He is not my Alpha! - Chapter 25
Ji Yifei had already come down from the cafeteria. The Omega’s instinct, which had been stirring since the beginning of his estrus period, was constantly acting up. Knowing he would see the highly matched Alpha tonight, he couldn’t hold back.
When he saw Shang Yan walking toward him at the cafeteria entrance, Ji Yifei admitted that he genuinely wanted to rush over and hug him tightly.
Even before they got close, the mint scent he had been longing for was awakened in his mind.
Logically, the brain should only remember images and sounds, not have the function for smells. Yet, he remembered it.
The group finally met. Ji Yifei was about to open his mouth to greet them when Li Jiang jumped on him from behind.
“Holy sh*t, Li Jiang, you little bastard…” Ji Yifei didn’t react in time. Li Jiang’s sudden attack almost knocked him over.
Luckily, Shang Yan reached out in time to grab him, or else Ji Yifei would have truly turned into a caterpillar crawling on the ground.
“Holy sh*t, School Bully Ji, how did you get so weak after a few days…” Before he could finish, Shang Yan pulled him aside. He looked at the hand that pulled him, met Shang Yan’s eyes, and then remembered.
Holy sh*t, am I an idiot? Ji Yifei must be very weak during this period.
He pretended to be calm, quietly touched the back of his neck, and looked at Ji Yifei, meeting those murderous eyes squarely.
He could only awkwardly say, “Actually, I missed you too much just now. Would you believe me if I said I just wanted to give you a warm hug…”
Ji Yifei rolled his eyes at him, then his gaze swept over Shang Yan. His estrus was too strong. For some reason, a numb feeling surged in his heart when he looked at Shang Yan.
It felt like someone was tapping him repeatedly with a small hammer.
He opened his mouth, planning to say something, but a pile of things was shoved into his hand. He turned to see Han Dongjun carrying a large pile of items.
“Here, what you asked for. It’s all inside.” He handed over a large bag of snacks. Ji Yifei took it and replied, “Thanks.” He patted Han Dongjun’s shoulder with his free hand.
“Ji Yifei, how many more days will it be for you? You’re our main force for the sports day!” Li Jiang was a bit scared by what just happened, and his voice became cautious.
“Huh? I’m not sure, but maybe… tomorrow will be fine?” His gaze involuntarily returned to the Alpha standing in the middle, and their eyes met exactly.
Logically, an Omega’s estrus period is only one to two days, varying only in the degree of discomfort. Ji Yifei’s had always been relatively mild before, but the current situation was special.
Li Jiang still felt something was off. Why was Shang Yan standing here posing after arriving…?
Shang Yan, who was completely mistaken for posing to look cool, had no idea. He was genuinely starting to ponder a matter.
A problem he had overlooked for a long time, but was now laid bare in front of him.
Finally, the group had finished their idle chatter. Li Jiang and Han Dongjun went to eat, and Ji Yifei took Shang Yan back to the classroom under the pretext of “tutoring.”
Everyone in the class had gone to the cafeteria. The teaching building was almost empty, except for a few classes using the multimedia to watch videos or listen to music.
The two didn’t speak the entire way. Ji Yifei felt that he was not only confused about his own emotions but also becoming increasingly unable to decipher Shang Yan’s.
According to yesterday’s plan, the two should have quickly finished the business and gone their separate ways. What was with this silence now?
Ji Yifei stopped at the classroom door, signaling for Shang Yan to go in first. Shang Yan didn’t ask why, just obeyed.
Ji Yifei watched Shang Yan sit down in his seat, then walked in, closed the door, and sat in Li Jiang’s seat behind Shang Yan.
Shang Yan didn’t quite understand the intention of his action and asked, “Aren’t you coming over?”
“So your soul is still here, Old Sir,” Ji Yifei replied.
Shang Yan didn’t understand his meaning. He suddenly remembered Zhou Tian’s response to Li Jiang in the dorm these past few days, so he replied, “Thank you, the soul is still here.”
Ji Yifei felt that his heart, which had been gently struck by the small hammer just now, had now stopped beating. Those hallucinations earlier might have been suggesting that he needed CPR now.
Ji Yifei pointed to the monitor nearby. Shang Yan understood his meaning, got up, and prepared to go to the stairwell. When he reached the door, he turned back, only to find Ji Yifei hadn’t moved at all.
Neither of them moved, only looking at each other, hoping to find the answer they needed in the other’s eyes.
Ji Yifei broke the silence: “Shang Yan, are you…”
These words set Shang Yan’s heart racing. It was then that he realized how afraid he was of being found out.
He looked at Ji Yifei’s narrowed eyes and felt that this gaze made him feel completely exposed and ashamed. His heart was panicking more. He was afraid of being exposed.
“Let’s go to the stairwell first. If your inhibitor wears off, it will be difficult to handle.” He interrupted with a stiff face.
Ji Yifei hesitated for two seconds, nodded, and left the classroom with Shang Yan to go to the stairwell.
The walk to the stairwell was the same as before. Ji Yifei was behind Shang Yan, watching his feet. In fact, he hadn’t figured out what he wanted to ask just now. If Shang Yan hadn’t interrupted, he might not have asked anything at all.
Familiar place, familiar person, but this time, neither of them spoke much. Ji Yifei pulled down his clothes by himself and stopped moving. Shang Yan looked at the back of the neck in front of him, hesitating to bite down.
“Ji Yifei.” The stairwell was relatively empty. This call of “Ji Yifei” echoed in the air. Because of the close distance, Shang Yan spoke right next to the person’s body. Ji Yifei felt a breath on the back of his neck.
“What’s wrong?” Ji Yifei was very ticklish. He subconsciously wanted to reach out and touch the itchy spot, but he stopped when he thought about the current situation.
Shang Yan watched the person’s cheeks rapidly turn red, his ears also flushed with color, and suddenly he withdrew the words he had planned to say.
Actually, it’s fine just like this.
Ji Yifei’s Adam’s apple involuntarily bobbed. His gaze started to drift toward the white wall behind Shang Yan, trying to distract himself.
Unfortunately, before he could get very far, the mint-scented pheromones pulled him back. Ji Yifei couldn’t help but let out a soft moan.
…
Ji Yifei’s estrus period was finally over, but unfortunately, the days he missed couldn’t be easily made up. Sports Day was next week.
He dedicated more time to practicing the events, especially the three-legged race with Shang Yan.
His exam results also came out. Just like before, he was second, and Shang Yan was first. Ji Yifei vowed internally to surpass Shang Yan next time. And he fiercely punched Li Jiang, who called him “Old Second for ten thousand years.”
He and Shang Yan also resumed their previous relationship because of the “marking relationship.” Their way of interacting returned to normal. Ji Yifei no longer deliberately ignored Shang Yan.
Ji Yifei intuitively knew that Shang Yan had something to say after calling his name that day. He thought about it for a long time after returning, but couldn’t figure out anything.
He planned to start by asking his friends, “I have a friend who…” but everyone he asked immediately responded with, “What’s wrong with you?” on the second line of his text, causing him to retract his messages.
Shang Yan also knew that the words Ji Yifei couldn’t ask that day were very important, but he didn’t want to talk about it now. He didn’t know how to face that unknown question.
Once some questions are planted, they will take root in the heart. A person’s psychology will also magnify the actions of the protagonist of the question. Ji Yifei started paying more attention to Shang Yan than usual.
But perhaps he wasn’t aware of it.
Shang Yan, however, had a noticeable feeling. He noticed that Ji Yifei liked to stare at his face recently. He even suspected that he had developed a pimple.
He felt a bit anxious but didn’t want to stop Ji Yifei. It’s quite nice to be stared at like this.
The day before Sports Day, Class One finally selected the person to carry the class banner. After a “fierce discussion” among everyone, Li Jiang was overwhelmingly voted to carry the class banner in a female costume. Well-deserved.
Li Jiang and Chen Ken were granted the privilege of three hours out of school by the homeroom teacher to buy necessary supplies and snacks. Chen Ken, however, declined due to student council matters and gave the privilege to Ji Yifei.
Li Jiang, as usual, brought Zhou Tian. Li Jiang brought Shang Yan along under the pretext of “can’t stand Young Master Shang guarding an empty nest alone.”
The final lineup going out was Ji Yifei, Shang Yan, Li Jiang, and Zhou Tian.
Everyone in the class knew they were going out. Everyone bombarded Li Jiang’s private messages with requests to bring back milk tea and food from the snack street. Li Jiang screamed in distress at the school gate, which ended with Zhou Tian pinching his waist.
The final decision was that Ji Yifei and Li Jiang agreed to spend an hour eating barbecue first, and then use the excuse that Shang Yan suddenly had a stomachache on the way and needed an hour in the restroom to extend the outing time to four hours.
—As for why it had to be Shang Yan, Li Jiang’s answer was: everyone must practice rock-paper-scissors diligently when they are young, or else they will end up being the scapegoat for every bad thing.
The four of them changed out of their school uniforms and sat down at the barbecue stall. Li Jiang insisted on Zhou Tian accompanying him to buy stir-fried starch noodles, so only Ji Yifei and Shang Yan were left at the table.
The two were chatting idly, but were suddenly startled by a sound coming from the street to their left. Both looked over.
“F*ck you, you son of a b*tch. So what if I look down on you today?” Ji Yifei couldn’t see clearly, only spotting a burly man holding something, pointing and gesticulating at a guy next to him.
Ji Yifei felt the guy being pointed at looked familiar. He was about to move forward to see clearly but was stopped by Shang Yan.
“Don’t go over there.” Shang Yan held his wrist. Ji Yifei turned his head to look at him. He was about to explain, but then heard new commotion from that direction.
The guy who was just acting arrogantly was tackled to the ground by a lean person, letting out a scream.
“Have I ever told you, this area is none of your business?” The person’s tone was flat, but his voice was very intimidating.
This time, it was Ji Yifei who pulled Shang Yan back. He sat down and lowered his head. Shang Yan felt that he must be avoiding the person over there.
The two were quiet for a while. The people fighting also dispersed. The street returned to its usual hustle and bustle.
When the barbecue stall owner served the dishes, Li Jiang and Zhou Tian also returned. They said they were buying starch noodles, but they ended up with much more than that.
“Did you buy the whole snack street?” Zhou Tian sat down, took out chopsticks from the table dispenser, and picked up the nearby hot water kettle to sterilize the cutlery.
“Wow, you said yourself that this looked very delicious, that’s why I bought it, okay?” Li Jiang argued with him.
Shang Yan kept observing Ji Yifei’s expression. His face looked much worse than before. He was frowning, staring at the table without a word, and only started eating after Li Jiang poked him.
Fortunately, Li Jiang, the life of the party, livened up the atmosphere. They checked the time. More than half an hour had passed. The four quickly finished the huge table of food.
After cleaning up, Li Jiang and Zhou Tian went to buy food, and Ji Yifei and Shang Yan went to buy supplies. The four split into two groups.
Shang Yan saw the person beside him clenching his fists. On the surface, he looked calm, but Shang Yan couldn’t help but feel concerned.
He was very curious about who that person was. He wanted Ji Yifei to tell him, but he knew Ji Yifei didn’t want to talk.
Passing a nearby barbershop, the song playing inside was, “I sympathize with your pain and want to solve it for you.”
Music indeed affects the heart. Shang Yan’s heart ached even more.
He looked at Ji Yifei’s tightly clenched fists. He wanted to reach out, hold his hand, tell him to relax, tell him what happened, and that he could share his burden.
But nothing happened. Aside from necessary communication, the two barely spoke. Ji Yifei felt Shang Yan’s gaze on him. He also understood that Shang Yan must have doubts.
But he didn’t want to talk. Ji Yifei looked down at his white-knuckled hands. He took a deep breath to calm himself down. Even with his back to Shang Yan, he didn’t want his voice to be too loud for him to hear.
But as a recently marked A/O pair, how could their emotions not affect each other?
The two finished buying supplies and checked out of the supermarket. Ji Yifei lowered his head, texting Li Jiang to ask where he was. Shang Yan stood beside him, holding the bags.
It had rained lightly this morning. Now that it was evening, the damp streets conveyed a sense of loneliness.
Ji Yifei was standing right beside him, yet he felt so far away. Shang Yan thought this in his heart.
“Meow,” a faint sound came from a nearby bench. The sound undoubtedly attracted both of their attention.
The two turned and saw a tiny, skinny cat. It was a bit dirty. Ji Yifei walked over gently, softly.
He knew cats were very timid, so he moved slowly. Getting closer, he saw the cat clearly: three colors—black, white, and yellow—mixed on its body. It was small and scrawny.
The cold, rainy weather was very unfriendly to it. It was still a bit damp, and Ji Yifei felt it was trembling slightly.
Ji Yifei turned his head to Shang Yan, who was not far away, and quietly said, “I’ll watch it here. Can you buy me a chicken sausage from the store nearby?”
Shang Yan nodded, put down the bags in his hand, and turned to the nearby store.
When he came out of the store, the distance between the cat and Ji Yifei had narrowed considerably. The cat was still “meowing,” but its voice was faint.
Shang Yan also walked over slowly. He didn’t want his presence to scare the little cat away.
Ji Yifei took the chicken sausage he bought, continuously spoke gently to the kitten, “We’re good people. We brought you some tasty food.” He tore open the sausage wrapper.
Ji Yifei’s eyes shone with a gentle light from the nearby street lamp. He extended the sausage forward. The kitten slowly walked forward again, confirming multiple times that Ji Yifei wouldn’t hurt it.
It lowered its head and started eating the chicken sausage. Ji Yifei took the opportunity to get closer again, but he only watched. Shang Yan was also watching him.
Shang Yan slowly spoke, “Aren’t you going to pet it?”
Ji Yifei smiled and said, “No. I’m afraid I’ll scare it away. I’ll just watch it like this to see if it’s injured.”
Ji Yifei was indeed only checking for injuries. He didn’t reach out to touch it. The kitten was also quietly gnawing on the chicken sausage on the ground.
Shang Yan also crouched silently on the side, pondering Ji Yifei’s last sentence.
“No. I’m afraid I’ll scare it away. I’ll just watch it like this to see if it’s injured.”