desk. Ji Yifei noticed that every week, Shang Yan meticulously arranged his desk.
“Oh, oh,” Ji Yifei replied without further questions. Both started working on problems.
Time flew, and the bell for the end of class rang. Ji Yifei felt a slight pain in his eyes and leaned his head down on the desk.
Shang Yan was writing on his paper, with the sounds of classmates loudly chatting about gossip and games in his ears. He noticed the person next to him was still, and when he turned his head, he saw Ji Yifei facing him with his eyes tightly closed.
He thought Ji Yifei’s hair color was light, making his skin look very fair, and Ji Yifei’s eyelashes were quite long and curled.
Shang Yan pushed up his glasses on the bridge of his nose and saw the students behind Ji Yifei roughhousing.
He quietly got up and walked around the podium to Ji Yifei’s side, gesturing for the group to move away.
He stood by Ji Yifei and watched Li Jiang play a game behind him.
“Holy crap, Shang Yan, what are you doing, you’re at it again…” Li Jiang saw the shadow in front of him again, but the surroundings were noisy, and he knew someone was definitely being a pest.
But before he could finish his sentence, Shang Yan interrupted him. He heard Shang Yan mutter something, which, judging by the mouth shape, seemed to be something about playing games.
He rolled his eyes at him, about to criticize him, when Shang Yan gestured for him to look at his phone. He saw his game character nearly dying and shouted, “Holy crap!” not having time to bother with this lunatic anymore.
The break passed quickly. The warning bell rang, and everyone returned to their seats. Shang Yan looked around, seeing that almost everyone had left, and slowly returned to his seat.
He glanced at Ji Yifei, who was still motionless, and smiled.
When the official class bell rang, Ji Yifei also woke up from his groggy state, lifted his head from the desk, took a sip of water, and looked at Shang Yan, who was still writing problems next to him.
“You are too diligent; you don’t even take a break between classes.” His throat was slightly hoarse from just waking up, so he took a few more sips of water.
“Mhm, if I don’t work hard, I’m afraid I’ll be surpassed,” Shang Yan replied.
This sentence, when heard by Ji Yifei, carried a different meaning.
Life at school sometimes passes quickly. Five morning classes and three afternoon classes flew by, and after dinner, they returned to class for evening self-study.
Ji Yifei felt his headache getting worse, and now his whole body was shaking. He touched his head; his temperature seemed normal.
“Shang Yan, Shang Yan.” Ji Yifei lowered his head and tapped Shang Yan under the desk.
Shang Yan put down his pen: “What’s wrong?” He turned his head and saw Ji Yifei slightly trembling, and his face was flushed red.
He reached out and felt Ji Yifei’s forehead, then touched his own, confirming that Ji Yifei had a fever.
“Shall I take you to the infirmary to get checked?” Shang Yan asked.
Ji Yifei nodded and pulled his clothes tighter. He felt like his clothes weren’t even there, wanting to shrink his whole body into them.
The warmth left on his forehead when Shang Yan touched him was now gone. Shang Yan’s hand was so hot.
Shang Yan stood up and explained the situation to the class monitor, then led Ji Yifei out of the classroom. Only when Shang Yan truly placed his hand on Ji Yifei did he realize how violently Ji Yifei was shaking.
He took off his own jacket and draped it over Ji Yifei.
“Don’t… Shang Yan, don’t… you’ll catch a cold yourself…” Ji Yifei’s teeth were chattering uncontrollably, and his words were shaky.
“But I can’t let you catch a cold.” Shang Yan ignored him, took off his jacket, and put it on Ji Yifei. Ji Yifei was too thin; his winter school uniform could easily accommodate another layer of Shang Yan’s jacket over it.
Ji Yifei was wrapped up tightly. Shang Yan’s clothes were layered over his own, and Shang Yan held him securely with both arms to prevent him from falling. The faint mint pheromones subtly surrounded his nose.
Ji Yifei felt genuinely better. He leaned against Shang Yan instinctively. The two walked to the infirmary, half-hugging and half-supporting each other.
When they arrived at the infirmary, they found the school doctor had already left… Ji Yifei blurted out, “Wipe the floor…”
Shang Yan was also speechless. With no other choice, he decided to enter the infirmary to get antipyretic medicine and a thermometer, letting Ji Yifei sit nearby to measure his temperature.
Ji Yifei looked at Shang Yan bustling around and joked, “Dr. Shang… thank you, you really are… too much trouble.”
Ji Yifei couldn’t help but laugh at his own voice, which was trembling from the cold: “My voice… sounds so funny right now.”
Shang Yan walked over and gently placed a cooling patch on his forehead: “You’re welcome. It’s our duty as a doctor to take care of patients. Getting better quickly is the best reward for me.”
He walked behind Ji Yifei and began to massage his temples, simultaneously releasing some comforting pheromones.
Ji Yifei felt a pair of warm hands pressing against his temples. The movement was gentle but very soothing.
Ji Yifei closed his eyes involuntarily. He could no longer feel the slight coolness from the fever patch on his forehead; all sensation came from these two hands, and even his shaking body was calmed by them.
Just as Ji Yifei was about to fall asleep, he felt someone move his arm and take out the thermometer. After that, he had no memory.
Shang Yan looked at the head resting in his hands, and his mind went blank. Although Ji Yifei was shaking, his body was burning hot, especially his temples.
He had noticed Ji Yifei frequently touching his head since the morning, and his state in class today was poor.
If I had asked him earlier, would Ji Yifei not have gotten this serious? Shang Yan thought to himself.
He looked at the fully sleeping Omega, whose entire body weight rested on his hands.
His face was too hot…
Ji Yifei looked at the person squatting by the roadside in front of him, dressed in black, with a hoodie covering his head, looking down, holding a cigarette in his hand.
Several tall men stood in front of him, each holding a lit cigarette. The smoke pollution filled the entire air, but the person squatting there just kept spinning the cigarette in his hand, with no intention of lighting it.
Several men noticed the lonely boy. A slightly taller one pulled out a lighter from his pocket and offered it to the boy, but he was refused.
He continued to spin the cigarette in his hand, faster and faster. Ji Yifei’s gaze was drawn to it. He stared at the hand spinning the cigarette, the speed increasing until he felt his eyes could barely keep up.
He moved his eyes to look at the person spinning the cigarette, and their eyes met, but he could never quite make out the face of the person opposite. The boy stood up and walked toward Ji Yifei.
Closer and closer, until Ji Yifei saw his own face…
The light above suddenly stabbed his eyes. Ji Yifei had to close his eyes again, but the person he saw in his dream earlier remained vividly in his mind.
Until he felt someone gently tap him nearby. Ji Yifei turned his head and faced Shang Yan, who was leaning on the bedside.
A pair of dark eyes broke into his sight.
They say eyes are the most direct reflection of a person’s emotions. Shang Yan saw panic and fear in Ji Yifei’s eyes.
His Alpha instinct made him want to hold the Omega in front of him, but the line of reason held him back.
Shang Yan stared at the eyes that had broken into his sight, wanting to look away but being stubbornly held. His head felt fixed to a steel plate, frozen.
Ji Yifei slowly recovered, rubbed his eyes, and turned his head back to the front, sitting up as if nothing had happened.
A minute later, Ji Yifei asked, “We are in…?” He found his voice too husky; the sentence came out stumbling.
“In the infirmary rest room. You had a high fever and fell asleep, so I had to bring you here to rest.” Shang Yan filled a glass of water by the bed and handed it to Ji Yifei.
Ji Yifei said, “Mhm,” took the water, and drank it in large gulps. The warm water moistened his dry throat, and Ji Yifei felt his head lighten a bit.
He thanked Shang Yan and handed the glass back.
Shang Yan handed him a thermometer. He took it, clipped it under his arm, and remained silent.
“Do you feel better?” the person next to him asked. Ji Yifei nodded and replied, “I feel less dizzy. Thank you.”
His tone was somewhat cold. Shang Yan sensed he probably didn’t want to talk right now and replied, “It will be better if you eat something and take the medicine one more time later.”
Neither of them spoke again.
The dream from earlier was still in Ji Yifei’s mind. He couldn’t quite remember the beginning, but the eyes he met at the end were unforgettable, imprinted in his mind.
After entering high school, he had tried his best not to dwell on that memory, and his relationship with his family had eased, but facts proved that some memories, no matter how hidden, would suddenly appear when you least expected them.
Ji Yifei thought for a long time. When he spoke, his voice was quieter than usual. He asked, “Shang Yan, what kind of person do you think I am?”
He lowered his head and started picking at his hand, like waiting for some kind of judgment.
“I think you are a…” Shang Yan paused. Some words were stuck at the tip of his tongue, so he could only adjust his phrasing: “A very brave, kind, confident, and intelligent person.”
His voice trailed up slightly, but Ji Yifei knew it wasn’t sarcasm. Shang Yan spoke those four words very sincerely. Ji Yifei, however, gave a self-deprecating laugh.
He turned his head to look at the person who had given him such high praise, meeting those dark eyes again.
In an instant, he felt his heart struck violently. He saw the sincerity flowing from those dark eyes, and his heart told Ji Yifei that this person was definitely not lying.
Ji Yifei returned to his previous manner and replied, “I didn’t expect such a high evaluation of me. I’m honored.”
But Shang Yan felt a hint of irony in that sentence.
Shang Yan opened his mouth to ask something else, but the beeping sound of the electronic thermometer made him close it.
Ji Yifei took it out and looked: “37.6, it’s already turned into a low-grade fever.”
Shang Yan reached out to take it. Ji Yifei smiled and said, “I’m not lying, seriously, I can count.”
Shang Yan took it and replied, “I believe you. I’ll put it back in its place.”
The phrase “I believe you” came at such an inopportune moment. Shang Yan took the thermometer and put it into the bedside cabinet, only to hear a sudden, unprompted “Thank you” from the person on the bed.
This “Thank you” came at such a delicate time. Shang Yan was momentarily confused, not understanding the meaning of the words. But he gradually realized it must be a thank you for taking care of Ji Yifei, so he also replied, “You’re welcome.”
The two took some medicine at the infirmary and returned directly to the dorm. It was already past lights-out. They parted ways at the dorm entrance, each returning to their own room.
After washing up, Shang Yan lay in bed, constantly replaying the conversation with Ji Yifei in the infirmary today. He felt increasingly uneasy, but couldn’t pinpoint why. Shang Yan could only take out his diary and write down everything he was thinking.
The time that followed was like a floodgate opening. The monthly exam arrived as scheduled, but Ji Yifei’s personality became a little strange. When there were many people, he was no different from before, but when only Ji Yifei and Shang Yan were left, he would no longer joke around with him as before, barely even speaking.
Even the unpredictable “pheromone imbalance disorder” calmed down and didn’t return until the monthly exam was over. Ji Yifei and Shang Yan both thought it was getting better and didn’t bother each other anymore.
The weather gradually warmed up. The heavy down jackets were slowly shed, and some people even started wearing their spring school uniforms.
After another period of time, all the monthly exam papers had been discussed. At the flag-raising ceremony, people on the sports field were all wearing their spring school uniforms, and the Spring Sports Meet was upon them.
Li Jiang stood on the podium with the registration form, playing the military recruitment game. Ji Yifei and Shang Yan, thanks to their long legs and handsome looks, were each registered for three events. But, as in previous years, the sports meet had more than just official events.
As the Ministry of Education paid increasing attention to students’ mental health, the number of fun sports items also increased. Ball-running, dragon boat racing, three-legged race, and leaf-flipping began to appear on the sports meet list.
Unfortunately, based on last year’s lessons, anyone participating in these events would become a “laughing stock” and even end up with countless ugly photos. After the official events were registered, the fun events were left untouched by the boys, except for a few girls who signed up together.
Li Jiang looked at the form with many blanks and asked again, “I’m asking one more time, is no one going to sign up voluntarily? In a moment, I will check the list one by one and randomly assign events to those who don’t have one!”
A noisy burst of laughter came from below the stage. A few playful boys stood up and shouted the names of their good friends, hoping Li Jiang would write them down.
Shang Yan glanced at Ji Yifei next to him, who was constantly looking back and laughing, and spoke to Li Jiang on the podium: “Report, I, Ji Yifei, officially sign up for the three-legged race with Classmate Shang Yan.”
His voice caught Ji Yifei’s attention. Ji Yifei turned and looked at Li Jiang, smiling as he said, “Yes, yes, yes, I, Classmate Shang Yan, officially sign up with Classmate Ji Yifei.”