Rogue Behavior

That glance was a disaster.

Han Xi had just finished drinking water too when Xue Jingshu took the bottle from his hand and, just like Shen Yanlang, drank directly from it! Mouth to mouth!

Not only that, Xue Jingshu stared at Han Xi as he drank. Duan Xu could not make out his expression behind his glasses; he only saw Han Xi turn his head away, looking almost embarrassed.

Duan Xu sucked in a breath. Good heavens, what kind of shocking development was this?

The sight hit Duan Xu so hard that what had begun as a furtive glance left him completely stunned.

[Staring at Han Xi again?]

Shen Yanlang was displeased. He pinched Duan Xu's chin and turned his face toward him. "Why are you looking at Han Xi?"

Duan Xu came back to himself, tilting his head back to break free from Shen Yanlang's hand. "No, I wasn't looking."

[Heh, lying.]

The four of them, including Xue Jingshu, looked over at the sound. Then Xue Jingshu glanced at Han Xi again and said quietly, "He was looking at you."

Han Xi's tone was cool. "It has nothing to do with me."

Xue Jingshu smiled, clearly in a good mood.

Over here, Shen Yanlang did not press the matter with Duan Xu for the moment. "Go sit for a while."

[I'll settle the score with him slowly later.]

Settle what score? Was he going to hit him?

Duan Xu's thoughts drifted for a moment. Remembering what he had just seen, he gave Shen Yanlang's... head a meaningful look as he walked toward the bench.

Shen Yanlang: "???"

[That look...]

[Why does it feel like he's saying I'm wearing a green hat?]

Exactly! You understood it perfectly!

After sitting down, Duan Xu silently echoed Shen Yanlang's thoughts in his heart. Too bad Shen Yanlang could not hear him.

[I must have seen it wrong. He doesn't know how I feel, so why would he think that?]

Duan Xu froze. What feelings?

Zhou Zhou and Xiao Xu had rested enough already, but after seeing what Shen Yanlang and Xue Jingshu had done, Xiao Xu suddenly understood. He asked Zhou Zhou, "Do you still want water?"

Zhou Zhou's water was in Xiao Xu's bag.

Zhou Zhou got on his bike and said, "No. We've rested enough, let's go."

Xiao Xu gave a regretful oh, said goodbye to Shen Yanlang and the others, and left first.

Not long after, Xue Jingshu and Han Xi left as well. Aside from pedestrians and other cyclists passing by, only the two of them remained.

Shen Yanlang sat beside Duan Xu and set his bag to one side. He checked his watch. "Rest another five minutes before we go?"

"Sure." Duan Xu nodded.

Duan Xu turned to look in the direction they had come from, though he was actually thinking about Shen Yanlang and Han Xi. He did not know exactly how they had gotten together, but judging by today, neither of them seemed to be interested in the other.

So how had they gotten together?

Shen Yanlang did not know what Duan Xu was thinking. Taking advantage of Duan Xu's inability to see him, he let his gaze linger brazenly on Duan Xu's fair neck.

A moment later, his gaze shifted back to the nape of Duan Xu's neck. Half of it was hidden by his collar, while the other half was exposed to the air. Looking closely, one could see that it seemed to bulge ever so slightly.

[An alpha gland.]

[Still developing...]

Duan Xu stiffened. Shen Yanlang was looking at his gland?

[I really want to...]

Want to do what?

Duan Xu did not understand and was eager to know, but Shen Yanlang had been out of his line of sight for three minutes now, and the rest was suddenly cut off.

Wanting to know what came next, he turned to look at Shen Yanlang.

The instant Duan Xu turned his head, Shen Yanlang withdrew his gaze. It landed squarely on Duan Xu's face as he asked with complete seriousness, "What is it?"

"Were you looking at me just now?" Duan Xu could not help asking.

Shen Yanlang admitted it openly. "Yeah. I took a look at your gland."

Duan Xu: "..."

He really was honest, huh!

But Duan Xu felt quite embarrassed. He knew glands were very private places, but since his had not fully developed yet, he had not paid much attention to such things.

"Why, why were you looking at my gland?" Duan Xu looked away, somewhat embarrassed.

[Embarrassed? Heh...]

The corners of Shen Yanlang's lips curved up slightly, faint glimmers flickering in his peach blossom eyes. "I was checking how it was developing and whether it had been affected."

Duan Xu's ears grew hot. Pinching his fingers together, he said, "It probably hasn't been affected, right?"

Duan Xu had spent so many years as a beta and had paid close attention in physiology class, but he was still a beta. He was not particularly sensitive to this sort of rogue behavior.

"Mm, there doesn't seem to be a problem for now." Shen Yanlang watched Duan Xu's earlobes turn red again.

[I want to pinch them, then bite them.]

Duan Xu: "???"

What was he even saying?

Duan Xu had no time to think further. Shen Yanlang stood and rubbed Duan Xu's fluffy, soft hair. "The five minutes are up. Let's go too."

"Oh."

They had barely gotten back on their bikes when Zhu Lin caught up from behind, and the group continued cycling onward.

Half an hour later, Duan Xu and the others were the last to arrive at Lihu Park.

At the entrance, Huang Yonghe had already arranged everyone into position. When he saw them, he waved them over. "Come on, come on, we've just been waiting for you. Once we're done with the photo, everyone can go off on their own."

Duan Xu and the others walked over. Shen Yanlang stood beside Duan Xu at the edge, while Huang Yonghe asked someone to help take the picture before hurriedly running over to join them.

Everyone found their positions and struck a pose. At the instant the shutter clicked, Shen Yanlang draped his hand over Duan Xu's shoulder.

Duan Xu's smile faltered, and it was captured in the photo, preserved perfectly.

After the photo, everyone dispersed to do their own thing, agreeing to gather back at the entrance in an hour.

"I just looked at the map. Li Lake is pretty big. It would take at least two or three hours to walk all the way around it." Zhou Zhou came over with his phone to find Duan Xu and the others.

Duan Xu leaned over, pressing close to Zhou Zhou as they looked at the map together. "Then which way should we go? How far can we get and still make it back within an hour?"

Seeing them standing so close, Shen Yanlang's gaze darkened. He reached out and pulled Duan Xu over. "Send the map to the group chat. We can look at it together."

[They're so close their faces are almost touching.]

Were they? No, they were not, right? Duan Xu did not think so.

Zhou Zhou noticed Shen Yanlang's unfriendly tone. He looked at him, then at Duan Xu, and blinked. "Sure, but there are only two routes to choose from."

Xiao Xu was a little jealous too, but he was not as bold as Shen Yanlang when it came to pulling someone away.

Zhou Zhou sent the map to the group chat, and the four of them looked at it together. A moment later, Shen Yanlang asked Duan Xu, "Which way do you want to go?"

"I want to check out this Underwater Bookstore." Duan Xu was immediately interested when he saw it. "What about you guys?"

Zhou Zhou blinked and smiled. "Just what I was thinking."

"I heard about this Underwater Bookstore from a friend before. It's pretty good and worth seeing." Zhou Zhou added.

Since they all said so, Shen Yanlang and Xiao Xu naturally had no objections. They parked and locked their bikes beside the others from the club, then headed inside.

"Why haven't we seen President Xue and the others?" Zhou Zhou looked around. "Did they get that far ahead already?"

Duan Xu was curious too. "Yan-ge, don't you know them? Why didn't they go with you?"