A Wolf Cub’s Jealousy

The youth’s voice, carried by the wind, drifted into Shi Ji’s ears.

He looked over in bewilderment, feeling somewhat dazed.

Li Chen seemed to notice Shi Ji’s gaze; he tilted his head slightly and shot Shi Ji a sharp glare.

His pupils, encased in misty blue, appeared darker now. Shi Ji could clearly see his own reflection in the boy’s eyes. Li Chen deliberately lowered his chin, showing the whites of his eyes; from this angle, he looked exactly like a wolf cub who had locked onto its prey.

It looked as if he were about to spring forward and take a bite out of Shi Ji.

‘So fierce.’ Shi Ji’s heart beat a retreat.

He stole another glance at the bewildered Jiang Mo. This young Alpha didn’t seem to have fully processed the meaning of Li Chen’s words yet. A deep furrow formed between his brows, and his sharp, handsome face was clouded with gravity.

Never mind him. Even Shi Ji hadn’t reacted to why Li Chen would say such a thing.

Shi Ji cautiously shifted his gaze back to Li Chen. The boy was still staring at him intently, his thin lips pressed together. A single transparent drop of water slid down from his forehead.

In that moment, Shi Ji suddenly understood.

Li Chen was…

—Jealous.

No wonder Li Chen was looking at him with such hostility; he was clearly afraid his future husband would mistake the wrong Omega!

With this logical and reasonable explanation, Shi Ji’s expression immediately shifted to one of “I totally get it.”

Li Chen watched him, knit his brows, and tilted his head in confusion.

“I’m a Beta,” Shi Ji spoke up, breaking the stiff, awkward silence stretching between the three of them. “The pheromones you smell belong to Li Chen.”

Jiang Mo’s eyelashes fluttered as he let out an enlightened “Oh.” “Then… it seems you two must have a very good relationship. After all, unless people are close, they don’t usually end up covered in an Omega’s pheromones.”

Shi Ji looked at the innocent smile on the youth’s face and twitched the corners of his mouth dryly.

Did he and Li Chen have a “good relationship”?

Shi Ji felt the gaze on him suddenly grow scorching. He swallowed hard. “It just rubbed off by accident.”

The moment he finished speaking, the gaze vanished instantly.

Shi Ji let out a private sigh of relief.

Jiang Mo didn’t say much else after that. He looked at the soaking wet Li Chen and spoke with concern: “The wind is strong out here. In this state, Student Li will catch a cold easily.”

Shi Ji replied reflexively: “Then take him back to the dorm to change. Aren’t you roommates? You should help each other out, right?”

In the original text, Li Chen and Jiang Mo were not only classmates but also shared a dorm room. It was this proximity that allowed the protagonists’ feelings to develop rapidly.

However, Jiang Mo’s expression seemed a bit troubled. He hesitated for a few seconds before saying, “But… Li Chen and I aren’t in the same dorm.”

Shi Ji drew in a sharp breath.

NOT! IN! THE! SAME! DORM!

How was that possible!!

Where had the plot gone wrong again?!

How could Li Chen and Jiang Mo not be roommates!!!

A tiny version of Shi Ji was roaring in his mind, but he had to maintain a surface of calm and composure, though his voice trembled slightly: “Why? Weren’t the dorms already assigned?”

“They were,” Jiang Mo nodded, pulling his phone from his pocket. “But the homeroom teacher made a last-minute change and swapped me and Student Li. It’s because of…”

He trailed off. Shi Ji looked at Jiang Mo’s swollen eye and understood completely.

‘Damn it.’ ‘That one punch really did destroy two people’s futures!’

“…The teacher was afraid we’d get into another conflict, so they separated us for now.” Jiang Mo scratched the back of his head awkwardly. He turned to Li Chen. “Classmate, your dorm hasn’t been settled yet. You’ll probably have to wait a while.”

Li Chen didn’t have much of a reaction, merely nodding perfunctorily.

Jiang Mo’s gaze flickered between Li Chen and Shi Ji. He took a step back. “Then… I’ll head back to class first. I’ll ask the teacher for a leave of absence for you. Don’t worry, go back and change your clothes.”

With that, he once again stuffed his school jacket toward Li Chen. “Wear this for now. You can just give it back to me later.”

Jiang Mo waved as he spoke, and as the last syllable fell, he had made it back into the classroom.

Li Chen looked down, staring at the jacket in his hands, then frowned and shoved it at Shi Ji.

Shi Ji was puzzled. “What is it?”

“It has a smell,” Li Chen said muffledly. After thinking, he added, “Alpha pheromones.”

“I don’t like it.”

As an inferior Omega, Li Chen was much more sensitive to Alpha pheromones. Perhaps coupled with the trauma from those four Alphas last time, he was now quite resistant to them.

At the thought of those memories, Shi Ji couldn’t help but feel sympathy for Li Chen. He said nothing and didn’t force him to wear Jiang Mo’s jacket.

But the Omega beside him didn’t seem willing to let him off so easily. Li Chen reached out a hand toward Shi Ji: “I’ll wear yours.”

? ?? ???

Li Chen’s expression and gesture were so brazenly entitled that Shi Ji didn’t react for a moment. “Why?”

“You’re a Beta,” Li Chen looked at him flatly. “You don’t have pheromones.”

‘Wait.’ ‘Is the problem whether or not I have pheromones?’

‘Don’t you hate the original owner?! Don’t you resent him?!’ ‘How could you willingly offer to wear his clothes?!!’

Shi Ji wanted to grab Li Chen’s shoulders and shake him, screaming in his ear: WAKE UP!!

He closed his eyes, forcing himself to stay in character: “My clothes? Are you even worthy of wearing them?”

Li Chen stopped talking.

He just looked at Shi Ji silently.

The fabric of his clothes was splotched with wet and dry patches, the irregular marks exceptionally glaring. The wind curling over the windowsill grew stronger, lifting the black hair at Li Chen’s temples.

He shuddered and gave a well-timed sneeze.

Then, Li Chen sniffed, his nose tipped with a faint red, and continued to stare at Shi Ji.

He hugged his arms to his chest, his palms rubbing up and down his arms. His misty-blue eyes shimmered with a pathetic, pitiful look that practically slapped Shi Ji in the face.

Shi Ji: “…” Shi Ji: “?”

‘Kid… have you been possessed?’

Shi Ji let out a helpless sigh and eventually took off his jacket, handing it to Li Chen.

He was still stubbornly maintaining his persona, so he threw out a stiff sentence: “Throw it away when you’re done. Don’t bother returning it to me.”

Just as Shi Ji finished speaking, the principal called. He said he had arranged an empty faculty dorm room for him and asked Mr. Shi to stay there for the time being.

Listening to the principal’s constant apologies on the other end, Shi Ji sneered inwardly. ‘Look at who caused this mess—a true stumbling block to the plot.’

He hung up without a word, cutting off the man’s voice mid-sentence. When Shi Ji turned back to Li Chen, the youth had already put on his clothes.

The suit jacket fit Li Chen perfectly, with only the sleeves being a bit short. However, his exquisite, beautiful face still carried a touch of youthfulness; compared to the formal suit, he looked like a child who had stolen an adult’s clothes.

He lowered his lashes, yet he still couldn’t hide the unnatural expression on his face.

Shi Ji couldn’t help it; a small laugh escaped his lips.

Li Chen heard that Shi Ji was mocking him. His face darkened instantly, and he turned his head away with a cold snort.

“Let’s go,” Shi Ji tilted his chin. “You don’t have a place to stay right now, do you? As this young master’s personal servant, I’ll reluctantly allow you to stay with me.”

The words “personal servant” immediately made Li Chen bristle. Shi Ji saw him glaring again, his lips bitten until they were nearly white.

Shi Ji arched an eyebrow. Satisfying.

The faculty dorms were located behind the student dorms. Not many teachers stayed at the school on a daily basis, so most rooms were empty.

The principal had arranged the room with the best location for Shi Ji. Upon pushing open the door, one could see the scorching sunlight spilling across the grey-black floor, with only tiny specks of dust floating in the bright aura.

The entire room was less than half the size of Shi Ji’s bedroom at home, but at least the facilities were complete, and it had been cleaned thoroughly. There was even a large bouquet of bright flowers on the shoe rack by the door, with a card featuring flamboyant calligraphy: “Welcome, Mr. Shi.”

This was clearly the work of that oily old principal. Shi Ji ignored it all and walked straight to the single armchair, turning and flopping down.

Li Chen followed him in, dragging his suitcase. He scanned the surroundings before stopping and staring at Shi Ji, who was sitting like a lord: “Where do I sleep?”

He asked a critical question. Shi Ji only then noticed that there was only one single bed in the room.

Neither he nor Li Chen were short, so it was naturally impossible for them to squeeze together.

Shi Ji patted the sofa beneath him. “Sleep here.”

Li Chen didn’t respond. He looked at the sofa under Shi Ji, then at the single bed, and fell into thought.

“What is it?” Shi Ji interrupted his train of thought. “You want the bed?”

He stood up and walked over to Li Chen, the sound of his leather shoes hitting the floor abrupt.

Shi Ji patted Li Chen’s shoulder. “Didn’t you sleep here before too?”

“A little dog should stay in a little dog’s place.”

The clothes on Li Chen’s body had mostly been dried by the natural light as they walked over; touching them, one could even feel some residual warmth. He shifted his body slightly to avoid Shi Ji’s palm. The flesh on his cheeks puffed up slightly, as if he were quite angered by Shi Ji’s words.

Shi Ji looked at him, forcing down the urge to poke those two soft mounds of flesh. A faint itch at his fingertips spread directly to his heart.

Then, Li Chen lifted his lashes and asked Shi Ji: “Why did you come here?”

Shi Ji blinked rapidly, his long, thick lashes fluttering.

He hadn’t expected Li Chen to ask him that so suddenly.

After all, he hadn’t prepared a convincing answer to brush it off.

Shi Ji guiltily averted his gaze, but Li Chen was being stubborn. No matter where Shi Ji looked, Li Chen made sure to stand right in his line of sight.

Then he repeated firmly: “Why did you come here?”

Shi Ji was cornered. He curled his lip. “I funded this school. I can come whenever I want. Is it any of your business?”

But Li Chen stared at him persistently, spitting out three words one by one: “You are lying.”

Shi Ji had clearly never come to the school before.

He narrowed his eyes, his sharp gaze nearly drilling a hole through Shi Ji.

Shi Ji’s scalp tingled under the stare; his bones felt as uncomfortable as if ants were crawling over them. He inhaled, exhaled, inhaled, and exhaled again. After repeating this several times, he finally spoke awkwardly: “Yesterday… that photo yesterday. I didn’t mean to do it.”

His speech was rapid. At the end, he felt compelled to add: “And I’m not apologizing to you, either.”

With that, Shi Ji didn’t wait for Li Chen’s reaction. He dashed into the room like a fugitive and slammed the door shut.

The sound of the door closing exploded in his ears. Only then did Li Chen snap back to his senses, raising a hand to rub his ear.

The soft fabric of the sleeve brushed against his earlobe. For some reason, the tips of his ears were stained with a faint pink.

Li Chen looked at the closed door and suddenly realized something.

Shi Ji seemed to care about him.