The Surprise Meeting

An Ran, in a daze, agreed to meet H for a face-to-face. Only later did he realize that if he wanted to break up, he didn’t need H’s consent at all. He could have unilaterally announced the breakup and then blocked and deleted him in one go.

It was because he couldn’t bear to break up that he agreed to H’s request.

After agreeing, he regretted it. Several times he tried to find excuses to back out, but H perfectly deflected them all.

These past few days, An Ran had been living in a fog. The closer Christmas got, the more nervous he became.

He even looked up the price of human skin masks online.

After seeing the price, An Ran resentfully turned off his phone.

On Christmas Day, the school started playing Christmas songs on repeat from early morning: “Lonely, lonely Christmas, merry, merry Christmas.”

An Ran stayed in bed, refusing to get up. He barely ate anything for breakfast or lunch. His mood was so bad that even his favorite dishes were hard to swallow.

Although several days had passed, he still hadn’t prepared himself to meet his online lover.

When Fu Zao found out, he felt uneasy and repeatedly urged him, “Are you really going to meet your online lover in person?”

An Ran corrected him, “It’s not a meet-up; it’s just a face-to-face. If it doesn’t feel right, we’ll stop there.”

Fu Zao choked, unable to breathe.

He thought only a naive sweetheart like An Ran would believe an Alpha’s lies.

If he wanted to know what the other person looked like, couldn’t they just exchange photos?

Or at least video call?

Why did they have to meet in person to decide?

And today was Christmas. Couples usually went on a full date: dinner, movie, and more. Fu Zao felt that An Ran’s online lover had bad intentions.

Fu Zao: “How about I go with you?”

An Ran quickly shook his head. “I can go by myself.”

Besides, they weren’t meeting at a cinema or restaurant. They agreed to meet in the school garden, where the automatic feeders were placed—the place where their fate began.

Maybe he thought that place was more meaningful, so they decided to meet there.

An Ran left the dorm at 3:30, half an hour earlier than the agreed time.

The weather wasn’t good today. The gloomy sky made him feel oppressed.

He was already extremely nervous, and the bad weather made his mood even worse. He even felt like running away, but he thought it wouldn’t be good to stand someone up, so he braced himself and headed to their meeting spot.

The garden was deserted. Maybe because it was too cold and the weather was bad. Unless they had a date, everyone preferred to stay in their dorms.

An Ran checked the automatic feeders at each drop point and opened new cans of cat food for the cats.

Hua Hua’s kitten liked An Ran. Every time he came, it would rub its tail against his leg and even roll over to show its belly, trusting him completely.

An Ran patted Hua Hua’s head and was about to give her a separate tube of cat treat when a snowflake landed on his face.

“Eh? It’s snowing?”

The weather forecast had said it would snow today, but he didn’t expect the snow to come so quickly.

Thinking about it, An Ran felt regret.

He had wanted to see the first snow, but because of his differentiation, he missed the winter’s first snowfall.

“Meow—”

An Ran fed Hua Hua most of the cat treat, and her kitten came over to snatch it. An Ran patted the kitten’s head and said, “You’ve both had cat food. This one is for your mom.”

The snow fell heavier and heavier. The kittens surrounded An Ran, and he couldn’t even spare a hand to open an umbrella for himself.

Until a pair of long legs appeared in his field of view. A black umbrella shielded him from the wind and snow.

They hadn’t seen each other for quite a few days. The last time might have been on the day of his differentiation.

Gong He frowned slightly, looking at his frozen red hands. His voice was a bit hoarse. “Aren’t you cold?”

An Ran saw his frown and instinctively shrank his hands back, whispering, “I’m not cold.”

He hadn’t expected to run into Gong He here. Remembering that he had taken him to the hospital, he quickly said, “Thank you for taking me to the hospital that day. Also, if I did anything to trouble you while I was unconscious, I’m sorry. It wasn’t my intention.”

He didn’t remember much of that day. Only a few fragments remained, all of him pestering Gong He for his pheromones.

Especially the mark on his neck. Awkward.

This was the situation.

An Ran looked up at him. “Because you bit me, I went into heat early and got locked up. That was my fault. Sorry.”

Gong He stared at his face intently, amused. “So you went into heat just because I bit you?”

An Ran was stunned, stuttering, “Is… is it not?”

Gong He lowered his eyes, hiding a smile.

Of course not.

Even without An Ran’s heat, his own rut would have come around that time.

Gong He was silent for a few seconds, then looked at him seriously and said, “So, how are you going to compensate me?”

“Huh? Huh?”

An Ran opened his mouth, not reacting for a moment.

He hadn’t expected Gong He to ask that.

His mind went blank, his throat tightened, and he instinctively asked, “Then what do you want me to do to compensate you?”

Gong He looked at him for a long while, then under his tense gaze, said calmly, “There will be plenty of opportunities later.”

An Ran: “???”

He looked at Gong He in confusion, not understanding what he meant.

The cat treat was already finished. The kittens had shifted from surrounding An Ran to surrounding Gong He, even scratching at his pant legs with their claws.

An Ran watched in amazement. The kittens here weren’t afraid of Gong He; in fact, they even acted affectionately, kneading their paws.

Gong He just stood beside him like that, holding the umbrella for him. As time passed, An Ran became awkward. He gathered his courage and asked, “Are you waiting for Lu Ye?”

It was almost dinner time.

But strangely, this place wasn’t very close to the cafeteria. Why would they meet here rather than under the dormitory building? That would be more convenient.

Gong He: “I am waiting for someone, but not Lu Ye.”

An Ran looked at him curiously. “Then who are you waiting for?”

As soon as the words left his mouth, An Ran regretted it.

It was Christmas today. If Gong He wasn’t waiting for Lu Ye, then who else would he be waiting for?

He remembered Fu Zao once said Gong He had a partner, so he was probably waiting for that partner, right?

Gong He looked down at him, a smile curling at the corner of his mouth. “I’m waiting for my online lover.”

This was the first time An Ran saw Gong He smile in front of him. His gaze wandered for a moment until he fully understood Gong He’s words. Then his pupils dilated, and he froze in place.

What?

Online lover?

Gong He raised an eyebrow, looking at him with surprise. “So, you’re AR?”

Silence surrounded them, as if time had frozen at that moment.

An Ran’s thoughts went blank. He was like a startled deer.

Gong He used his phone to call AR on WeChat.

The ringtone of An Ran’s phone sounded from his pocket.

Gong He showed the WeChat call interface in front of An Ran. “So you’re AR, my online lover?”

An Ran fumbled to hang up the voice call, swallowed hard, afraid to meet Gong He’s eyes, and laughed awkwardly. “Well, I have something to do, so I’ll be going now. Talk next time.”

Before he could take two steps, Gong He grabbed the hood of his down jacket from behind, leaned down, and whispered in his ear, “So, are you dissatisfied with me and planning to break up?”

An Ran’s expression almost crumbled.

He had never imagined that his online lover would be Gong He. If he had known H was Gong He, he wouldn’t have dared to start an online relationship with him, even if he had a hundred times the courage.

Or even if he had known from the start that the automatic feeder owner was Gong He, he wouldn’t have added Gong He on WeChat.

“Hm?”

“Speak.”

An Ran: ‘So fierce… QAQ’

How could he dare to say anything about breaking up? He didn’t even dare to speak.

He just wanted to escape this place that made him both embarrassed and mortified.

‘What if your online lover turns out to be your roommate?’

How could such a dramatic scenario happen to him again?

An Ran was caught by Gong He and couldn’t leave. He tried to negotiate with him. “You must be really disappointed that your online lover is me, right? So, how about you break up with me? You can dump me…”

His voice grew softer and softer.

Because Gong He’s expression darkened by the second.

Finally, he didn’t dare to continue.

Gong He looked at his guilty face and laughed coldly. “Didn’t I say? I don’t agree to a breakup. And when did I ever say I was disappointed?”

An Ran glanced at him cautiously, then quickly lowered his head, unable to meet Gong He’s gaze. He said timidly, “Then… I’m a little disappointed. Can I break up?”

Gong He laughed in anger. He pinched his chin, forcing him to look up at him.

“Don’t even think about it.”