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Chapter Eight
Three weeks passed without any problems. It was rare that Jiang ShaoYan didnât get into trouble for such a long time. He shocked his aunt, Shen YongMei, who was the dean of the academic department. She suspected that his new roommate was the one who had made him change his ways.
Jiang ShaoYan dismissed that by replying âhow could that be possibleâ but he thought about it carefully. Wang Zheâs presence did have a little impact. Sometimes, when he was upset over something and grumbled at him, Wang Zhe smiled and pacified him with a few words, not taking it to heart. When heâd lived alone before, he would just get more and more angry as he thought about it until his anger would build up so much heâd roll up his sleeves and get in a fight.
It seemed that it wasnât too bad having a roommate.
However, he and Zou Rui were still slowly progressing. Although Zou Rui was sometimes a bit domineering, he generally was good to him. He would ask him to eat during the day, send chat messages to him at night, and invite him to go on dates on the weekends.
However, Jiang ShaoYan felt the whole time that some feeling was just missing.
The kind of feeling of being comfortable with him.
If it wasnât for Wang Zheâs presence, he might have easily agreed to be together with Zou Rui a few times, but Wang Zhe made him aware that actually liking someone could involve real attentiveness.
Once he saw Liu Han in his friend chat saying that he wanted to eat roast duck, commenting with the sentence âI wanted to eat it as soon as you mentioned itâ, but he didnât mean it seriously. After all, there was no roast duck shop near their school, and he was too lazy to run so far to eat it.
Wang Zhe bought it for him that night.
The roasted duck was sliced thin, with the thin skin, spring onion, and the dipping sauce all packed in a single small box and also placed in a thermal insulation box. It was still steaming as if it just came out of the oven.
The nearest branch of this roast duck restaurant also was an hour by car, with no delivery service.
Wang Zhe didnât even let him touch anything. He helped him dip pieces of duck meat in sauce and wrapped them with the spring onions and he almost didnât even let him feed himself.
Jiang ShaoYan, an omega who hasnât been cared for since he was a child, who was called the excessively violent Yan Ge by most alphas, was being served here like a three-year-old child who couldnât take care of himself.
It was obviously impossible to say that his heart wasnât touched. Heâd had a strong personality since he was a child, always feeling it was beneath his dignity to depend on others, occasionally being spoiled by his family. For the first time, heâd met an outsider who also spoiled him, so he naturally felt that the other party was very different.
But to measure to what extent he was touched, Jiang ShaoYan himself wasnât sure.
Wang Zhe really looked like his familyâs big golden retriever. He was meek, considerate, and devoted, as if Jiang ShaoYan was the center of his world.
Being treated with such gentle care, he felt that Zou Ruiâs level of concern wasnât high enough.
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On Friday night, Zou Rui called to ask him to go out to a party again. The last time he didnât go, so this time it wasnât good to shirk off. Jiang ShaoYan could only agree. Anyway, he wasnât going home this weekend, so getting drunk was fine.
Wang Zhe also wanted to follow along, but Jiang ShaoYan was afraid that the two of them would quarrel again when they met, so he didnât let him go. Before going out, Wang Zhe repeatedly told him that he must call him if anything happened. Jiang ShaoYan waved his hand to show that he understood.
The meeting place was set at a KTV near the school. As soon as Jiang ShaoYan pushed through the door, he was shocked by a violent wave of sound. The smell of smoke and alcohol followed after and he couldnât help but frown at the smoke.
Zou Rui beckoned to him, âShaoYan, come here.â
Jiang ShaoYan went to sit next to him and looked around. There were a few people in the karaoke box from the same school. When they looked at him, he felt a little nervous, but then they gave Zou Rui an admiring look.
Jiang ShaoYan couldnât understand it, he didnât know what they were doing. At just that moment, Zou Rui passed an arm over his shoulders. His face was a little red, so he had already been drinking quite a bit.
âWhy are you sitting so far away? Come on over, everyone, my ShaoYan wonât bite, right?â\n
(t/n: he calls JSY âhis familyâs ShaoYanâ, Iâll localize things like this a bit)
Zou Rui turned to look at him with a smile on his face, pressing in close so his mouth was almost touching his ear. The heated breath mixed with the scent of alcohol made Jiang ShaoYan uncomfortable. Without batting an eyelid, he pushed Zou Rui back, saying, âIâll bite you if you come close again.â
Although he had a wooden expression, this was obviously a joke. Everyone there didnât expect that Yan Ge, who was at the top of the âT Universityâs Most Prominent People Not To Mess Withâ list, could even make a joke and they couldnât help but feel admiration for Zou Rui, who could subdue him a bit.
<h6>Originally posted at tailor31415.wordpress.com, please do not read elsewhere</h6>
Zou Ruiâs reputation was getting a boost, so he was in a very good mood. He magnanimously loosened his hold, taking a drink and handing it to Jiang ShaoYan, and then hooked together their arms. The posture ending up looking a bit like the exchange of wine cups at a wedding and he teased, saying, âShall we?â\n
(t/n: jiaobeijiu â when the husband and wife interlock their elbows/forearms and drink)
Jiang ShaoYan wasnât afraid, âLetâs.â
The two looked at each other, raised the cups at the same time, and, as the surrounding people heckled and cheered, they each took a bold, long drink until the cups were empty.
Zou Rui, who finished drinking first by a mere second, laughed, âI won!â
Jiang ShaoYan also laughed, âYou didnât say it was a race.â
Zou Rui was stunned speechless for a moment at the sight.
Jiang ShaoYan was revered purely due to his fearsome reputation, but he actually didnât look fierce at all, except that his eyebrows were sharper and more imposing than an ordinary omegaâs. His exquisite facial features were usually covered up by his icy countenance and it was this cold face that inspired others to fear him.
But he was smiling now, his slightly upturned lips glistening and simmering with the drink, and there was a soft blush on his face, which melted away his iciness, but the arrogance in his eyes was undiminished, like the glint of the sharp edge of a sword. It was a beauty that could inspire a man to make a move, but it was also offered danger to those who would do so.
Zou Rui gulped hard, pulling at Jiang ShaoYanâs arm, and, under the wide watching gazes of the surrounding people, kissed him.
It was an unexpected move, so Jiang ShaoYan didnât have time to avoid it. He could only tilt his head, so Zou Ruiâs kiss landed on the side of his face.
The others thought he was being shy and still cheered loudly. Jiang ShaoYan turned his head and swept his gaze around coldly, making them go instantly and completely silent.
âIâm not feeling very well, Iâll head out first.â He was giving Zou Rui some face, but everyone could see that this was just an excuse.
He immediately got up to get out of the booth. Before he could take more than a few steps, Zou Rui chased after and caught him.
âAre you crazy?â Zou Rui had never been rejected over and over or made to lose face in a public place like this and his long-suppressed dissatisfaction finally broke free.
Jiang ShaoYanâs eyes were cold, âI should ask you the same thing, did you skip over my consent?â
Zou Rei was outraged. âWhatâs wrong with me? You like me, I like you too, we will be together eventually. And if Iâm not wrong, your first heat is a few months away, right? At that point, weâll have to sleep together, so isnât it normal to give it a practice run now? â
The words were so explicitly frank, but Jiang ShaoYan didnât have any apprehension, raising an eyebrow and sneering, âYouâre so confident that Iâll sleep with you?â
âWho else?â Zou Rui asked, âDo you have any other candidates? For example, your pheromone-deficient roommate? Stop joking around, you know that alphaâs pheromones are too weak and youâd be tortured by your heat.â
Jiang ShaoYan couldnât argue back. Indeed, unless he quickly came to like a powerful alpha in the next two months and unless that other party liked him back, his only options for his heat would be Zou Rui or some random, free alpha he found.
He didnât dislike Wang Zhe, it was just that Wang Zheâs pheromones might not be able to ease the fever of his heat. If so, he could be endangering his health, so choosing him was too risky.
But he really didnât like how Zou Rui had worded it, as if they werenât together because they liked each other, but because they needed to be together due to biology.
âI have nothing more to say to you, reflect on what you did wrong, otherwise donât come near me again.â
He said it politely and put Zou Rui out of his mind, shaking off the otherâs hand. He turned and left without looking back.
Even if he could only be forced to get together with him in the end, at this moment he would never let a disrespectful alpha do just whatever he pleased.
This was his bottom line and also his last battleground before his heat came.