After finishing his conversation with his parents, Bai Yu returned to his bedroom. Before he could even sit down, the door was kicked open with a bang.
"Bro! Someone's looking for you!" exclaimed his energetic younger brother, his school bag slung over his shoulder, indicating he had just returned from school.
Bai Yu frowned, "Who?"
His brother shook his head, "Don't know. An Omega, said to be your classmate."
An Omega? Could it be Li Ren? But if the person wanted to visit, they would surely have contacted him beforehand. Why come over suddenly like this?
Bai Yu made his way downstairs.
Sitting in the living room was a familiar figure, their appearance striking, their expression unusually tense. They sat huddled on the couch, looking somewhat pitiful.
It was An Yu.
Bai Yu hadn't expected An Yu to show up at his house so late in the evening.
At that moment, An Yu's mind was in turmoil. Holding a cup of steaming tea, he couldn't calm down. He hadn't expected the young boy earlier to be Bai Yu's brother. Upon hearing that he was Bai Yu's classmate, he was pulled inside. Even Bai Yu's mother was present, pouring him a cup of tea.
This visit was indeed impulsive.
Upon hearing the news that Bai Yu had become an Alpha at school today, An Yu couldn't shake off the shock for half the day. After school, disregarding his friends' invitations, he rushed over straightaway.
At that moment, his mind was fixated on one thing. If Bai Yu had undergone secondary differentiation and become an S+ level Alpha, then everything that happened that night would make sense.
The mysterious person who saved him concealed their true identity for a reason, and the fact that he couldn't find that person anywhere in the school.
—Because he never could have imagined that the mysterious individual was actually an Omega!
However, even though he had rushed over impulsively, when he arrived at the door, he suddenly didn't know what to say. So he hesitated and lingered.
He hadn't expected to just walk straight into the house.
The tea in his hand was scalding, and An Yu grew increasingly uneasy as he sat there. He glanced nervously at Bai's mother in front of him and said, "Um, maybe I should..."
Go back.
Before he could utter those two words, footsteps approached from behind, moving closer towards him.
Perhaps due to his heightened nerves, An Yu could even sense the other person's body temperature, their breath rate, and the sensation of a hand seemingly placed behind him.
Then came a question.
"What are you looking for me for?"
The familiar, gentle voice. But perhaps due to the secondary differentiation, it now sounded somewhat deeper.
An Yu felt a tingling sensation creeping up his spine, sending shivers down his body.
Anxiously, he turned his head to look back and saw Bai Yu standing behind him, his right arm draped over the back of the couch, his light gray eyes gazing down at him.
Though it was an extremely familiar face, and though he had always felt disdain whenever he saw it before, once he overlapped the figure with that night, An Yu became too nervous to speak.
Then, he saw a slight smirk on Bai Yu's lips. "How did you know where my house is?"
An Yu instinctively replied, "Because I've looked up Shang Yufei's home..."
But as he said this, he suddenly felt something was amiss and quickly covered his mouth.
Bai Yu understood. The other person must have had a crush on Shang Yufei before, and surely had followed them secretly. Since his own home was not far from Shang Yufei's, it was easy to find out.
Bai Yu glanced at his mother and younger brother, then turned back to An Yu. "Let's talk outside."
With that, he turned and walked towards the door.
An Yu hurriedly set down his tea cup and followed. Halfway there, he suddenly stopped, turned back, bowed to Bai's mother, then continued walking out.
Bai's mother stroked her chin, Bai Yan hugged his chest. The mother and son looked at each other, tilting their heads in unison.
What's going on?
An Yu caught up to Bai Yu outside the door. Bai Yu had stopped a few meters away and turned to look back at him. Several street lamps stood along the road, their orange-red glow cascading over his light-colored hair.
An Yu's cheeks reddened slightly as he stood there, seemingly frozen in place. Just as he snapped out of it and tried to catch up, Bai Yu turned his head again and continued walking forward.
An Yu had to quicken his pace, finally catching up. But Bai Yu showed no intention of stopping.
He reached out and grabbed Bai Yu's coat hem. "Where are you going? Aren't we supposed to talk?"
Bai Yu finally stopped. With a slight step forward, he pulled his coat hem from An Yu's grip. Smiling at him, he said, "I'm taking you to the station."
"W-what?"
This sentence brought back memories for An Yu. Every time he tried to provoke someone, he ended up sulking alone.
Bai Yu said, "Just say what you have to. Once we're done, you can take the train back home."
Though not explicitly stated, An Yu could tell. Bai Yu didn't want to spend any more time with him; he was eager to send him away.
This familiar attitude finally brought some sense back to An Yu. He composed himself and asked, "You should know why I'm looking for you, right?"
Bai Yu replied, "I don't know."
"You—" An Yu was getting frustrated. But realizing it wasn't the time to get angry, and having finally found an opportunity, he had to clarify.
"I'm asking you, where were you last Tuesday night?"
Last Tuesday was the night he was attacked by those hoodlums.
Bai Yu responded, "I was at home."
An Yu exclaimed, "Nonsense! You clearly went to that alley. It was you who rescued me from those people, I'm sure of it!"
Bai Yu tilted his head slightly, seeming puzzled by what was being said.
Seeing his denial, An Yu anxiously stomped her foot, "Then why don't you release pheromones now? I remember that scent, if it's not there, I promise I won't bother you anymore, I'll leave right away!"
Bai Yu remained silent.
An Yu, growing more convinced, pressed, "Are you afraid?"
"You're afraid I'll recognize you. That's why you won't do it!"
At this moment, they could already see the bus stop in the distance. A hover bus passed by the platform without picking anyone up, then continued on its way. As it passed by the two of them, it stirred up a gust of wind.
Bai Yu's light gray hair was blown up and then fell down, covering his smooth forehead.
He spoke, "Although this is a residential area with few pedestrians, there are houses around, and people might still pass by."
An Yu didn't understand why he suddenly said such a thing, "What do you mean?"
Bai Yu took a step forward, slightly closer to An Yu.
Even among Omegas, An Yu's figure was petite and lovely. Not to mention that Bai Yu had grown 10cm taller in a year. Now, An Yu's head only reached Bai Yu's shoulder.
Feeling pressured, An Yu involuntarily took a step back.
"The meaning is..." Bai Yu lowered his voice, "You want me to release pheromones now, to make a public display?"
"!"
At the sound of this, An Yu's face flushed instantly. He recalled everything that had happened that night when his pheromones awakened, his heartbeat suddenly accelerating. His hands nervously clasped together in front of him. "Otherwise, how about changing the location?" Bai Yu had expected An Yu to feel embarrassed and flee after his previous statement, but he hadn't anticipated his firmness. Even so, Bai Yu remained determined to have him release his pheromones. Bai Yu stepped back, pressing his hand against his nose in a thoughtful gesture. "An Yu, I think you might have misunderstood something."
"What?" An Yu asked.
"Our relationship, I don't think it's that good," Bai Yu replied. An Yu was taken aback. Indeed, since the day he met Bai Yu, there had been no peace between them. Or rather, most of the time, he found Bai Yu displeasing unilaterally. But to An Yu, it was just a small friction that occurred when two Omegas were together. Moreover, Bai Yu had saved him that night. Couldn't they take this as an opportunity to reconcile?
"But you saved me that night—"
"I never said that," Bai Yu interrupted, asking, "And by believing so one-sidedly, what do you hope to achieve?"
What did he hope to achieve? An Yu hadn't thought too much. He simply hoped to find his knight in shining armor from that day, to thank him. And if possible... to co-write a romantic and touching love story.
And if that person happened to be Bai Yu... An Yu gritted his teeth. "Are you trying to say that you're dating Shang Yu Fei even now? But now that you've differentiated into an Alpha, there's simply no possibility between you two!"
Bai Yu: "Why?"
For An Yu, this was a logical question, so when he heard the counter-question, he couldn't help but be stunned.
"Be-because... Among Alphas, pheromones repel each other. Even if you still have lingering affections for each other due to past relationships, as time goes by, those feelings will surely fade. Breaking up is inevitable."
The wind picked up, then subsided again. Bai Yu's hair was tousled by the breeze. Beside them, the streetlights suddenly began to flicker. Off, then on again.
"Bai Yu," he said softly, "this doesn't seem to concern you."
It was the first time An Yu had seen Bai Yu wear such an expression. His lips were curved, but that smile seemed rather eerie.
In a different sense, his heart pounded violently in his chest: "I-I'm just stating the facts!"
Facts, huh.
To others, this statement made sense indeed. Bai Yu also understood why the other party would think that way. This was also one of the reasons, initially, why he avoided Shang Yufei after the second differentiation.
But once the thought occurred to him that behind this statement lay a peculiar emotion, Bai Yu found it incomprehensible.
Why was the other party so confident? First towards Shang Yufei, then towards him.
Did he think that as long as he made the first move, he would definitely get a response?
Bai Yu looked at An Yu. "I admit, I was the one who saved you that night. But so what?"
"I intervened to save you purely out of personal morality. Even if it wasn't you cornered that night, I would've done the same."
He squinted, "Don't think your charm is all that. What possibility could there be between us?"
His words were merciless, like sharp blades piercing through An Yu's heart, leaving his lips pallid.
He harbored delusions indeed; anything he desired, he pursued relentlessly regardless of consequences.
Thus, even though Shang Yufei had clearly rejected him before, he still stubbornly persisted, believing Shang Yufei simply hadn't thought it through, considering himself superior in appearance, family background, and everything else compared to Bai Yu.
As for Bai Yu, upon realizing he was the mysterious person who had rescued him, all the emotions and feelings he had accumulated previously poured out towards Bai Yu in an instant.
Although these were his own thoughts, when everything was ruthlessly laid bare, An Yu felt as exposed as if he were naked, thoroughly embarrassed.
Bai Yu's words continued, softly lingering in the air with a gentle tone.
"I've always felt your sense of superiority is too strong."
"Your face is merely average among ordinary people, and your genetic rank is just a mediocre B-level. Why would you think everyone should fall for you?"
"You, as a person," he chuckled, devoid of malice, "are truly incurably narcissistic."
The final words were like the last straw that broke the camel's back.
Though there was no physical violence, An Yu felt the pain from Bai Yu's words was worse than the slap from Fang Zhenren that day.
On that day, he had held back his tears. But hearing such words from Bai Yu's mouth made everything blur instantly. Tears fell uncontrollably like snapped strings.
If other Alphas had seen his pitiful state, they would have rushed to console him. But the culprit behind it all just turned his head, gazing towards the distant platform.
Bai Yu: "Ah, the last train is here."
He looked at An Yu, tears in his eyes, his brows slightly furrowed. "Hurry back, don't let those thugs bother you again."
That day, An Yu held his shattered heart and cried the whole night.
Nevertheless, Bai Yu didn't care about An Yu's feelings.
Though his words were harsh, as long as the other party stopped overthinking things, it wasn't pointless.
But the next day, as he entered the school gate and saw the bright red banner, he couldn't help but think: Is this karma?
[Congratulations to our school's student, Bai Yu, for successfully entering the Luhoa Academy with an S+ level qualification!]
The red background with white letters, when fully unfurled, stretched five meters long, hanging conspicuously on the middle section of the teaching building's exterior wall—visible as soon as one entered the school gates.
He remembered last year when Shang Yufei received this same treatment. At that time, Bai Yu found it amusing, but now that it happened to him, even he felt a bit embarrassed.
Moreover, he had just contacted Admiral Lu last night to inform him of his enrollment, so how could the school rush to put this up so quickly?
He averted his gaze, forcing himself to shift his attention elsewhere.
As he walked through the school gates, he felt the scorching gazes bathing him, accompanied by persistent whispers that lingered in his ears.
And when he looked over, the group of Omega students were all screaming with joy, while the Alpha students hung their heads in disappointment, wiping away tears from the corners of their eyes.
"..."
Bai Yu looked up at the sky.
Entering the classroom, perhaps due to the early hour, there weren't many people yet. But as soon as the few students who had arrived saw him, they immediately stood up straight and greeted in unison, "Welcome, Bai Yu, to class!"
At the front, leading the greeting, was his friend named Li Ren.
Bai Yu smiled and slammed the classroom door shut with a bang.
It seemed he hadn't opened it quite right.
About to reopen it, he heard an impatient male voice behind him.
"Why are you blocking the way? Hurry up and get in!"
He turned to look, seeing the guy who usually hung out with Fang Zhenren.
The guy hadn't even noticed who was in front of him. He had just been discharged from the hospital after lying there for days, already in a bad mood. So when he saw someone blocking the door, he didn't hesitate to speak out in irritation.
But when he finally saw who it was, his face changed drastically.
He remembered the terrifying pheromones that had dominated him that evening, filled with fear.
The guy stumbled back as if he had seen a ghost, then shouted and ran wildly down the hallway, disappearing into the distance. Who knows how long it would take for the scars in his heart to heal.
Bai Yu watched him leave.
At that moment, the classroom door in front of him suddenly opened by itself. Li Ren stood inside, asking, "Why did you close the door? Are you not satisfied with this welcome ceremony?"
Bai Yu turned back, looking at his bewildered friend with a slightly stiff smile, "The welcome ceremony isn't necessary."
"After that, the days were calm and peaceful. Except for the school's excessive affection towards him, which he found somewhat unbearable.
For a long time, several military academies came knocking at his door, hoping Bai Yu would become their student. But upon learning that he had already been snatched away, they could only leave with silent regret and frustration.
Time flew by. Soon, it was time to head to the Military Academy."