You’re Not the Only One

The black-haired Beta in front of him wore the same expression Zhao Shu always saw on him.

His gaze was calm.

When he looked at anyone, it was always the same—flat, unmoving, as if a lifeless object were staring at another lifeless object.

Yet Zhao Shu suddenly remembered something.

He had seen those eyes look at something with genuine attention before.

When Zhao Shu held a basketball and finished a crossover and a layup right in front of him.

At that moment, Wu Qie’s eyes had been bright.

Zhao Shu’s throat tightened and turned dry.

Before he could say anything, Wu Qie seemed completely uninterested in seeing how the people involved—like Lin Zuwen—would react.

He simply turned to Pei Qingyu.

“My pen’s gone again.”

Zhao Shu blurted out,

“It’s just a pen. I didn’t throw it on purpose. I’ll go down and—”

Wu Qie glanced back at him.

Zhao Shu fell silent automatically.

From the third floor, the pen had definitely shattered into pieces already.

Pei Qingyu leaned against the wall nearby.

Hearing this, he lifted his eyes slightly and said calmly,

“You can just buy another one.”

Wu Qie pressed his lips together.

“Can I get the same one?”

Pei Qingyu nodded, clearly not considering it a big deal.

Wu Qie said what he wanted to say and immediately turned to leave.

He didn’t even glance at Zhao Shu, who was still standing there holding the pile of teaching materials Lin Zuwen had picked up.

Zhao Shu’s expression suddenly darkened.

Wu Qie walked quickly toward the door of Class D.

Suddenly someone grabbed him from behind and yanked him backward.

His back hit a solid chest.

An arm wrapped firmly around his waist.

People in the corridor watched like they were witnessing a dramatic show.

“What?”

Wu Qie tilted his head slightly to meet the gaze of the tall Alpha in front of him.

Unfortunately, he thought distractedly, the Alpha’s intelligence didn’t quite match his size.

Zhao Shu’s eyes were dark brown.

When his pupils narrowed to a tiny point, he really did resemble a wolf.

For a long moment, neither of them spoke.

The Alpha who had just been shouting noisily seemed to have had his pause button pressed.

Thirty seconds passed.

Wu Qie lost patience.

He calmly pried the arm off his waist finger by finger.

Then he gave Zhao Shu a brilliant, completely fake smile before turning away again.

“Wait!”

Just as the class bell rang, the students inside Class D watched in amazement as their teacher—who had just stepped over the threshold—was dragged out again by the Alpha behind him.

“I didn’t expect Lin Zuwen to wear that collar to school,” Zhao Shu said.

“Well… actually I kind of guessed. But I didn’t expect him to come looking for you.”

Wu Qie slapped his hand away.

“There will be many things you can’t predict. The only solution is to use your brain before doing something.”

“I don’t believe Mr. Zhao gave an Omega a collar without meaning anything by it. If the Zhao family has other plans regarding this engagement, we can sit down and renegotiate.”

Yes.

This was Zhao Guipu’s fault.

Zhao Shu gritted his teeth internally.

If it was Zhao Guipu’s fault, what did it have to do with him?

Why was he the one standing here getting glared at?

Zhao Shu sighed in frustration.

He should have just dropped Wu Qie at school and gone to sleep in an internet café instead.

“So what do we do now?” he said irritably.

“Should I go ask Lin Zuwen for the collar back? Get him a different one?”

Wu Qie took the materials from his arms and answered casually,

“Sure. Go ahead.”

“….”

Zhao Shu stared at him in disbelief.

“I was just saying it casually! Why are you taking it seriously?”

He cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Omegas choosing their anti-bite collars is kind of a… private matter.”

“Then why did you give him one?”

“…How is it suddenly my gift again?” Zhao Shu snapped.

“Damn it, Wu Qie. Use some logic. This morning everyone just ate breakfast, came to school, walked down the hallway—and suddenly we’re in the middle of a circus!”

After saying that, Zhao Shu realized his tone sounded almost… conciliatory.

His lips pressed together.

He looked a little regretful.

Wu Qie was silent for a moment.

He brushed dust off the workbooks in his arms.

The bell rang.

Seeing Zhao Shu still standing there, he pointed behind him calmly.

“Class has started, Zhao Shu.”

Zhao Shu looked up.

Thirty pairs of eyes inside Class D were glowing as they stared at the door.

Only then did he realize it wasn’t the time to keep arguing.

He slowly raised his hands and stepped back.

“We’ll talk on WeChat.”

He left himself a backup plan.

But Wu Qie didn’t respond.

He simply walked into the classroom, opened his textbook, and said without looking up,

“Today we’ll discuss geographical phenomena related to Earth’s movement.”

…

Sometimes “let’s talk later” is just a polite ending—like saying “let’s meet again sometime.”

But when Wu Qie turned on the projector and had barely started reading the first slide, his phone lit up.

Teacher Wu paused for exactly one second.

He raised an eyebrow slightly.

Then calmly locked the screen, placed the phone down, and tapped the PPT.

“Please look at this classic question. According to the diagram, in May the latitude of the sun’s direct point shifts north by 23.5°…”

His phone vibrated again.

And again.

And again.

Zhao Shu was typing at terrifying speed.

[Shu: So what exactly do you mean?]

[Shu: Are you still angry about me unintentionally standing you up twice yesterday?]

[Shu: And now you’re blaming me for Lin Zuwen wearing the collar my brother gave him?]

[Shu: Him bumping into you is his problem. I didn’t tell him to.]

[Shu: Let me emphasize: my brother gave it to him.]

[Shu: Should World War III be blamed on me too?]

Wu Qie didn’t even try to read all of it.

The message bubbles kept popping up.

He suspected his phone battery wouldn’t survive until the end of class.

“…Over these forty days, the sun’s direct point moves north by ten degrees.”

[Shu: After training today we’ll continue the one-on-one practice.]

[Shu: If I have something to do, I’ll tell you beforehand.]

[Shu: Hello?]

[Shu: Fine. I’ll notify you at least half a day earlier.]

“…Which means that on May 1st, the sun’s direct point lies near 10°N.”

[Shu: Is that okay now?]

[Shu: Say something. Don’t pretend you didn’t see this.]

[Shu: Even if your phone is in your pocket it’s vibrating like Parkinson’s.]

The phone kept vibrating so much that even the desk shook.

Students in the front row had already noticed.

Wu Qie rubbed his temple quietly.

He rarely received messages like this.

After finishing explaining the question, he assigned a problem for the class to solve.

While the students worked, he quickly turned off vibration mode and switched the phone to meeting mode.

Finally the phone became silent.

But Zhao Shu clearly hadn’t stopped typing.

By the time class ended, Zhao Shu had completed an entire monologue.

It went from accusations… to suspicion… to promises…

Then finally to an automated apology.

[Shu: I apologize for standing you up yesterday.]

[Shu: I should have told you earlier.]

[Shu: I didn’t know you’d wait.]

[Shu: I was late because I explained to Lin Zuwen our engagement wasn’t a joke.]

[Shu: And no, the collar isn’t my fault.]

[Shu: Also asking him to change it would be like asking you to change your underwear.]

[Shu: Anyway…]

[Shu: Wait after class. Let’s discuss this again.]

After class, Wu Qie finally read the whole message thread.

His phone battery was at 2%.

Teacher Wu realized that ever since Zhao Shu had become a concrete presence in his life instead of just “that Zhao Shu,” his teaching career had been steadily heading toward disaster.

…Possibly his life as well.

When he walked out of the classroom, he was not surprised at all to see Zhao Shu blocking the door.

His Alpha pheromones were so strong that even other Alphas hesitated to pass.

Omegas quietly applied suppressants.

Betas retreated to the back of the room.

Students sent pleading looks to their teacher.

Wu Qie sighed.

“Don’t block the door,” he muttered quietly.

Soon they were walking down the hallway again.

Wu Qie in front.

Zhao Shu behind him.

This time Zhao Shu didn’t grab him.

He simply walked close enough that his shadow covered Wu Qie completely.

For some reason, Zhao Shu found that very satisfying.

“Did you see my messages?”

“Hard not to.”

“Then why didn’t you reply?”

Wu Qie stopped at the stairwell corner where fewer people were watching.

“Because I didn’t want to.”

He paused.

“Just like you blocked me whenever you felt like it.”

Zhao Shu almost ran into him.

Wu Qie added calmly,

“You blocked me for quite a few days.”

Great.

Another charge added to the list.

Zhao Shu looked confused.

“That time I—”

“You’re not the only one allowed to act however you want, Zhao Shu.”

Wu Qie took a deep breath.

His usually gentle eyes finally showed irritation.

“My family isn’t bankrupt. I didn’t get sold to your family just so we wouldn’t end up living under a bridge.”

“….”

“In kindergarten graduation photos, I was the only student sitting on the teacher’s lap.”

“In primary school I sat in the center because I was class president.”

“In middle school I stood behind the principal.”

“My basketball team’s photo is in my high school trophy room.”

“….”

“The last time someone deliberately bumped into me in a hallway was in my senior year of college. An Omega who wanted my phone number.”

“….”

“I didn’t throw Lin Zuwen off the third floor today only because I’m trying to be a responsible teacher.”

“Not because I’m enduring this for your sake.”

“….”

“You and Lin Zuwen can do whatever you want.”

“But clean up your own mess.”

His tone was extremely serious.

“So at least it doesn’t stink up my life.”

“Understand?”

Zhao Shu was speechless for a long time.

Finally he muttered,

“Why do you talk so harshly?”

“I’m already trying to be nice.”

“Well, your effort is very successful.”

Wu Qie sighed deeply.

“I’m about to lose that effort because of you.”

He turned and walked into the office building.

Through the reflection in the glass window, he confirmed with satisfaction that this time the troublesome Alpha finally didn’t follow him.

…

Later, Zhao Shu climbed onto the school rooftop.

He stared at the clouds for a long time.

Then he pulled out his phone and called the one person he normally avoided calling.

His brother.

After several attempts, the call was finally answered.

“It’s class time,” Zhao Guipu’s low voice said lazily through the phone.

Zhao Shu took a deep breath.

“Brother,” he said.

“Why did you give Lin Zuwen an anti-bite collar yesterday?”

The line went quiet for a moment.

Then Zhao Guipu asked calmly,

“What collar?”

Zhao Shu stared at his phone.

“You don’t even know what you gave him?!”

“Why would I personally know?” Zhao Guipu replied casually.

“Ask Fourth Uncle. Did he buy a collar?”

He sounded amused.

“Maybe he’s fallen in love.”

Zhao Shu stared at the phone.

Then smashed it to the ground.

The result:

A 13.5-yuan cat pen had just been buried alongside a 15,000-yuan phone.