Straight Man Gets Reincarnated into an ABO Novel and Ends Up with His Rival - Chapter 26

When they returned to the apartment that night, Wang Bu Po came out of the shower, towel in hand, and saw Fu Jing sitting on the couch, head bent over his phone.

From the moment Wang Bu Po had gone into the bathroom to now, Fu Jing hadn’t moved an inch.

“What are you looking at so seriously?” Wang Bu Po asked, drying his hair as he walked closer.

Fu Jing looked up, immediately locked his screen, and said calmly, “Nothing.”

Wang Bu Po raised an eyebrow. It wasn’t often he saw a hint of guilt on Fu Jing’s usually composed face. Half-teasing, half-suspicious, he asked, “You’re not secretly watching some pretty streamer behind my back, are you?”

Fu Jing gave him a silent look. “No.”

“You’ve been acting weird since this afternoon,” Wang Bu Po said, narrowing his eyes in mock suspicion.

“Have I?”

Fu Jing averted his gaze. As he did, his eyes accidentally fell on Wang Bu Po’s slightly open pajama collar.

His skin was still faintly pink from the hot shower, and his collarbone caught the light whenever he bent forward a little.

Fu Jing quickly turned away, grabbed the mug on the coffee table, and tilted it back to take a sip. His Adam’s apple moved as he swallowed.

Standing two or three steps away, Wang Bu Po frowned slightly.

When Fu Jing set the mug down, he noticed Wang Bu Po staring at him with a strange expression, towel frozen midair.

“W-what?” Fu Jing asked stiffly.

“You… took my cup.” Wang Bu Po hesitated before speaking.

They’d bought two mugs when they first moved in, both black and white, but one had straight stripes while the other had wavy ones. The straight-striped one was Fu Jing’s; the wavy one was his.

“Oh,” Fu Jing said with studied calm. “Must’ve mixed them up. They look almost the same. You’ve grabbed the wrong one plenty of times yourself.”

His tone was casual if you ignored the bright red tips of his ears.

Wang Bu Po nodded. “True, I used to mix them up all the time. The stripes are slanted and spaced far apart; it’s confusing when I’m half-asleep and dying of thirst.”

In truth, it didn’t really matter. Sharing a cup of water wasn’t a big deal. Guys sometimes even drank from the same bottle.

But… he was pretty sure he hadn’t filled that cup with water.

So Fu Jing must’ve done it while he was in the shower.

He shrugged off the thought and said instead, “Didn’t expect you to mess up, too. You were the one who kept reminding me not to take the wrong cup.”

Fu Jing gave a faint cough. “Yeah… wasn’t paying attention. I’ll wash it for you.”

He snatched up the mug and practically fled to the kitchen, his movements a little clumsy.

Wang Bu Po didn’t think much of it he just turned on the hair dryer and flopped onto the couch.

From the kitchen came the rush of running water.

“Shhhhhh”

Fu Jing scrubbed the mug again and again, even though there hadn’t been a single drop of water in it to begin with. Only when the heat in his cheeks finally faded and the pounding in his chest cooled to something steady did he stop.

He came back to the living room just as Wang Bu Po called out, “Oh, right, didn’t you want my autograph this afternoon? Where do you want me to sign it?”

Fu Jing, who absolutely did not want that childish scrawl, said nothing.

In the end, Wang Bu Po signed his name on the first page of Fu Jing’s brand-new notebook with a flourish and added a doodle he proudly called a crown but Fu Jing thought it looked suspiciously like a duck’s foot.

Later, Fu Jing returned to his room, notebook in hand, and unlocked his phone.

The page he hadn’t closed earlier still sat open at the top of the screen search history and all.

In the search bar were the words:
“Is it normal to feel possessive toward someone you temporarily marked?”

The list below shows a series of similar searches:

• Does temporary marking affect emotions toward the marked person?

• Is it normal to have physiological reactions to someone you’ve temporarily marked?

• During susceptibility, do you fantasize about someone you’ve marked before?

• What are the symptoms of susceptibility?

• Can pheromones influence rational thought?

• What to do if you did it with a friend during his heat?

And now, a freshly added one:
“Does blushing and a fast heartbeat toward your temporary mark mean pheromone influence?”

Knock, knock, knock!

Fu Jing flinched. Not his heartbeat this time, the door.

He quickly exited the page, put down his phone, and opened the door.

Outside stood Wang Bu Po, grinning broadly, a pillow tucked under one arm.

“What is it?” Fu Jing asked, pretending not to notice the pillow.

“Forgot already? I’m having an episode today. You said I could sleep here tonight.”

“Oh.” Fu Jing stepped aside, face neutral. “Come in.”

Wang Bu Po climbed onto the bed like he’d done it a hundred times, flopping onto the side by the window.

“You’re not sleeping?” he asked when Fu Jing just stood there, frozen.

“Mm.”

Fu Jing turned stiffly and lay down beside him, pulling the blanket up.

The nights were getting cooler, so they’d switched to a medium-thick comforter. Since it was big enough for both, they didn’t bother with separate blankets anymore.

“Turn off the lights,” Wang Bu Po murmured, already closing his eyes. Within minutes, he was deep in dreamland.

Fu Jing lay awake for a long time, tossing slightly, just like that first night.

By Friday evening, life had returned to its usual rhythm.

After showering, Wang Bu Po sat cross-legged on the carpet, watching a comedy show on the projector while munching on sunflower seeds. Fu Jing was at the counter, working on his new laptop.

“Hey,” Wang Bu Po suddenly said, “my boss’s sister is having a birthday party on Saturday. He invited the whole club to come?”

Fu Jing looked up. “Your boss’s sister? You’re that close to your boss?”

“Uh… not really. He invited everyone from the club.”

Seeing Fu Jing hesitate, Wang Bu Po added eagerly, “Come on, it’ll be fun. The party’s at one of his family’s villas; it’s more like a team outing, really. We can eat, play, relax… no need to bring gifts or be formal.”

He leaned closer, eyes bright. “And get this, all expenses covered. Food, travel, everything. Since we’ve been through all the hard stuff together, shouldn’t we enjoy the good times together, too? I even asked if I could bring a friend he said Sure! So, what do you say? Come with me, yeah?”

“Tomorrow?” Fu Jing asked.

“Yup. You don’t have class, right? Got something else planned?”

“No.”

“Then it’s settled!” Wang Bu Po declared, grinning triumphantly.