Such a Headache

"Duan Xu, Xuxu, don't be mad, okay?" Shen Yanlang softened his voice as he coaxed him.

That final "okay" went straight to Duan Xu's heart, melting it. He felt like an unreasonable omega being placated by his own alpha.

Besides, Shen Yanlang had called him "Xuxu." His heartbeat was racing a little abnormally.

"I-I'm not mad." Seeing passersby glance at them curiously, Duan Xu felt a little embarrassed. "Let go of me first. We can talk properly."

"What if you run away again?" Shen Yanlang still didn't let go.

Duan Xu steeled himself, turned his head away, and squeezed his eyes shut. "I won't run. Really."

Shen Yanlang watched Duan Xu's faintly furrowed brow and asked in a low voice, "Why are you closing your eyes?"

Duan Xu couldn't explain and tried to come up with an excuse, but Shen Yanlang found one for himself instead. "You don't want to see me? You hate me?"

As he said that, the affection in Shen Yanlang's peach-blossom eyes instantly froze over.

Duan Xu couldn't hear Shen Yanlang's thoughts right now, but he was afraid Shen Yanlang would truly think that. "I don't."

"Then why won't you open your eyes?" Shen Yanlang asked gravely.

"I... I want some peace and quiet." After struggling for a long time, that was all Duan Xu managed to say.

Shen Yanlang: "..."

Duan Xu heard Shen Yanlang laugh, then say, "You can call me Shen Jingjing."

Duan Xu: "..."

Shen Jingjing my ass! More like Shen Crazy!

Shen Yanlang's words lightened Duan Xu's heart considerably, but a helpless speculation still hung over him.

"I saw you smile." Shen Yanlang had noticed the slight upward curve of his lips.

Feeling a little embarrassed, Duan Xu kept his eyes closed and changed the subject. "It's about time. Shouldn't we head back?"

Shen Yanlang fell silent. His gaze lingered on Duan Xu's pink lips. With his eyes closed, Duan Xu looked as if he were waiting for a kiss, and Shen Yanlang's mind began to wander.

"Why aren't you saying anything?" Duan Xu hadn't heard Shen Yanlang's voice for quite a while.

Shen Yanlang snapped back to himself, looked away, and said, "Open your eyes, and we'll go. Keep them closed, and we're not going."

Duan Xu: "..."

Shen Yanlang stopped speaking. Duan Xu didn't have the courage to open his eyes either, and the two of them remained locked in a stalemate.

A few minutes later.

"What are you two doing here?" Zhou Zhou, Xiao Xu, Xue Jingshu, and Han Xi came over together.

Xue Jingshu curled his lips. "Maybe they're playing a game?"

"Huh?" Zhou Zhou and Xiao Xu looked completely baffled.

Han Xi remained expressionless.

Startled, Duan Xu opened his eyes. He saw Shen Yanlang turn to stare at Xue Jingshu, his gaze carrying a warning. "If you don't know how to talk, keep your mouth shut."

Xue Jingshu shook his head slightly, putting on a sorrowful expression. "Xiao Yan, you weren't like this before. At the very least, you knew to respect your elders."

Shen Yanlang couldn't be bothered with him. He gave a light snort, grabbed Duan Xu, and left.

"Ah." Xue Jingshu sighed softly and elegantly adjusted his glasses.

"Um, we should go too. It's almost time to gather." Xiao Xu tugged at Zhou Zhou, looking at Xue Jingshu as though he were avoiding the plague.

Zhou Zhou felt exactly the same. Xue Jingshu clearly had such a gentle-looking face, yet he gave off the feeling of an old fox. Better to stay far away. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Let's go, let's go."

Xue Jingshu couldn't help smiling. He and Han Xi followed after them at an unhurried pace, and he asked Han Xi, "Are you afraid of me?"

"No." Han Xi replied blandly.

Xue Jingshu smiled again, a glint flashing through his eyes.

Duan Xu didn't say a word the whole way. Still determined to avoid looking at Shen Yanlang whenever possible, he let Shen Yanlang pull him to the entrance of the park.

Huang Yonghe and Zhu Linqing counted heads. Once everyone was present, they set off back to school.

This time, Duan Xu pedaled like crazy, determined not to let Shen Yanlang ride ahead of him.

Shen Yanlang had no such intention. He preferred watching Duan Xu from behind, where he could keep an eye on him and respond quickly if anything happened.

They returned to school at around five. Huang Yonghe sent the location of the farmhouse restaurant to the group chat and said dinner would start at six.

Everyone parked their bikes or returned their rentals, then called cabs at the school gate.

The farmhouse restaurant was some distance from the school, and the cab ride took half an hour.

When they got into the cab, Duan Xu rushed into the front passenger seat first, leaving Shen Yanlang to sit in the back with Xiao Xu and the others.

In the backseat, both Xiao Xu and Zhou Zhou noticed that the two were at odds. After exchanging a silent glance, Xiao Xu pulled out his phone and messaged Shen Yanlang.

Xiao Xu: [Brother Yan, did you and Duan Xu have a fight?]

Shen Yanlang's phone chimed. He took it out and glanced at it, then shot Xiao Xu a look beside him before lowering his head to reply.

Shen Yanlang: [No.]

Xiao Xu: [But Duan Xu hasn't spoken to you the whole way.]

Shen Yanlang: [...]

Xiao Xu: [I don't know what happened between you two, but Duan Xu has a pretty good temper. Go apologize to him. Maybe you'll make up.]

Shen Yanlang had already apologized, but Duan Xu still didn't want to speak to him—or even see him.

At first, he thought Duan Xu had been angered by his shameless behavior, but later he realized that didn't seem to be the reason Duan Xu was ignoring him.

But if it wasn't that, he truly couldn't think of anything else that would make Duan Xu unwilling even to look at him.

At the same time, Zhou Zhou was also messaging Duan Xu.

Zhou Zhou: [Xuxu, what happened between you and Brother Yan?]

Duan Xu looked at his phone and took a long time before replying: [It's hard to explain in a few words.]

Zhou Zhou: [...]

Zhou Zhou: [Then explain it in two words? Three will do if you really have to.]

Duan Xu: [...]

Seeing that Duan Xu didn't reply for a while, Zhou Zhou sent another message: [Ahem, don't say anything if you don't want to. I'm just worried seeing you two at odds.]

Zhou Zhou: [We're roommates, after all. Getting along peacefully is what matters most!]

Duan Xu: [Yeah, I know. Thanks. It'll be fine in a little while.]

When Duan Xu saw Zhou Zhou's last message, he suddenly remembered that Shen Yanlang was the male lead. He could lose his temper with anyone but Shen Yanlang, or he'd become cannon fodder in minutes!

But!

Thinking of Shen Yanlang's suggestive inner thoughts, Duan Xu panicked. And all the things that had confused him before suddenly made sense.

But understanding them only left him with an even greater question. How could Shen Yanlang possibly feel that way about him...?

Or had Shen Yanlang smelled his pheromones? He was the one who had discovered Duan Xu's secondary differentiation—had that affected him?

Ugh! What a headache!

Duan Xu frowned as he stared out at the scenery beyond the window. He thought about it the entire way but couldn't make sense of it.

"Student, we're here."

The driver's voice pulled Duan Xu back from his thoughts. Seeing Zhou Zhou and the others get out one after another, he took a deep breath, opened the door with the air of a warrior marching to his doom, and got out.

Since he couldn't figure it out, he would just listen!

After getting out of the car, Duan Xu slowly let out another breath and thought optimistically, Maybe I'm overthinking it. I'm just cannon fodder, after all. I can't be so full of myself.

Shen Yanlang took in every one of Duan Xu's little movements, yet still couldn't figure out why.