However, when Xiao Zhan returned to school, he'd forgotten all about it.
There were not many junior courses, often only two or three sessions a day. Wang Yibo, who was a freshman two years younger than him, was much more tired each night, because he usually had four or five classes. Sometimes he also even had to take classes at night. Yet he still happily made an appointment for 10pm with Xiao Zhan to teach him to dance.
In Monday's physical education class, Xiao Zhan continued to play basketball on the court as usual. Wang Yibo didn't have drills today, so he stood on the sidelines and watched, cheering like a fanboy.
Xiao Zhan played basketball casually, not trying too hard. He was applauded a few times by Wang Yibo's exaggerated applause. He was so embarrassed that he glared at him fiercely before he stopped.
During the break, Xiao Zhan finished off his water, so Wang Yibo ran off to the store to buy him another without even saying a word and he couldn't stop him.
Xiao Zhan sat off to the side to rest, sleeves rolled up slightly to expose his arm muscles. The exposed figure wasn't as soft as an ordinary omega's.
Luo YongHeng trotted over out of breath and sat down with him, clicking his tongue, "Zhan Ge, I really admire that an omega like you can have this figure." He squeezed the muscles on his own arm, which couldn't even compare.
Xiao Zhan smiled, "Why else would you all call me Zhan Ge?"
His harsh words had just been spoken when he saw an unfamiliar young man walking up to them. The other student was very beautiful, his small face pale and tender, his arms and legs thin and straight. Just one look and anyone would know he was an omega. If his gaze weren't so aggressive, Xiao Zhan would've been in the mood to appreciate the view for a while.
The boy who stopped in front of him looked Xiao Zhan up and down a few times, "You're Zou Rui's partner?"
"No," Xiao Zhan said, "You've got the wrong guy."
The student sneered and said in a high pitch, "Then who else? Aren't you Xiao Zhan ? I thought your looks would be much better, I didn't expect such roughness."
Compared to the delicate, slender omega in front of him, Xiao Zhan , who was sweaty with rolled-up sleeves and messy hair, did indeed look quite rough.
Xiao Zhan stretched his arms back and reclined, leaning arrogantly against the rack of basketballs, squinting to examine this omega that he could flip over with one hand.
"Where did this fool come from."
"You!" The student's face suddenly became quite ugly. He was one of Zou Rui's admirers. Such a strong and handsome alpha was hard to find nowadays and, as one of the few high-quality single alphas at T University, Zou Rui was naturally someone most people knew about. Recently, he'd learned that he had a partner and that it was actually the fiendish omega Xiao Zhan . Most people didn't dare to mess with Xiao Zhan and they could only give up right away. But there were those who wouldn't admit defeat, boldly coming forward to provoke him.
This omega had been filled with anger, but when he looked upon Xiao Zhan 's icy expression and obviously stronger body, he recalled his terrifying record of beating up alphas for the past few years and he became a little timid for a moment, not daring to go against him.
"Don't be so proud of yourself," the other boy said in the end, "Zou Rui's obviously more interested in me, I'll take him from you sooner or later!"
"Oh, please do," Xiao Zhan said apathetically.
The other student couldn't think of a comeback after a moment, so he huffed heavily and turned to leave.
Luo YongHeng patted his chest, "Zou Rui is really popular. Yao Yi actually likes him. You have to pay close attention to him, that boy is not a fool."
Xiao Zhan asked, "You recognize him?"
Luo YongHeng said, "Yao Yi. You don't know him? The school flower of the department next door, er, the school grass? In short, there are a lot of alphas pursuing him. I've seen Zou Rui go out with him a few times. Please be careful. "
Xiao Zhan sneered dismissively, "If he can steal him away, it saves me from wasting time on that Zou Rui guy who has been troubling me recently."
Luo YongHeng was struck dumb, "Didn't you say that he was okay before......"
"Just chatting was okay. After getting to know him, I found a bunch of problems." Xiao Zhan curled his lip. "If I had other choices of partners, I would have broken it off with him already."
Luo YongHeng sighed, "Zhan Ge, to be honest, you actually never cared that much about Zuo Rui. You've always felt indifferent towards him. Maybe it's just because the other party also got disheartened......"
"He doesn't even pay attention, how can he get disheartened." Xiao Zhan saw Wang Yibo bringing back the water in the distance, hurrying over.
"Might as well go with a certain silly dog, at least he understands devotion to his owner."
Luo YongHeng didn't understand until he caught sight of Wang Yibo by following Xiao Zhan 's gaze. Disturbed, he said, "The little xuedi is so pitiful, not only helping you run errands but also being mocked by you."
"Mocked? Which of your eyes saw me mock him?" Xiao Zhan said subtly.
Luo YongHeng asked, "Didn't you just laugh saying he's like a dog?"
Xiao Zhan replied, "What nonsense are you saying. I call my golden retriever a silly dog and I gave him this nickname after coming to like the look of him."
Luo YongHeng said, "......Zhan Ge, you're really hard to understand."
Xiao Zhan : "?"
"May I remind you, Zhan Ge," Luo YongHeng said earnestly. "It's not easy to come across someone who's so kind to you. If you have any intentions, you must tell him clearly. Otherwise you will miss each other because of a misunderstanding...... "
Xiao Zhan kicked him away, "You watch too many dramas."
Luo YongHeng's lesson had fallen flat, so he went back to playing the game in a gloomy mood. Just then, Wang Yibo finally made it to the basketball rack, panting from the run and handing over the mineral water he'd just bought to Xiao Zhan .
"I said I wanted ice water," Xiao Zhan said as he unscrewed the room-temperature mineral water bottle.
"Xuezhang, drinking ice water is bad for your stomach."
Xiao Zhan crooked his finger, "Come here."
Wang Yibo approached without hesitation–
Xiao Zhan 's hand quietly wrapped around behind him and suddenly splashed water on his neck.
"Silly dog." Xiao Zhan laughed at his embarrassing image as he brushed water off himself.
The October weather still carried the heat of summer and Wang Yibo had sweated all around his neck by now, leaving a small wet spot left on the back of his jacket. Xiao Zhan had washed the sticky sweat away from Wang Yibo with the half the small bottle of water he wanted to drink. So he felt like he had been very considerate and generous.
Wang Yibo's hand paused in mopping away the water for a moment, then he smiled that usual gentle, soft smile, saying not a word.
After dinner, because of the preparations for the anniversary show, Xiao Zhan went to the rehearsal hall to help other students prepare performance props. They had prepared a skit to perform during the school founding celebration.
Of course, Xiao Zhan couldn't go on stage. Firstly, his image really wasn't suitable. Secondly, if he went on stage for a bit, he was afraid that no one would dare to laugh. Therefore his task was to help prepare props with the other students who weren't participating in the show.
Xiao Zhan still had some social awareness, so he didn't skip out on his responsibilities. He ended up busy until 9pm and hadn't yet been able to return to the dorm. Instead, Wang Yibo came to the rehearsal hall to get him after his evening class.
Wang Yibo volunteered to take on the role of gopher. He was tall and, surprisingly, he was pretty strong too. What items ordinary people needed two hands to lift, he could easily lift one hand, saving a lot of time. They were able to complete their tasks half an hour ahead of schedule.
The two left the rehearsal hall and walked downstairs. It was completely dark outside and it was about 11pm as they returned to the dormitory to shower.
"Xuezhang, do you still want to practice dancing?" Wang Yibo asked, without much confidence.
Xiao Zhan knew that he had been looking forward to it for a long time. When he saw his bright expression, he felt soft-hearted for once and couldn't bear to let him down.
"Let's practice."
"Okay!" Wang Yibo smiled brightly, instantly taking on the appearance of a male god2, instead of his usual idiotically childish smile.
Xiao Zhan gave him a funny look and suddenly out of the corner of his eye caught sight of a sneaky figure passing by on the lower stairs.
The two of them had been the last to leave because they'd been left to clean up the site, so there was no one else in the building right now. Although there was nothing valuable in the rehearsal hall, it would still be very troublesome if some public property was stolen.
"Whoever's there, stop." Xiao Zhan didn't think before speaking, taking a step with the intent to chase after them. Then, he noticed something strange under his foot as it landed.
Unfortunately, he was too late. The oily floor beneath him is extremely slippery and as soon as the sole of his shoe touched it, it slipped out from beneath him. He instantly lost his balance, empty air beneath his foot, and he fell straight down the stairs.
His head spun. He only heard Wang Yibo shouting "Xuezhang!" behind him, before he was pulled into a forceful embrace by a strong arm, protected tightly.
Suddenly his heart stuttered.
—
Footnotes:
1.School flower (系花): equivalent to school grass, typically slang for the most beautiful girl in the school ↩
2. Male god (男神): a dream guy, a Prince Charming, a man who is handsome and kind and perfect ↩
—